Herrings and other kinds of Fish.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Dec., 1888
Specification Accepted, 15th Jan., 1889
Herrings and other kinds of Fish.
WC, ALEXANDER KONDRATEWITSH HEYNEMAN and ROBERT RUNEBERG, both of
57, Liteiny, St. Petersburg, in the Empire of Russia, Engineers, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to
be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to an improved method of and appartus for cleaning and
"gutting" herrings and other kinds of fish, whereby the operation of removing the
refuse parts of each fish preparatory to the curing process is accomplished to a great
extent mechanically instead of manually, a considerable saving in time being thus
effected and a better result attained.
In order that this specification may be readily understood, reference will be made to
the accompanying drawings, whereof Fig. 1 represents in side elevation a machino
constructed according to the present invention; Figs. 2 and 3 being views of details
hereinafter more particularly referred to. Figs. 4 and 5 are a plan and an end
view respectively; Figs. 6 to 8 being side views of the knives employed for
cutting.
alone
The ordinary way of gutting herrings before curing consists in the withdrawal of
the gorge, the gills, the heart, the ventral fin and part of the intestines. According to
the Norwegian plan, however, the gills, the heart and the ventral fin are
removed. The machine illustrated in the drawings annexed not only enables the fish
to be gutted by a mechanical operation in the Norwegian manner but, at the same
time, serves to withdraw the intestines.
The gutting apparatus comprises a table A supported on legs B and carrying an
oscillating board or plate C pivotted at a. A knee or body D, preferably of cast iron,
is mounted upon one extremity of the board C; the other extremity thereof being
provided with a rod E to which a balance-woight Q is attached. The curved part of
the body D passes through an opening in the table A and between guide-plates b
which are by preference arranged both at the top and bottom of the opening aforesaid
and at each side thereof. The protruding end of the body D terminates in an oval
plate which serves as a handle or push-piece and is formed with a projection P to
which the knife or knives N for cutting the fish is or are secured. These knives vary

page_text: in shape according to the duty they have to perform. In the Norwegian practice, the
knife illlustrated in Figs. 2 and 6 is used. This consists of a steel plate bent into an
angular form corresponding with the shape of the cut to be made in the fish. The
front part of the knife is elongated and somewhat curved at the lower end. The inner
parts of the odges of the knife fall back and form obtuse angles with the remaining
parts. The lower edge of the knife to the point thereof is sharp. The plates c on the
table A act in combination with the knife N and together therewith form a kind of
shears. These plates arc hold by screws which pass through the table into other
plates d the latter serving instead of nuts. The holes in the table for the
scrows are large enough to permit the necessary adjustment of the plates c to he
effected.
The action of the machine, when employed in gutting according to the Norwegian
fashion, is as follows:-The fish is held in the right hand of the operator and placed
upon its right side under the knife N so that the point of the knife may be a little
above the centre of the rear portion of the left gills. To ensure that the fish may be
readily placed in the correct position, three guides L, R and M are employed;
the two first touching respectively the belly and the lower jaw, thus regulating
the extent of the cut, and the third being in contact with the snout, thus
ensuring the cut being made the proper distance from the head of the fish. The
guide-plates are held in position by thumb-screws K and may be adjusted according
to the size of the fish to be gutted or the extent of the cut it may be required to make.
Not only the depth of the cut but also its shape depends upon the manner in which
the guide-plates are adjusted, because the position of the fish relatively to that of the
knife may be thereby changed. The fish having been placed in the machine, the
operator, with the left hand, depresses the body D upon which the knife N is mounted ;
the gorge, gills, &c., being thereby cut away. The blocks and w respectively limit
the movement of the parts in each direction.
The body D, instead of being pushed down by hand, may be depressed by the foot,
for which purpose a foot-board connected to the part C may be added to the
apparatus.
When it is desired to obtain a more thorough cleaning of the fish than is accomplishod
with the moans described above, two plain knivos, shown in Figs. 7 and 8, are sub-
stituted for the angular knife previously referred to. The left-hand knife (Fig. 7)
terminates in a central point, the fore edge of which is blunt and the after sharp.
The edge in front of the part marked y is sharp as well, but is ground from the outside,
whereas the other parts are ground from the inside. In this knife, the screw-holes are,
for the purposes of adjustinent, elongated as shewn. The lower edge of the right-hand
knife (Fig. 8) is prolonged into an arched point s, the after edge of which is ground
and passes into a keen edge at r.
The machine, when fitted with knives of the kind just described, acts in the following
wayThe fish is placed in such a position that the point of the right-hand knifo
is just above the upper edge of the left-hand gills, whilst the point of the left-hand
knife, which is on the same side as the operator, comes just behind the shoulder-belt
below the intestines. By depressing the body D, the right-hand knife cuts away
the gill lid, together with the greater part of the gills and a portion of the lingual
bone, whilst the left-hand knife cuts open the bowels below the intestines, which are
situated between the points of the knives and so far remain untouched. The keen
edge of the left-hand knife, in front of the point of the same, then cuts off the
left side of the bowels, where the intestines commence, whilst the opposite side
remains untouched. The body D being still kept down either with the left hand or
with the foot, the fish is withdrawn by the right hand, whereupon that part of the
bowels not yet cut off is torn away and the untouched intestines are pulled out, the
thin gut being torn off in the same way as in manual cleaning.
The extricated intestines remain on the table of the machine, until removed by
means of the following mechanism :-Under the table A a shaft is rotatively mounted
in bearings m. This shaft carries a bent piece n, to the free end of which is fixed the
catcher o. The latter, when at rest, lies above the aperture for the knives, with its lower

page_text: and flush with the table A, and is kept in this position by a spiral spring coiled round
the shaft . To the under side of the table is fixed an angle-piece p for supporting a
lever which is pivotted thereto. The lever 7 is connected at one extremity to the
piece n by means of the link r, the other extremity being free and lying beneath a
stop t. The latter is hinged to the board C above an angular notch therein and is
kept in the normal position by a small spring u. When the oscillating board descends,
the stop t arrives in contact with the lever g but yields and snaps past the same; when,
however, the board C is returned by the action of the balance-weight Q or other-
wise, the stop & impinges against the lever 7 and lifts up one end thereof, the other
end being consequently depressed and bringing down with it the catcher o to which
it is connected. When the catcher has been depressed the requisite distance, the stop t
travels out of the path of the lever 9 and leaves the same; the spiral spring
placed round the shaft immediately causing the catcher to regain the normal
position.
The notion of the parts is as follows:-After the knives have descended, and the
intestines have been pulled out, the detached gorge, with gills, heart, shoulder-belt
and ventral fin remain underneath the catcher; the intestines lying on the table of
the machine. Upon liberating the body D, the stopt engages with the lever q and
depresses the catcher, which carries with it below the table of the machine the waste
parts of the fish lying thereunder as well as the intestines, which remain unseparated
from the other refuse parts. Immediately the lever 7 is left by the stop t, the catcher o
springs back into the normal position and the waste matter falls away into a hopper
or otherwise.
The mechanism last described is not absolutely essential, though it greatly facilitates
the operation of cleaning the fish. If its use be dispensed with, then the intestines,
which after each fish has been treated remain on the table, ha.e to be pushed into the
opening (so that they may fall away after the other parts) by means of the next fish
to be cleaned.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, we claim :—
1. The improved method of cleaning or gutting fish substantially as herein
described.
2. The improved apparatus for cleaning or gutting fish arranged or operating
substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
3. In a machine for cleaning or gutting fish, the employment of a knife of the kind
herein described with reference to Figs. 1, 2, 5 and 6 and adapted for excising particular
parts of the fish.
4. In a machine for cleaning or gutting fish, the employment of knives of the kind
herein described with reference to Figs. 3, 7 and 8, and adapted for cutting and
temporarily holding particular parts of the fish.
5. In a machino for cleaning or guiting fish, the employment of means arranged or
operating substantially as herein described for renioving from the table of the machine
the portions excised or withdrawn from the fish.
"
T
1000
G. G. M. HARDINGHAM,
191, Fleet Street, London, E.C.,
Agent for the Applicants.