Method and device for processing a cluster of organs from a slaughtered animal

Abstract: In a method and a device a cluster (38; 161; 210) of organs consisting of a strong organ and other interconnected internal organs of a slaughtered animal (80), in particular a slaughtered bird, is processed. In a first step, at least one of the organs, a part thereof or a connection between the organs when the cluster is in or partly out of the body of the slaughtered animal, is fixed. Next, the cluster is taken out of the body, while maintaining the condition of fixing. The cluster is then inspected on the basis of the spatial orientation of the cluster in the maintained condition of fixing.

Description: The invention relates to a method for processing a cluster of organs consisting of a strong organ an other interconnected internal organs of a slaughtered animal, in particular a slaughtered bird, the method comprising the following steps: fixing at least one of the organs, a part thereof or a connection between the organs when the cluster is in or partly out of the body of the slaughtered animal; and taking the cluster out of the body, while maintaining the condition of fixing. The invention also relates to a device for carrying out the method according to the invention. "Slaughtered animals" should be understood hereinafter as meaning both, for example, poultry and other (large and small) livestock. The term "strong" refers to gullet, stomach (in the case of poultry: glandular stomach and gizzard), heart and kidneys. The intermediate document EP-A-0 530 868 discloses an inspection of clusters of organs by transporting the clusters by means of gripper devices along a veterinary inspector. In an earlier stage, the clusters of organs have been removed from the abdominal cavities of birds, and transferred to the gripping devices. US-A-4 467 498, US-A-4 561 148 and NL-A-9100153 describe methods for eviscerating slaughtered poultry. In these cases use is made of a fixing means which is inserted through a vent opening into the body of a slaughtered bird, grips the gullet - i.e. the connection between crop and glandular stomach - and then removes the part of the cluster of organs connected to the gullet at the glandular stomach side, together with the gullet, completely from the body of the bird, the gullet breaking off at the crop side. Prior to the operation described in the above-mentioned US patents, the cluster of organs has already been partially taken out of the body, with the aid of an evisceration means, following which the cluster of organs taken out of its natural position is hanging by the gullet, partially inside and partially outside the body. As US-A-4 467 498 discloses, in this position the cluster of organs is inspected. The cluster of organs hanging partially inside and partially outside of the body creates space for introducing the fixing means into the body and moving the fixing means in the body in order to grip the gullet, which is essentially still in its natural position. In this known method the cluster of organs is removed in two successive mechanical processing steps, namely first partially with the evisceration means and then completely with the fixing means. In the device according to NL-A-9100153 a fixing means and an evisceration means are combined in a single construction, consisting of two c-shaped brackets which can be swivelled relative to each other, and with which a cluster of organs can be removed completely from a slaughtered bird in a single processing step. In this device also the cluster of organs is fixed by the fixing means at the gullet after the evisceration operation. After the cluster of organs has been removed completely from the bird with the aid of the fixing means, said cluster is released from the grip of the fixing means onto a conveyor belt or other discharge means, for manually, or manually as well as mechanically separating organs or a part thereof from the cluster. A major drawback of the known methods and devices is that, after the cluster of organs is removed completely from the slaughtered animal with the aid of the fixing means, said cluster is discharged in an unordered way. The fact that various organs of value, for example the stomach, the heart and the liver, usually still have to be separated from the cluster, and the fact that this is preferably carried out mechanically are the very reason why it is necessary to have a certain ordering or orientation of the cluster of organs or individual organs thereof before organs can be separated mechanically from them, because there are no machines which can process a cluster of organs in a random orientation. In the prior art, an intermediate manual operation on the cluster of organs after the evisceration is therefore always necessary in order to produce the desired orientation for the separation processing. The object of the present invention is in the first place to provide a method for feeding the cluster of organs in a predetermined way to the next processing station, following a known evisceration operation, during or following which at least one of the organs, a part thereof or a connection between the organs is fixed as known per se, when the part of the cluster to be fixed is still essentially in its natural position in the slaughtered animal. To attain this object, the method according to the invention comprises the following steps: fixing at least one of the organs, a part thereof or a connection between the organs when the cluster is in or partly out of the body of the slaughtered animal; taking the cluster out of the body, while maintaining the condition of fixing; and inspecting the cluster on the basis of the spatial orientation of the cluster in the maintained condition of fixing. The fixing already produced by a fixing means, is put to good use here for positioning the organs for subsequent operations, by not allowing said fixing to go directly to waste, as is the case in the prior art. Great advantage can be achieved with regard to a separating operation following the evisceration operation, i.e. separating organs or a part thereof from the cluster of organs. Here, either a specific organ, such as the heart, the liver or the stomach, can be used by the fixing means as a basis for the fixing during the removal of the cluster of organs, following which said organ or a part thereof can easily be separated (e.g. torn or cut off) from the rest of the cluster, on account of its known position relative to the fixing means, or the organ, for example the gullet, which is selected from the interconnected organs for fixing is such that connecting tissue in or between the organs can be broken leaving the remaining part of the cluster intact. It will be clear from the above that there is no need for an intermediate manual operation for an orientation of the organs for the purpose of a separating operation. This saves time and costs, and is beneficial for hygiene in the processing of slaughtered animals in the slaughterhouse. In the method according to the invention a fixing of a part of a cluster is maintained until a separating operation has been carried out on the organs on the basis of a spatial orientation determined by the fixing. It is possible to use a fixing means which is moved first through an evisceration opening into the body of the slaughtered animal, for fixing a part of the cluster, and using the fixing subsequently for carrying out a separating operation. The fixing according to the invention, once it is effected, is preferably used as long as possible. However, from the point of view of flexible running of the organ processing, it is advantageous to maintain the fixing by further fixing at least one of the organs, a part thereof or a connection between the organs which is in a predetermined position relative to the point or points of the first fixing, following which the first fixing is undone. The latter method can be used in particular when a separate evisceration device and separate devices for control, cleaning and separating operations are present, in all of which a cluster of organs is moved and positioned with the aid of a fixing means. If, prior to or during evisceration, when the organs are essentially in their natural position in the body of the slaughtered animal, or at a later processing stage the cluster is fixed at at least two points lying at a distance from each other, this not only improves the stability of the fixing compared with the situation in which the fixing is effected at only one point, but also provides an adequate reference of the fixed organ or organs or a part thereof, particularly during the transfer of the cluster of organs from a first fixing means to a second fixing means, in order to ensure a faultless mechanical transfer of the cluster. In a preferred embodiment of the inventive method the cluster is allowed to hang free from the point or points of fixing. Hereby the cluster partially unfolds, improving the access to the organs for the separating processing. The fixing is preferably achieved by clamping the cluster part in question, but it is also possible to fix the cluster part in question by suction, or by accommodating the cluster part in question in an appropriate bounded space. With a view to a separating operation to be carried out after an evisceration operation, the gullet, heart, liver, stomach and/or intestines are preferably fixed. These organs are not only easy to reach in the body of a slaughtered animal - the gullet, for example, in a manner which is known from the prior art, the stomach (where the slaughtered animal is a bird, the glandular stomach or the gizzard) and the liver, for example, by holding them by suction against the suction aperture of a suction nozzle by means of which the intestines or the intestines and the stomach of the slaughtered animal are sucked away previously, and the intestines, for example, by accommodating the vent in a bounded space - but also play a crucial role in the organ position determination in conventional organ cluster dividing devices. Once a part of a cluster has been fixed according to the invention, the organs of the cluster, thereby assuming a defined spatial orientation, preferably are conveyed along a predetermined path to one or more processing stations for separating one or more organs or a part thereof from the cluster. A number of such processing stations is known per se, which stations can be easily adapted to receive an organ cluster fixed according to the invention. Preferably, from a cluster of organs comprising stomach, heart, lungs, liver, gall-bladder and intestines, first the intestines and the gall-bladder are separated, and then at least one of the other organs is separated. Consequently, the intestines and the gall-bladder, giving rise to the greatest risk of undesired contamination of the much more valuable organs like the heart and liver, are separated from the cluster as soon as possible. A device for fixing a part of a cluster of interconnected internal organs of a slaughtered animal comprises means for fixing at least one of the organs, a part thereof or a connection between the organs, the fixing means being adapted to move through an evisceration opening into the body of the slaughtered animal, to fix a part of the cluster relative to the fixing means; and evisceration means designed to interact with the fixing means for taking the cluster out of the body, the evisceration means comprising a tiltable scoop. Such evisceration means are known, for example from NL-A-8400506, but have never before been used in conjunction with fixing means or with separation of organs. In a preferred embodiment, the evisceration means comprise a scoop which is disposed near one end of an elongated carrier and can be swung about an axis which is essentially at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the carrier, the fixing means comprising two jaw parts which are fitted near the end of the carrier and are movable relative to each other in a controllable manner for clamping a part of the cluster between them. Fixing means and evisceration means can be taken into the body of the slaughtered animal by means of a suitable drive with a mutually synchronised movement, for the purpose of fixing the organs in question prior to or during an evisceration operation. In a special embodiment of the device, which is specifically suitable for fixing at the position of the gullet, the scoop is provided with a slit for accommodating the gullet, the jaw parts of the fixing means defining a similar slit in line with the scoop slit and at a distance from the scoop. It is, in addition, also possible for the combination of the jaw parts of the fixing means to form the scoop itself. Of course, the jaw parts in this case can be swung about an axis which is essentially at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the carrier. It should be pointed out that the fixing means which is designed to interact with an evisceration means when the organs are being taken out of the body, can also be designed to hold the organs in question or a part thereof against it by suction, although this is considered a less reliable option than mechanically fixing a cluster. The fixing means in the case of suction preferably is hollow and comprises one or more apertures, and can be placed under vacuum in a controllable way, for the purpose of holding one or more organs in or against an aperture by suction. Such a fixing means is described in, for example, NL-A-9002551, in which a selected organ, for example the stomach or the liver, can be fixed relative to the fixing means in the body of a slaughtered animal by holding by suction. However, this prior art device acts on organs taken one by one from the belly carity of a slaughtered animal, whereas the device according to the invention acts on a cluster of organs, which facilitates separation operations. In addition, according to the invention organs free from any connecting tissue can be obtained. The fixing means which is designed to interact with an evisceration means when the organs are being taken out of the body can also be designed to accommodate the organs in question or a part thereof in a space determined by the fixing means. In this case the fixing means used is, for example, a device for cutting out the vent of the slaughtered animal, of the type described in NL-A-9000782. A device according to the invention which is intended to carry out the method according to the invention comprises fixing means which are part of a conveyor system to feed the organs of the cluster along a predetermined path and in a certain spatial orientation to an inspection station for inspecting the cluster on the basis of the spatial orientation of the cluster in the maintained condition of fixing. The fixing means are, for example, moved in synchronism with the body of the slaughtered animal along a guide in a conveyor, the path of the body and the path of the fixing means diverging from each other following the removal of the cluster of organs from the slaughtered animal. The fixing means with the cluster of organs move to a processing station for a separating operation. The fixing means can be designed in a conventional way, but it is preferably of a design such as that described in greater detail below. If desired, for the purpose of maintaining the fixing of the cluster of organs along the path, the fixing means comprise a first and a second fixing means, the second fixing means being provided along the path of the first fixing means, and being designed to take over the cluster from the first fixing means. In a preferred embodiment, the second fixing means comprises two jaw parts which are movable in a controllable way relative to each other for clamping a part of the cluster between them, the jaw parts preferably being biased towards each other. A very simple and efficient second fixing means is obtained if the jaw parts are disposed at the end of the legs of an essentially U-shaped spring bracket interacting with a spreader for moving the jaw parts apart. A suitable choice of the pre-tension in the spring bracket ensures that the organ or organ part to be clamped is always clamped tightly between the jaw parts with the necessary clamping force, so that, on the one hand, adequate fixing is produced and, on the other hand, little or no damage to the fixed organs occurs. The organs thus can be conveyed by a conveyor to a processing station. If the jaw parts of the second fixing means are designed in such a way that one jaw part is provided with an elongated narrow side at the side facing the other jaw part, and the other jaw part is provided with an elongated narrow slit for accommodating the narrow side of the first jaw part, loss of fixing of an organ is effectively prevented. A device for separating intestines from a cluster of interconnected intestines, gall-bladder and other internal organs, the cluster being fixed at at least one of the other organs, a part thereof or a connection between the organs, comprises separating means for breaking one or more tissue connections in the cluster, and having at least one pair of elongated, essentially parallel rollers which are adapted to be rotated in opposite directions to each other, and which rollers are each provided on the outside surface thereof with means for exerting a pulling force on the intestines away from the rest of the cluster. If the pulling force exerted by the rollers is great enough, the rectum and the intestines connected thereto will break off from the rest of the cluster. The intestines can, however, also be separated by cutting off or pinching off the intestines at a predetermined place. In this way, the unusable intestines can already be separated at an early stage from the remaining, generally usable and valuable organs. The invention will be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1a shows a side view, partially in cross-section, of a preferred embodiment of an evisceration and fixing means according to the invention; Fig. 1b shows a top view of the evisceration and fixing means of Fig. 1a; Figs 2a-2d illustrate diagramatically the removal of a cluster of organs from a slaughtered animal with the aid of an evisceration and fixing means according to Figs. 1a and 1b; Figs. 2e-2g illustrate diagrammatically the transfer of a cluster of organs from the evisceration and fixing means according to Figs. 1a and 1b to a second fixing means; Fig. 3a shows a side view, partially in cross-section, of a fixing means; Fig. 3b shows a front view of the fixing means of Fig 3a; Fig. 3c shows a top view of a clamping means in the closed position of the fixing means according to Figs. 3a and 3b, partially in cross-section along the line IIIc-IIIc in Fig. 3b; Fig. 3d shows the clamping means of Fig. 3c in the open position; Fig. 4a shows a cluster of organs of a bird fixed with the aid of the fixing means according to Figs. 3a-3d; Fig. 5a shows a top view of a separating means according to the invention; Fig. 5b illustrates an operation to be carried out on a cluster of organs with the separating means of Fig. 5a; and Fig. 6 shows a diagrammatic top view of an organ processing line designed according to the invention. In the figures, like reference numerals relate to like elements or elements with similar functions. In the construction shown in Figs. 1a and 1b an evisceration means and a fixing means are combined to form an evisceration and fixing means 1. The evisceration means is known per se from NL-A-8400506, and comprises an elongated carrier 2, at one end of which a scoop 6 is fixed so that it pivots about a shaft 4. An evisceration operating rod 8 is pivotally fixed to the scoop 6 by means of a shaft 10, in such a way that when the evisceration operating rod 8 is moved in the direction of arrow 12 the scoop 6 swings in the direction of the arrow 13 - from the position shown by a solid line in Fig. 1a to the position shown by a dashed line in the same figure. The scoop 6 is provided with a longitudinal slit 14, which widens towards the centre of the scoop 6. According to the invention, a fixing means is added to the conventional evisceration scoop. Said fixing means comprises a first clamping part 16 which is fixed at the abovementioned end of the elongated carrier 2, and a second clamping part 20 which is hingedly connected thereto by means of a shaft 18. At the side facing the carrier 2, the second clamping part 20 is provided with an arm 22 which is hingedly connected by means of a shaft 24 to a fixing operating rod 26. Moving the fixing operating rod 26 in the direction of the arrow 28 causes the second clamping part 20 to swing in the direction of the arrow 30, with the result that a clamping slit 32 between the first clamping part 16 and the second clamping part 20 widens. A shoulder 34 provided at the end of the fixing operating rod 26 facing away from the scoop 6 and a compression spring 36 interacting therewith ensure that the second clamping part 20 always returns to the position shown in Fig. 1b when no force is exerted on the fixing operating rod 26 in the direction of arrow 28. The spring 36 determines the force which is necessary for enlargement of the clamping slit 32, or - in other words - determines the force with which the second clamping part 20 is pushed towards the first clamping part 16 at the position of the clamping slit 32. In use, as Figs. 1a, 1b, 2a and 2b illustrate, the evisceration and fixing means 1 shown in Figs. 1a and 1b is moved in the position shown by solid lines in the last-mentioned figures into the body of a slaughtered animal, for example a slaughtered bird 80 hanging by the legs from a hook 81, through an evisceration opening in the body in the region of the vent. In this case the scoop 6 will have to be capable of reaching past the major part of the organ cluster to the vicinity of the neck of the slaughtered animal, as illustrated in Fig. 2b. The neck region may be reached along the back side of the carcass, as shown in the figures, or along the front side thereof. When the scoop 6 has reached this position, operating the fixing operating rod 26 in the direction of the arrow 28 causes the clamping slit 32 to widen, and the scoop 6 is swung over in the direction of the arrow 13 by a movement of the evisceration operating rod 8 in the direction of the arrow 12. The result of this is that the gullet 38a of the slaughtered animal comes to lie both in the widened clamping slit 32 and in the longitudinal slit 14 of the scoop 6. The force exerted on the fixing operating rod 26 in the direction of the arrow 28 is then removed, so that as a result of the action of the compression spring 36 the second clamping part 20 moves relative to the first clamping part 16 in such a way that the clamping slit 32 is narrowed. The gullet 38a present in the clamping slit 32 is consequently fixed relative to the two clamping parts 16 and 20. This is illustrated in Fig. 2c. The next step is to move the evisceration and fixing means 1 out of the slaughtered animal in the lengthwise direction of the carrier 2, with the result that the gullet breaks off at the side of the clamping slit 32 facing away from the carrier 2 and the scoop 6 removes the cluster of organs 38 situated at the level of the carrier 2 from the body of the slaughtered animal. The fixing of the gullet in the clamping slit 32 is retained during this process. If the device for carrying out the operations (evisceration and fixing) shown in Figs. 2a - 2d is different from the device for carrying out other operations (stripping of organs), a mechanical transfer operation between the first-mentioned and last-mentioned operations is necessary. This transfer operation is illustrated in Figs. 2e - 2g. Starting from the situation reached in Fig. 2d, the cluster of organs 38 is conveyed away from the slaughtered animal 80. It can be seen clearly in Fig. 2e that a part of the gullet 38a is situated at a predetermined position under the clamping slit 32, where it is clamped between the clamping parts 16 and 20. This precise positioning means that the part of the gullet in question can be fixed securely and reliably between the clamping elements 74 and 76, as Fig. 2f shows. After this, the fixing by the evisceration and fixing element 1 is no longer necessary, as Fig. 2g illustrates. The function of the clamping elements 74 and 76 shown in Figs. 2f - 2g can be carried out by a fixing means shown in detail in Figs. 3a - 3d. This fixing means comprises an essentially U-shaped bracket 130, which is provided with an integral suspension eye 132. The bracket 130 is fixed by the eye 132 by means of a screw in a forked end 134 of an essentially Y-shaped conveyor element 136, two legs of which are provided with runners 138. The runners 138 make a movement of the fixing means along the laterally projecting flanges of an inverted T-shaped rail 140 possible, for example by means of a chain (not shown). The free ends of the bracket 130 are fixed in essentially plate-shaped clamping elements 144 and 146 which are interconnected and are pivoted about a shaft 142. The clamping element 144 bears a clamping part 148, which at the side facing the clamping element 146 is provided with a longitudinal groove whose width is approximately the same as the thickness of the clamping element 146. The fixing means can be moved from a closed position, shown in Fig. 3c, to an open position, shown in Fig. 3d, by pushing the legs of the bracket 130 apart, as will be described with reference to FigS. 3a and 3b. A control lever 150 disposed along the rail 140 and movable along with the fixing means at least over a certain distance can pivot about a shaft 152, as indicated by means of the double arrow 154. The end of the control lever 150 is provided with a wearproof and friction-reducing covering 156 and has a width which is greater than the distance between the legs of the bracket 130 in the vicinity of the clamping elements 144 and 146 in the closed position of the fixing means. When the control lever 150 is tilted between the legs of the bracket 130, the legs will be pressed apart, with the result that the clamping elements 144 and 146 will assume the open position shown in Fig. 3d. In this open position an organ can be inserted between the clamping. part 148 and the clamping element 146. The control lever 150 is then tilted from there between the legs 130, as a result of which the spring force in the bracket 130 causes the clamping elements 144 and 146 to move towards each other, while the abovementioned organ is clamped with a force which is determined by the elasticity properties of the bracket 130. Fig. 4a shows how a cluster of organs 38 from a bird is fixed at the gullet 160 thereof relative to the fixing means which is described with reference to Figs. 3a - 3d, and only a part of which is shown. The cluster of organs comprises lungs 162, glandular stomach 164, gizzard 166, heart 168, liver 170, intestines 172 and cloaca 174. Figs. 5a and 5b illustrate the design and mode of operation of separating means, which are used for separating intestines, and possibly gall-bladder from a cluster of organs of a bird, which cluster of organs is clamped e.g. at the position of the gullet 160 by means of clamping elements 144 and 146. The separating means comprise a container 180 which is provided with an outlet, and above which two elongated, parallel rollers 182, 184 which are rotatable in opposite directions relative to each other are mounted. The rollers are driven by a motor 186 by way of a reducer 188 and a belt transmission 190, the belt of the belt transmission 190 being coupled directly to a drive wheel of the roller 184, which roller is provided at one end thereof with a gear wheel 192 which meshes with a gear wheel 194 of the roller 182. The rollers 182 and 184 will thus rotate in opposite directions when driven, as indicated by the arrows 196 and 197. First, the roller 184 is provided with a helical conveyor rib 198 on the outside surface thereof, with a pitch which is considerably smaller than the length of the roller 184. In a known manner, the conveyor rib 198 brings about conveyance of the organs present between the rollers 182 and 184, in the direction indicated by the arrow 200 in the case of the directions of rotation 196 and 197 of the rollers 182, 184. The roller 184 is also provided on its external surface with three helical separating ribs 202, the pitch of which is considerably greater than the length of the roller 184. The roller 182 is provided on its external surface with three grooves 204, which are shaped in a complementary way to the ribs 202 of the roller 184, and at least partially accommodate said ribs 202 when a part of a rib 202 is lying in the nip of the rollers 182 and 184. The combination of the ribs 202 and the grooves 204 causes a downward directed force upon the organs, such as intestines, lying between the rollers. The separating means in Fig. 5a are shown only in a very rough diagram in Fig. 5b. Above the separating means shown in the central part of the figure is a conveyor, along which fixing means such as those shown in Fig. 3a are moved in the direction of the arrow 200. The clusters of organs 210 of a bird conveyed by the fixing means are guided by one or more diagrammatically shown guide rods 212 between the rollers 182 and 184, only the latter of which is shown in Fig. 5b. The downward force exerted by the rollers 182 and 184 on the intestines means that the intestines are pulled completely below the rollers, in which case the action of the ribs 202 and grooves 204 causes the connection between the gizzard 166 and the cluster of intestines 172 to be broken. The cluster of internal organs 210 is then conveyed further along the conveyor, hanging from the fixing means, while the intestines fall from the separating means into the container 180 and are discharged from there. An embodiment of organ blocking means in the form of two vertical strips 201, disposed on either side of the nip of the rollers 182 and 184, is shown by dashed lines in Fig. 5b. The distance between the strips 201 is selected in such a way that the intestines 172 can move through between the strips 201, and can also take the gall-bladder 203 along with them until it is between the strips 201. The organs higher up, such as the gizzard 166, cannot pass the strips 201, and rest on the top edge of the strips 201. When the cluster of organs 210 moves along in the direction of conveyance 200, a cutter 205, extending between the strips 201, the sharp edge of which faces in the opposite direction to that of the arrow 200, separates the intestines 172 and gall-bladder 203, on the one hand, from the remaining organs, on the other. Fig. 6 shows how a slaughtered animal 222 is fed on a conveyor 220a to an evisceration device 224 of a carrousel type known per se. The eviscerated carcass is then discharged on conveyor 220b by way of an inspection station 226 with a veterinary inspector 227, who may if desired be replaced by a computer vision inspection system. At the position of the evisceration device 224, which is equipped with evisceration means of the type shown in Figs. 1a and 1b, the cluster of organs which has been removed, the cluster comprising gullet, stomach (in the case of poultry: glandular stomach and gizzard), heart, lungs, liver, gall-bladder and intestines, is transferred to a conveyor 228a with fixing means of the type shown in Figs. 3a - 3d. The conveyors 220b and 228a run parallel and in synchronism along of the inspection station 226, it being ensured that a cluster of organs passes the inspection station 226 at the same time as the carcass to which it belongs, so that the relation between the cluster of organs and the carcass is directly apparent. However, if this relation is established in a different way, carcasses can also be inspected separately from their clusters of organs, as illustrated by dashed lines in the figure with conveyor part 220c and inspection station 228. Along conveyor 228a, after the inspection station 226 has been passed, the heart can be removed from the cluster of organs in a processing station 230, and the intestines and the gall-bladder can be removed from the cluster of organs in a processing station 232 (for example, in the manner shown in Fig. 5b). However, the sequence of the processing stations 230 and 232 along the conveyor belt 228a can also be reversed, while they can also be left out entirely in the organ separating line shown in Fig. 6. The cluster of remaining organs is then fed to a stripping device 234. If the cluster of organs has already undergone a processing operation in processing station 232, the stripping operation in stripping device 234 will result in at least the organs liver, heart and lungs being separated completely from the remainder of the cluster of organs. Said organs can then be processed further, possibly partially by hand, along a conveyor belt 236. It will be clear that the heart will not be present on the conveyor belt 236 if the cluster has already undergone an operation in processing station 230. If the processing stations 230 and 232 are not present along the conveyor 228a, the stripping operation in stripping device 234 will generally be carried out only until the processing stage has been reached in which the glandular stomach 164 and the gizzard 166 have been exposed completely, and the organs originally lying alongside them have been stripped off by the stripping elements, but they are still connected to the cluster of organs, so that their interconnection is not completely lost. The cluster of organs can be supplied in this state by way of a conveyor 220d to a device 238 which is known per se for separating liver, heart and lungs. Finally, the stomachs remaining from the cluster of organs are separated and processed in a stomach machine 240. It will be clear from the above that, by maintaining a fixing of organs which may have been achieved already during an evisceration operation, an important further mechanisation of the activities in a slaughterhouse is possible, in order to raise the quality of the products supplied and to reduce the production costs.

Claims: Method for processing a cluster (38; 161; 210) of organs consisting of a strong organ and other interconnected internal organs of a slaughtered animal (80), in particular a slaughtered bird, the method comprising the following steps: fixing at least one of the organs, a part thereof or a connection between the organs when the cluster is in or partly out of the body of the slaughtered animal; and taking the cluster out of the body, while maintaining the condition of fixing, characterized by the step of: inspecting the cluster on the basis of the spatial orientation of the cluster in the maintained condition of fixing. Method according to claim 1, wherein the fixing is achieved at the strong organ. Method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the fixing is achieved by clamping the strong organ. Method according to any of claims 1-3, wherein the fixing is achieved at the gullet (38a). Method according to any of claims 1-3, wherein the fixing is achieved at the stomach. Method according to any of claims 1-5, wherein the cluster (38; 161; 210) is allowed to hang free. Method according to any of claims 1-6, wherein the cluster comprises intestines, and the intestines are situated lower than the other organs of the cluster. Method according to any of claims 1-7, wherein the cluster comprises intestines, and the intestines are separated from the cluster before the fixing is terminated. Method according to any of claims 1-8, wherein the fixing is maintained by further fixing at least one of the organs, a part thereof or a connection between the organs, following which the first fixing is undone. Device for processing a cluster (38; 161; 210) of organs consisting of a strong organ and other interconnected internal organs of a slaughtered animal (80), in particular a slaughtered bird, the device comprising means for fixing (144, 146) at least one of the organs, a part thereof or a connection between the organs when the cluster is in or partly out of the body of the slaughtered animal, characterized in that the means for fixing are part of a conveyor system (138, 140) to feed the organs of the cluster (161, 210) along a predetermined path (200) and in a certain spatial orientation to an inspection station (226) for inspecting the cluster on the basis of the spatial orientation of the cluster in the maintained condition of fixing. Device according to claim 10, wherein the means for fixing are adapted to fix the strong organ. Device according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the means for fixing are adapted to clamp the strong organ. Device according to any of claims 10-12, wherein the means for fixing are adapted to fix the gullet. Device according to any of. claims 10-12, wherein the means for fixing are adapted to fix the stomach. Device according to any of claims 10-14, comprising means for fixing having a first (16, 20) and a second (74, 76) fixing means, the second fixing means (74, 76) being provided along the path of the first fixing means (16, 20), and being designed to take over the cluster (38) from the first fixing means. Device according to any of claims 10-15, wherein the means for fixing comprise two jaw parts (144, 146) which are movable in a controllable way relative to each other for clamping the strong organ between them. Device according to claim 16, wherein the jaw parts (144, 146) are biased towards each other. Device according to claim 17, wherein the jaw parts (144, 146) are disposed at the end of the legs of an essentially U-shaped spring bracket (130) interacting with a spreader (150) for moving the jaw parts apart. Device according to any of claims 16-18, wherein one jaw part (146) is provided with an elongated narrow side at the side facing the other jaw part (144) and the other jaw part (144) is provided with an elongated narrow slit for accommodating the narrow side of the first jaw part (146). Device according to any of claims 10-19, the cluster comprising intestines, and the device comprising means for separating the intestines from the cluster before terminating the fixing.

Inventors: DRABBELS BASTIAAN WILHELMINA J, JANSSEN PETRUS CHRISTIANUS MAR, TEURLINX ENGELBERT JOHANNES JA, VAN DEN NIEUWELAAR ADRIANUS JO, VAN HARSKAMP CORNELIS DIRK, DRABBELS, BASTIAAN WILHELMINA JOHANNES ELIZEUS J., JANSSEN, PETRUS CHRISTIANUS MARIUS, TEURLINX, ENGELBERT JOHANNES JACOBUS, VAN DEN NIEUWELAAR, ADRIANUS JOSEPHES, VAN HARSKAMP, CORNELIS DIRK
Applicants: STORK PMT, STORK PMT B.V.
Application year: 1993
Main classification: A22C21
IPC codes: A22C17, A22C21