Method and device for filleting the body of a slaughtered bird

Abstract

A method and device for filleting the body of a slaughtered bird, or a part thereof, the method having the following steps: making incisions in the shoulder joints while the connection between the muscles to be filleted and their wing bones remains intact; tearing away a fillet from the ribs by exerting a force which acts upon the wing concerned and is directed essentially away from the ribs; and breaking the connection between fillet and wing bone. The bird, or a part thereof, is fixed on a supporting element which is movable along a predetermined path at a predetermined speed, and which can be tilted from a neutral position, in which the shoulder side of the bird is facing upwards, to a breast position, in which the breast side of the bird is facing upwards, and to a back position in which the back of the bird is facing upwards. The device has a filleting station with a set of guides, each having a guide edge, which guide edges are intended for resting near the point of attachment of the muscle on either side thereof against the wing bone or covering tissue thereof, while the guides run in such a way that, prior to the fillet being torn away, the wing is guided to the side of the guides facing away from the ribs.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.