Fish Fillet Bone Removal Using Under-Cooled Water Jet Cutting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional methods for bone removal and trimming of fish fillets are labor-intensive, inefficient, and result in reduced product value due to inaccurate bone location and deformation, with traditional water jet cutting methods failing to provide precise cuts and increasing the risk of bones being misplaced during processing.
Innovation Solution
A method involving under-cooling of fish fillets to a phase transition state for increased stiffness, combined with digital imaging and three-dimensional modeling to determine precise cutting patterns, and the use of water jets for accurate bone removal and trimming while keeping the skin attached, allowing for more valuable products like neck pieces with skin.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If traditional skinning devices are used to remove skin from fillets, then skin removal is achieved, but the fillets are deformed and gapping occurs making bone location inaccurate
Solution Approach 1:
The invention performs bone removal as a preliminary action before skinning the fillet. By removing bones while the fillet is still intact and properly shaped, the system achieves accurate bone location without the deformation and gapping that would occur if skinning were performed first. This sequence reversal solves the contradiction by preventing the shape distortion that would compromise subsequent bone location accuracy.
2Productivity
If water jet cutting is used to remove pin bones, then bone removal is automated, but the back flush from cutting water interrupts precise bone location and cuts are not sharp enough
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the bone removal function from the skinning process by performing bone removal as a separate, preliminary operation using water jet cutting. The system uses imaging technology to locate bones with high precision before cutting, and the water jet is applied in a controlled manner that removes bones without the back flush interference that would disrupt location precision. This separation of functions allows both high productivity and measurement precision to be achieved.
3Ease of manufacture
If conventional water jet cutting is used on delicate flesh, then cutting is performed, but the flesh deforms during cut reducing yield and value
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the physical parameters of the flesh by cooling it to a sub-cooled state before water jet cutting. This temperature change alters the mechanical properties of the flesh, making it less deformable and more resistant to distortion during the cutting process. The parameter change (temperature) enables the water jet cutting to achieve high precision cuts without causing the flesh deformation that would reduce yield and product value.
4Measurement precision
If manual bone removal methods are used, then bone location can be inspected, but the process is labor intensive and time consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces the manual mechanical inspection and removal process with an automated system based on imaging technology and water jet cutting. The imaging system (optical/electromagnetic field) automatically detects and locates bones with high precision, eliminating the need for manual inspection. The water jet cutting mechanism then automatically removes the located bones, replacing manual removal tools. This substitution of mechanical/manual processes with automated field-based detection and controlled cutting maintains high detection accuracy while dramatically increasing processing speed and productivity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enhances processing efficiency and product yield by enabling precise cuts and accurate bone removal, maintaining product quality and allowing for the production of more valuable products with skin attached, while reducing the risk of bone misplacement and deformation.
Implementation Method 1
cutting with a water beam
Implementation Method 2
cooling the products, such as fish fillets, to the under-cooled state by using the Combined Blast and Contact cooling method
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a method for automatically removing bones and trimming a product such as fish fillets, where the fillets are in an under cooled state. The under cooling makes the fillets sufficiently stiff to remove pin pones and portion a fillet before or after skinning the fillet in a relative still position providing better cutting than conventional methods. This provides more efficiency than prior art methods as well as increasing the value of the product due to less gaping and dehydration of the product. The method of the present invention further provides possibilities for grading of products processed with the three dimensional scanning and digital imaging of the products.