Stick turning device for stick on which chain of sausages is suspended

A stick turning device configured to deliver a stick on which a chain of sausages is suspended from an upstream device to a downstream device, the stick turning device comprising:

• a turning arm unit configured to horizontally pick up both ends of the stick on which the chain of sausages is suspended from the upstream device and deliver the stick to the downstream device, and including a pair of arms and stick receiving portions provided at tips of the pair of arms;
• a turning driving unit configured to turn the turning arm unit at a predetermined angle around a turning shaft in a vertical direction;
• and
• an actuator unit configured to lift the turning arm unit such that the both ends of the stick are horizontally picked up from the upstream device and the stick is lifted to a height where the sausages suspended on the stick do not come into contact with the upstream device, and such that by bringing the stick close to the turning shaft, a peripheral speed of the stick is reduced with respect to a turning speed of the turning driving unit, and defects in the sausages due to a centrifugal force of turning by the turning driving unit are reduced, and configured to lower the turning arm unit such that the stick lifted by the turning arm unit turned by the turning driving unit in the lifted state is delivered to the downstream device.