Rotary shackle with lock collar
OwnerJacobus Eliza Hazenbroek, Jaco Gardenierinventors
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The shackle assembly (10) has a lock gear (22) non-rotatably mounted to the shackle (11). Lock collar (45) has inwardly projecting lock collar teeth (51) that engage with the lock gear teeth (28A-28D). When the lock collar is moved toward the lock gear against the bias of spring (58), the lock gear teeth (28) move into the interior cavity (50) of the lock collar. This protects the teeth of both the lock gear and the lock collar at all times.
Claims17
A shackle assembly for transporting poultry carcasses along a poultry processing line, comprising:
- a shackle having a support rod with a first end for upright suspension from a suspended conveyor line and a second end for suspension below said first end, said second end including stirrups mounted thereto and configured for supporting the legs of a poultry carcass,
- a turning block non-rotatably mounted to said support rod,
- a lock gear having lock gear teeth non-rotatably mounted to said support rod,
- a lock collar having lock collar teeth rotatably mounted to said support rod,
- said lock gear teeth and said lock collar teeth being of complementary shape that lock together in response to said lock gear and said lock collar moving with respect to each other along said support rod,
- said lock collar including a guide for engagement by a track extending along the conveyor line for maintaining said lock collar teeth in a non-rotatable condition with respect to the processing line as the shackle moves along the processing line, and for moving said lock gear teeth and said lock collar teeth with respect to each other along the length of said support rod,
- so that said shackle is locked in a non-rotatable condition with respect to the processing line by the engagement of the lock gear teeth and the lock collar teeth and is released from the non-rotatable condition when the lock gear teeth and lock collar teeth are separated.
A shackle assembly for transporting poultry carcasses along a poultry processing line, comprising:
- a shackle having a support rod with an upper end for suspension from a suspended conveyor line and a lower end for suspension below said upper end, said lower end including stirrups mounted thereto and configured for supporting the legs of a poultry carcass,
- a turning block mounted to said support rod,
- a lock gear having lock gear teeth non-rotatably mounted to said support rod,
- a lock collar having lock collar teeth rotatably mounted to said support rod,
- said lock gear teeth and said lock collar teeth being of complementary shape that lock together in response to said lock gear and said lock collar moving with respect to each other along said support rod,
- said lock collar including means for maintaining said lock collar teeth in a non-rotatable condition with respect to the processing line as the shackle moves along the processing line,
- so that said shackle is locked in a non-rotatable condition with respect to the processing line by the engagement of the lock gear teeth and the lock collar teeth and is released from the non-rotatable condition when the lock gear teeth and lock collar teeth are separated.
A shackle assembly for transporting poultry carcasses along a poultry processing line, comprising:
- a shackle having a support rod with an upper end for suspension from a suspended conveyor line and a lower end for suspension below said upper end, said lower end including stirrups mounted thereto and configured for supporting the legs of a poultry carcass,
- a lock gear having lock gear teeth non-rotatably mounted to said support rod,
- a lock collar having lock collar teeth rotatably mounted to said support rod,
- said lock gear teeth and said lock collar teeth being of complementary shape that lock together in response to said lock gear and said lock collar moving with respect to each other,
- said lock collar having a skirt that surrounds said lock gear.
A process of orienting the stirrups of a poultry shackle, the shackle including a support rod and stirrups mounted on said support rod and a lock gear non-rotatably mounted to the support rod, comprising:
- moving a lock member along the length of the support rod of the shackle into locking engagement with the lock gear to hold the shackle from rotating,
- moving the lock member from locking engagement with the lock gear along the length of the support rod of the shackle out of locking engagement with the lock gear to allow the shackle to rotate, and
- rotating the shackle when the lock member is out of locking engagement with the lock gear.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.