Patent ID: 6361426
Filing Date: 2002-03-26
Classification: A22C

Abstract:
A fish processing machine, comprising:a filleting assembly having a conveyor system to transport a trunk of a fish, a fish size sensor to determine the size of each fish and generate a signal corresponding to the size of each fish, a head separator to separate a head portion of the fish from the trunk, a head disposal site, and a fillet cutting assembly having at least one fillet knife arranged to slice a fillet of meat from the trunk; a recovery apparatus adjacent to a section of the filleting assembly, the recovery apparatus having an automatic loading system and a recovery cutter, wherein the automatic loading system includes first and second members extending along a recovery processing path, the first member having first surface configured to engage a first portion of the head and the second member having a second surface configured to engage a second portion of the head in a manner that orients a meat portion of the head in a cutting zone relative to the recovery processing path, and wherein the recovery cutter includes first and second moveable cutting blades at the cutting location relative to the recovery processing path to cut the meat portion from the head, the cutting blades being at an angle greater than zero with respect to one, and a position actuator coupled to the first and second cutting blades to change the position of the cutting blades; and a controller operatively coupled to the position actuator and the size sensor, wherein the controller sends command signals to the position actuator to automatically position the first and second cutting blades in correspondence to the size signals.