Apparatus for sorting meat from mixtures of disunited chicken meat and bones and thelike

Claim 1

APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING SHREDDED MEAT CONSTITUENTS FROM A CONGLOMERATE MASS OF DISUNITED MEAT AND BONE DERIVED FROM WORKING COOKED CHICKEN PIECES BETWEEN GENERALLY PARALLEL ADJACENT ELONGATED PORTIONS OF RESILIENT RUBBING BELTS HAVING RAISED FLEXIBLE POINTED PROJECTIONS THEREON OR THE LIKE, COMPRISING AN ELONGATED UPWARDLY OPENING TRAY HAVING LONGITUDINALLY SPACED FEED AND DISCHARGE ENDS AND A GRATING FORMING THE BOTTOM THEREOF ON WHICH THE CONGLOMERATE MASS IS TO BE DEPOSITED ADJACENT THE FEED END, SAID GRATING COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING, SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL RODS SPACED APART TRANSVERSELY TO PROVIDE SIZED OPENINGS FOR PASSAGE OF THE MEAT CONSTITUENTS THERETHROUGH WHILE PRECLUDING PASSAGE OF THE BONE IN SAID MASS, MEANS FOR SUPPORTING SAID TRAY DISPOSING SAID GRATING ALONG AN INCLINED PLANE DECLINING LONGITUDINALLY TOWARD SAID DISCHARGE END AT A SMALL ANGLE TO A HORIZONTAL PLANE INCLUDING A STATIONARY SUPPORTING FRAME AND SPRING MEMBERS RESILIENTLY SUPPORTING SAID TRAY FROM SAID FRAME FOR RECIPROCATIVE TRANSLATORY MOVEMENT RELATIVE TO THE FRAME IN A DIRECTION EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY NORMAL TO SAID INCLINED PLANE, DRIVEN MEANS FOR RAPIDLY VIBRATING SAID TRAY TO RECIPROCATE THE TRAY AND GRATING RELATIVE TO THE FRAME IN SAID DIRECTION WITH SUFFICIENT FORCE AND MOVEMENT TO TOSS AT LEAST THE BONE CONSTITUENTS OF SAID MASS RELATIVE TO SAID GRATING, AND MEANS SUPPORTING SAID RODS FOR MOVEMENT IN A MANNER TENDING TO RESTRAIN THE MEAT CONSTITUENTS AT A LOWER STRATUM THAN THE BONE CONSTITUENTS AND TO ASSIST PASSAGE OF THE MEAT CONSTITUENTS DOWNWARDLY THROUGH THE SIZED OPENINGS INCLUDING ROD SUPPORT MEMBERS HAVING SUBSTANTIALLY CIRCULAR SOCKETS IN WHICH THE ENDS OF SAID RODS ARE NESTED AND HAVING A SLIGHTLY GREATER DIAMETER THAN THE RODS TO ACCOMMODATE A SMALL RANGE OF DIAMETRIC MOVEMENT OF THE RODS IN ANY RADIAL DIRECTION RELATIVE TO THE SOCKETS AND PERMIT ROTATION OF THE RODS ABOUT THEIR AXES RESPONSIVE TO TURNING MOMENTS THEREON.