Abstract: The skinning blade for a meat skinning machine comprises an elongated body member having opposite ends, a top surface, a bottom surface, a leading cutting edge and a trailing edge. The bottom surface includes in cross section a concave surface formed therein, the concave surface having a forward end adjacent the cutting edge and a rearward end spaced forwardly from the trailing edge of the body member. The trailing edge of the cutting blade is adapted to be received by a blade holder, and an extension portion of the cutting blade maintains the holder in spaced relation to the concave surface of the cutting blade.

Abstract: An onion peeling machine having a wheel for transporting the onions past a series of stations, where the onions are topped and peeled, the outer skins slit longitudinally of the onion, and the skin removed by water jets. The machine also includes separation means to separate the peeled onions from the skins.

Abstract: A bacon skinning machine wherein the knife is movable with reference to the traction wheel by a support having two arms which carry the knife holder. The arms are movable lengthwise and are pivotable by two eccentrics mounted on a shaft which is rotatable by a single lever. The lever can move the support to a position in which the holder and the knife can be detached from the arms, to a position in which the holder automatically conforms its position to the thickness of the rind on a slab of bacon, and a starting position. The arms are biased in a direction to urge the knife toward the periphery of the traction wheel, and such arms engage pivot pins in the machine frame in that position of the support when the holder can be detached from the arms.

Abstract: A hand held power driven skinning device includes a housing having a handle connected thereto and having a blade assembly mounted thereon. A driven tooth roll assembly is provided with a shaft that is journaled on the housing. A clean-out bar assembly is mounted in the housing and engages the tooth roll assembly. A retainer element on the blade assembly and a locking element on the shaft for the tooth roll assembly coact to releasably lock the blade assembly, the tooth roll assembly and the clean-out bar assembly on the housing. Manipulation of the locking element permits ready disassembly and reassembly of the tooth roll assembly, the blade assembly and the clean-out bar assembly on the housing.

Abstract: A banana peeling machine in which the skin of a banana is engaged by impinging spikes on the periphery of three resiliently supported rotatable wheels with separating and cutting means adjacent a narrowest gap location to assist the skin being pulled away from the flesh to effect peeling of the banana.

Abstract: A shoulder skinning apparatus includes a skinning device comprised of a housing having a revolvable toothed roller mounted therein and a blade mounted thereon in close proximity to the toothed roller. The skinning device is suspended from a suspension device and power means permits vertical positioning of the skinning device to assure effective removal of the skin from the shoulder area of the hog carcass. The toothed roller and skinning blade are dimensioned whereby when the toothed roller is revolved by power means, the skin from the shoulder area of the hog carcass may be progressively removed in a single pass. A separate control handle controls the positioning and operation of the skinning device by a means of a unique cam arrangement.

Abstract: A vegetable peeling device for carrots, squash, turnips and the like employs a plurality of parallel pairs of cutting blades spring loaded toward each other. The pairs of blades are stacked about a common center and they are arranged at equal angular intervals around the common center. A vegetable pushed between the stacked pairs of blades has pairs of strips of skin peeled therefrom as it passes each of the pairs of blades and emerges fully peeled.

Abstract: A floating knife assembly with positive blade positioning for use with a meat defatting machine to trim a portion of a layer of fat from a piece of meat while leaving a desired thickness of fat layer thereon.The knife assembly includes a gauge plate which engages the piece of meat, riding on an upper surface thereof as the meat is urged toward the knife. The gauge plate and knife are interconnected by a linkage system comprising a gauge plate position sensor and a power ram which urges the knife to a desired position relative to the piece of meat dependent upon the position of the gauge plate. The knife is securely locked into position as an individual piece of meat is urged therepast assuring that a constant thickness of fat is retained on the meat.

Abstract: An apparatus for removing the mid-section portion of the skin from the carcass of an animal, such as a hog, includes a revolvable drum mounted on a frame. A flap forming mechanism is mounted on the drum and is operable to form a skin flap and grip the same to hold the skin against the drum during the skinning operation. A skinning blade is mounted on the frame and positioned adjacent the drum to cut the skin from the torso. A skin hold-back mechanism is mounted on the frame and includes an arm having a blade which engages the drum to remove the skin from the drum. This hold-back device engages the drum and dislodges the skin from the toothroll cavity when the mid-section portion of the skin is completely removed from the animal. The frame is mounted on a shock absorbing device which absorbs vertical forces transmitted to the frame during the skinning operation.

Abstract: Apparatus for slicing or skinning bacon, fish or like products has a frame which supports an adjustable knife downstream of an endless belt conveyor serving to deliver successive products along a horizontal path into the range of a rotary traction wheel which is driven to advance the products past the knife. A rotary hold-down device with a row of elastic discs is installed in a shroud which normally overlies the knife and the traction wheel as well as at least a portion of the conveyor and is mounted on two pairs of levers which enable the hold-down device to move in parallelism with as well as at right angles to the upper reach of the conveyor so that the discs can conform to the configuration of the upper side of a product approaching and moving past the knife. The shroud is biased to maintain the hold-down device in a starting position close to the cutting edge of the knife in the absence of products in the path.

Abstract: Apparatus is provided for slitting the skins of shelled peanuts, or the like, without splitting the nuts. Peanuts are fed in a single stream into the bite of a pair of rollers mounted one above the other for rotation about parallel horizontal axes. The rollers are driven to carry the stream of nuts into engagement with slitting elements disposed on both sides of the bite of the rollers. The upper roller is carried by a yoke pivoted to a drive shaft and is adapted to rise and fall to and away from the lower roll according to the size of the nut being fed therethrough whereby a substantially constant gripping pressure is applied to the nuts irrespective of the size of the nut. A power drive system connects between the drive shaft and the upper roll.

Abstract: A floating knife assembly is provided to be used in conjunction with a meat defatting machine to trim a portion of a layer of fat from a piece of meat while leaving a desired thickness of fat layer thereon.The knife assembly includes a gauge plate which engages the piece of meat, riding on an upper surface thereof as the meat is urged toward the knife. The gauge plate and knife are mounted on a linkage system which allows the gauge plate and knife to float upwardly or downwardly. The distance between the knife and gauge plate is selectively adjustable to accommodate pieces of meat of different thickness.

Abstract: Fish skinning apparatus has a skinning assembly receiving fish, skin side down, from the upper section of a chute the lower section of which receives and discharges the skin-free fillets. The assembly includes a pair of transverse rotors one of which is driven and both of which have lengthwise meshing teeth. The edge of a transverse knife is disposed to engage the flesh of a fillet adjacent the skin and form a flap caught between the rotors and pulled thereby from the flesh. One rotor is movable away from the other as required to accommodate the skins. The apparatus has a flushing system ensuring the maintenance of the quality of the product and the assembly components in condition for the efficient operation of the apparatus.

Abstract: A machine for spirally slicing an unboned ham mounted between a non-driven ham engaging member and a driven ham engaging member attached to a feed screw supported by a nut fixed to the machine frame. A drive motor connected to the feed screw is mounted in a housing movable linearly with the feed screw and a support connects the non-driven ham engaging member to the housing for movement therewith. A reciprocatably driven slicing knife is mounted on a table which is movable linearly and transversely to the longitudinal axis of the feed screw between non-working and working positions and which is resiliently biased in the working position to permit automatic positional compensation of the slicing knife for eccentricity of ham rotation and irregularity in the shape of the ham.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for removing the torso portion of the skin from the carcass of an animal, such as a hog, includes an overhead support from which a carcass is suspended during the skin removing operation. The skin is first removed from the hind quarters of the carcass and then a cut is made in the skin of the torso completely around the carcass just rearwardly of the fore limbs. A flap forming blade makes a longitudinal cut in the carcass and the longitudinal edge of the skin defined by the longitudinal cut is gripped by revolvable toothed cylinders carried by a revolvable drum to form a flap which is wound about the toothed cylinder. A carcass engaging device holds the carcass against the drum during the flap forming operation. A flexible pressurized movable blade positioned adjacent the drum progressively cuts the skin from the carcass as the drum is revolved.

Abstract: An apparatus is disclosed for skinning fish having a skinning roller with which a fixed knife cooperates whose lower surface directed towards the skinning roller is constructed as a presser surface which together with the skinning roller defines a narrow gap. The peripheral surface of the skinning roller is provided with first grooves extending longitudinally which are interrupted by two arrays of second grooves situated approximately in the middle of the two halves of the skinning roller and extending around its periphery. The second grooves have a greater spacing than that of the first grooves.

Abstract: Beef tongues from a kill floor are trimmed while at a temperature no less than about 92.degree. F., rigidified by chilling them to about 35.degree. to 45.degree. F., and passed several times while in their rigidified condition through a skinning machine which grips a leading end of the skin and pulls the tongue at a velocity no greater than about 60 feet per second into a blade which slices a thin layer including the skin from the surface of the tongue. The skinned tongue is wrapped, boxed and frozen for shipment.

Abstract: A skinning apparatus includes a suspension device and a skinning device suspended by the suspension device for easy manipulation by an operator in removing the skin from the ham area of a hog carcass which is suspended from an overhead support. The skinning device includes a revolvable tooth roller and blade which cooperate with each other and which are dimensioned to progressively remove the skin from both ham areas of a hog carcass in a single pass. The suspension device permits easy manipulation of the heavy skinning device in following the contours of the ham areas of the suspended hog carcass during the skinning operation. Control means on the hand grips of the skinning device control operation of both the skinning and suspension device.

Abstract: In treating nuts which are supplied by way of transport means and which are held between two conveyor belts, a groove of uniform depth is milled into the shell of the nut by means of overlapping milling discs, which groove permits the shell of the nut to be broken open by a subsequent splitting means.On the transport means, the nuts are separated and aligned by vibration and the configuration of the guide tracks. A spiral conveyor with a baffle is also provided for this purpose.The conveyor belts are adapted to the different thicknesses of the nuts by means of vertically adjustable rollers.The depth of the groove which is less than the thickness of the shell of the nut is restricted by toothed rings on the milling discs and annular shoulders which are arranged at a displaced position relative thereto radially with respect to the axis of rotation.

Abstract: A method for cold peeling citrus fruit is disclosed wherein the fruit is first cored and sliced into a plurality of segments and the pulp is thereafter severed from the peel by forcing the segment through a knife. An apparatus is disclosed where the fruit segment is secured and compressed on a concave rotary carrier which is then rotated through a concave severing knife which severs the peel and albedo from the pulp.

Abstract: A membrane skinning machine comprising a frame with a conveyor mounted thereon, and gripping roll rotatably mounted across one end of the conveyor to receive the product to be skinned. A concave shoe with a cutting blade is mounted generally concentrically with the gripping roll. A skin stripper roll is mounted on the frame adjacent the gripper roll. The gripper roll has a plurality of parallel helical serrations or grooves on its outer surface.

Abstract: This invention relates to fish skinning machines wherein fish are delivered tail-first to the nip between a feed roll and the pinch roll which pulls the fish downwardly toward the cutting edge of a cutter for separating the skin from the flesh and especially to improvements in the delivery of the fish to the nip between the feed roll and the pinch roll, positioning and operation of the cutter, adjustment of the cutter with respect to the feed roll, clearing the ends of the cutter, gasketing the reciprocating cutter shaft to prevent loss of oil and ingress of water and attachment of the feed conveyor as a separable unit to facilitate repair and adjustment.

Abstract: A device for cutting off the neck meat of a fowl in which the neck of the fowl is held on a support equipped with a suction hole for attracting the meat and the meat is cut by a blade disposed movably to face said suction holes of said support. Said cutting blade is a straight member and is allowed to reciprocate along the length of the suction hole.

Abstract: A completely automatic asparagus peeling machine comprises a material feeding means vibrating with high frequency, a parallel guide means, a conveying means and an automatic peeling assembly.The material feeding means with its high frequency vibration permits a heap of asparagus to successively fall down on a parallel guide means, and asparagus moves forward therefrom successively one at a time by means of the upward and downward movement of the parallel plates in the parallel guide means until dropping on the conveyor belt of a conveying means, thereby advancing to the inlet opening of an automatic peeling assembly for proceeding automatic peeling operation.

Abstract: A machine for skinning fish or fish fillets of different kinds, sizes and consistency comprising a skinning roller for conveying the fish, a skinning knife, a cutting edge on said skinning knife formed by two faces, one of which being provided to press the skin of fish or fish fillets against the skinning roller and the other one forming a back face, and a catching face arranged above the back face adjacent the cutting edge and arranged to be resiliently displaceable in the conveying direction of the fish or fish fillets, for ensuring the secure feeding of the skin between the skinning roller and the presser face.

Abstract: A skinning machine for bacon has a transporting conveyor which advances successive slabs into a passage between the discharge end of the conveyor and a pivotably mounted hold-down roller. The slabs which advance beyond the passage are engaged by the peripheral surface of a driven traction wheel which advances the slabs into the range of the skinning knife. The discharge end of the conveyor is movable up and down and moves downwardly to place the passage into register with a larger portion of the peripheral surface of the traction wheel when the conveyor advances a relatively thick slab of bacon. At the same time, the hold-down roller moves forwardly and downwardly toward the traction wheel. The hold-down roller is mounted on a lever which is pivotable about an axis located at a level below and rearwardly of the discharge end of the conveyor, as considered in the direction of advancement of slabs toward and into the passage.

Abstract: A bacon slicing machine wherein the product is placed onto the exposed horizontal supporting surface of a table which is movable between an extended and a retracted position. The front portion of the table overlies the cutting edge of the knife and the apex of a rotary feeding wheel in the extended position of the table to thus prevent injury to the hands of an attendant. A spring biases the table to the extended position, and a bar is provided at the rear end of the table to be depressed by the hips of an attendant standing behind the table in order to move the table to the retracted position in which the product can be pushed along the supporting surface, along an upwardly or downwardly inclined platform which forms part of the front portion of the table, and into the range of the feeding wheel. The supporting surface of the table and the cutting plane of the knife make an acute angle of between 15.degree. and 50.degree..

Abstract: A method for processing pineapples by sequentially drilling a central hole, cutting off the upper end, transferring the pineapple to a peeling spindle, indexing the pineapple on the spindle through a series of peeling stations, cutting off the bottom end, rotating the spindle a single turn at each peeling station adjacent an array of rotating cutters to remove spaced bands from the outer surface of the pineapple while maintaining the original ovoid shape of the pineapple, pushing the peeled pineapple through a rotating circular knife to form the pineapple into a cylinder and an outer blanket, and removing the remaining fibrous core prior to discharge.

Abstract: An apparatus for automatically peeling fruit whereby a cutter blade is moved toward and away from the fruit as a function of the sensed impedance between the cutter blade and ground through the fruit so that substantially all of the peel is removed. In the preferred embodiment, a horizontal assembly presents a fruit to each of a plurality of fruit holders mounted on a vertical assembly so that each one of the presented fruit is impaled on a different spike of the vertical assembly. A plurality of cutter assemblies each mounting a cutter blade are moved toward and away from the fruit as it is rotated and moved upward to remove the peel. A control circuit includes a counter incremented by pulses from Hall Effect Switches which are energized by magnets mounted on the vertical and horizontal assemblies and controls movement of the assemblies to carry out a predetermined cycle.

Abstract: Edible nuts, such as peanuts, may have their skins slit prior to blanching by means of a machine disclosed herein. The apparatus includes a pair of cooperating rolls which carry a stream of nuts one by one between a pair of cutting elements which slit the nut skin from end to end. The nuts are fed from a vibratory feeding tray which includes a quickly adjustable feed dispenser for controling the rate of flow according to the size of the nuts being processed. A lever actuated cam controls the flow and the lever position may be aligned with levers of other similar machines arranged in a row in the processing plant. The gap between the rolls which carry the nuts between the cutting elements is also quickly adjustable by means of a lever to accommodate the machine to the size of the nuts being processed. The lever extends outwardly for alignment with levers on similar adjacent machines. A removable waste collection and nut guide chute is also provided for a quick and easy cleaning.

Abstract: A safety means for a skinning and/or slashing machine having a frame means with a skinning blade means mounted thereon which provides skin from the meat product to be skinned as the meat product is moved therepast. A plurality of spaced apart slashing blades are rotatably mounted on the frame means adjacent the skinning blade means and are adapted to slash the meat product to permit the inspection thereof. The blades are supported by a pair of support arms which are pivotally connected to the frame means so that the blades may be moved upwardly away from the skinning blade means. A first normally closed switch means is provided on the frame means and is adapted to deactivate the machine power supply when the support arms are pivotally moved to their raised positions. A transparent safety shield is secured to the support arms and extends over the blades. An inverted U-shaped safety guard extends over the feed conveyor to prevent the machine operator from extending his hands too far towards the skinning blade.

Abstract: An apparatus is provided for coring potatoes which comprises the supporting framework upon which is mounted a potato coring knife and a conveyor for transporting potatoes toward the knife and through the plane of the knife. The framework has an inlet end and the conveyor is mounted between the coring knife and the inlet end of the framework. A drive means such as a motor is mounted on the framework and connected to the conveyor for running the conveyor in the proper direction to transport the potatoes to the coring knife. The conveyor includes potato contacting members adapted to engage the potatoes and advance them toward the knife. The coring knife is of annular or endless configuration with an opening in its center. As the potatoes are forced through the plane of the knife by the conveyor, the center or core portion is removed. The potatoes are then transferred to a potato core holding guide with at least one bore therethrough defining a pocket which is open at each end.