Apparatus for measuring and positioning of fish at head cutting

Claim 1

Apparatus for measuring fish and positioning them in an optimum position for deheading, said apparatus comprising a first conveyor having a path of movement and having a plurality of fish boxes carried thereby, each of said fish boxes being adapted to advance a fish carried thereby sideways with the fish head located on a particular side thereof, a second conveyor having a path of movement extending adjacent and substantially parallel to part of the path of movement of said first conveyor and having a plurality of head boxes carried thereby, sensing means for determining the thickness of a fish carried by a fish box in the region of the fish located immediately behind the eyes of the fish, means for locating said sensing means in an interspace between the respective paths of movement of said fish boxes and said head boxes, means for moving each of said plurality of head boxes of said second conveyor in synchronism with and in the same direction as and directly opposite to an individual fish box of said first conveyor along a portion of the path of movement of said second conveyor, means for displacing each of said head boxes toward and away from an individual fish box in the longitudinal direction of a fish resting in said fish box, a first control means fixedly mounted with respect to the paths of movement of said conveyors for actuating second control means in response to said sensing means, a plurality of second control means for controlling said head box displacing means to optimum locations, a second control means connected to each of said head boxes and movable therewith in the path of movement of said second conveyor and for controlling said head box displacing means to move its connected head box longitudinally to an optimum location dependent upon the measured thickness of the fish in its connected head box, and means for locking each head box at said optimum position.