Abstract: A food compressor for compressing a composite food mixture into portions which are suitable for cooking. The compressor comprises an elongate open ended chamber which has a shaping device attachable to one end thereof. The shaping device has an opening of predetermined shape which allows food to be extruded therefrom. A concertina bellows powered by a compressed fluid is used to compress the food within the chamber and hence extrude a compressed food mixture.

Abstract: A material and method for processing meat in production in which the meat, both carcass and head, which can proceed on different production lines, is rinsed and treated with acetic acid after hide removal. The water and acid are maintained at a temperature of between 80 and 150 degrees fahrenheit. The acid is in a water based solution at concentrations ranging from 0.25 per cent to 2.00 per cent. After evisceration for the carcass and removal of waste from the head, the head and carcass are rinsed and treated with acetic acid again before being sent to cold storage from which they are released later for further processing. The first rinsing step is commenced within one hour of the time the hide is removed from the animal.

Abstract: Poultry thigh and drumstick deboning device, comprising clamping means for holding a said poultry thigh or drumstick firmly down onto a deboning plate; a pair of spring-biased gripper jaws adapted to grip a protruding end of the bone of the poultry thigh or drumstick on said deboning plate; and a rotary cutter blade assembly adapted to separate the meat from the bone as the thigh or drumstick is drawn through the said assembly by said gripper jaws, said jaws being rotatably driven during passage of the bone through the assembly; the cutter blades of the said cutter blade assembly being made from a material which is hard enough to cut off the meat but which is not hard enough to cut into the bone.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for packing a meat product, such as ham, in foil, in which a mould is used to accommodate a bag-shaped foil. The apparatus includes a first support member for supporting the bag and the mould. A mechanism is also provided for turning-down the collar of the bag around the top edge of the mould. A second support is provided for supporting the mould containing the bag-shaped foil filled with meat product together with a second mechanism for turning-up the collar of the bag. A third support is provided for supporting the mould with the filled bag-shaped foil, and a sealing appliance is provide for sealing the collar.

Abstract: A portable fish scaler includes an open top tank with a drum unit rotably mounted to the top of the end walls. A motor is directly coupled to drive the drum, either with a small AC motor having an integrated gear reducer or a small 12 volt DC motor directly coupled to the shaft to slowly rotate the drum. Bearing support units on the end walls permit the drum shaft to be directly inserted and removed. One bearing is a U-shaped block of a low friction plastic and the other is a telescopic plastic bearing. The drum shaft rests in the U-shaped bearing and telescopes into the coupling bearing. The drum is formed from a flat plate which has inward scaling projections formed by punching the metal to form each projection with a jagged inner edge. The plate is rolled to form a cylinder. A smaller second drum floats on the first drum shaft. The second drum has outward scaling projections and may be formed from two flat plates secured back-to-back and with the centers curved outwardly.

Abstract: An apparatus for gutting fish makes use of a tool driven to revolve. Starting from the idea of a combined slitting tool for opening the abdominal cavity and cleaning tool for removing the viscera, it is proposed to prevent the thereby unavoidable damage to the abdominal skin covering the sides of the abdominal cavity by designing the tool solely as a cleaning tool and equipping it with laterally associated spreaders. The latter are constructed as hollow elements and provided with nozzle bores in their flanks facing the cleaning tool and have a water connection through which water can be led to the nozzle bores with the effect that the water jets keep the belly spread apart when the cleaning tool enters the abdominal cavity.

Abstract: Shoes for tracking against the opposite sides of a stuffed casing are carried by two independent parallel motion linkages suspended from two shared shafts. Each linkage is journaled to one shaft and fixed to the other so each link drives only one shaft. Each shaft in turn drives a signal generator so that an electrical signal is generated in response to the movement of the shoes in a plane transverse the longitudinal axis of the stuffed casing as represented by the rotation of the shafts.

Abstract: The invention refers notably to the technical sector involving the forming or treatment of food products. The machine has a combination, suitably mounted on a frame (S), of a sliding support plate (1) arranged axially at the base of the container (7) and mounted with guided vertical displacement capability, being coupled to a control mechanism, with the said plate (1) having a removable chassis (4) arranged to permit removable vertical positioning of a number of skewers (6) with a view to pressing them into the various layers during action on the above-mentioned control mechanism; one or more cutting devices being connected to a control mechanism with horizontal outward and return motion, while being mounted with a guided sliding motion in relation to the frame (S) and perpendicular to at least one of the faces of the container (7) with a view to cutting the layers of meat and/or vegetables, with the skewering and cutting devices being controlled synchronously from a single control point.

Abstract: The stuffing machine has a casing brake ring which cooperates with the tip of the filling tube to exert a drag on the gathered casing drawn off the filling tube during filling of the casing. The brake ring is carried by a movable support which is mounted to the machine by a mechanism which includes a control linkage. The linkage includes a variable length link rod connecting the brake ring support with the machine. The length of the link which determines the operating position of the brake ring relative to the filling tube is controlled by a hand operated rotary adjusting device interposed in the link. The link is also connected with a crank arm which cooperates with the link through an overcenter arrangement to lock the brake ring support in the operating position for the brake ring. The crank arm and link can also be used to displace the brake ring support to a position remote from the filling tube to permit access to the tube for loading of fresh casing.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for cooking pieces of food. A two-pronged skewer supported on a raiser spaced from and in superposition with a cooking surface serves as a rack for a multitude of pins, each pin bearing pieces of food and held on the skewer by retainers. The arrangement facilitates large-scale grilling of food with minimum effort.

Abstract: A sliced bread stacking apparatus (10) comprising a base unit (11) a vertical support unit (12) and an inclined loaf support unit (13) adapted to suspend and support a loaf of bread (100) at an elevated location during the process of slicing, stacking, and bagging of the individual slices (101) of the loaf of bread.

Abstract: An animal is stunned before being slaughtered by first being enclosed in a chamber that is then evacuated to an intermediate pressure well below the normal high pressure the animal is used to until the animal loses consciousness but not reflexes. Then the chamber is evacuated again to a low pressure well below the intermediate pressure and this very low pressure is maintained until the animal is without reflexes. The two evacuation steps each take place in less than about 5 sec and together they take about 7 sec. The low pressure is held for about 30 sec. The intermediate pressure can be for a pig about 150 mbar and the low final pressure about 30 mbar.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for packing a meat product, such as ham, in foil, in which a mould is used to accommodate a bag-shaped foil. The apparatus includes a first support member for supporting the bag and the mould. A mechanism is also provided for turning-down the collar of the bag around the top edge of the mould. A second support is provided for supporting the mould containing the bag-shaped foil filled with meat product together with a second mechanism for turning-up the collar of the bag. A third support is provided for supporting the mould with the filled bag-support foil, and a sealing appliance is provide for sealing the collar.

Abstract: Carcass processing apparatus having an overhead carrier for suspension of carcasses, a carcass conveyor located below the carrier with an angled support surface, the conveyor moving in unison with the carcass along the carrier, and water deluge apparatus for directing a deluge flow of water onto each carcass. Also disclosed is a method of processing carcasses by supporting the carcasses on a moving conveyor located at an angle, for drainage of bodily fluids, and subjecting the carcasses to a continuous deluge flow of water for washing.

Abstract: A fish eviscerating apparatus employs at least one rotating brush for removing viscera from a beheaded, belly-slit fish. Bristles of the at least one brush have a length and stiffness which, when combined with a predetermined brush holddown force, are effective for removing a predetermined portion of viscera. A water jet may be integrated with the brush for aiding the cleaning of the fish body cavity. In one embodiment, one rotating brush is controlled to contact the forward end of the body cavity with a stiff holddown force for removing the fish swim bladder and assorted viscera in the vicinity thereof and a second brush with softer bristles is controlled with less stiff holddown force for contacting and cleaning viscera and other debris from substantially the entire body cavity. A water jet cleans a dark, mucous-like liner from the inner surfaces of the belly flaps of the fish. Initial abrasion by the rotating brush, or brushes, aids the cleaning action of the water jet.

Abstract: Apparatus for fileting breast meat and removing tenders and wings from a front poultry section includes two pairs of rotary cutters which are mounted for swining movement in front of the path of the poultry carcass which is carried on a mandrel. The two pairs of rotary cutters provide slightly overlapping cuts to partially sever the connection between the wings and the carcass at precise locations consistent from bird to bird. Downstream of the rotary cutters, two pairs of depending peeling fingers incremently slice through connections between the tenders and the sternum and a pair of wiping elements mounted for pivotal movement swing inwardly around the severed shoulder joint to firmly engage the carcass and peel away the remaining connections and the tenders and the sternum.

Abstract: The invention relates to an apparatus for filleting fish rumps/bodies, particulrly fish with a short abdominal cavity. This apparatus is characterized by the arrangement of a vertical guideway formed from belly and back guides, along which are provided belly and back filleting knives axially displaceable against spring tension. The belly filleting knives are positioned upstream of the back filleting knives when seen in the fish passage direction, the back filleting knives intruding between the belly guides under spring tension. If desired, the apparatus can be provided with a known rib scraping device. When this is used, an auxiliary conveyor aiding the advance of the fish is provided between the belly guides.

Abstract: A machine for filling pasteous media, particularly sausage stuffing, into a hose-shaped sleeve, comprises a filling pump having a pressure side, a filling pipe for receiving a sausage sleeve and connected with the pressure side of the filling pump and having a free end, a braking ring arranged so that a medium is pulled through the sleeve between the braking ring and the free end of the filling pipe, an electrically controlled motor which intermittently drives at least the pump, and a microcomputer which controls the motor.

Abstract: A frusto-conical thimble-like element, open at both ends, is provided with plural teeth and in use is positioned onto one's thumb, thumb pressure being applied to a fish to cause the teeth to project into and secure the fish during processing.

Abstract: A mold station of a food patty molding machine in which a food pump pumps a moldable food product through a fill passage into mold cavities in a cyclically reciprocating mold plate, with a multi-orifice plate interposed in the fill passage and a stripper plate, slidably mounted immediately adjacent the orifice plate, having a multiplicity of fill openings aligned one-for-one with the fill orifices; a stripper plate drive, synchronized with the mold plate drive, slides the stripper plate a short distance to a seal-off location once in each mold plate cycle. The spacings between fill openings in the stripper plate are made large enough to close all of the fill orifices when the stripper plate is moved to its seal-off location; the stripper plate drive shifts the stripper plate to its seal-off location before movement of the mold plate toward its discharge position can create an open outlet path from the food pump through the mold cavities to outside of the mold station.