JPS6348497B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for processing fish, and more particularly to a processing method and apparatus for automatically cutting and dismantling highly caught fish such as sardine, mackerel, horse mackerel, etc. at high speed.

Traditionally, this type of fish was processed manually each time it was landed, but due to individual differences in ability, it was inefficient and unhygienic, so mechanization has recently been adopted for some processing. However, in any case, cutting with a knife lacks durability and continuity.
In addition, high speed cannot be expected, meat burns and deformation are likely to occur due to cutting heat, and the use of a large amount of water requires large and expensive wastewater treatment equipment, which takes a long time and reduces freshness. There are many drawbacks.

In view of the above, the present invention performs a series of operations using a conveyor system, incorporates a water jet cutter as a cutting means, and processes automatically and at high speed to avoid temperature changes and loss of freshness during the processing process, and waste water. The purpose is to provide a new processing method and apparatus that minimizes the amount of damage as much as possible, and will be described below based on embodiments shown in the drawings.

In the figure, 1 indicates a hopper, which temporarily stores sardines and the like that are supplied by appropriate means. A supply feeder 11 is disposed at the bottom of the hopper 1, and the feeder 11 uses a flat belt conveyor to vibrate vertically and horizontally, so that the fish in the hopper are lined up in a line and fed out one after another. I will finish it.
In this case, by attaching weak brushes 12 at appropriate intervals, the fish are pushed aside by the vibration of the belt and are lined up in a line.

Fish 9 sent out by the feeder 11
is supplied to a large number of alignment feeders 2 arranged in parallel. As shown in FIG. 3, this feeder 2 is equipped with a gutter 21 that is open at the bottom to store fish 9 vertically, and is provided with a wide conveyor belt 22 below that corresponds to each gutter or is common to all gutter. , the fish 9 are arranged vertically by the feeder 2 and conveyed to the arrangement conveyor 3.
sent to. This conveyor 3 is equipped with a gutter like the feeder 2 described above, has a higher speed than the feeder 2, arranges the fish in a single file, and feeds them to the next pan-shaped conveyor 4 for directional alignment. Reference numeral 31 denotes a sorting machine, which uses, for example, a special rotating brush to discharge fish other than designated fish. Above conveyor 4
is designed to detect the head and tail and align them in a certain direction, and the detection means include, for example, sorting using a balance type that supports the center using the difference in weight between the head and tail, other phototube methods, or the thickness of the head and tail. It is possible to use a detection means such as utilizing the difference in the head and tail parts, and the head and tail parts are fed to the next cone-shaped turntable 5 with the directions aligned. This turntable 5 has a large number of partition walls 51 on the upper surface for storing fish 9 one by one, and has an appropriately sloped surface so that the fish can slide outward due to its own weight, and is positioned on the outer periphery with the head length of the fish separated. Frame 5
2 is provided, and the head 91 of the fish 9 is brought into contact with the positioning frame 52 and positioned as shown in the figure. A water jet cutter W is placed in the appropriate place on this turntable 5.
1 is provided, and as the table 5 rotates, the head 91 of the fish 9 is cut off by the cutter W1. The severed head 91 falls onto a head conveyor C1 disposed below and is transported to a freezing room or a suitable processing site. The body part 92 with the head cut off is pressed against the positioning frame 52 side by its own weight, and the body part 92 is pushed against the table 5.
The cutout portion 53 of the frame 52 is moved onto the lower conveyor 6 for splitting. This conveyor 6 mainly consists of a pair of left and right endless conveyor belts 61 and 62, an endless bottom conveyance belt 63, and a bottom plate 64 provided at the tip of the bottom conveyance belt 63. In this case, an appropriate upper and lower sorting means 66 is provided in the receiving section 65 of the conveyor 6 in order to sandwich the paper with the back part upward and the abdominal part downward. This sorting means 66 is carried out by utilizing, for example, the difference in hardness or thickness between the back and the abdomen, or the difference in specific gravity between the two. supply between. A pair of water jet cutters W2, W3 for cutting three slices and a water jet W for discharging offal are placed at appropriate locations on this conveyor 6 for splitting meat.
4, the fish body 92 is cut into left and right split pieces 93, 94 and the backbone 95 using cutters W2, W3, and the offal 96 is pushed by the jet of water from the water jet W4, which has a lower discharge pressure than the cutters. Let it drain. Of course, the water jet W4 for discharging offal may be a jet nozzle that discharges the required amount of water without requiring water pressure, such as a water jet cutter described later, and is preferably provided in the separation device 67. This separation device 67 has a slot 68 for discharging a long and narrow backbone, which is bored in a bottom plate 64 provided at the tip of the bottom conveyor belt 63, and a stopper 69 for supporting backbone, which is provided protruding from the rear end of the groove. The backbone 95 of the body part 92, which has been made the cuts 7 by the cutters W2 and W3, is supported by the stopper 69, and both the split pieces 93 and 94 are supported by the conveyor belt 6.
1 and 62, and at the same time, the offal 96 is discharged and washed by the water jet W4, and at the time of separation, the backbone 95 falls from the notch groove 68 and is carried out to a proper location by the lower backbone transfer conveyor C2.

The split pieces 93 and 94 separated from the backbone 95 are supplied onto a product delivery conveyor C3 at the end of the conveyor 6, and are transported by the conveyor C3 to a freezing room or a processing room.

FIG. 7 shows an example in which a head cutting turntable 8 is used as a modification of the cone-shaped turntable 5 in the form of a waterwheel-like rotating cylinder supported on a horizontal shaft. Part 9
The receiving plate 81 of the table 8 is supplied to the alignment conveyor 3 with 1 as the tip, and rotates in synchronization with the conveyor.
The fish are moved upward one by one, the head 91 protrudes from the front surface of the table, supported by the positioning frame 82 as in the previous example, and the head is cut off by the water jet cutter W1 provided. Fig. 8 shows an example in which an incision 7a is made diagonally in the abdomen with a water jet cutter as another means for expelling offal. The cutters W2 and W3 are placed at appropriate positions in front of the cutters W2 and W3, and are reciprocated diagonally in synchronization with the passage of fish, thereby making the required cuts.

The water jet cutter used for cutting the head and cutting the three pieces mentioned above is of a well-known structure, but in one example, the pressure is 2000 kg/cm ² or more, the nozzle diameter is around 0.2 mm, It ejects water at a velocity nearly three times the speed of sound, and its cutting speed is higher than that of conventional blades. Moreover, it does not have the disadvantages of blades such as deterioration of sharpness, and uses only a small amount of water.
Furthermore, by appropriately lowering the water pressure, it can be used as a pushing action against soft internal organs.

According to the present invention, a water jet cutter and a conveyor system are combined, and head cutting and three-piece cutting are performed by the water jet cutter. Defects such as breakage and lack of durability can be prevented, and fish can be processed continuously and at high speed without stopping the entire process from supply, thereby avoiding deterioration of fish quality and loss of freshness.
Therefore, it is efficient and sanitary, and since the cut heads, bones, etc. are carried out by a conveyor,
These heads, etc. will not be mixed into the wastewater. In addition, since the cutting is done with a water jet cutter, the amount of water used is small, and therefore the waste water treatment equipment can be kept small, and there is no need to resharpen the blades as in the past, making it possible to operate unattended, thereby saving labor. It has many advantages such as:

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is an explanatory diagram of the overall circuit, Figure 2 is an explanatory diagram of the process, Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the alignment conveyor, Figure 4 is an explanatory diagram of how to cut the head on the turntable, and Figure 5 is how to grate three sheets. 6 is a plan view of the main part of the conveyor for splitting meat, FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of the overall circuit showing another embodiment, and FIG. 8 is a processing procedure for removing viscera according to another embodiment. It is an explanatory diagram. 1...Hopper, 11...Supply feeder, 2...
...Alignment feeder, 3...Alignment conveyor, 6...
... Conveyor for splitting fish, 9 ... Fish, C1 ... Head feeding conveyor, C2 ... Back bone transfer conveyor, C3 ...
Product unloading conveyor, W1, W2, W3...Water jet cutter, W4...Water jet for removing offal.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Fish supplied to the hopper are fed out one after another by a feeder, the heads of the fed fish are determined, the fish are conveyed with their front and rear sides aligned, and then the heads of the conveyed fish are cut off and three pieces are grated. The conveyor system continuously carries out the removal of the fish's offal and the removal of the fish's entrails, and the severed head, split fish, and backbone are transported by separate conveyors. The head of the fish is then moved to one side of the conveyor by its own weight, and the head is successively cut off using a water jet cutter. A method of processing fish characterized by cutting the fish by moving it by a conveyor while positioning the backbone of the fish upwards with respect to a pair of water jet cutters. 2. A hopper, a dispensing feeder that sequentially feeds out the fish in the hopper, an alignment conveyor that arranges the fish in a vertical direction, a bread-shaped conveyor that keeps the fish in a fixed direction, and a feeder with a protruding head of the fish to be fed. A turntable is used to support the turntable, a water jet cutter is used to cut off the head that protrudes from the table, and after aligning the top and bottom of the fish with the head cut off, the fish are transferred while being held between them, and three pieces of fish are cut in the process. A splitting conveyor equipped with a pair of water jet cutters and a water jet for discharging offal;
A fish processing device comprising a conveyor for carrying out each split fish, and the conveyor and turntable are driven in conjunction with each other.