Breast processor

In apparatus for cutting poultry carcasses into segments including a surface conveyor for movement along a predetermined path comprising parallel conveyor halves which define a space therebetween, a plurality of carcass supports mounted at intervals along said conveyor for carrying poultry carcasses along the path, each of said carcass supports including a carcass support bar extending along said path, said carcass support bar being approximately V-shaped in cross section whereby the previously eviscerated carcass of a bird is mounted on a carcass support with the carcass support bar extending into the eviscerated cavity of the bird and the back bone of the carcass is supported by the V-shaped carcass support bar, a cutting station positioned along the path including a rotatable backbone-cutting disk for cutting longitudinally through the backbones of carcasses, said backbone cutting disk being positioned above the path and located in a plane parallel to the path and extending toward the path of the carcass support bar for cutting the backbone of a carcass, the improvement therein of backbone guide means extending on opposite sides of the backbone-cutting disk for bearing downwardly against the carcass on opposite sides of the backbone to press each carcass downwardly to urge the backbone of the carcass into the V-shaped carcass support bar and to guide the backbone into the backbone-cutting disk, and a breast-cutting disk protruding upwardly through said space between said conveyor halves for engaging and cutting the carcasses moved by the conveyor, the improvement therein including a breast support bracket carried by said surface conveyor comprising a pair of bracket elements mounted on the conveyor halves at positions adjacent each carcass support and the bracket elements together forming a surface against which the breast of a poultry carcass rests.