Abstract:
A poultry wing cutter is configured to receive poultry carcasses breast first, align the carcasses, and stretch the wings of the carcasses away from the body until the shoulder joints dislocate and separate. In the process, a portion of the breast meat is pulled outwardly with the wings and a pair of rotary knives slices off the wings. The blades begin their cuts part way into the breast meat of the bird so that a piece of breast meat remains attached to the severed wings to form a “new style” or “silver dollar” or “fast food style” wing depending upon how the wing cutter is adjusted. Feeding the birds breast first through the wing cutter results in wings with a consistent cut and weight from wing-to-wing, which is desired by consumers. Thus, the resulting wings are more in demand and therefore more valuable.

Description:
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    Priority is hereby claimed to the filing date of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/442,409 filed on 14 Feb. 2011. 
     
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0002]    This disclosure relates generally to poultry processing machinery and more specifically to systems and methods for removing the wings from the body of a poultry carcass as the carcass is moved along a processing path by a conveyor. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    The processing of poultry such as chickens and turkeys has become highly automated. Birds generally are conveyed suspended by their legs from shackles of an overhead conveying systems along processing lines for evisceration, cut-up, and further processing. It is highly desirable to perform as many of the processing operations on the birds as possible while the birds are suspended from their shackles to minimize handling and ensure greater uniformity in the cutup and processing of the birds. Accordingly, the birds are conveyed into engagement with various processing devices while they move in series suspended from their shackles along a processing path. For example, the birds can be de-feathered, decapitated, opened, eviscerated, and cut apart while being advanced progressively through a poultry processing plant suspended from shackles of an overhead conveyor line. As a result, the labor required for processing poultry carcasses is significantly reduced while uniformity and adjustability in the sectioning of the poultry carcasses into various poultry parts is more predictable. 
         [0004]    Chicken wings, commonly referred to as “buffalo wings” have become a popular takeout item for home consumption and as menu items in restaurants and fast food outlets. A demand has emerged for larger and meatier wings. This extra meat generally is taken from the breast and/or back portions of the birds from which their wings project. To ensure efficiency and proper cooking of the wings, it is important to retailers, restaurants, and others that all the wings to be cooked are of substantially the same weight. Larger wings do not cook as fast as smaller wings, and thus there is a possibility that the larger wings of a batch with smaller wings will be undercooked or that the smaller wings in a batch with larger wings will be overcooked. The result is poor quality product that may have to be discarded. Accordingly, it is important that precise, substantially similar amounts of breast and back meat be removed with the wings from the poultry carcass to ensure that each wing and its attached breast meat will be of a substantially equal size and weight. Furthermore, it may be more desirable to include as much breast meat as possible and in substantially the same amounts from wing to wing since breast meat generally is considered to be of higher quality than back meat. Wings with a piece of breast meat attached, depending upon their cut, may be referred to in the industry as “fast food style,” or “silver dollar,” or “new style” wings. 
         [0005]    To ensure uniformity in the weight of chicken wings cut from birds in an automated processing plant, wing cutter machines have been developed. One example of a wing cutter is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,429,549 of Verrijp et al., and the contents of that patent are hereby incorporated by reference. In the wing cutter machine disclosed in the &#39;549 patent, poultry carcasses suspended upside down from shackles are turned so that they encounter the wing cutter back-first; i.e. the backs face in the direction in which the carcasses are conveyed. As each carcass is, pulled by its shackles through the wing cutter, the wing on one side of the carcass is engaged by a first wing guide assembly, which tends to spread the wing away from the body of the carcass. This spreading of the wings dislocates and separates the joint between the wing and shoulder of the bird and pulls or stretches a quantity of meat from the back and/or breast of the bird. The bird is thereafter engaged at the separated shoulder joint by a first circular rotating blade, which cuts the wing and portions of back and/or breast meat from the body of the carcass. Subsequently, the wing on the opposite side of the bird is engaged by a second wing guide, which spreads this wing and dislocates or separates the shoulder in the same manner. The shoulder region is then engaged by a second circular rotating blade, downstream of the first, which cuts the wing and part of the pulled-away back and breast meat from the opposite side of the bird. Thus, wings with a piece of back meat and/or breast meat attached are cut from the moving birds to produce meatier chicken wings. 
         [0006]    Other wing cutting devices are disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,651,383 of van der Eerden and 5,569,069 of Horst et al., and the disclosures of these patents also are hereby incorporated by reference. 
         [0007]    One shortcoming of prior wing cutters arises from the fact that birds encounter the wing cutter back-first or with their backs facing the direction of movements of the birds along the processing path. This can result in a more complex and, as in the &#39;549 patent, a mechanized assembly for pulling the wings away from their carcasses. Furthermore, the amount of breast meat that is cut off with each wing can vary significantly since the rotating knives initially engage the shoulder joint region from the back of the bird rather from the front or breast side of the bird. As a result, it is more difficult and generally not possible with such wing cutters to ensure a consistent high quality “new style” or “silver dollar” wing, with a precisely sized piece of breast meat attached, which is demanded by consumers and therefore more valuable. There is thus a need for a wing cutter for an automated poultry processing line that addresses the shortcomings of the prior art. More specifically, there is a need for a wing cutter that produces wings with a highly consistent and predictable amount of breast meat attached to each wing. A wing cutter that produces high quality “new style” and “silver dollar” and “fast food” style wings is needed. It is to such a wing cutter and to a method of removing wings from poultry carcasses that the present invention is primarily directed. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0008]    The disclosure of U.S. provisional patent application No. 61/442,409, to which priority is claimed above, is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
         [0009]    Briefly described, a special cut wing cutter is disclosed for removing wings from the bodies of poultry carcasses as the carcasses are conveyed along a processing path suspended from shackles. The wing cutter has an upstream end where the carcasses enter and a downstream end where the carcasses, sans wings, exit the wing cutter. Unlike prior art wing cutters, the wing cutter is configured so that poultry carcasses encounter the wing cutter breast first rather than the traditional back first orientation. Alignment rails center and position each carcass as it begins to move into the wing cutter and an inclined elevation plate raises the neck of carcass up and bends or arches the torso of the bird slightly. The wings of the carcass then move into diverging wing slots on either side of the processing path where the wings are captured adjacent the shoulder joints. The wing slots may be defined between corresponding pairs of guide rails, which are angled outwardly from their upstream ends toward their downstream ends. 
         [0010]    As each carcass is pulled by its shackles further through the wing cutter, the outwardly diverging wing slots between the guide rails progressively pull the wings away from the body of the carcass until the shoulder joints become dislocated and separated. In the process, a portion of the breast of each bird is pulled or stretched outwardly with each wing. Since the bird progresses breast-first through the wing cutter, the portions of breast meat that are pulled out face forward in the direction of movement of the carcass. Rotating cutting blades on each side of the carcass then engage the bird in the region of the now separated shoulder to cut the wings from the carcass. More specifically, the cutting blades first engage and begin cutting the forwardly facing portions of the breast meat that have been pulled or stretched outwardly with the wings. As the bird progresses further, the blades slice through the meat, skin, and tendons between the separated shoulder joint of the bird to cut the wings with a piece of breast meat attached away from the carcass. The severed wings fall downwardly to be collected while the now wingless carcass continues to be conveyed along the processing path for additional processing. 
         [0011]    Since the birds encounter and move through the wing cutter breast first rather than back first, the cuts that sever the wings begin at the breast meat and progresses through the shoulder joint to the back of each bird. Thus, through proper adjustment of the positions and angles of the rotating blades, wing slots, and other structures, a highly consistent and predictable amount of breast meat can be cut away with each wing. Exceedingly high quality and consistently sized new style, silver dollar style, and fast food style wings can therefore be produced reliably and repeatably. These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the wing cutter and method disclosed herein will become more apparent upon review of the detailed description presented below taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing figures, which are briefly described as follows. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0012]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a wing cutter that embodies principles of the invention in one preferred embodiment and generally is seen from the downstream end of the wing cutter. 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  is a side elevational view of the wing cutter of  FIG. 1   
           [0014]      FIG. 3  is a top plan view of the wing cutter of  FIG. 1   
           [0015]      FIG. 4  is a front elevational view of the wing cutter of  FIG. 1   
           [0016]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the wing cutter of  FIG. 1  seen from the upstream end thereof. 
           [0017]      FIGS. 6   a - 6   e  show the progress of a poultry carcass through the wing cutter of  FIG. 1  and illustrate various aspects of the method carried out by the wing cutter to remove the wings from the body of the poultry carcass. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0018]    Reference will now be made in more detail to the drawing figures, wherein like reference numerals indicate like parts throughout the several views.  FIG. 1  illustrates a wing cutter assembly  11  that embodies principles of the invention in one preferred form. The assembly  11  includes a frame  12  configured to support the components of the wing cutter, generally indicated at  16 . Mounts  13  are attached to the frame  12  for mounting the wing cutter assembly to the frame of a poultry processing line so that the wing cutter  16  is positioned in the processing path of poultry carcasses being conveyed along the processing line. The frame  12  is adjustable up and down as indicated by arrow  14  to adjust the height of the wing cutter  16  relative to the processing path along which poultry carcasses are conveyed. Adjustment is accomplished in this embodiment by rotating hand wheel  15  to move the wing cutter up or down as needed, although other adjustment mechanisms my be substituted with equivalent results. Support beams  21 ,  22 ,  23  are mounted on the frame  12  and are configured to receive and support the elements of the wing cutter  16 . Preferably, but not necessarily, the support beams are adjustable in spacing to adapt the wing cutter  16  to various size poultry carcasses, as is known in the art. 
         [0019]    The wing cutter  16  has an upstream end, generally indicated at  17 , and a downstream end generally indicated at  18 . Moving poultry carcasses encounter the wing cutter  16  at its upstream end  17  and the carcasses exit the wing cutter at its downstream end  18  with their wings having been removed as detailed below. A guide rail assembly, generally indicated at  24 , is disposed at the upstream end of the wing cutter  16  for positioning and guiding each carcass through the wing cutter. Cutter assemblies  26  and  27 , which generally are mirror images of each other, are positioned at the downstream end of the wing cutter  16  on either side of the processing path of poultry carcasses through the wing cutter. Each cutter assembly includes an adjustment plate  29  that is adjustably mounted on a mounting plate  28  fixed to a respective support beam  22 ,  23 . The adjustment plates  29  can be rotated or pivoted about a generally vertical axis as indicated by the arrows adjacent the right adjustment plate in  FIG. 1  and can be fixed in a desired position. 
         [0020]    A collar  31  is secured to each adjustment plate  29  and, in this embodiment, is formed with a generally U-shaped cross section with spaced upwardly projecting legs. A pivot block  32  ( FIG. 4 ) is disposed between the legs of the collar  31  and can be rotated about a generally horizontal axis of a locking bolt that extends through the legs of the collar and through the pivot block. A saddle  33  is fixed to the pivot block  32  and includes spaced upstanding end plates between which guide rails  34  extend. A motor mount block  36  is mounted on the guide rails  34  by means of a bushing assembly that is adjustably slidable by means of a hand wheel  37  along the guide rails and can be locked in a desired position therealong. An electric motor  38  is secured to the motor mount block  36  and has a projecting rotary shaft  39 , to the end of which a disc-shaped cutting blade  41  is attached. Activation of the electric motors  38  causes their respective cutting blades to rotate at a relatively high rate to slice through skin, meat, and tendons of a poultry carcass as detailed below. With the just described arrangement, it will be seen that the adjustment plates  29 , the saddle  33 , and the motor mounting block can all be adjusted as needed to position and orient the cutting blades in virtually any configuration. Thus, precise adjustments are possible to cut away wings from poultry carcasses predictably and repeatedly regardless of the size and shape of carcasses being processed. 
         [0021]    With particular reference to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the guide rail assembly  24  at the upstream end of the wing cutter includes a pair of upper alignment rails  46  that project upwardly and in an upstream direction to curved ends. A pair of spaced restraining plates  47  is disposed just downstream of and below the ends of the alignment rails  46 . The restraining plates  47  have first and second legs that are angled with respect to one another and the inside edges of the restraining plates extend first inwardly toward one another and then slightly outwardly away from each other as best illustrated in  FIG. 3 . The restraining plates are adjustably mounted by means of a slotted flange and bolt so that they can easily be adjusted with respect to one another to accommodate various sized and shaped poultry carcasses as necessary. The restraining plates engage the bodies of carcasses on either side to stabilize the bodies during processing by the wing cutter. A pair of lower guide rails  52  is disposed below the upper guide rails  46 . As best seen in  FIG. 3 , the lower guide rails  52  are configured to extend initially upwardly toward the upper guide rails. Further, the ends of the lower guide rails  52  at the upstream end of the wing cutter are closely adjacent one another and the lower guide rails diverge away from each other as well as toward the upper guide rails  46  in the downstream direction. The upper and lower guide rails thus form a mouth of the wing cutter for receiving and aligning poultry carcasses as they are conveyed into the wing cutter. 
         [0022]    An elevation plate  51  is disposed just beneath the lower guide rails  52  at the upstream end of the wing cutter and extends generally along the processing path. The elevation plate  51  angles upwardly from a position adjacent the ends of the lower guide rails  52  as best illustrated in  FIG. 2 . The neck portions of poultry carcasses entering the wing cuter engage the elevation plate  51  as they are being aligned by the guide rails to raise the neck portion up and back and thereby arch the back of the bird slightly as it moves progressively into the wing cutter. 
         [0023]    At the mid-portion of the wing cutter, the upper and lower guide rails merge toward one another and then extend generally parallel to each other toward the downstream end of the wing cutter. The rails thus define a wing slot  54  ( FIG. 2 ) between themselves. Further, the rails and the wing slots between them diverge slightly away from each other and away from the processing path in the downstream direction. In the illustrated embodiment, the angle of divergence of the guide rails and wing slots corresponds substantially with the angle at which the second legs of the restraining plates above are disposed with respect to each other, although this is not a requirement or limitation of the invention. The downstream ends of the guide rails terminate at positions substantially aligned with the upstream knife edges of the cutting blades  41 . As shown in  FIG. 1 , however, the elevation plate has a downstream end that is disposed between the cutting blades and is formed to define a three pronged fork configuration with the center prong bent upwardly and extending between the blades and the side prongs angled outwardly and extending to the outsides of the cutting blades. The forked end thus defines slots between which the cutting blades are disposed and rotate. The upper and lower guide rails, the elevation plate, and the restraining plates are all adjustable to accommodate birds of different sizes and configuration and/or to produce different cuts of meat, as discussed in more detail below. 
         [0024]      FIG. 4  is an end view of the wing cutter as seen from the downstream end thereof. In this view, the motor mount block  36 , adjustable carriage  35 , mounting collar  31 , pivot block  32 , and adjustment plates  29  are perhaps better illustrated. As mentioned, these components allow virtually unlimited adjustability of the positions and orientations of the cutting blades  41  with respect to the processing path of birds through the wing cutter. Accordingly, the blade positions and orientation can be fine tuned to produce wings with a desired and consistent size piece of breast meat attached at the shoulder or to produce various commercially desirable cuts of wings as the case may be. Side deflector plates  43  are attached to the interior ends of the saddles  33  and are located substantially below the cutting blades  41 . A central deflector plate  44  is disposed upstream of the side deflector plates  43  and angles downwardly and in the downstream direction beneath the side plates. Together, the side deflector plates and central deflector plate funnel and direct the wings that are severed from poultry carcasses by the cutting blades  41  inwardly and downwardly so that they may be collected in a bin or on a conveyor, for example, to be transported for additional processing. 
         [0025]      FIG. 5  shows the wing cutter from the upstream end thereof and illustrates perhaps better the adjustment mechanisms of the illustrated embodiment for adjusting the positions and orientations of the various elements of the wing cutter. More specifically, the restraining plates  47  and the upper guide rails  46  are secured to lateral extensions  71  that are secured to the upper ends of telescopically adjustable posts  57 . Adjustment of the posts  57  positions the restraining plates and the upper guide rails at a desired vertical position and also increases or decreases the size of the wing slots  63  between the upper and lower guide rails. The adjustable posts, in turn, are secured to support beams  22  with adjustment bolts  59 , which allow the adjustable posts and thus the upper and lower guide rails  46  and  52  and the restraining plates  47  to be pivoted about the vertical axes of the adjustment bolts  59 . This permits the angles between these components to be adjusted as needed to accommodate various sizes or configurations of poultry being processed. The elevation plate  51  is also mounted on a telescopically adjustable post  72  so that its vertical position also can be adjusted as needed to position carcasses properly for encountering the cutting blades  41 . Finally, the spacing between the support beams  22 , and thus the horizontal distance between the various components secured thereto, is adjustable by means of one or more hand wheels  73 . It will thus be seen that virtually all of the components of the wing cutter are easily adjustable in a variety of directions and about a variety of axes to configure the wing cutter to accommodate virtually and size and configuration of poultry carcasses to be processed. These adjustments also allow the wing cutter to be finely adjusted to produce different cuts of wings such as for example, new style, silver dollar, and fast food style wings. 
         [0026]    Having described the various components of the wing cutter,  FIGS. 6   a - 6   e  illustrate sequentially the progression of a poultry carcass through the wing cutter for removing the wings therefrom. The poultry carcass is seen to be suspended upside down by its legs from shackles that are conveyed along the processing path by an overhead conveyor system. The bird has previously been decapitated, eviscerated, and the like and the bird&#39;s neck hangs downwardly with its wings extending outwardly to the sides of its body. Prior to encountering the wing cutter, the shackles are turned in a know manner to orient the carcass with its breast facing the wing cutter so that it encounters the wing cutter breast first. As mentioned, this differs uniquely from prior wing cutters where carcasses are presented to the wing cutter back first as described above. As seen in  FIG. 6   a , as each carcass enters the mouth of the wing cutter, its body becomes captured between the upper guide rails to position and stabilize the carcass. At the same time, the lower guide rails engage the carcass in the shoulder regions on either side of the neck while the neck is engaged by the elevation plate. The diverging section of the lower guide rails begins to urge the wings of the bird outwardly away from the carcass as the bird is conveyed further into the mouth of the wing cutter. 
         [0027]    In  FIG. 6   b , the carcass has progressed so that the neck rests on the horizontal top portion of the elevation plate, which arches the back of the carcass slightly as shown. At the same time, the wings have moved into the wing slots between the upper and lower guide rails and are captured within the slots between the shoulder and the elbow joints. In  FIG. 6   c , the bird has been pulled by its shackles further through the wing cutter toward the cutting blades. In the process, the diverging upper and lower rails between which the wings are captured have progressively pulled the wings outwardly from the body thereby dislocating and separating the shoulder joints of the bird. As this occurs, the body of the bird is held and retained in place by the spaced stabilizing plates. This prevents the carcass from being pulled out of central alignment by the pulling force exerted on the wings and the dislocation of the shoulder joints. As the wings are pulled outwardly from the body and the shoulder joints dislocated, some of the breast meat of the carcass adjacent the shoulder joint is pulled or stretched outwardly with the wings. It is this portion of the breast meat that will first encounter the cutting blades as the wings are sliced off of the carcass depending upon the cut of wing being produced. 
         [0028]    In  FIG. 6   d  the carcass has been pulled a bit further through the wing cutter. At this location, the shoulder joints have been fully dislocated and the stretched out portion of breast meat is exposed to the cutting blades.  FIG. 6   d  shows this portion of the breast meat just encountering the rotating cutting blades. As discussed above, since the portion of the breast meat that is stretched outwardly with the wings is substantially consistent from carcass to carcass, the initial cut of the blades begins to slice of a consistently sized piece of breast meat from each carcass that is processed. This differs from prior back first wing cutters where the initial cut is made from the back of the carcass and the last thing to be cut is the breast meat. In such wing cutters, the size of the piece of breast meat cut away to remain with the severed wings is generally not often consistent from carcass to carcass. 
         [0029]    Finally, in  FIG. 6   e , the carcass is seen moving beyond the cutting blades as it leaves the wing cutter. As shown, the wings have been cleanly severed from the carcass between the dislocated shoulder joints. Further, a piece of breast meat, which is substantially similar in size from carcass to carcass, can be seen to have been sliced from the breast of the carcass to remain with the severed wings. This produces higher value “new style” or “silver dollar” wings that are each of similar weight with a consistently sized piece of breast meat attached. The severed wings, not visible in  FIG. 6   e , have fallen downwardly to be directed by the side and bottom deflector plates into a collector bin, onto a conveyor, or otherwise collected to be transported to a remote location for further processing. 
         [0030]    The invention has been described above within the context of a preferred embodiment and a preferred methodology. It will be clear to those of skill in the art, however, that an array of additions, deletions, and modifications, both subtle and gross, may well be made to the illustrated and preferred embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention as delineated only by the claims. Such additions, deletions, and modifications are considered to be and should be construed to be within the scope of the claims.