Automatic device for cutting the legs of pork carcasses

An automatic device for cutting the legs of pork carcasses laying transversally on a conveyor moving in a given direction, said legs projecting away from said conveyor on one side thereof, said device comprising:

• a frame extending close to the conveyor on the one side thereof where the legs projects away;
• a support carrier mounted onto the frame in such a manner as to be movable toward or away from the conveyor in a direction transverse to said conveyor, said support carrier having a free end located close to the conveyor;
• a circular saw mounted on the free end of the support carrier, said saw extending in a vertical plane substantially parallel to the moving direction of the conveyor and at a sufficient height to cut the legs projecting away from said conveyor;
• a feeler vertically hung onto a horizontal pivot projecting from the support carrier at a predetermined distance from the free end of the same, said predetermined distance corresponding to the average length of the legs to be cut, said feeler extending upstream of the saw with respect to the moving direction of the conveyor and at sufficient height to be contacted by the legs to be cut when the conveyor moves the carcasses;
• a presence sensor mounted in such a manner as to detect the legs of the carcasses laying onto the conveyor when these legs reach the feeler;
• a motion detector for detecting any swing of the feeler about the horizontal pivot in one way or the other, such a swing occurring when the feeler in a vertical position is hurt by a leg or when the feeler in an inclined position under the pressure of a leg is released and swings back to the vertical position;
• driving means for moving the support carrier together with the feeler and the saw mounted thereon toward or away from the conveyor;
• and
• a control system operatively connected to the presence sensor, the motion detector and the driving means, said control system being actuated when the presence sensor detects a leg and operating the driving means either to move the feeler mounted onto the support carrier toward the conveyor in order to bring this feeler into contact with the detected leg if this one is not already in contact with the feeler, or to move the feeler in the opposite way in order to bring the feeler out of contact with the detected leg if this leg is already in contact with the feeler, such a generated contact or lack of contact with the leg being detected by the motion detector which gives a signal for stopping the motion of the support carrier and, accordingly, of the saw which is then automatically positioned to cut the detected leg.