Leg part cutter

A device for skinning and cutting poultry leg parts provided with a bone and meat extending laterally from the bone and a skinless surface and a skin covered surface, comprising;

• a frame,
• means arranged on said frame for skinning the leg part, cutting discs arranged on the frame for cutting through the meat of the leg part along opposite sides of the bone,
• conveyor means for conveying the leg part in a circular path past said skinning means and after that past said cutting means,
• said conveyor means comprising a toothed revolving driven endless belt or ring which is provided with a double row of teeth for engaging the skinless surface of the leg part with the skin-covered portion of the leg part facing away from the conveyor means,
• said cutting discs straddling said double row of teeth, and
• the teeth of both rows of teeth are inclined and bent to face away from each other in opposite directions to straddle the bone of the leg part to engage the meat extending laterally from the bone of the leg part and resist radial, lateral and circumferential movement of the leg parts with respect to the conveyor means.

A device for skinning and cutting leg parts of poultry, with each leg part including an elongated bone and meat surrounding the bone, comprising:

• a frame;
• a toothed profile rotatably mounted on said frame for conveying leg parts in sequence along a circular processing path with the bones of the leg parts oriented parallel to the processing path,
• skinning means mounted on said frame at and parallel to the processing path configured for removing the skin of the poultry parts as the poultry parts move with said toothed profile along the circular processing path past said skinning means,
• cutting discs mounted on said frame at a position past said skinning means along the circular processing path for cutting through the poultry parts on opposite sides of and substantially parallel to the bone in each poultry part as the poultry parts move with said toothed profile along the circular processing path past the cutting discs,
• said cutting discs straddling said toothed profile, and
• guide rods extending between said skinning means and said cutting discs for guiding the poultry parts along the circular processing path from said skinning means to said cutting discs.

A device for skinning and cutting leg parts of poultry, with each leg part including an elongated bone and meat surrounding the bone and an uncovered portion of the meat that has no skin and a skin-covered portion of the meat that has skin, comprising:

• a frame;
• a revolving conveyor movably mounted on said frame for the conveying leg parts in sequence along a circular processing path with the bones of the leg parts oriented parallel to the processing path,
• said conveyor having meat engaging elements for engaging the uncovered portion of the meat of the leg parts and straddling the bones of the leg parts with the skin-covered portion of the meat facing away from said conveyor, for carrying the leg parts along the circular processing path,
• skinning means mounted on said frame at and parallel to the processing path configured for engaging the skin-covered portion of the meat of the leg parts facing away from the conveyor and removing the skin on the skin-covered portion of the meat of the leg parts as the leg parts move with said conveyor along the circular processing path past said skinning means,
• cutting discs mounted on said frame at a position past said skinning means along the circular processing path for cutting through the meat of the leg parts on opposite sides of and substantially parallel to the bone in each leg part as the leg parts move with said conveyor along the circular processing path past the cutting discs, and
• said cutting discs straddling said meat engaging elements so that the portions of the meat of the leg parts about the bones of the leg parts can continue to be moved by said conveyor after the leg parts have been skinned and cut.