Finger holder for a poultry defeathering machine
Patent Information
- Application Number
- EP2023810063
- Authority / Receiving Office
- EP · EP
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Priority Date
- 2022-11-24
- Filing Date
- 2023-11-22
- Publication Date
- 2025-10-01
AI Technical Summary
Current finger holders in poultry pluckers are cumbersome and hazardous to maintain, requiring disassembly and use of cutting tools for replacing worn fingers, leading to inefficiencies and bacteriological contamination risks.
A finger holder design featuring a plate with a cover that securely holds fingers in place via coaxial threads, preventing waste introduction and allowing for easy installation and sealing, with a skirt extending to cover the plate edge and a disc with holes for finger insertion, ensuring secure and sanitary operation.
This design reduces maintenance time, prevents clogging and bacterial contamination, and ensures efficient finger replacement without dismantling the plucker, enhancing operational safety and hygiene.
Smart Images
Figure 1.1
Abstract
Description
[0001] DESCRIPTION
[0002] FINGER HOLDER FOR A POULTRY PLUFFER
[0003] TECHNICAL FIELD
[0004] The present invention relates to a finger holder for a poultry plucking machine, as well as a poultry plucking machine comprising at least one such finger holder.
[0005] STATE OF THE PRIOR ART
[0006] To pluck poultry, it is known to use a plucking machine. A plucking machine is a machine that has a plurality of finger holders, and each finger holder is equipped with a plurality of fingers. Each finger is typically made of a flexible material and can take different shapes.
[0007] For each finger holder, the plucker has a shaft on which the finger holder is attached. Thanks to a motorized system, each shaft is driven in rotation, and the contact between the poultry and the rotating fingers plucks the feathers from the poultry.
[0008] Currently, a finger holder takes the form of a circular plate which is crossed by a plurality of holes and has in the center an imprint whose shape corresponds to the shape of the shaft to ensure the fitting of the plate on the shaft. The plate is then fixed to the shaft by a screw.
[0009] When a finger is worn, it must be replaced. In the case of the finger holders currently used, each finger has a circular groove that clips around the edge of the corresponding hole and it is necessary to disassemble the finger holder from its shaft, remove the worn finger by cutting it with a tool or a knife, reassemble a new finger by inserting it into the corresponding hole, clip it forcibly by hand, or by using a pneumatic machine and then reassemble the plate. Disassembly and reassembly of the plate are relatively long operations during which the plucking machine is immobilized.
[0010] In some installations it is also possible to change the fingers without disassembling the plates, but the operation requires the use of knives and cutting tools in precarious conditions inside the plucker, which makes the operation difficult and dangerous. In addition, the face of the plate opposite the fingers has many crevices, particularly due to holes and grooves, in which waste is fixed and cleaning then also requires the disassembly of each plate.
[0011] When the plates are not dismantled for changing fingers, the face of the plate opposite the fingers remains inaccessible and is not disinfected correctly, which can lead to a high risk of bacteriological contamination. It is therefore necessary to find an arrangement that saves time, in particular for replacing worn fingers, and which, according to a particular embodiment, makes it possible to solve the problem of fouling and the development of bacteria in a food environment. Document FR-A-2 019 911 discloses a finger holder of the state of the art.
[0012] STATEMENT OF THE INVENTION
[0013] An object of the present invention is to provide a finger holder for a plucking machine, wherein the finger holder comprises a plate and a cover which carries the fingers and is removably fixed to the plate while covering it so as to prevent the introduction of waste between them.
[0014] For this purpose, a finger holder is proposed for a plucking machine, said finger holder being designed to be rotated around an axis of rotation and comprising:
[0015] - a plate intended to be fixed to a shaft of the plucker, where the plate has an edge forming a cylindrical surface around the axis of rotation between a rear face and a front face, and
[0016] - a cover which has a disc and a skirt, where the disc covers the front face of the plate and where the skirt is cylindrical and extends from the disc towards the plate covering the edge of said plate, where the disc is pierced with a plurality of holes where each is intended to receive a finger of the plucker, and where an inner surface of the skirt and the edge cooperate by means of threads coaxial with the axis of rotation.
[0017] According to a particular embodiment, the edge has a thread and the inner surface of the cover has a thread.
[0018] According to a particular embodiment, the edge has a thread and the inner surface of the cover has a thread.
[0019] The invention also proposes a poultry plucker comprising a shaft, a motorization system driving the shaft in rotation around the axis of rotation, a finger holder according to one of the preceding variants, where the plate is fixed to said shaft by fixing means, and for each hole in the disc, a finger inserted into said hole.
[0020] Advantageously, each finger has a shoe and a rod with a truncated cone base that widens at the junction with the shoe, where the shoe is clamped between the turntable and the record.
[0021] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0022] The above-mentioned and other features of the invention will become more clearly apparent from the following description of an exemplary embodiment, said description being made in relation to the accompanying drawings, among which:
[0023] Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a finger holder according to the invention,
[0024] Fig. 2 is a side view of a finger according to an exemplary embodiment, and Fig. 3 is a sectional view through an axial plane of the finger holder according to the invention.
[0025] DETAILED PRESENTATION OF EMBODIMENT METHODS
[0026] Fig. 1 shows a finger holder 100 according to the invention for a poultry plucking machine. The finger holder 100 is rotatable about an axis of rotation X. Fig. 3 shows the finger holder 100 in section through an axial plane passing through the axis of rotation X.
[0027] The finger holder 100 comprises a plate 102 and a cover 104. The plate 102 is circular and coaxial with the axis of rotation X and it has an edge 103 forming a cylindrical surface around the axis of rotation X between a rear face 102a and a front face 102b of the plate 102. The rear face 102a is on the side of the plucker 10 and the front face 102b is on the opposite side. The rear faces 102a and front faces 102b are here generally perpendicular to the axis of rotation X.
[0028] In use, the plate 102 is fixed to the shaft 50 by means of fixing means. In the embodiment of the invention presented in Fig. 3, the plate 102 is fitted onto a shaft 50 of the plucking machine 10. The shaft 50 is driven in rotation about its axis by a motorization system of the plucking machine 10 and the plate 102 is then driven in rotation about the axis of rotation X corresponding to the axis of the shaft 50 after assembly.
[0029] The plate 102 here has a bore 401 passing through and coaxial with the axis X to allow it to be fitted onto the shaft 50. The bore 401 thus extends between the rear face 102a and the front face 102b.
[0030] In the embodiment of the invention presented here, to fix the plate and prevent the rotation of the plate 102 relative to the shaft 50, the plate 102 has at its front face 102b and around the bore 401, a recess 402 whose internal hollow shape, for example rectangular, is complementary to the shape of a washer 404 arranged inside the recess 402 and fixed in said recess 402, here by tightening a clamping screw 406 tightened in the shaft 50. The washer 404 is thus sandwiched between the shaft 50, the bottom of the recess 402 and the head of the clamping screw 406.
[0031] The cover 104 has a disc 106 which has an inner face 106a oriented towards the front face 102b of the plate 102 and an outer face 106b oriented opposite. The disc 106 is thus positioned opposite the front face 102b of the plate 102 and covers it. The disc 106 is here coaxial with the axis of rotation X.
[0032] The disc 106 is pierced with a plurality of holes 108, where each hole 108 receives a finger 110. The front face 102b of the platen 102 is the face from which the fingers 110 will extend.
[0033] Fig. 2 shows an example of a finger 110 which comprises a shoe 202 and a rod 204 with a truncated cone base which widens at the junction with the shoe 202. The finger 110 is made of a flexible material and the installation of the finger 110 consists of introducing the free end of the rod 204 into the hole 108 from the inner face 106a until the truncated cone is forced into the hole 108. The shoe 202 is then located on the side of the inner face 106a, and it is clamped between the front face 102b of the plate 102 and the inner face 106a of the disc 106, and the rod 204 on the side of the outer face 106b.
[0034] This design guarantees the holding of the head of the finger 110 and the sealing of the assembly between the plate 102 and the disc 106 and prevents the introduction of waste between the finger 110 and the hole 108 due to the absence of the circular groove present in the case of the state of the art.
[0035] The cover 104 has a skirt 107 which is cylindrical and which extends from the disc 106 towards the plate 102 so as to cover the edge 103 of said plate 102. The skirt 107 thus has an interior surface which is thus around the edge 103.
[0036] To ensure the securing of the cover 104 to the plate 102, the inner surface of the skirt 107 and the edge 103 cooperate by means of threads 120 coaxial with the axis of rotation X. In the embodiment of the invention presented in Fig. 3, the edge 103 has a thread and the inner surface of the cover 104 has a tapping, but a reverse arrangement is possible.
[0037] According to a particular embodiment, the direction of the threads 120 for unscrewing is reversed relative to the direction of rotation of the shaft 50 to prevent the plate 102 from loosening during operation of the plucking machine 10.
[0038] Thus, after inserting the fingers 110 into the holes 108 of the cover 104, the latter can be fixed on the plate 102 by tightening around the axis of rotation X. Disassembly is carried out in the reverse manner.
[0039] The fixing by threads 120 between the cover 104 and the plate 102 ensures easy installation and good sealing while preventing the introduction of waste between them.
[0040] Furthermore, in the embodiment described herein, clamping the shoe 202 between the plate 102 and the disc 106 compresses the shoe 202 and ensures the creation of frictional forces between the shoes 202 and the plate 102, which prevents the cover from loosening.
Claims
CLAIMS 1. Finger holder (100) for a plucking machine (10), said finger holder (100) being designed to be rotated around an axis of rotation (X) and comprising: - a plate (102) intended to be fixed to a shaft (50) of the plucker (10), where the plate (102) has an edge (103) forming a cylindrical surface around the axis of rotation (X) between a rear face (102a) and a front face (102b), and - a cover (104) which has a disc (106) and a skirt (107), where the disc (106) covers the front face (102b) of the plate (102) and where the skirt (107) is cylindrical and extends from the disc (106) towards the plate (102) by covering the edge (103) of said plate (102), where the disc (106) is pierced with a plurality of holes (108), and where each is intended to receive a finger (110) of the plucker (10), the finger holder (100) being characterized in that an inner surface of the skirt (107) and the edge (103) cooperate by means of threads (120) coaxial with the axis of rotation (X).
2. Finger holder (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that the edge (103) has a thread and the inner surface of the cover (104) has a thread.
3. Finger holder (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that the edge (103) has a thread and the inner surface of the cover (104) has a thread.
4. Poultry plucker (10) comprising a shaft (50), a motorization system driving the shaft (50) in rotation around the axis of rotation, a finger holder (100) according to one of the preceding claims, where the plate (102) is fixed to said shaft (50) by fixing means, and for each hole (108) of the disc (106), a finger (110) inserted into said hole (108).
5. Poultry plucker (10) according to claim 4, characterized in that each finger (110) comprises a shoe (202) and a rod (204) with a truncated cone base which widens at the junction with the shoe (202), where the shoe (202) is clamped between the plate (102) and the disc (106).