Method and apparatus for automatic carcass cutting

Claim 1

A method for cutting animal carcasses which includes applying cut indicator designations directly to a carcass, moving said carcass suspended vertically from the upper end thereof past a plurality of spaced cutting stations and cutting said vertically suspended carcass at each said cutting station in accordance with said cut indicator designations by making spaced sequential cuts in said vertically suspended carcass at each said cutting station, said cuts beginning at the bottom end of the carcass and working upwardly.

Claim 2

A method for cutting animal carcasses which includes applying cut indicator designations directly to a carcass, moving said carcass suspended vertically from the upper end thereof past a plurality of spaced cutting stations and cutting said vertically suspended carcass at each said cutting station in accordance with said cut indicator designations by making spaced sequential cuts in said vertically suspended carcass at each said cutting station, said cuts beginning at the bottom end of the carcass and working upwardly.

Claim 13

An apparatus for automatically cutting a vertically suspended animal carcass moving along an overhead conveyor along cut designations previously applied to said carcass to define at least an upper and lower section comprising conveying means for suspending said carcass from an upper end thereof and moving said carcass along a defined path, sensing means positioned adjacent said path for sensing said cut designations and providing control signals indicative of the position thereof on said carcass, adjustable cutting means positioned after said sensing means along said defined path and adjacent thereto for severing a section of said carcass from the remaining suspended portion thereof, and position control means to receive said control signals from said sensing means and operating in response to said control signals to cause said cutting means to cut said carcass along said cut designations.

Claim 14

An apparatus for automatically cutting a vertically suspended animal carcass moving along an overhead conveyor along cut designations previously applied to said carcass to define at least an upper and lower section comprising conveying means for suspending said carcass from an upper end thereof and moving said carcass along a defined path, sensing means positioned adjacent said path for sensing said cut designations and providing control signals indicative of the position thereof on said carcass, adjustable cutting means positioned after said sensing means along said defined path and adjacent thereto for severing a section of said carcass from the remaining suspended portion thereof, and position control means to receive said control signals from said sensing means and operating in response to said control signals to cause said cutting means to cut said carcass along said cut designations.

Claim 22

An apparatus for automatically making shoulder cuts, loin cuts and ham cuts in a vertically suspended animal carcass along vertically spaced cut designations previously applied to said carcass comprising overhead conveying means for vertically suspending said carcass by the hind feet thereof and moving said suspended carcass along a defined path, sensing means positioned adjacent said path for sensing said cut designations and providing control signals indicative of the position thereof on said carcass, said sensing means including scanning means for horizontally scanning across the extent of said carcass from the bottom to the top end thereof to provide control signals indicative of the position of each of said cut designations and storage means for receiving and storing said control signals, said control signals for the respective shoulder cut designations, loin cut designations and ham cut designations being stored separately by said storage means, a shoulder cut station positioned along said defined path subsequent to said sensing means, said shoulder cut station including adjustable shoulder cutter means adapted to sever the shoulder cuts from said suspended carcass along said shoulder cut designations to cause the severed shoulder cuts to drop away from the remainder of the suspended carcass by gravity, first position control means to provide first position signals indicative of the actual vertical position of said shoulder cutter means relative to said carcass, shoulder cut station detector means operative to provide a first detector signal when said carcass moves into position at said shoulder cut station for a shoulder cut, said first detector signal being directed by said shoulder cut station detector means to said storage means, the storage means operating upon receipt of said first detector signal to output the control signals for the shoulder cut designations, first comparator means for receiving and comparing said first position signals and the control signals for the shoulder cut designations to provide a first error signal indicative of any difference therebetween, said first position control means including first drive means responsive to said first error signal to vertically position said adjustable shoulder cutter means until said first error signal is zeroed and to subsequently cause said shoulder cutter means to sever the shoulder cuts along the shoulder cut designations on said carcass, a loin cut station positioned along said defined path subsequent to said shoulder cut station, said loin cut station including adjustable loin cutter means adapted to sever the loin cuts from said suspended carcass along said loin cut designations to cause the severed loin cuts to drop away from the remainder of the suspended carcass by gravity, second position control means to provide second position signals indicative of the actual vertical position of said loin cutter means relative to said carcass, loin cut station detector means operative to provide a second detector signal when said carcass moves into position at said loin cut station for a loin cut, said second detector signal being directed by said loin cut station detector means to said storage means, the storage means operating upon receipt of said second detector signal to output the control signals for the loin cut designations, second comparator means for receiving and comparing said second position signals and the control signals for the loin cut designations to provide a second error signal indicative of any difference therebetween, said second position control means including second drive means responsive to said error signal to vary both the vertical position and the inclination of said loin cutter means to cause said loin cutter means to sever the loin cuts along said loin cut designations on said carcass, a ham cut station positioned along said defined path subsequEnt to said loin cut station, said ham cut station including adjustable ham cutter means adapted to sever the ham cuts from said suspended carcass along said ham cut designations to cause the severed ham cuts to drop away from the remainder of the suspended carcass by gravity, third position control means to provide third position signals indicative of the actual vertical position of said ham cutter means relative to said carcass, ham cut station detector means operative to provide a third detector signal when said carcass moves into position at said ham cut station for a ham cut, said third detector signal being directed by said ham cut station detector means to said storage means, the storage means operating upon receipt of said third detector signal to output the control signals for the ham cut designations, third comparator means for receiving and comparing said third position signals and the control signals for the ham cut designations to provide a third error signal indicative of any difference therebetween, said third position control means including third drive means responsive to said third error signal to vertically position said adjustable ham cutter means until said third error signal is zeroed and to subsequently cause said ham cutter means to sever the ham cuts along said ham cut designations on said carcass, and release means positioned along said designated path subsequent to said ham cut station, said release means operating after the carcass has passed said ham cut station to release the hind feet from said overhead conveyor means.

Claim 23

An apparatus for automatically making shoulder cuts, loin cuts and ham cuts in a vertically suspended animal carcass along vertically spaced cut designations previously applied to said carcass comprising overhead conveying means for vertically suspending said carcass by the hind feet thereof and moving said suspended carcass along a defined path, sensing means positioned adjacent said path for sensing said cut designations and providing control signals indicative of the position thereof on said carcass, said sensing means including scanning means for horizontally scanning across the extent of said carcass from the bottom to the top end thereof to provide control signals indicative of the position of each of said cut designations and storage means for receiving and storing said control signals, said control signals for the respective shoulder cut designations, loin cut designations and ham cut designations being stored separately by said storage means, a shoulder cut station positioned along said defined path subsequent to said sensing means, said shoulder cut station including adjustable shoulder cutter means adapted to sever the shoulder cuts from said suspended carcass along said shoulder cut designations to cause the severed shoulder cuts to drop away from the remainder of the suspended carcass by gravity, first position control means to provide first position signals indicative of the actual vertical position of said shoulder cutter means relative to said carcass, shoulder cut station detector means operative to provide a first detector signal when said carcass moves into position at said shoulder cut station for a shoulder cut, said first detector signal being directed by said shoulder cut station detector means to said storage means, the storage means operating upon receipt of said first detector signal to output the control signals for the shoulder cut designations, first comparator means for receiving and comparing said first position signals and the control signals for the shoulder cut designations to provide a first error signal indicative of any difference therebetween, said first position control means including first drive means responsive to said first error signal to vertically position said adjustable shoulder cutter means until said first error signal is zeroed and to subsequently cause said shoulder cutter means to sever the shoulder cuts along the shoulder cut designations on said carcass, a loin cut station positioned along said defined path subsequent to said shoulder cut station, said loin cut station including adjustable loin cutter means adapted to sever the loin cuts from said suspended carcass along said loin cut designations to cause the severed loin cuts to drop away from the remainder of the suspended carcass by gravity, second position control means to provide second position signals indicative of the actual vertical position of said loin cutter means relative to said carcass, loin cut station detector means operative to provide a second detector signal when said carcass moves into position at said loin cut station for a loin cut, said second detector signal being directed by said loin cut station detector means to said storage means, the storage means operating upon receipt of said second detector signal to output the control signals for the loin cut designations, second comparator means for receiving and comparing said second position signals and the control signals for the loin cut designations to provide a second error signal indicative of any difference therebetween, said second position control means including second drive means responsive to said error signal to vary both the vertical position and the inclination of said loin cutter means to cause said loin cutter means to sever the loin cuts along said loin cut designations on said carcass, a ham cut station positioned along said defined path subsequEnt to said loin cut station, said ham cut station including adjustable ham cutter means adapted to sever the ham cuts from said suspended carcass along said ham cut designations to cause the severed ham cuts to drop away from the remainder of the suspended carcass by gravity, third position control means to provide third position signals indicative of the actual vertical position of said ham cutter means relative to said carcass, ham cut station detector means operative to provide a third detector signal when said carcass moves into position at said ham cut station for a ham cut, said third detector signal being directed by said ham cut station detector means to said storage means, the storage means operating upon receipt of said third detector signal to output the control signals for the ham cut designations, third comparator means for receiving and comparing said third position signals and the control signals for the ham cut designations to provide a third error signal indicative of any difference therebetween, said third position control means including third drive means responsive to said third error signal to vertically position said adjustable ham cutter means until said third error signal is zeroed and to subsequently cause said ham cutter means to sever the ham cuts along said ham cut designations on said carcass, and release means positioned along said designated path subsequent to said ham cut station, said release means operating after the carcass has passed said ham cut station to release the hind feet from said overhead conveyor means.