METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR LOOSENING A PLUCKS SET
The disclosure relates to a method and aspects of an apparatus for loosening a plucks set ( 3 ) including tongue ( 28 ), heart and lungs from a suspended carcass ( 1 ). The carcass ( 1 ) may be fixed by means of mouth-engaging fixing means ( 10 ). The plucks set of the carcass ( 1 ) is cut loose by cutting means ( 15 ) that are introduced through the mouth ( 2 ) of the carcass ( 1 ), mouth-engaging fixing means ( 10 ) possibly cooperating with the cutting means ( 15 ) to ensure that e.g. the tonsils ( 27 ) or tongue ( 28 ) are not damaged. Subsequently, the tongue ( 28 ) may be loosened from the mandible ( 14 ) by scraping.
1 - 11 . (canceled)
12 . A method for loosening a plucks set including tongue, larynx, heart, lungs, windpipe and gullet from a carcass comprising spine and head with mouth, cranium, mandible and palate, said method comprising steps of:
fixing said carcass by a region of the head by means of fixing means,
applying a pulling force on the windpipe and gullet in a direction away from the spine,
holding the plucks set at or near the larynx by means of a holding tool,
cutting pharyngeal muscles and tissue loose from the carcass by means of a pharynx cutter,
separating the tongue from the carcass,
wherein said pharynx cutter is introduced through the mouth of the carcass.
13 . A method according to claim 12 , wherein said fixing means comprise a fixing assembly introduced into the mouth of the carcass and brought into engagement with the inside of the oral cavity.
14 . A method according to claim 12 , wherein said step of holding the plucks set at or near the larynx comprises piercing the epiglottis, the larynx and/or the windpipe between them with the holding tool.
15 . A method according to claim 12 , wherein said step of separating the tongue from the carcass comprises scraping the edges of the body of the mandible facing away from the cranium by means of scrapers to thereby weaken or break connections between the tongue and the mandible.
16 . An apparatus for loosening a plucks set including tongue, larynx, heart, lungs, windpipe and gullet from a carcass comprising spine and head with mouth, cranium, mandible and palate, said apparatus comprising a pressing assembly for forcing the part of the windpipe closest to the tongue against the cranium, said pressing assembly having an engagement side for contacting said part of the windpipe and being moveable between a retracted rest position and an advanced active position, and a holding tool for holding the plucks set, wherein said holding tool comprise piercing members moveable relative to said pressing assembly between a first, retracted position, in which they do not project over the engagement side of the pressing assembly, and a second, protruding position, in which they project over the engagement side of the pressing assembly for piercing the plucks set.
17 . An apparatus according to claim 16 , wherein said piercing members comprise spikes, preferably three spikes.
18 . An apparatus according to claim 17 , wherein said spikes are distributed along a line, which is substantially parallel to the direction of movement of the pressing assembly between the retracted rest position and the advanced active position.
19 . An apparatus according to claim 17 , wherein said pressing assembly have one or more apertures, through which said spikes may pass, when said spikes are moving from said first position to said second position.
20 . An apparatus according to claim 16 , wherein an actuator is provided for pulling the pressing assembly with holding tool back in a direction towards said retracted rest position while the holding tool is in its second position.
21 . An apparatus for loosening a plucks set including tongue, larynx, heart, lungs, windpipe and gullet from a carcass comprising spine and head with mouth, cranium, mandible and palate, said apparatus comprising a fixing assembly for fixing said carcass by a region of the head and a pharynx cutter for cutting the pharyngeal muscles and tissue loose from the carcass, wherein said pharynx cutter is adapted to be introduced through the mouth of the carcass.
22 . An apparatus according to claim 21 , wherein said pharynx cutter is moveable in a direction of movement and where the pharynx cutter comprises a curved cutting edge, which is located on an edge of a cylindrical sheet member, the generatrixes of which are parallel to the direction of movement of the pharynx cutter.
23 . An apparatus according to claim 21 , wherein said cylindrical sheet member has a directrix with a radius of curvature from 16 to 30 mm, preferably from 20 to 24 mm.
13 . An apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein said directrix is a circular arc of 150° to 210°, preferably 175° to 190°.
24 . An apparatus according to claim 20 , wherein the fixing assembly comprises a palate engaging member and a mandible engaging member, which are moveable relative to each other, and which are adapted to be introduced through the mouth of the carcass and to be brought into engagement with the inside of the oral cavity by being moved relative to each other, and where the pharynx cutter is guided in its movement by the fixing assembly.
25 . An apparatus for loosening a plucks set including tongue, larynx, heart, lungs, windpipe and gullet from a carcass comprising spine and head with mouth, cranium, mandible and palate, said apparatus comprising a tongue loosening mechanism for loosening the tongue from the carcass, wherein said tongue loosening mechanism has scrapers for scraping the edges of the body of mandible (corpus mandibulae) facing away from the cranium so as to weaken connections between tongue and mandible, said scrapers being moveable between a first position and a second position, the distance between these two positions corresponding substantially to the length of the body of mandible.
26 . An apparatus according to claim 25 , wherein said scrapers have at least one scraping edge adapted for abutting an edge of the body of mandible substantially facing away from the cranium of the carcass.
27 . An apparatus according to claim 26 , wherein said scrapers comprise at least one scraper having a protrusion extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to the scraping edge, said protrusion comprising a contact edge adapted for abutting an edge of the body of mandible substantially facing away from a vertical median plane in the carcass, said contact edge meeting said scraping edge in a non-acute angle.
28 . An apparatus according to claim 25 , wherein said scrapers are resiliently suspended.
29 . An apparatus according to claim 25 , comprising two scrapers, which are substantially mirror-imaged, and actuators for pressing them towards each other.
30 . An apparatus according to claim 25 , wherein said apparatus furthermore comprises a cutting assembly adapted for loosening the tongue from the carcass in the region of the basihyoid bones, and positioning actuators for positioning said cutters relative to the mandible.
31 . An apparatus according to claim 30 , wherein the cutting assembly includes one circular cutter.
32 . An apparatus according to claim 30 , wherein the cutting assembly includes two circular cutters.