Abstract:
An apparatus for washing the neck area of an animal carcass includes a pair of upwardly inclined brushes sharing a common angle of inclination, followed by a first pair of vertically disposed brushes, a second pair of vertically disposed brushes, and by a pair of downwardly inclined brushes sharing a common angle of inclination. The brushes of each pair of brushes are transversely spaced apart from one another to accommodate an animal carcass between them. First and second fluid headers are positioned in parallel relation to each inclined brush. A neck area of a carcass is initially cleaned by the pair of upwardly inclined brushes and associated fluid headers. The neck area then passes between the first and second pair of vertical brushes and associated fluid headers. The final cleaning is administered by the pair of downwardly inclined brushes and their associated fluid headers.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   This invention relates, generally, to methods for cleaning animal carcasses. More particularly, it relates to apparatus and methods for cleaning the neck area of an animal carcass. 
   2. Description of the Prior Art 
   The federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned the use of brushes in animal carcass cleaning plants for many years because the brushes could become contaminated by one product and therefore other products moving through a cleaning station could become cross-contaminated. The present inventors discovered that the original contamination was possible because multiple bristles, each of which has a substantially circular transverse cross-section, were collectively bundled for mounting in circular blind bores formed in brush heads, enabling bacteria to thrive in the interstitial spaces between the bristles. The present inventors solved the contamination problem by reducing the size of each blind bore and mounting a single bristle in each blind bore, thereby eliminating the interstitial spaces and eliminating the bacterial breeding ground. The FDA then lifted the ban and rotating brushes are now allowed to be used in carcass cleaning procedures. 
   During the ban, carcass cleaning companies relied on oscillating high pressure water jets to perform the cleaning. With the advent of the bacteria-free brushes, most of these companies simply added the new, improved brushes to their cleaning stations without giving much thought as to the proper placement of the brushes, the optimal orientation of the brushes, the length of the individual bristles that collectively form a brush, how the water spray pattern should be adjusted to work with brushes, and so on. 
   Cleaning the neck area of a carcass is problematic. The known methods include spraying the neck area with high pressure water, usually with nozzles that oscillate back and forth. 
   Attempts have been made to improve the cleaning action of the water by increasing its pressure. However, the extra pressure can inhibit the oscillation of the nozzles so what is gained in pressure is lost in coverage. 
   Cleaning with water alone, or brushes alone, however, does not guarantee a clean product. The placement of the brushes, their direction of rotation, the length of their bristles, how the brushes are used in conjunction with spray nozzles, and so on cooperate to produce a clean product. 
   Thus there is a need for a neck cleaning method and apparatus that uses both brushes and water sprays in an optimal way. 
   More particularly, there is a need for methods that teach an optimal placement and orientation of brushes and water sprays relative to one another. 
   There is a need as well for an apparatus that incorporates brushes having bristles that perform more effectively than conventional bristles. 
   However, in view of the prior art taken as a whole at the time the present invention was made, it was not obvious to those of ordinary skill how the identified needs could be fulfilled. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The long-standing but heretofore unfulfilled need for an improved neck cleaning method and apparatus is now met by a new, useful, and non-obvious invention. 
   The inventive structure in its basic form is a novel assembly of rotatably-mounted brushes and fluid headers having nozzles along their respective extents for cleaning the neck area of a carcass. 
   The novel assembly of brushes and fluid headers is housed in an elongate, straight structure having an entrance end and an exit end. The brushes are arranged into pairs of brushes and that are transversely spaced apart from one another by a distance sufficient to receive a split carcass therebetween. 
   The first pair of brushes includes two transversely spaced apart brushes that are upwardly inclined and rotate about an axis of rotation that is inclined at a predetermined angle, preferably about forty-five degrees (45°), relative to horizontal. The second pair of brushes is actually a group of four (4) brushes, including a first, leading pair of transversely spaced apart brushes that rotate about a vertical axis and a second, trailing pair of transversely spaced apart brushes that rotate about a vertical axis. The third pair of brushes includes two transversely spaced apart brushes that are downwardly inclined and rotate about an axis of rotation that is inclined at a predetermined angle, preferably about forty-five degrees (45°), relative to horizontal. 
   The pairs of upwardly inclined, vertical, and downwardly inclined brushes are in longitudinal alignment with one another, i.e., the first brush in each pair of brushes is in longitudinal alignment with the first brush of the other pairs and the second brush in each pair of brushes is in longitudinal alignment with the second brush of each other pair. 
   The carcass being cleaned is suspended on an overhead conveyor that transports the carcass into the assembly of brushes at the entrance end, carries it the extent of the housing where it is brushed and sprayed, and carries it out of the exit end of the housing for further treatment. The path of travel of the carcass is coincident with a longitudinal axis of symmetry of the housing. 
   There are two (2) elongate fluid headers associated with each inclined brush and one (1) elongate fluid header associated with each vertical brush. A plurality of water or other liquid fluid-emitting nozzles is formed along the extent of each fluid header. 
   For each inclined brush, a first fluid header is mounted parallel to the axis of rotation of the brush and its nozzles are aimed toward the carcass, just barely missing the radially outermost end of the bristles or appendages. The water therefore impacts against the neck and flows downwardly over the neck under the influence of gravity and under the action of the brushes. A second fluid header is also mounted parallel to the axis of rotation of the brush and is positioned in the same vertical plane as the first fluid header, but the second fluid header is positioned radially closer to the brush. Its nozzles are aimed radially inwardly of the respective distal ends of the bristles or appendages so that the water emitted by the nozzles flows from radially inwardly of the radially outermost end of the bristles towards the radially outermost ends thereof. 
   The nozzles in the lower fluid header are aimed at the brushes as they complete their downward rotation so that the water from the lower fluid header is dedicated to brush cleaning. 
   The neck area is the lower forty inches (40″) or so of the carcass. The neck area is first brushed by the first pair of transversely spaced apart brushes that is upwardly inclined at about a forty five degree (45°) angle. These upwardly inclined brushes are positioned near the entrance end of the assembly of brushes. The leading and trailing pair of vertical brushes follows the upwardly inclined brushes and provides a horizontal attack angle on the most critical area of the neck. The first, leading and second, trailing pairs of vertical brushes are positioned mid-length of the assembly. The vertical brushes are followed by the pair of transversely spaced apart brushes that is downwardly inclined at about a forty five degree (45°) angle. The pair of downwardly inclined brushes is positioned near the exit end of the assembly. 
   The pair of upwardly inclined brushes counter-rotate in a downward direction, as does the pair of downwardly inclined brushes. The middle set of vertical brushes includes the leading pair of transversely opposed brushes that counter-rotate in a direction towards the entrance end of the housing and the trailing pair of transversely opposed brushes that counter-rotate in a direction towards the exit end of the housing. 
   The vertical fluid headers associated with the vertical brushes are aimed at the brushes in cleaning relation thereto and not at the carcass. 
   Each nozzle of each fluid header produces a flat, fan-shaped spray that enables the water or other liquid fluid to be aimed at its intended target to minimize wastage of said water or other liquid fluid. 
   Each brush has short, medium length, and long bristles, also known as appendages, to enhance the cleaning power of the brush. 
   An important object of this invention is to thoroughly clean the neck area of carcasses with a combination of water or other liquid fluid under pressure and mechanical brushing. 
   A closely related object is to accomplish the foregoing object while using a minimum amount of water or other liquid fluid. 
   A more specific object is to disclose the optimum arrangement of brushes and fluid headers in a neck washing apparatus. 
   Still another object is to advance the art of brushes by disclosing bristles having greater cleaning power than the bristles of known brushes. 
   These and other important objects, advantages, and features of the invention will become clear as this description proceeds. 
   The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts that will be exemplified in the description set forth hereinafter and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
       FIG. 1  is a front elevational view of the novel neck washer assembly with the brushes depicted in diagrammatic form; 
       FIG. 2  is a top plan view of the novel neck washer assembly; 
       FIG. 3  is a first, entrance end elevational view of the neck washer; 
       FIG. 4  is a second, exit end elevational view thereof; 
       FIG. 5  is a perspective view of one-half the novel neck washer assembly, i.e., a perspective view taken along line  5 - 5  in  FIG. 2 ; and 
       FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the novel neck washer. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   Referring now to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , it will there be seen that an illustrative embodiment of the invention is denoted as a whole by the reference numeral  10 . 
   Neck washer assembly, in this first embodiment, includes eight (8) brushes, four (4) of which are visible in the front view of  FIG. 1  and all eight (8) of which are visible in the top plan view of  FIG. 2 . 
   More particularly, a pair of upwardly inclined brushes is denoted  14 ,  14   a , a first or leading pair of vertical brushes is denoted  16 ,  16   a , a second or trailing pair of vertical brushes is denoted  18 ,  18   a , and a pair of downwardly inclined brushes is denoted  20 ,  20   a.    
   The brushes of each pair of brushes are transversely spaced from one another by a distance sufficient for a carcass neck to pass therebetween. More particularly, a carcass having a neck to be washed is suspended from an overhead conveyance and follows a path of travel between the paired brushes, traveling from left-to-right in the configuration as drawn. 
   Brush  14  rotates in a counterclockwise direction and brush  14   a  rotates in a clockwise direction in the assembly as drawn. This downwardly-directed counter-rotation causes the individual bristles of the brushes to travel from the back of a carcass neck towards the front thereof as the carcass enters the assembly at the left or entrance end thereof and travels toward the exit end of the assembly. The contaminants on a carcass neck are therefore brushed off the neck in a generally forward and downwardly direction by upwardly inclined brushes  14 ,  14   a , beginning at a lower end of the neck and ending at an upper end thereof. 
   Each bristle of brush  14  is an appendage that is mounted to a core  22  and core  22  is keyed to an elongate shaft  24  that is rotated by a motor and gearbox, collectively denoted  26 . Elongate shaft  24  is inclined upwardly at a forty five degree (45°) angle. Upwardly inclined brush  14   a  has the same structure. Although a separate motor is dedicated to each shaft in this illustrative embodiment, both shafts could be rotated by a single motor having a couple of power-take-off belts or the like. Therefore, the term “motor means” includes at least one motor and does not require two motors. 
   Each bristle of leading vertical brush  16  is an appendage that is mounted to a core  28  that is keyed to vertical shaft  30  that is rotated by a motor and gearbox that are collectively denoted  32 . Leading vertical brush  16   a  has the same structure. 
   Each bristle of trailing vertical brush  18  is an appendage that is mounted to a core  34  that is keyed to vertical shaft  36  that is rotated by a motor and gearbox that are collectively denoted  38 . Trailing vertical brush  18   a  has the same structure. 
   Vertical shafts  30  and  36  are disposed in parallel relation to one another. Motors  32  and  38  are connected in driving relation to vertical shafts  30  and  36  so that brushes  16  and  18  rotate at a common number of revolutions per minute (rpm) but in opposite directions. The same structure and rotation applies to brushes  16   a ,  18   a.    
   Each bristle of downwardly inclined brush  20  is an appendage that is mounted to a core  40  and core  40  is keyed to an elongate shaft  42  that is rotated by a motor and gearbox, collectively denoted  44 . Elongate shaft  44  is inclined downwardly at a forty five degree (45°) angle. Downwardly inclined brush  20   a  has the same structure. 
   After a carcass neck has traveled between and been brushed by upwardly inclined brushes  14  and  14   a , it passes between the leading set of vertical brushes  16 ,  16   a . Said leading set of brushes counter-rotate with respect to one another in a direction that opposes the path of travel of the carcass neck. Thus, contaminants are brushed toward the entrance end of assembly  10 . The carcass neck then passes between the trailing set of vertical brushes  18 ,  18   a . Said trailing set of brushes counter-rotate with respect to one another in a direction that follows the path of travel of the carcass. Thus, contaminants are brushed toward the exit end of the housing. 
   The carcass then travels between downwardly inclined brushes  20 ,  20   a  that counter-rotate with respect to one another and brush contaminates in a downwardly direction. 
   It will be observed in  FIG. 1  that the bristles or appendages of the brushes are provided in three (3) differing lengths, i.e., long, medium-length, and short. These bristles of differing lengths are provided for all of the brushes, including the upwardly inclined brushes, the vertical brushes, and the downwardly inclined brushes. It has been determined that the cleaning efficiency of a brush is reduced if all of its bristles have a common length. The cleaning efficiency improves if half the bristles are long and half are short and still further efficiency is provided if one-third of the bristles are long, one-third short, and one-third of medium length roughly halfway between the lengths of the long and short bristles. 
   There are two (2) fluid headers associated with each upwardly inclined brush  14 ,  14   a , and each downwardly inclined brush  20 ,  20   a . There is one (1) fluid header associated with each vertical brush  16 ,  16   a ,  18 ,  18   a . Each fluid header is parallel to the axis of rotation of its associated brush. The fluid headers associated with the upwardly and downwardly inclined brushes are mounted in a common longitudinally-extending vertical plane so that an outer fluid header is directly above an inner fluid header. The fluid headers associated with the vertical brushes are mounted adjacent thereto. 
   Each fluid header includes a plurality of equidistantly spaced apart nozzles along its length. In a preferred embodiment, each nozzle forms a flat, fan-shaped spray. 
   The nozzles in each outer fluid header are aimed to impact the product, barely missing the outermost ends of the rotating bristles of the brushes so that the water or other liquid fluid from the outer fluid headers is dedicated to washing the product. The nozzles in each inner fluid header are aimed at the bristles or appendages so that the water or other liquid fluid from the inner fluid headers is dedicated to brush cleaning and so that the liquid fluid is applied to the brushes at the optimal moment. 
   In  FIG. 1 , the outer fluid header for upwardly inclined brush  14  is denoted  46  and the inner fluid header for said brush is denoted  48 . The flat, fan-shaped spray of water emanating from the nozzles of outer fluid header  46  is denoted  47  and just barely misses the radially outermost ends of the bristles of said brush  14  and impacts upon the carcass neck. The flat, fan-shaped spray of water emanating from the nozzles of inner fluid header  48  is denoted  49  and impacts the bristles of brush  14 , thereby cleaning said bristles. 
   Fluid headers  46   a ,  48   a  operate in the same way for brush  14   a.    
   The outer fluid header for downwardly inclined brush  20  is denoted  50  and the inner fluid header for said brush is denoted  52 . The flat, fan-shaped spray of water or other liquid fluid emanating from the nozzles of outer fluid header  50  is denoted  51  and just barely misses the radially outermost ends of the bristles of said brush  18  and impacts the carcass neck. The flat, fan-shaped spray of water or other liquid fluid emanating from the nozzles of inner fluid header  52  is denoted  53  and impacts the bristles of said brush  20 , thereby cleaning said bristles. 
   Fluid headers  50   a ,  52   a  operate in the same way for brush  18   a.    
   The fluid headers associated with vertical brushes  16 ,  16   a ,  18 , and  18   a  are aimed to clean their associated brushes and are not aimed at the carcass. One of the fluid headers is depicted in  FIG. 5  and is denoted by the reference numeral  5 . 
   As perhaps best depicted in  FIG. 5 , a plurality of horizontally-disposed static guides, denoted  60   a - h  is provided to keep the carcass traveling through machine  10  a safe distance from each brush. Each static guide is a solid stainless steel plate, about three-eighths of an inch (⅜″) in thickness. Each static guide has the appearance of a shelf; each is mounted to an upstanding framework of the novel machine and extends perpendicularly from said framework toward the center or longitudinal axis of symmetry of the machine. Static guides  60   a - h  eliminate “trap” or “pinch” points that might impede the progress of the carcass though the machine. 
   In  FIG. 5 , top static guide  60   a  extends horizontally substantially the entire extent of the housing. Three (3) static guides are mounted below top static guide  60   a  at about the same height as the upper end of the upwardly and downwardly inclined brushes. Leading static guide  60   b  is positioned in leading relation to the first upwardly inclined brushes, middle static guide  60   c  is positioned between the upwardly and downwardly inclined brushes, and trailing static guide  60   d  is positioned in trailing relation to the downwardly inclined brushes. A mid-level static guide  60   e  extends between the upwardly and downwardly inclined brushes, and a low-level static guide  60   f  is near the bottom of the assembly and between said upwardly and downwardly-inclined brushes. Two (2) very truncate static guides  60   g  and  60   h  are positioned at the leading and trailing ends of the housing at a height slightly above that of mid-level static guide  60   e.    
   Each static guide  60  has a counterpart on the opposing half of the structure that is not depicted in  FIG. 5 . The brushes are not depicted in  FIG. 5  to better reveal the various parts of the novel housing. Note that the leading edge of each static guide is beveled, i.e., swept back so that a carcass abutting a static guide does not get stuck or impeded by the static guide. The trailing edge of each static guide is not beveled. 
   Novel housing  10  is secured in spaced apart relation to an upstanding wall  70 . A plurality of stand off assemblies, collectively denoted  72 , have a flat base plate secured to vertical wall  70 , a similar plate secured to the framework of housing  10 , and a horizontally disposed stand-off member therebetween. Said three (3) individual parts of said stand-off assemblies  72  are easily seen in  FIG. 5  and are not separately numbered to avoid cluttering of the drawings. 
   The entrance end view of  FIG. 3  depicts the transverse spacing between brushes  14 ,  14   a , said spacing being the same for all of the other transversely-spaced sets of brushes as well. This is the space through which the carcasses travel from left-to-right as drawn in  FIG. 1 . 
   Deflection plates  74 ,  74   a  at the entrance end of the apparatus steer the carcass towards the center of the apparatus, as perhaps best depicted in  FIGS. 2 and 3 . 
   It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, and those made apparent from the foregoing description, are efficiently attained and since certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matters contained in the foregoing description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. 
   It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention that, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.