GB2112265A - Meat processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

Meat processing apparatus comprises a pair of members (plate 20 and tray 19) relatively movable towards and away from one another. The plate is with a plurality of sharp pyrimidial projections (32) facing the tray. The plate is advanced towards to the tray by cylinder (26) to apply a substantially steady compressive force for flattening meat arranged between them. The movement of the cylinder is controlled by guard (34) pivotable on arrows (38) so that when the guard 34 is toward pin (42), mounted on the guard, trips switch (44) and actuates the cylinder. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Meat processing apparatus This invention concerns meat processing apparatus.

In the meat processing industry, it is known to process certain types of meat, for example chicken, by beating raw portions of the meat manually to flatten them and thus render them more easy to handle during further processing.

Such manual flattening, however, has the disadvantage that the beating action tends to bruise and tear the raw meat and, as a result, the finished product may be unsightly or the meat may even have to be discarded and wasted.

Further, the size and the shape of the final portion cannot be controlled to any significant degree which is a problem when a batch of like products is required.

It is also known in the processing of steak to form raw steak portions in one of a variety of types of machine for the purposes of tenderisation.

During the steak forming process, the portions are distorted laterally to rapture the sinews for making the meat more tender. To achieve such distortion, it is usual to advance the steak portions along a path defined between two members whose operative portions are driven in the downstream direction of the path but at different speeds and are arranged to compress the meat portions as they pass between the two members. The two members may be rollers or they may be conveyor belts arranged to travel over pressure plates. The portions of steak are thus tenderised and, at the same time, flattened.

Whilst such a process can be readily applied to sinewy meat such as steak, it may tear meat such as chicken breast which is initially in a tender condition and it is not applicable to meat portions including bone.

An object of this invention is to provide apparatus for processing meat which overcomes at least some of the problems mentioned above.

According to the invention, there is provided meat processing apparatus comprising a pair of members relatively movable towards and away from one another, one at least of the members being provided with a plurality of sharp projections which face the other of the two members, and control means operable to advance one member relative to the other to apply a substantially steady compressive force between the members for flattening meat arranged between them.

By arranging for the two members to be relatively movable towards and away from one another only, and for a substantially steady compressive force to be applied between the members in operation, it is possible to flatten raw meat portions without at the same time bruising or tearing the meat.

Experimental evidence has indicated that the sharp projections are a significant feature of the invention in affecting the quality of the product from the present apparatus. Without the projections, it was found that bruising and tearing still occurred but when the projections were provided this problem was overcome. In a preferred form of the invention, the projections have a pyramidal form.

The apparatus preferably also has a guard movable in front of and away from the relatively movable members for safety when the apparatus is in operation. This guard may be arranged to operate the control means once it has been moved into its protective position in front of the members; and it may also be arranged to cause the two members to withdraw one from the other when it is moved away from its protective position. Thus, the guard adds considerably to the safety of the apparatus.

The invention is described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of apparatus embodying the invention; Figure 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the operative face of one of the two relatively movable members illustrated in Figure 1; and Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view of the pneumatic control system of the apparatus illustrated in Figures 1 and 2.

The meat processing apparatus illustrated in the drawings comprises a housing 10 having a base 12 and a roof 14 supported above the base by pillars 1 6. A product tray 18 is slidably supported by the base 1 2 for movement into and out of a front of the housing 10, and a pressure plate 20 is suspended from the roof 14 for movement towards and away from the base 12.

In use, the product tray 18 is manually drawn out of the housing 12 by a handle 22 and a number of chicken or other meat portions are placed on it. Next, the tray 1 8 is pushed back into the housing 10 until it abuts a rear wall 24 of the housing, and the pressure plate 20 is then lowered towards the tray to compress the meat portions on it.

More particularly, the pressure plate 20 is guided and controlled as follows. A control cylinder 26 mounted on top of the housing 10 has a ram 28, projecting through an opening in the roof 14, which is rigidly connected to the plate 20.

By appropriate operation of the cylinder 26, the pressure plate 20 can be raised and lowered as desired. During such movement, the plate 20 is guided by the sliding engagement of pins 30, projecting from it, within further openings in the roof 14.

The underside of the pressure plate 20 facing the base 12 is formed with a regular array of pointed projections 32 as shown in Figures 1 and 2. Each projection is in the form of a four-sided pyramid so that the surface of the plate brought to bear on the meat during operation initially constitutes a number of sharp points which pierce the meat, and subsequently constitutes the sloping sides of the projections which force localised regions of the meat both downwardly and outwardly and thereby flatten the portions.

Such a surface has been found to be particularly advantageous in producing quality cutlets.

Actuation of the control cylinder 26 to raise and lower the pressure plate 20 is effected by a guard 34. This guard comprises a protective plate 36 dimensioned to span the gap between the base 12 and the roof 14 and formed with front and side portions for covering the front and sides of the housing 10. Two mounting arms 38 are pivotally connected to each side portion of the plate 36 and to a respective one of a pair of support struts 40 which extend from the base 1 2 to the roof 1 4 at the sides of the housing 10. The guard can thus be pivotally raised and lowered relative to the front and sides of the housing 10.

An actuating pin 42 is mounted on one side portion of the plate 36 above a control switch 44 fixed relative to the base 12 so that on each occasion that the plate 36 is lowered the pin 42 depresses a contact of, and thereby trips, the switch 44. Thus, as the guard 34 is lowered into place, the switch 44 is automatically operated.

Equally, as the guard 34 is raised, the contact is released and the switch 44 returns to its original condition. The condition of the switch 44 is therefore entirely dependent upon the position of the guard 34.

Turning now to Figure 3, the control system of the apparatus will be described. In this instance, a pneumatic control system is used but it will be appreciated that such an arrangement is by no means essential.

The control system includes a supply 46 of pressurised air arranged to supply air by way of a master valve 48 and an adjustable pressure control valve 50 to a main control block 52. The main control block 52 is responsive to the switch 44 to direct the air supply to one of two lines 54, 56 and to vent the other of the two lines to atmosphere through a respective exhaust 58. The lines 54, 56 communicate with the control cylinder 26 on opposite sides of a piston 60 within the cylinder by way of respective pressure reducing valves 62.

The two valves 62 are preset when the apparatus is first being installed to achieve accurate control of the force acting on the piston 60 at all times, and the pressure control valve may then be adjusted as desired to vary the force of the ram 28 according to the particular meat product which is being processed.

The set-up of the system is such that when the control cylinder 26 is operated to advance the pressure plate 20 towards the tray 18, a substantially steady and uniform compressive force is created between the pressure plate 20 and the product tray 1 8 for flattening the meat portions arranged between them. Of course, the pressure is not uniform over the entire surface of each meat portion because of the irregularities in the contour of the meat portion itself and the profiled surface of the pressure plate 20. However, the force with which the plate 20 is lowered remains substantially constant.

It has been found that good results are in general yielded by placing the guard 34 in its lowered position for a period of three to five seconds, during which time of course the pressure plate 20 is advanced towards the product tray 18, and by applying an operating pressure of approximately 120 psi, to the pressure plate 20.

However, the optimum pressure and pressing time will vary according to the type of meat being processed and the initial thickness, toughness and indeed temperature of the portions. The present apparatus can readily be adapted to such different requirements simply by adjusting the pressure control valve 50 and the period of time for which the guard is lowered, to vary the control of the plate 20.

The apparatus is suitable not only for processing boneless meat portions but also for chicken limbs and other portions including a bone.

Where a base is present, it is best to load the portion into the apparatus with the bone at least partially projecting from between the tray 1 8 and plate 20. It is also preferable in this instance for the tray 1 8 to be recessed to receive the bone during flattening of the portion.

Whether the portions are boned or boneless, the flattening products have a high degree of uniformity in size and shape, and the meat is evenly distributed. Further, only one surface of each portion is marked in any way which is advantageous from the point of view of the outer appearance of the final product when the portions are wrapped about an inner filling.

For the sake of hygiene and ease of cleaning, all exposed parts of the apparatus are made from stainless steel, aluminium, or a plastics material.

The described apparatus may be modified in variqus ways. For example, the guard 34 may be arranged to slide up and down in front of the housing 10 instead of being pivotally mounted; the actuating member for the switch 44 may be positioned differently providing that it is operated when the guard is moved into its protective position; the product tray 1 8 may be controlled by a remote switch rather than operated manually; and the control system may be hydraulic not pneumatic or it may be an electrical or mechanical system.

Claims (5)

1. Meat processing apparatus comprising a pair of members relatively movable towards and away from one another, one at least of the members being provided with a plurality of sharp projections which face the other of the two members, and control means operable to advance one member relative to the other to apply a substantially steady compressive force between the members for flattening meat arranged between them.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which the projections are of pyramidal form.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or 2, further comprising a guard movable in front of and away from the members and arranged to operate to control means when it is moved in front of the members.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, in which the guard further controls movement of the members way from one another.

5. Apparatus substantially as herein particularly described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.