Apparatus for breaking tissue connections in poultry suspended by the feet
AssigneeMeyn Food Processing Technology B.V.
InventorsCornelis de Heer, Tom Cornelis Jansen
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention relates to an apparatus for breaking tissue connections in poultry suspended by the feet prior to the evisceration of this poultry. The tissue connections connect a portion of the viscera with belly fat located at the breast side of the inner cavity wall of the poultry. The apparatus includes an instrument to be inserted into the poultry via an incision provided at the vent side and performs a movement inside the poultry to break the tissue connections, wherein the instrument breaks the tissue connections between the belly fat and the gizzard.
Claims11
An apparatus for breaking tissue connections in poultry suspended by the feet along a conveyor line prior to evisceration of the poultry, the tissue connections connecting a portion of the viscera with belly fat located at the breast side of a wall of the body cavity of the suspended poultry, said apparatus configured at a processing station disposed in the conveying path of said conveyor line, said apparatus comprising an insertion instrument insertable into the body cavity through an incision at the vent side of the poultry, said instrument having a forward end configured to access and break the tissue connections between the belly fat and gizzard as said instrument is moved through a defined sequence of predetermined positions within the body cavity.
A method for breaking tissue connections in poultry suspended by the feet along a conveyor line prior to evisceration of the poultry, said method carried out by a sequentially operated apparatus configured at a processing station disposed in the path of the conveyor line to perform said method in a plurality of sequential movements, the tissue connections connecting a portion of the viscera with belly fat located at the breast side of a wall of the body cavity of the suspended poultry, said method comprising inserting an insertion instrument into the body cavity of the poultry through an incision at the vent side of the poultry, and moving the insertion instrument through a defined sequence of predetermined positions within the body cavity to break the tissue connections between the belly fat and gizzard and leaving the belly fat and gizzard in the body cavity.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.