The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 20, 1995
Filed:
Sep. 21, 1994
Eugene G Martin, Denver, PA (US);
Steven P Sorensen, Ephrata, PA (US);
Duane Newswanger, Conestoga, PA (US);
Foodcraft Equipment Company, Lancaster, PA (US);
Abstract
A poultry slaughtering machine includes a shackle conveyor for carrying a series of birds, suspended by their feet in a predetermined orientation with their breast facing to one side, along a first path, and a head capturing device disposed generally below the shackle conveyor and offset away from the breast side. The capturing device includes a flexible carrier constrained to follow an endless second path, a series of pairs of relatively movable jaws affixed to the endless carrier, and a cam rail for closing each pair of jaws about the neck of a bird. A rotary blade incises major blood vessels of tile neck, but is prevented from cutting the trachea or the spinal cord, and the jaws are opened to release the neck as soon as the cut has been made.