Poultry Breast Deboning Mandrel Orientation and Rotation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing automatic deboning systems for poultry breast caps require complex and maintenance-intensive processing stations due to mandrels being upside down, leading to suboptimal de-skinning results and increased floor space usage, as they are typically conveyed with the head end leading, which is not conducive to effective de-skinning from the tail end to the head end.
Innovation Solution
A method and system where mandrels are kept in an upright position except during de-skinning, with a conveying path in a horizontal plane, allowing de-skinning from the tail end to the head end, using a breast cutter with parallel cutting blades and a breast fillet remover to separate fillets efficiently, and incorporating a Maltese cross mechanism for rotating the mandrels to facilitate de-skinning and repositioning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If mandrels are conveyed upside down through processing stations, then floor space is optimized, but processing complexity increases and maintenance requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the conventional approach by conveying mandrels in an upright position rather than upside down. This reversal simplifies the processing stations while maintaining compact floor space through the vertical arrangement of processing stations along the conveyor path.
2Ease of operation
If mandrels are conveyed with head end leading, then conveyor operation is simplified, but de-skinning effectiveness decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically changes the orientation of mandrels during conveyance. Mandrels are conveyed upright for most operations, then rotated to an inverted position specifically for de-skinning, and rotated back to upright position afterward. This dynamic repositioning optimizes both operational simplicity and de-skinning effectiveness.
3Reliability
If mandrels are kept in upright position throughout processing, then maintenance needs are reduced, but de-skinning from tail end to head end becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary rotation of mandrels to the inverted position before the de-skinning operation begins. This preliminary action ensures that the mandrel is in the optimal orientation for effective de-skinning from tail end to head end, while maintaining upright position during other operations to reduce maintenance needs.
Data Source
AI summary
Method of and system for automatically deboning poultry breast caps containing meat and a skeletal structure to obtain breast fillets. The method includes providing a mandrel with a plane of symmetry in a vertical orientation and supporting a breast cap with its skeletal structure including a keel bone on top of the mandrel. The breast cap being held to the mandrel with the keel bone aligned with the plane of symmetry. By moving the mandrel through a conveying path extending through a substantially horizontal plane in a direction of travel it passes a cutting implement of a breast cutter engaging the meat along the keel bone. The cutting implement causes at least one incision along the area where the meat is attached to the keel bone and a breast fillet remover downstream of the breast cutter engages between the skeletal structure and the meat and separates the meat as a pair of single fillets from the skeletal structure. The arrangement is such that the mandrel moves through the conveying path with the plane of symmetry aligned with the direction of travel.