Beef splitting method and system

A method of processing a suspended animal carcass as the carcass is moved along a defined path comprising:

• providing a carcass rail having a plurality of carcass trolleys spaced at desired intervals and movable along the carcass rail in a first direction, each carcass trolley capable of supporting an animal carcass;
• providing an animal carcass supported by a carcass trolley on the carcass rail;
• providing a saw rail having a saw trolley capable of supporting a carcass splitting saw, the saw trolley being moveable along the saw rail in a second direction normal to the first direction;
• providing a carcass splitting saw supported by the saw trolley, the splitting saw being counterbalanced on the saw trolley by a mass having a weight less than the weight of the splitting saw to permit up or down movement of the saw by a force less than the weight of the splitting saw;
• providing a robot-based carcass processing device having a robotic arm attached to the splitting saw, the robot-based carcass processing device being disposed adjacent the carcass rail, the robotic arm having a maximum load-carrying capacity less than the weight of the splitting saw;
• using the robotic arm of the robot-based carcass processing device, initially positioning the counterbalanced splitting saw on the saw trolley at a first position away from the carcass rail;
• moving the supported carcass on the carcass rail in the first direction to a position adjacent the robot-based carcass processing device;
• using the robotic arm of the robot-based carcass processing device, moving the counterbalanced splitting saw on the saw trolley along the saw rail in the second direction toward the carcass rail to a second position adjacent the supported carcass on the carcass rail;
• using the robotic arm of the robot-based carcass processing device, moving the counterbalanced splitting saw downward in a third direction normal to the first and second directions to split the supported carcass as the supported carcass moves along the carcass rail;
• using the robotic arm of the robot-based carcass processing device, moving the counterbalanced splitting saw in the second direction away from the carcass rail and upward in the third direction to return the splitting saw to the first position,
• wherein the load on the robotic arm does not exceed the weight of the splitting saw during all movement of the splitting saw.

A method of processing a suspended beef carcass as the carcass is moved along a defined path comprising:

• providing a carcass rail having a plurality of carcass trolleys spaced at desired intervals and movable along the carcass rail, each carcass trolley capable of supporting a beef carcass;
• providing a beef carcass supported by a carcass trolley on the carcass rail, the beef carcass having a front side and a back side;
• providing a robot-based carcass processing device having a robotic arm on which is mounted a band saw capable of effecting a splitting operation on a beef carcass, the robot-based carcass processing device being disposed adjacent the carcass rail;
• moving the supported beef carcass on the carcass rail to a position adjacent the robot-based carcass processing device with the back side facing toward the robot-based carcass processing device and the front side facing away from the robot-based carcass processing device;
• using the robotic arm of the robot-based carcass processing device, moving the band saw toward the carcass rail and downward to split the supported beef carcass as the supported beef carcass moves along the carcass rail, the supported carcass contacting only the band saw as it is being split by the band saw.

A method of processing a suspended animal carcass as the carcass is moved along a defined path comprising:

• providing a carcass rail having a plurality of carcass trolleys spaced at desired intervals and movable along the carcass rail, each carcass trolley capable of supporting an animal carcass;
• providing an animal carcass supported by a carcass trolley on the carcass rail;
• providing a robot-based carcass processing device having a robotic arm driven by a robotic arm servo motor on which is mounted a splitting saw driven by a splitting saw servo motor capable of effecting a splitting operation on a carcass, the robot-based carcass processing device being disposed adjacent the carcass rail;
• providing a monitor for torque of one or both of the servo motors;
• moving the supported carcass on the carcass rail to a position adjacent the robot-based carcass processing device;
• using the robotic arm of the robot-based carcass processing device, moving the servo motor-driven splitting saw toward the carcass rail and downward to split the supported carcass as it moves along the carcass rail;
• using the monitor, monitoring torque of one or both of the servo motors during splitting of the supported carcass;
• and
• using the monitored torque to modify the cutting operation on the supported carcass.

A method of processing a suspended carcass as the carcass is moved along a defined path comprising:

• providing a line having carcasses to be processed, the line moving the carcasses horizontally past a processing station;
• providing at the processing station a robot-based carcass processing device having a base and a robotic arm movable relative to the base with multiple axes of motion, the base being moveable horizontally and synchronously with a carcass moving on the line;
• providing a carcass processing tool mounted to the robotic arm;
• providing a robotic controller in communication with robot-based carcass processing device for controlling and moving the base horizontally and in communication with the robotic arm for controlling and moving the multiple axes of the robotic arm to move the carcass processing tool in Cartesian space via inverse kinematics and having interpolation control over the multiple axes of the robotic arm;
• continuously moving a plurality of carcasses on the line sequentially past the processing station;
• while a selected carcass is passing the processing station, alternately:
• i) using the controller to synchronously move the base of the robot-based carcass processing device horizontally along with the selected carcass while the carcass processing tool processes the carcass, without the robotic arm moving horizontally relative to the base, and ii) using the controller to synchronously move the robotic arm of the robot-based carcass processing device horizontally relative to the base and along with the selected carcass while the carcass processing tool processes the carcass, without the base moving relative to the carcass.

A system for processing a suspended beef or other animal carcass as the carcass is moved along a defined path comprising:

• a carcass rail having a plurality of carcass trolleys spaced at desired intervals and movable along the carcass rail in a first direction, each carcass trolley capable of supporting a beef or other animal carcass;
• a saw rail having a saw trolley capable of supporting a carcass splitting saw, the saw trolley being moveable along the saw rail in a second direction normal to the first direction;
• a carcass splitting saw comprising a band saw driven by a servo motor and supported by the saw trolley, the band saw being counterbalanced on the saw trolley by a mass having a weight less than the weight of the band saw to permit up or down movement of the saw by a force less than the weight of the splitting saw;
• a robot-based carcass processing device having a robotic arm attached to the servo motor and band saw, the robot-based carcass processing device being disposed adjacent the carcass rail, the robotic arm having a maximum load-carrying capacity less than the weight of the band saw;
• a torque monitor for the servo motor;
• a vision-based sensor for detecting location of a tail bone on a beef carcass as the beef carcass moves on the carcass rail to a position adjacent the robot-based carcass processing device, the location being expressed in coordinate data in Cartesian space (X, Y, Z locations);
• and
• a controller in communication with the carcass rail, the carcass processing device, the torque monitor and the vision-based sensor.

A system for processing a suspended beef carcass as the carcass is moved along a defined path, the beef carcass having a tail bone disposed at an upper end of the carcass comprising:

• a robot-based carcass processing device having a robotic arm on which is mounted a splitting saw capable of effecting a splitting operation on the beef carcass, the robot-based carcass processing device being disposed adjacent the beef carcass;
• a vision-based sensor system for detecting location of a tail bone on the beef carcass, the location being expressed in coordinate data in Cartesian space (X, Y, Z locations);
• and
• a controller in communication with the carcass rail, the carcass processing device, and the vision-based sensor system, the controller being capable of receiving the tail bone location on the beef carcass in Cartesian coordinates from the vision-based sensor, converting the Cartesian coordinates of the tail bone location into coordinates useable by the robot-based carcass processing device, sending a signal from the controller to the robot-based carcass processing device to move the carcass splitting saw to the detected location of the tail bone of the beef carcass, commencing a split cut at the detected location of the tail bone of the supported beef carcass, and moving the splitting saw downward in the Y-direction to split the supported beef carcass.

A system for counterbalancing a splitting saw for splitting a beef or other animal carcass comprising:

• a carcass rail having a plurality of carcass trolleys spaced at desired intervals and moveable along the carcass rail in a first direction, each carcass trolley capable of supporting an animal carcass;
• a saw rail having a saw trolley capable of supporting a carcass splitting saw, the saw trolley being moveable along the saw rail in a second direction normal to the first direction;
• a carcass splitting saw supported by the saw trolley, the splitting saw being driven by a servo motor, the splitting saw also being counterbalanced on the saw trolley by a mass having a weight less than the weight of the splitting saw to permit up or down movement of the saw by a force less than the weight of the splitting saw;
• and
• a robot-based carcass processing device having a robotic arm attached to the splitting saw, the robot-based carcass processing device being disposed adjacent the carcass rail, the robotic arm having a maximum load-carrying capacity less than the weight of the splitting saw and being capable of moving the counterbalanced splitting saw downward in a third direction normal to the first and second directions to split the supported carcass as it moves along the carcass rail, then moving the counterbalanced splitting saw in the second direction away from the carcass rail and upward in the third direction to return the splitting saw to the first position.

A system for using a band saw for processing a suspended beef carcass as the carcass is moved along a defined path with no back support comprising:

• a carcass rail having a plurality of carcass trolleys spaced at desired intervals and moveable along the carcass rail, each carcass trolley capable of supporting a beef carcass;
• a beef carcass supported by a carcass trolley on the carcass rail, the beef carcass having a front side and a back side;
• and
• a robot-based carcass processing device having a robotic arm on which is mounted a band saw capable of effecting a splitting operation on a beef carcass, the robot-based carcass processing device being disposed adjacent the carcass rail, the robotic arm capable of moving the band saw toward the carcass rail and downward to split the supported beef carcass as the supported beef carcass moves along the carcass rail, the robotic arm imparting downward forces such that the supported carcass is contacted only by the band saw as the supported carcass is being split by the band saw.

A system for processing a suspended animal carcass as the carcass is moved along a defined path comprising:

• a carcass rail having a plurality of carcass trolleys spaced at desired intervals and moveable along the carcass rail, each carcass trolley capable of supporting an animal carcass;
• an animal carcass supported by a carcass trolley on the carcass rail;
• a robot-based carcass processing device having a robotic arm on which is mounted a servo motor and a splitting saw driven by the servo motor capable of effecting a splitting operation on a carcass, the robot-based carcass processing device being disposed adjacent the carcass rail;
• and
• a torque monitor for the servo motor capable of monitoring torque of the servo motor during splitting of the supported carcass, the torque monitor communicating the monitored torque to a controller to control operation of the servo motor during splitting of the supported carcass.

A system for processing a suspended carcass as the carcass is moved along a defined path comprising:

• a line having carcasses to be processed, the line moving the carcasses horizontally past a processing station;
• a robot-based carcass processing device at the processing station having a base and a robotic arm movable relative to the base with multiple axes of motion, the base being moveable horizontally and synchronously with a carcass moving on the line;
• a carcass processing tool mounted to the robotic arm;
• a robotic controller in communication with robot-based carcass processing device for controlling and moving the base horizontally and in communication with the robotic arm for controlling and moving the multiple axes of the robotic arm to move the carcass processing tool in Cartesian space via inverse kinematics and having interpolation control over the multiple axes of the robotic arm;
• wherein the robotic controller is capable of effecting movement of the robot-based carcass processing device and the carcass processing tool to process a selected carcass, as the carcasses move continuously on the line sequentially past the processing station, alternately to:
• i) synchronously move the base of the robot-based carcass processing device horizontally along with the selected carcass while the carcass processing tool processes the carcass, without the robotic arm moving horizontally relative to the base, and ii) synchronously move the robotic arm of the robot-based carcass processing device horizontally relative to the base and along with the selected carcass while the carcass processing tool processes the carcass, without the base moving relative to the carcass.