Automated loading station suitable for meat portions and plant for processing said meat portions

A processing plant for processing meat portions provided with a loading station and an unloading station,

• wherein the loading station is automated and is configured so as to hook, at a hooking area, a meat portion to a sustaining element, which loading station is provided with:
• a movement apparatus for moving the sustaining elements configured so as to move a sustaining element at the hooking area,
• a conveying apparatus for conveying the meat portions configured so as to convey the meat portion at the hooking area and to align a segment of the meat portion to a plurality of needles of the sustaining element, and
• a press configured so as to press the meat portion against the needles of the sustaining element positioned in the hooking area to penetrate the meat portion with said needles;
• and
• wherein the unloading station is configured so as to unhook a meat portion from a sustaining element and comprises:
• an abutment body defining an abutment surface able to sustain inferiorly the meat portion,
• a movement apparatus for moving the sustaining elements, configured to move a sustaining element at the abutment body between a first position, in which the sustaining element is at a higher elevation with respect to the abutment surface, and a second position, in which the sustaining element is at a lower elevation with respect to the abutment surface, so that in the passage from the first position to the second position the meat portion rests at least partially on the abutment surface and the needles are extracted from the meat portion.

An automated loading station for meat portions configured so as to hook, at a hooking area, a meat portion to a sustaining element, which loading station is provided with:

• a movement apparatus for moving the sustaining elements configured so as to move a sustaining element at the hooking area,
• a conveying apparatus for conveying the meat portions configured so as to convey the meat portion at the hooking area and to align a segment of the meat portion to a plurality of needles of the sustaining element, and
• a press configured so as to press the meat portion against the needles of the sustaining element positioned in the hooking area to penetrate the meat portion with said needles,
• wherein the press comprises a base and a contact element able to contact the meat portions directly to penetrate the meat portion with said needles and movable along an axis and
• wherein the press comprises a plurality of contact elements independent of each other and flanking each other along a direction of flanking, perpendicular to a feed direction of the meat portions at the hooking area.