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CN-117643323-B - Scraper and processing line for cleaning poultry necks

CN117643323BCN 117643323 BCN117643323 BCN 117643323BCN-117643323-B

Abstract

The present invention relates to a scraper and a processing line for cleaning poultry necks. A scraper (1) for removing unwanted parts from a neck area of slaughtered poultry, in particular for removing crop-carrying air and esophagus from the neck area of slaughtered poultry, the scraper (1) comprising a spindle (2) and forwardly oriented protrusions (3, 4), the forwardly oriented protrusions (3, 4) being arranged to operate in the neck area of slaughtered poultry during use, wherein the forwardly oriented protrusions (3, 4) form part of at least one plate (5, 6), wherein the at least one plate (5, 6) is movably mounted or mountable on the spindle (2).

Inventors

  • CORNELIS BUSCH
  • Stefan Christian Seymour Dane

Assignees

  • 荷兰梅恩食品加工技术公司

Dates

Publication Date
20260508
Application Date
20230901
Priority Date
20220905

Claims (16)

  1. 1. A scraper (1) for removing unwanted parts from a neck area of slaughtered poultry, the scraper (1) comprising a spindle (2) and a forwardly oriented protrusion (3, 4), the forwardly oriented protrusion (3, 4) being arranged to operate in the neck area of the slaughtered poultry during use, wherein the forwardly oriented protrusion (3, 4) forms part of at least one plate (5, 6), wherein the at least one plate (5, 6) is mounted on the spindle (2), characterized in that the at least one plate (5, 6) is movable relative to the spindle (2), wherein one or more plates (5, 6) are mounted on movable pins (7, 8;7', 8 ') of the spindle (2), the pins (7, 8;7', 8 ') extending through first slits (9, 10 ') oriented obliquely relative to the longitudinal direction of the spindle (2), wherein the pins (7, 8;7', 8 ') are driven in a direction of the longitudinal direction of the spindle (2), the slits (9, 10', 9 ') being driven by the pins (7, 35 ', 8 ').
  2. 2. A scraper according to claim 1, characterized in that the scraper (1) is provided with two plates (5, 6), wherein each of the two plates (5, 6) is provided with the forwardly oriented projection (3, 4), and that the two plates (5, 6) are each movable relative to the spindle (2) when the two plates (5, 6) are mounted on the spindle (2).
  3. 3. A scraper according to claim 2, characterized in that the two plates (5, 6) are mounted on opposite sides of the spindle (2).
  4. 4. A scraper according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that one or more plates (5, 6) are flat in the area where the protrusions (3, 4) are provided.
  5. 5. A scraper according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that the protrusions (3, 4) are arranged back and forth in the longitudinal direction of the one or more plates (5, 6), each of the protrusions (3, 4) having a blunt end portion (3 ', 4') pointing forward.
  6. 6. A scraper according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that the one or more plates (5, 6) are movable in a direction transverse to the longitudinal direction of the spindle (2).
  7. 7. A scraper according to claim 1, characterized in that the spindle (2) has a hollow portion (2') for receiving a longitudinally movable drive rod (15).
  8. 8. A scraper according to claim 7, characterized in that the drive rod (15) has a second slit (16, 17) oriented transversely to the longitudinal direction of the drive rod (15), the movable pin (7, 8;7', 8') of the spindle (2) extending through the second slit (16, 17).
  9. 9. A scraper according to claim 1, characterized in that each of the plates (5, 6) is provided with an aperture (11, 12;11', 12'), in which the movable pin (7, 8;7', 8') of the spindle (2) fits tightly.
  10. 10. The scraper according to claim 9, characterized in that each plate (5, 6) has at least two apertures (11, 12;11', 12'), in which the movable pins (7, 8;7', 8') of the spindle (2) fit tightly, wherein the at least two apertures (11, 12;11', 12') are provided on opposite ends of the spindle (2).
  11. 11. The scraper of claim 1, wherein the scraper is used to remove the crop-carrying trachea and esophagus from the neck region of the slaughtered poultry.
  12. 12. A processing line for processing poultry, comprising a conveyor device (18) and a conveyor line with carriers for hanging slaughtered poultry by legs, which conveyor line guides the suspended poultry along the conveyor device (18), characterized in that the conveyor device (18) is provided with a scraper (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 11.
  13. 13. Machining line according to claim 12, characterized in that the conveyor means (18) are provided with a first track (19) and a second track (20), wherein a longitudinally movable drive rod (15) is connected to a first wheel guided in the first track (19), and wherein the spindle (2) is connected to a second wheel guided in the second track (20) such that the at least one plate (5, 6) can be moved relative to the spindle (2) by a relative movement of the first wheel relative to the second wheel.
  14. 14. A processing line according to claim 13, characterized in that the conveyor arrangement (18) comprises a first conveyor unit (18') provided with the first track (19) and a second conveyor unit (18 ") provided with the second track (20), wherein the first conveyor unit and the second conveyor unit are movable up and down relative to each other.
  15. 15. A processing line according to claim 14, characterized in that the processing line comprises a drive for adjusting the distance between the first conveyor unit (18') and the second conveyor unit (18 ").
  16. 16. The processing line of claim 12, wherein the processing line is configured to remove unwanted portions from a neck region of slaughtered poultry.

Description

Scraper and processing line for cleaning poultry necks Technical Field The present invention relates to a scraper for removing unwanted parts from a neck area of slaughtered poultry, in particular for removing crop-carrying trachea and esophagus from the neck area of the slaughtered poultry, the scraper comprising a spindle and a forwardly oriented protrusion arranged to operate in the neck area of the slaughtered poultry during use. Background Such a scraper is known from EP-a-0 178 825, which dates back to 1984. Since 1984, the development of such scrapers has continued, as evidenced by publications such as US 5,222,905 (1992), EP-a-0838 156 (1997), fig. 3A, US 6,213,864 (1999), EP-B-1 048 214 (1999), US2005/0186895 (2014) and EP-B-2 299 834 (2009). US2010/273407 discloses a scraper for removing unwanted parts from a neck area of slaughtered poultry, in particular for removing crop-carrying air and esophagus from the neck area of slaughtered poultry, the scraper comprising a spindle and a forwardly oriented protrusion arranged to operate in the neck area of slaughtered poultry during use, wherein the forwardly oriented protrusion forms part of at least one plate, wherein the at least one plate is mounted or mountable on the spindle. Despite decades of continual efforts since 1984, the industry has not been able to provide an effective solution to the problem that the operations to remove unwanted parts from the neck region of slaughtered poultry are not always satisfactory. For example, unsatisfactory results, in which undesirable parts remain after the operation in the neck region of slaughtered poultry, may be caused by the fact that not all poultry have the same dimensions. Furthermore, the strength of the tissue that must be destroyed during the performance of the cleaning process may vary from animal to animal. Disclosure of Invention It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a solution to the above-mentioned problems. According to the invention, a novel design of a scraper is proposed, which has the features according to an aspect of the invention. The invention is also embodied in a processing line for processing poultry, in particular for removing unwanted parts from the neck region of such slaughtered poultry, comprising a conveyor arrangement and a conveyor line with carriers for hanging slaughtered poultry by legs, which conveyor line guides the hanging poultry along the conveyor arrangement, and wherein the conveyor arrangement is provided with a scraper having the features according to an aspect of the invention. The scraper of the invention comprising a spindle and a forwardly oriented projection arranged to operate in the neck region of slaughtered poultry during use is primarily characterized in that the forwardly oriented projection forms part of at least one plate, wherein the at least one plate is mounted or mountable on the spindle and when mounted on the spindle the at least one plate is movable relative to the spindle. The shape of the plates is not critical and at least one plate may be straight or may be curved. With the movability of the plate provided with the protrusions with respect to the spindle, the protrusions performing the scraping action in the neck region of the poultry can be positioned to the point where the protrusions are most effective. Furthermore, since the plate is movable relative to the spindle, the scraper of the invention can be easily adapted to the size of the poultry to be processed. For reasons of effectiveness, it is preferred that the scraper is provided with two plates, wherein each of the two plates is provided with said forwardly directed projection and each of said two plates is movable relative to the spindle when said two plates are mounted on the spindle. It is then most convenient that the two plates are mounted or can be mounted on opposite sides of the spindle. This balances the forces exerted by the forwardly directed protrusions of the two plates on the inner neck skin of the poultry against each other. This keeps the poultry in a stable hanging position during the cleaning operation. It is cost-effective to provide one or more plates that are flat in the area where the protrusions are provided. Thus the manufacturing costs can be kept low. Suitably, the projections are arranged behind each other in the longitudinal direction of the plate or plates, each of said projections having a blunt end portion pointing forward. This arrangement has proven to be most effective from an operational point of view. Desirably, the plate or plates are movable in a direction transverse to the longitudinal direction of the spindle, which further facilitates easy adjustment of the scraper of the invention to the size of the poultry to be processed. This may be embodied by an arrangement in which one or more plates are movable in the longitudinal direction of the spindle and at the same time in a direction transverse to the longitudinal dire