Patent GB-309018-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to machines for treating fish
IPC: A22C25/12
Filed: 1929-01-07
Abstract: 309,018. General Foods Co., (Assignees of Birdseye, C.). April 3, 1928, [Convention date]. Fish, dressing.-A machine for scaling fish is shown in plan in Fig. 1 and in elevation in Fig. 3, and comprises a shoot 17 down which each fish slides, a stop 18 which is yieldingly main. tained in its initial position to position the fish preparatory to its being impaled on one of a series of spikes 15 projecting from a conveyer chain 3, the stop 18 being displaced to permit the passage of the fish, grid-like members 30 31 which position the fish as it passes between them, and rotary scaling brushes, having bristles which pass through the members 30, 31, mounted above and beneath the path of the fish. The shoot 17 has a hinged bottom plate 23 which is adjustable, to accommodate fishes of different sizes, by a hand lever 27 mounted on a shaft 25 carrying cams 24 bearing against the bottom 23. The conveyer 3 is carried by a frame 1 having an inclined framework 2 up which the fishes are conveyed during scaling. The con veyer is guided in a groove in one of the side members of the frame work, Fig. 5, the side member being slotted at 7, Fig. 3, to accommo date the sprockets 4, 5. The frame 2 carries a bottom portion 28 pivoted at 29 and underlying the bottom 23 of the shoot 17, so that the portior 28 is adjusted with the bottom 23. The cams 24 actuate a bar 27 connected with the stop 18 which is thus adjusted with the bottom 23 according to the size of the fishes to be scaled. The fish, whilst in the shoot 17, are retained, at one side, by a spring 19 and, at the top, by a pivoted member 20 which is pressed down by a spring 22. The grids 30, 31 comprise longitudinal bars and cross bars 33. The lower grid is fixed, and the upper grid is movable vertically against springs 32 to accommodate fishes of various sizes. The space in which the fishes move is closed at one side bv the fixed frame 2 and at the other side by pivoted walls 36, 37, the lower wall 37 being controlled by a spring 38. The brushes are concaved and are driven faster than the fishes and in the same general direction. The upper brush is carried on a pivoted yoke 41 which has an adjustable weight 44 thereon and is spring pressed against the fish, the tension of the spring being adjustable. A scale-removing water jet 58 is provided. When the fish reaches the end of the grids 30, 31 it swings on the spike into a vertical position, the head engages an inclined bar 62 which slides the fish off the spike. The fish is discharged over a shoot 61. The spikes may be of various forms, e.g. the section may be flattened and the tip curved, or each spike may have three prongs. Two or more cooperating pairs of rotary brushes may be used. The Specification as open to inspection under Sect 91 (3) (a) states that the brushes have metal bristles and to obviate the bending of the bristles over a definite edge and consequent breakage of the bristles, they are held in countersunk holes 46 in the hub 47, Fig. 9 (Cancelled), so that they have a large swing before they engage the edge of the hole. To limit the swing, rods 47a are carried by plates 47b at the ends of the brushes. This subject-matter does not appear in the Specification as accepted.