US-20260123639-A1 - FEATHER CAP

US20260123639A1US 20260123639 A1US20260123639 A1US 20260123639A1US-20260123639-A1

Abstract

A poultry defeathering device, comprising a feather cap having a first opening configured to be coupled to a hub, a finger plate having a plurality of second openings, each of the second openings configured to be coupled to a respective rubber finger, wherein bases of respective rubber fingers determine a distance between the feather cap and the finger plate.

Inventors

Donald Andrew McCoy, Jr.

Assignees

LTA DISTRIBUTING, LLC

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20260102

Claims (14)

1 . A poultry defeathering device, comprising: a feather cap having a drive shaft opening configured to be coupled to a drive shaft of a hub, and a finger plate having a plurality of finger openings, each of the finger openings configured to be coupled to a respective rubber finger of a plurality of rubber fingers.
2 . The poultry defeathering device of claim 1 , wherein bases of respective rubber fingers determine a distance between the feather cap and the finger plate.
3 . The poultry defeathering device of claim 1 , wherein the feather cap slides over at least a portion of the hub.
4 . The poultry defeathering device of claim 1 , wherein the drive shaft of the hub protrudes through the feather cap.
5 . The poultry defeathering device of claim 1 , wherein the drive shaft of the hub does not protrude entirely through the finger plate.
6 . The poultry defeathering device of claim 1 , wherein the drive shaft of the hub is flush with an outer surface of the finger plate.
7 . The poultry defeathering device of claim 1 , wherein the finger plate is bolted to the drive shaft.
8 . The poultry defeathering device of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of rubber fingers is held in place by compression between the feather cap and the finger plate.
9 . The poultry defeathering device of claim 1 , wherein the feather cap comprises plastic.
10 . The poultry defeathering device of claim 1 , wherein the feather cap has a thickness 5 mm or greater.
11 . The poultry defeathering device of claim 1 , wherein the feather cap has a thickness between 6 mm and 9 mm .
12 . The poultry defeathering device of claim 1 , wherein the drive shaft opening is square or triangular.
13 . The poultry defeathering device of claim 1 , wherein the drive shaft opening is circular.
14 . The poultry defeathering device of claim 1 , wherein an adapter is used to physically couple the feather cap and the drive shaft.

Description

PRIORITY INFORMATION This application is a continuation of U.S. Patent Application No. 18/796,568, filed on August 7, 2024, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/531,313 filed on August 7, 2023, both of which have been incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The embodiments of the present invention generally relate to poultry defeathering devices and more particularly to devices that provide a more efficient way to replace rubber picking fingers inside the defeathering devices. DISCUSSION OF THE RELATED ART As discussed in U.S. Patent No. 10,785,988, millions of tons of poultry are raised, processed, and brought to market yearly throughout the world. In 2016 for example, and in the United States alone, over 8.78 billion broiler chickens were produced and over 244 million turkeys were produced with a value in excess of $32 billion dollars. Poultry is processed in an efficient manner by shackling, stunning, bleeding, scalding, picking, eviscerating, washing, chilling, carving, and deboning. Machines replaced workers plucking the feathers of poultry in poultry plants decades ago. Modern picking machines generally include a plurality of discs or drums onto which fingers are secured. Several discs are positioned along the sides of a path traversed by a chain/shackle carrying the poultry through the machine. The discs are rapidly rotated, ensuring that the fingers contact as much of the outer surface of each bird as possible. These fingers then "pick" the feathers off each poultry carcass as it passes through the machine via chain/shackle. Unfortunately, the fingers often crack, break or wear out at a significant rate due to the friction involved in the de-feathering process. This makes it necessary to replace thousands of fingers each month for each processing line. A plurality of fingers is mounted to each disc or drum. Fingers are generally shaped having a larger base, a tapered body and a smaller diameter tip end. The tapered body is often ribbed, and most fingers include a groove located next to the base. Each disc has a plurality of openings large enough for the body of each finger to fit through, but small enough to abut the base diameter. Each finger is secured by pulling the finger through a hole and seating the hole within the finger groove. A typical picking line will include four defeathering machines. Each machine may have 640 or more fingers making each line use in excess of 2500 fingers to defeather poultry and each machine utilizes water sprays to continually wash feathers off both the fingers and the poultry as its processed. In a typical configuration, there are 64 units (e.g., disks) per machine. The individual fingers get pulled through the holes and locked into a multi (e.g., 6, 8, 10) hole finger plate (e.g., disk), the industry standard plate in the market. Each multi hole finger plate is bolted to a respective drive shaft or hub of the defeathering machine. The machine typically includes 64 hubs (components that have a belt driven pulley that goes on the drive side of the hub and an extended shaft that comes out the front) which the multi hole finger plate bolts to. Various plucking fingers have been used for decades. In an example configuration, the holes of the multi hole finger plate are 18mm in diameter. A rubber picking finger is about 23.50mm at its widest point before it drops off into a 19.30mm slot that locks the finger in place. Behind this groove is the head of the finger measuring almost 29mm wide and 11mm thick representing something like a bolt head. When replacing a finger, the user has to pull very hard to get the finger into the slot. In some instances, soap or other lubricants are used to lube up the finger(s) before pulling. To remove these fingers a person uses a knife to cut the finger into and around the slotted area to remove the finger. Replacement of fingers in previous plucking machines is both difficult and time consuming. In some configurations, each finger must first be cut off by hand. This process is labor intensive and dangerous as it involves the use of a blade in a tight, awkward environment. A replacement finger is then inserted into the vacant opening and pulled, often with some form of plier and significant force, to seat the opening within a groove of the finger. Plucking machines utilizing a plurality of feather stripping fingers continue to be the favored method for defeathering poultry. Unfortunately, the current devices and designs continue to be lacking in efficient finger replacement. U.S. Patent No. 5,711,703 to Peretz discloses an apparatus for removing a rubber finger from a disc or rotational drum. The finger shank is inserted into the apparatus where a blade cuts the finger close to the annular recess. The base of the finger may then be simply pushed through the backside of the disc. The Peretz patent does not address the inherent difficulties of inserting new fingers into t