PATENT ABSTRACT
Penetrating the skin of a poultry item with an array of small holes accomplished by using a plurality of circular blades laterally spaced apart and substantially parallel and having a plurality teeth protruding from the edge of the blades and forcibly engaging and penetrating the skin of the poultry item with the plurality of teeth. The plurality of circular blades can have a common axis of rotation and rotating about a shaft extending along the common axis thereby forming a roller of blades.

PATENT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND 
     1. Field 
     This technology relates generally to preparing poultry skin and, more particularly, to preparing poultry skin for breading or glazing 
     2. Background Art 
     Good adhesion of batter, breading, glaze or other products to the skin of a poultry product is important for those poultry products having such a coating applied. The skin of poultry has an outer layer referred to as the cuticle of the skin. Breading and other coating products tend to adhere better to the poultry product if the outer cuticle is removed. The skin of poultry has essentially three layers with the outer most layer being the Stratum Corneum (cuticle), the middle being the Stratum Germinativum, and the inner most being the dermis. It is commonly accepted that removal of the cuticle results in better adhesion of breading. A common method to remove the cuticle is to expose the skin to a high scalding temperature (≧60° C.), which results in removing the outer cuticle layer. Removing the cuticle improves adhesion of coating material because particles of the coating material can lodge between the protrusions and recesses of the Stratum Germinativum once the cuticle is removed. However, this high scalding process can reduce the yield of the poultry item by 4-6% and can result in skin discoloration if dehydrated during a later air chilling process. 
     A better method and apparatus is needed for achieving better coating adhesion to s poultry item that does not significantly reduce the yield of the poultry item. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY 
     The technology disclosed and claimed herein is a method and apparatus for improving adhesion of a coating material to a poultry item without scalding the item to thereby remove the cuticle. The method can include penetrating the skin of the poultry item with an array of small holes with minimal to no penetration of the underlying muscle. Penetrating the skin of a poultry item with an array of small holes can be accomplished by using a plurality of circular blades laterally spaced apart and substantially parallel and having a plurality teeth radially protruding (extending) from the edge of the blades and forcibly engaging and penetrating the skin of the poultry item with the plurality of teeth. The plurality of circular blades can have a common axis of rotation and can be rotated about a shaft extending along the common axis thereby forming a roller of blades, which can simply be referred to as a roller. An implementation of the method can include passing a poultry item between two parallel opposing rollers (roller pairs configured in a “press roller” or “pinch roller” configuration with a roller gap between the pair) whose respective axis of rotation lay in a common plane and are proximately spaced apart and urging the opposing rollers inward one with respect to the other thereby engaging the poultry item passing there between with the radially extending teeth. Urging inward the roller of blades can effect penetrating the skin of the poultry item with the teeth of the blades. The rollers can be oppositely and inwardly rotated to pass the product there through. As the poultry item passes between the rollers (through the roller gap), the teeth of the plurality of blades can be urged inwardly to effect penetration of the skin. 
     One implementation of the apparatus can include a plurality of circular blades laterally spaced apart and substantially parallel and having a plurality teeth radially protruding from the edge of the blades for forcibly engaging and penetrating the skin of the poultry item. The plurality of circular blades can have a common axis of rotation and can be rotated about a shaft extending along the common axis thereby forming a roller of blades, which can simply be referred to as a roller. An embodiment of the apparatus can include two parallel opposing rollers whose respective axis of rotation which lay in a common plane and are proximately space apart forming a roller gap. The opposing rollers can be spring loaded for urging the opposing rollers inward one with respect to the other to thereby engage a poultry item passing there between. One implementation can include multiple pairs of rollers through which a poultry item can pass. 
     The method and apparatus can improve the process of breading poultry items where the breading or other coating better adheres to the product without using a high scalding process for removing the cuticle. These and other advantageous features of the present invention will be in part apparent and in part pointed out herein below. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       For a better understanding of the present invention, reference may be made to the accompanying drawings in which: 
         FIGS. 1A-1C  is an illustration of a pre-breading assembly; 
         FIGS. 2-7  is an illustration of a roller and housing assembly; 
         FIG. 8A  is an illustration of a roller assembly; 
         FIG. 8B  is an illustration of a scraper; 
         FIGS. 9A-9B  is an illustration of a blade; 
         FIGS. 10A-10B  is an illustration of a spacer; 
         FIGS. 11A-11B  is an illustration of a scraper; and 
         FIGS. 12A-12D  is an illustration of an arrangement of blades, spacers and scrapers. 
     
    
    
     LISTING OF ITEMS 
     
         
           100  Pre-Breading Assembly 
           102  In-feed Conveyor 
           104  Top Roller Pair 
           106  Take-Away Conveyor 
           108  Intermediate Roller Pair 
           110  Bottom Roller Pair 
           112  Bottom Chute 
           114  Bottom Chute Opening 
           116  Synchronization Drive 
           118  Synchronization Drive 
           200  Roller and Housing Assembly 
           202  Housing Assembly 
           204  Top Roller Assembly Chute 
           206  Roller Assembly 
           207  Roller Shaft 
           208  Roller Assembly 
           209  Roller Shaft 
           210  Blade Stack 
           211  Blade Stack 
           212  Scrapers 
           213  Scrapers 
           214  Bottom Roller Assembly Diverter Chute 
           216  Bottom Roller Assembly Chute Opening 
           302  Regulator 
           304  Regulator 
           502  Top Roller Assembly Chute 
           504  Scraper Mount 
           506  Scraper Mount 
           508  Blade Key 
           510  Blade Key 
           512  Staggered Teeth 
           514  Staggered Teeth 
           702  Expansion Spring 
           704  Compression Spring 
           706  Compression Spring 
           708  Spring Adjustment 
           710  Spring Adjustment 
           712  Spring Adjustment 
           800  Roller Assembly 
           802  Blade Stack 
           804  Blade Teeth 
           806  Roller Shaft 
           808  Blade Key 
           810  Retention Key 
           812  Scraper 
           813  Scraper Mount 
           900  Blade 
           902  Teeth 
           904  Blade Hub 
           906  Hub Key 
           908  Tooth Point 
           909  Leading Edge 
           910  Trailing Edge 
           912  Gullet 
           913  Pitch 
           914  Rake Angle 
           1000  Spacer 
           1002  Spacer Hub 
           1004  Spacer Key 
           1006  Spacer Thickness 
           1100  Scraper 
           1102  Scraper Mount 
           1104  Scraper Thickness 
           1202  Tooth Diameter 
           1204  Gullet Diameter 
       
    
     While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description presented herein are not intended to limit the invention to the particular embodiment disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION 
     According to the embodiment(s) of the present invention, various views are illustrated in  FIGS. 1-12  and like reference numerals are being used consistently throughout to refer to like and corresponding parts of the invention for all of the various views and figures of the drawing. Also, please note that the first digit(s) of the reference number for a given item or part of the invention should correspond to the Fig. number in which the item or part is first identified. 
     One embodiment of the present technology comprising a roller assembly including a roller pair each having a blade stack teaches a novel apparatus and method for preparing a poultry item for breading. 
     The details of the invention and various embodiments can be better understood by referring to the figures of the drawing. Referring to  FIGS. 1A-1C , an illustration of a pre-breading assembly is shown. The pre-breading assembly  100  includes a system of integrated components including an in-feed conveyor  102  which carries the poultry items, for example poultry wing portions, into the poultry pre-breading assembly for preparing the poultry item for breading. The conveyor  102  feeds the poultry items into the top roller pair  104  to begin the perforation process (penetrating the skin with a plurality of holes). The two rollers within the pair extend in parallel one with respect to the other. The axis of rotation for each roller within the pair extending parallel and lay within a common plane. The common plane within which the two axis lay can be oriented at a substantially 45° angle with respect to horizontal as shown. This 45° orientation can assist in feeding the poultry items into the top roller pair from the infeed conveyor to begin the perforation process. The 45° angle orientation will facilitate the transition of the poultry item from the conveyor into the roller pair. Therefore, as the poultry item is being conveyed toward the roller pair, as the poultry item transitions between the roller pair, the orientation of the poultry item can be maintained. For example, if a breast filet portion is being conveyed and is laying flat on the conveyor, then the flat orientation of the breast portion can be maintained as it fed into the roller pair. 
     The pre-breading assembly also includes an intermediate take-away conveyor  106  which can convey the poultry item away from the pre-breading assembly for further processing. In one embodiment, however, the take-away conveyor can be reversed in direction in order to transition the poultry item to engage an intermediate roller pair and a lower roller pair. Additional take-away conveyors can be included in the pre-breading assembly to carry the poultry item away from the pre-breading assembly once it has passed through the intermediate and bottom roller pairs. The intermediate roller pair and the lower roller pair  108  and  110  respectively are shown such that the common plane in which their axis lay is oriented substantially horizontal. This orientation allows the poultry item to fall through and engage the intermediate and bottom roller pairs for further preparation. Once the poultry item has transitioned through the intermediate roller pair and the bottom roller pair, the bottom chute  112  and bottom chute opening  114  can channel the poultry item to a lower take-away conveyor, not shown, which can take the poultry item that is now perforated away from the pre-breading assembly for subsequent application of a coating. The bottom chute  112  and the bottom chute opening  114  can be adapted to channel the poultry items onto the take-away conveyor. The pre-breading assembly can also include synchronization drives  116  and  118 , which can synchronize the rotation of the conveyors and the roller pairs. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 2-7 , an illustration of a roller and housing assembly is shown. The perspective view of the roller and housing assembly  200  provides further detail of its operation. The roller and housing assembly  200  includes a housing assembly which houses the roller assemblies or roller pairs that provide the perforation of the poultry items. The housing assembly  202  provides a protective covering of the roller assembly in order to prevent injury of any operators. The roller and housing assembly includes a top roller assembly chute  204  which directs poultry items falling therethrough into the roller assemblies. The roller pair includes two roller assemblies  206  and  208  and each roller assembly includes a roller shaft  207  and  209  about which the blades rotate. The pair of rollers can be configured in a press roller (pinch roller) configuration with a roller gap there between. 
     Each roller assembly  206  and  208  includes a blade stack  210  and  211 , where each blade stack includes a plurality of circular blades aligned side-by-side one with respect to the other where each of the plurality of blades have a common axis rotation. The blade stacks  210  and  211  can also include spacers, which provide space between each adjacent blade as well as scrapers  212  and  213  which are designed to scrape away any poultry item or portions thereof that may cling or stick to the blade stack. The scrapers  212  and  213  will remain in a fixed position to thereby remove any poultry item or portions thereof. 
     The roller and housing assembly can also include a diverter chute  214  which can divert the perforated poultry item as it falls through the roller pair. If the diverter  214  is not present, the bottom chute opening  216  can channel the poultry items downward through to a conveyor or to another roller and housing assembly. The roller and housing assembly  200  can also include regulators  302  and  304  for each of the rollers within the pair. The regulators can regulate the inward tension or force being applied against the poultry item. The top roller assembly chute  502  and  204  can be angled inward to channel a poultry item to be engaged between the roller pair. 
     When the blades of the roller engage the poultry item to begin perforation, it is not uncommon for the poultry item to cling to or adhere to the blade stack, therefore scrapers  212  and  213  are fixedly mounted at mount points  504  and  506  such that the scrapers can remove any poultry item or portions thereof from the blade stack such that they are channeled down through to the diverter. Each of the blades can have a blade key  508  and  510  such that they are keyed in a fixed position with respect to the shaft of the roller assemblies  207  and  209  as they rotate. The keys  508  and  510  can be simply a notch in the hub area of each blade such that the blades can be aligned accordingly. The blades can be keyed such that each adjacent blade is rotationally shifted with respect to the other adjacent blade such that the teeth of each adjacent blade is offset with respect to the previous blade. Blade teeth  512  and  514  illustrate the offset arrangement of adjacent blades. Each blade is shifted half a cycle with respect to the adjacent blade. The regulators  302  and  304  can be spring-loaded by springs  702 ,  706  and  704 . The spring tensions can be adjusted as shown by adjustment points  712 ,  710  and  708 . The springs  702 ,  704  and  706  can be accomplished using various components including traditional springs and more sophisticated cylinders or actuators. 
     Referring to  FIG. 8A , an illustration of a roller assembly is shown. The roller assembly  800  is shown with a blade stack  802  for each of the plurality of blades within the blade stack has blade teeth  804 . The roller assembly  800  also includes a roller shaft  806 . The blade key  808  is keyed into position by mating with or engaging the blade retention key  810  attached to the roller shaft. The blade stack  802  can include spacers between each adjacent blade as well as including multiple scrapers  812  within the stack. Each scraper  812  will have a scraper mount  813  which can be fixedly mounted in order to remove any debris, poultry items or portions thereof that stick to the blade stack. 
     Referring to  FIG. 8B , an illustration of a scraper is shown. A scraper member  212  can have an arcuate hook-shaped extension member  812  (appendage) positioned between a pair of immediately adjacent circular blades, where the arcuate hook-shaped extension member is substantially centered on the common circular blade axis of rotation. The scraper can be mounted using the scrape mount mounting hub  813  such that it is fixed with respect to the rotating circular blades. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 9A-9B , an illustration of a blade is shown. The circular blades  900  include a plurality of teeth  902  extending from the edge of the blade radially outward. Each circular blade can include a blade hub  904  which mounts on the roller shafts. Each blade hub  904  can have a keyed area or recess or notch  906  which can lock the blade in position when installed on the roller shaft. The teeth of the blade can include a point  908  and leading and trailing edges  909  and  910  respectively. The leading edge and the trailing edge can have an angle that is substantially the same. The angle of the leading edge  914  can be sufficiently steep to facilitate penetration into the skin portion of the poultry item that it engages. The point and angle of each tooth can be optimized to effect perforation of the skin of the poultry item without perforating the underlying muscle of the poultry item. The pitch or distance between each of the teeth  913  can also be optimized such to facilitate perforation of the poultry item. The angle of the leading and trailing edge of each tooth as well as the pitch between the teeth are optimized to effect perforation of the skin of the poultry item without requiring extensive force to effect the perforation. A blade design is selected such that the teeth have a pitch that is sufficiently spaced to avoid increased force being required in order to effect perforation. It has been found that the smaller the pitch between the teeth, the more force is required. The angle of the leading face  909  is also sufficiently steep to facilitate perforation without excessive force being required. The distance between the gully  912  and the point of the tooth  908  can be optimized such that the teeth will effect perforation of the skin without penetrating beyond the skin layers into the muscle structure. The blades can be keyed such that adjacent blades are staggered a half cycle one with respect to the other such that the point of each tooth of a blade is positioned mid-way of the gully of the adjacent blade. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 10A-10B , an illustration of a spacer is shown. The spacers  1000  can be placed between adjacent blades to provide adequate separation between the circular blades. The spacers  1000  can be utilized to obtain optimal spacing between the blades in order to effect perforation as required for subsequent breading. One or more spaces  1000  can be utilized between adjacent blades. Each spacer  1000  includes a spacer hub  1002  which mounts over the roller shaft similar to that of the circular blades. Each hub  1002  includes a keyed area  1004  to allow the spacers to remain fixed when rotating with respect to the shaft. The thickness of the spacer  1006  can be optimized to affect the appropriate spacing between adjacent circular blades. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 11A-11B , an illustration of a scraper is shown. The scrapers  1100  can an extension or appendage that is curved in a hook-like manner in order to fit around the roller shaft. The scrapers  1100  can also be fixed using the mount  1102  of the scraper. If scrapers are utilized between adjacent blades, the thickness  1104  of the scrapers can also be utilized as a spacing means for providing space between adjacent blades. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 12A-12D , an illustration of an arrangement of blades, spacers and scraper is shown. Each circular blade can have a tooth diameter  1202  and a gullet diameter  1204 . The difference between the tooth diameter and the gullet diameter will define the height of the teeth extending from the edge of the blade. The height of the teeth can be optimized to effect penetration of the poultry skin layers without penetrating into the underlying muscle. The illustration in  FIG. 12D  illustrates an exploded view of and implementation of the arrangement of the blades with spaces therebetween and a scraper between the two spacers. 
     The various poultry item preparation examples shown above illustrate an apparatus and method for preparing a poultry item for breading. A user of the present technology may choose any of the above embodiments, or an equivalent thereof, depending upon the desired application. In this regard, it is recognized that various forms of the subject embodiments could be utilized without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 
     As is evident from the foregoing description, certain aspects of the present invention are not limited by the particular details of the examples illustrated herein, and it is therefore contemplated that other modifications and applications, or equivalents thereof, will occur to those skilled in the art. It is accordingly intended that the claims shall cover all such modifications and applications that do not depart from the sprit and scope of the present invention. 
     The various implementations and examples shown above illustrate a method and apparatus for preparing poultry items for breading or other coating. A user of the present method and system may choose any of the above implementations, or an equivalent thereof, depending upon the desired application. In this regard, it is recognized that various forms of the subject poultry item method and apparatus could be utilized without departing from the spirit and scope of the present implementation. 
     As is evident from the foregoing description, certain aspects of the present implementation are not limited by the particular details of the examples illustrated herein, and it is therefore contemplated that other modifications and applications, or equivalents thereof, will occur to those skilled in the art. It is accordingly intended that the claims shall cover all such modifications and applications that do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present implementation. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. 
     Other aspects, objects and advantages of the present invention can be obtained from a study of the drawings, the disclosure and the appended claims.