Machine to de-bone chicken thighs

Claim 2

A machine for removing meat from a chicken bone having enlargements at opposite ends comprising parts of joints, said machine comprising a pair of gripping members operable to engage the enlargement on one end of said bone, a pair of stripper blades operable to engage said bone at opposite sides thereof immediately adjacent the enlarged end engaged by said gripping members, power-operated means to effect relative movement between said gripping members and stripper blades in a direction substantially perpendicular to the plane of said stripper blades and longitudinally of said bone while said stripper blades slide along said bone to strip the meat from the bone, and fluidoperated means operable respectively to maintain said stripper blades and gripping members in close stipping and gripping engagement with said bone during relative movement between said bone and stripper blades for substantially the full length of said bone.

Claim 3

The machine according to claim 1 in which said gripping members comprise a pair of similar opposing flat members having opposing notches therein to engage a bone therebetween adjacent one end thereof, at least one of said members being supported for movement toward and from the other.

Claim 4

The machine according to claim 2 in which said opposing gripping members comprise a pair of parallel blades provided with said notches and respectively movable into engagement with opposite sides of the bone of a part of a chicken leg to receive said bone substantially in the depths of said notches.

Claim 5

The machine according to claim 1 in which said gripping members are mounted substantially within adjacent horizontal planes above said stripper blades and said relative movement between the same is in a vertical direction, whereby the thigh meat as stripped from the thigh bone is acted upon by gravity to carry the same away from said bone as stripped therefrom and said bones when stripped may fall automatically by gravity when released from said gripping members.

Claim 6

The machine according to claim 4 in which said stripper blades comprise a pair of parallel flat blades which are pivotally connected and are also parallel to said gripping members, said stripper blades also being movable toward and from each other within a substantially horizontal plane.

Claim 7

The machine according to claim 5 further including cam means interconnected to said stripper blades and operable to move the same away from said gripping members in a direction extending substantially longitudinally of the bone from which the meat is being stripped.

Claim 8

The machine according to claim 6 further including a support for said stripper blades and an additional support for said gripping members, One of said supports being movable substantially along a vertical axis with respect to the other support to effect said movement of said stripper blades away from said gripping members and said cam means being stationary upon said machine.

Claim 9

The machine according to claim 4 in which said fluid-operated means includes valves to control the operation thereof to effect relative movement between said stripper blades and gripping members toward and from each other, one of said control valves being mounted for engagement by a part of a chicken leg when the same is placed in said machine to operate said gripping members to firmly engage one end of said part of a chicken leg, and said machine also including cam means operable to actuate another of said valves which is operable to energize said stripper blades to effect movement of the same toward each other and into stripping engagement with the bone of said part of a chicken leg.

Claim 10

The machine according to claim 1 in which said means to maintain said stripper blades in close engagement with said bone comprises power means, said machine further including control means interconnected to said power means and operable to relax the force of said power means when the enlargement at the opposite end of said bone is reached during the movement of said stripper blades along said bone, whereby said stripper blades may move sufficiently in separating direction to permit movement of the same around said enlargement at said opposite end of said bone and thereby not fracture the bone.

Claim 11

The machine according to claim 9 in which said fluid-operated power means permits limited yieldability in the engagement of said stripper blades with said bone while moving longitudinally therealong.

Claim 12

The machine according to claim 10 further including a control valve interconnected to said fluid-operated power means, said control valve having actuating means engageable with the opposite end of the bone being stripped and operable to relieve the fluid power for said stripper blades when said enlargement is reached at the opposite end of said bone during stripping movement of said stripper blades longitudinally along said bone.

Claim 13

The machine according to claim 11 further including a support for said stripper blades and guide means therefor to guide said support for vertical movement, said actuating means for said stripper blades being actuated incident to relative separating movement occurring between said stripper blades and said gripping members.

Claim 14

The machine according to claim 12 in which said machine further includes a support for said gripping members and said support having a member positioned to be engaged by said actuating means for said control valve for said stripper blades when said enlargement at the opposite end of said bone.

Claim 15

The machine according to claim 13 in which said control valve for said stripper blades has an actuating plunger and the actuating means for said valve comprises a pivoted lever having one end engageable with the lower end of the bone during one end engageable with the lower end of the bone during at least the latter portion of said stripping operation therealong, the opposite end of said lever being positioned to engage said actuating plunger upon said control valve and being operable to close the valve to relax the pressure of said fluid-operated means upon said stripper members when the same engage said enlargement on the lower end of said bone and thereby permit said stripper blades to move slightly away from each other so as to pass around said enlargement on the lower end of said bone but said opposite end of said pivoted lever further being adapted to ride over said valve plunger when said stripper members have passed said enlargement on the lower end of said bone and thereby permit said fluid pressure to be restored to said power means to close said stripper blades toward each other and thereby shear the meat from below said lower enlargement on said bone.

Claim 16

The machine accoRding to claim 14 in which the end of said pivoted lever which engages said bone is positioned to support the meat removed from said bone until the machine has effected movement of said gripping members and stripper blades to a discharge station in said machine, and said machine further including means to actuate said lever to discharge said meat which has been stripped from said bone when said discharge station is reached by said lever.

Claim 17

The machine according to claim 15 further including additional means adapted to effect release of said gripping members from the upper end of the thigh bone from which the meat has been stripped and thereby permit discharge of the stripped bone from the machine.

Claim 18

The machine according to claim 16 further including additional cam means operable to restore said gripping members and the stripper blades to initial starting position following the removal of the stripped bone from said gripping members and the removed meat from said stripper blades.

Claim 19

The machine according to claim 1 including a member extending vertically and rotatable uni-directionally and in which machine a plurality of sets of said gripping means and stripper members are mounted at circumferentially spaced locations around said member, said machine also including power means operable to rotate said vertical member and carry said sets of gripping members and stripper blades therewith successively between loading and discharge stations upon said machine, and cam means on said machine operable to effect movement of said stripper blades successively away from the gripping members of each set thereof upon said machine, fluid-operated means upon said machine operable to actuate successively said sets of gripping members and stripper blades, and actuating valves for said fluid-operated means positioned upon said machine suitably to effect sequential operation of said sets of gripping members and stripper blades.

Claim 20

The machine according to claim 18 in which said gripper members are operated by one of said actuating valves, said valve having an actuator positioned to engage the part of a chicken leg when held in stripping position in the machine, said machine including fixed cam means operable to commonly release all gripper members at the end of each cycle of operation of each set of gripper members and stripper blades.

Claim 21

The machine according to claim 19 further including additional cam means operable to restore said stripper blades to starting position with respect to the gripper members of each set thereof after completion of a cycle of operation of each set of said means.