Squid cleaning method and apparatus
AssigneeCarruthers Equipment Co.
InventorEben H. Carruthers
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for cleaning squid bodies which have been separated from the heads and tentacles, employing upstream and downstream, partially overlapping, facially confronting, perforate conveyor belts, through the perforations in which a vacuum apparatus is employed to hold such bodies tightly against the belts. On the upstream belt, successive bodies are slit along one side to fillet them, thus to enable them to lay out flat on the belt, with mechanical and hydraulic scrubbing action then employed to clean one side of each body. Where the two belts overlap, a transfer action takes place, with the successive bodies there transferred to, and then held against, the other belt to expose the opposite sides of the bodies for mechanical and hydraulic scrubbing action.
Claims10
Automatic squid-cleaning apparatus comprising
- elongate conveyor means defining a transport path for the travel of squid fed in succession through said apparatus, said conveyor means extending between intake and discharge end zones in said apparatus,
- means disposed toward, but somewhat downstream from, said intake zone for slitting a side of the bodies of squid received by said conveyor means adjacent said intake zone to enable substantial flattening-out of such bodies relative to the conveyor means,
- first scrubber means disposed adjacent said conveyor means downstream from said slitting means for cleaning, by scrubbing action, one side of such flattened-out squid bodies as the same travel along said path, and
- second scrubber means disposed adjacent said conveyor means downstream from said first scrubber means, and somewhat upstream from said discharge end zone, for cleaning, by scrubbing action, the opposite sides of such flattened-out squid bodies as the same continue to travel along said path.
A method for the automatic cleaning of squid bodies which have been separated from their heads and tentacles comprising
- creating an upstream, positive-advancement travel run for such a body, and transporting the body in a downstream direction along such run,
- while so transporting the body, first, slitting the same along the length of one side to fillet the body, and thereafter, scrubbing the surface of the body which becomes exposed as a result of said slitting,
- creating a downstream, positive-advancement travel run which is coextensive with the downstream end of the upstream run, and transferring the body from the upstream run to the downstream run to effect continued downstream transport of the body with the body surface therein which is opposite the first-mentioned body surface now exposed, and
- while so continuing the downstream transport of the body, scrubbing such opposite surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.