Johnson Food Equipment, Inc.

William R Sorensen

Rudolf J Tieleman

Michael Stephen Haines

Antoine J H Winkelmolen

Joshua Gillespie

A device () and method for clamping or otherwise securing an esophagus between the crop and certain internal organs, including the viscera, and substantially simultaneously cutting or otherwise separating, or weakening for subsequent predictable separation, the esophagus at or near the clamped location, thereby avoiding pulling apart the crop and the resulting contamination of the carcass.

Device and method for clamping and cutting

Poultry carcasses hanging by their legs from a moving overhead conveying line are presented to corresponding carcass processing fixtures moving in a closed loop of travel around an upright axis. As each carcass is presented to its fixture, a holder on the fixture takes control of the carcass and stabilizes it with the breast facing outwardly. Once the carcass is stabilized, a knife on the fixture moves down into a previously prepared vent hole to a position slightly inside the body cavity. The knife then swings quickly outwardly to and beyond the sternum along an off-center, generally arched cutting path that runs much closer to one leg of the carcass than the other. The contour cut thus produced creates a single, disproportionately large tissue flap under the arch of the cut and on one side thereof which facilitates inspection and keeps the entire fat pad attached to one flap.

Growing community of inventors

Blue Springs, MO, United States of America

William R Sorensen