Fish processing machine with alignment devices and methods for realigning fish during processing

A fish processing machine, comprising:

• a filleting assembly having a first conveyor system to transport a trunk of a fish and a fillet cutting assembly having at least one fillet knife arranged to slice a fillet of meat from the trunk;
• a skinner assembly operably coupled to the filleting assembly, the skinner assembly configured to remove at least a portion of the skin from the fillet;
• a second conveyor system operably coupled to the skinner assembly and extending along a processing path to transport the fillet that has been skinned, wherein the fillet is in a first position on the second conveyor system generally parallel to the processing path;
• an alignment device positioned to automatically realign the skinned fillet with respect to the processing path without manually manipulating the fillet;
• and
• an inspection table positioned to receive the realigned fillet from the alignment device, wherein the fillet is in a second position on the inspection table generally normal to the processing path.

A fish processing unit for use with a fish processing machine, comprising:

• a conveyor system to receive fillets that have been separated from trunk portions of fish, the conveyor system having (a) a first conveyor portion with a first section and a second section spaced apart from the first section along a processing path, and (b) a second conveyor portion with a first section and a second section spaced apart from the first section along the processing path, wherein each of the first sections of the first and second conveyor portions are generally parallel to each other and each of the second sections of the first and second conveyor portions are arranged at an angle with respect to each other to define a generally Y-shaped conveyor system;
• a first turntable at the second section of the first conveyor portion, the first turntable rotating clockwise about a first realignment axis;
• a second turntable at the second section of the second conveyor portion, the second turntable rotating counterclockwise about the second realignment axis, wherein the first and second turntables are positioned to automatically realign the fillets from a first position generally parallel to the processing path to a second position generally normal to the processing path without manually manipulating the fillets;
• and
• an inspection table positioned to receive the realigned fillets from the first and second turntables.