NZ781995B2

NZ781995B2 - Cutting fore end from hanging half pig carcass

Info

Publication number: NZ781995B2
Application number: NZ781995A
Authority: NZ
Inventors: Adriaan Ebergen; Ronald Kranenbarg; Jan Johannes Meerdink; Der Steen Franciscus Theodorus Henricus Johannes Van
Original assignee: Marel Meat Bv
Filing date: 2020-05-01
Publication date: 2025-05-01

Abstract

system and a method for separating a fore end of a half pig carcass by making a first cut between ribs three and four up to the shoulder blade followed by a second cut through the rest of the carcass. The first cut is made using a regular knife blade, the second cut is made using a scissor blade.

Claims

1. A method of processing a half pig carcass part that is at least partly freely hanging from a carrier, which carrier engages a leg part of the half pig carcass part, comprising: • detecting positions of ribs of the half pig carcass part, 5 • identifying positions of adjacent first and second target ribs, and based on the identified positions, • cutting by a cutting device between the first and second target ribs to create a rib cut between the first and second target ribs, • separating by a separation device a fore end from a middle part of the half pig carcass 10 part by cutting through a backbone of the half pig carcass part using the rib cut as a reference.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the adjacent first and second target ribs comprise third and fourth ribs, wherein the rib cut is performed up to a tip of a shoulder 15 blade, the rib cut causing a fore end portion to be partly separated from remaining ribs of the half pig carcass part via gravity.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the adjacent first and second target ribs comprise fourth and fifth ribs, the rib cut causing a fore end portion to be partly 20 separated from remaining ribs of the half pig carcass part via gravity.

4. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the cutting is performed fully automatically by a cutting device comprising a robotic arm. 25

5. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the detecting positions of the ribs of the half pig carcass part is performed by a detection apparatus.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the detecting positions of the ribs of the half pig carcass part performed by the detection apparatus includes one or more of the following: 30 • scanning and generating a three dimensional image data of one and/or both sides of the half pig carcass part using a laser scanner, • capturing three dimensional image data of one and/or both sides of the half pig carcass part using a digital imaging device, and

7. MARKED-UP COPY • capturing X-ray data indicating inner bone structure of the half pig carcass part including the positions of the ribs and shoulder blade of the half pig carcass part using an X-ray apparatus. 5 7. The method according to any one of claims 5 or claim 6, further comprising processing detected data using a processing unit connected to the detection apparatus to determine the positions of the first and a second target ribs.

8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising operating the cutting device by the 10 processing unit to automatically cut between the first and a second target ribs.

9. The method according to claim 7 or claim 8, further comprising operating the separating device by the processing unit to automatically cut the fore end from the middle part of the half pig carcass part by cutting through the backbone using the rib cut as a reference.

10. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the separating is performed by: - a scissor knife, and/or - a saw.

11. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the rib cut is created in meat and/or rib cartilage portions between the first and the second target ribs.

12. An apparatus for processing a half pig carcass part that is at least partly freely hanging 25 from a carrier, which carrier engages a leg part of the half pig carcass part, comprising: • a detection unit for detecting positions of ribs of the half pig carcass part, • an identification device for identifying positions of adjacent first and second target ribs, • a cutting device for cutting based on the identified positions between the first and 30 second target ribs to create a rib cut between the first and second target ribs, the rib cut causing a fore end portion to be partly separated from remaining ribs of the half pig carcass part via gravity, and MARKED-UP COPY • a separation device for separating the fore end from a middle part of the half pig carcass part by cutting through a backbone using the rib cut as a reference.

13. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the rib cut is created in meat and/or rib 5 cartilage portions between the first and the second target ribs.

14. The apparatus according to claim 12 or claim 13, wherein the detection unit includes one or more of the following: • a laser scanner for scanning and generating a three dimensional image data of one 10 and/or both sides of the half pig carcass part, • a digital imaging device for capturing three dimensional image data of one and/or both sides of the half pig carcass part, and • an X-ray apparatus for capturing X-ray data indicating inner bone structure of the half pig carcass part including the positions of the ribs and shoulder blade of the half 15 pig carcass part. 18 15