An apparatus and method for removing bones from a sub-primal
cut meat portion, and more particularly, an apparatus and method for removing bones from a chuck blade sub-primal
cut meat portion where said apparatus includes a carousel-type
conveyor system arrangement having at least one mounting
station and at least one meat
cutting station. The carousel-type conveyor has a mounting fixture that is adapted to hold and manipulate and orient the meat
cut such that
bone removal can be performed effectively. The carousel-type conveyor in one embodiment is a rotation table which transitions the mounting fixture with the sub-primal cut mounted thereon to a position adjacent a
cutting station. Each
cutting station includes at least one reciprocating
chisel blade
assembly that is utilized to sever the meat from the bone by repetitively plunging and retracting a
chisel blade into and from the meat and bone interface with a reciprocating stabbing action thereby severing the meat from the bone. The maneuvering and cutting pattern of the
chisel blade
assembly is controlled by a controller which can be a PLC or a computer or any other appropriate computing device.