Poultry wing separator and partial deboner

A method of deboning a plurality of right poultry wings and left poultry wings separated from a poultry carcass, the right poultry wings having an inside surface that faced the right side of the poultry carcass and an outside surface that faced away from the poultry carcass, the left poultry wings having an inside surface that faced the left side of the poultry carcass and an outside surface that faced away from the poultry carcass, the poultry wings each having a primary segment that was separated from a poultry carcass with a bone extending longitudinally therethrough, a mid-wing segment having a pair of bones extending longitudinally therethrough that are joined at an elbow joint to the bone of the primary segment, and a tip segment joined at a tip joint to the bones of the mid-wing segment and extending beyond the tip joint, comprising:

• suspending the poultry wings from their tip segments,
• advancing the suspended wings in sequence along a processing path with the outside surfaces of the right wings facing one side of the processing path and with the outside surfaces of the left wings facing in the same direction as the outside surfaces of the right wings,
• as the wings are advanced:
• bending the primary segments of both right and left wings with respect to the mid-wing segments at the elbow joints about an elbow guide positioned on the outside surface of the poultry wings until the elbow joints are opened, and
• separating the tissue extending between the primary segments and the mid-wing
• segments at the elbow joints to expose the elbow joints and to separate the primary wing segments from the mid-wing segments at the elbow joints.