Patent ID: 8172652

Claim:
An apparatus for harvesting usable parts from a poultry viscera comprising: a slide assembly having side by side left and right slide rails extending horizontally from an up stream end to a down stream end along a path of conveyance, where said left and right slide rails extend substantially in parallel, are substantially stationary and are proximately spaced apart forming a lengthwise substantially uniform slide gap there between, and where said slide gap is sufficiently narrow to prevent an upper portion of a viscera to pass there through while sufficiently wide to allow a connective tissue of the viscera to pass through said gap whereby a lower portion of the viscera is maintained below the slide assembly and the upper portion of the viscera is supported below by the slide assembly; a pull down stripper assembly vertically aligned below the upstream end of the slide assembly and operable to urge the lower portion of the viscera downward to loosen and extend the viscera, where said pull down stripper assembly having a leading pull down member oriented to engage the lower portion of the viscera and urge the lower portion of the viscera downward as the viscera is being conveyed along the path of conveyance and where said pull down stripper further comprises a motorized pull down belt having flaps extending there from and operable to urge downward on the lower portion of the viscera; and a strip down arm assembly vertically aligned below the downstream end of the slide assembly having a strip down plate having side by side left and right strip down plates extending with a downward slope with respect to the slide assembly from an up stream end to a down stream end along a path of conveyance, where said left and right strip down plates extend in parallel and are proximately spaced apart forming a lengthwise substantially uniform stripping gap there between, and where said stripping gap is sufficiently narrow to prevent a liver and heart portion of a viscera to pass there through while sufficiently wide to allow the connective tissue of the viscera to pass through said stripping gap whereby the heart and liver portion of the viscera is maintained below the strip down arm assembly and pulled away from the upper portion of the viscera.