Slaughterhouse meat transport system

Abstract

Disclosed is a slaughterhouse meat transport system comprising; a plurality of working stations; a conveyor system comprising a plurality of tracks connecting the working stations and facilitating transport routes; a plurality of suspended meat carriers associated with respective individual carrier tags; and a switch track configured for selecting a transport route among the transport routes; and a system controller arrangement configured to control said conveyor system and to track a location of individual suspended meat carriers; wherein said system controller arrangement is configured to individually route an individual suspended meat carrier of said plurality of suspended meat carriers along a transport route of said plurality of transport routes in said conveyor system on the basis of said individual carrier tag. Disclosed is also a use of the system and a method of routing an individual suspended meat carrier in a slaughterhouse.

Description

SLAUGHTERHOUSE MEAT TRANSPORT SYSTEMField of the invention

[0001] The present invention relates to slaughterhouse meat transport system, use of a slaughterhouse meat transport system, and a method of routing an individual suspended meat carrier in a slaughterhouse.Background of the invention

[0002] In livestock agriculture and the meat industry, a slaughterhouse is a facility where livestock animals, such as pigs, are slaughtered to provide food - typically in the form of meat cuts.

[0003] Demand for such food products is constantly changing, and adapting production to such changes in demand is challenging for modern day slaughterhouses which at the same time are operating in a highly competitive market while facing challenges related to improvements of working conditions for the workers involved in the slaughtering processes.

[0004] Over the years, slaughterhouses have undergone a great deal of automation to improve working conditions and to improve the efficiency of the slaughtering processes, however, such automation also comes at significant costs. There still exists a need of cost-effective systems to be used for conveying meat in a slaughterhouse which also provides flexibility so that the slaughterhouse can adapt more easily to changing demands.Summary of the invention

[0005] The inventors have identified the above-mentioned problems and challenges related to transporting of meat in slaughterhouses, and subsequently made the below- described invention which may increase flexibility of slaughterhouses and reduce costs of transporting meat in a slaughterhouse.

[0006] An aspect of the invention relates to a slaughterhouse meat transport system comprising: a plurality of working stations; a conveyor system comprising: a plurality of tracks connecting said plurality of working stations and facilitating a plurality of transport routes in said conveyor system; a plurality of suspended meat carriers, each suspended meat carrier of said plurality of suspended meat carriers being associated with an individual carrier tag; and a switch track configured for selecting a transport route among said plurality of transport routes; a system controller arrangement configured to control said conveyor system and to track a location of individual suspended meat carriers of said plurality of suspended meat carriers in said conveyor system; wherein said system controller arrangement is configured to individually route an individual suspended meat carrier of said plurality of suspended meat carriers along a transport route of said plurality of transport routes in said conveyor system on the basis of said individual carrier tag.

[0007] Thereby is provided an advantageous slaughterhouse meat transport system which is capable of transporting meat around in a slaughterhouse. The advantages of the system will be apparent throughout the following disclosure.

[0008] In the context of the present disclosure, a “working station” may be understood as any kind of station, area, or zone in a slaughterhouse where an action may occur with respect to meat conveyed by the conveyor system. Examples of working stations may include a station where a meat cut is placed on a suspended meat carrier, e.g., a loading station, or a station where meat is removed from a suspendedmeat carrier, e.g., an unloading station. Another example of a working station is a station where a meat cut on a suspended meat carrier is being trimmed or otherwise processed. Another example of a working station is a station where suspended meat carriers are being put on the conveying system or removed from the conveyor system, e.g., removed from tracks of the conveyor system. Other examples of working stations may include meat cutting stations and meat deboning stations. Yet another example of a working station is a cleaning station, e.g., a washroom, for cleaning of suspended meat carriers to ensure that the suspended meat carriers are sufficiently clean for hygienic handling of meat. It should be noted that other examples of working stations includes stations where meat cuts are being processed and where the processing occurs while the meat cuts are unloaded from a suspended meat carrier, for example unloaded unto a conveyor, e.g., a belt conveyor, for processing. Subsequently, the processed meat cut may be loaded onto a suspended meat carrier of the conveyor system for further processing, or for unloading at a final destination in the slaughterhouse.

[0009] In the context of the present disclosure, a “conveyor system” may be understood as a system capable of transporting suspended meat carriers between working stations of a slaughterhouse. Throughout the present disclosure, a conveyor system may also be referred to a as a conveying system, and thus the terms conveyor system and conveying system may be used interchangeably throughout the present disclosure. The conveyor system facilitates the physical connections between working stations of the slaughterhouse meat transport system, which makes it possible for individual suspended meat carriers to be transported / conveyed between different working stations. These transport capabilities are facilitated by the conveyor system comprising a plurality of tracks connecting the workstations to one another.

[0010] A plurality of tracks is to be understood as the tracks in the conveyor system for conveying suspended meat carriers from A to B and e.g., via C, D or E, where A- E may represent positions in the slaughterhouse meat transport system, for example working stations in the slaughterhouse meat transport system. The plurality of tracks may include any of straight tracks, curved tracks, corner tracks, inclined tracks for raising or lowering suspended meat carriers, switch tracks for changing a route of asuspended meat carrier, and accumulation tracks for accumulation of suspended meat carriers. The tracks may be implemented in various ways using different types of pull systems for transporting suspended meat carriers. For example, the tracks may comprise a chain drive system, a wire system, or any other kind of system capable of pulling suspended meat carriers along tracks of a conveyor system.

[0011] The plurality of tracks of the conveyor system facilitates a plurality of transport routes for a suspended meat carrier. In the present disclosure, a “transport route” may be understood as a route or path in the slaughterhouse transport system, along which a suspended meat carrier may be transported / conveyed. Throughout the present disclosure, a transport route may simply be referred to as a route. A transport route may simply be a route from one working station to another, however, a transport route may also be a route which passes through multiple working stations. Furthermore, a transport route may be defined by the tracks which constitute the route. Given that there is a plurality of tracks in the conveying system, it may be the case (depending on the configuration of the conveying system) that there exist multiple transport routes between the same two working stations as the tracks of the conveying station may define different paths that have the same starting points and end points. An example of a transport route for a suspended meat carrier may be a route along which the suspended meat carrier picks up a piece of meat, conveys the piece of meat to different working stations for e.g., trimming the meat, and finally conveys the piece of meat to an unloading station where the piece of meat is removed from the suspended meat carrier. The transport route could continue for the suspended meat carrier to e.g., a washroom before the suspended meat carrier may return to pick up a new piece of meat and start over. A transport route may be understood as a specific route for a suspended meat carrier to be conveyed in order to process meat correctly in the conveying system. It should be noted that for a given transport route, a suspended meat carrier, being transported along that route, may handle one or more meat cuts, for example a plurality of meat cuts. That is, a suspended meat carrier may pick up a meat cut at a loading station, transport the meat to and unloading the meat cut to a processing station, e.g., a trimming station, for processing, pick up another meat cut which hasbeen trimmed at the trimming station or alternatively pick up another piece of meat which has been processed at another working station.

[0012] In this sense, the plurality of tracks may be understood as a slaughterhouse infrastructure for conveying the suspended meat carriers along and around in a slaughterhouse. The plurality of tracks facilitates the transport routes for the suspended meat carriers where the suspended meat carriers may be routed individually. This is advantageous when two suspended meat carriers both are to be conveyed from the same first working station to a second working station, where both suspended meat carriers are being conveyed to the second working station. The plurality of tracks facilitates two different routes in the slaughterhouse infrastructure for the two suspended meat carriers from the first working station to the second working station. The suspended meat carriers may get to the second working station faster or if a breakdown occurs on one of the tracks both suspended meat carriers would not be stopped by the breakdown.

[0013] In the context of the present disclosure, a “suspended meat carrier” may be understood as any kind of carrier capable of securing, holding, or supporting meat. Examples of suspended meat carriers may comprise meat hooks, meat grippers, or any kind of meat support, such as trays. Preferably, the suspended meat carrier comprises a meat hook. Throughout the present disclosure, a suspended meat carrier may also simply be referred to as a carrier. By being suspended, it should be understood that the carrier is suspended below tracks of the conveyor system. The suspended meat carrier may be configured to mechanically engage with tracks of the conveyor system. For example, a suspended meat carrier may be configured to be supported, guided and driven in the conveyor system. A suspended meat carrier is to be understood as an individual suspended meat carrier for transporting meat in a conveying system.

[0014] Each of the suspended meat carriers may be associated with an individual carrier tag. In the context of the present disclosure, an “individual carrier tag” may be understood as any kind of tag facilitating identification of a specific suspended meat carrier among the plurality of suspended meat carriers. The individual carrier tag may be a physical carrier tag arranged on (or in) the respective suspended meat carrier,and / or the individual carrier tag may be a computer-implemented tag implemented in a system controller arrangement, for example arranged in a control program executed by the system controller arrangement. For example, a suspended meat carrier may comprise a physical tag while at the same time also being represented in control program by a computer-implemented tag. Examples of physical individual carrier tags may include RFID tags (Radio-frequency identification tags), barcodes, QR codes (Quick response codes) data matrix codes or any other kind of identifier capable of uniquely identifying the suspended meat carrier to which the individual carrier tag is associated. Examples of computer-implemented tags include identifications numbers, identification names, identification codes, serial numbers, references, labels, or any other kind of identifier capable of uniquely identifying the suspended meat carrier to which the individual carrier tag is associated. Given that an individual carrier tag is associated with a suspended meat carrier it means that every suspended meat carrier of the plurality of meat carriers becomes identifiable to the slaughterhouse meat transport system. In an alternative embodiment, the individual carrier tag may be facilitated by the meat, e.g., meat cut, handled by the suspended meat carrier. For example, the meat cut may comprise an identifier, identifying the specific meat cut, or the meat cut handled by the suspended meat carrier may in itself be used as an identifier. By use of the carrier tags, it may become possible for the slaughterhouse meat transport system to identify individual suspended meat carriers in the system which may be useful with respect to tracking positions of individual carriers in the system and to perform individual routing of the individual suspended meat carriers according to a desired plan.

[0015] According to an embodiment, positions of individual suspended meat carriers may be determined by scanning of physical carrier tags arranged on suspended meat carriers using one or more tag readers. In that respect, the individual carrier tags may be used for direct verification of positions of the carriers in the conveyor system, as the positions of the one or more tag readers may be known to the system controller arrangement.

[0016] According to another embodiment, positions of individual suspended meat carriers in the conveyor system may be estimated by the system controller arrangement on the basis of information concerning the conveyor system, such as information about the speed at which suspended meat carriers are conveyed along given tracks of the conveyor system, timing information provided by encoders, such as timing wheels, of the conveyor system, which information may indicate e.g., how much pull system(s) of the conveyor system have advanced in position. Put in other words, the system controller arrangement may simulate positions of suspended meat carriers in the conveyor system. When simulating positions in the conveyor system it may be advantageous to have a handle or reference, in the system controller arrangement, for identifying each suspended meat carrier as the suspended meat carriers may have to be routed differently throughout the conveyor system.

[0017] Determining locations of suspended meat carriers is advantageous in that the conveyor system may be controller in such a way that suspended meat carriers are conveyed along intended transport routes in the system. For example, by knowing the location of a carrier it may become possible to activate a switch tracks at the correct point in time for switching track in respect of the carrier.

[0018] Not only may the individual carrier tag facilitate identification of the associated suspended meat carrier, but the individual carrier tag may also comprise, or at least be associated with, one or more attributes of the suspended meat carrier. Such attributes may include amongst others a meat handling status (is the suspended meat carrier presently handling meat?), a meat type (if the suspended meat carrier is handling meat, what type of meat is being handled?), origin of meat, type of suspended meat carrier (meat hook, meat gripper, tray, etc.), and time since last cleaning.

[0019] The individual carrier tags may be advantageous for sanitation purposes to ensure that the suspended meat carriers are the correct suspended meat carriers. The individual carrier tags may help to ensure a suspended meat carrier has been cleaned before picking up a meat cut. The individual carrier tags may also be helpful for better tracking of the different meat cuts where meat cuts may be track as individual meat cuts along the conveyor system. The individual carriers tag for individual meat cutsare also advantageous to track where a specific meat cut originates from in form of either the e.g., specific animal, batch, or farm.

[0020] In the context of the present disclosure, a “switch track” may be understood as any kind of mechanical arrangement, which is configured to change a transport route of a suspended meat carrier by moving the suspended meat carrier from one track to another track of the plurality of tracks. An example of a switch track may be a mechanical arrangement in the form of a movable track which can connect one upstream track with another downstream track selectable among two or more downstream tracks. Another example of a switch track is a mechanical arrangement configured to lift a suspended meat carrier from one track and placing the suspended meat carrier on another track. Yet another example of a switch track is a mechanical arrangement capable of releasing a suspended meat carrier from a track and guiding released suspended meat carrier, using an auxiliary track, to another track. Such an auxiliary track may allow, for example, a hanger of a suspended meat carrier to be guided along a path defined by the auxiliary track. The switch track may be used to ensure that a suspended meat carrier is conveyed along a defined transport route for the suspended meat carrier. According to an embodiment of the invention, the conveyor system may comprise a plurality of switch tracks such as two or more switch tracks.

[0021] The slaughterhouse meat transport system is arranged to individual route each individual suspended meat carrier along the tracks in the conveying system on the basis of their corresponding individual carrier tags. The system controller arrangement is configured to track a location of individual suspended meat carriers and control the conveyor system to ensure proper routing of individual suspended meat carriers. By a system controller arrangement may be understood any kind of computer processor, such as a dedicated computing system or a distributed computing system, for example a cloud-based computing system. The system controller arrangement may be communicatively coupled with one or more data memory units storing thereon computer-readable instructions which when executed by the system controllerarrangement causes the system controller arrangement to carry out the control scheme for conveying the suspended meat carriers in the conveyor system.

[0022] Transport routes may be defined by a starting point, ending point, and / or waypoints along the transport route. The waypoints may be an additional stop along the transport route for the suspended meat carrier in order for processing e.g., a meat cut in the optimal way. Two transport routes may comprise the same start and end position but may still be different according to which tracks the plurality of tracks the transport routes are facilitated by. The transport routes may also be defined according to an operational scheme. Examples of transport routes may include a route from a deboning workstation to a packaging station. For example, in respect of one deboning station processing meat cuts, there may be multiple packaging stations to convey the processed meat cuts to, with some processed meat cuts being destined for one packaging station and other processed meat cuts destined for another packaging station. Thus, in this example multiple transport routes exist between the deboning station and the plurality of packaging stations.

[0023] It is advantageous to have a meat transport system, where individual suspended meat carriers are being individually tracked and individually routed in a conveyor system. The individually tracking and individually transport routing is advantageous in a greater traceability of each individual suspended meat carrier, which also makes a greater traceability for meat cuts. The greater traceability is also advantageous in the individual transport routing for the individual suspended meat carrier because the individual suspended meat carrier may select the fastest or shortest individual transport route. The next individual suspended meat carrier may select another individual transport route compared to the individual suspended meat carrier before because another transport route may be the fastest or shortest now.

[0024] The individual tracking and individual transport routing of the individual suspended meat carriers is also advantageous in that each individual suspended meat carrier may be conveyed directly to a specific working station. The individual suspended meat carriers may be conveyed directly to a working station for e.g., cleaning or repairing the individual suspended meat carrier if the individual suspendedmeat carrier is to be cleaned or repaired. The individual suspended meat carriers may also be conveyed to e.g., a working station for picking up a meat cut and afterwards conveyed to a specific working station for the specific meat cut which may be e.g., a working station for trimming the meat cut.

[0025] The individual tracking of the individual suspended meat carriers may also be advantageous to convey the individual suspended meat carriers via an individual transport route to a working station for processing a meat cut. The working station at the end of the individual transport route may be the working station with the fewest individual suspended meat carriers or the working station where they are short of meat cuts for processing. The individual tracking of the individual suspended meat carriers may also be advantageous to prevent individual suspended meat carriers to be convey to e.g., a working station with a queue of individual suspended meat carriers or a working station which are out of order.

[0026] It is an advantage to route the individual suspended meat carriers according to each other to have the meat cuts on the suspended meat carriers in a shorter time. When routing the suspended meat carriers according to each other the individual meat carriers may be routed to bypass other suspended meat carriers or be routed to a process line where there are fewest suspended meat carriers.

[0027] The individual tracking and individual transport routing of the individual suspended meat carriers may also be advantageous for individual suspended meat carriers to e.g., bypass other individual suspended meat carriers or working stations in the conveyor system. When bypassing other individual suspended meat carriers or working stations the processing of e.g., meat cuts may be optimized for a faster and better processing.

[0028] According to an embodiment, said system controller arrangement is configured to individually route said individual suspended meat carrier of said plurality of suspended meat carriers along said transport route of said plurality of transport routes in said conveyor system on the basis of an operational scheme of said conveyor system.

[0029] In the context of the present disclosure, an “operational scheme of said conveyor system” may be understood as an operational plan of the conveyor system focusing on the operational state of the overall conveyor system and / or which focuses on the operational state of individual components of the conveyor system, such as the state of individual tracks and switch tracks. In other words, the operational scheme of the conveyor system may reflect the availability of conveyor system components for routing of suspended meat carriers. For example, one or more tracks of the plurality of tracks, or one or more switch tracks may be unavailable for routing of suspended meat carriers due to e.g., a breakdown or due to scheduled maintenance. Another example may be that one or more track sections may have reached a capacity limit. An example thereof is that a buffer track section may be fully occupied by suspended meat carriers in a waiting position, or one or more tracks may be arranged in a smoker (for smoking meat cuts), and the capacity limit of the smoker has been reached, whereby no further suspended meat carriers may be accommodated on the one or more tracks. In that sense, the operational scheme of said conveyor system may impose operational constraints to the conveyor system and to the planning / routing of suspended meat carriers in the conveyor system. Considering such operational constraints, imposed by the operational scheme of said conveyor system, is advantageous in that route planning of individual suspended meat carriers may be optimized with respect to bottlenecks in the conveyor system, and the overall waiting time of suspended meat carriers in the system may be reduced.

[0030] According to an embodiment, said system controller arrangement is configured to individually route said individual suspended meat carrier of said plurality of suspended meat carriers along said transport route of said plurality of transport routes in said conveyor system on the basis of an operational scheme of said plurality of working stations.

[0031] In the context of the present disclosure, an “operational scheme of said plurality of working stations” may be understood as operational plan of the working stations focusing on the operational state of working stations. In other words, the operational scheme of the working stations may reflect the availability and / or capacityof working stations and this may have implications on the transport route selected for each individual suspended meat carrier. For example, a working station such as a deboning working station may have a number of personnel associated for performing deboning operations on meat cuts arriving at the working station with suspended meat carriers of the conveyor system. The capacity, e.g., the number of suspended meat carriers to be handled by the working station per hour, may depend on the number of persons at the working station, thus the capacity of a working station may depend on the working plan of the workers of the slaughterhouse which of course may be subject to change over time, as the working shifts at a slaughterhouse may be subject to change over time and the number of person working on individual shifts may be affected by illness. Moreover, a working station may be unavailable for receiving suspended meat carriers due to the working station being broken or scheduled for maintenance. In that sense, the operational scheme of said plurality of working stations may impose operational constraints to the slaughterhouse transport system and to the planning / routing of suspended meat carriers in the conveyor system. Additionally, the type of meat being handled by a working station, such as a deboning station, may change according to needs. At one instance of time, a working station may for example be used for processing, such as deboning, of pork loins, whereas at another instance of time, that working station may be used for processing of pork bellies. Considering such operational constraints, imposed by the operational scheme of said plurality of working stations, is advantageous in that route planning of individual suspended meat carriers may be optimized with respect to bottlenecks in the slaughterhouse meat transport system and the overall waiting time of suspended meat carriers in the system may be reduced.

[0032] According to an embodiment, said operational scheme is a configurable operational scheme.

[0033] The operational scheme of the conveyor system and / or the operational scheme of the plurality of working stations may be configurable. The operational scheme may be configurable to change e.g., when a working station is changing from working with one specific type of meat cut to another specific type of meat cut. Thisis advantageous to accommodate specific deliveries to customers or if the slaughterhouse is running low on a specific type of meat cut.

[0034] According to an embodiment, said conveyor system comprises a pull system configured to support and transport said plurality of suspended meat carriers along said one or more tracks of said plurality of tracks.

[0035] In the context of the present disclosure, a “pull system” may be understood as any kind of mechanical system capable of pulling and supporting suspended meat carriers along paths defined by the tracks of the conveyor system. By pulling is understand that the pull system is configured to provide a pulling force for pulling suspended meat carriers along transport routes facilitated by the conveyor system. By supporting may be understood that the pull system is also supporting the weight of suspended meat carriers. In that sense, suspended meat carriers may be supported in the pull system itself. The pull system may include a motor for providing the force necessary for pulling the suspended meat carriers along tracks of the conveyor system. In this sense, the pull system may be regarded as a driving system driving the suspended meat carriers along one or more tracks of the plurality of tracks. The suspended meat carriers may therefore rest entirely on the plurality of tracks in the conveyor system where the pull system still may be able to pull the conveyor system with the weight of all the suspended meat carriers. The pull system may include more than one motors, such as a plurality of motors, for providing the necessary force to pull the suspended meat carriers along the tracks in the conveyor system. An example of a pull system comprises a chain supported in tracks of the conveyor system, such as supported in grooves or guides of the tracks, wherein the chain is powered by a motor, and wherein suspended meat carriers are coupled to the chain in such a way that the chain can provide the pulling force and support a weight of the suspended meat carriers including loads handled by the carriers.

[0036] According to an embodiment of the invention, the conveyor comprises a plurality of pull systems. As an example, a first subset of the plurality of tracks of the conveyor may have a first pull system associated thereto, whereas another subset of the plurality of tracks of the conveyor system may have a second pull systemassociated thereto. The first and second pull systems may be of the same type, however according to another embodiment of the invention, the first and second pull systems may be of different types.

[0037] According to an embodiment, said pull system is configured to support a weight of each suspended meat carrier of said plurality of suspended meat carriers.

[0038] The pull system may be configured to support a weight of each suspended meat carrier of the plurality of suspended meat carriers, including any load, e.g., a meat cut, handled by each suspended meat carrier. Moreover, the pull system may also be configured to support the weight of multiple suspended meat carriers at the same time. Supporting the weight of the suspended meat carriers in the pull system is advantageous in that the pull system may serve multiple functions, namely pulling suspended meat carriers and supporting the weight of the suspended meat carriers. Thereby may be achieved a simpler conveyor system as opposed to the situation where the carriers were to be pushed along in the system - this would require one system for supporting the weight of the suspended meat carriers and another system for supplying a pushing force pushing the carriers along in the system. Realizing a simple conveyor system is advantageous in that a cheaper slaughterhouse meat transport system may be achieved. In particular, the cost of manufacturing and setting up sections of the conveyor system may be reduced, and thus for the same investment it may be possible to set up more track sections in a slaughterhouse, and more tracks may realize more transport route possibilities.

[0039] According to an embodiment, said pull system comprises a chain, a cable, or any combination thereof.

[0040] The pull system may comprise a force conveying member for directing the pulling force onto individual suspended meat carriers. The force conveying member may be a chain or a cable, or any combination thereof, capable of directing force provided by a motor of the pull system to individual suspended meat carriers for pulling these. Examples of chains may include anchor chains, roller chains, engineering chains, and leaf chains. Examples of cables may include wires, strands,wire ropes, and ropes. According to a preferred embodiment, the force conveying member is simultaneously also a weight carrying member in that the force conveying member also supports the weight of suspended meat carriers. For example, the pull system comprises an anchor chain as a force conveying member and a suspended meat carrier may be supported in one or more chain links of the anchor chain, whereby the anchor chain supports the weight of the suspended meat carrier suspended in the anchor chain while exerting a pulling force on the carrier.

[0041] According to an embodiment, said pull system comprises an anchor chain.

[0042] Using an anchor chain in the pull system is advantageous in that an anchor chain is cheap, and in addition an anchor chain is easy to repair and modify by e.g., removing or adding chain links. Thereby, an anchor chain is highly flexible in use and can be adapted to changing requirements of the conveyor system.

[0043] According to an embodiment, said pull system comprises a plurality of attachment points, and wherein each suspended meat carrier of said plurality of suspended meat carriers is configured to be releasably fixed in one attachment point of said plurality of attachment points.

[0044] In the context of the present disclosure, an “attachment point” may be understood as fixed point in the pull system at which suspended meat carriers may be attached or connected to the pull system. For example, if the pull system comprises a chain, such as an anchor chain, an attachment point may be a chain link of the chain. Accordingly, the pull system may facilitate a plurality of attachment points. A purpose of the attachment points is to facilitate attachment of a suspended meat carrier in the pull system, for example attachment of a suspended meat carrier in a chain link, whereby the suspended meat carrier becomes fixed in the pull system. Moreover, another purpose of the attachment point is that a suspended meat carrier can be removed from the attachment point and thereby become decoupled from the pull system. Accordingly, the attachment points together with the suspended meat carrier facilitates a releasable / decouplable mechanical engagement of the pull system with the suspended meat carrier.

[0045] Having suspended meat carriers that may be decouplable from the pull system is advantageous for several reasons. First and foremost is achieved that a suspended meat carrier may be transferred from one pull system to another pull system. For example, a suspended meat carrier may be transported along the conveyor system by a first pull system and be moved from the first pull system to another pull system, for example by use of a switch track. Thus, the suspended meat carrier may be transported along in large conveyor systems which may be made up of multiple sub-systems, each sub-system having its own pull system. Conveyor systems having multiple subsystems may emerge over time, as a conveyor system is developed over time with more and more tracks and switch tracks according to the changing requirements of the slaughterhouse. A slaughterhouse meat transport system used one year may have a too small capacity the next year, and thus there may arise a demand of increasing the capacity / size of the conveyor system, for example by adding new tracks to the existing tracks, for example using additional pull systems. By being able to transfer suspended meat carriers from one pull system to another pull system, the existing system may easily be developed without having to make fundamental changes with respect to the suspended meat carriers.

[0046] Another advantage of having decouplable suspended meat carriers is that when multiple suspended meat carriers are attached to the same pull system, for example attached to the same chain, the distance between neighbouring suspended meat carriers may be selectable. This means, for example, that a first set of suspended meat carriers may have a first mutual distance between them, whereas a second set of suspended meat carriers may have a second mutual distance between them, wherein the first and second mutual distances are different. Having selectable distances between neighbouring suspended meat carriers in the conveyor system is advantageous in that the space along the conveyor may be optimized. For example, some type of meat cuts take up more space than others whereby the mutual distance between neighbouring suspended meat carriers handling that type of meat cuts have to be large. On the contrary, other types of meat cuts may require less space, and thereby the space along the conveyor system, or at least the space along a part of the conveyor system, may accommodate a large number of that type of meat cuts. In that case, itmay be optimal to space the meat cuts apart with a small mutual distance to increase the throughput (the number of suspended meat carriers passing along a track in time).

[0047] Another advantage of having decouplable suspended meat carriers is that the carriers may be easily removed from the system if they have to undergo repair, and this removal may be performed while the conveyor system is running.

[0048] Yet another advantage of having decouplable suspended meat carriers is that the number of suspended meat carriers in the conveyor system may be changed while the conveyor system is running. For example, more carriers may be added to the system according to increasing capacity demands. Moreover, as time progresses, the suspended meat carriers may be updated, and thus the carriers in the conveyor system may be updated / replaced with newer versions while the conveyor system is running. Removal, or addition, of suspended meat carriers may for example be performed at a dedicated working station, such as at a suspended meat carrier servicing station. The job of adding / removing suspended meat carriers may be performed either automatically or manually by a system operator.

[0049] According to an embodiment, each suspended meat carrier of said plurality of suspended meat carriers is arranged for automatic engagement and automatic disengagement with said pull system.

[0050] Each suspended meat carrier may be arranged for automatic engagement and disengagement with the pull system, meaning that each suspended meat carrier may be attached to or removed from the pull system without human intervention. An implication thereof is that the conveyor system may be able to automatically transport a suspended meat carrier from one pull system to another pull system. Being able to perform such automatic transitions of suspended meat carriers is advantages in that the conveyor system may function in a more automatic fashion requiring less human intervention.

[0051] According to an embodiment, each attachment point of said plurality of attachment points is arranged in a chain link.

[0052] The pull system may comprise a chain. Moreover, the conveyor system may comprise a plurality of pull systems, thus a plurality of chains. Each attachment point of the plurality of attachment points may be arranged in a chain link. Thus, the plurality of attachment points may be arranged in chain links distributed in a plurality of chains.

[0053] It is advantageous to use the chain links as attachment points as the suspended meat carriers may be incorporated directly into the conveyor system and thereby additional means for attaching suspended meat carriers may be avoided. Another advantage is that the chain links of a chain are small with respect to the length of the chain, and thereby the concentration of attachment points along the length of the chain is high implying that the resolution with which suspended meat carriers may be placed in the pull system is high, i.e., it is substantially possible to place a suspended meat carrier at any position along the pull system.

[0054] According to an embodiment, each suspended meat carrier of said plurality of suspended meat carriers is configured to be arranged on said pull system.

[0055] Each suspended meat carrier may be configured to be arranged on the pull system. This implied that the weight of the suspended meat carrier (and weight of any meat handled by the carrier) is exerted on top of the pull system, for example when the pull system comprises a chain, the weight is exerted onto the top of the chain. Such a configuration is particular advantageous considering that a suspended meat carrier may be attached to, or removed from, the pull system. Then then weight of the suspended meat carrier (and meat being handled) may be used to retain and secure the suspended meat carrier in the pull system.

[0056] According to an embodiment, said plurality of suspended meat carriers comprises a plurality of meat hooks.

[0057] The plurality of suspended meat carriers may comprise a plurality of meat hooks. For example, each suspended meat carrier of the plurality of suspended meat carriers may comprise a meat hook, or at least each suspended meat carrier of a subset of the plurality of suspended meat carriers may comprise a meat hook.

[0058] It is advantageous to have meat hooks when meat cuts are being handled and conveyed in the conveyor system as the meat hooks may effectively secure meat, e.g., meat cuts, and retain the meat throughout the entire transport route of the respective suspended meat carrier. Furthermore, a meat hook is advantageous in in that it may easily facilitate removal or placement of meat cuts on a process line of a slaughterhouse.

[0059] According to an embodiment, said plurality of suspended meat carriers comprises a plurality of meat gripping arrangements.

[0060] The plurality of suspended meat carriers may comprise a plurality of meat gripping arrangements. For example, each suspended meat carrier of the plurality of suspended meat carriers may comprise a meat gripping arrangement, or at least each suspended meat carrier of a subset of the plurality of suspended meat carriers may comprise a meat gripping arrangement.

[0061] In the context of the present invention, a “meat gripping arrangement” may be understood as any kind of mechanical arrangement which is capable of gripping and maintaining a firm grip on a piece of meat such as a meat cut. Examples of meat gripping arrangements include a pair of plates arranged to clamp an end segment of a meat cut therebetween, jaw grippers, suction cup grippers, or any other kind of gripper capable of holding on to and lifting a meat cut.

[0062] According to an embodiment, said plurality of suspended meat carriers comprises a plurality of receptacles for holding meat.

[0063] The plurality of suspended meat carriers may comprise a plurality of meat receptacles for holding meat. For example, each suspended meat carrier of the plurality of suspended meat carriers may comprise a receptacle, or at least each suspended meat carrier of a subset of the plurality of suspended meat carriers may comprise a receptacle.

[0064] In the context of the present invention, a “receptacle” may be understood as any kind of container, vessel or box in which meat, such as a meat cut, may be stored.It as advantageous to have receptacles for holding meat when the meat is a meat product which e.g., may not be pierced by a hook. It may also be meat cuts which are to be sold as first-class meat cuts where the meat cuts may not be pierced and therefor are transported in receptacles.

[0065] According to an embodiment, each suspended meat carrier of said plurality of suspended meat carriers comprises a base block comprising a protrusion arranged to mechanically engage with an attachment point of a pull system of said conveyor system.

[0066] In the context of the present disclosure, a “base block” may be understood as a member of a suspended meat carrier which is capable of mechanically connecting other components / members of a suspended meat carrier to one another. In that sense, the base block may be regarded as a fixture facilitating attachment of other components. The base block may take various shapes and may not necessarily be square or rectangularly shaped as could otherwise be contemplated by the wording “block”. Indeed, the base block may take on various other geometries. The various other attachments that may be connected to the base block may be selected from meat hooks, meat gripping arrangements, receptacles, protrusions for mechanically engaging with a pull system, hangers, and individual carrier tags.

[0067] In the present embodiment, the base block comprises a protrusion which is arranged to mechanically engage with an attachment point of a pulls system of the conveyor system. The protrusion may take various forms, and the precise form may depend on the type of pull system being used. If the pull system comprises a chain, such as an anchor chain, comprising chain links as attachment points, the protrusion may be formed in such a way that the protrusion may be inserted in a chain link thereof. The protrusion is preferably arranged on the base block in such a way that the protrusion engages the pull system from above, such that when the suspended meat carrier is placed on the pull system the protrusion is facing down on the pull system. Using such a protrusion is advantageous in that the suspended meat carrier may be retained in attachment points in a way which also allows the suspended meat carrier tobe easily decoupled from the pull system as the suspended meat carrier only needs to be lifted up and away from the pull system to become decoupled.

[0068] According to an embodiment, the protrusion may be integrally formed in the base block, which may be the case when for example the base block is moulded.

[0069] According to an embodiment of the invention, individual carrier tags associated with individual suspended meat carriers are arranged on or in base blocks of respective suspended meat carriers. That is, every suspended meat carrier of the plurality of meat carriers may have its associated individual carrier tag arranged in or on the base block of the suspended meat carrier.

[0070] According to an embodiment, said base block comprises polyoxymethylene.

[0071] The base block may comprise polyoxymethylene (commonly referred to as POM). For example, the base block may be moulded in POM. Using POM is advantageous in that it is a material which easy to shape and thus the base block can be easily formed according to different attachment points or pull systems. Furthermore, POM may also be referred to as acetal, polyacetal or polyformaldehyde. Polyoxymethylene is a thermoplastic which may have a high stiffness, high strength and a low friction. The base block could be formed or moulded of polyoxymethylene according to size of the chain link. A further advantage of POM is that when used as a material in the base block of a suspended meat carrier the noise in the conveyor system may be reduced due to amongst others the low friction.

[0072] According to an embodiment of the invention, said plurality of tracks comprises guides for guiding a pull system of said conveyor system. According to an embodiment, the guides may also be made of POM. Using POM for both guides and base blocks of suspended meat carriers may realize an even lower noise when the conveyor system is running.

[0073] According to an embodiment, each suspended meat carrier of said plurality of suspended meat carriers comprises a hanger.

[0074] In the present context, “a hanger” should be understood as any kind of hook, knob, or support member for holding securing, and conveying the suspended meat carrier along an auxiliary track of the conveyor system. The hanger of a suspended meat carrier may be arranged on a base block of the carrier. In a preferred embodiment, the hanger is arranged as the top-most member of the suspended meat carrier. In addition to the tracks of the conveyor system, the conveyor system may comprise one or more auxiliary tracks. The auxiliary tracks also facilitate conveying / transporting of individual suspended meat carriers; however, they primarily facilitate transitions of suspended meat carrier between different tracks such as transitions of carriers between different pull systems. One way of performing such a transition of a carrier is to comprises lifting the carrier from a first pull system and placing the carrier on a second pull system. In the time duration in which the carrier is not coupled to a pull system and thereby not supported by a pull system, the hanger may engage with an auxiliary track, whereby the weight of the carrier is supported. The auxiliary track may be arranged as a part of a switch track or as part of an accumulation track.

[0075] Accordingly, the hanger is advantageous in that it facilitates transitions of suspended meat carriers in the conveyor system.

[0076] According to an embodiment, each suspended meat carrier of said plurality of suspended meat carriers is limited to convey an individual meat cut.

[0077] Each suspended meat carrier may be limited to conveying an single individual meat cut. That is, according to this embodiment, each carrier may not handle more than a single meat cut. At a first glance this may seem like a great disadvantage to the system, however, it may actually be beneficial for very particular reason. As each suspended meat carrier is associated with a respective individual carrier tag, that tag may be associated with only a single meat cut, namely the single meat cut handled by the suspended meat carrier. Thereby, there is a one-to-one correspondence between meat cuts and individual carrier tags, and thus tracking of meat cuts in the slaughterhouse may be achieved down to the single meat cut level.

[0078] According to an embodiment, said plurality of working stations comprises one or more meat loading stations.

[0079] In the context of the present invention, a “meat loading station” may be understood as a station at which meat is loaded onto a suspended meat carrier. From the viewpoint of the slaughterhouse meat transport system, a loading station may be regarded as an input station at which meat is introduced to the system. The meat may for example be a meat cut. The meat loading station may facilitate either manual or automatic loading of meat onto suspended meat carriers. A manual loading process may involve a worker of the slaughterhouse fixating a meat cut onto a suspended meat carrier manually, such as by piercing a meat cut using a hook of a suspended meat carrier. According to a preferred embodiment, the loading is performed automatically. An example of a meat loading station is a belt conveyor along which meat cuts are conveyed, for example, the belt conveyor may form part of a meat cutting station producing meat cuts by cutting carcasses. The meat cuts are positioned on the belt conveyor such that a part of each meat cut is sticking out to the side of the belt conveyor. Then a suspended meat carrier, comprising e.g., a meat hook, is intersecting each meat cut from below, whereby the meat cut is pierced by the meat hook and thus secured onto a suspended meat carrier. The one or more meat loading stations may advantageously be arranged at, or subsequent to, a meat cutting station, as meat cuts provided at such a station typically requires subsequent transport to other stations, such as a deboning station.

[0080] According to an embodiment, said plurality of working stations comprises one or more meat unloading stations.

[0081] In the context of the present invention, a “meat unloading station” may be understood as a station at which meat is unloaded from a suspended meat carrier. From the viewpoint of the slaughterhouse meat transport system, a loading station may be regarded as an exit station at which meat is removed from the system. The meat may for example be a meat cut. The meat unloading station may facilitate either manual or automatic unloading of meat from suspended meat carriers. A manual unloading process may involve a worker of the slaughterhouse removing a meat cut from asuspended meat carrier manually, such as by removing a meat cut from a hook of a suspended meat carrier. According to a preferred embodiment, the unloading is performed automatically. An example of a meat unloading station is a belt conveyor at which a meat cut handled by a suspended meat carrier may be dropped onto, for example, the belt conveyor may form part of a deboning station at which bones are removed from meat cuts. The dropping off of the meat cut may be achieved by the unloading station comprising a guide guiding the suspended meat cut into a horizontal orientation aligning with the belt conveyor, receiving a part of the meat cut on the belt conveyor, and retracting the meat hook of the suspended meat carrier from the meat cut, e.g., by passing the suspended meat carrier below the height of the belt conveyor.

[0082] Although referred to as loading stations and unloading stations specifically, it should be noted that such types of stations may also form integral parts of other stations. For example, a loading station may form part of a meat cutting station, and an unloading station may form part of a deboning station. Of course, the meat loading stations and meat unloading stations may also be dedicated working stations where nothing else happens other than loading and unloading of meat respectively occurs.

[0083] It is advantageous to have a working station where meat, such as meat cuts, may be loaded and / or unloaded on the suspended meat carriers. This may help in conveying the meat to other working stations along the way of the production line. The loading and unloading from suspended meat carriers may be to e.g., a conveyor band or any other kind of conveyor. The loading and unloading may also be to specific working stations where the meat may be processed according to the respective meat, where the meat may be trimmed for fat, bones being removed or simply just divided into respective meat cuts.

[0084] According to an embodiment, said plurality of working stations comprises one or more meat processing stations.

[0085] In the context of the present invention, a “meat processing station”, is understood as any kind of working station at which meat is being processed in theslaughterhouse. Examples of such processing of meat may include deboning, trimming, smoking, heating, or cooling.

[0086] The meat processing station may facilitate processing of meat while the meat is suspended in a suspended meat carrier, such as when meat is being smoked in a smoke chamber or when meat is being trimmed, such as trimmed for excess fat. It is advantageous to have working stations where the meat may be suspended on the suspended meat carrier while being processed, as it allows for keeping tracking of the specific meat during processing. Additionally, having meat suspended like that during processing is advantageous in that may also help to prevent workers from lifting the meat and thereby save the workers from heavy or repetitive lifting during working hours.

[0087] However, a processing station is not limited to process meat which is only suspended in suspended meat carriers. For example, some processing may be performed while meat is positioned on a belt conveyor, such as trimming or deboning of meat cuts. Processing of meat cuts not handled by suspended meat carriers, may for example be performed prior to meat cuts being handled by the conveyor system, such as cutting of carcasses into meat cuts, or after being handled by the conveyor system, such as deboning of meat cuts. Thus, meat may be processed at starting points or ending points of transport routes. Additionally, some processing may occur between starting points and ending points of transport routes, i.e., at waypoints of transport routes. Such intermediate processing may also be performed while meat cuts are free of suspended meat carriers, however this may require that such a meat processing station is integrally formed with both an unloading station and a loading station or is arranged adjacent to such loading / unloading stations. Such a processing station may comprise a conveyor band, such as a belt conveyor.

[0088] According to an embodiment, said plurality of working stations comprises one or more suspended meat carrier buffer stations.

[0089] In the context of the present invention, a “suspended meat carrier buffer station” may be understood as any kind of station capable of accumulating suspendedmeat carriers. Throughout the present disclosure, a suspended meat carrier buffer station may simply be referred to as a buffer station. Such accumulation of suspended meat carriers may involve parking of suspended meat carriers into waiting positions where the carriers are standing still or conveying of suspended meat carriers along a looped track. Once in need, suspended meat carriers may be taken out from their waiting positions, or removed from the looped track using a switch track by the conveyor system,

[0090] It is advantageous to have a buffer station for suspended meat carriers when other meat cuts may have to pass the first meat cuts. It may also be advantageous to have a buffer station to ensure other working stations for e.g., trimming does not run out of meat cuts during working days. It could also be advantageous to have the buffer station when specific meat cuts are being ordered and have to be delivered to a customer. This could help for easier packaging of specific orders of meat cuts.

[0091] However, the buffer stations may also be stations where suspended meat carriers are placed to ensure that a loading stations always has suspended meat carriers to picks up meat cuts. That is, the buffer stations may also include stations where suspended meat carriers are buffered without them handling any meat.

[0092] According to an embodiment, said plurality of working stations comprises one or more suspended meat carrier cleaning stations.

[0093] In the context of the present invention, a suspended meat carrier cleaning station is understood as any kind of station capable of cleaning suspended meat carriers, such as cleaning suspended meat carriers while they are being conveyed. Throughout the present disclosure, a suspended meat carrier cleaning station may simply be referred to as a cleaning station. As an example, after having handled a meat cut, each suspended meat carrier may be cleaned in the cleaning station prior to handling a new meat cut. Having one or more cleaning stations in the slaughterhouse meat transport system is advantageous in that the system may be operated in a hygienic way, and for example the risk of cross-contamination between different meat cuts may be avoided.

[0094] According to an embodiment, said plurality of working stations comprises one or more suspended meat carrier servicing station.

[0095] In the context of the present disclosure, a suspended meat carrier servicing station is understood as a station at which any kind of operation is performed with respect to carriers of the conveyor system themselves. Throughout the present disclosure, a suspended meat carrier servicing station may simply be referred to as a servicing station. Examples of operations to be performed in respect of suspended meat carriers themselves is given here below.

[0096] The servicing station may be a working station for repairing suspended meat carriers on the conveyor system. This could be advantageous if the suspended meat carrier is broken or if the carrier comprises an individual carrier tag which is out of sync with the system. The suspended meat carriers may also have a broken meat hook or anything related to the suspended meat carrier which is to be fixed.

[0097] The servicing station may also be a working station suspended meat carriers may be added to or removed from the conveyor system if the system has too few / many of a certain kind of suspended meat carriers, e.g., to many meat hooks or too few meat receptacles. It would then be advantageous to have a specific working station to add or remove suspended meat carriers away from the meat and the meat processing.

[0098] The servicing station may also be a working station for inspecting the suspended meat carriers if the suspended meat carriers are suitable for further transportation of meat or the suspended meat carriers may have to be conveyed to repairing or cleaning. It could be checked both manually and / or automatically if the suspended meat carriers may be suitable for further conveying in the conveyor system.

[0099] According to an embodiment, one or more working stations of said plurality of working stations comprises a conveyor band.

[0100] One or more of the working stations may comprise a conveyor band, such as a belt conveyor. The conveyor band may for example be advantageous in that meat cuts may be transferred to the conveyor band from a suspended meat carrier andprocessed on the conveyor band. This may be advantageous in respect of some meat handling processes, such as deboning, which may require a particular way of handling the meat cuts.

[0101] According to an embodiment, two or more transport routes of said plurality of transport routes are arranged between two working stations of the plurality of working stations.

[0102] By having two or more transport routes arranged between two working stations is achieved that there may be two or more alternative routes between two working stations. This is advantageous in that handling and / or processing of meat between two workstations may be different. For example, two meat cuts of the same type may be treated differently irrespective of the fact that they are routed to the same end destination; one meat cut may be subjected to athermal treatment, such as a smoke treatment, whereas the other meat cut may not.

[0103] A further advantage is that in the case of a track facilitating a first route is malfunctioning, there may be other functioning tracks that may facilitate a second route, different from the first route, having the same destination as the first route. Thereby, the conveyor system may have a built-in redundancy and may still be operational given such localized malfunctions of the system.

[0104] According to an embodiment, two or more transport routes of said plurality of transport routes passes along a common track of said plurality of tracks.

[0105] Two or more of the plurality of transport routes may pass along a common track of the plurality of tracks. By passing along a common track may be understood that the two transport routes makes use of a common track. Put in other words, this implies that one track may be used to facilitate two or more different transport routes. By having one track facilitating multiple transport routes is advantageous in that utilization of tracks may be improved and thereby the costs of setting up the slaughterhouse meat transport system may be reduced.

[0106] According to an embodiment, said plurality of working stations comprises a first working station of a first type and a plurality of second working stations of a second type, and wherein said plurality of transport routes comprises transport routes connecting said first working station with respective second working stations of said plurality of second working stations.

[0107] The plurality of working stations may comprise working stations of different types. The plurality of working stations may comprise a first working station of a first type, for example a meat loading station, and a plurality of other working stations of a second type (referred to as second working stations). The plurality of second working stations may for example be a plurality of meat processing stations, such as meat deboning stations. The first working station, e.g., the meat loading station, may be connected by respective transport routes, to each of the plurality of second working stations, e.g., the plurality of meat deboning stations.

[0108] It is advantageous to have more than one transport route from a working station to multiple working stations of different types. For example, when a meat cut is picked up at a working station, e.g., a meat loading station, by a suspended meat carrier may, the meat cut may be conveyed to another working station, e.g., a deboning station. The suspended meat carrier may have more than one working station of the same type to convey the meat cut to. The suspended meat carrier may be conveyed to the working station with space available or the fastest working station. This may also be advantageous for taking breaks for workers at different working station by routing the suspended meat carriers to other working stations of the same type. The transport route chosen for the suspended meat carriers may be chosen according to which working station are free, fastest or simply just which is operational.

[0109] According to an embodiment, said first working station and said plurality of second working stations are connected by one or more switch tracks.

[0110] The first working station and the plurality of second working stations may be connected by one or more switch tracks, meaning that it may require one or more switch tracks to facilitate the required transport route. For example, one switch trackmay take as input suspended meat carriers from the first working station and output the suspended meat carriers along a selected track among a plurality of possible tracks connecting to the respective second working stations. Alternatively, there may be needed one or more sequences of switch tracks to achieve the transport routes.

[0111] According to an embodiment, each suspended meat carrier of said plurality of suspended meat carriers comprises an individual carrier tag.

[0112] According to an embodiment, said slaughterhouse meat transport system comprises one or more tag readers for identifying individual carrier tags.

[0113] In the context of the present disclosure, a “tag reader” may be understood as any kind of electronic device capable of identifying or scanning an individual carrier tag with the purpose of identifying the individual carrier tag. Examples of tag readers may include RFID readers, barcode scanners, QR code readers, and cameras. The one or more tag readers may be communicatively coupled to the system controller arrangement.

[0114] A tag reader is advantageous in that it may be arranged in a specific known location in the slaughterhouse meat transport system, and a reading of an individual carrier tag of a suspended meat carrier may thus be used to verify the location of the carrier in the conveyor system.

[0115] According to an embodiment, said system controller arrangement is configured to track a location of individual suspended meat carriers of said plurality of suspended meat carriers in said conveyor system on the basis of said individual carrier tags and said one or more tag readers.

[0116] According to an embodiment, said slaughterhouse meat transport system is arranged to associate suspended meat carrier data to said individual suspended meat carrier using said individual carrier tag.

[0117] The slaughterhouse meat transport system may be arranged to associate suspended meat carrier data to individual suspended meat carriers using respective individual carrier tags. In the context of the present invention, “suspended meat carrierdata” may be understood as any kind of data relating to the suspended meat carrier itself, such as attributes of the suspended meat carrier, or data relating to the meat being handled by the suspended meat carrier, such as attributes of the meat. By associating such data to a suspended meat carrier using the individual carrier tag of the carrier may be understood writing the data into the individual carrier tag, if for example the individual carrier is a writable RFID tag, or associating the data to a identity of the carrier in e.g., an electronic database operationally connected to the system controller arrangement.

[0118] It is advantageous to associate the meat carrier data with the individual carrier tag to ensure that suspended meat carriers may be conveyed to the correct location in the system. For example, the data may relate to a specific type of meat being handled by the carrier and some types of meat has to be routed to specific working stations whereas other types of meat may have to be routed to other specific working stations. The association of data may also be advantageous in that the routing history of a suspended meat carrier may be logged, whereby it may be ensured, amongst others, that a suspended meat carrier may be cleaned before picking up meat, or that a suspended meat carrier is inspected for faults before handling a new piece or meat, e.g., a new meat cut.

[0119] According to an embodiment, said suspended meat carrier data comprises suspended meat carrier operational status, meat type, conveying history, service interval, or any combination thereof.

[0120] The suspended meat carrier data may comprise any of (alone, or in combination):Suspended meat carrier operational status: This data may indicate whether or not the suspended meat carrier is handling any meat or not.Meat type: This data may indicate what type of meat is being handled by the suspended meat carrier.Conveying history: This data may log the various movements of the suspended meat carrier in the conveyor system over time, i.e., a log over the transport routes along which the suspended meat carrier has been moved. The conveying history data may also indicate a number and type of meat cuts being handled by the suspended meat carrier. The data may comprise time stamps indicating a time at which the suspended meat carrier was at a particular location in the conveyor system.Service interval : This data may indicate the time, or number of transport routes, until next service / inspection of the suspended meat carrier.

[0121] According to an embodiment, said individual carrier tag comprises a radiofrequency identification tag.

[0122] The individual carrier tag may comprise a radio-frequency identification tag (RFID tag). The RFID tag may be a read-write RFID tag, meaning that it is possible to both write data into the RFID tag as well as read the data written into the tag. Preferably, the RFID tag is a rewritable RFIF tag, which may be written into several times such that the data stored in the tag can be changed. Using an RFID tag, such as a rewritable RFID tag, is advantageous in that it may be possible to write suspended meat carrier data directly into the tags. Thereby data, which may be critical to the operation of the system may be stored directly and locally in the suspended meat carriers, and thus any malfunctioning of the system controller arrangement, for example due to a power issue, such as a power cut, will not affect or compromise data security.

[0123] According to an embodiment, said individual carrier tag comprises any of a barcode, a data matrix code or a QR code.

[0124] The individual carrier tag may comprise any of a barcode, or a two- dimensional code such as a data matrix code or a QR code (Quick Response code). Any of such tags may uniquely identify the suspended meat carrier to which they are associated, and the association of suspended meat carrier data to a carrier may be an association of data to the identity of the carrier (as reflected by the carrier tag) in forexample an electronic database in a memory associated with the system controller arrangement.

[0125] According to an embodiment, said conveyor system comprises one or more tag writers.

[0126] The conveyor system may comprise one or more tag writers. The tag writers may write information into individual carrier tags, like RFID tags.

[0127] According to an embodiment, said conveyor system comprises a main track, said main track being formed by a first subset of tracks of said plurality of tracks, and wherein said conveyor system comprises one or more peripheral tracks connected to said main track, said one or more peripheral tracks being formed by a second subset of tracks of said plurality of tracks.

[0128] The plurality of tracks may be connected in such a way that a main track is formed and one or more peripheral tracks, such as a plurality of peripheral tracks, are connected to the main track. The first subset of the plurality of tracks of the conveyor system may include one or more tracks, and the second subset of the plurality of tracks of the conveyor system may include one or more tracks. The sum of the first subset and the second subset may, according to an embodiment, constitute all the tracks of the plurality of tracks of the conveyor system. In the present context, a “main track” may be understood as a collection of tracks, or even a single track, which has the most traffic in the conveyor system, i.e., the main track is the part of the conveyor system along which the highest number of suspended meat carriers passes in time. In the present context, a “peripheral track” may be understood as a collection of tracks, or even a single track, which has less traffic than the main track. A peripheral track may for example be a track connecting a working station to the main track. Peripheral tracks may be connected to the main track by use of a switch track. Utilizing a main track and peripheral tracks may be advantageous in that a great number of transport routes in the conveyor system may be facilitated by the same high-volume main track, whereby the overall number of system components may be reduced.

[0129] According to an embodiment, said main track is a circular track.

[0130] The main track may be a circular track, i.e., a looped track, which may imply that the main track may utilize a single pull system. For example, the pull system may comprise an anchor chain which may form a loop in the main track. Thereby, the number of system components may be reduced.

[0131] Another aspect of the invention relates to a use of a slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the above paragraphs for transporting meat in a slaughterhouse.

[0132] The slaughterhouse meat transport system disclosed in any of the above paragraphs may be used for transporting meat, such as meat cuts in a slaughterhouse. Any advantage described in relation to the slaughterhouse meat transport system naturally also applies to the use of the slaughterhouse meat transport system.

[0133] Another aspect of the invention relates to a method of routing an individual suspended meat carrier in a slaughterhouse: conveying, using a conveyor system, a plurality of suspended meat carriers of said conveyer system, each individual suspended meat carrier of said plurality of suspended meat carriers being associated with an individual carrier tag, tracking, using said individual carrier tag, location of said individual suspended meat carrier in said conveyor system, selecting, for said individual suspended meat carrier, an individual transport route among a plurality of transport routes on the basis of said location of said individual suspended meat carrier in said conveyor system, wherein said selected individual transport route comprises one or more working stations, conveying said individual suspended meat carrier along said selected individual transport route.

[0134] Thereby is provided an advantageous way of routing an individual suspended meat carrier in a slaughterhouse. It is advantageous to convey individual suspended meat carriers along individual transport routes in a slaughterhouse to keep individualtracking of meat while the meat is being conveyed around from working station to working station in the processing of the meat. The individual tracking of meat is advantageous to keep tracking of which batch or farm the meat originates from. It may normally be difficult to keep tracking of e.g., a pig when the pig is being divided into smaller and smaller meat cuts during the processing in a slaughterhouse. The individual suspended meat carriers are associated with individual carrier tags which may comprise or relate to information regarding the animal that has been slaughtered and divided into different meat cuts. It is advantageous to keep track of the specific meat cuts to ensure that the meat cut has e.g., been smoked, heated or any other step in the process of making the correct meat product for the costumer.

[0135] The above method is advantageous for at least the same reasons presented above in relation to the slaughterhouse meat transport system as the slaughterhouse meat transport system also facilitates individual routing of individual suspended meat carriers.

[0136] According to an embodiment, each suspended meat carrier comprises an individual carrier tag, said individual carrier tag being a physical tag, and wherein said method comprises a step of reading an individual carrier tag of said individual suspended meat carrier using a tag reader of said conveyor system, and wherein said step of tracking a location of said individual suspended meat carrier in said conveyor system is performed on the basis of said reading of said individual carrier tag.

[0137] According to an embodiment, said individual suspended meat carrier is conveying meat.

[0138] By meat may be understood unprocessed meat, final meat products, meat cuts, carcasses. In a preferred embodiment, the meat is a meat cut.

[0139] According to an embodiment, said step of selecting an individual transport route among said plurality of transport routes is performed on the basis of a meat type of said meat.

[0140] It is advantageous to select a transport route on the basis of said meat type to convey the meat to the right working station for processing of the meat. The meat may be conveyed to a working station for boning which would only be relevant for specific meat type. The meat may also be conveyed to a working station for trimming fat from the meat cut before being conveyed further in the processing depending on the specific meat type.

[0141] Meat type may be understood as any different kind of meat from different animals. Meat type may also be understood as different meat cut from different parts of the same animal. The animal may for example be a pig, where the type of meat type may be ham, belly or ribs amongst others.

[0142] According to an embodiment, said step of selecting an individual transport route of said plurality of transport routes is performed on the basis of an operational scheme of said conveyor system.

[0143] According to an embodiment, said step of selecting an individual transport route of said plurality of transport routes is performed on the basis of an operational scheme of a plurality of working stations.

[0144] It is advantageous to individual route the suspended meat carriers on the basis of an operational scheme due to supply and demand on specific meat type or meat cuts. It may also be advantageous to route the individual meat carriers on the basis of how many workers that are working each day. The number of workers may vary from working days to weekends or may vary during a day because of daily and evening workers. The operational scheme of the working stations could also change during holidays which would be advantageous to route the suspended meat carriers according to. Moreover, selecting a transport route on the basis of an operational scheme of the conveyor system is advantageous in that malfunctions or breakdowns of the conveyor system may be accounted for.

[0145] According to an embodiment, said step of selecting an individual transport route among said plurality of transport routes is performed on the basis of locations of a plurality of suspended meat carriers.

[0146] The locations of a plurality of suspended meat carriers, such as all suspended meat carriers of the conveyor system, or a subset of the plurality of suspended meat carriers, may be determined by tracking the suspended meat carriers using their respective individual carrier tags and the one or more tag readers. Knowing the locations of carriers in the conveyor system is advantageous in that it may be determined where in the system there may be bottlenecks (high concentrations of suspended meat carriers), and thus when selecting a transport route of a suspended meat carrier such bottlenecks may be avoided by selecting an appropriate route passing around such bottlenecks.

[0147] According to an embodiment, said step of selecting an individual transport route among said plurality of transport routes is performed on the basis of selected individual transport routes of a plurality of suspended meat carriers.

[0148] It is advantageous to individual route the suspended meat carriers on the basis of the location of the plurality of meat carriers and the selected individual transport routes of the suspended meat carriers. When selecting the transport route on the basis of other individual suspended meat carriers the suspended meat carrier may be routed around traffic from other suspended meat carriers which may be using some of the selected tracks. The suspended meat carrier may also be routed to working stations where a fewer number of suspended meat carriers are waiting for processing at the working station.

[0149] According to an embodiment, said individual transport route is selected among two or more alternative transport routes.

[0150] It is advantageous to have more than one transport route to select from when a suspended meat carrier may be routed from one working station to another working station.

[0151] According to an embodiment, said step of tracking comprises tracking a location of each suspended meat carrier of said plurality of meat carriers in said conveyor system.

[0152] According to an embodiment, said method is carried out using a slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the above paragraphs.

[0153] Any advantage described in relation to the slaughterhouse meat transport system may equally apply with respect to the above method.The drawings

[0154] Various embodiments of the invention will in the following be described with reference to the drawings where fig. 1 illustrates a slaughterhouse meat transport system according to an embodiment of the invention, figs. 2a-2c illustrate various tracks for use in slaughterhouse meat transport systems according to embodiments of the invention, figs. 3a-3d illustrate suspended meat carriers for use in slaughterhouse meat transport systems according to embodiments of the invention, fig. 4 illustrates a slaughterhouse meat transport system according to another embodiment of the invention, fig. 5a-5c illustrate routing of suspended meat carriers according to embodiments of the invention, fig. 6 also illustrates routing of suspended meat carriers according to an embodiment of the invention, figs.7a-7b illustrate alternative routings of suspended meat carriers according to embodiments of the invention, and figs. 8 and 9 illustrate steps of methods of routing an individual suspended meat carrier in a slaughterhouse according to embodiments of the invention.Detailed description

[0155] Fig. 1 illustrates a slaughterhouse meat transport system 1 according to an embodiment of the invention. Throughout the present disclosure, the slaughterhouse meat transport system 1 may also be referred to as a transport system. The slaughterhouse meat transport system is arranged in a slaughterhouse where carcasses of livestock animals, such as pigs, are cut into meat cuts, processed, and packaged for shipping to consumers. The slaughterhouse meat transport system 1 facilitates a flexible transport of meat cuts within the slaughterhouse - the flexibility of the system will become apparent throughout the following description.

[0156] As seen in fig. 1, a number of working stations are disposed within the slaughterhouse, including three loading stations 2a, three meat processing stations 2c and two packaging stations 2f. Each of the three loading stations 2a forms part of respective meat cutting stations where carcasses are cut into smaller meat cuts 26 which are conveyed along conveyor bands 28. The meat cuts 26 which are provided by the meat cutting stations may have to be handled differently throughout the slaughterhouse depending on the type of meat cuts, as some meat cuts 26 are ready for being packaged immediately for shipping to consumers, whereas other meat cuts may need one or more steps of processing prior to shipping away from the slaughterhouse. The provided meat cuts 26 are fed into the transport system 1 at the loading stations 2a, and from there, the meat cuts are transported (or conveyed) in a conveyor system 3 to their respective destinations in the slaughterhouse.

[0157] In fig. 1 is seen an expanded view of one of the loading stations 2a (the lower loading station 2a). The expanded view illustrates a preferred way of conveying meat cuts, by which every single meat cutis conveyed using a meat hook 15. The meat hook 15 is arranged on a suspended meat carrier 5 and is arranged to pierce through a meat cut to secure the meat cut to the suspended meat carrier 5. Although the figure only shows a single suspended meat carrier, it should be noted that the conveyor system 3 comprises a plurality of suspended meat carriers 5. Each suspended meat carrier is only arranged to convey a single meat cut 26, which facilitates handling of meat cuts at a single meat cut level. Figs. 3a and 3b show a more detailed view of such asuspended meat carrier 15. The suspended meat carriers 5 are detachably coupled to a pull system 11 arranged to pull suspended meat carriers in a pulling direction 25 along tracks 4 of the conveyor system 3. The tracks 4 of the conveyor system are seen in fig. 1 as the interconnecting line sections with arrows. The track 4 as seen in the expanded view comprises a plurality of track guides 22 in which the pull system 11 is disposed and guided along. In the present embodiment, the pull system comprises an anchor chain, however, according to other embodiments the pull system 11 may be implemented differently, such as by use of other types of chains or by use of wire systems. As seen in the expanded view, the track 4 comprises an inclination causing suspended meat carriers to move in an upwards direction (see the upwards pointing arrow indicating the pulling direction 25). This causes the meat hooks 15 of the suspended meat carriers 5 to also move in an upwards direction, and by moving alongside the conveyor bands 28 of the loading stations 2a (meat cutting stations), the meat hooks 5 may intercept meat cuts 26 conveyed on the conveyor belts 28, pierce through the meat cuts 26 and thereby secure the meat cuts to on the suspended meat carriers.

[0158] The conveyor system 3 facilitates individual routing of individual suspended meat carriers 5, which effectively means that the conveyor system may convey meat cuts individually through the slaughterhouse. The possible paths, or transport routes, through the conveyor system 3 is facilitated by the tracks 4 and a number of switch tracks 7. The switch tracks 7 facilitates the possibility of changing between the possible paths of suspended meat carriers 5 in the conveyor system 3, for example, a carrier 5 coming from any of the loading stations 2a may be conveyed to the uppermost meat processing station 2c, the next carrier 5 may be conveyed to the lower meat processing station 2c, whereas the next carrier 5 may be conveyed to the lower packaging station 2f. In the present embodiment, the meat processing stations 2c comprises conveyor bands 28 where to meat cuts 26, conveyed by suspended meat carriers 5, are delivered. Along the conveyor bands 28 of the meat processing stations 2c a number of workers 29 are standing and performing a deboning procedure to meat cuts 26, whereby the meat processing stations 2c may also be referred to as deboning stations. After the deboning operations, the now deboned meat cuts 26 may be loaded onto the conveyorsystem 3 using suspended meat carriers 5, in just the same way that meat cuts are handled at the lower loading station 2a (see expanded view of loading station 2a). The deboned meat cuts are conveyed using the suspended meat carriers 5 to the right-hand- side packaging station 2f.

[0159] The individual routing of individual suspended meat carriers 5 facilitates a transport solution for meat cuts in a slaughterhouse which is flexible in the sense that transport routes can be changed over time according to demands and available resources (e.g., available workers 29 in the slaughterhouse). For example, at one instance of time, suspended meat carriers 5 are routed from the uppermost loading station 2a along transport route 10 to the upper meat processing station 2c, whereas at another instance of time, suspended meat carriers are routed from the uppermost loading station 2c, using another transport route, to the uppermost meat processing station 2c. The controlling of the conveyor system 3 of the slaughterhouse meat transport system, including tracking of the locations of suspended meat carriers 5 in the conveyor system 3, is carried out using a system controller arrangement 9. In the present embodiment, the tracking of locations is performed by simulating positions of the suspended meat carriers in the system controller arrangement 9, and keeping track of each carrier's identity using an associated individual carrier tag which is implemented as a computer-implemented tag. It should be noted that the locations of individual carriers in the system can also, according to other embodiments, be performed using physical tags arranged in, or on, the carriers and by one or more tag readers. Thus, the slaughterhouse transport system of fig. 1 may also incorporate physical tags and tag readers 8 as seen in fig. 4.

[0160] In fig. 1 is also shown an expanded view of the track 4 terminating at the unloading station 2b at the right-hand side packaging station 2f. As seen in this expanded view, meat cuts 26 are conveyed along the inclined track along pulling direction 25, whereby the meat cuts may be delivered onto the conveyor band 28 of the packaging station 2f (conveyor band 28 is not shown in this expanded view for sake of intelligibility of the figure). Once delivered to the conveyor band 28 of the packaging station 2f, the suspended meat carriers 5 are pulled around in an oppositedirection and up an incline again (see direction along arrows indicating pulling directions 25). The suspended meat carrier 5 is then conveyed by the conveyor system 3 to other working stations, for example to pick up another meat cut. It should be clear from fig. 1, that the conveyor system 3 of the present embodiment comprises tracks 4 which are arranged in the height (as meat carriers are conveyed along inclined tracks) and this has the distinct advantage that the conveyor system may be arranged on top of other infrastructure (such as other work stations) of the slaughterhouse. Thereby, the transport system may utilize the height of a slaughterhouse. Moreover, this is advantageous with respect to retrofitting the transport system in an otherwise existing slaughterhouse where the working stations are already laid out.

[0161] From fig. 1 it should be noted that the conveyor system 3 facilitates multiple transport routes to utilize a common track 4. In the present example, the track 4 located between the two most left switch tracks 7 is used in all possible transport routes 10 starting from the first three loading stations 2a. Thereby, more transport routes are achieved using less tracks, and a flexible transport solution for a slaughterhouse may be achieved.

[0162] Also, from fig. 1 it should be noted that the conveyor system 3 of the slaughterhouse meat transport system 1 facilitates various types of direct transport of meat cuts, including direct transport routes from a loading station 2a to a packaging station 2f and a direct transport route from a meat processing station 2c to a packaging station 2f. It should be appreciated that fig. 1 is merely exemplary of possible transport routes in a slaughterhouse, and indeed other sets of transport routes may be envisioned within the scope of the appended claims.

[0163] In should also be clear from the embodiment of fig. 1, that the suspended meat carriers are transporting meat cuts between working stations and that the carriers facilitate picking up and placing of meat cuts at working stations. However, according to other embodiments of the present invention, the working stations may be arranged in such a way that processing of meat cuts may be performed while the meat cuts are secured by respective suspended meat carriers (see for example the embodiment of fig. 4).

[0164] Figs.2a-c illustrate various tracks 4 for use in a conveyor system according to embodiments of the invention. The tracks 4 facilitate transport of suspended meat carriers 5 in the conveyor system.

[0165] Fig. 2a illustrates a track 4 which is a straight track for transporting suspended meat carriers 5 along a straight-line path. It should be noted that the track 4 may be used in different ways, for example, the track 4 may be aligned in a horizontal manner whereby the track transports suspended meat carriers 5 along a horizontal path, however, the track 4 may also be inclined whereby the track transports suspended meat carriers 5 along an inclined path such as upwards along an inclined path or downwards along an inclined path. As seen in the figure, the track 4 comprises a track guide 22 which includes a groove in which a chain can be supported and guided through. The track guide 4 is supported by track supports 23 which can be used for mounting the track 4 in a support structure (not shown in the figure) which may be a dedicated support structure or an existing structure of a slaughterhouse such as a ceiling structure. Fig. 2a illustrates a way of transporting suspended meat carriers 5 which is according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. Each suspended meat carrier 5 is arranged to be coupled to a pull system, which in the present embodiment comprises an anchor chain 12. The anchor chain 12 is pulled by a motor (not shown in the figure) through the track 4, i.e., pulled along the track guide 22, and thus suspended meat carriers 5 coupled to the anchor chain 12 are being pulled along the track 4 along pulling direction 25. It should be noted that the track 4 seen in fig. 2a is a cut-out of a track, and indeed the straight track 4 may be longer when used in the conveyor system. Also, fig. 2a show a cut out of the anchor chain 12, and indeed the anchor chain 12 forms a closed loop by passing through multiple tracks 4, thus chain links 13 of the anchor chain 12 passes along the same track 4 again and again as the anchor chain 12 is being driven. The use of a chain, such as an anchor chain 12, facilitates a number of attachment points 14 for coupling suspended meat carriers 5 to the chain. As seen in fig. 2a, the suspended meat carrier 5 is coupled to the anchor chain 12 in a chain link 13. The anchor chain 12 comprises a plurality of chain links 13, and accordingly the anchor chain 12 comprises a plurality of attachment points. In the present embodiment, the suspended meat carrier comprises a base block 18 coupling the suspended meatcarrier 5 to the anchor chain 12, a meat hook 15 for piercing and securing a meat cut, and a hanger 20. The use of the hanger 20 will be apparent when discussing fig. 2c below.

[0166] Fig. 2b illustrates a track 4 which is a comer track allowing a suspended meat carrier 5 to be pulled around a curved path as represented by pulling direction 25. Like in fig. 2a, an anchor chain 12 is used for pulling suspended meat carriers 5, and the anchor chain 12 is arranged to be guided along track guides 22 of the track 4, from a first track guide 22a to a second track guide 22b. The corner of the track is facilitated by the two track guides 22a and 22b that are arranged perpendicularly to each other, and by a set of chain pulley wheels 24 securing suspended meat carriers 5 in a rotation between the two track guides 22a and 22b. Although the figure shows a 90 degrees rotation of the suspended carrier, i.e., a 90 degrees angle between the two track guides 22a and 22b, it should be noted that other angles may be used. Similar to fig. 2a, the track 4 comprises track supports 23 for supporting the track.

[0167] Fig. 2c illustrates two tracks, including a first track 4a and a second track 4b. Each of these two tracks are arranged similar to the track 4 shown in fig. 2a. Specifically, the first track 4a comprises a first anchor chain 12a being pulled along pulling direction 25 while being guided by a first track guide 22a, and the second track 4b comprises a second anchor chain 12b being pulled along the pulling direction 25 while being guided by a second track guide 22b. Suspended meat carriers 5 are initially coupled to the first anchor chain 12a by being coupled to an attachment point, i.e., a chain link, of the first anchor chain 12a. When being pulled by the first anchor chain 12a, there are two options of conveying the suspended meat carrier 5 - 1) the suspended meat carrier may be conveyed along the length of the first track guide 22a (i.e., the path of the suspended meat carrier may be unchanged), or 2) the suspended meat carrier may be decoupled from the first anchor chain 12a and moved to the second anchor chain 12b (i.e., the path of the suspended meat carrier may be changed). The two conveying options are facilitated by a switch track 7 configured to select between the two conveying options, i.e., the switch track 7 may be used to change between transport routes of suspended meat carriers. In the present embodiment, the switchtrack 7 comprises an auxiliary track 21 arranged to engage with hangers 20 of suspended meat carrier. The auxiliary track 21 is formed in such a way that once a suspended meat carrier 5 arrived at the auxiliary track 21, the hanger 20 of a suspended meat carrier engages with the auxiliary track 21 and is forced to be lifted upwards (the auxiliary track 21 of fig. 2c is seen as having a slightly raised up part along the pulling direction 25). The upwards motion of the hanger 20 causes the entire suspended meat carrier 5 to be lifted away from its attachment point with the first anchor chain 12a. While being decoupled from the first anchor chain 12, the suspended meat carrier is supported by the auxiliary track 21, which supports the entire weight of the suspended meat carrier (including any weight attributed to meat handled by the carrier). The kinetic energy of the suspended meat carrier (including any meat handled thereby) is sufficient to overcome the slight inclination of the auxiliary track 21 causing the decoupling of the suspended meat carrier from the first anchor chain 12a. After being decoupled from the first anchor chain 12a, the auxiliary track 21 guides the hanger 20 of the suspended meat carrier 5 in a direction towards the second anchor chain 12b. The remaining part of the auxiliary track 21, following the first upwards inclined part, may be downwards inclined towards the second anchor chain 12b, whereby gravity may pull the suspended meat carrier along the auxiliary track 21. The end of the auxiliary track 21 is arranged such that the suspended meat carrier 5 is guided down towards the second anchor chain 12b such that the carrier engages with an attachment point of the second anchor chain 12b. Thereby the suspended meat carrier is moved / transitioned from the first anchor chain 12a to the second anchor chain 12b. The selection between the two conveying options is performed by the switch track 7 which, using a switch track motor 7a can move the auxiliary track 21 between a position where it engages a hanger 20 of a suspended meat carrier 5 on the first anchor chain 12a and a position where it does not engage.

[0168] It should be noted that fig. 2c only details one specific way of implementing a switch track 7, and indeed other ways of implementing a switch track is conceivable. For example, the switch track could make use of an auxiliary track functioning as an elevator between two anchor chains, or alternatively, the switch track could make useof a gripping arrangement for gripping and decoupling a suspended meat carrier and coupling the suspended meat carrier on another anchor chain.

[0169] Throughout the figures 2a-2c it has been shown that the pull system is implemented using an anchor chain 12, however it should be noted that the pull system could be arranged using other solutions according to other embodiments. For example, the pull system could be implemented using a wire or using a different type of chain.

[0170] A skilled reader will now readily appreciate that the tracks shown throughout figs. 2a-2c may be coupled to one another whereby multiple different transport routes may be facilitated. For example, all the transport routes shown in fig. 1, including transport route 10, can be facilitated using the tracks shown in fig. 2a-2c, and indeed the tracks shown in the other figures may be implemented using any of the tracks shown in fig. 2a-2c, or variations of these tracks (variations being in e.g., dimensions, angles, and heights).

[0171] Fig. 3a illustrates a perspective view of a suspended meat carrier 5 according to an embodiment of. The suspended meat carrier comprises a base block 18 formed by polyoxymethylene (POM), however the base block may be formed out of other materials, such as other types of plastics, according to other embodiments. The base block 18 comprises a protrusion 19 protruding downwards from the base block 18. The protrusion is formed in such a way that it can mechanically engage with a pull system - the specific form of the protrusion shown in fig. 3a is suited to engage with a chain link of an anchor chain in such a way that the protrusion 19 may be inserted into a chain link of an anchor chain thereby coupling the suspended meat carrier to the pull system. Likewise, by lifting the suspended meat carrier 5 away from the anchor chain, the protrusion 19 may be removed from a chain link, thereby decoupling the suspended meat carrier from the anchor chain.

[0172] Attached to the base block 18 is a meat hook 15. The meat hook 15 is pivotally attached to the base block 18 so that the meat hook 15 may remain in a vertical alignment even when the suspended meat carrier 5 is being pulled along an inclined track. In the present embodiment, the base block 18 also comprises a guiding fin 30arranged to engage with guides of tracks to ensure stability of the suspended meat carrier while conveying the carrier. The suspended meat carrier also comprises a hanger 20 as explained in relation to figs. 2a and 2c.

[0173] Fig. 3b illustrates a side view of the suspended meat carrier 5 of fig. 3a.

[0174] Fig. 3c illustrates a perspective view of a suspended meat carrier 5 according to another embodiment of the invention. The suspended meat carrier of fig. 3c is similar to the suspended meat carrier 5 of fig. 3 a, however the suspended meat carrier 5 of fig. 3a also comprises an individual carrier tag 6 in the form of an RFID tag. The RFID tag is a rewritable RFID tag which facilitates both read and write of data in the tag. The individual carrier tag may be readable by tag readers of a conveyor system (see for example fig. 4).

[0175] Fig. 3d illustrates a suspended meat carrier according to an alternative embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, the suspended meat carrier 5 implements a meat gripping arrangement 16 instead of a meat hook 15. The meat gripping arrangement 16 may secure meat cuts during conveying of the suspended meat carrier 5 and may secure a meat cut by clamping the meat cut in between clamping elements (see arrows indicating direction of movement of clamping elements to secure a meat cut). The meat gripping arrangement 16 is arranged such that the weight of a meat cut handled by the meat gripping arrangement is used to clamp onto the meat cut. In a yet alternative embodiment, the suspended meat carrier of fig. 3d also comprises an RFID tag as an individual carrier tag 6 like the suspended meat carrier 5 shown in fig. 3c.

[0176] Alternatively, to being associated with an individual carrier tag 6 implemented as a physical tag in the suspended meat carrier 5, as seen in fig. 3c, each suspended meat carrier 5 of the conveyor system (see for example conveyor system 3 in fig. 1) may be associated with an individual carrier tag which is implemented as a computer-implemented tag in a system controller arrangement (see for example system controller arrangement 9 in fig. 1). The suspended meat carriers 5 shown in figs. 3a-3d may all be implemented as suspended meat carriers 5 in the slaughterhousemeat transport system 1 as seen in fig. 1. In the situation where the suspended meat carriers comprise physically implemented individual carrier tags, for example like suspended meat carrier 5 of fig. 3 c, the slaughterhouse meat transport system 1 of fig. 1 also implements tag readers (see fig. 4 for a description of tag readers).

[0177] The illustrated suspended meat carriers of fig. 3a-3d are merely illustrative examples of possible suspended meat carriers to be used in conveyor systems of slaughterhouse meat transport systems according to embodiments of the present invention, and indeed other types of suspended meat carriers may also be utilized, for example carriers comprising receptacles for handling meat products.

[0178] Fig. 4 illustrates a slaughterhouse meat transport system according to another embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, the suspended meat carriers are handling meat cuts while meat cuts are being processed - meaning that the suspended meat carriers may handle the same meat cut along most of the transport route (or the entire transport route) along which the conveyor is conveyed in the system.

[0179] Fig. 4 illustrates a plurality of working stations 2 (2a-2e), a plurality of tracks 4, a plurality of tag readers 8, a plurality of suspended meat carriers 5 and a system controller arrangement 9. The figure illustrates how a suspended meat carrier 5 may be conveyed prior to the loading stations 2a, through one or more meat processing stations 2c to an unloading station 2b and then return to a cleaning station 2e before being conveyed back to the loading stations 2a. The suspended meat carriers 5 in the system 1 is being conveyed along the tracks 4 to be conveyed to the correct working station 2 for e.g., the processing of meat, picking up meat, unloading meat, cleaning the suspended meat carrier or any other kind of working station being used in a slaughterhouse system. The suspended meat carrier 5 is being conveyed along the tracks 4 where each suspended meat carrier 5 is being individually routed and individually tracked along the track by the tag readers 8 and the system controller arrangement 9. The individual routing and individual tracking may be a static routing, where a suspended meat carrier 5 may be designated with a transport route through the system from start to finish. The individual routing and tracking may be a dynamic routing, where the transport route of the suspended meat carrier 5 may change due tobreakdown at specific working stations 2 or tracks 4 and thereby be routed to another working station 2 of the same type or along another track 4 to get to the working station 2.

[0180] Fig. 4 illustrates the direction for the suspended meat carriers 5 on the plurality of track 4 and where the suspended meat carriers 5 is being conveyed. Not all the tracks in figure 1 are denoted with 4, but all lines with an arrow, small circle (suspended meat carrier 5) or small black square (tag readers 8) are to be understood as tracks 4. The tag readers 8 illustrated in the figure is configured to read the individual carrier tags 6 on the suspended meat carriers 5.

[0181] Tag readers 8 may be active or passive, where the tag readers 8 may passively sense when a suspended meat carrier 5 with an individual carrier tag 6 may pass along on the conveyor where the tag reader 8 is placed. The tag readers may be more active in sensing if any suspended meat carriers 5 with an individual carrier tag 6 is in the area. The tag readers 8 may all be communicatively coupled with the system controller arrangement 9 which may be either with a wire, wireless or a combination thereof. The tag readers 8 may also have a writing functionality, where the tag readers 8 may be able to write information from the system controller arrangement 9 to the individual carrier tags 6 on the suspended meat carrier 5.

[0182] Figs. 5a-5c illustrate routing of suspended meat carriers according to embodiments of the present invention. In the figures shown, suspended meat carriers are conveyed from loading stations 2a to meat processing stations 2c and finally towards unloading stations 2b. Thus, in these specific embodiments, a suspended meat carrier is handling the same meat cut along transport routes from loading stations 2a to unloading stations 2b, similar to the embodiment of fig. 4, where suspended meat carriers are handling meat cuts during processing thereof. However, it should be appreciated that the examples given in figs. 5a-5c may also be modified within the scope of the claims such that suspended meat carriers are unloading meat cuts at the meat processing station, for example onto conveyor bands of the meat processing stations, and other suspended meat carriers are picking up the processed meat cuts andconveying the processed meat cuts to the unloading station 2b (which may represent a packaging station for example).

[0183] Fig. 5a illustrates a plurality of working stations 2 and a plurality of tracks 4, where the working stations 2 comprises a loading station 2a, an unloading station 2b and three meat processing stations 2c. The tracks illustrated in the figure facilitates a plurality of transport routes 10 for suspended meat carriers 5. The transport routes 10 facilitated by the track 4 start from the loading station 2a where the tracks 4 splits into three different track 4 towards the meat processing station 2c. The three different tracks 4 facilitates three different routes 10 for a suspended meat carrier 5 from a loading station 2a to a meat processing station 2c. The suspended meat carrier 5 may have picked up a meat cut in the loading station 2a and the suspended meat carrier 5 may convey the meat cut to one of the meat processing stations 2c. From the meat processing stations 2c to an unloading station 2b three different tracks 4 facilitates the transport routes 10 for the suspended meat carrier 5. A suspended meat carrier 5 being conveyed from loading station 2a may have the three tracks 4a-4c that each facilitate a transport route. Each track 4a-4c facilitates a transport route from the loading zone to the same type of meat processing station 2c, where the suspended meat carrier 5 passes a tag reader 8. The tag reader 8 reads the individual carrier tag 6 and the system controller arrangement (not shown) plans the transport route for the suspended meat carrier 5 whether the suspended meat carrier 5 should take track 4a, 4b or 4c to the meat processing station 2c. The tracks 4a-4c further conveys the suspended meat carrier 5 to the same unloading station 2b by all three transport routes.

[0184] Fig. 5b illustrates a plurality of working stations 2 and a plurality of tracks 4, where the working stations 2 is three loading stations 2a, three unloading stations 2b and a meat processing station 2c. A tag reader 8 is placed before and after the meat processing station 2c, where the tag reader 8 may identify from which loading station 2a the suspended meat carrier 5 is being conveyed from and thereby e.g., which batch or meat type is being conveyed. The suspended meat carriers 5 that comes from the loading station 2a may be the same type e.g., conveying the same type of meat cut, where the meat processing station 2c may be capable of getting meat cuts when e.g.,the track 4c breaks down or maintenance is being done on track 4a. The loading station 2a before track 4b may have workers out for lunch and the meat processing station 2c may therefore only receive suspended meat carriers 5 from the other loading stations 2a. A loading station 2a may also be shut down due to a holiday -period or maintenance on the specific loading station 2a, where the track from that loading station may not be up and running. The suspended meat carrier 5 that comes prior to the loading station 2a may have three different transport routes depending on what loading station 2a is chosen. The suspended meat carrier 5 may also have three different transport routes after the meat processing station 2c to a unloading station 2b.

[0185] Fig. 5c illustrates a plurality of working stations and a plurality of tracks 4, where the working stations 2 are three loading stations 2a, three unloading stations 2b and two meat processing stations 2c. The figure further illustrates four different tag readers 8 but is not limited to four tag readers. More tag readers 8 may be in the system but is not shown. Suspended meat carriers 5 from a specific loading station 2a may be conveyed and along the conveyor the suspended meat carrier 5 passes a tag reader 8. The tag reader identifies the suspended meat carrier 5 by the individual carrier tag 6 and the system controller arrangement 9 is configured to send the suspended meat carrier 5 to one of the two meat processing stations 2c. The system controller arrangement may choose e.g., the meat processing station 2c where the smallest amount of suspended meat carriers 5 is being placed or where the specific type of meat cut on the suspended meat carrier 5 is being processed. The figure further illustrates that after each of the meat processing stations 2c more tag readers 8 are placed along the conveyor to identify the suspended meat carrier 5 and the system controller arrangement 9 is capable of sending the suspended meat carrier 5 to the correct unloading station 2b. The correct unloading station 2b may be regarding available space for suspended meat carriers 5, where a specific type of meat cut is being unloaded, where a specific batch is being unloaded, where the meat cut is being unloaded with respect to quality, an operational scheme according to workers during the day, e.g., lunch or during the year, e.g., holidays or anything else related to optimizing the process in a slaughterhouse. A suspended meat carrier 5 that is being conveyed prior to the loading stations 2a (tracks not shown) may therefore have threedifferent possibilities for a transport route for the loading station 2a. The suspended meat carrier 5 may after the loading station 2a have two transport routes for the meat processing station 2c and before the unloading station 2b three different transport routes along the track 4. The number of transport routes for a suspended meat carrier 5 prior to the loading station may therefore be 18 transport routes along the track 4 shown in the system. The transport routes may be static and determined from the beginning or it may be dynamic routes which may be changed due to breakdowns or if another suspended meat carrier 5 is blocking a track 4.

[0186] Fig. 6 illustrates the same slaughterhouse meat transport system as seen in fig. 4, however, the figure also shows a selected transport route 10 for an individual suspended meat carrier.

[0187] Fig. 7a illustrates an embodiment of the invention, which is a variation to the embodiments shown in figs. 4 and 6, where a highway track 27 is placed in the slaughterhouse meat transport system 1. The highway track 27 may be of the same type of track as the other tracks 4, but the highway track 27 may facilitate a direct transport route from a working station 2 to another working station 2. The highway track 27 may be illustrated in fig. 2a, where the highway track 27 may be longer in the slaughterhouse meat transport system 1. The highway track 27 is advantageous to use to bypass different section of the slaughterhouse meat transport system 1 in order to speed up or optimize the production. The highway track 27 may facilitate a direct transport route between e.g., a deboning working station to a trimming working station. The highway track 27 may typically be raised above the rest of the conveyor system 3, where the suspended meat carriers 5 may be transported directly to the next working station 2.

[0188] It should be noted that such a highway track 27 may also be implemented in the slaughterhouse meat transport system 1 as seen in fig. 1, for example between one of the loading stations 2a and the left-most packaging station 2f, thereby facilitating another direct transport line from a loading station 2a to the other packaging station 2f thus bypassing the other meat processing stations 2c. For example, such a bypassing highway track 27 may be arranged in a height above the meat processing stations 2cof the embodiment of fig. 1, thereby also demonstrating the flexibility in the system in allowing conveyance of meat cuts at different heights.

[0189] Fig. 7b illustrates an alternative embodiment of the invention where a track 4 works as a circular main track with no start or stop for the track. The main track loops itself and may work as a kind of carrousel which keeps conveying round and round. The suspended meat carriers may from the main track 4 be conveyed to the different working station 2. The working stations 2 is illustrated as coupled to the main track 4 by a parallel connection, so the suspended meat carrier 5 can choose between going to the working station 2 or just bypass the working station 2 and continue on the main track 4.

[0190] Fig. 8 illustrates steps S1-S4 a method of routing an individual suspended meat carrier in a slaughterhouse. The method as depicted in fig. 8 is carried out using the slaughterhouse meat transport system according to fig.1, however, the method may also be carried out using a slaughterhouse meat transport system according to other embodiments of the invention.

[0191] The first step SI of the method comprises conveying, using a conveyor system, a plurality of suspended meat carriers of the conveyor system. The conveyor system may be conveyor system 3 as illustrated in for example fig. 1, and each suspended meat carrier of the plurality of meat carriers may be like the suspended meat carriers 5 shown in any of the figs. 3a-3d. The conveyor system and the suspended meat carriers usable for the present method are not limited to these examples as other types of conveyor system (e.g., differing in type of pull system) and other types of suspended meat carriers (e.g., suspended meat carriers using receptacles or meat gripping arrangements) may be utilized. As an example, each suspended meat carrier may comprise a meat hook, and may be coupled to a pull system comprising anchor chains. By actuating one or more pull systems of the conveyor system, suspended meat carriers are conveyed along tracks of the conveyor system by the one or more pull systems pulling the suspended meat carriers. Each individual suspended meat carrier of the plurality of meat carriers is associated with an individual carrier tag.

[0192] The second step S2 of the method comprises tracking, using the individual carrier tag, a location of the individual suspended meat carrier in the conveyor system. In another embodiment, this step is performed in respect of each suspended meat carrier of the plurality of suspended meat carriers. In the present embodiment, the tracking is performed by simulating the locations of the suspended meat carriers in the conveyor system and keeping track of the identities of the carriers in the system controller arrangement by associating an identification tag, i.e., an example of an individual carrier tag, to each carrier simulated in the system controller arrangement. The simulation of the locations / positions of carriers in the conveyor system is performed by using as input data to the simulation conveying data, such as speed of movement of carriers on tracks, phase of pull systems (e.g. determined using timing wheels), speed of switching performed by switch tracks or any other kind of sensory input known to the skilled person in conveyor systems. In other embodiments of the invention (see for example embodiment of fig. 9), the location of carriers are tracked by implementing the associated individual carrier as a physical tag in, or on, each carrier and reading the tags using one or more tag readers.

[0193] Knowing the positions of individual suspended meat carriers in the conveyor system makes it possible to control the conveyor system in a timely manner, for example to actuate switch tracks of the system at the correct point in time, such that the suspended meat carriers are conveyed along the intended transport routes.

[0194] The third step S3 of the method comprises selecting an individual transport route among a plurality of transport routes on the basis of the location of the individual suspended meat carrier in the conveyor system, wherein the selected individual transport route comprises one or more working stations. In the present embodiment, the selection is performed on the basis of the type of meat cut handled by the carrier. Thus, a carrier handling a first type of meat cut is conveyed to one working station, whereas another carrier handling a second type of meat cut is conveyed to another working station. This may be understood by looking at fig. 1, where transport route 10 may represent the selected transport route out of the plurality of transport routes facilitated by the tracks 4 of the conveyor system 3.

[0195] The fourth step S4 of the method comprises conveying the individual suspended meat carrier along the selected individual transport route.

[0196] Fig. 9 illustrates steps S1-S5 of a method of routing an individual suspended meat carrier in a slaughterhouse according to another embodiment of the invention.

[0197] The first step SI of the method is similar to the first step SI in fig. 8.

[0198] The second step S2 of the method shown in fig. 9 comprises reading an individual carrier tag of an individual suspended meat carrier of the plurality of suspended meat carriers using a tag reader of the conveyor system. In the present embodiment, the individual carrier tag comprises an RFID tag and the tag reader is an RFID reader, however, according to other embodiments the individual carrier tag and the tag reader may be implemented using other technologies. In the present embodiment, the suspended meat carriers are implemented like the suspended meat carriers of fig. 3c. As an individual meat carrier is being pulled along a track of the conveyor system, the associated individual carrier tag of the carrier may be read by the tag reader. The individual carrier tag may be read one or more times, for example at multiple times during the conveying of the carrier along a transport route. For example, as seen in fig. 6, the selected transport route 10 comprises a plurality of tag readers 8 along the transport route 10.

[0199] The third step S3 of the method comprises tracking, on the basis of the reading, a location of the individual suspended meat carriers in the conveyor system. The one or more tag readers of the conveyor system may be arranged at specific positions in the conveyor system. Thus, when an individual carrier tag of an individual suspended meat carrier is read at a tag reader of the conveyor system, the position of the individual suspended meat carrier in the conveyor system may be deduced. Knowing the positions of individual suspended meat carriers in the conveyor system makes it possible to control the conveyor system in a timely manner, for example to actuate switch tracks of the system at the correct point in time, such that the suspended meat carriers are conveyed along the intended transport routes.

[0200] The fourth step S4 is similar to the third step S3 in fig. 8, and the fifth step S5 is similar to the fourth step S4 in fig. 8.

[0201] It should be noted that the tracking of locations of suspended meat carriers may of course also be performed using both a simulation as explained in relation to fig. 8 and using physical tags and tag readers as explained in relation to fig. 9.

[0202] List of reference signs:1 Slaughterhouse meat transport system2 Working station2a Loading station2b Unloading station2c Meat processing station2d Buffer station2e Cleaning station2f Packaging station3 Conveyor system4, 4a-b Track5 Suspended meat carrier6 Individual carrier tag7 Switch track7a Switch track motor8 Tag reader9 System controller arrangement10 Transport route11 Pull system12, 12a-b Anchor chain13 Chain link14 Attachment point15 Meat hook16 Meat gripping arrangement17 Receptacle18 Base block of suspended meat carrier19 Protrusion of suspended meat carrier20 Hanger of suspended meat carrier21 Auxiliary track 22, 22a-b Track guide23 Track support24 Chain pulley wheel25 Pulling direction26 Meat cut 27 Highway track28 Conveyor band29 Workers30 Guiding finS1-S5 Method steps

Claims

Claims1. A slaughterhouse meat transport system comprising: a plurality of working stations; a conveyor system comprising: a plurality of tracks connecting said plurality of working stations and facilitating a plurality of transport routes in said conveyor system; a plurality of suspended meat carriers, each suspended meat carrier of said plurality of suspended meat carriers being associated with an individual carrier tag; and a switch track configured for selecting a transport route among said plurality of transport routes; a system controller arrangement configured to control said conveyor system and to track a location of individual suspended meat carriers of said plurality of suspended meat carriers in said conveyor system; wherein said system controller arrangement is configured to individually route an individual suspended meat carrier of said plurality of suspended meat carriers along a transport route of said plurality of transport routes in said conveyor system on the basis of said individual carrier tag.

2. A slaughterhouse meat transport system according to claim 1, wherein said system controller arrangement is configured to individually route said individual suspended meat carrier of said plurality of suspended meat carriers along said transport route of said plurality of transport routes in said conveyor system on the basis of an operational scheme of said conveyor system.

3. A slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said system controller arrangement is configured to individually route said individual suspended meat carrier of said plurality of suspended meat carriers alongsaid transport route of said plurality of transport routes in said conveyor system on the basis of an operational scheme of said plurality of working stations.

4. A slaughterhouse meat transport system according any of the preceding claims, wherein said operational scheme is a configurable operational scheme.

5. A slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said conveyor system comprises a pull system configured to support and transport said plurality of suspended meat carriers along said one or more tracks of said plurality of tracks.

6. A slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said pull system is configured to support a weight of each suspended meat carrier of said plurality of suspended meat carriers.

7. A slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said pull system comprises a chain, a cable, or any combination thereof.

8. A slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said pull system comprises an anchor chain.

9. A slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said pull system comprises a plurality of attachment points, and wherein each suspended meat carrier of said plurality of suspended meat carriers is configured to be releasably fixed in one attachment point of said plurality of attachment points.

10. A slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein each suspended meat carrier of said plurality of suspended meat carriers is arranged for automatic engagement and automatic disengagement with said pull system.

11. A slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein each attachment point of said plurality of attachment points is arranged in a chain link.

12. A slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein each suspended meat carrier of said plurality of suspended meat carriers is configured to be arranged on said pull system.

13. A slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said plurality of suspended meat carriers comprises a plurality of meat hooks.

14. A slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said plurality of suspended meat carriers comprises a plurality of meat gripping arrangements.

15. A slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said plurality of suspended meat carriers comprises a plurality of receptacles for holding meat.

16. A slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein each suspended meat carrier of said plurality of suspended meat carriers comprises a base block comprising a protrusion arranged to mechanically engage with an attachment point of a pull system of said conveyor system.

17. A slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said base block comprises polyoxymethylene.

18. A slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein each suspended meat carrier of said plurality of suspended meat carriers comprises a hanger.

19. A slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein each suspended meat carrier of said plurality of suspended meat carriers is limited to convey an individual meat cut.

20. A slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said plurality of working stations comprises one or more meat loading stations.

21. A slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said plurality of working stations comprises one or more meat unloading stations.

22. A slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said plurality of working stations comprises one or more meat processing stations.

23. A slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said plurality of working stations comprises one or more suspended meat carrier buffer stations.

24. A slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said plurality of working stations comprises one or more suspended meat carrier cleaning stations.

25. A slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said plurality of working stations comprises one or more suspended meat carrier servicing station.

26. A slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein one or more working stations of said plurality of working stations comprises a conveyor band.

27. A slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein two or more transport routes of said plurality of transport routes are arranged between two working stations of the plurality of working stations.

28. A slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein two or more transport routes of said plurality of transport routes passes along a common track of said plurality of tracks.

29. A slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said plurality of working stations comprises a first working station of a first type and a plurality of second working stations of a second type, and wherein saidplurality of transport routes comprises transport routes connecting said first working station with respective second working stations of said plurality of second working stations.

30. A slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said first working station and said plurality of second working stations are connected by one or more switch tracks.

31. A slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein each suspended meat carrier of said plurality of suspended meat carriers comprises an individual carrier tag.

32. A slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said slaughterhouse meat transport system comprises one or more tag readers for identifying individual carrier tags.

33. A slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said system controller arrangement is configured to track a location of individual suspended meat carriers of said plurality of suspended meat carriers in said conveyor system on the basis of said individual carrier tags and said one or more tag readers.

34. A slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said slaughterhouse meat transport system is arranged to associate suspended meat carrier data to said individual suspended meat carrier using said individual carrier tag.

35. A slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said suspended meat carrier data comprises suspended meat carrier operational status, meat type, conveying history, service interval, or any combination thereof.

36. A slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said individual carrier tag comprises a radio-frequency identification tag.

37. A slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said individual carrier tag comprises any of a barcode, a data matrix code or a QR code.

38. A slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said conveyor system comprises one or more tag writers.

39. A slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said conveyor system comprises a main track, said main track being formed by a first subset of tracks of said plurality of tracks, and wherein said conveyor system comprises one or more peripheral tracks connected to said main track, said one or more peripheral tracks being formed by a second subset of tracks of said plurality of tracks.

40. A slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said main track is a circular track.

41. Use of a slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the preceding claims for transporting meat in a slaughterhouse.

42. A method of routing an individual suspended meat carrier in a slaughterhouse: conveying, using a conveyor system, a plurality of suspended meat carriers of said conveyer system, each individual suspended meat carrier of said plurality of suspended meat carriers being associated with an individual carrier tag, tracking, using said individual carrier tag, location of said individual suspended meat carrier in said conveyor system, selecting, for said individual suspended meat carrier, an individual transport route among a plurality of transport routes on the basis of said location of said individual suspended meat carrier in said conveyor system, wherein said selected individual transport route comprises one or more working stations, conveying said individual suspended meat carrier along said selected individual transport route.

43. A method of routing an individual suspended meat carrier in a slaughterhouse according to claim 42, wherein each suspended meat carrier comprises an individual carrier tag, said individual carrier tag being a physical tag, and wherein said method comprises a step of reading an individual carrier tag of said individual suspended meat carrier using a tag reader of said conveyor system, and wherein said step of tracking a location of said individual suspended meat carrier in said conveyor system is performed on the basis of said reading of said individual carrier tag.

44. A method of routing an individual suspended meat carrier in a slaughterhouse according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said individual suspended meat carrier is conveying meat.

45. A method of routing an individual suspended meat carrier in a slaughterhouse according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said step of selecting an individual transport route among said plurality of transport routes is performed on the basis of a meat type of said meat.

46. A method of routing an individual suspended meat carrier in a slaughterhouse according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said step of selecting an individual transport route of said plurality of transport routes is performed on the basis of an operational scheme of said conveyor system.

47. A method of routing an individual suspended meat carrier in a slaughterhouse according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said step of selecting an individual transport route of said plurality of transport routes is performed on the basis of an operational scheme of a plurality of working stations.

48. A method of routing an individual suspended meat carrier in a slaughterhouse according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said step of selecting an individual transport route among said plurality of transport routes is performed on the basis of locations of a plurality of suspended meat carriers.

49. A method of routing an individual suspended meat carrier in a slaughterhouse according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said step of selecting an individualtransport route among said plurality of transport routes is performed on the basis of selected individual transport routes of a plurality of suspended meat carriers.

50. A method of routing an individual suspended meat carrier in a slaughterhouse according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said individual transport route is selected among two or more alternative transport routes.

51. A method of routing an individual suspended meat carrier in a slaughterhouse according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said step of tracking comprises tracking a location of each suspended meat carrier of said plurality of meat carriers in said conveyor system.

52. A method of routing an individual suspended meat carrier in a slaughterhouse according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said method is carried out using a slaughterhouse meat transport system according to any of the claims 1-40.

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