Carcass fat trimmer

Abstract

A hand-held, power-driven trimming device, especially useful in trimming excess carcass fat, includes a cylindrical housing having a hollow interior, a rotary-driven cutter blade assembly with multiple helical cutting blades mounted for rotation in the housing, and a handle on the housing for holding the trimming device during use. The helical cutter blade assembly is mounted along the axis of the housing through a cantilever mount inside a sealed lubrication chamber in one end of the housing. The blade assembly is preferably driven from a remote power source, such as an electric motor, coupled to a flexible drive shaft passing through the handle. The flexible drive shaft powers a worm or helix gear supported by bearings inside the chamber. The worm or helix gear drives a helix gear supported in the sealed lubrication chamber by bearings on the cantilevered drive shaft for the rotary blade assembly. A discharge blade preferably in the form of a stationary auger blade is mounted axially in the housing inside the rotary cutter blade assembly. The auger is restrained from rotation by a fixed shaft passing through the housing and through the cutter drive and support shaft in the sealed chamber. The helical cutter blades rotate close to the outer edge of the stationary auger and create a scissor-like counter-rotation action on material trimmed by the rotary cutter blades. The trimmed material enters the interior of the rotating blades and is then forced axially along the auger owing to its serpentine form working in cooperation with the counter-rotating helical cutter blades to continuously remove trimmed material from the blades and expel the material from an open end of the cylindrical housing during use.