Patent GB-455919-A (GB)
Title: Improvements relating to methods of and apparatus for skinning fish
IPC: A22C25/17
Filed: 1935-03-29
Abstract: 455,919. Dressing fish. BAADER, R., 33, Wakenitzmauer, Lubeck, Germany. March 29, 1935, No. 9917. [Class 28 (ii)] Fishes are skinned by inserting a tool between the flesh and the skin at right angles to the line of the backbone, and winding the skin around the tool. As shown, skewer-like members 401 are pushed into the fish, one on each side thereof and close to the tail, the skin -being thus lifted to permit it to be seized by grippers 403, 404 on winding rollers 402. The skewers 401 carry knives 410 which assist the separation of the skin from the flesh, and knives 412 are slidable in grooves in the skewers to sever the skin at the tail end before winding commences. The fish is held against the pulling action of the winding rollers 402 by rollers 411. The fishes are pulled in a circular path by clamps 100, as described in Specification 454,495 and the skinning-apparatus is associated with the dressing-apparatus described in that Specification. In operation, the skinning-tools 401-404, 411, 412 are slidable as a unit on a rod 418 so that they may be displaced outwardly radially of the path of the fish to permit the tail clamps to pass, or inwardly to project beneath and grip the skin. While the skinning tools are engaging the fish, they travel circularly with the fish, but when the skin is gripped, they stop, while the fish continues to travel. The grippers 403, 404 are operated by cam bar axially reciprocable in the rollers 402. After skinning, the tools return to their starting positions. The tools, when fully projected, enter sockets 413, 414 in a supporting plate 415 so that additional support for the tools is provided. Since the jaws 403, 404 project from the rollers 402, the rollers must be swung away from the members 401, 411 before winding commences, and afterwards, the whole skinning assembly 401-404, 411, 412 are swung away from the backbone to allow for the increased cross-section of the fish. When the skinning is over, the skin is removed from the rollers 402, after the jaws 403, 404 are opened, by fixed strippers (not shown), which engage the skin as the rollers 402 move backwards away from the track of the fish. The motions of the various parts are derived from a main shaft 4 which is geared to a cam disc 421 having a cam groove on its underside which is engaged by a roller 423 on an arm 424 fixed to the table 400 on which the rod 418 is supported. The cam 421 thus imparts oscillations to the arm 418 and the skinning tools slidable thereon, a cam track 525 effecting the projection and retraction of the tools. The rollers 402 are swung away from one another to permit winding by a cam 432 on the disc 421 operating through a shaft 435 and arms 436 carrying a connecting bar 437 slidably engaging a lever 438 which is connected to an arm 416 in which one roller 402 is journalled. The other roller 302 is journalled in a similar arm 416 geared with the first arm by intermeshing quadrants. The other skinning members have a lostmotion connection with the arms 416 so that they follow the arms after the initial separating movement. The sockets 413, 414 are moved by corresponding means to remain in alignment with the skinning-tools. The winding rollers are rotated by a gear train and shafting connecting them with the shaft 4, a clutch 467 being interposed. The clutch is engaged and disengaged by means controlled by a cam 461 on the cam disc 421, so that rotation continues long enough to skin the longest fish for which the machine is designed. The fish is supported during skinning by curved inner guides 472 and outer guides 477, 476. The guides 472 are made with portions 474 which slide with the fish, and portions 473 which are secured to the machine frame, the portions 474 being attached to the oscillating rod 418. The guides 472 are also mounted to swing, as a whole, to permit the passage of the tail clamps. The outer guides 477 are carried on the rod 418 and are pivoted to permit the tail clamps to pass. The guide 476 is primarily a belly cavity support and is mounted on a lever controlled by the measuring lever 145 described in Specification 454,495 so that it starts to move with the fish only when it has entered the belly cavity. Finally, the fillets are severed from the backbone by blunt fingers 512 which enter the cuts in the fish, a guide 513 being associated with each finger. The members 512, 513 are pivoted at 513<a> to an arm 513b carried by the rod 418, and a cam roller 515 engages a cam on the clamp 100 and swings the members 512, 513 to the dotted line position in Fig. 2. The opposite side of the fish is supported by a guide 514 pivotally mounted to allow the passage of the tail clamp. The skinning-machine may be associated with. the filleting - means described in Specification 454,495. Specification 455,918 also is referred to.