Abstract: This disclosure describes an electrical and pneumatic device for picking fruit, particularly citrus fruit, by severing the fruit from its stem with an electrical current, or pulling the fruit from its stem pneumatically by applying a suction cup to the side of the fruit and physically pulling the fruit from its stem, or by using a combination of electrical current and pneumatic (vacuum) force to sever the fruit from its stem.

Abstract: A row crop harvester, such as a corn head, has a plurality of forwardly extending gathering members adapted to move between adjacent rows of row planted crops as the harvester advances, and each gathering member includes a hood-like downwardly and forwardly inclined shield structure having forwardly converging sides tapered to a forward gathering point. Removably mounted on top of the shield structure is a shield extension or ear saver that includes an upright inverted U-shaped support, the opposite ends of which are receivable in upright sockets on the opposite sides of the shield structure, a rear panel coplaner with the support and closing the interior thereof, the rear panel having a lower edge abutting the top of the shield structure, and a front panel that is generally semiconical in shape and extends forwardly and downwardly from the support, the apex of the front panel abutting the top of the shield structure.

Abstract: A brake mechanism for quickly stopping the drive shaft of an internal combustion engine on a power driven rotary mower.

Abstract: A cutter for removing a tough surface layer from pieces of material, more specifically for skinning fish, particularly fillets of fish. By means of a roller, the pieces of material are conveyed past a stationary cutter which removes the surface layer by cutting in between the latter and the piece of material, the surface layer passing between cutter and roller while the piece of material passes above the cutter. The cutter has adjacent its edge a projecting wall portion extending transversely of the travelling direction of the pieces of material and away from the cutter side opposite the roller.

Abstract: The apparatus is intended for use in the meat industry. It incorporates a chamber containing gall bladders. The chamber has a loading port for feeding the gall bladders thereinto and an unloading port through which the gall bladders are discharged after processing. Two opposite walls of the chamber, one of them being made aslant, are provided with slots passing through which are knives mounted on a carriage. The carriage is linked up with a drive causing it to move back and forth. Disposed under said chamber is a perforated trough discharged whereinto through the unloading port are the gall bladders lanced in the chamber. The apparatus also incorporates a conveyor for disposing of the empty gall bladders. Accommodated below the perforated trough is a container accumulating the bile dripping from the chamber and said trough.The apparatus assures a more or less complete recovery of high-quality bile and enables the automation of the process of its recovery.

Abstract: Apparatus for removing and recovering meat from trimmed and untrimmed bone fragments comprises a hollow sleeve open at one end for receiving a quantity of bone fragments to be processed. Hydraulic cylinders raise the sleeve to bring one end into engagement with an extrusion block, and a piston slidably disposed at the other end of the sleeve is advanced initially by relatively high speed jack cylinders and finally by a low speed ram cylinder to compress the bone fragments against the block. The extrusion block includes a plurality of concentric annular recesses and interfitting extrusion rings which form an inwardly facing foraminous surface through which meat recovered in fluid form as a result of the compression process passes. The rings are slidably received within the recesses to facilitate removal for cleaning, and are partially extended from the recesses by a pneumatic cylinder after each compression cycle to dislodge bone residue from the foraminous surface.

Abstract: A machine for removing skin from animal carcasses, and particularly hog carcasses, which includes an upstanding inclined from the vertical rotatable cylinder having an axially extending slot, a skin clamp at the slot for clamping a portion of the skin to the cylinder, a stationary peel bar positioned adjacent the cylinder and against which a carcass engages during the skinning operation, a fluid drive for closing the skin clamp and rotating the cylinder, and spray nozzles for cleaning the cylinder and peel bar following a skinning operation. A system is provided for automatically handling the carcasses moving to and from the machine.

Abstract: An improved apparatus for decasing food links comprising an accelerator assembly imparting initial feedthrough velocity, a preconditioner that heats the casings to facilitate removal, a casing slitter assembly, a casing drive assembly, and a stripping head assembly featuring directed air jets and meshing gripping gears that pull the casings away from the links. The accelerator and driving assemblies cooperate to impart high velocity to the food links while minimizing product damage in a machine that assures complete operator safety. The casing slitter assembly provides a pivoting slitter head that accurately follows the shape of the food link, slitting the casing without damaging the food link. An adjustable guide assembly provides parallel axial alignment of the food links with the meshing gripping gears.

Abstract: A strand of sausage filling is pushed stepwise through a tube over which is fitted an empty sausage casing such that as the strand emerges stepwise from the downstream end of the tube it fills the casing. The filled casing is gripped between a pair of conveyor belts whose spacing is predetermined and is pulled away from the tube stepwise synchronously with the advance of the strand in the tube. Between advance steps of the strand and of the filled casing the tube is rotated such that the casing is twisted to form individual sausage links. The instantaneous speed at which the conveyor pulls the filled casing from the tube is proportional to the instantaneous speed of the strand in the tube. The spacing between the conveyor belts may also be varied automatically as a function of the overall conveyor operating speed.

Abstract: An apparatus for stripping hide comprises parallel overhead rails for suspending a carcass with the hind legs thereto, chain conveyors moving in the same direction and driven by an electric motor, one conveyor serving for anchoring the fore legs of the carcass and the other for gripping the hide. The apparatus has a braking device comprising two synchronously moving parallel conveyors having pivotable spring-loaded pins serving as stops for anchoring members carrying the hind legs of the carcass and a brake of the parallel conveyors with an electric control circuit coupling the brake to the electric motor for controlling the braking force depending on the load on the motor.

Abstract: An apparatus for scoring unshelled crab claws to facilitate the removal of a portion of the shell and expose the meat including a frame rotatably carrying a pair of opposed jaws which clampingly hold a crab claw and rotate it against a camming surface of a depth gauge located adjacent a cutter, such as the blade of a standard meat cutting band saw. As the crab claw is rotated, the saw blade cuts a circumferential score through the shell. The frame is tiltable towards the cutter for scoring and away from the cutter for loading and unloading a crab claw into and from the jaws. A switch mounted on the frame energizes an electrical motor drivingly connected to the jaws as the frame is tilted towards the scoring position and de-energizes the motor as the frame is tilted toward the loading or unloading position, thereby providing automatic on-off rotation of the jaws.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for removing skin from pretreated fish, preferably from herring filets, wherein the opened fish is passed skin side up on a conveyor belt through a cutting and cleaning apparatus in which the skin of the fish is contacted with an acid to produce a denaturization of the fish and liquid jets are directed against the skin at a suitable angle to remove the skin which is flushed away together with other parts of the fish severed during the cutting and skin removing operation.

Abstract: An apparatus for the removal of meat from Crustacean members having tubular shells, particularly crab legs. The apparatus comprises a shell slitting device including an eccentric rotary cutter and a stationary cutter. The stationary cutter includes an elongated guide member which is introduced into an open end of the tubular shell between the meat and the shell. Also described is a conveying apparatus and a device for opening the slit shells for the removal of the meat.

Abstract: Apparatus for cutting poultry carcasses into pieces which can be from two pieces up to twelve pieces, having a power driven feeding mechanism which moves a carcass along support while it is being cut into pieces automatically by various blades. The support includes a guide bar having a projecting end suitable for being inserted through the central cavity of a poultry carcass. The feeding mechanism includes twin pneumatic cylinders arranged to cause reciprocating motion of a claw along the support, the claw being arranged to engage the carcass when this is positioned on the bar, and to cause movement of the carcass through the various cutting blades which are mounted adjacent to the support.

Abstract: In an apparatus for stuffing flowable product into a shirred tubing disposed on a stuffing horn to produce stuffed tubular articles of predesired length on a continuous basis, a sensing member is employed for detecting movement of the trailing end portion of the shirred tubing on the stuffing horn which activates control for interrupting the stuffing operation of the apparatus so as to terminate the flow of product from the stuffing horn before the shirred tubing is completely expended.

Abstract: A portable power tool or appliance, such as a cordless grass shear, may be slidably received within a unitary stirrup. A flexible flap on the stirrup carries a detent button that is automatically snapped into a screw-hole on the clam-shell power tool housing, as the power tool is fully seated within the stirrup. The flap may be flexed manually to release the detent button, thereby facilitating quick disengagement between the power tool and the stirrup. The stirrup carries ground-engaging wheels to facilitate manual movement and guidance of the power tool during its stand-up operation. An extension handle in the form of a tubular wand is secured to the stirrup and extends upwardly therefrom. A top handle with a switch is provided on the end of the wand. An electrical cable is connected to the switch, extends downwardly therefrom within the wand, and exits from the stirrup above the power tool. The end of the cable carries a plug adapted to be received within a receptacle on the power tool.

Abstract: A hand rake with grasping tines is disclosed including a pair of multitined fork members, a frame assembly for pivotally holding the fork members in spaced facing relation, a handle assembly secured to the frame assembly for carrying the fork members, and a control mechanism for cooperatively varying the pivotal dispositions of the fork members from an open material raking condition to a closed material transporting condition.

Abstract: Apparatus for sizing and deheading shrimp is illustrated wherein an open, elongated trough has a pair of sides which diverge laterally outwardly from adjacent one end of the trough toward the other with a conveyor for moving shrimp along the trough permitting progressively larger shrimp to fall through the open bottom of the trough, and a number of conveyors are provided for carrying the shrimp thus sized, into contact with a stationary blade in such a manner that the head is pushed over the blade and body passed under the blade and the heads and bodies collected separately.

Abstract: A machine in which eviserated dressed poultry carcasses from which leg shanks have been removed from the legs are mounted upon a conveyor by clamping member thereon which is driven to move each carcass through all separating stations of the machine to sequentially and automatically remove (1) the wing tips from the intermediate wing sections, (2) the intermediate sections from the wing stubs, (3) the wing stubs from the vertebrae (back), (4) the whole breast from the vertebrae, and (5) the thighs and legs from the vertebrae in a manner to also remove the "oyster" from the vertebrae, whereby the tail and vertebrae are removed from the machine to complete the dismemberment of the carcass into all the normal commercially available pieces.

Abstract: A safety system for a lawn mower is provided for disengaging the blade from the drive when the mower is backing up. The safety system includes a gear which rotates with a wheel of the mower and a toothed member engagable with the gear. When the mower backs up and the gear rotates in one direction, it engages the toothed member and moves it from a first to a second position. A linkage connected with the toothed member and a clutch in the drive train then disengages the clutch and disconnects the mower blade from the drive. When the mower moves forwardly again, the toothed member is moved by the gear back to the first position and the linkage moves the clutch to its engaged position again to rotate the blade by the drive, assuming the shift lever is in its engaged position.