Poultry Neck Meat Harvester Synchronized Conveyor Cutting
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for harvesting poultry neck meat in processing plants are largely manual and inefficient, lacking a mechanized solution to streamline the process and improve productivity.
Innovation Solution
A mechanized poultry neck meat harvester system that includes neck positioning devices, a synchronized neck conveyor, and a cutting member to automate the separation of neck meat from the vertebrae, integrated with a poultry body conveyor for efficient processing along the dividing or filleting line.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If manual harvesting of neck meat is used, then flexibility and simplicity are maintained, but productivity and processing efficiency deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The neck portion is divided into two separate components: the neck meat (muscle tissue) and the neck vertebrae (bony structure). The harvesting device uses a cutting member that selectively separates the neck meat from the vertebrae, allowing the meat to be harvested as a distinct product while the vertebrae remain for other uses. This segmentation enables efficient mechanized harvesting while maintaining product quality.
Solution Approach 2:
A neck positioning device serves as an intermediary component that temporarily holds and stabilizes the neck portion during the harvesting process. This positioning device facilitates the cutting operation by maintaining proper alignment between the cutting member and the neck meat, enabling automated processing without requiring complex manual manipulation.
2Productivity
If neck meat is separated as a whole from the carcass in the dividing line, then processing flow is simplified, but the value of neck meat as a separate product is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the neck meat as a separate valuable product from the neck portion that is already separated from the main carcass. By positioning the harvesting device at the filleting line where neck portions are available, the system extracts the meat component specifically, allowing it to be collected and processed as a distinct product rather than being discarded or used as low-value filler.
Solution Approach 2:
The neck portion is preliminarily separated from the carcass in the dividing line before reaching the filleting line where this invention operates. This preliminary separation creates convenient access to the neck portions, allowing the harvesting device to focus exclusively on extracting the meat from already-isolated neck segments, thereby improving processing efficiency.
3Extent of automation
If synchronized conveyance of neck portions and cutting operations is implemented, then automation is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges the neck portion conveyor with the main carcass conveyor system, using the same conveyor infrastructure to transport both neck portions and carcasses in coordination. The cutting member is positioned to work in synchronization with the existing conveyor rhythm, eliminating the need for entirely separate automated conveying systems while achieving effective automation.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3a~3b
AI summary
A poultry neck meat harvester (1;30) for mechanized harvesting of neck meat from a poultry body. The neck meat harvester is adapted to be arranged along the path of a poultry body conveyor having at least one product carrier (50) embodied to support a poultry body and to convey said poultry body in a direction of conveyance. The harvester comprises: - one or more neck positioning devices (11;35), each adapted to receive and position the poultry neck portion (43) of a poultry body (40) that is supported by a product carrier (50), - a neck conveyor (31) with neck positioning devices (35) and adapted to convey each neck positioning device (35) in a manner that is synchronized with a product carrier (50) so as to allow to receive the poultry neck portion whilst the poultry body is supported by the product carrier, - a neck meat cutting member (60) adapted to cut loose the neck meat from the neck vertebrae (43b) whilst the neck portion (43) is received and positioned by the neck positioning device (35).