Patent ID: 8801507

Claim:
Apparatus for detaching heads from shrimp, comprising: a conduit enclosing a fluid channel and having: an open first end and an opposite open second end downstream of the first end along the fluid channel; an input portion extending downstream along the fluid channel from the first end and defining the fluid channel with a first cross-sectional area; a venturi extending upstream along the fluid channel from the second end and defining a length of the fluid channel with a second cross-sectional area smaller than the first cross-sectional area, wherein the second cross-sectional area has a major axis and a minor axis shorter than the major axis; a transition portion disposed between the input portion and the venturi and defining a length of the fluid channel with a cross-sectional area converging from the first cross-sectional area to the second cross-sectional area; flow control means inducing a flow of shrimp-laden fluid in the conduit through the open first end, the fluid channel, and the open second end; wherein the speed of the fluid along the length of the fluid channel in the transition portion increases to a speed in the venturi sufficient to detach heads from shrimp.