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US 12,582,098 B2Granted
Rear-facing poultry claw system and method
AssigneeNova-Tech Engineering, Inc.
InventorsMatthew H. Erickson, Austin Mueller, JadiMarie Hopp, Derek Worcester, Christopher J. Strand, Dominic Oerter, Scott Schueler, Marc Zinda
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Rear-facing poultry claw systems and methods are described herein. In one or more embodiments, the positioning systems and methods may be used to detect the claw of the rear-facing toe on one or both shanks of birds.
Claims25
A rear-facing poultry claw system comprising:
- a toe control bar operably attached to a system frame, the toe control bar configured to move between a retracted position and a control position;
- a control bar actuator operably connected to the toe control bar, the control bar actuator configured to raise and lower the toe control bar between the retracted position and the control position;
- a seat lift operably attached to the system frame, the seat lift configured to move between a ready position and a lift position, along a lift axis;
- a seat lift actuator operably connected to the seat lift, the seat lift actuator configured to rotate the seat lift about the lift axis to move the seat lift between the ready position and the lift position;
- and
- a controller operably connected to the seat lift actuator and the control bar actuator, wherein the controller is configured to:
- operate the seat lift actuator such that the seat lift actuator moves the seat lift from the ready position to the lift position, and
- operate the control bar actuator such that the control bar actuator raises es the toe control bar from the retracted position to the control position after operating the seat lift actuator to rotate the seat lift from the ready position to the lift position.
5 more elements
A rear-facing poultry claw system comprising:
- a toe control bar operably attached to the system frame, the toe control bar configured to move between a retracted position and a control position;
- a control bar actuator operably connected to the toe control bar, the control bar actuator configured to move the toe control bar between the retracted position and the control position, wherein the toe control bar is configured to rotate about a control bar axis when moving between the retracted position and the control position;
- a seat lift operably attached to the system frame, the seat lift configured to move between a ready position and a lift position;
- a seat lift actuator operably connected to the seat lift, the seat lift actuator configured to move the seat lift between the ready position and the lift position;
- and
- a controller operably connected to the seat lift actuator and the control bar actuator, wherein the controller is configured to:
- operate the seat lift actuator such that the seat lift actuator moves the seat lift from the ready position to the lift position, and
- operate the control bar actuator such that the control bar actuator moves the toe control bar from the retracted position to the control position after operating the seat lift actuator to move the seat lift from the ready position to the lift position.
5 more elements
A rear-facing poultry claw system comprising:
- a toe control bar operably attached to the system frame, the toe control bar configured to move between a retracted position and a control position;
- a control bar actuator operably connected to the toe control bar, the control bar actuator configured to move the toe control bar between the retracted position and the control position;
- a seat lift operably attached to the system frame, the seat lift configured to move between a ready position and a lift position;
- a seat lift actuator operably connected to the seat lift, the seat lift actuator configured to move the seat lift between the ready position and the lift position;
- a poultry cradle located in a selected position relative to the system frame, wherein the poultry cradle is configured to restrain a bird such that the seat lift acts on a seat of the bird when the poultry cradle is in the selected position and the seat lift is in the lift position;
- and
- a controller operably connected to the seat lift actuator and the control bar actuator, wherein the controller is configured to:
- operate the seat lift actuator such that the seat lift actuator moves the seat lift from the ready position to the lift position, and
- operate the control bar actuator such that the control bar actuator moves the toe control bar from the retracted position to the control position after operating the seat lift actuator to move the seat lift from the ready position to the lift position.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.