Poultry shackle with rotatable stirrups
AssigneeDapec, Inc.
InventorKenneth D. Dillard
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An improved poultry shackle assembly for suspending poultry carcasses by their hocks from an overhead conveyor system for movement along a poultry processing line comprises a support frame from which a pair of spaced stirrups depend. Each of the stirrups has an upwardly extending rod that is journaled within a cylindrical sleeve on the support frame for rotation of the stirrup to accommodate spreading and rotation of the legs of a poultry carcass suspended therefrom. A pin extends outwardly from the rods through an inclined slot formed in the sleeves to restrict rotational movement of the stirrups between first and second rotary positions and to bias the stirrups gravitationally to a first rotary position wherein the pins are nestled within the bottom ends of the slots.
Claims12
A poultry support shackle assembly for transporting a poultry carcass along the overhead conveyer system of a poultry processing line, said shackle assembly comprising:
- a support frame adapted to be coupled to the overhead conveyor system;
- a pair of spaced apart stirrup members depending from said support frame with each of said stirrup members being adapted to receive and releasably hold a corresponding hock of the poultry carcass to suspend the carcass by its hocks and legs from the stirrup members;
- mounting means for mounting at least one of said stirrup members to said support frame for rotation about a substantially vertical axis extending along said at least one stirrup member so that the poultry hock and leg suspended from said stirrup member are free to rotate to accommodate rotation and spreading of the legs of the poultry carcass that occurs during processing of the carcass.
In a poultry shackle for conveying poultry carcasses suspended by their hocks along the overhead conveyer system of a poultry processing line, the improvement comprising a support frame adapted to be coupled to the overhead conveyer system, a pair of spaced stirrups depending from said support frame with each stirrup having a bottom end configured to receive and releasably hold a corresponding hock of a poultry carcass and a top end movably mounted to said support frame, whereby movement of the legs and hocks of the carcass during processing is accommodated by the movably mounted stirrups to reduce breakage of the hocks and leg bones.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.