Crab butchering machine claims from the inventor, from Patentvote, vote now!

Claims:

What is claimed is:

1. A cleaning machine for crabs having a body, gills, viscera in a body cavity, legs, tail, carapace, and pincers, comprising:

first endless conveyor means having a plurality of crab body engaging abutments spaced along its length for positively driving crabs along a conveying path in a conveying direction with their eyes facing in the conveying direction and their carapaces facing away from said conveyor means;

second endless conveyor means having a plurality of rigid projections;

means for mounting said second conveyor means for movement in a projection path substantially co-planar with said first conveying means so that said projection path intersects the conveying path of said first conveyor means;

means for driving said second conveyor means so that said abutments and said projections respectively in said conveying path and projection path have their movement timed with respect to each other so that a crab engaged by said abutments and being driven along said conveying path will have its carapace's leading edge struck by one of said projections of said second conveyor means to break said carapace away from the crab body, drive the carapace in a pivoting relationship with respect to the tail end of the carapace backward and away from said conveying path as the crab body moves in the conveying direction.

2. The crab cleaning apparatus of claim 1, wherein said first conveyor means includes an endless chain and said second conveyor means includes an endless chain; and said drive means includes respective driven sprockets driven with respect to each other in a fixed speed relationship and positively interengaging respective chains.

3. The crab cleaning apparatus of claim 1, further including stationary carapace guide means extending along the projection path of said second conveyor means for engaging the carapace on the opposite side from said projections, holding the carapace against said projections and together with said projections forming means for conveying the carapaces bodily away from the crab bodies to a disposal station remote from said first conveyor means.

4. The crab cleaning apparatus of claim 1, including a first guide centering means separate from and on one lateral side of said conveying path and a second guide centering means on the lateral opposite side of said conveying path; means mounting said centering means for movement laterally toward and away from each other and said conveying path; means biasing said centering means towards said conveying path; and said centering means having inlet guide surfaces opening laterally outwardly towards the conveying direction and spaced divergingly from each other, so that said centering means will engage the sides of crab bodies being moved along said conveying path and center said crab bodies immediately prior to said projections striking the carapace of the centered crab body.

5. The crab cleaning apparatus of claim 1, wherein said second conveyor means includes an endless chain having opposed parallel runs and opposed semicircular transitional runs; one of said transitional runs being immediately adjacent said first conveying means and moving said projections in the projection path for striking the crab carapace of the crab being carried by said first conveying means, and said conveying means being driven so that the carapace struck and removed along the first semi-circular run is thereafter conveyed along one of the parallel runs of said second conveyor moving along a carapace moving direction co-planar with, substantially in the same general direction with and forming an acute angle with said conveying direction.

6. The crab cleaning apparatus of claim 5, including third endless conveyor means moving in a closed loop contained within a plane intersecting the common plane of said first and second conveyor means, including two opposed parallel conveyor runs, one of which is immediately adjacent and beneath the second semicircular transitional run of said second conveyor means so that carapaces traveling along said second conveyor are discharged by gravity onto said third conveyor means and thereafter carried by said third conveyor means laterally away from the common plane of said first and second conveyor means.

7. The crab cleaning apparatus of claim 6, further including stationary carapace guide means extending along the projection path of said second conveyor means for engaging the carapace on the opposite side from said projections, holding the carapace against said projections and together with said projections forming means for conveying the carapaces bodily away from the crab bodies to a disposal station remote from said first conveyor means.

8. The crab cleaning apparatus of claim 7, including a first guide centering means separate from and on one lateral side of said conveying path and a second guide centering means on the lateral opposite side of said conveying path; means mounting said centering means for movement laterally and symmetrically toward or away from each other and said conveying path; means biasing said centering means towards said conveying path; and said centering means having inlet guide surfaces opening laterally outwardly towards the conveying direction and spaced divergingly from each other, so that said centering means will engage the sides of crab bodies being moved along said conveying path and center said crab bodies immediately prior to said projections striking the carapace of the centered crab body; said first conveyor means includes an endless chain; and said drive means includes respective driven sprockets driven with respect to each other in a fixed speed relationship and positively interengaging respective chains.

9. A cleaning machine for crabs having a body, gills, viscera in a body cavity, legs, tail, carapace, and pincers, comprising:

first conveyor means comprising an endless chain driven in a central plane of symmetry having a crab conveying path, said chain being comprised of a plurality of drive links, a plurality of support links serially interposed between each adjacent pair of drive links, and pivot pins interconnecting adjacent drive and support links;

said support links having support surfaces on each side of the central plane of symmetry of said chain in spaced relationship from each other laterally with respect to said plane and spaced laterally in a direction parallel to said plane from the remaining structure of said support links and pivot pins within said plane for supporting crab bodies on a support plane perpendicular to said plane of symmetry and spaced outwardly from any chain structure in said plane of symmetry;

said drive links having abutment surfaces on each side of the central plane of symmetry of said chain in laterally spaced relationship from each other and spaced in a direction parallel to said plane of symmetry from said support plane for driving crab bodies on said support plane perpendicular to said plane of symmetry and spaced outwardly from any chain structure in said plane of symmetry, wherein said abutment surfaces extend outwardly from said support plane to positively engage and drive crab bodies;

means for removing the carapace from crabs as they are driven along said conveying path by said first conveyor means;

a circular saw blade generally within said plane of symmetry and spaced downstream from said carapace removing means along said conveying path and mounted so as to intersect said support plane and be spaced from all chain structure within said plane of symmetry; and

means for rotatably driving said saw blade so as to cut the crab body in two symmetrical sections.

10. The crab cleaning apparatus of claim 9, further including means for centering the crabs with respect to said plane of symmetry and holding said crab body in the centered position with respect to said plane of symmetry as it passes through said saw blade.

11. The crab cleaning apparatus of claim 9, including a first guide centering means separate from and on one lateral side of said conveying path and a second guide centering means on the lateral opposite side of said conveying path; means mounting said centering means for movement laterally and symmetrically toward or away from each other and said conveying path; means biasing said centering means towards said conveying path; and said centering means having inlet guide surfaces opening laterally outwardly towards the conveying direction and spaced divergingly from each other, so that said centering means will engage the sides of crab bodies being moved along said first conveying path and center said crab bodies.

12. The crab cleaning apparatus of claim 11, linkage means interconnecting said centering means so as to maintain said centering means symmetrical with respect to the central plane of symmetry of said first conveying means at all times.

13. A cleaning machine for crabs having a body, gills, viscera in a body cavity, legs, tail, carapace, and pincers, comprising:

conveyor means for moving crabs along a conveying path in a conveying direction;

means for generally holding crabs in a centered position on said conveyor means to be carried by said conveyor means with their carapaces on the opposite sides of their bodies from said conveyor means;

means for removing the carapaces from the crab bodies as said crabs are carried along said conveyor path by said conveyor means;

stationary means mounted immediately adjacent said conveying path in spaced and centered relationship with respect to said conveying path so as to engage the body cavity of crab bodies moving along said conveying path after their carapaces have been removed so as to engage and remove viscera within said body cavity;

said stationary means extending along a substantial length of said conveying path, being hollow so as to form a 1iquid chamber, having inlet means for receiving cleaning liquid, and a plurality of outlet nozzles along its length, as measured along the conveying direction, for projecting streams of cleaning liquid into the body cavity of the crab body moving along said conveying path.

14. The crab cleaning apparatus of claim 13, wherein said stationary means is a tube extending parallel to said conveying path throughout a major portion of its length and having an upstream end, with respect to the conveying direction, that flares outwardly away from said conveying path for facilitating entry into the body cavity.

15. A cleaning machine for crabs having a body, gills, viscera in a body cavity, legs, tail, carapace, and pincers, comprising:

first conveyor means having a plurality of outward abutments for positively engaging crab bodies and moving them along a conveying path in a conveying direction;

means for moving a plurality of leg engaging lugs in a first path parallel to said crab conveying path and spaced laterally on one side thereof and other lugs along a second leg conveying path spaced laterally on the opposite side of said conveying path;

means for synchronously driving said crab leg engaging lugs and said crab body engaging abutments in the same conveying direction;

first and second support surface means drivingly attached to said lugs for supporting crab legs on respective sides; and

parallel stationary guide rails respectively spaced above said crab leg support means surfaces along said conveying path.

16. The crab cleaning apparatus of claim 15, including means for centering said crabs with respect to said first conveyor means;

means for removing the carapace of crabs being conveyed by said first conveyor means;

first and second means for cutting the crab legs separately from each side of the crab body, and each extending between said first conveyor means and each of said first and second support surface means respectively.

17. The crab cleaning apparatus of claim 16, wherein each of said means for cutting is stationary with respect to the conveying path; and including means for swinging the crab body in an arcuate path adjacent each of said means for cutting, with the arcuate path being superimposed on the conveying path, so that the cutting means will sever the crab legs from the crab body along an arcuate cutting line with respect to the crab body that is concave outwardly of the crab body.

18. A cleaning machine for crabs having a body, gills, viscera in a body cavity, legs, tail, carapace, and pincers, comprising:

conveyor means for engaging and moving crabs along a conveying path in a conveying direction with the crab carapaces spaced on the opposite side of the crab bodies from said conveying means;

means for removing the crab carapaces from the crab bodies as they move along the conveying path;

means downstream from the carapace removing means for removing the gills from the crab body, comprising two brushes mounted for rotation about respective axes, each brush being respectively carried by a separate bracket, bearing means within said bracket for rotatably mounting the corresponding brush, a stationary frame, separate bearing means pivotally mounting each bracket on said frame for pivoting about respective pivot axes generally parallel to the conveying direction and spaced from the axis of rotation of the corresponding brush, means biasing said brackets for pivoting movement in one direction to move said brushes towards the crabs carried by said conveying means, and motor means carried by each bracket for rotating each brush, respectively.

19. A cleaning machine for crabs having a body, gills, viscera in a body cavity, legs, tail, carapace, and pincers, comprising:

endless conveyor means for driving crabs along a conveying path in a conveying direction;

means for removing the carapace from the crabs as they move along said conveying path;

means for removing the legs and pincers from the crab body after the carapace has been removed; and

means receiving both legs and pincers after they have been removed from the crab body and separating the pincers from the legs, including a cylindrical drum rotatably mounted about a fixed axis, at least one helical projection on said drum, means for rotating the drum in one direction so as to provide a feed direction for legs and pincers engaged by said helical projection with the feed direction being parallel to the drum axis, a hopper receiving the severed crab legs and pincers and feeding them to the drum to be engaged by the helical projection thereon, a partition wall spaced from one side of said drum to provide a discharge aperture therebetween that is larger than the range of sizes for leg thickness and smaller than the range of sizes for pincer thickness to discharge legs to the area below said drum and feed pincers axially in relation to the drum out of vertical alignment with said area, and means for separately receiving the legs in said area and the pincers removed from said area.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein said means for rotating said drum rotates said drum so that its periphery adjacent said partition moves upwardly, and said axis of rotation of said drum is substantially parallel to the direction of conveying.

21. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein said receiving means includes a first endless conveyor in said area for receiving the pincers and moving them to a desired location, and a separate endless conveyor horizontally spaced from said first conveyor and from said first area for receiving thereon and horizontally conveying the pincers.

22. A cleaning machine for crabs having a body, gills, viscera in a body cavity, legs, tail, carapace, and pincers, comprising:

endless conveyor means for moving a plurality of crabs along a conveying path in a conveying direction with their heads and tails aligned with the conveying direction;

means for automatically removing the carapaces from the crabs as they are moved along said conveying path;

means for cutting the legs from the crab body on one side of the crab body along an arcuate cutting line relative to the crab body, comprising a fixed arcuate surface stationarily mounted to one lateral side of the center of the conveying path in a position to engage the corresponding side of the crab body adjacent the legs to be cut and being concave inwardly towards the center line, resilient means for engaging the crab body on the opposite side of the crab body from said arcuate surface to hold said crab body against said arcuate surface as said crab body is moved by said conveyor means in the conveying direction to thereby pivot said crab body in an arcuate path superimposed upon the conveying path to swing a fixed point along an arcuate path relative to the crab body that intersects all of the crab legs closely adjacent the crab body, and a stationary cutter having a cutting edge at said fixed point.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, including spaced apart substantially parallel and complementary arcuate guide surfaces for engaging the same side of said crab body and receiving the crab legs therebetween.

24. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein said cutter is a cutting disc rotatably mounted about a fixed horizontal axis.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein said resilient means is pivotally mounted about a fixed axis spaced from said fixed point and substantially perpendicular to said cutter axis of rotation.

26. The apparatus of claim 22, further including cutter means for splitting said crab body, after said carapace has been removed, into two symmetrical crab body sections with attached legs; and a second leg removing means substantially identical to said first leg removing means spaced on the opposite side of the center line of the conveying path as a mirror image.

27. The crab cleaning apparatus of claim 1, further including:

said first conveyor means comprising an endless chain driven in a central plane of symmetry having a crab conveying path, said chain being comprised of a plurality of drive links, a plurality of support links serially interposed between each adjacent pair of drive links, and pivot pins interconnecting adjacent drive and support links;

means for rotatably driving said saw blade so as to cut the crab body in two symmetrical sections;

said stationary means extending along a substantial length of said conveying path, being hollow so as to form a liquid chamber, having inlet means for receiving cleaning liquid, and a plurality of outlet nozzles along its length, as measured along the conveying direction, for projecting streams of cleaning liquid into the body cavity of the crab body moving along said conveying path;

means downstream from the carapace removing means for removing the gills from the crab body, comprising two brushes mounted for rotation about respective axes and which brushes are spaced from each other in the conveying direction, each brush being respectively carried by a separate bracket, bearing means within said bracket for rotatably mounting the corresponding brush, a stationary frame, separate bearing means pivotally mounting each bracket on said frame for pivoting about respective pivot axes generally parallel to the conveying direction and spaced from the axis of rotation of the corresponding brush, means biasing said brackets for pivoting movement in one direction to move said brushes towards the crabs carried by said conveying means, and motor means carried by each bracket for rotating each brush, respectively;

28. The crab cleaning apparatus of claim 27, wherein said first conveyor means has a plurality of outward abutments for positively engaging crab bodies and moving them along the conveying path;

means for synchronously driving said crab leg engaging lugs and said crab body engaging abutments in the same conveying direction;

first and second support surface means drivingly attached to said lugs for supporting crab legs on respective sides; and

parallel stationary guide rails respectively spaced above said crab leg support means surfaces along said conveying path.

29. The crab cleaning apparatus of claim 28, wherein said second conveyor means includes an endless chain having opposed parallel runs and opposed semicircular transitional runs; one of said transitional runs being immediately adjacent said first conveying means and moving said projections in the projection path for striking the crab carapace of the crab being carried by said first conveying means, and said conveying means being driven so that the carapace struck and removed along the first semicircular run is thereafter conveyed along one of the parallel runs of said second conveyor moving along a carapace moving direction co-planar with, substantially in the same general direction with and forming an acute angle with said conveying direction;

first guide centering means separate from and on one lateral side of said conveying path and a second guide centering means on the lateral opposite side of said conveying path; means mounting said centering means for movement laterally toward and away from each other and said conveying path; means biasing said centering means towards said conveying path; and said centering means having inlet guide surfaces opening laterally outwardly towards the conveying direction and spaced divergingly from each other, so that said centering means will engage the sides of crab bodies being moved along said first conveying path and center said crab bodies;

linkage means interconnecting said centering means so as to maintain said centering means symmetrical with respect to the central plane of symmetry of said first conveying means at all times;

stationary means is a tube extending parallel to said conveying path throughout a major portion of its length and having an upstream end, with respect to the conveying direction, that flares outwardly away from said conveying path for facilitating entry into the body cavity;

spaced apart substantially parallel and complementary arcuate guide surfaces for engaging the same side of said crab body and receiving the crab legs therebetween;

cutter is a cutting disc rotatably mounted about a fixed horizontal axis;

resilient means is pivotally mounted about a fixed axis spaced from said fixed point and substantially perpendicular to said cutter axis of rotation.

30. A cleaning machine for crabs having a body, gills, viscera in a body cavity, legs, tail, carapace, and pincers, comprising:

first conveyor means for moving crabs along a conveyor path in a conveying direction with the heads and tails of the crabs aligned with the conveying path;

means for removing the carapace from the crab bodies as they move along said conveying path downstream of said centering means with respect to the conveying direction; and

means for removing the viscera and gills from the crab bodies downstream, with respect to the conveying direction, from the centering means, as said crabs move along said conveying path.

31. The crab cleaning apparatus of claim 30, linkage means interconnecting and centering means so as to maintain said centering means symmetrical with respect to the central plane of symmetry of said first conveying means at all times.

32. The crab cleaning apparatus of claim 31, wherein said linkage means is a toggle linkage extending between said centering means, and said biasing means is a weight drivingly secured to the center of the toggle linkage.

Other info:

Inventors: Smith, Charles M. (Cordova, AK)

Application Number: 06/078036
Filing Date: 1979-09-24
Publication_date: 1981-10-13
Assignee: Smith, Charles M.

Primary Class(es): 452/1
Other Classes: A22C29/02; A22C29/00; A22C29/02
US Patent Ref:

2502091	March, 1950	Harris et al.
2784447	March, 1957	Thompson et al.
3151351	October, 1964	Reinke
3156946	November, 1964	Moncure
3156949	November, 1964	Moncure
3200436	August, 1965	Moncure
3249962	May, 1966	Rossnan
3253299	May, 1966	Harris
3274640	September, 1966	Rossnan
3302236	February, 1967	Harris
3325856	June, 1967	Pack
3495293	February, 1970	Tolley
3596310	August, 1971	Tolley
4073041	February, 1978	Dans et al.

Other Refs:
Primary Examiner: Abercrombie, Willie G.
Assistant Examiner:
Attorney: Beall Jr., Thomas E.

Claims:

What i

Title: Crab butchering machine