Machine for peeling sausage products with a plastic casing
An automated sausage peeling machine addresses the lack of automation in sausage peeling by using distinct zones and mechanisms to efficiently remove plastic casings from sausages of varying sizes, achieving continuous and automated peeling.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- WO · WO
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- ARCTECNO APLICACIONES
- Filing Date
- 2025-03-03
- Publication Date
- 2026-07-23
AI Technical Summary
Existing sausage peeling processes, especially for sausages sold in plastic casings, are either manual or require manual pre-peeling before slicing, lacking automation in the peeling step.
An automated sausage peeling machine with distinct zones for feeding, cutting, peeling, and waste management, utilizing mechanisms like inclined trays, roller conveyors, servo-motorized systems, and suction cups to efficiently remove plastic casings from sausages of varying sizes.
Automates the peeling process, adapting to different sausage sizes and ensuring continuous operation, resulting in efficient and automated removal of plastic casings without manual intervention.
Smart Images
Figure ES2025070105_23072026_PF_FP_ABST
Abstract
Description
[0001] MACHINE FOR PEELING SAUSAGE PRODUCTS WITH PLASTIC CASING
[0002] DESCRIPTION
[0003] OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
[0004] The present invention relates to a machine that has been specially designed to automatically peel products stuffed in plastic casings.
[0005] The object of the invention is therefore to provide a machine that is fed with pieces in the form of round bars or polygonal cross-section of food products, being able to adapt to different calibers and lengths, so that at the exit of the machine the product is obtained without skin or casing, for its subsequent cutting into slices, the machine itself being responsible for redirecting the remains towards a storage area for further treatment.
[0006] BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0007] In the practical application of the invention, that of sausages, it is common for them to be sold both in their own casing, as well as sliced and packaged in trays.
[0008] In the second case, although slicing and packaging are fully automated, either the sausage is packaged without peeling, or it must be peeled manually by the operators before putting the pieces into the slicing machine.
[0009] Therefore, it would be desirable to have a machine that allows the peeling of sausages to be carried out automatically, in order to automate the entire process. EXPLANATION OF THE INVENTION
[0010] The automatic sausage peeling machine proposed by the invention fully and satisfactorily solves the aforementioned problem, thanks to a novel and highly effective structure.
[0011] To this end, the machine of the invention is made up of a frame or casing in which four well differentiated zones are defined: a first zone for feeding the product to be treated, a cutting and peeling zone, an exit zone for the clean and finished pieces, and a final zone towards which the remains are redirected for subsequent storage and treatment.
[0012] More specifically, the feeding area consists of a kind of inclined tray where the sausage pieces to be peeled are placed. In the initial position, a sensor detects the presence of a piece, and a lower mechanism lifts the product so that it slides down a small inclined area and onto a roller conveyor. This conveyor moves the product along the machine to the different zones where the other mechanisms will come into play to peel the piece. This conveyor includes mechanisms to adjust the distance between rollers to accommodate pieces of different sizes, as well as zones where the rollers rotate and others where they only move without rotating.
[0013] Subsequently, once the product is moving, two mechanisms make a surface cut at both ends of the piece. This cut only cuts the casing and not the product, right where the curve of the tip begins, reaching the clip.
[0014] Once this cut has been made around its entire perimeter, in the next area a mechanism with tweezers is established to remove the cut ends of the intestine with the clips that close it.
[0015] The cut ends fall into funnels onto a conveyor belt that collects them and takes them to the outside of the machine. Subsequently, the product without the casing on the ends falls into another tray to be moved to a second roller conveyor station, similar to the one described above.
[0016] In this second station, the longitudinal cutting of the casing is carried out using a guided and servo-motorized system that follows the piece while the longitudinal cut is made so that the machine works continuously.
[0017] Finally, the machine includes a system for removing the intestines based on a mill-like mechanism equipped with a system of suction cups that, by vacuum, break down the already cut intestines and, by turning the mill, cause the skin to detach and be diverted to another treatment area.
[0018] Optionally, the machine could be complemented with an automatic feeding system, although this device is not the subject of the present invention.
[0019] This results in a machine that automates the peeling of sausages of different sizes, adapting to the specific needs of each case.
[0020] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0021] To complement the description that follows and to aid in a better understanding of the characteristics of the invention, according to a preferred embodiment thereof, a set of drawings is included as an integral part of said description, in which, for illustrative and non-limiting purposes, the following has been represented:
[0022] Figure 1 shows a side view, elevation of the machine for the automatic peeling of sausages with plastic casing made in accordance with the object of the present invention.
[0023] Figure 1 shows a profile view of the first workstation involved in a machine for peeling sausage products with plastic casings, made according to the object of the present invention. Figure 2 shows a plan view detail of the double chain mechanism that controls the relative position between the rollers intended to move the pieces to be peeled.
[0024] Figure 3 shows a profile view of the second station participating in the machine of the invention.
[0025] Figure 4 shows, finally, a detailed elevation view of the mechanism for removing the hides once they have been cut.
[0026] PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION
[0027] In view of the figures described, it can be observed how the machine of the invention is divided into two workstations connected in series, a first station (1), shown in figure 1, and a second station (2), shown in figure 3.
[0028] Well, the first station, like the second, is made up of a frame (3), in which a feeding zone (4) is defined, materialized in an inclined tray, in which the pieces of sausage (5) to be peeled are placed, so that in the initial position a sensor detects that there is a piece and a lifting or pushing mechanism (6) lifts the product so that it slides through a small inclined zone (7) until it is deposited on a roller conveyor that moves the product along the machine.
[0029] More specifically, the conveyor involves two groups of rollers interleaved with each other, a first group of rollers (8) associated with a first chain (9) and a second group of rollers (10) associated with a second chain (11), both chains being arranged in parallel, with their corresponding tensioners (12), so that the synchronized drive of one or the other or both chains simultaneously allows control of the distance between the rollers, in order to adapt the space defined between them for pieces of different calibers.
[0030] The chains only move the rollers (8 and 10), so that these rollers include teeth (13) that mesh with transmission sections (14) located partially along the worktable area, in different work substations to cause the rotation of these rollers and consequently of the piece held between them.
[0031] More specifically, the first substation is a cross-cutting station (15) responsible for making surface cuts at both ends of the workpiece. To do this, the workpiece is rotated in this area while coming into contact with the end blades through the previously mentioned teeth (13).
[0032] This substation works in conjunction with a bridge-shaped mechanism (16) fixed on rails and driven by a servomotor that allows it to follow the product, and which acts on end clamps (17) which, through the servo-motor drive, follow the product and keep the clamps centered on the tip, thus allowing them to approach where the clip that closes the end of the product is located, and once positioned they close by grabbing both ends of the product by the clip area and then pulling them.
[0033] This mechanism allows the ends of the gut to be extracted with the clips that close it right in the area where the cuts of its contour have been made.
[0034] The cut tips fall into funnels onto a belt that collects them and takes them to the outside of the machine, a mechanism that is not shown in the figures.
[0035] According to Figure 3, the product without the gut at the ends falls into a second tray (18) to be moved to the second station (2) in series with the first and equipped with a roller transport system identical to that of the first station (1).
[0036] The product is fed by a second vertical pusher (6'), so that in this case along the transport zone of the pieces a longitudinal cutting mechanism (19) of the piece is established, by means of a guided and servo-motorized system that follows the piece while the cutting is carried out so that the machine works continuously.
[0037] The cut is made from above with a blade that moves from one end of the piece to the other, keeping the product from rotating.Next, the machine establishes a kind of mill (20) with two arms (21) in which a system of suction cups (22) is incorporated to be able to grip the end of the area where the linear cut has been made to the piece, when the mill rotates it is always synchronized in the correct position, with the suction cups (22) coinciding precisely at the end of the lip where we have made the cut, so that when the vacuum is activated, this end is pulled in a synchronized manner as the product advances, so that it begins to rotate on its own axis while the mill rotates in the direction of advance and the suction cups also rotate on their own axis causing an unwinding movement and the casing remains gripped in the suction cups and the product is expelled from the machine peeled by means of a ramp at the end of the rollers and leaving the product on a belt, table, or element that is deemed appropriate.
[0038] Once the tripe is extracted from the mill, it is moved by belt mechanisms that grab it and drop it onto another transverse belt that takes it to a mini grinder, and a vacuum cleaner is in charge of collecting the pieces of tripe that fall from the bottom, mechanisms that are not represented in the figures.
Claims
R E I V I N D I C A C I O N E S 1 a- Machine for peeling sausage products with plastic casings, characterized in that it is constituted from a roller-based transport system for the pieces to be peeled, in which a feeding zone (4) is established, materialized in an inclined tray, in which the sausage pieces (5) to be peeled are deposited, in which a feeding sensor and a lifting or pushing mechanism (6) are established for said pieces towards an inclined zone (7) that discharges onto a roller conveyor in which two groups of rollers interleaved with each other participate, a first group of rollers (8) associated with a first chain (9) and a second group of rollers (10) associated with a second chain (11), both chains being arranged in parallel,including the conveyor, specific zones along its length which include means for rotating the rollers by means of teeth (13) provided therein which mesh during their advance in transmissions (14), the following sub-equipment being provided for in the roller conveyor:, a) A cross-cutting station (15) of the pieces at the level of their extreme tips. b) A bridge-shaped mechanism (16) fixed on rails and driven by a servomotor that acts on extreme clamps (17) for splitting the tips of the piece to be peeled. c) A longitudinal cutting mechanism (19) of the skin of the pieces by means of longitudinal displacement of a blade in a synchronized manner to the advance of the piece. d) A skin removal mechanism using a suction cup system (22). 2 a- Machine for peeling sausage products with plastic casing, according to claim 1 a where the machine has means of regulating the distance between groups of rollers (8-10) depending on the caliber of the products to be peeled. 3 a - Machine for peeling sausage products with plastic casing, according to claim 1 a where the roller conveyor is divided into two stations (1-2) connected in series, a first station for cutting and removing the tips of the piece and a second station for longitudinal cutting and removal of the gut, between which there is a second tray (18) for collecting the pieces assisted by a second pusher (6'). 4 a - Machine for peeling sausage products with plastic casing, according to claim 1 awhere the machine includes mechanisms for redirecting the extracted gut to a mini shredder, as well as a vacuum cleaner for collecting pieces of gut that may detach internally during the cutting process. 5 a - Machine for peeling sausage products with plastic casing, according to claim 1 a , where in correspondence with the clamp mechanism (17) for removing the tips of the pieces to be peeled, funnels are established for collecting and unloading said tips. 6 a - Machine for peeling sausage products with plastic casing, according to claim 1 a , where the skin removal mechanism by means of a suction cup system (22) is constituted from a kind of mill (20) of two rotating arms (21) in which the suction cup system (22) is incorporated.