Patent ID: 7621806

Claim:
A system for processing poultry breasts, comprising: (a) a scanner for scanning the poultry breasts as the poultry breasts are being transported past the scanner; (b) a data processor for processing the data from the scanner and using such data to determine the thickness profile of the poultry breasts; and (c) wherein the data processor is programmed to determine the angular orientation of the poultry breasts relative to a reference line by: using the data from the scanner to determine the configuration of the poultry breasts above a selected elevation along the height of the poultry breasts, said configuration comprising two spaced-apart regions of the poultry breasts, locating the keel channel of the poultry breasts based on the configuration and the relative positions of the two determined elevated regions of the poultry breasts; and using the foregoing determination of the location of the keel channels of the poultry breasts to establish the angular orientation of the poultry breasts relative to a reference line.