GB1015087A - Improvements in or relating to devices for skinning carcasses - Google Patents

Abstract

1,015,087. Apparatus for skinning carcasses. LEJOHN SALES Ltd. Jan. 31, 1964 [Feb. 26, 1963], No. 4131/64. Heading A2U. Apparatus, Figs. 1 and 2, for skinning a cattle or like carcass 36 suspended, by its hind legs, from overhead conveyer rail 35 and anchored, by its front legs 38, to a stand 39, comprises a substantially vertical frame 10 having a pair of feet 13 and an upper bracket 17. Rotatably mounted in the frame are: a lower sprocket 20, a tensioning sprocket 22 and an upper driving sprocket 24, which carry an endless chain 19 provided with hooks 30. The sprocket 24 is driven, by a belt 33, from an electric motor 32 mounted on the bracket 17. The chain 19 travels along a curved upward path, defined by portions 27 and 28 of flanged guide plates 15 extending from the ends of the feet 13 to the bracket 17. The hide is rimmed back from the underside 40 of the carcass and then cleared from the hind and front legs, leaving detached front-leg portions of hide 44. A length of chain 41, Figs. 7 and 1, having rings 42 at each end, is passed through these rings to form loops 43, and the hide portions 44 are then passed through the loops 43, which are tightened on the portions 44, and the chain 41 is attached, by a central link 44<SP>1</SP>, to the lowermost hook 30 on the ascending portion of the chain 19. When this hook 30 passes over the upper sprocket 24, the hide has been completely stripped from the carcass including the tail, and is dumped into a shoot 45. The stand 39 may comprise a pair of spaced, parallel, upright members 48 supported on feet 47. Pins 49 may project sideways from the members 48. Lengths of chain 50, having end hooks 51, are engaged, by a chain link, over pins 49 and the hooks 51 are secured within the hock bones of the front legs. In alternative constructions of the stand, the pins may project upwardly from two arms pivoted to the rod of a fluid-operated piston wheel can be moved, in a horizontal cylinder secured to the top of the stand, to increase or decrease the distance between the pins and the carcass; or hooked pins may project upwardly from a turntable rotating on a base plate connected to the rod of a piston in a similar cylinder.