Apparatus for pulling-off the skin of sheep carcasses in slaughtering

An apparatus for pulling-off the skin of sheep, lamb or similar carcasses in connection with slaughtering, comprising an essentially horizontal drum which is arranged to pull off the skin during winding thereof on the drum, the drum being moved along the dorsal side of a vertically suspended carcass characterized in that the drum (8) has a gradually increasing diameter from the central portion (20) towards both ends and a clamping means to affix the skin to the drum at the beginning of the cycle, said drum being mounted at the free end of a pivotable beam (3) which is provided with a means (9) for pivoting movement of the beam during the pulling-off operation, along and in engagement with the dorsal side of said carcass and that there is provided a means (24) for rotation of the drum (8), said drum (8) being rotated synchronously with the pivoting movement of the beam (3) and with a speed which is adapted to the pivoting movement of the beam traversing said dorsal side of said carcass whereby varying amounts of force at varying angles are exerted on the skin responsive to the locus of the drum along the carcass, to most effectively and uniformly carry out the skin removal process with minimal damage to the skin.