Automated Thigh Deboning Apparatus with Knee Knuckle Tissue Cutting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for deboning animal thighs, such as poultry, are cumbersome, inefficient, and prone to contamination, as they often require manual labor and suspend entire legs, leading to suboptimal meat yield and quality.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus that grasp the thigh bone at the hip knuckle, cut tissue near the hip and knee knuckles, and use a meat stripper to separate meat from the bone along a conveyor path, improving yield and quality by allowing the meat stripper to pass over the knee knuckle without turning inside-out.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual labor is used for deboning, then flexibility and adaptability are maintained, but processing speed and productivity are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical deboning operations with an automated mechanical stripping system. The meat stripper device mechanically removes meat from the thigh bone through a controlled stripping action, eliminating the need for manual labor while maintaining operational flexibility through adjustable positioning mechanisms.
2Productivity
If entire legs are suspended from ankle joints, then processing can be done on traditional cut-up lines, but meat yield is suboptimal and contamination by bone fragments occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the processing operation by separating the thigh bone from the rest of the leg carcass before deboning. The thigh bone is isolated on the meat stripper device, allowing targeted meat removal without the risk of bone fragment contamination that occurs when entire legs are suspended and processed together on traditional cut-up lines.
3Productivity
If dedicated thigh processing devices are operated simultaneously with cut-up lines, then processing capacity increases, but device complexity and setup requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The meat stripper device is designed with universal applicability to process thigh bones from various bird sizes and types. The adjustable positioning mechanisms and standardized bone holder allow the same device to handle different thigh configurations, reducing the need for multiple specialized devices while maintaining high processing capacity.
Data Source
AI summary
A method is disclosed for mechanically deboning animal thighs for separating and collecting meat therefrom and an apparatus for performing the method, including automated individual processing steps. The processing steps include: grasping a thigh bone of an animal thigh at a hip knuckle with a bone holder; cutting tissue near the hip knuckle; and engaging the thigh bone adjacent the bone holder with a meat stripper. The processing steps further include: moving the bone holder and meat stripper away from one another in a direction substantially coextensive with the longitudinal extent of the thigh bone; allowing the meat stripper to pass over the knee knuckle; and collecting the meat separated from the bone. In particular the method includes and the apparatus performs the process step of cutting tissue adjacent a knee knuckle of the thigh bone, prior to allowing the meat stripper to pass over the knee knuckle. The apparatus includes a plurality of processing stations for carrying out the individual steps, and the processing stations are arranged along a path of conveyance defined by a conveyor chain moving through a predefined path.