Fish Flank Bone Detaching Guide for Curved Costal Arches
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing filleting machines struggle to reliably cut free the flank bones of fish species with a pronounced costal arch structure, such as sea bass, due to their strong curvature and stability, leading to incomplete removal and increased trimming effort.
Innovation Solution
A detaching device is integrated into the upper bone guide to selectively loosen the connection between flank bones and the backbone, using sharp-edged detaching sections to fracture and blunt guiding sections to rotate and guide the bones into a suitable position for cutting, ensuring they fit through the cutting gap.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If existing filleting machines use standard cutting mechanisms, then the process is simple, but they fail to reliably cut free flank bones of fish species with pronounced costal arch structure due to strong curvature and stability
Solution Approach 1:
The cutting mechanism is divided into multiple independent components: an upper cutting element and a lower cutting element, which can be independently positioned and adjusted. This segmentation allows each element to be optimized for specific tasks - the upper element for initial cutting and the lower element for completing the cut, thereby improving reliability without requiring a single overly complex mechanism
Solution Approach 2:
The cutting mechanism incorporates adjustable and movable components that can adapt to different fish species and bone configurations. The cutting elements can be positioned at different locations and angles, allowing the system to dynamically adjust to the strong curvature and stability variations in different costal arch structures, improving reliability while maintaining manageable complexity
2Manufacturing precision
If the cutting gap is kept small for precision, then cutting precision improves, but bones with strong curvature cannot fit through the gap
Solution Approach 1:
The solution addresses the curvature problem by working in multiple dimensions. Instead of trying to force curved bones through a small single-plane gap, the upper and lower cutting elements operate at different vertical positions and can be independently adjusted. This multi-dimensional approach allows the cutting gap to remain small for precision while accommodating bones with strong curvature through vertical adjustment and angular positioning
Solution Approach 2:
The system allows for adjustment of multiple parameters including the position, angle, and orientation of the cutting elements. These parameter changes enable the cutting mechanism to adapt to different bone curvatures and configurations, maintaining precision cutting capability while accommodating variations in costal arch structure across different fish species
3Ease of operation
If flank bones are not completely loosened from the backbone, then the bone connection remains stable, but the bones cannot be guided into the cutting gap for removal
Solution Approach 1:
The upper cutting element performs a preliminary cutting action that loosens the flank bones from the backbone before the lower cutting element completes the separation. This preliminary action weakens the bone connection just enough to allow the bones to be guided into the cutting gap, while the lower element then completes the cut to fully separate the bones. This two-stage approach enables easy guiding into the gap without completely compromising the connection before cutting begins
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus to cut free flank bones of beheaded, slaughtered fish, which preferably have opened abdominal cavities and are transported tail-first in transport direction T with their backbone resting on transport saddles, includes: an upper bone guide to guide the backbone from the dorsal side; a lower bone guide to guide ventral spokes of the fish, which spokes are formed in the region from the tail to the abdominal cavity; and a separating unit for detaching fillets from the flank bones surrounding the abdominal cavity. The separating unit includes a separating means having a corresponding counter unit and can be brought from a standby into a working position and vice versa. A detaching device is located in the upper bone guide region to loosen the bone connection between the flank bones and backbone of at least some of the flank bones. A corresponding filleting machine and method are provided.