Tendon extraction system

This device is used to remove the tendon from a cut of meat and the meat product produced thereby. The device includes at least one blade which is capable of substantially surrounding the tendon. The tendon is pulled through the blade and the tissue which is in close proximity to the tendon without severing other tissue, allowing the cut of meat to remain substantially intact after the tendon is removed. The cutting blade may be a singular oval-shaped blade or may be two blades placed adjacent each other to form an opening through which the tendon can be pulled. The tendon can also be attached to a grasping device which pulls the tendon past the cutting edges. This grasping device can be attached to an actuator which moves it in a linear direction away from the cutting blade thus drawing the meat tissue adjacent the tendon into contact with the cutting edges of the blade. The actuator may be mechanically, hydraulically, or pneumatically powered.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The invention relates to devices and methods of extracting a tendon from 
its surrounding muscle tissue, and food products resulting therefrom. 
2. Description of Related Art 
The inherent existance of unsightly, tough, unpalatable, and difficult to 
remove tendons in various muscles and/or cuts of meat and poultry has 
created expensive and difficult problems for decades. The inability to 
remove tendons from particular cuts of meat and poultry in a satisfactory 
and economical manner has relegated many of the most tender, succulent, 
and desirable cuts thereof to the most undesirable and least demanded of 
meat or poultry products. 
A primary example of the above problems is the tenderloin of a turkey. 
Although a tender and desirable portion of the white breast meat of the 
turkey, a large undesirable tendon extends directly through a major 
portion of the tenderloin. 
There are presently only two methods being employed to remove tendons to 
improve the desirability of the meat products. The first method is to 
manually cut or trim the tendon from the meat with a knife. This method is 
tedious and time consuming, and therefore uneconomical. Also, when the 
tendon is removed in this manner, the meat is most generally separated 
into distinct pieces or portions, no longer maintaining its original 
integrity as a single portion, muscle or cut of meat. 
The second presently used method is simply to grab the tendon with a pair 
of pliers and tear the tendon away from the meat. U.S. Pat. No. 584,381 to 
Lowndes discloses a pair of pliers adapted for this purpose. Even though 
this method is faster, more economical, and easier than the trimming 
method described above, it also leaves the cut of meat substantially 
separated into distinct pieces or portions. Since neither of the above 
methods for removing a tendon from a cut of meat leaves the cut intact, as 
a single portion, cut or muscle, the appearance, desirability and 
usefulness of the meat is greatly compromised. Also, because of the meat 
industry's inability to remove such tendons in a satisfactory manner, 
certain cuts of meat such as turkey tenderloins must be sold at a reduced 
price, or be reduced to smaller portions by removing the tendon(s) and 
sold in these smaller and irregularly shaped portions, thus limiting the 
usefulness thereof and reducing the marketable price. 
Because of the greater desirability of intact, tendonless cuts of meat, 
there exists a need for a device which can quickly and efficiently remove 
the tendon while leaving the cut of meat itself substantially unaffected. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is an object of the invention to provide tools and methods that may be 
incorporated into a device or devices which can remove the tendon from a 
cut of meat without otherwise negatively affecting the usefulness, 
desirability, appearance or marketability of the meat. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and 
methods for removing the tendons from a cut of meat while leaving the 
remainder of the cut of meat intact. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and 
methods for removing the tendons from a cut of meat while at the same time 
preparing the cut of meat for uses heretofore unavailable because of prior 
tendon removal methods. 
The above and other objects of the invention are realized in a specific 
illustrative embodiment of a tendon extraction system which includes a 
tubular blade apparatus and a linear blade apparatus. 
The tubular blade apparatus includes a cutting assembly comprised of a 
mounting block for attaching the apparatus to a table or the like, and a 
housing attached to the mounting block; an actuator assembly located 
inside the housing; a grabber assembly attached to the mounting block and 
movable in a linear direction by the actuator assembly; and a shear rod 
assembly attached to the mounting block having at least one cutting edge 
at its distal end capable of surrounding a tendon. A tendon surrounded by 
the cutting edges of the shear rod assembly is securely held by jaws of 
the grabber assembly and is pulled past the cutting edges when the grabber 
assembly is moved in a linear direction by the actuator assembly. The 
movement of the tendon through the cutting edges causes separation of the 
meat tissue from the tendon. 
The linear blade apparatus comprises two blades having linear cutting edges 
securely mounted in parallel relationship such that a gap exists between 
the two cutting edges sufficiently large to accommodate the width of a 
tendon. The tendon is placed between the cutting edges and pulled 
therepast to separate the tendons from the adjacent meat tissue and to 
form a generally V-shaped opening in the cut of meat.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS AND BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE 
INVENTION 
The tendon extractor system of the present invention includes a tubular 
blade apparatus 20 and a linear blade apparatus 100 which can be used 
individually or in combination to remove the tendon from common-cuts of 
meat while leaving the surrounding muscle tissue of the meat intact. 
The tubular blade apparatus 20 as best seen in FIG. 1, is comprised 
generally of a mounting assembly 50 which is mountable to a mounting plate 
21 and to which is attached a shear rod assembly 30 having blades 34 and 
35 for separating the tendon from the muscle tissue of the meat, grabber 
rod assembly 40 for securely holding the tendon and for pulling the tendon 
and attached cut of meat past the shear rod assembly 30, and an actuator 
assembly 60 which drives the grabber rod assembly 40 in a linearly 
reciprocating direction, and which opens and closes the blades 34 and 35 
and the grabber 45 and 46. The actuator assembly 60 can be driven by a 
hydraulic piston 22 in conjunction with a hydraulic pressure generator 23, 
or may be driven manually or pneumatically by any mechanism (not shown) 
capable of moving actuator arm 24 in a linear reciprocating motion. 
Mounting assembly 50 includes mounting block 57 which is attachable to 
mounting plate 21 by means of mounting screws 59 and 61 (as best seen in 
FIG. 2), and actuator housing 64 which is attached to the mounting block 
57 by means of attachment ring 65, and attachment ring screws 66. 
As best seen in FIG. 3, mounting block 57 includes shear rod channel 63 
which allows the secure attachment of outer shear rod 31 by means of 
mounting ring 33 and mounting ring attachment screw 58, yet allows inner 
shear rod 32 to be movable therein. Grabber rod channel 62 allows for the 
outer grabber rod 41 and inner grabber-rod 42 to also pass through the 
mounting block 57 and attach to the actuator assembly 60. The grabber rod 
41 and 42 are both free to move in a linear direction through channel 62 
in response to movement of the actuator assembly 60. Mounting block 57 
further comprises opening 124 for reception of the grabber alignment rod 
123. 
Housing 64 further comprises actuator arm stopping ring 68 and actuator arm 
opening 69. Opening 69 is shaped to allow the actuation arm 24 to pass in 
a linear direction therealong from the end 55 thereof to the stop ring 68. 
Opening 26 in housing 64 is covered by the shear rod actuator plate cover 
67 which protects the portion of actuator assembly 60 which controls the 
opening and closing of blades 34 and 35 as will be explained below. 
As best seen in FIGS. 5a, 5b and 5c, the actuator rod assembly 30 comprises 
a tubular outer shear rod 31 and a solid inner shear rod 32 which can move 
linearly therein. Outer shear rod 31 has a blade 34 attached to its distal 
end having cutting edge 37, and has attached to its proximal end, the 
mounting ring 33 which has notch 38 for securely attaching it to mounting 
block 57 by means of attachment screw 58. The inner shear rod 32 has 
attached to its distal end a blade 35 having cutting edge 36. The proximal 
end of inner shear rod 32 extends beyond the mounting ring 33 so that it 
can pass through mounting block channel 63. As best seen in FIG. 5c, 
blades 34 and 35 are of generally C-shaped configuration, and when placed 
in the closed position as shown in FIG. 5a, where the surfaces 27 and 28 
are directly adjacent each other, the cutting edges 36 and 37 form an oval 
tubular-shaped cutting surface. 
As can be seen in FIG. 5b, when the blades 34 and 35 are in the open 
position, a tendon extending from a portion of a cut of meat (such as a 
tendon 91 extending from cut of meat 90 as shown in FIG. 14) can be easily 
placed between the blades 34 and 35. When a tendon is thus located, inner 
rod 32 is retracted through outer rod 31 and the blades 34 and 35 come to 
the closed position as shown in FIG. 5a. Thus, the split blade assembly 30 
allows for easy placement of a tendon in the correct position in between 
cutting blades 36 and 37 without the difficult manipulation required to 
thread a tendon through the oval-shaped opening. 
As best seen in FIG. 4a, the grabber assembly 40 comprises a tubular outer 
rod 41 and a solid inner rod 42 which is slidable therein. Lead grabber 45 
attached to the distal end of tubular outer rod 41 and lag grabber 46 is 
attached to the distal end of inner rod 42. The grabbers 45 and 46 each 
comprise generally C-shaped openings 99 and 44 respectively which allow 
them to partially encircle rods 31 and 32 of the split blade assembly 30. 
The grabbers 45 and 46 also comprise legs 98 and 43 respectively and jaws 
47 and 48 respectively. As best seen in FIG. 3, grabber leg 43 also 
comprises alignment rod 123 which passes through grabber leg 98 and 
prevents relative rotation of the two grabbers. 
As best seen in FIG. 2, when blades 34 and 35 are in the open position, an 
access is created and a tendon can be placed therebetween and between 
grabber jaws 47 and 48. Upon linear movement of the grabber rod assembly 
toward the mounting block 57, the meat is first pulled against the blades 
34 and 35 causing blade 35 to move to its closed position, then cutting 
edges 36 and 37 cut into the meat and remove the muscle tissue directly 
adjacent the exterior surface of the tendon. 
As seen in FIG. 3, actuator assembly 60 is located inside housing 64. Lag 
actuator block 49 is rigidly attached to the outer grabber rod 41 and lead 
actuator block 56 is rigidly attached to inner grabber rod 42. Channel 25 
in lag actuator block 49 allows inner grabber rod 42 to freely pass 
therethrough. Rod 42 also passes through actuator arm 24 and is slidable 
relative thereto. 
As best seen in FIG. 4a, lag actuator block 49 also comprises a reduced 
diameter shoulder portion 51. Lead actuator block 56 also comprises a 
shoulder portion 52. The smaller diameter of shoulder 51 is sized to fit 
in a slidable manner within shoulder portion 52. Lead spring 53 encircles 
inner grabber rod 42 and is securely attached to lead block 56 at one of 
its ends, and to the actuator arm 24 at its opposite end. Lag spring 54 
also encircles inner rod 42 and is securely attached to lag actuator block 
49 at one of its ends and to actuator arm 24 at its opposite end. 
Therefore, movement of actuator arm 24 causes compression and/or extension 
of springs 53 and 54 which in turn causes movement of blocks 56 and/or 49. 
Since actuator block 56 is rigidly attached to inner rod 42, movement of 
block 56 caused by the force of spring 53 also causes movement of rod 42. 
Equivalently, outer grabber rod 41 is rigidly attached to actuator block 
49 which moves in response to forces of spring 54. 
The actuator rod 24 functions to move the entire actuator assembly 60 and 
grabber assembly 40 in a linear direction, and also functions to compress 
or extend its springs 53 and/or 54 to cause opening or closing of the 
grabber jaws 45 and 46. 
Lag actuator block 49 also comprises a notch 39 which causes actuator plate 
70 to push against inner rod 32 causing the rod to move blade 35 to the 
open position. As best seen in FIG. 3, the actuator plate spring 71 is 
compressed when lag actuator block 49 is located directly adjacent 
mounting block 57. As seen in FIG. 6, when actuator block 49 is moved away 
from mounting block 57, shoulder 39 no longer traps the actuator plate 70 
and the actuator spring 71 pushes the plate against the cover 67. 
Referring now to FIGS. 3, 6 and 7 wherein the three stages of operation of 
the actuator assembly are shown, it can be seen that in the initial or 
starting position (FIG. 3) actuator assembly 60 is located at its most 
forward position in housing 64, with actuator arm 24 in contact with end 
55 of opening of 69, and with notch 39 forcing actuator plate 70 to 
completely compress spring 71 and move inner rod 32 forward to open blade 
35. In this starting position, lag spring 54 is completely compressed 
forcing lag actuator block 49 to press against mounting block 57, and lead 
spring 53 is extended forcing lead actuator block 56 to abut against lag 
actuator block shoulder 51 to force the grabbers 45 and 46 to their open 
position. In FIG. 6 primes (') are used behind the reference numerals to 
designate the same component parts as in FIG. 3 but in a different 
position, and in FIG. 7 double primes (") are used behind the reference 
numerals to designate the same component parts as in FIG. 3 but in a still 
different position; thus, for example, actuator arm 24 in FIG. 3 is the 
same actuator arm 24' in FIG. 6 and actuator arm 24" in FIG. 7, shown in 
different positions. 
When actuator arm 24 begins to move from its most forward position back 
toward stop ring 68, the compression of spring 54 is gradually released 
and the tension on spring 53 is gradually lessened. Further movement of 
actuator rod 24 simultaneously causes lead spring 53 and lag spring 54 to 
reverse their compression/tension state (i.e., lead spring 53 becomes 
slightly compressed and lag spring 54 becomes slightly tensioned). At this 
point, lag block 49 moves away from its abutment with mounting block 57, 
and simultaneously, lead block 56 is pushed away from shoulder 51 causing 
grabber 46 to close in abutting relationship with grabber 45. Continued 
movement of actuator arm 24 causes the entire actuator assembly 60 and 
grabber assembly 40 to translate while the mounting assembly 50 and the 
split blade assembly 30 remains stationary. 
Once the grabbers 45 and 46 are in the closed position, all components of 
the actuator assembly 60 and grabber assembly 40 remain stationary 
relative to each other (as seen by FIG. 6) during translation of the 
actuation arm 24 toward the stop ring 68. When lead actuator block 56 
abuts the end of housing 64 and grabber alignment rod 123 bottoms in 
opening 124 of mounting block 57, movement of lead block 56 along with 
inner rod 42 and grabber 46 is prevented. However, actuator rod 24 
continues its motion until it abuts against stop ring 68 (FIG. 7). This 
continued motion of actuator arm 24 causes lead spring 53 to be compressed 
and shoulder 51 to abut against lead block 56 due to tension in spring 54. 
The result is grabber 45 being pulled out of its abutting relationship 
with grabber 46 and back into an open position. 
Position 1 of the actuator assembly as shown in FIG. 3 therefore causes 
blade 35 to open to allow a tendon to be placed therein and causes 
grabbers 45 and 46 to separate to allow the end of the tendon to be placed 
in jaws 47 and 48. As the actuator assembly 60 moves to its second 
position as best seen in FIG. 6, the grabbers 45 and 46 are closed on the 
end of the tendon and pull the tendon toward the mounting block 57 causing 
the tissue surrounding the tendon to force blade 35 to close with blade 34 
and the cutting edges 36 and 37 to sever the tissue surrounding the tendon 
as they are pushed into the meat. As the actuator assembly 60 approaches 
the end of housing 64, grabber 46 stops while grabber 45 continues a short 
distance to separate the two grabbers and allow removal of the end of the 
tendon. In this position, as best shown by FIG. 7, the tendon has been 
separated from the surrounding meat tissue a distance equivalent to the 
distance traveled by the actuator assembly 60. 
As shown in the above-noted drawings, actuator arm 24 is moved by means of 
piston 22 in conjunction with hydraulic pressure generator 23. However, as 
would be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, actuator 
arm 24 could be adapted to be driven by any well-known means, either 
manual or automatic such as hydraulics, pneumatics, electric motors, etc. 
FIGS. 8a, 8b and 8c show another embodiment of the blade assembly of the 
tubular blade apparatus 20. Blade assembly 30' comprises a shaft 72 which 
may be solid as shown in FIG. 8a or which may be tubular, and a blade 75 
having an oval-shaped cutting edge 73 and bridge member 74. At the end 
opposite blade 75, a mounting ring 33 can be attached in order to allow 
the blade assembly 30' to be securely attached in channel 63 of mounting 
block 57 by means of attachment screw 58. 
In operation, blade assembly 30' functions similarly to the split blade 
assembly 30 except that there is no open position to allow a tendon 
portion of a cut of meat to be laid in between the blades. Instead, access 
opening 94 is located in the side of blade of 75 and is of a dimension 
sufficiently large to allow the tendon to pass therethrough into the 
opening 76. 
Since blade assembly 30' has no inner rod equivalent to inner rod 32 of 
split blade assembly 30, no portion of the blade assembly 30' exists to be 
acted upon by actuator plate 70. Because of this, mounting block 57 may be 
formed in a much simpler version as is shown in FIGS. 22 and 23 as will be 
explained below. 
FIGS. 9a, 9b and 9c show a blade assembly 30" having a shaft 84 and blade 
87, the shaft 84 being either solid or tubular in construction. As can be 
seen, the end of the shaft containing the blade 87 is formed into a shape 
having a generally oval cross-section. Blade 87 is therefore oval in shape 
as is cutting edge 85, the oval shape being oriented in a longitudinal 
direction, as opposed to the vertical orientation of the oval cutting 
opening 76 of FIG. 8c. 
Blade assembly 30" can also comprise a handle 89 attached to its end 
opposite the blade 87 which adapts the blade assembly 30" for manual use. 
Handle 89 can be made of metal, plastic or wood, and can have a securing 
portion 96 which may be glued, welded or otherwise secured to the shaft 
84. 
FIGS. 10a, 10b and 10c show a blade assembly 30'" having a shaft 77, a 
blade 80 having a bridge member 78 and a cutting edge 79, and an access 
opening 95 through one side of the blade 80 to allow for placement of a 
tendon into opening 81. As best seen in FIGS. 10b and 10c, blade assembly 
30'" also comprises wing members 82 which are attached to the outer 
surface of blade 80. Wing 82 may be attached in a symmetrical orientation 
on directly opposite sides of blade 80 as shown in FIGS. 10b and 10c, or 
be attached in other locations around blade 80 in a symmetrical 
orientation, or any number of blades 82 may be attached at any location 
around the outer surface of blade 80. 
Wing 82 comprises an angled surface 97 which includes cutting edge 83. As 
can be readily seen, the passage of blade assembly 30'" into a cut of meat 
not only cuts the tissue away from the tendon inserted into opening 81, 
but also makes a slit or a plurality of slits in the tissue directly 
adjacent the tendon as it passes therethrough. Wing 82 may also be used in 
conjunction with blade assembly 30" or 30', or with split blade assembly 
30 in the same manner and for the same purpose as described for blade 
assembly 30'". 
The end of blade assembly 30'" opposite blade 80 may also include an 
attachment ring 33 to allow its attachment to the tubular blade apparatus 
20, or may include handle 89. Likewise, blade assembly 30" may include 
attachment ring 33 in lieu of handle 89, and blade assembly 30' may 
include a handle 89 in lieu of attachment ring 33. 
Tubular blade apparatus 20 may also be used in conjunction with linear 
blade apparatus 100 as shown in FIG. 11. The linear blade apparatus 100 
includes a first blade 101 having a beveled portion 103 and cutting edge 
105, and a second linear blade 102 having a beveled surface 104 and 
cutting edge 106. First blade 101 and second blade 102 are attached to the 
surface of support plate 111 by means of blade mounting braces 109 and 
110, and mounting wedge 122 (best seen in FIG. 13). Mounting braces 109 
and 110 are shaped such that the bottom portion of first blade 101 and 
second blade 102 can lie flush thereagainst and blade mounting wedge 122 
can be inserted therebetween to force the first and second blades against 
the brace members 109 and 110 respectively and securely hold them in place 
in an upright position on the support plate 111. As can be seen in FIG. 
11, blades 101 and 102 are mounted such that cutting edges 105 and 106 are 
separated by a small distance to form opening 107. Opening 107 is adjusted 
to allow for a tendon of a cut of meat to be placed between cutting edges 
105 and 106. The distal portion 108 of blade 102 is bent away from blade 
101 to form an access area for easy placement of a tendon into opening 
107. A cut of meat is placed adjacent blade 102 and an extending portion 
of the tendon is laid on the bent distal portion 108 of the blade 102, and 
slid therealong until it drops into opening 107. The tendon is then pulled 
past blades 105 and 106 causing the tissue adjacent the tendon to be 
cleanly severed away. 
Support plate 111 is attached to support members 112 and 113 which are in 
turn attached to support legs 120 and 121 to create a C-shaped 
configuration as best seen in FIG. 12. Screws 114 and 115 are located in 
support legs 120 and 121 and comprise clamp heads 116 and 117 and 
adjustment handles 118 and 119. As can be readily seen, the support plate 
111 can be placed on top of mounting plate 21 with support arms 112 and 
113 passing below the edge thereof, and screws 114 and 115 can be 
tightened to the bottom surface to securely fasten the blade apparatus 100 
to the mounting plate 21. 
As best seen in FIGS. 22 and 23, a simplified mounting block 57' may be 
mounted to support plate 111 in lieu of the linear blades 101 and 102. 
Block 57' comprises at least one foreshortened channel 63' for holding a 
mounting ring 33 or an end 77 (as best seen in FIGS. 8 and 10) of a 
cutting blade 30' or 30'". Set screw 58' communicating with channel 63' to 
secure the blade 30' in place therein as in the manner described 
previously with respect to mounting block 57. 
As best seen in FIG. 14, the tubular blade apparatus 20, having a split 
blade assembly 30, operates by first opening blade 35 and inserting a 
tendon 91 between the blades 34 and 35 and into the jaws 37 and 38 of 
grabbers 45 and 46. Actuator arm 24 is then moved in a direction away from 
the mounting block 57 causing the grabbers 45 and 46 to move to their 
closed position and securely grasp the end 125 of the tendon 91. Continued 
motion of the actuator arm 24 causes the meat 90 to press against open 
blade 35 and moves it to its closed position. Further movement of arm 24 
causes grabbers 45 and 46 to pull the tendon in the direction of the 
mounting block 57. This motion causes the cutting edges 36 and 37 to cut 
away the meat tissue that is adjacent the tendon. 
As can be seen in FIG. 15, when the grabber assembly 40 is moved toward the 
mounting block 57, the tendon 91 is effectively separated from its 
surrounding muscle tissue. Once the tendon is separated it can be easily 
extracted from the cut of meat 90 by pulling the meat away from the blade 
assembly 30. After this process is complete, the only visible change to 
the cut of meat 90 is a small opening 126. The remainder of the cut of 
meat remains completely intact. 
The very clean and complete removal of the tendon 91 from its surrounding 
muscle tissue is possible because of the close placement of the cutting 
edges 36 and 37 to the surface of the tendon 91, and because of the 
relative toughness of the tendon 91 with respect to the surrounding muscle 
tissue. The edges 36 and 37 of the blade pass along the surface of tendon 
91, yet cut away only the much softer muscle tissue leaving the tendon 91 
itself uncut. 
As shown in FIG. 16, the linear blade apparatus 100 removes a tendon 91 
from a cut of meat 90 by placing the tendon on the bent portion 108 of 
blade 102 to align it for access to channel 107 and then sliding it down 
into channel 107. The end 125 is then grasped by a pliers or the like and 
pulled past the cutting edges 105 and 106. As best seen in FIG. 17, the 
cut of meat 90 tends to rotate slightly (about 90 degrees) when the tendon 
91 is pulled past the cutting edges 105 and 106. Thus, when the tendon 91 
is completely removed, the cut of meat 90 is not severed into sections, 
but instead remains intact as a single piece of meat having only a 
V-shaped opening 92 (as shown in FIG. 20) along one surface thereof. 
Although cutting edges 105 and 106 are not formed in the shape of the 
tendon as are the cutting edges in the tubular blade assembly 20, they are 
sufficiently close together that the channel 107 forces the tendon to be 
flattened out as it passes between the blades. This extremely narrow 
channel 107 therefore effectively causes blades 105 and 106 to 
substantially surround the tendon, leaving only a width of the channel 107 
that can pass tissue therethrough without being cut by the blades. This 
small area of tissue is ineffective to hold the tendon 91 and readily 
releases from the tendon 91 as it is pulled through the channel 107. 
If a tubular blade assembly 30 which has winged blades 82 attached thereto 
is used in the tubular blade apparatus 20, the winged cutting edges 82 
sever muscle tissue as the blade moves along the tendon 91. This causes a 
larger opening, or pocket 93, to be formed in the meat 90. An opening such 
as pocket 93 may be desirable for a variety of end uses for the meat 
product. 
Some cuts of meat may require the use of both the tubular blade apparatus 
and the linear blade apparatus in order to effectively remove all the 
tendonous material from the cut of meat. For example, large tendons 
extending into the tissue of the meat may be removed by the tubular blade 
apparatus 20 and then the linear blade apparatus 100 may be used to remove 
other tendons which extend only a short distance into the muscle tissue or 
which lie along the surface thereof. 
As can be readily seen, the blades of the tubular blade assemblies can be 
sized to accommodate varying sizes of tendons in various cuts of meat. As 
also can be readily seen, the size of the blades also dictates how much of 
the meat tissue is removed along with the tendon, or alternatively, how 
much of the tendon gets cut away from the major portion of the tendon and 
remains in the meat tissue. Those of ordinary skill in the art will 
therefore be able to adjust the blade size in order to generate the 
desired finished product based on the percentage of meat tissue remaining 
on the removed tendon, and/or on the amount of tendon remaining in the 
meat tissue after the majority of the tendon is removed. The decision as 
to the type and size of blade used to remove tendons from the cut of meat 
is therefore based upon the intended final use of the meat product. 
It is to be understood that the above-described arrangements are only 
illustrative of the application of the principles of the present 
invention. Numerous modifications and alternative arrangements may be 
devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and 
scope of the present invention and the appended claims are intended to 
cover such modifications and arrangements.