Apparatus for skinning pieces of poultry product

An automated skin removal apparatus for removing the outer skin from a piece of poultry product, comprising in combination;

• a) a support frame defining a product feed inlet and a product discharge outlet;
• b) a conveyor mounted to said frame and aligned with said feed inlet to engage an upper surface of a piece of poultry product advanced through said feed inlet and direct said piece of poultry product toward said discharge outlet, said conveyor having a distal end relative to said feed inlet freely pivotally mounted relative to said frame permitting an opposing forward end of said conveyor to move in a substantially vertical direction responsive to the size of a piece of poultry product entering said feed inlet and engaging said opposing forward end of said conveyor;
• c) a gripper member rotatably mounted to said frame in vertical spaced relationship below said conveyor and including at least one radially extending fin having an outer end for engaging a lower surface of a piece of poultry passing between said outer end of said fin and said conveyor;
• d) an arcuate pinch surface mounted to said frame below said product conveyor in closely adjacent relationship to a portion of the arcuate path of travel of the outer end of said fin and defining an opening between said arcuate pinch surface and the path of travel of said outer end of said fin, said opening configured to engage and entrap without piercing or cutting, a portion of skin attached to said piece of poultry product between said pinch surface and said outer end of said fin to pull the attached skin from an underlying meat portion of said piece of poultry product as said poultry product is moved toward said discharge outlet.

An automated poultry product skinning apparatus comprising, in combination,

• a) a support frame provided with a frontal opening defining a product feed inlet and a rear opening defining a product discharge outlet;
• b) a conveyor mounted to said support frame and aligned to engage the upper surface of a piece of poultry product delivered to said feed inlet and direct said product in a path toward said discharge outlet;
• c) a gripper member rotatably mounted to said frame and having a plurality of radially extending fins having outer ends disposed in vertically spaced relationship below said conveyor for engaging a lower side of said piece of poultry product passing between said gripper roll and said conveyor;
• d) a pinch block mounted on said frame and including an arcuate surface fixedly positioned in close clearance relationship to the arcuate path of the outer end of said fins during a portion of their rotation to define an opening between the outer end of said rotating fins and the arcuate surface of said pinch block;
• e) said close clearance relationship and said opening being configured to firmly entrap said attached outer skin between the outer end of said fins and said arcuate surface of said pinch block to pull the outer skin from its attachment to the underlying meat portions of said piece of poultry product without piercing or cutting the outer skin upon continued rotation of said fins and engagement of said piece of poultry product with said conveyor.