Abstract: A shackle assembly for transporting a poultry carcass suspended by its legs along a processing path and over a weighing scale for weighing the carcass. The shackle assembly includes a trolley support, a trolley mounted to the trolley support for engaging the weighing scale, and a bird carrier for suspending a poultry carcass by its legs. A telescopic connector system joins the trolley support to the bird carrier and suspends the bird carrier from the trolley support. A cam-actuated turning system is mounted to the trolley support and operatively connected to the bird carrier for rotating the trolley support and the bird carrier in unison.

Abstract: A shackle assembly for transporting a poultry carcass suspended by its legs along a processing path and over a weighing scale for weighing the carcass. The shackle assembly includes a trolley support, a trolley mounted to the trolley support for engaging the weighing scale, and a bird carrier for suspending a poultry carcass by its legs. A telescopic connector system joins the trolley support to the bird carrier and suspends the bird carrier from the trolley support. A cam-actuated turning system is mounted to the trolley support and operatively connected to the bird carrier for rotating the trolley support and the bird carrier in unison.

Abstract: Poultry parts (13) are placed on carrier trays (22) of a tray conveyor (14) and move on an endless loop conveyor first through a rectilinear loading run (24), then through a curved deboning run (26), and then through a lower return run (25). The curved deboning run extends about the deboning unit (35), which includes a stationary cam drum (36) and a revolving carrier assembly (38) that carriers the series of deboning modules (55) about the drum (36). Each deboning module becomes aligned with a carrier tray and is actuated by the cam tracks (81) of the stationary cam drum (36) so as to engage and push the bone of the poultry part through the aperture (63) of a bowed resilient stripper disk (61) that is mounted in a meat stripper disk assembly (56) having a disk retainer plate (132).

Abstract: A processing line for the defeathering of birds including a scrub washer (27) positioned upstream from the scalder (28) and picking station (29) of the processing line for precleaning the birds prior to scalding and picking the feathers from the birds. The scrub washer (27) includes a series of flexible fingers (63), which engage the bodies of the birds and ruffle the feathers of the birds to wipe dirt, loose feathers and contaminating material from the bodies of the birds. At the same time the flexible fingers tend to bear against the birds so as to urge contaminating material contained within the visceral cavities of the birds out of the visceral cavities. Spray nozzles (53) apply a fluid spray (54) to the birds to wash any loose feathers, dirt and contaminating matter from the birds. Thereafter, the precleaned birds are passed through a scalder (28) and through a picking station (29) where the feathers are moved from the birds.

Abstract: An improved poultry shackle assembly for suspending poultry carcasses by their hocks from an overhead conveyor system for movement along a poultry processing line comprises a support frame from which a pair of spaced stirrups depend. Each of the stirrups has an upwardly extending rod that is journaled within a cylindrical sleeve on the support frame for rotation of the stirrup to accommodate spreading and rotation of the legs of a poultry carcass suspended therefrom. A pin extends outwardly from the rods through an inclined slot formed in the sleeves to restrict rotational movement of the stirrups between first and second rotary positions and to bias the stirrups gravitationally to a first rotary position wherein the pins are nestled within the bottom ends of the slots.