Poultry conveying line

Abstract

Poultry conveying line comprising an endless pathway (7) with at least one curved section (7') and at least one straight section (7"), carriers (8) for suspending poultry, and a driving system for driving the carriers (8) along the endless pathway, wherein during operation a first distance between 5 consecutive carriers (8) moving in the at least one curved section (7') differs from a second distance between two consecutive carriers moving in the at least one straight section (7").

Description

Poultry conveying line The invention relates to a poultry conveying line comprising an endless pathway or rail with at least one curved section and at least one straight section, and comprising carriers for suspending poultry, and a driving system for driving the carriers along the endless pathway Such a poultry conveying line is for instance applied in a poultry hanging system or in other poultry processing lines. US2013 / 0052924 discloses a method and apparatus for suspending living or stunned poultry to be slaughtered in conveyor brackets of an overhead conveyor. A belt conveyor delivers the poultry to a distribution surface, where the poultry are successively quided or pushed outwardly against an edge of the distribution surface to individual positions for receiving the poultry with the legs projecting from the edge of the positions. The legs are fixed in fixing means at the positions. The individual positions are then successively moved upwardly relative to the distribution surface to suspend the poultry for a subsequent downward movement of the positions by brackets of the overhead conveyor running above and spaced apart from the distribution surface. The positions are subsequently moved downwardly again to the level of the distribution surface. Although the known poultry hanging system is said to provide a more secure and gentle suspending of poultry, it is observed that this secure suspending of the poultry requires a secure positioning of the legs of the poultry over the edge of the distribution surface in order to enable a lifting device as disclosed in figures 1-7 of US2013 / 0052924 to pick up and lift off the poultry from the distribution surface. This means that the accuracy of the hanging system depends on both the accuracy of the operators work in positioning the poultry legs accurately - 2 - over the edge of the distribution surface, but also on the accuracy in the dimensioning and operation of the lifting device which is designed with an assumption on where and how far the poultry legs extend over the edge of the distribution surface. All in all this is rather complicated and prone to misalignment at several instances. The above problems are intensified by the fact that the pace of working of the operators is dictated by the conveying speed of the first carriers in the primary line. Particularly at the nowadays conventional conveying speeds which may amount to 15000 chickens per hour at a pitch of 15 cm / 6 inch, the work of the operators is stressful and hanging efficiency is at stake at such high line speeds. In other words, there is room for a more simple solution and improvement over the prior art. The invention intends to provide this simplification and improvement, wherein particularly the working conditions for the operators are improved. According to the invention a poultry conveying line is proposed that may for instance be used in such a poultry hanging system, which poultry conveying line and poultry hanging system have the features according to one or more of the appended claims. In a first aspect of the invention during operation a first distance exists between consecutive carriers moving in the at least one curved section of the endless pathway or rail that differs from a second distance between two consecutive carriers moving in the at least one straight section of the endless pathway or rail. This enables that operational conditions can be optimized for the functions that are carried out at respective locations along the endless pathway or rail. It is preferred that the carriers are arranged along the endless pathway or rail to move freely and independently from each other. - 3 - Preferably, the driving system or a part thereof contacts and pushes each of the carriers along the endless pathway or rail. Preferably the first distance is larger than the second distance. The conveyor line comprises an endless pathway or rail for the carriers, wherein at least a rotation wheel drives the carriers along at least a curved section of the pathway or rail, and wherein one or more predominantly straight sections of the pathway or rail are provided, wherein the conveyor line is provided with a spindle drive for driving the carriers in the straight sections. The spindle drive secures an accurate way of driving the carriers at a specific speed which may be dedicated to the processing operation on the poultry in said straight sections. Preferably at least one of the carriers, and suitably each of them, is provided with a protrusion or protrusions that extend to and cooperate with at least one of the spindle drive and the rotation wheels, thus forming part of the driving system. The rotation wheel and / or the spindle drive (e.g. its thread) may have a recess to cooperate with the protrusion to drive the carriers along the endless pathway or rail. It is further preferable that the rotation wheels drive the carriers in the conveyor line independent from the spindle drive for the carriers in the straight section of the conveyor line. This is particularly beneficial for optimizing and differentiating between the speeds applied in the conveyor line at a location where a particular operation such as rehanging of the poultry is executed. In connection therewith it is to be noted that in a poultry rehanging system preferably the transfer units are located at the conveyor line opposite to the rotation wheels. - 4 - Further it is preferred that the driving system drives the carriers independently along the at least one curved section and the at least one straight section of the endless pathway or rail. The invention is also embodied in a poultry hanging system having a primary line with first carriers, a conveyor line with second carriers and a transfer unit for transferring poultry or poultry parts from the second carriers of the conveyor line to the first carriers of the primary line, wherein the conveying line is a conveying line according to the invention. In the drawing: figure 1 schematically shows a first embodiment of a poultry hanging system making use of a conveyor line of the invention; _ figure 2 schematically shows a second embodiment of a poultry hanging system making use of a conveyor line of the invention; and figure 3 shows a poultry conveying line according to the invention. Whenever in the figures the same reference numerals are applied, these numerals refer to the same parts. Figure 1 and figure 2 depict two different embodiments of a poultry hanging system 1. Such a poultry hanging system 1 is used for feeding a primary line 2 that runs at high speed and in which the poultry is or will be suspended from first carriers, e.g suspended from the feet or from the head. The primary line 2 transfers the suspended poultry subsequently to certain process equipment where the poultry will be subjected to further processing. Because of the high-speed it is a challenge to occupy each and every separate first carrier of the primary line 2 with . suspended poultry and avoid that carriers remain empty. The poultry that is to be suspended in the primary line 2 is supplied with a poultry feedline 3, in which poultry feedline 3 5 the poultry may be without any particular orientation, and transported in crates or freely. In order to meet the requirement that every separate first carrier in the primary line 2 may receive suspended poultry, use is made of at least one conveyor line 4 with second carriers that are movable at a second conveying speed, and wherein the second conveying speed is lower than the first conveying speed of the first carriers in the primary line 2. Figure 1 depicts the situation that there is only a single conveyor line 4, whereas figure 2 depicts the situation that there are two conveyor lines 4. The number of conveyor lines 4 can be further increased if the need arises. In both figure 1 and figure 2 it is shown that transfer units 5 20 are provided for transferring the poultry from the or each conveyor line 4 to the primary line 2. Specific to the invention is that the or each conveyor line 4 is equipped with second carriers for suspending the poultry (e.g. from the feet or from the head), which second carriers, like the first carriers of the 25 primary line 2, are known per se. The second carriers 8 of the at least one conveyor line 4 are schematically shown in figure 3. As is shown in both figure 1 and figure 2 the poultry feedline 3 transfers the non-suspended poultry to a suspension location, where operators 6 are positioned that take the poultry from the feedline 3 and suspend the poultry in the second carriers of the or each conveyor line 4. Although figure 1 and figure 2 only show operators 6, the task of taking the poultry from the feedline 3 and suspend the poultry in the second carriers of - 6 - [Image disponible dans le document PDF, Image available in the PDF document] - 7 - shows that the transfer units 5 are located at the at least one conveyor line 4 opposite to the rotation wheels 9, which is an optimal location for executing the rehanging of the poultry from the conveyor line 4 to the primary line 2. In a (not shown) embodiment the rotation wheels 9 may be combined with the transfer units 5. Figure 3 further depicts each of the second carriers 8 is provided with a protrusion 11 that extends to and cooperates with the (thread of the) spindle drive 10 to push the carriers 8. This same protrusion or another protrusion may be applied to extend to and cooperate with a plurality of recesses 12 being arranged in the rotation wheels 9. Thus, also here the driving system contacts and pushes the carriers 8. It is further remarked that the rotation wheels 9 drive the second carriers in the at least one conveyor line 4 independent from the spindle drive 10 for the second carriers in the at least one conveyor line 4. During operation a first distance along the endless pathway 7 or rail exists between consecutive carriers 8 moving in the at least one curved section 7' that differs from a second distance along the endless pathway 7 or rail between two consecutive carriers moving in the at least one straight section 7''. Preferably the first distance is larger than the second distance. This can be easily achieved in different ways, such as by selecting an appropriate rotational speed of the rotational wheels, by selecting a distance between the recesses of the rotational wheels or by choosing the lead of the thread of the spindles. Embodiments of the present invention can include every combination of features that are disclosed herein independently from each other. Although the invention has been discussed in the foregoing with reference to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the invention is not restricted to this particular embodiment which can be varied in many ways without departing from the invention. The discussed exemplary embodiment shall therefore not be used to construe the append-ed claims strictly in accordance therewith. On the contrary the embodiment is merely intended to explain the wording of the appended claims without intent to limit the claims to this exemplary embodiment. The scope of protection of the invention shall therefore be construed in accordance with the appended claims only, wherein a possible ambiguity in the wording of the claims shall be resolved using this exemplary embodiment. Variations and modifications of the present invention will be obvious to those skilled in the art and it is intended to cover in the appended claims all such modifications and equivalents. Unless specifically stated as being "essential" above, none of the various components or the interrelationship thereof are essential to the operation of the invention. Rather, desirable results can be achieved by substituting various components and / or reconfiguration of their relationships with one another.

Claims

1. Poultry conveying line (4) comprising an endless pathway (7) or rail with at least one curved section (7') and at least one straight section ( 7 ″ ) (7'') , carriers (8) for suspending poultry or poultry parts, and a driving system for driving the carriers (8) along the endless pathway (7), characterized in that during operation a first distance along the endless pathway (7) or rail between consecutive carriers (8) moving in the at least one curved section (7') exists that differs from a second distance along the endless pathway (7) or rail between two consecutive carriers moving in the at least one straight section (7'').

2. Poultry conveying line (4) according to claim 1, characterized in that the driving system is arranged for contacting and pushing each of the carriers (8) along the endless pathway (7) or rail.

3. Poultry conveying line (4) according to any one of claims 1-2, characterized in that the first distance is larger than the second distance.

4. Poultry conveying line (4) according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that the driving system drives the carriers (8) independently along the at least one curved section ( 7 ′ ) (7') and along the at least one straight section ( 7 ″ ) (7'') of the endless pathway (7) or rail.

5. Poultry conveying line (4) according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that at least one of the carriers (8) comprise a protrusion (11) which is arranged to cooperate with the driving system.

6. Poultry conveying line (4) according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that the driving system comprises at least one protrusion (11) which is arranged to cooperate with one of the carriers (8).

7. Poultry conveying line according to any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that the driving system comprises a rotation wheel (9) at the at least one curved section (7') which is arranged to engage and drive the carriers (8) along said at least one curved section (7') of the endless pathway (7) 5 or rail.

8. Poultry conveying line according to claim 7 when depending on claim 4, characterized in that the rotation wheel (9) comprises at least a recess (12) to receive the protrusion ( 11 ) (11) of the carrier ( 8 ) (8) . 10 9. Poultry conveying line according to any one of claims 1-8, characterized in that the driving system comprises a spindle drive (10) for engaging and driving the carriers (8) in the at least one straight section (7'') of the endless pathway ( 7 ) (7) or rail.

10. Poultry conveying line according to claim 9 when depending on claim 5, characterized in that the spindle drive (10), in particular a thread of the spindle drive (10), is arranged to receive the protrusion (11) of the at least one of the carriers (8) to drive said carriers along the straight 20 section ( 7 ″ ) (7'') of the endless pathway ( 7 ) (7) .

11. Poultry hanging system (1) having a primary line (2) with first carriers, a conveyor line (4) with second carriers and a transfer unit (5) for transferring poultry or poultry parts from the second carriers of the conveyor line (4) to the first carriers of the primary line (2), characterized in that the conveying line (4) is a conveying line according to any one of claims 1 − 10 1-10 .