FISH SCALING APPARATUS

Abstract: Fish scaling apparatus (10) comprising a power driven motor (14) and an elongated scaling head (13) having a plurality of brush like filaments (32) extending radially outwardly therefrom so that when the motor is connected to a power source, the motor (14) causes the rotation of the scaling head (13) which when moved into engagement with a fish will cause removal of scales therefrom. The source of power for driving the motor could be liquid or electricity.

Description: THIS INVENTION relates to apparatus for removing scales from fish. A number of different types of hand held fish sealers are presently available. Many of the known sealers incorporate a blade having a serrated or saw-toothed edge which is drawn by hand across the surface of the fish to remove the scales therefrom. In some instances, the blade is of annular form whilst in other instances the blade is straight. In all the above known types of sealers, consider- able time and effort is required to remove the scales from a fish and in many instances complete de-scaling is not always ensured. In commercial applications, fish are often descaled by placing them into a rotating drum, however, in this appar¬ atus the flesh of the fish is often damaged by bruising. The present invention aims to overcome or at least alleviate some of the above disadvantages by providing fish scaling apparatus suitable for domestic or commercial applic¬ ations which is reliable and efficient in use and which enables removal of scales from a fish with little effort and without damaging the flesh of the fish. Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description. With the above and other objects in view, this invention resides broadly in apparatus for scaling fish comprising a scaling head having a plurality of outwardly extending fingers thereon; drive means coupled to said scaling head; and means for actuating said drive means to cause rotation of said scaling head such that said scaling head may be moved into engagement with a fish to permit said fingers to remove scales therefrom. In order that the invention may be more readily understood and put into practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention and wherein:- Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing one form of fish scaling apparatus according to the present invention with the guard partly cut away; Fig. 2 is a part sectional elevational OMH view of the fish scaling apparatus illustrated in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an end on view of the drive portion of the fish scaling apparatus showing the drive motor; and Fig. 4 illustrates in sectional view an alternative embodiment of scaling apparatus according to the present invention. Referring to Fig. 1, there is illustrated a first embodiment of fish scaling apparatus 10 according to the present invention including a handle portion 11, a drive motor portion 12 and a scaling head 13 which is adapted to be driven for rotation by a drive motor 14 disposed within the drive motor portion 12. In the illustrated embodiment the drive motor 14 comprises a gear motor which is adapted to be driven by mains water pressure and for this purpose the handle portion 11 is arranged to be coupled via a standard fitting 15 at one end thereof to a source of mains water pressure via say a hose. The handle portion 11 also includes an internal passageway 16 which communicates with the fitting 15 and which is arranged to direct water to the drive motor 14. Preferably a trigger operated valve assembly 17 is associated with the passageway 16 so that the operator can selectively permit water to flow through the passageway 16 to the drive motor 14 as desired. In one form the valve assembly 17 includes a transversally extending chamber 18 which intersects the passageway 16 and which carries a reciprocal valve member 19 therein. The valve member 19 includes an aperture 20 therethrough which is adapted to be aligned with the passageway 16 to permit water to flow to the drive motor 14. Preferably the valve member 19 is biased to an "off" position by a spring 21 and is movable to an "on" position via a pivotal trigger 22. As more clearly illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, the gear motor 14 includes a pair of meshing gears 23 each of which is provided with a central shaft 24 both of which preferably extend outwardly from the drive motor portion 12 for selective coupling to the scaling head 13. Both gears 23 are located in a hollow housing 25 in the drive portion 12 which is closed off by a removable end cap 26. Water is directed to the gears 23 via a passageway 27 which communicates with the passageway 16 in the handle portion 11 and which opens at 28 into the housing 25. A further passageway 29 communicates with the housing 25 on the opposite side of the gears 23 and feeds exhaust water outwardly through an aperture 30 in the drive portion end cap 26 in a direction towards the scaling head 13. Preferably the scaling head 13 comprises a tubular member 31 having a plurality of scaling fingers 32 extending radially outwardly therefrom.. Each scaling finger 32 is preferably formed of stiff filamental material such as wire or stiff nylon. Of course any other suitable material may be used for the fingers 32. The tubular member 31 is adapted to be coupled to either shaft 24 of either gear member 23 so that the head as desired may rotate in opposite directions to suit say left or right handed operators. The tubular member 31 is held in engagement with the selected shaft 24 by any conventional means such as by clamping or simple frictional engagement. In one preferred arrangement the shafts 24 are provided with a flat thereon and the tubular member 31 is correspondingly flattened at the engagement end to permit simple non-rotational engagement between the parts. The member 31 may then be held in engagement with the shaft 24 by a radially extending screw or like fastener. As a further preferred feature of the invention, an elongated part circular guard 33 is mounted to the drive motor portion 12 to extend over the scaling head 13 so as to deflect removed fish scales downwardly in use. In use the fish to be scaled is laid flat upon a supporting surface and a hose say is connected to the fitting 15 on the end of the handle portion 11. The handle portion 11 is then grasped by the user and the trigger 22 depressed so that water is supplied to the drive motor 14 to cause the scaling head 13 to rotate. The scaling head 13 _ 4 _ is then moved into contact with the fish and along the fish so that the rotating fingers 32 act to remove the scales from the fish. At the same time water exhausted from the motor 14 exits from the aperture 30 towards the scaling head 13 to wash the displaced scales away. Furthermore the guard 33 will act to prevent displaced scales from being directed towards the operator. In the alternative embodiment, illustrated in Fig. 4, the scaling apparatus is similar in principle to that shown in Figs. 1 to 3, however in this instance the water driven motor is replaced by an electric motor 35. The electric motor 35 is preferably coupled by reduction gearing 36 to the scaling head 37 and is adapted to be driven by batteries 38. For this purpose, the handle 39 of the apparatus is hollow and the batteries 38 located therein * A trigger operated switch assembly 40 is arranged in the handle 39 and is actuable to apply current from the batteries 38 to the motor 35 to cause rotation thereof and of the scaling head 37. The apparatus is then used in a similar fashion to that described above. Preferably the scaling apparatus is constructed of non-corrosive material such as aluminium or plastics. Furthermore the scaling head 13 may be moulded integrally with the tubular member 31 and scaling fingers 32 formed in one piece. The scaling apparatus may also be easily adapted for commercial use by the use of a larger size scaling head and in combination with a conveyor belt carrying fish past operators. It will be realised that many modifications may be made to the above described invention without departing from the broad scope and ambit of the invention. For example, the gear motor may be replaced with centrifugal fluid motor. Furthermore, the passageways 15 and 16 rather than being moulded integrally on the apparatus, may comprise tubing. An outlet nozzle may also be provided on the aper¬ ture -3O to direct exhaust water to the scaling head 13.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. Apparatus for scaling fish comprising a scaling head having a plurality of outwardly extending fingers thereon; drive means coupled to said scaling head; and means for actuating said drive means to cause rotation of * said scaling head such that said scaling head may be moved into engagement with a fish to permit said fingers to remove scales therefrom. 2. Apparatus for scaling fish according to Claim 1 wherein said scaling head includes an elongated member coupled to said drive means for rotation about its longit¬ udinal axis and wherein said finger means comprise a plurality of filaments extending outwardly from said elongated member. 3. Apparatus for scaling fish according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein said drive means comprise a liquid driven motor. 4. Apparatus for scaling fish according to Claim 3 wherein said liquid drive motor comprises a gear motor having a pair of gears, at least one of said gears having an outwardly extending shaft for coupling to said scaling head. 5. Apparatus for scaling fish according to Claim 2 or Claim 3 and including valve means adapted to be selectively actuated to permit pressurised liquid to flow to said motor to cause rotation thereof. 6. Apparatus for scaling fish according to Claim 5 and including handle means for permitting manual manipulation of said scaling head along said fish, flow passage means in said handle means for passage of liquid to said motor and wherein said valve means is disposed in said flow passage means. 7. Apparatus for scaling fish according to any one of Claims 3 to 6 wherein there is provided a liquid outlet from said motor said liquid outlet being adapted to direct liquid from said motor towards said scaling head to wash displaced scales from said fish. 8. Apparatus for scaling fish according to any one of the preceding claims and including guard means partially surrounding said scaling head to deflect scales in use away from said apparatus. 9. Apparatus for scaling fish substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Inventors: JAMES IAN KENNETH, JAMES, IAN, KENNETH
Applicants: CAMM ROBERT FREDERICK, JAMES IAN KENNETH, ROBSON GARY FRANCIS, CAMM, ROBERT, FREDERICK, JAMES, IAN, KENNETH, ROBSON, GARY, FRANCIS
Application year: 1984
Main classification: A22C25
IPC codes: A22C25