Arrow-Shaped Knife for Poultry Wishbone Removal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing devices for processing poultry carcass parts often result in bone splinters, meat yield reduction, fillet damage, and increased manufacturing costs due to complex design requirements.
Innovation Solution
The device features an arrow-shaped knife with narrower front portions and swivable hooks, allowing for unitary movement and reduced resistance during wishbone removal, minimizing bone splinter risk and fillet damage while simplifying the design for easier manufacturing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the knife and blades are moved independently to cut the wishbone legs, then the wishbone can be removed from the carcass part, but bone splinters may remain in the meat and the fillets may be damaged
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the knife and two blades into a unitary movable assembly where all three cutting elements move together in a coordinated manner. This merging ensures that the wishbone legs are completely removed from the carcass part without leaving bone splinters, while the coordinated movement prevents damage to the fillets by maintaining proper spacing and alignment throughout the cutting process.
Solution Approach 2:
The narrower first portions of the knife and blades are designed to precede the main cutting edges, allowing these leading portions to first penetrate and separate the membrana connecting the wishbone to the keelbone. This preliminary action prepares the path for the main cutting edges to subsequently remove the wishbone legs cleanly without damaging surrounding meat or creating bone splinters.
2Strength
If the arrow-shaped knife has wider portions for cutting power, then cutting effectiveness is improved, but the insertion process becomes more difficult and tuning requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The knife and blades are designed with varying widths along their length, creating different local qualities suited for different functions. The narrower first portions facilitate easy insertion and separation of the membrana, while the wider second portions provide the necessary cutting power and stability for removing the wishbone legs. This local variation in geometry optimizes both insertion ease and cutting effectiveness.
3Manufacturing precision
If the device design is made more complex to improve wishbone removal precision, then bone splinter risk is reduced, but manufacturing costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
By merging the knife and two blades into a unitary movable assembly with a coordinated cutting mechanism, the patent achieves precise wishbone removal through the synergistic action of all three cutting elements working together. This integrated design provides the necessary precision for clean bone separation while remaining manufacturable as a single coordinated unit, avoiding the need for multiple independent complex mechanisms.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3
Figure 4A
AI summary
Method and device for processing a carcass-part of slaughtered poultry in a processing line, which carcass-part is supported on a carrier that is movable in said processing line and comprises wing-joints (8), coracoids (7), a wishbone embodied with two legs (9', 9'') that merge into each other at an acute angle, a keelbone (6), at least one membrana and/or ligament (13) that connects at least to the wishbone, and naturally present meat including inner and outer fillets, in which method means (12, 15, 16) are applied for cutting the membrana and/or removing of said wishbone from the carcass-part, wherein said means for cutting the membrana and/or removing of said wishbone comprise an arrow-shaped knife (12) and two blades (15, 16) arranged on opposite sides of said knife, wherein after the means for cutting the membrana and/or removing of said wishbone are introduced into the carcass part, the arrow shaped knife and the two blades are moved in a unitary movement from within the carcass-part in a sideways direction away from the carcass part so as to lift the wishbone legs while they are still connected to the wing joints, and subsequently turn the wishbone legs out of the wing joints of the carcass-part.