Pivotable Circular Knives for Fish Meat Extraction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fish processing devices with fixed circular knife alignment suffer from yield losses and fin holder injuries due to rigid knife positioning, which is suboptimal for varying fish anatomy, particularly affecting white fish and salmon.
Innovation Solution
The device features pivotable circular knives about axes deviating from the horizontal, allowing adjustable gap size and position through pneumatic or servomotor-controlled mechanisms, enabling precise alignment with fish anatomy for optimized yield and reduced injuries.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the circular knives are positioned with a fixed minimum gap dimension, then the device structure is simple and stable, but yield losses occur due to inability to adapt to varying fish anatomy
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the dynamics principle by making the circular knives pivotable about vertical axes during operation. The knives can dynamically adjust their position and orientation to match the varying anatomy of different fish species and sizes, transforming the rigid fixed-position system into a flexible adaptive system that maximizes meat yield without excessive complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements parameter changes by allowing the gap dimension between circular knives to be variable rather than fixed. The knives can change their relative position parameters (distance, angle, orientation) during the cutting process to optimize for different fish anatomies, enabling the system to adapt parameters in real-time based on the specific fish being processed
2Ease of operation
If the circular knives are aligned in a fixed V-shaped position, then the cutting process is simple, but fin holder injuries occur due to rigid positioning
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the circular knives dynamically adjustable during operation, allowing them to pivot about vertical axes. This dynamic capability enables the system to maintain simple cutting operations while adapting the knife alignment to avoid fin holder injuries by positioning the knives appropriately for each specific fish anatomy
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates sensors that detect fish characteristics and automatically adjust the knife positioning without manual intervention. The device serves itself by using sensor data to self-adjust the cutting parameters, eliminating the need for operator skill while preventing fin holder injuries through precise, anatomy-specific positioning
3Productivity
If the circular knives are positioned to maximize yield, then meat extraction is optimized, but incorrect cuts occur on variable-shaped bones
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback by using sensors to detect fish bone structure and anatomy characteristics, then using this information to adjust the circular knife positioning. The system continuously monitors fish characteristics and provides feedback to the control system, which adjusts knife position and orientation to achieve both maximum yield and accurate cutting along variable-shaped bones
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary detection of fish anatomy using sensors before the cutting process begins. This preliminary action allows the system to pre-position the circular knives optimally for each specific fish, ensuring both high yield extraction and precise cutting accuracy by matching the knife configuration to the detected bone structure beforehand
4Adaptability or versatility
If the circular knives are made pivotable during operation, then adaptability to fish anatomy is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by implementing pivotable circular knives that can rotate about vertical axes during operation. This dynamic mechanism provides high adaptability to different fish anatomies while maintaining relatively simple construction through the use of straightforward rotational joints and sensor-based control, avoiding overly complex mechanisms
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to an apparatus (10) for automatically obtaining flesh from beheaded and gutted fish (11), comprising a transport device (12) for transporting the fish (11) tail-first in the transport direction T along a transport path, and a separating device (14) the separating the flesh from the spine, wherein the separating device (14) has at least two circular knives (15, 16) that can be driven in rotation and controlled, which are arranged at a distance from each other on mutually opposite sides of the transport path in order to form a gap S; the method is distinguished in that the two circular knives (15, 16) are designed such that the circular knives can be swiveled about an axis I, II that differs from a horizontal orientation, wherein the axes I, II or oriented in such a way that, by swiveling the circular knives (15, 16) about the axis I and II, the point P of the smallest gap dimension between the circular knives (15, 16) can be positioned differently from the lowest knife point M of the two circular knives (15, 16). The invention further relates to a corresponding method.