Gouging machine for hams

Abstract: A gouging machine for detaching the meat from the bone of crude hams, comprises, for supporting the ham (3), an operating platform (10) arranged to traverse between a position in which the ham is loaded and orientated, and at least one operating station provided to detach the meat from the ham thighbone (31) starting from the knuckle, and which comprises height-adjustable ham support means associated with a gouging unit comprising a support structure (28) which rotates about a reference axis (33) and carries at least one gouging tool (23) movable relative to said axis (33) between a withdrawn position in which its tip is spaced from the knuckle, and an advanced position in which said tip extends beyond the knuckle.

Description: This invention relates to a machine for automatically gouging cured raw hams. Said gouging is known to consist of an operation prior to deboning, and comprises detaching the meaty mass from the bone of the ham, in particular its thighbone, with the aid of a gouging tool commonly known as a gouger. The publication EP 0753260 illustrates a gouging machine which comprises a bed for supporting the ham and for transferring it in front of several gouging stations, in each of which a gouger is guided along a rectilinear path so that it enters the ham and grazes the thighbone to detach it from the meat. However, this machine presents operational drawbacks consisting firstly of the fact that the path along which the gouging tool is guided is a rectilinear path which does not properly conform to the shape of the thighbone. Moreover the presence of the knuckle projecting from the ham creates problems for the passage of the gouging tool. Finally it requires the use, made necessary by said operational rigidity, of different types of gouging tool suitable for acting on the sides and on the upper and lower parts of the thighbone respectively. Notwithstanding this, the known machine operates on the ham in an often imprecise manner, resulting in undesirable crumbling of the meaty mass close to the thighbone. Further, from EP-A-0 882 404 a gouging machine according to the preamble of claim 1 is known. An object of the present invention is to provide a machine able to effect automatic gouging of a ham bone in substantially the same manner as a specialized operator, and hence without excessive undesirable crumbling of the meaty mass close to the bone. Another object of the invention is to provide a machine able to effect said gouging without requiring the intervention of personnel, and hence under conditions of maximum safety. A further object is to provide a machine able to effect automatic gouging of both right and left hams of any size. A further object is to provide a gouging machine able to achieve a production rate higher than that achievable by an expert operator. A further object is to provide a gouging machine able to achieve said results within the context of a simple, rational and reliable construction by using a single type of gouging tool. Said objects are attained by virtue of the characteristics defined in the claims. The constructional and operational characteristics and merits of the invention will be apparent from the ensuing detailed description, given with reference to the figures of the accompanying drawings which show a particular preferred embodiment thereof by way of non-limiting example. Figure 1 is a front elevation of the machine without panelling. Figure 2 is a section on the line II-II of Figure 1. Figure 3 is a section on the line III-III of Figure 2. Figure 4 is an enlarged part of Figure 1. Figure 5 is a section on the line V-V of Figure 1. Figure 6 is a front perspective view from above showing the gouging unit in its withdrawn rest configuration. Figure 7 is a section on the line VII-VII of Figure 6 with the gouging unit shown in its advanced position. Figure 8 is a section on the line VIII-VIII of Figure 7. Figure 9 is a section on the line IX-IX of Figure 5. Figure 10 is a partial view of Figure 5 from above. Figure 11 is a perspective view showing a variant of the unit for amputating at least the upper part of the knuckle. Figure 12 is an enlarged detail of Figure 5. Said figures show a frame 1 mounted on four wheels 2 and defining two mutually perpendicular main vertical planes indicated by 11 in Figure 5 and by 22 in Figure 1. In particular, the plane 11 is the reference plane for the means for supporting the hams 3 and transferring them between the loading station (to the left in Figure 1) and the discharge station (to the right in Figure 1), and the plane 22 defines the reference plane for the gouging means and contains the axis 33 (see Figure 5) of the gouging unit 99. The front part of the machine comprises an aperture 4 (Figures 1 and 2) for loading the hams 3, beyond its lower edge there being a horizontal plate 104. As can be seen in Figures 1 and 5, in the underlying part of the frame 1 there are two horizontal cylindrical bars 6 which are disposed to the sides of the plane 11, and on which a slider 8 is slidingly mounted, associated with a pneumatic cylinder-piston unit 9. The slider 8 supports, at the level of the plate 104, an upper platform 10 shaped as a comb with its teeth orientated towards the plane 22 and parallel to the sliding direction of the slider 8. The lower edge of the aperture 4 presents a pointer 140 (see Figures 1, 2 and 3) which is aligned parallel to the plane 22 with a member 142 for correctly positioning the knuckle 30 of the ham 3 resting on the platform 10. Said member 142 is slidingly supported by the vertical wall 141 and comprises a channel-shaped piece having its longitudinal axis positioned vertically (Figures 1, 2 and 3), its concavity facing said aperture 4, and its base wall fixed to the rod of a rear pneumatic double-acting cylinder-piston unit 12 of horizontal axis which is fixed behind said wall 141. As shown in the plan view of the machine (Figure 3), the longitudinal axis of said member 142 and said pointer are contained in a vertical plane 55 parallel to the plane 22. By means of said member 142, the knuckle 30 and thighbone 31 of the ham 3 are positioned on the platform 10 in the correct position for subsequent intervention of the unit 199 for amputating the knuckle (Figures 1 to 3) and of the gouging unit 99 (Figure 5), the remainder of the bone of the ham 3, i.e. the tibia-fibula portion 32, being located on one or the other side of said plane 55, depending on whether the ham 3 is right or left. The transverse dimension of the platform 10 is less than the ham length, so that the stem and the opposite end of the ham 3 extend beyond the front and rear sides of the platform 10 respectively. The amputation unit 199 comprises a vertical slide 98 (Figure 2) situated behind the wall 141 and under the control of a pneumatic double-acting cylinder-piston unit 97, said slide 98 supporting a horizontal pneumatic double acting cylinder-piston unit 96 and an overlying pressure regulator 95. By way of a suitable vertical slot provided in the wall 141, the rods of said cylinder-piston unit 96 and regulator 95 extend to the front thereof where they are connected to a plate 94 which carries a lateral vertical pin 93 (see Figure 3) on which a support 92 is hinged and supported. Said pin 93 lies in the aforedefined vertical plane 55 (see Figures 1 and 3). To the support 92 there are pivoted, on two horizontal parallel axes 91 positioned to the sides of said vertical plane 55, two identical profiled arms 90 (Figure 4), of which the upper ends are connected together by a double-acting cylinder-piston unit 89, and the lower ends carry fixed thereto two horizontal blades 88 with their cutting edges facing each other. Between the lower ends of the arms 90 there is positioned a member for gripping that part of the knuckle 30 which is to be amputated. The gripping member (see Figures 2 and 4) comprises: an arm 85 which is pivoted in the manner of a rocker arm to the support 92 on the axis 84; a rear return spring 82; and a front scoop 81 which is positioned close to the front end of the blades 88, towards which its concavity faces, it having its lower edge arched and toothed. The lower front part of the scoop 81 is bent towards the wall 141. The purpose of the pin 93 is to enable the pair of blades 88 to adapt to the position which the knuckle 30 assumes when the ham 3 is locked on the platform 10 prior to the intervention of the blades 88. Suitable elastic means are provided to return the blades 88 to their rest position. A nailed plate 87 guided as shown in Figure 1 is controlled by the pneumatic cylinder-piston unit 86 fixed to a bracket 66 of the frame 1. When the ham 3 has been positioned with the aid of the member 142, the nailed plate 87 is vertically aligned with that end part of the thighbone close to the knuckle 30, and is lowered in order to lock the ham. To the side of the nailed plate 87 (Figure 2) there is a bracket 888 acting as an end stop for the lowering of the support 92, by means of the resting foot 777. A sensor is advantageously provided to sense the end of lowering of the nailed plate 87 against the underlying ham 3. Said sensor senses the position of the knuckle 30, this depending on the size of the ham. In the alternative embodiment of Figure 11, the amputation unit 199 comprises a motorized thin circular sawtoothed blade which is supported by a support 192 caused to slide vertically and horizontally, as already explained in relation to the support 92. The disc blade 188 is provided with a frontwardly open cover 292, the gap left by said cover receiving a scoop 181, elastically urged downwards as shown in Figure 11, and provided to hold the knuckle part 30 amputated by the blade 188. To the side of the platform 10 (see Figure 1) there is an operating table 13 upperly provided with small points or nails, and lowerly provided with four vertical guide bars 14, it being caused to move vertically by the underlying pneumatic cylinder-piston unit 15 (Figures 1 and 5). On the upper face of the operating table 13 there are provided totally extending grooves 100 (Figure 5) for receiving the teeth of the platform 10. When the table 13 is in its lowered position its upper face occupies a level lower than that occupied by the platform 10, so that during its travel towards the right in Figure 1 said platform 10 pushes the ham 3, already subjected to gouging, onto the inclined discharge roller table 16. The depth of the grooves 100 is greater than the vertical dimension of the teeth of the platform 10. Between the platform 10 and the table 13 there is a shutter 107 (Figure 1) which is made to traverse by a pneumatic double-acting cylinder-piston unit, not shown for simplicity, to isolate the compartment receiving the ham from the gouging compartment. In front of the table 13 (see Figure 5 and Figure 9) there is a cover 17 at which a unit 171 for amputating the shank of the hams 3 is received, and which presents a lower opening for discharging the amputated shanks into a suitable container 170. Said cutting unit 171 comprises a disc blade 172 of horizontal axis which is directly keyed onto the exit shaft of a self-braking electric motor 181, this latter being fixed to the lower end of an arm 80 arranged to swing in a vertical plane parallel to the plane 11. In particular, said arm 80 is upperly hinged, on the axis indicated by 79 in Figures 9 and 10, to a slider 78 which is caused by a pneumatic cylinder-piston unit 76 to slide along two horizontal cylindrical bars 77. To the said slider 78 there is hinged, on the horizontal axis 75, a pneumatic double-acting cylinder-piston unit 74 (with relative pressure regulator 73) which is provided to cause said arm 80 to swivel. The slider 78 also carries two descending bars 72 which support a member 71 carrying two feelers, each comprising a vertical plate 70 with a guide rod 700, and a rear cylinder-piston unit 69 acting as a transducer connected to the overall PLC control system of the machine. The operating table 13 is overlaid by a ham locking unit comprising two nailed plates 19 disposed to the sides of the vertical plane 22, and hinged, on respective horizontal axes 20 parallel to said vertical plane 22, to the two plates indicated by 21. The plates 21 are conveniently guided as shown in Figure 5, their ascending and descending travel being controlled by two pneumatic double-acting cylinder-piston units 123 (Figure 1). In the illustrated example the machine is provided with two identical gouging tools disposed in diametrically opposite positions about the reference axis 33, but it could instead be provided with a single tool. Each tool comprises a relatively thin, narrow elongate blade usually known as a gouger, having a slight longitudinal curvature with its concavity facing away from the reference axis 33 of the unit 99 (Figure 5), and has an arched cross-section with its concavity facing said axis 33, and subtending an angle of about 90o (see Figure 8). The front edge of said blade 23 presents a usual arched profile with a terminal cutting edge. With the blade or gouger 23 there is associated a thin blade guide 24 which presents a transverse profile matching that of the concave surface of said blade 23 (Figure 8), has a sharp profile at its front end (Figure 6), and is arranged to move along said reference axis 33. This latter coincides with the longitudinal axis of a shaft 25 rotatably mounted, and axially locked, on a support 26 positioned in the rear region of the machine frame 1 (Figure 5). Behind the support 26, said shaft 25 is linked to a geared motor unit 27 with two directions of rotation, arranged to subject said shaft 25 to a rotary movement in steps which subtend a fraction of a round angle. The shaft 25 supports a support structure 28 which extends symmetrically about the sides of the shaft 25, and supports the operating linkages of the gougers 23. A sleeve 29 is arranged to slide along the shaft 25 under the control of two pneumatic double-acting cylinder-piston units 128 fixed to the opposing sides of the support structure 28 (see Figure 7). The cylinder-piston units 128 are arranged to subject the sleeve 29, during its advancement travel, to a simultaneous sudden to-and-fro movement. The rear ends of the blade guides 24 (Figure 7) are hinged to the sleeve 29 on respective transverse axes 124, the said blade guides being constantly elastically urged towards the shaft 25 by two lateral springs 125 (see Figure 6), and against respective abutments provided by the said sleeve 29 (Figures 5 and 6). By virtue of said abutments the blade guides 24 become disposed virtually parallel to the shaft 25 when in the rest state, whereas during the gouging operations they are able to diverge to adapt to the shape of the thighbone 31 of the ham 3. As shown in Figure 12, the control linkage for the gougers 23 comprises two pneumatic double-acting cylinder-piston units 35 and 36 the casings of which are hinged to the rear outer region of the support structure 28 on axes 350 and 360 perpendicular both to the support structure 28 and to the shaft 25. The front outer region of the support structure 28 presents a pin 37 which is parallel to said axes 350 and 360, and constitutes the fulcrum of a first rocker lever 38. One end of the lever 38 is pivoted to the rod of the cylinder-piston unit 35, the other end being pivoted to one end of a second rocker lever 39 which is pivoted to the rod of the cylinder-piston unit 36, its opposite end being pivoted to the rear end of the gouger 23. Contact between the gouger 23 and the blade guide 24 is maintained by an idle grooved roller 555 (Figures 5 and 6) supported by a profiled frame 34 which rocks about the support structure 28 and is associated with a gas spring 340 also hinged to the support structure 28. The grooved roller 555 has also the important function of laterally retaining the respective gouger 23. At the region in which the gougers 23 operate there is situated an overlying nozzle 42 of duck beak shape (Figures 1 and 5), arranged to emit a jet of air which advantageously removes the pieces of bone detached during the amputation of the knuckle 30 and gouging of the thighbone 31. Behind the operating table 13 there is a meat presser 255, which is vertically slidable under the control of an underlying pneumatic cylinder-piston unit 256, to act on that meat part which extends beyond the knuckle 30 in order to facilitate the wedging of the blade guide 24 and gougers 23, and reduce the amount of meat which remains associated with the bone on termination of the gouging. The meat presser 255 consists of a concave profiled body, the upper wall of which is shaped as a fork to receive the meat part projecting from the knuckle (see Figure 5). The described machine operates as follows. The operator loads a ham 3 flat on the platform 10 so that the knuckle 30 engages the member 142 which is in its advanced position, and disposes the thighbone 31 perpendicular to the teeth of the platform 10. Having done this the operator starts the operating cycle, which comprises the following operations. The member 142 is moved to its withdrawn rest position, the nailed plate 87 receives the enabling signal to move downwards as shown in Figure 2, and the raised open blades 88 descend until the foot 777 encounters the bracket 888 and becomes positioned to the sides of the knuckle 30. The blades 88 then advance until the lower edge of the scoop 81 straddles the knuckle 30, then they halt and finally they close to amputate the knuckle 30 or a part of it. When the knuckle has been amputated, the entire assembly returns to the starting configuration, and the knuckle 30 falls into an underlying container 257 (see Figure 2). The aforesaid is valid also for the variant of Figure 11. At this point the platform 10 advances to dispose the knuckle-free ham 3 to be gouged on the operating table 13, with the thighbone 31 substantially in line with the shaft 25. The platform 10 halts, the table 13 rises through a small predetermined distance to receive from the platform 10 the ham 3 to be gouged, and the platform 10 returns to its withdrawn starting position. At this point the plates 19 are lowered to lock the ham 3 on the table 13, then the table 13 is further raised, causing the plates 19 to withdraw until the end of the thighbone 31 has been aligned with the end of the shaft 25. Said operation is controlled by a signal which the said sensor associated with the nailed plate 87, or interposed between said bracket 888 and said foot 777, feeds to the cylinder-piston unit 15 via the machine control system. When the table 13 has stopped, the meat presser 255 is lowered to expose the end of the thighbone 31. Simultaneously the slider 78, with the blade 172 at rest in the position of Figure 1, slides towards the table 13, by which one of the plates 70, depending on whether the ham is right or left, rests against the shank and slightly withdraws. Said withdrawal halts the advancement of the slider 78, causes the blade 172 to undergo a complete swing to cut off the shank, sets the direction of rotation of the geared motor 27 according to whether the ham is right or left, and causes subsequent withdrawal of the slider 78. The cylinder-piston units 128 extend to thrust the blade guide 24 against the thighbone 31, to which they adapt by virtue of the elastic load of the springs 125 and 340 and of the rapid to-and-fro movement which said cylinder-piston units 128 impress on the sleeve 29. At the same time, the cylinder-piston units 36 extend without interruption to thrust the gougers, via the rocker levers 39, forward so that they extend beyond the blade guides 24 when these latter have passed beyond the knuckle 30, and the cylinder-piston units 35, via the rocker levers 38, adjust the inclination of the gougers 23 to the shaft 25. Said inclination is a maximum at the commencement of a gouging stage, see the operative position of Figure 12, and a minimum at the end of this stage. When the tips of the gougers 23 reach the joint connecting the thighbone 31 to the tibia-fibula portion 32 (see Figure 3), the blade guides 24 and the gougers 23 return to their withdrawn starting position. The geared motor 27 then causes the shaft 25 to undergo a predetermined rotation, after which the blade guides 24 and the gougers 23 perform another gouging operation, which takes place as specified above. The gouging terminates after the shaft 25 has travelled through 180°, by which the meat presser 255 returns to its starting position shown in Figure 8. At this point the aforedescribed complete operating cycle is repeated identically on the next ham. The merits and advantages of the invention are apparent from the aforegoing and from an examination of the accompanying figures.

Claims: A gouging machine for detaching the meat from the bone of crude hams, comprising, for supporting the ham (3), at least one operating platform (10) arranged to traverse between a position in which the ham is loaded and orientated, and at least one operating station provided to detach the meat from the ham thighbone (31) starting from the knuckle, wherein said operating station comprises height-adjustable ham support means associated with a gouging unit, characterised by said gouging unit comprising a support structure (28) which is rotatable about a reference axis (33) and carries at least one gouging tool (23) movable relative to said axis (33) between a withdrawn position in which its tip is spaced from the knuckle, and an advanced position in which said tip extends beyond the knuckle. A machine as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that said height-adjustable ham support means are a grooved table (13) associated with the comb-shaped ham platform (10), the teeth (100) of which are inserted into the grooves of the grooved table (13), which have a depth greater than the vertical dimension of said teeth. A machine as claimed in claim 2, characterised in that said grooved table is arranged to assume at least two positions, of which one is a lowered position at a fixed level to receive the ham, and one is a raised position the level of which depends on the thickness of the ham being worked, and in which the gouging takes place. A machine as claimed in claim 3, characterised in that the support surface for the platform (10) supporting the ham (3) is positioned at a level slightly higher than that occupied by the upper face of the grooved table (13) when in its lowered position with its teeth slackly inserted in the surface grooves of said table, and at a level slightly lower than the grooved table when in its raised position. A machine as claimed in claim 1, characterised by comprising a member provided for the correct positioning of the ham when in its loading position on the platform (10). A machine as claimed in claim 5, characterised in that said positioning member comprises a concave abutment plate (142) the concavity of which faces the platform (10) when in its loading position, said plate being arranged to move between an active advanced position in which it receives the knuckle, and an inactive withdrawn position in which it is spaced from the knuckle. A machine as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that said one gouging tool (23) is associated with means (38, 39) arranged to subject it to a combined movement both parallel to said reference axis and transverse to said axis between a withdrawn position in which its tip is spaced from the knuckle, and an advanced position in which said tip passes beyond the knuckle and reaches substantially the joint between the thighbone and the tibia-fibula. A machine as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that said support structure is rigid with a projecting shaft (25) rotatably mounted on the machine frame, and linked to a geared motor unit with two directions of rotation. A machine as claimed in claim 7, characterised in that said means comprise a first rocker lever (38) which is pivoted to a point (37) rigid with said shaft, and has one end pivoted to a first operating cylinder-piston unit (35) and its other end pivoted to the end of a second rocker lever (39) which in an intermediate position is pivoted to a second operating cylinder-piston unit (36) and at its opposite end is pivoted to the rear end of said at least one gouging tool (23). A machine as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that with said support structure there are associated at least two gouging tools in diametrically opposite positions about the shaft axis. A machine as claimed in claim 8, characterised in that slidable but torsionally locked on said shaft there is a sleeve carrying, pivoted thereto, at least one blade guide element maintained elastically urged towards the shaft and acting as a support for the terminal part of the tool, said sleeve being arranged to move between a withdrawn position in which the front end of the blade guide element rests on the ham knuckle, and an advanced position in which it extends beyond said knuckle to prevent the gouging tool jamming against it. A machine as claimed in claim 1, characterised by comprising an amputation unit (199) arranged to remove from the ham at least the upper cap of the knuckle prior to the intervention of said at least one gouging tool. A machine as claimed in claim 12, characterised in that said amputation unit is located in the ham loading and positioning region on the platform (10) and acts in combination with means for retaining the ham during the removal of said at least the upper cap of the knuckle. A machine as claimed in claim 13, characterised in that said means comprise a vertically slidable nailed plate (87) arranged to press against the terminal part of the thighbone close to the knuckle. A machine as claimed in claim 12, characterised in that said amputation unit comprises a pair of substantially horizontal blades (88) with mutually facing cutting edges arranged to move with mutual approach and withdrawal movement, and carried by a linkage system (92, 93, 94) arranged to move the pair along two mutually perpendicular directions between a raised rest position and a lowered intervention position in which the blades embrace at least part of the knuckle, to be then closed. A machine as claimed in claim 15, characterised in that between said pair of blades and said linkage system there is interposed a vertical hinge pin (93) enabling the blades to adapt elastically to the position of the knuckle. A machine as claimed in claim 12, characterised in that said amputation unit comprises a motorized disc blade of virtually vertical axis, carried by a movable member arranged to move along two mutually perpendicular directions, to dispose the blade in an inactive position in which its cutting edge is spaced from the knuckle, and in an active position in which said cutting edge interferes therewith. A machine as claimed in claim 12, characterised in that with the cutting means of said amputation unit there is associated a concave retention element arranged to receive that part of the knuckle separated from the thighbone. A machine as claimed in claim 14, characterised in that said nailed plate comprises an abutment which determines the working level of the amputation unit. A machine as claimed in claim 14, characterised in that said nailed plate is provided with a sensor to sense the level occupied by the knuckle of the ham locked in the loading position, and to feed a signal, via the machine control system, to control the level of the grooved table in front of the gouging station. A machine as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that in the gouging station there is provided a fork-shaped meat presser able to slide vertically between a rest position in which it enables the ham to be loaded onto said operating table, and a working position in which it downwardly presses the meaty mass which projects beyond the end of the thighbone of the ham locked on the operating table. A machine as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the gouging station comprises at least one blower nozzle arranged to feed a stream of pressurized air towards the knuckle. A machine as claimed in claim 1, characterised by comprising, located in the gouging station, means for cutting off the shank. A machine as claimed in claim 23, characterised in that said means comprise a motorized circular blade of horizontal axis supported at the base of a rocker shaft carried by a horizontal slider arranged to move the blade between a distant position in which it enables the ham to be loaded, and a near position in which an abutment positions it relative to the shank to be cut off. A machine as claimed in claim 24, characterised in that said abutment is shaped to recognize whether the ham present on the operating table is of right or left configuration, and to determine the direction of rotation of the support structure carrying the at least one gouging tool about said reference axis. A machine as claimed in claim 25, characterised in that said abutment comprises two horizontally spaced-apart plates slidingly supported individually by the structure of said blade support slider, via interposed respective transducer means sensitive to the relative sliding between the plates and the structure.

Inventors: GALLONI DINO, GALLONI LUCIANO, GALLONI, DINO, GALLONI, LUCIANO
Applicants: SONCINI A MACCH SPA, MACCHINE SONCINI ALBERTO S.P.A.
Application year: 2001
Main classification: A22C17
IPC codes: A22C17