Abstract:
An automated skinning and deboning apparatus for processing poultry thigh portions to remove the skin and bone from the meat portion in a single pass includes a support frame and housing having a feed inlet and a product discharge outlet. The feed inlet includes a guide chute which aligns the thigh portion such that the longitudinally extending bone is disposed parallel to the chosen path of travel. A first pair of conveyors receives the thigh portion and transports it to a skinning station wherein the skin is pulled away from the underlying meat portion via a pinching or trapping action of the skin engaged between a rotating fin and an arcuate surface of a pinch block mounted along the path of travel. Conveyors continue to transport the skinned thigh product to a deboning station and maintain the thigh portion with the longitudinally extending bone disposed in a parallel relationship with the selected path of travel to deliver the skinned thigh product through a ring-shaped nozzle wherein a plurality of water streams are directed at the juncture of the bone and meat portions to effectively separate the meat from the bone. The separated meat is collected as the bone passes through the ring-shaped nozzle for collection at a separate location.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCED TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     (Not Applicable) 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY-SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 
     (Not Applicable) 
     REFERENCE TO A “MICROFICHE APPENDIX” 
     (Not applicable) 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to processing poultry meat and particularly to apparatus and methods employed to remove the outer skin and debone poultry meat portions to provide skinless, boneless, poultry meat products. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     The poultry industry has for many years produced skinless and deboned poultry meat products for retail sale as a whole or ground up final product. The demand for such poultry products has continued to grow at a significant rate, yet, apparatus and methods priorly and currently used have failed to develop an automated apparatus and method which provide the desired degree of the requirements of efficiency, sanitation, speed, and simplicity of manufacture and operation. 
     Some improvements in this area are represented, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,402,112 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,264,542. Separate poultry skinning and deboning apparatus are described in these patents which require separate handling of the poultry portions for complete processing. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a poultry processing apparatus which sequentially combines removal of the outer skin from a poultry thigh portion and separation of the meat from the bone portion in a once through manner. Therefore only a single feeding step is required to achieve the desired skinless and boneless thigh meat product in a highly efficient, sanitary and faster manner. 
     The present invention incorporates skinning apparatus which pulls, rather than cuts, the outer skin layer from the underlying meat portion similar to that described in my U.S. Pat. No. 6,264,542 which is incorporated by reference herein. The deboning portion of the apparatus includes a water knife for separating the poultry meat portion from the thigh bone of the skinned thigh portion having some structural features similar to those described in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,402,112 which also is incorporated by reference herein. 
     The present invention also provides an efficient structure to sequentially combine the skinning and deboning operations in a once through process utilizing a single feed inlet and means to control the path of travel and the bone-in thigh portion&#39;s disposition relative to the skinning and deboning components to achieve the desired skinned and deboned end product. 
     Further, the present invention includes improvements related to product handling and the cutting means for separating the meat from the bone. This improves the meat removal function resulting in a higher yield of the final boneless meat product. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a top plan view of an apparatus constructed in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is side elevational view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the apparatus shown in the preceding FIGS.; 
     FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 illustrating a poultry thigh portion entering the feed inlet of the apparatus; 
     FIG. 5 is a partial side view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 having the outer side of the housing enclosure removed to better view the conveying and skinning structures of the apparatus; 
     FIG. 6 is a partial side view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 having the side of the housing enclosure removed to better illustrate the transport of the poultry thigh portion from the skinning station to the deboning station and structural components of the deboning operation; 
     FIG. 7 is a partial perspective view of the circumferential water knife shown isolated from the remainder of the apparatus shown in the preceding FIGS.; 
     FIG. 8 is a partial side view of a portion of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, having a side of the housing enclosure removed to illustrate a portion of the deboning station showing the separate exit paths of the deboned poultry meat portion and the bone portion; 
     FIG. 9 is a partial view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 illustrating a preferred gear and chain drive arrangement forming a portion of the apparatus constructed in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 10 is an exploded view of the nozzle and associated components employed to provide an oscillating motion to the nozzle, shown apart from the remaining parts of the apparatus illustrated in the preceding FIGS.; 
     FIG. 11 is a top plan view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 with the top cover removed to provide a better view of the arrangements of components; and 
     FIG. 12 is a partial top plan view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 11, illustrating the deboning station and associated components forming a part of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     An apparatus for the automated skinning and deboning of poultry thigh portions, indicated generally at  20 , is illustrated in FIGS. 1-3 and constructed in accordance with the present invention. 
     As seen in FIGS. 1-5, a feed inlet station, indicated generally at  22 , comprises a generally horizontally extending feed plate or platform  24  which may be fixed to a supporting housing and frame, indicated generally at  26 , in any suitable conventional manner. The housing simply encloses the inner working components for sanitation and safety purposes and is conventionally constructed in a well-known manner. Feed plate  24 , in cooperation with a pivotally mounted guide chute  28 , aid the desired alignment of a poultry thigh portion for travel along a chain-type conveyor  30 . The thigh portion  34  is disposed, skin side down with the thigh bone portion longitudinally extending generally parallel to the desired path of travel through the apparatus. 
     Feed plate  24 , preferably has a generally V-shaped configuration, having opposing surfaces inclined toward the middle portion of the plate to form a longitudinal crease or depression  35  along the centerline of chute  28  which is aligned with the center of an opening  27 . This configuration aids control of the desired disposition of the thigh portion, such as described above, for processing at the skinning and deboning stations. 
     Chute  28  is mounted on a generally flat plate  29 . Plate  29  is pivotally mounted on a shaft  31  which is supported by a pair of spaced horizontal arms  33 . Arms  33  are, in turn, fixed in any conventional manner to a pair of vertical support members  38 , such as by welding for example. Members  38 , in turn, are welded or fixed in any conventional manner to a portion of supporting frame  26 . 
     An operator places a pre-cut thigh portion including the outer skin and bone, such as  34 , on feed plate  24  with the outer skin portion facing downwardly and the bone aligned with the centrally disposed crease  35  in plate  24 . Preferably the small end or hip knuckle of the thigh facing toward chute  28 . The inclined surfaces of plate  24  aid in assuring centering the thigh portion  34  along the central crease  35  in the desired alignment. The operator then pushes the thigh portion into the forward end of chute which causes the chute  28  and plate  29  to pivot rearwardly and upwardly to fully expose opening  27 . The operator continues to feed the thigh portion  34  into chute  28  until the leading end of thigh portion  34  is engaged by endless chain conveyor  40 . 
     Conveyor  40 , preferably, is provided with outwardly directed, triangular spikes which aid in moving thigh portion to the left, as viewed in FIG. 5, and into engagement with a similarly constructed upper chain conveyor assembly, indicated generally at  42 . 
     As the leading end of thigh portion  34  is transported toward the rear or left end of conveyor  40  as viewed in FIG. 5, it is engaged by conveyor  42  which is similarly provided with upraised spikes to frictionally grip the leading end of thigh portion  34  while the trailing end is still confined within chute  28 . Before the trailing end of thigh portion  34  leaves first conveyor  40 , the leading edge of thigh portion  34  is engaged by gripper member  44  conventionally mounted to support frame  26  in a rotatable manner whereby the desired disposition and alignment of thigh portion  34  is controlled at all times by the sequential engagement between chute  28 , conveyors  40 ,  42  and gripper member  44 . 
     Gripper member  44  has substantially the same construction as the same member disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 6,264,542 incorporated herein by reference. Also, the function of gripper member  44  carrying radially extending fins, such as at  46 , in cooperation with a pinch block  48  provided with an arcuate surface  50 , function in the same manner as disclosed in said patent. 
     As described in this U.S. Pat. No. 6,264,542, as the thigh portion  34  is transported toward pinch block  48  as described above, the outer skin of thigh portion is pinched or effectively entrapped in the close clearance opening between the outer end of each fin  46  and the leading edge  52  of the arcuate surface  50 . Upon continued rotation of gripper member  44  and fins  46  and the action of conveyor  42 , the outer skin is continuously pulled away from the adjacent meat portion as thigh portion  34  is transported to the left as viewed in FIG.  5 . Pulling the skin from the underlying meat portion as opposed to cutting or piercing the skin is desirable as the latter tends to damage, tear or cut the underlying meat layer and/or requires continuous engagement of a sharp knife edge between the outer skin layer and the underlying meat portion. However, gripping or entrapping a portion of skin in accordance with the present invention only requires intermittent engagement with spaced portions of the skin because the portions of the skin not engaged by fins  46  are also pulled away from the underlying meat layer by the engagement of the adjacent skin portions trapped between a fin  46  and arcuate surface  50 . 
     This pulling action is significantly less likely to remove or damage the underlying meat layer and therefore maximizes the yield of the desired skinless poultry product as compared to prior art meat skinning apparatus used on poultry or other products. The downward force applied to the thigh portion may be controlled within appropriate limits by a bias force applied against the conveyor  42  by a spring or by a gas shock absorber, such as  47  conventionally mounted to conveyor  42  and housing frame  26 . 
     Still referring to FIG. 5, as thigh portion  34  passes gripping member  44 , it continues to be transported rearwardly to the left via the action of conveyor  42  and gripper member  44  and is supported by the upper surface  54  of pinch block  48 . As best seen in FIG. 6, before the trailing end of thigh portion leaves upper surface  54 , which may be extended by a spacer block  56  for manufacture and assembly convenience, the leading end of thigh portion  34  engages another conveyor  58  having a forward end spaced below the rear end portion of conveyor  42  such that control of the disposition and alignment of thigh portion  34  is maintained in the same position as described earlier herein. The bottom of thigh portion  34  may be unsupported for a relatively short distance prior to being engaged and supported by lower conveyor  58  because the thigh bone  36  to which the meat portion of thigh  34  is attached provides sufficient rigidity to maintain the desired control of the position of thigh portion  34 . Further, a major portion of thigh portion  34  is still engaged between conveyor  42  and spacer member  56  and an upper surface of a frame portion  60  of supporting frame  26  which supports pinch block  48 . 
     The disposition and alignment of the now skin-free thigh portion  34  is particularly important at this stage as the thigh portion is transported to and through the deboning station. Thigh portion  34  engaged between conveyors  42  and  58  is transported into and engaged by a second guide chute  62  fixed at an inclined angle leading thigh portion  34  past a water knife  64  mounted on the top of chute  62 . Water knife  64  directs a pressurized stream of water into chute  62  at a central point to create a longitudinally extending score or slice in the upper part of the meat of thigh  34 , preferably to a depth aligned with and exposing substantially the full length of the longitudinally extending bone  36  in the thigh portion  34 . Water Knife  64  is operatively connected to a source of pressurized water via a conventional fitting  65  adapted to receive a compatible fitting disposed on the end of a conduit in the form of hose  136 . Similarly to conveyor  42 , conveyor  58  is preferably biased to apply appropriate force upon thigh portion  34  disposed between the conveyor  58  and chute  62  by another gas shock  61  to maintain the desired control of the disposition of thigh portion  34  during its conveyance along the selected path of travel. 
     This longitudinal score of the upper part of the meat overlying the bone  36  facilitates the complete removal of the meat from the bone by the nozzle  66  as described below. It should be noted that a conventional rigid knife blade could be substituted for water knife  64 , however, water knife  64  is preferred for sanitary reasons as well as avoiding inadvertent cutting of the bone which may cause chips or slivers of bone to be removed with the meat portion and contaminate the desired boneless meat end product. 
     As best illustrated in FIG. 7, a ring shaped nozzle  66 , supported in housing frame  26 , is provided with a plurality of circumferentially spaced, generally radially directed outlet ports  69 . Each outlet ports  69  directs a fine stream of high pressure water at an acute angle designed to converge toward a common point slightly in front of nozzle  66  to contact thigh portion  34  at the juncture of the meat portion  34  to the longitudinally extending thigh bone  36 . The liquid streams form a water knife capable of separating the meat from the bone  36  as thigh portion  34  is transported through chute  62  toward the center of ring shaped nozzle  66  via conveyors  42  and  58 . 
     Ring-shaped nozzle  66  is conventionally provided with an annular passage, not shown, communicating with a bore or passage, not shown, extending upwardly within leg  102  which communicates with an inlet port provided with a conventional threaded fitting  103  configured to removably receive a connecting conventional fitting on the end of a suitable conduit such as in the form of hose  134 . 
     As the meat is separated from the joinder with the bone, the inside diameter of nozzle  66  is selected to prevent the meat portion from passing through the central opening of nozzle  66  and yet permit the bone  36  to pass through the nozzle opening as depicted in FIG.  7 . This maximizes the meat yield. As the bone  36  continues through the central opening of nozzle  66  and the trailing end of thigh portion  34  encounters the plurality of water streams emitted from ports  69 , the last portion of the meat is disengaged from the bone  36  and the deboned meat portion  37  falls downwardly, see FIG. 8, to a conventional conveyor or collection bin, not shown. Water under sufficiently high pressure may be delivered in a conventional manner via an inlet port  130  to a water filter  132  and hoses  134  and  136  to each of the water knife components  64  and  66 . 
     The now meatless bone  36  continues to be transported through nozzle  66 . As the leading end of the thigh bone  36  passes through the center of nozzle  66 , it is engaged between another conveyor  68 , of similar construction to conveyors  40 ,  42  and by an extractor chute  70 . Conveyor  68  and chute  70  cooperate to direct the bone  36  rearwardly until it falls from the rearward end of conveyor  68  to a collection area separate from the collection area for the deboned meat product. The means of separate collection of the meat and bone portion may be any suitable conventional form, such as a bin or a belt conveyor for example. 
     In one preferred embodiment, nozzle  66  is mounted within the housing for rotational oscillation. It has been found that this rotational oscillating action of the nozzle enhances the removal of the meat portion from the bone, particularly as applied to larger poultry thighs, such as turkey thigh portions, for example. 
     As best seen in FIG. 10, a preferred manner of providing the oscillating action is shown, however, other means and structures to accomplish this function would be well-known to those skilled in the art and expected to provide adequate and equivalent results. 
     With reference to FIG. 10, a conventional right angle gear box, indicated generally at  80 , includes shafts  82  and  84  perpendicularly mounted relative to another. Shaft  84  is connected to an oscillator cam  86  in any suitable conventional manner, such a keyed relationship, so that cam  86  rotates with rotation of shaft  84 . 
     A stub shaft  88  provided on cam  86  extends outwardly in an off-axis relationship. Shaft  88  is fixed within a bushing  90 , which in turn is press fit into a bore  92  provided near one end of a cam arm  94 . The opposing end of cam arm  94  carries a pin  96  provided with a circumferential groove  98 . Pin  96  may be mounted to arm  94  by a press fit within a bore  100  provided in arm  94  or in any other suitable manner. 
     Nozzle  66  is provided with a vertically extending fixed leg  102 . The upper portion of leg  102  includes an open generally U-shaped fork configuration adapted to be received within groove  98  provided in pin  96  in a rotatably mounted manner via a conventional cotter pin  104  which extends through aligned holes  106  in leg  102 . 
     Upon fully extending the fork configuration of leg  102  upwardly into engagement with groove  98 , holes  106  are located so that upon insertion of pin  104 , leg  102  is held in position on pin  96 . The ring-shaped portion of nozzle  66  is mounted to permit rotation within an annular groove  108  provided within a nozzle holder  110 . 
     Nozzle holder  110  may be mounted within the housing frame assembly  26  in any conventional manner and restricts any movement of the ring-shaped nozzle portion in a vertical or horizontal direction, yet permits rotary oscillation from the center of the opening in ring-shaped nozzle  66  in both a clockwise and counterclockwise direction through an angle dictated by the crank arm arrangement. It has been found that an angular rotation through an arc of about 56 degrees works well for purposes of the present invention. 
     Rotation of gear box shaft  84  causes rotation of oscillator cam and shaft  88 . The oscillating motion of nozzle  66  tends to improve the separation of meat from the bone by enhancing the cutting action of the fluid streams released from nozzle  66 . 
     The drive arrangement for the various moving parts may be provided in any suitable conventional manner well-known to those skilled in the art. One preferred embodiment is shown in FIG.  9 . 
     A motor, preferably electric, is operatively connected to a conventional gear box, indicated generally at  111 , whose driven shaft is operatively connected to sprocket  112 . Sprocket  112 , via drive chain  113  drives sprocket  114 . The shaft mounted to sprocket  114  is commonly connected to the gripper member  44  and gear  116 . Gear  116  drives gear  118 , which in turn, drives gear  120 . Gear  120  is operatively connected to drive lower conveyor  40  and gear  118  is operatively connected to drive upper conveyor  42 . Sprocket  112  also is operatively connected via chain assembly  113  to drive sprockets  122  and  124 . 
     Sprocket  122  is operatively connected to shaft  82  to drive the gear box  80  which is operatively connected to the components which provide the oscillating motion of nozzle  66  as earlier described herein. 
     Sprocket  124  is operatively connected to the bone extractor conveyor  68 . Sprocket  126  performs a conventional chain tensioner function to adjust the tension in the chain assembly mounted on the sprockets described. 
     In view of the foregoing description, it should be understood by one skilled in the art that the present invention provides a highly efficient apparatus to remove the skin and meat portion from a poultry thigh portion in a high volume, cost effective manner and reduces manual labor while increasing productivity.