Apparatus and method for releasing the skin from an animal body of a furred animal

专利摘要:
The invention relates to an Apparatus (1) for releasing the skin from an animal body (40) of a furred animal, such as a mink, wherein said apparatus comprises at least one holding arrangement (50a, 50b, 70) for holding said animal body in said apparatus (1), a releasing arrangement (2) comprising at least one releasing device (5a, 5b), and a control arrangement (30) comprising a controller (31) for controlling the operation of said apparatus (1). The control arrangement (30) is configured to control the apparatus (1) to provide a relative displacement (M1) between said at least one releasing device (5a, 5b) and said animal body in the longitudinal direction (LD) of said animal body (40) by means of drive means (4) while said at least one holding arrangement (50a, 50b, 70) is arranged to hold said animal body (40), so that said releasing arrangement (2) is moved in between the skin and the body from the rear´end of said animal body, and the control arrangement (30) is moreover configured to control the apparatus (1) to provide a second, relative, rotational movement (RM) between the animal body and the at least one releasing device (5a, 5b) by drive means (6) around said animal body. Moreover, the invention relates to a method of releasing parts of animal skin from the body (40) of a furred animal, such as a mink.
公开号:DK201670527A1
申请号:DKP201670527
申请日:2016-07-15
公开日:2017-11-27
发明作者:Kurt Pedersen
申请人:Eikon Tech Holding S À R L；
IPC主号:

专利说明:

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR RELEASING THE SKIN FROM AN ANIMAL BODY OF A FURRED ANIMAL
The invention relates to an apparatus for and a method of releasing parts of animal skin from the body of a furred animal such as a mink. The invention moreover relates to a computer program and use of an apparatus.
Background
Handling the body of a dead furred animal such as a mink in order to obtain a tubular pelt from the animal body is known to be a complicated process as it requires several individual processing steps before the skin side of the fur is released from the carcass/body part of the dead animal body. Different solutions for providing an optimization of the process of freeing the pelt from the body have thus been provided.
Among such solutions is e.g. the pelting machine disclosed in EP 2 245 940 B1 which should be able to perform the whole pelting process as a continuous work process. This solution comprises among others knife units for making cutting operations between feet of the hind legs around the anus part of the animal body respectfully, and a shovel shaped member to be guided into the abdomen through the opening provided by the cutting operations. A clamp tool and a gripping member pull the entire pelt of the animal body. The machine additionally provides several further processing steps including that a measuring tool determines the position of ears, eyebrows and nose of the body, and that incision tools cuts in the border area of the eyebrows and nose of the body based on commands from the measurement tool.
The above solution provides several drawbacks including being a rather complex and expensive solution which may also not be sufficiently reliable.
Other automation solutions are likewise known, where e.g. a first operation by a first apparatus includes that a cutting operation between feet of the hind legs are provided, and that a shovel shaped member is subsequently guided into the abdomen part through the opening provided by the cutting operation to release the skin from the belly side of the animal body. This movement may also provide that a knife unit provide a cutting operation around the anus part of the animal body. When pulling out the shovel shaped member, a tail cutting arrangement cuts the tail open.
Afterwards, the animal body is moved to another work station where a fixed hook member manually is provided into the opening provided by the shovel in order to subsequently release the pelt from the back side of the body.
The above solution has shown to be time consuming and expensive as it requires manual work and may moreover require rather skilled personnel. Moreover, it may provide significant drawbacks from a working environmental point of view. A still further solution is known where a shovel shaped member is guided into the abdomen part through an opening provided by a previously provided cutting operation to release the skin from the belly side of the animal body. The shovel member is then pulled out of the body, and claws are then subsequently moved from the rear end in between the skin and carcass to grab around the hind legs and tail and are subsequently pulled away from the animal body to release the skin around the hind legs and tail. This solution may however among others e.g. provide drawbacks in relation the subsequent skinning operation.
It may e.g. be an object of the present invention to provide a solution which overcome or reduces one or more of the drawbacks provided by the above mentioned solutions.
The invention
The invention relates to an apparatus for releasing the skin from an animal body of a furred animal, such as a mink, wherein said apparatus comprises: at least one holding arrangement for holding said animal body in said apparatus, a releasing arrangement comprising at least one releasing device, and a control arrangement comprising a controller for controlling the operation of said apparatus, wherein said control arrangement is configured to control said apparatus to provide a relative displacement between said at least one releasing device and said animal body in the longitudinal direction of said animal body by means of drive means while said at least one holding arrangement is arranged to hold said animal body, so that said releasing arrangement is moved in between the skin and the body from the rear end of said animal body, and wherein said control arrangement is configured to control said apparatus to provide a second, relative, rotational movement between said animal body and said at least one releasing device by drive means around said animal body.
The present invention as disclosed above provides several advantages e.g. as it reduces the requirement of manual work needed to provide a releasing of the skin from the rear end of the animal body. Moreover, it may reduce the need for more skilled personnel. Often, the step of having a device, such as a hook device, arranged at the back side of the animal body in order to enable a releasing of the skin at the back side at the rear end of the animal body requires manual work to draw a hook around the back side of the animal body. This however entails a solution where repeated manual work is applied, which may be very wearing to the operator. The present invention however provides a solution to this issue.
Moreover a very efficient solution may be provided by the present invention where between 250 and 400, such as between 300-400 furred animal bodies per hour may be processed by the apparatus.
The rotational movement around the animal body by drive means provides that either a releasing operation during the rotation may be provided by the releasing device(s) and/or it may arrange a part of the releasing device(s) at another side of the animal body, e.g. the back side, between the skin and the body in order to provide the ability for a further releasing of the skin from the animal body by in a direction back towards the rear end of said animal body when moving the releasing arrangement back towards the rear end of the animal body by a linear movement. This may e.g. be advantageous from a working environmental point of view and also from an efficiency point of view.
The back part of the skin is generally stronger than the belly part of the skin and is hence often used for pulling when skinning the animal body. The present invention also provides an advantage in relation to this as a relatively large part of the skin is released at the back side at the rear end of the animal body. This provides an increased amount of skin to be grabbed/pulled in when subsequently skinning the body. The reason for this is that the releasing device(es) are moved around the animal body in front of the rear legs (i.e. at the side of the hind legs facing the head end of the body.), and this a large part of the skin at the back side is released compared to some of the other prior art solutions.
In preferred aspects of the present invention, said second, relative, rotational movement may be configured for moving an end part of said at least one releasing device from a first side of said animal body, such as the belly side, around the animal body to be arranged at the other side of the animal body, preferably at the back side of said animal body. This relative, rotational movement may thereby provide a releasing of a part of the skin from the belly side to the back side of the animal body and may thus provide a “belt” of released skin from the belly side to the back side of the animal body.
The relative displacement between the at least one releasing device and the animal body in the longitudinal direction of said animal body by means of drive means is preferably provided so the releasing device is moved from the rear end towards the head end of the animal body.
The at least one holding arrangement is preferably controlled by the control arrangement to hold the animal body during the relative displacement between the at least one releasing device and the animal body in the longitudinal direction of the animal body by means of drive means, and preferably also during the second relative, rotational movement.
In preferred embodiments of the invention, said relative displacement between the at least one releasing device and the animal body in the longitudinal direction of the animal body by means of said drive means is configured to provide a first releasing operation by means of said releasing arrangement in order to release said skin from said animal body, preferably in a direction away from the rear end of said animal body.
This provides an advantageous solution as a releasing a part of the skin from the furred animal body can be provided during the moving of the one or more releasing devices into the animal body, thereby e.g. providing a faster processing of the animal body to release the skin from the rear end of the body.
The first releasing operation is preferably provided to release skin at the belly side of the animal body. It is here preferred that the releasing arrangement is configured to release the skin around/at the penis area of the animal body. This may require that the releasing arrangement is moved at least 5 cm in between the skin and the carcass from the rear end, but the releasing arrangement may also in embodiments of the invention comprise a part to be moved further in between the skin and carcass, such as between 5 cm and 20 cm into the animal body between the skin and the carcass, from the opening in the rear end of the animal body. This may be the same for both male and female bodies from dead, furred animals such as mink.
The first releasing operation may e.g.in preferred aspects of the invention be provided by means of a leading end edge at a free end of the releasing device(s), or in alternative embodiments by means of a free end of a further releasing element.
The direction away from the rear end of said animal body may be understood as that the releasing arrangement is moved relatively to the body from the rear end towards the head end of the animal between the skin and the animal body.
In advantageous embodiments of the invention, said first releasing operation is configured to provide releasing of the skin from the animal body by a first, linear movement at a first side of the animal body by means of an end edge at a free end of the at least one releasing arrangement, preferably by means of a leading end edge at the at least one releasing device.
The first releasing operation is preferably configured to provide releasing of the skin from the animal body at the belly side at the rear end of said animal body during a first movement in the longitudinal direction of said animal body in a direction away from the rear end and towards the head end of the animal body to a second position
As the belly side of the animal body is relatively soft, it has shown to be a reliable and gentle way to release the animal skin at the belly side of the skin from a rear end of the animal body by a linear movement by a spade shaped element. Further steps may then be then subsequently be provided to release the skin from the back side.
The leading end edge may be preferably be provided by an edge of the at least one releasing device, as this may provide a simple and space saving solution, which may be preferred as there is limited space between the skin and the carcass.
Alternatively, it may be provided by means of an end edge of a further releasing element, such as a spade/shovel shaped element of the releasing arrangement e.g. moved in between the skin together with the at least one releasing device. Thus further releasing element may in embodiments of the invention me separate to the releasing device(s).
In preferred embodiments of the invention said first releasing operation is configured to provide releasing of the skin from the animal body in the longitudinal direction of the animal body to a second position by moving the releasing arrangement 2) into an opening at the rear end of the animal body by a substantially linear movement while the at least one holding arrangement is kept in a fixed position.
It may be a simple and reliable solution to provide the relative displacement between the at least one releasing device and the animal body in the longitudinal direction by moving a releasing arrangement into an opening at the belly side while the holding arrangement is kept in a fixed position . This may provide a less complex solution in relation to the number of movable parts at the apparatus. In alternative aspects of the invention, the movement may be provided by moving the animal body by the holding arrangements in the longitudinal direction of the animal body while not moving the releasing arrangement in the longitudinal direction of the animal body, or mutual movements of the animal body and the releasing arrangement in the longitudinal direction of the animal body may be provided.
In general it is to be understood that the second position as described above is a position where the releasing device is arranged in a position between the skin and the body carcass, from a first initial position outside the animal body.
In preferred aspects of the invention, said relative displacement between the at least one releasing device and the animal body in the longitudinal direction of the animal body is configured to be a substantially linear movement from a first position outside said animal body to a second position in between the skin and the animal carcass/body remains.
The linear movement may be provided while not providing the relative rotation in aspects of the invention, or it may be provided while providing the relative rotation in further aspects of the invention.
In advantageous embodiments of the invention, said control arrangement may be configured so that the second relative, rotational movement between the animal body and the at least one releasing device by the drive means, is configured to be provided during or after the relative displacement between said at least one releasing device and the animal body in the longitudinal direction of the animal body is provided, while the at least one releasing device is arranged in between the skin and the body.
This may provide an efficient and simple solution where the at least one releasing device is first put into the desired position at one side of the animal body, and first then the releasing devices are rotated in order to release the skin at the other side of the animal body. This may help to provide a more simple apparatus as the displacement in the longitudinal direction and the displacement around the animal body may not be provided simultaneously.
In other embodiments of the invention, said second relative, rotational movement between the animal body and the at least one releasing device by the drive means, around said animal body, is configured to be provided in between the skin and the body during the relative displacement between the at least one releasing device and the animal body in the longitudinal direction of the animal body.
In preferred embodiments of the invention, the apparatus comprises drive means configured to provide a releasing operation, such as a further releasing operation, by a relative displacement between said animal body and said at least one releasing device, to provide a releasing of said skin from said animal body in a direction towards the rear end of said animal body.
This may be provided in in different ways and will help to provide a substantially full releasing of the skin all around the rear end of said animal body, preferably by said first and further releasing operations. Accordingly, an efficient solution which is also advantageous from a working environmental point of view may be achieved as reduced manual work may be needed. Additionally, it may provide a significantly faster processing of animal bodies to release the skin from the furred animal bodies.
Accordingly, a first releasing operation may in aspects of the invention release a part of the skin during the relative displacement in the longitudinal direction of the animal body towards the head end of the animal body, and when moving the releasing arrangement out of the animal body again at the rear end, a further releasing of the skin from the animal body may be provided due to the rotational movement.
The releasing of the skin from the animal body in the direction towards the rear end of said animal body is to be understood as that a relative movement between the releasing device(s) and the animal body is provided to move the releasing device(s) away from the head end and towards the rear end of the animal body, in order to release the skin from the body.
Preferably, the same releasing arrangement(s) that is used to release the skin at the belly side may be utilized to release the skin at the back side of the body.
The (further) releasing operation may provide a releasing of the skin from a back region at the rear end of the animal body.
In preferred aspects of the invention, the control arrangement may be configured to control said apparatus to provide a first, linear, relative displacement between said at least one releasing device and said animal body in the longitudinal direction of said animal body by means of drive means while said at least one holding arrangement is arranged to hold said animal body, so that said releasing arrangement is moved from a first position and in between the skin and the body from the rear end of said animal body to a second position, preferably thereby providing a releasing of the skin in a direction towards the head end of the animal body in a first releasing operation. The control arrangement is here moreover configured to control the apparatus to provide the second, relative, rotational movement between the animal body and said at least one releasing device by drive means around the animal body, and the apparatus comprises drive means configured to provide a further releasing operation, by a second, linear relative displacement between the animal body and the at least one releasing device in the longitudinal direction of the animal body after or during the rotational movement, to provide a further releasing operation to release the skin from said animal body in a direction towards the rear end of said animal body.
By this, the skin will be released all around the rear end of said animal body by the first releasing operation, the further releasing operation and preferably also the second, relative, rotational movement as it may provide a belt of released skin during the rotational movement, whereby a very efficient solution is provided where the need for manual work is reduced, and where the same apparatus provides a releasing of the skin from both the back side and the belly side of the animal body in one working process.
Advantageously, the releasing operation, such as a further releasing operation, may in embodiments of the invention be configured to be provided by a linear movement in the longitudinal direction of said animal body, after and/or during said second, relative rotational movement, thereby releasing further skin from the animal body at the rear end of said animal body in a direction towards the rear end of said animal body.
In preferred aspects of the present invention, said relative displacement between said at least one releasing device and said animal body in the longitudinal direction of said animal body is configured to provide a first releasing operation, and wherein said first releasing operation and/or said further releasing operation as discussed at other locations in this document comprises a relative, linear movement of said releasing arrangement in the longitudinal direction of said animal body, which linear movement is preferably configured to be provided by drive means such as a linear actuator, a chain drive arrangement and/or a rail arrangement.
Alternatively, in further embodiments of the invention, the first releasing operation may be provided by moving the animal body towards the releasing arrangement while the releasing arrangement may be kept in a substantially fixed position, or both the releasing arrangement and the animal body may be moved towards each other.
The further releasing operation may preferably be a substantially linear movement from a second position in between the skin and the animal carcass/body remains to a first position outside said animal body.
The further releasing operation by a relative displacement between the animal body and the at least one releasing device is in preferred embodiments of the invention configured to provide a releasing of the animal skin from a back region at the rear end of the animal body.
The skin at the back may be more hard to release from the body compared to the skin at the belly side, as the belly side is more soft. The present invention may thus provide an advantageous solution where the skin can be released at the back side of the animal body at the rear end, as the releasing device(s) may be moved into the body between the skin and the carcass at the belly side and the rotational movement may arrange a part of the releasing device(s) at the back side in order to provide a subsequent further releasing operation at the back side towards the rear end of the animal body.
In aspects of the invention, said second, relative, rotational movement between said animal body and said at least one releasing device may be configured to be provided after a first relative displacement between said at least one releasing device and said animal body in the longitudinal direction of said animal body in order to release said animal skin in a direction towards the rear end of said animal body.
The at least one releasing device may in preferred embodiments of the invention have a hook formed shape configured so that a part of the releasing device is arranged at the back side of the animal body by said relative, rotational movement.
The hook shaped form provides that the releasing device(s) after or during the second, relative rotation will be arranged so that the releasing device(s) will release further skin from the animal carcass/body remains. This may be provided by a relative, linear movement between the animal body and the releasing device(s) to pull out the releasing device(s) from the animal body at the rear end, thereby providing that the hook form will causes a releasing of the skin.
The hook shape may be moreover be advantageous as it may help to arrange the releasing device during the relative rotational movement so the hind legs are arranged in a space provided by the hook form, and thereby the skin at the hind legs will be released subsequently by the releasing device during a releasing operation in a direction towards back the rear end of said animal body.
The releasing device may in aspects of the invention by the hook form substantially provide an L shape, an upside down T shape, or a J shape, and preferably also comprise an inner curved surface such as a concave surface.
The hook formed shape may preferably provide a free end part of the at least one releasing device.
In preferred embodiments of the invention, said at least one releasing device comprises an inner surface having a concave form.
This provides that the releasing device may extend partly around the animal carcass/body remains in between the skin and the body. For example, it may be relevant that the releasing device(s) can extend around the animal body without the hind legs getting in the way for the releasing device(s), by providing the concave form, as the releasing device can thus be guided a relative long way around the animal body between the skin and the carcass.
Preferably the releasing device(s) may comprise the combination of an inner surface having a concave form for facing the animal body, and the hook formed shape.
The second, relative, rotational movement is in preferred embodiments of the invention configured to be provided by a rotating movement of said at least one releasing device by drive means around the animal body, preferably around a rotation axis extending in the longitudinal direction of the animal body.
This may be a simple way of providing the relative rotation, compared to rotating the animal body as the rotating of the animal body may require rotating the holding arrangement(s) and the like which may be rather complex and undesirable.
Moreover, in aspects of the invention where the releasing arrangement comprises two releasing devices arranged to rotate in opposite directions, this may be a preferred solution.
The at least one holding arrangement may in preferred embodiments of the invention be configured to be arranged in a holding position to provide a holding operation of said animal body at the hind legs of the animal body, when said first releasing operation is provided, preferably by means of a first jaw set and a second jaw set.
This has shown to provide a reliable and advantageous way of holding the animal body during releasing of the skin at the belly side of the animal body. However, it may also be advantageous to continue holding the animal body by such a holding arrangement during the second, relative rotational movement.
The jaw sets are preferably arranged to be moved away from each other by a stretching arrangement.
Advantageously, said apparatus may comprise cutting means in embodiments of the invention, where the cutting means are configured for cutting off the paws of the hind legs, thereby releasing the animal body from the holding arrangement before, during or after said second, relative, rotational movement.
It may be needed to let the hind legs go in order to allow a releasing of the skin around the hind legs during the movement towards the rear end of the animal body. Cutting off the paws in the apparatus before, during or after the relative, rotational movement, may be advantageous to provide by means of the apparatus as this may omit the need of a previous cutting operation to cut off the paws before the animal body is arranged in the apparatus as a more efficient processing of the furred animal body may hereby be provide.
The second, relative rotational movement is in preferred embodiments of the invention preferably configured to arrange a part of the at least one releasing device in ahead of a hind leg of the animal body.
This helps to provide that a larger part of the skin at the rear end of the animal body is released, as the releasing device(s) is/are entered in between the skin from the rear end of the animal body, and then rotated so that they can extend at the back side of the animal body ahead of the hind legs, i.e. at the side of the hind legs facing the head end of the animal body.
In preferred embodiments of the invention, said at least one releasing device comprises an end part connected to an intermediate connection part of the at least one releasing device through one or more bends, which end part comprises a side edge configured to be a leading edge during said second, relative, rotational movement. The side edge may preferably be provided at a free projecting end of said end part.
This may e.g. provide the previously mentioned hook form/shape. wherein said first part and said second part are arranged with a mutual angle between said first part and said second part, which mutual angle is between 30° and 150° such as between 70° and 100°.
Advantageously, said at least one releasing device may in embodiments of the invention comprise a space provided by a hook shape, preferably provided by a connection part and an end part by means of one or more bends/curves, wherein said at least one releasing device comprises a projecting side edge configured to be a leading edge between the animal skin and the animal carcass/body remains during said second, relative, rotational movement between said animal body and said at least one releasing device, and wherein said connection part, during said second, relative, rotational movement is arranged to be moved in a pre-provided space between said animal skin and the body of said animal, wherein said releasing arrangement is preferably configured to provide said pre-provided space by a first releasing operation by said releasing arrangement.
Having the connection parts moving in the direction of the pre-provided space during the relative movement may help to provide a more reliable solution as the force needed to provide the relative rotation is concentrated at the projecting side edges. This may become advantageous as the rotational motion may subject a force which may cause the animal body to twist around it's longitudinal direction during the movement. Accordingly, it may be advantageous that the connection part(s) will provide a limited force during the relative, rotational movement.
The apparatus may be configured to provide the pre-provided space during a movement of the one or more releasing devices into an opening at the rear end of the animal body, towards the head end of the animal body to a second position, or alternatively, the pre-provided space, or alternatively the pre-provided space may have been provided by a further releasing element of the releasing arrangement.
In preferred embodiments of the invention, said releasing arrangement comprises two releasing devices, wherein said releasing devices are configured to be moved in opposite directions around said animal body by drive means to provide said second, relative, rotational movement.
Providing a releasing arrangement comprising two releasing devices may provide several advantages. For example, it may provide a more reliable solution as each releasing device thus does not need to be moved as much around the animal body in order to e.g. be arranged at the back side of the furred animal body between the skin and the body carcass/remains if the furred animal body. This may moreover reduce the risks of damaging the animal skin during the relative rotational movement.
Moreover, it may provide advantages in aspects of the invention where the animal body is held at the hind legs during the relative, rotational movement as the hind legs may provide a limitation of the rotation around the animal body.
Free ends/ side edges of the releasing devices may thus meet on the opposite side of the animal body after the rotational movement, and preferably overlap, and a releasing operation back towards the rear end of the animal body may hence be provided.
Said releasing arrangement may preferably, in embodiments of the invention comprise two hook shaped releasing devices providing a mutual space enclosed by intermediate connection parts and end parts with free ends and preferably also connected end parts of said releasing devices, wherein the apparatus is configured so that said mutual space is provided while the releasing devices are arranged in a first position relative to each other during said relative displacement between said releasing devices and said animal body in the longitudinal direction of said animal body, and/or subsequent to the second, relative, rotational movement, preferably so that end parts overlaps.
This may be advantageous during the relative displacement between said releasing devices and said animal body in the longitudinal direction of the animal body as it may provide a substantial releasing operation such, as the previously mentioned first releasing operation during the movement, as the hook shapes thereby provides a rather broad, leading end edge that may release skin from the animal body, preferably at the belly side of the animal body.
Additionally/altematively, it may be advantageous subsequent to the second, relative, rotational movement as the mutual space may now be enclosing a part of the animal body that will be released when moving the hook shaped releasing devices out of the body again, as an upper edge of the hook shaped element will provide a releasing operation towards the rear end of the animal.
In aspects of the invention wherein said releasing arrangement comprises two releasing devices, the apparatus may be configured so that at least a part of said releasing devices, such as end parts, are configured to mutually overlap during said first releasing operation to release the skin from the animal carcass/body remains during: • the relative displacement between said releasing devices and the animal body in the longitudinal direction of said animal body towards the head end of the animal body, preferably to release the skin from the animal body towards the head end, and/or • a further releasing operation where the releasing arrangement is moved back towards the rear end of the animal body, thereby providing a releasing of said skin from said animal body in a direction back towards the rear end of said animal body.
In preferred embodiments of the invention, said apparatus comprises body holding means, which body holding means are configured to be operated by said control arrangement to hold the animal body at location between the head end of said animal body and the hind legs of said animal body, preferably during said relative, rotational movement and/or during a further releasing operation by the at least one releasing device towards the rear end of the animal body.
This may be advantageous in order to provide a sufficient holding force of the animal body during the second relative, rotational movement in order to prevent or reduce a twisting of the animal body during the relative movement. It may also be advantageous in order to provide a holding force when providing a provide a releasing of the skin from the animal body in a direction towards the rear end of said animal body during rotation of a releasing device having a helical shape, and/or during a linear movement of the releasing device to pull the releasing device out of the animal body again, and thereby provide a releasing operation to release the skin from the animal body in a direction towards the rear end of said animal.
The at least one releasing device may in advantageous embodiments of the invention comprise a distancing part and a bend/curve at a connected end part of the at least one releasing device, wherein said distancing part provides that a rotation axis around which said second, relative rotational movement is configured to be provided is positioned in over the rear end of the animal body during the rotational movement, and wherein said bend/curve is configured to provide that said at least one releasing device extends from said distancing part and along the longitudinal direction of the animal body so that the at least one releasing device extend in between the skin and the animal carcass/body remains.
This may e.g. provide a simple solution for a releasing device in order to provide one or more of the above mentioned effects, as the distancing part will provide that the releasing device will be rotated with a distance (e.g. corresponding substantially to the radius of the animal body at the rear end of the animal body) to the rotational axis and thus around the animal carcass while the releasing device extends in the longitudinal direction of the animal body in between the skin and the animal carcass. The distancing part may preferably be arranged outside of the animal body, over the rear end of the animal body, during the relative rotation.
In embodiments of the invention, said at least one releasing device may comprise a helical shape with a centre space in the longitudinal direction of said at least one releasing device for receiving the carcass/body remains of said animal body during said relative displacement between the at least one releasing device and the animal body in the longitudinal direction of said animal body, and during said second, relative, rotational movement.
Accordingly, in the embodiments comprising a helically shaped releasing device, the apparatus may comprise: at least one holding arrangement for holding the animal body in the said apparatus, a releasing arrangement comprising a helically shaped releasing device, with a centre space extending in the longitudinal direction of the releasing device, and a control arrangement comprising a controller for controlling the operation of the apparatus, wherein the control arrangement is configured to control the apparatus to provide a relative displacement between the helical releasing device and the animal body in the longitudinal direction of the animal body by means of drive means of the apparatus while rotating the helical releasing device around its longitudinal direction by drive means and while said at least one holding arrangement is arranged to hold the animal body, so that the releasing arrangement is moved in between the skin and the body from the rear end of said animal body and so that the carcass/body remains of the animal body extends into the centre space of the helically shaped releasing device.
The control arrangement may thus be configured to rotate the helically shaped releasing device by drive means during said relative displacement between the at least one releasing device and the animal body in the longitudinal direction of said animal body to arrange the releasing device in between the skin and the body carcass, so the helical releasing device to extends around said animal body.
This may provide a simple and efficient solution for arranging the releasing device at the proper location between the carcass and the skin in order to release the skin. The helical releasing device so to say drills in between the skin and the carcass during the movement in the longitudinal movement so the carcass is arranged in the centre space of the releasing device, providing a helical “trail” of released skin during this movement. The releasing device may thus be arranged at both the belly side and the back side due to the rotation during the movement in the longitudinal direction of the animal body.
This embodiment may provide one or more of the previously mentioned advantages as it may provide a solution that may improve the working environment of operators and/or provide an efficient solution where processing steps may be omitted and/or more furred animal bodies, such as mink bodies, may be processed per hour.
In embodiments of the invention, the control arrangement may be configured to stop said rotation when the helical releasing device is in a second position and the releasing device preferably is located at the back side of the rear end part of the animal body, and then subsequently provide a linear movement in the longitudinal direction of the animal body to provide a releasing of the skin from the animal body in a direction towards the rear end of the animal body by means of an upper edge of the releasing device facing towards the rear end of the animal body.
In this embodiment, after the rotation to place the releasing device in between the carcass and the skin, the releasing device is designed to extend all around the animal body so that a movement of the releasing device to pull the releasing device out at the rear end of the animal body while the holding arrangement(s), such as the body holding arrangement, holds the body, will release the skin all around the animal body at the back side and belly side.
The control arrangement may also, in embodiments of the invention be configured to continue said relative, rotational movement after said relative displacement between the at least one helically shaped releasing device and the animal body in the longitudinal direction of said animal body is stopped.
This will provide that the helical releasing device will continue to move around the animal body, and thus an upper edge facing towards the rear end of the animal body will provide a releasing operation towards the rear end of the animal body during the rotation. The releasing device is then subsequently pulled out of the animal body, or pulled out during the rotation.
Also in this embodiment it might be preferred that the releasing device is designed to extend all around the animal body. However, alternatively, as the rotation of the releasing device is provided after the movement in the longitudinal direction of the animal body (towards the head end) is stopped, the releasing device will eventually be moved all around the animal body to release the skin.
The invention moreover relates to a method of releasing parts of animal skin from the body of a furred animal, such as a mink, by means of an apparatus, which apparatus comprises a holding arrangement, and a releasing arrangement comprising at least one releasing device, wherein said method comprises the steps of: arranging said animal body in said holding arrangement, providing a relative displacement between said at least one releasing device and said animal body in the longitudinal direction of the animal body by drive means while the holding arrangement holds said animal body, so that said at least one releasing device is moved in between the skin and the body from the rear end of said animal body, and providing a second, relative, rotational movement between said animal body and said at least one releasing device by drive means around said animal body while said holding arrangement holds said animal body.
Generally, it is to be understood that the method as described above and the embodiments described below relating to the method may provide one or more of e.g. the above mentioned advantageous/effects.
In preferred embodiments of the method, said relative displacement between said at least one releasing device and said animal body in the longitudinal direction of said animal body by means of drive means provides a first releasing operation in order to release said skin from said animal body, preferably in a direction away from the rear end of said animal body.
In preferred embodiments of the method, the first releasing operation provides releasing of the skin from the animal body at the belly side at the rear end of the animal body during a first movement in the longitudinal direction of said animal body in a direction away from the rear end of said animal body, which first movement preferably is a linear movement.
In preferred embodiments of the method, said first releasing operation releases the skin from the animal body at the belly side at the rear end part of said animal body during a first movement in the longitudinal direction of said animal body, preferably by moving the releasing arrangement into an opening at the rear end of the animal body by a substantially linear movement while said holding arrangement is kept in a fixed position.
The first releasing operation may in preferred embodiments of the method, provide a releasing of the skin from the animal body at the rear end of the belly side of said animal body.
The at least one releasing device may in preferred embodiments of the method comprise a leading end edge at a free end of said releasing arrangement, which end edge releases the skin from said animal body during a first releasing operation.
In embodiments of the method, the second relative, rotational movement between the animal body and the at least one releasing device by the drive means, around said animal body, is provided in between the skin and the body during or after the relative displacement between the at least one releasing device and the animal body in the longitudinal direction of the animal body towards the head end of the animal body.
In preferred embodiments of the method, drive means provides a releasing operation, such as a further releasing operation, by a relative displacement between said animal body and said at least one releasing device, to provide a releasing of said skin from said animal body in a direction towards the rear end of said animal body.
The relative displacement between said animal body and said at least one releasing device in a direction towards the rear end of said animal body is in preferred embodiments of the method provided by a linear movement in the longitudinal direction of said animal body, after and/or during said second, relative rotational movement, thereby releasing further skin from the animal body at the rear end of said animal body in a direction towards the rear end of said animal body by an upper edge of said at least one releasing device.
In preferred aspects of the present invention, said relative displacement between said at least one releasing device and said animal body in the longitudinal direction of said animal body is configured to provide a first releasing operation, and wherein said first releasing operation and/or said further releasing operation as discussed at other locations in this document comprises a relative, linear movement of said releasing arrangement in the longitudinal direction of said animal body, which linear movement is preferably configured to be provided by drive means such as a linear actuator, a chain drive arrangement and/or a rail arrangement.
Alternatively, in further embodiments of the invention, the first releasing operation may be provided by moving the animal body towards the releasing arrangement while the releasing arrangement may be kept in a substantially fixed position, or both the releasing arrangement and the animal body may be moved towards each other.
The further releasing operation by a relative displacement between said animal body and said at least one releasing device releases the animal skin from a back region at the rear end of said animal body in preferred embodiments of the method.
The second, relative, rotational movement between the animal body and said at least one releasing device is in advantageous embodiments of the method provided after said relative displacement between said at least one releasing device and said animal body in the longitudinal direction of said animal body.
Advantageously, according to embodiments of the method, said second, relative, rotational movement provides a releasing of a part of the skin from the belly side to the back side of said animal body.
The skin is in preferred embodiments of the method released all around the rear end of said animal body by a first releasing operation in a direction towards the head end of said animal body, and a subsequent further releasing operation in a direction towards the rear end of said animal body during or after said second relative rotational movement.
In embodiments of the method, the at least one releasing device may have a helical shape with a centre space extending in the longitudinal direction of said at least one releasing device, and wherein said centre space receives the carcass/body remains of said animal body during said relative displacement between the at least one releasing device and the animal body in the longitudinal direction of said animal body, during said second, relative, rotational movement, to arrange the helical releasing device around the animal body between the skin and the fur while the carcass extends into said centre space.
This embodiment may provide one or more of the previously mentioned advantages as it may provide a solution that may improve the working environment of operators and/or provide an efficient solution where processing steps may be omitted and/or more furred animal bodies, such as mink bodies, may be processed per hour.
The control arrangement may in embodiments of the method stop the rotational movement by drive means when the helical releasing device is in a second position and the releasing device preferably is located at the back side of the rear end part of the animal body, and the control arrangement may then control drive means to provide a linear movement in the longitudinal direction of the animal body to provide a releasing of the skin from the animal body in a direction towards the rear end of the animal body by means of an upper edge of the releasing device facing towards the rear end of the animal body.
In this embodiment, after the rotation to place the releasing device in between the carcass and the skin, the releasing device is designed to extend all around the animal body so that a movement of the releasing device to pull the releasing device out at the rear end of the animal body while the holding arrangement(s), such as the body holding arrangement, holds the body, will release the skin all around the animal body at the back side and belly side.
The control arrangement may also/altematively, in embodiments of the method continue said relative, rotational movement after the relative, linear displacement between the at least one releasing device and the animal body in the longitudinal direction of said animal body is stopped, thereby providing a releasing of the skin from the animal body, preferably by an upper edge facing the rear end of the animal body. A holding arrangement may in embodiments of the method be arranged in a holding position providing a holding operation of said animal body at the hind legs of the animal body, at least while said first releasing operation is provided, preferably by means of a first jaw set and a second jaw set which preferably are arranged to moved away from each other by a stretching arrangement to stretch the hind legs away from each other.
The apparatus may also, in embodiments of the method comprise cutting means which cuts off the paws of the hind legs, thereby releasing the animal body from the holding arrangement before, during or after said second, relative, rotational movement.
In preferred embodiments of the method, said apparatus comprises body holding means, which body holding means holds the animal body at location between the head end of said animal body and the hind legs of said animal body, preferably during said relative, rotational movement and/or during a releasing operation by the at least one releasing device towards the rear end of the animal body.
In advantageous embodiments of the method, said releasing arrangement comprises two releasing devices which are moved in opposite directions around said animal body by drive means to provide said second, relative, rotational movement.
The releasing arrangement may in embodiments of the method comprise two hook shaped releasing devices providing a mutual space enclosed by intermediate connection parts and end parts with free ends and preferably also connected end parts of said releasing devices, wherein said mutual space is provided while the releasing devices are arranged in a first position relative to each other during said relative displacement between said releasing devices and said animal body in the longitudinal direction of said animal body, and/or subsequent to the second, relative, rotational movement.
The releasing devices may in embodiments of the invention comprise end parts arranged to overlap during the first relative displacement between said at least one releasing device and said animal body in the longitudinal direction of the animal body towards the head end of said animal body by drive means, and/or during a further releasing operation by a relative displacement between said animal body and said at least one releasing device, to provide a releasing of said skin from said animal body in a direction towards the rear end of said animal body.
This may help to provide an improved releasing operation as connective tissue, the skin and/or the like may not get stuck in between the releasing devices, thereby either bending the releasing devices during the movement or tearing holes in the skin. The overlapping may be provided in different ways, e.g. • By the end parts overlapping so that the inner surface of the first end part 10a of a first releasing device, faces the outer surface of the the first part of the second releasing device, and/or • By that the end parts of the releasing devices to mutually overlap so that one of the end parts if the first releasing device is arranged behind the end part of the other releasing device, preferably so that the other end part provides the, free end of the releasing arrangement. Hence, one end part will be arranged behind the other end part during the movement(s) in the longitudinal direction of the animal body.
The invention moreover relates to an apparatus according to any of claims 1-24, which apparatus (1) is configured to provide the method of any of claims 25-46.
Also, the invention relates to a computer program product which, when installed in a data storage of a control arrangement of an apparatus according to any of claims 1-24, is configured to provide the method of any of claims 25-46.
Moreover, the invention relates to use of an apparatus according to any of claims 1-24 and/or a method according to any of claims 25-46 for releasing the skin at the rear end part of a dead furred animal body such as a mink body.
Figures
Aspects of the present disclosure will be described in the following with reference to the figures in which: figs. 1-2 : illustrates an apparatus for releasing the skin from an animal body of a furred animal such as a mink according to embodiments of the invention, fig. 3 : illustrates a releasing arrangement for releasing the skin from an animal body seen in perspective according to embodiments of the invention, comprising overlapping parts, figs. 4a-4c : illustrates different embodiments of a releasing device according to embodiments of the invention, figs. 5a-5d : schematically illustrates the operation of the apparatus in order to provide a releasing of the skin from a furred animal body at the rear end of the animal body according to embodiments of the invention. fig. 6a-6c : illustrates embodiments of the invention seen in perspective according to embodiments of the invention, figs. 7-8 : illustrates further embodiments of a releasing arrangement according to embodiments of the invention, fig. 8 : illustrates an apparatus for releasing the skin from an animal body seen in perspective according to embodiments of the invention, comprising overlapping parts, fig. 9 : illustrates a further embodiment of a releasing arrangement according to embodiments of the invention, comprising overlapping parts, figs. 10a-10b : illustrates an embodiment of a releasing arrangement during a second relative, rotational movement according to embodiments of the invention, seen from the above. figs. 1 la-1 lb : illustrates an embodiment of a releasing arrangement during a second relative, rotational movement according to embodiments of the invention, seen from the above, where the releasing arrangement does comprises a further releasing element. fig. 12 : illustrates embodiments of a flow chart for the operation of the apparatus 1 by means of a control arrangement according to embodiments of the invention, fig. 13 : illustrates an embodiment of the control arrangement of the apparatus according to embodiments of the invention, and figs. 14-15c : illustrates embodiments of the invention where the apparatus comprises a releasing device having a helical shape
Detailed description
Figs. 1 and 2 schematically illustrates an apparatus 1 for releasing the skin from an animal body of a furred animal such as a mink at the rear end of the animal body according to embodiments of the invention
The apparatus 1 comprises a releasing arrangement 2 for releasing a part of the skin from an animal body such as a body of a dead animal mink.
The releasing arrangement 2 is displaceable relative to a stationary frame structure 3 of the apparatus 1 from a first upper position POS1 to a second lower position POS2, preferably in a substantially linear movement Ml such as a movement provided by drive means 4. The drive means 4 may be electrical drive means, pneumatic drive means and/or any outer suitable drive means, and may e.g. comprise a linear actuator, a chain drive (not illustrated), a rail arrangement (not illustrated) and/or any suitable means for providing a linear movement.
The movement from the first position POS1 to the second position POS 2 is preferably downwardly directed from an upper position POS1 to a lower position POS2 and e.g. substantially vertical.
The movement Ml from the first position POS1 to the second position POS 2 is configured to provide a first releasing operation in order to releasing of the skin from the animal body at the belly side at the rear end of the animal body by a leading end edge 8a at a free end 7 of the releasing arrangement 2, as e.g. described in more details later on.
The releasing arrangement 2 comprises two releasing devices 5a, 5b.
In the example of fig. 1 and 2, the releasing device 5a having the lowest edge 8a at the free 7 end is arranged to provide the releasing operation during the first movement from POS1 to POS2.
Each releasing devices 5a, 5b extends from a connected end part 18a, 18b to a first, upper bend 15a, 15b connecting the connected end part 18a, 18b to an intermediate connection part 11a, 1 lb of the respective releasing device 5a, 5b. The intermediate connection part 11a, lib extends from this first bend 15 a, 15b to a second, lower bend 12a, 12b, connecting an end part 10a, 10b of the respective releasing device with a free end 9a, 9b to the intermediate connection part 11a, 1 lb of the respective releasing device 5a, 5b, The end part 10a, 10b of the releasing devices 5a, 5b thus extends from the bends 12a, 12b of the respective device 5 a, 5b.
The lower bends 12a, 12b and the upper bends 15 a, 15b of the first releasing device 5a together provide a space 17 enclosed by the intermediate connection parts 11a, 1 lb, the end parts 10a, 10b with the free ends 9a, 9b and the connected end part 18a, 18b during the movement from the first position POS1 to the second position POS2.
The two releasing devices 5a, 5b are configured to provide a second, relative, rotational movement RM between the animal body and the releasing devices 5a, 5b by drive means 6 around the animal body. In the present embodiment as illustrated in figs. 1 and 2, the releasing devices 5a, 5b are moved by drive means 6 in opposite rotation directions around an axis AX1 after the first releasing operation has been provided, to arrange end parts 10a, 10b with a free end 9a, 9b of the respective releasing device 5 a, 5b at the back part of the animal body. This rotational movement RM may also e.g. release further parts of the pelt around the animal body in a “belt” around the animal body.
The drive means 6 are arranged to rotate the devices 5 a, 5b by operating the connected end parts 18a, 18b. The drive means 6 may comprise one or more electric motors, pneumatic (e.g. linear) actuators connected e.g. connected to a gearing arrangement (not illustrated) to provide a rotation of the releasing devices 5a, 5b and/or the like.
Generally, it is to be understood that the relative, rotational movement RM may be provided around one or more axes AX1 in embodiments of the invention, the releasing device(s) 5a, 5b may be guided by guiding trails in a guiding plate or the like (not illustrated) in order to assure that the releasing devices provides the suitable rotational movement to place the end parts 10a, 10b at the back part of the animal body, and/or the rotational movement may be provided by any other suitable means.
Each of the releasing devices 5 a, 5b comprises a side edge 9a, 9b at the free end of end parts 10a, 10b the respective releasing device 5a, 5b, and this side edge 9a, 9b will be a leading edge during the rotation by the drive means 6, around the axis AX1 and this edge may release a part of the skin around the animal body.
The side edges 9a, 9b is provided at the free end of a first end part 10a, 10b which is connected to an intermediate connection part 11a, 1 lb of the respective releasing device 5a, 5b at a bend 12a, 12b. The end parts 10a, 10b of the releasing device thus extends from the bends 12a, 12b of the respective device 5a, 5b.
The bends 12a, 12b may in embodiments provide an L shape, an upside down T shape, or a J shape.
At least the end parts 10a, 10b of the releasing devices 5a, 5b may in embodiments of the invention comprises an inner surface 13 a, 13b having a concave form so that the end parts 10a, 10b will extend partly around the animal body between the skin pelt and the body when the releasing arrangement 2 is in the second position POS2.
The apparatus 1 comprises control arrangement 30 comprising a controller 31 for controlling the operation of the apparatus 1.
The control arrangement 30 is not illustrated in fig. 1 in order to enhance simplicity of the drawings, see e.g. fig. 13.
The controller 31 may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU) receiving instructions from a program code stored in a data storage, 32, and thereby operates the apparatus 1 by means of an Input/output arrangement 33 for transmitting command signals to e.g. the drive means 4, 6 and preferably also receiving input signals provided by an operator (e.g. start, stop, emergency shutdown etc.), measurements, status signals and/or the like.
For example, the control arrangement 30 may comprise a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) or any other suitable control arrangement.
In figs. 1 and 2, the lower edge 8a for releasing the pelt from the body during the first movement is provided by an edge at a first end part 10a of the first releasing device 5a, which is arranged in front of the end part 10b of the second releasing device 5b, and this provides the leading edge 8a during the movement from the first position POS1 to the second position POS2, while the lower edge 8b of the end part 10b is arranged behind the first end part 10b of the first releasing device 5 a during the movement Ml from the first position POS1 to the second position POS2. A part of the end parts 10a, 10b of the releasing devices 5a, 5b may be configured to mutually overlap at the end of said second, relative, rotational movement RM as illustrated in fig 2. This overlapping is in fig. 2 provided so that one of the end parts 10b is arranged behind the other end part 10a, so that the other end part provides the, free end 7 of the releasing arrangement 2. This provides that when providing the further releasing operation to pull the releasing devices 5 a, 5b out of the animal body to release the skin at the back part of the animal body, the end part providing the free end 7 of the releasing arrangement 2 may be pulled by drive means 4, and the end part 10a will thus grab other end part 10b and thereby also assure that the second releasing device 10b is pulled out of the animal body.
In another embodiment of the invention, as illustrated in fig. 3, the end parts 10a, 10b may overlap to be arranged on top of each other during the movement from the first position POS1 to the second position POS2 so that the inner surface 13a of the first part 10a of the first releasing device 5a, faces the outer surface 14b of the of the first part 10b of the second releasing device 5 as illustrated in fig. 3. Hence, the outer surface 14a of the first part 10a of the first releasing device 5 a will face the skin side of the fur released from the body, while the inner surface 13b of the of the first part 10b of the second releasing device 5b will face the carcass during the movement from the first position POS1 to the second position POS2.
At least one of the end parts 10a, 10b comprises an upper edge 19a, 19b for releasing the pelt from the body after the second, rotational movement RM has been performed, in the embodiments of fig. 1 and 2, it is the end part 10b that comprises this edge 19b as it is the uppermost edge of the two end parts 10a, 10b that faces the space 17. In other embodiments as illustrated in e.g. fig. 3, the upper edges 19a, 19b may in corporation provide the releasing operation as the parts 10a, 10b overlaps.
In preferred embodiments of the invention, the one or more releasing devices 5a, 5b has a hook formed shape as e.g. illustrated in the figures, preferably in order for the end parts to be moved to the back side of the animal body while holding the animal body at its hind legs with the hind legs spread away from each other.
Figs. 4a - 4c illustrates different shapes of a releasing device 5a, 5b according to embodiments of the invention.
Fig. 4a illustrates an advantageous releasing device 5a according to embodiments of the invention where the releasing device 5 a is made from a bended, rounded metal bar such as a round steel bar. The concave inner surface 13a and the bend 12a are thus provided by bending the steel bar, but it is to be understood that e.g. the bend 12a, and/or 15a may also be provided by a welding or soldering operation.
Figs. 1-2, 3, 4b and 4c illustrates other embodiments of the invention where a releasing device 5 a is provided by a plate shaped material such as a metal plate which may e.g. provide a concave form by being pre-shaped, for example by cutting the releasing device from a metal pipe, or it may be provided by bends in a substantially plane metal plate.
In fig. 4b, the end part 10a with the free end 9a may comprise a gradually inclining upper edge 19a so that the upper edge, during the second rotational movement provides a gradual releasing of a part of the skin towards the rear end of the animal body as the rotational movement is provided, e.g. by rotating the device 5a around the axis AX1.
In fig. 4b, the length L2 of the side edge 9a of the free end part is about 3/4 of the Length LI of the device 5 a.
Generally, the length L2 of the side edge measured from the lower edge 8a to the area where the intermediate connection part 1 la is thinnest may be between 1/70 and 3/4 of the length LI of the device 5 a. Preferably however, the length L2 of the side edge 9a measured from the lower edge 8a to the area where the intermediate connection part 1 la is thinnest may be no more than 1/4 of the length LI. It may be easier to provide a reliable operation when providing the rotational movement with a side edge 9a not being so long, as less resistance may be provided by the animal body to the side edge 9a during the rotation with the edge 9a being no more than 1/4 of the length LI.
Common to all of the releasing devices disclosed in figs. l-4c is that they provides a space 17a, and the edge 9a will be a leading edge during the rotational movement whereas the connection part 11 connecting the end part 10 and the connected part 18a will be moved in the space provided between the animal skin and the body during the first releasing operation. Moreover, the space 17a allows the side edge 9a to extend around the animal body below the hind legs of the animal body, while the hind legs preferably are arranged in a holding arrangement as described in more details later on.
It is to be understood that the apparatus 1 may comprise two releasing devices 5 a, 5b as illustrated and described above, as disclosed in e.g. figs. 4a-4c, where both of the releasing devices 5 a, 5b are substantially similar, but may have oppositely directed side edges as illustrated in figs 1 or 3.
For example, both releasing devices may be made from a round metal bar such as a round steel bar, where each releasing device provides a space 17a, 17b and has oppositely directed free ends 9a, 9b.
In preferred embodiments of the invention, the side/end edges 9a, 9b are blunt, and e.g. rounded so that they do not damage the skin or the animal body during the rotational movement to place the edges 9a, 9b at the back side of the animal body.
Figs. 5a-5d schematically illustrates the operation of the apparatus 1 in order to provide a releasing of the skin from a furred animal body 40 at the rear end of the animal body 40.
Firstly, as illustrated in fig. 5a., the hind paws 41a, 41b of the animal body 40 are arranged in a holding arrangement 50a, 50b including a first jaw set 50a for receiving and holding a first hind paw/leg 41a, and a second jaw set 50b for receiving and holding a second hind paw/leg 41b. The fore legs 44 may thus hang freely from the animal body 40, and the animal body 40 hangs downwards from the holding arrangement.
The jaw arrangements 50a, 50b or other suitable holding arrangements may be arranged to be moved away from each other in embodiments of the invention, e.g. horizontally, in order to provide a spreading/stretching operation SO, to spread the hind legs 41a, 41b away from each other. This exposes the rear end 42 of the animal body, so that the releasing arrangement can be moved into the opening 43 at the rear end 42. The opening 43 may be provided by a cutting unit 60 arranged to be moved from one hind leg to the other to provide a cutting operation CO. It is to be understood that the apparatus 1 may comprise such a cutting unit 60, such as a circular saw or the like, in embodiments of the invention. In other embodiments, the cutting operation CO may have been provided before the animal body 40 is arranged in the holding arrangement 50a, 50b.
In fig. 5b, the releasing arrangement 2 is moved into the opening 43 of the animal body at the belly side of the animal body 40, from the rear end 42 of the animal body 40 in a first movement Ml between the skin 45 and the carcass 46, thereby providing a space 47 between the carcass 46 and the skin 45 at the belly side of the furred animal body 40. The movement Ml is in the longitudinal direction LD of the animal body from the first position POS1 to the second position POS2 (see e.g. figs. 1-2). The lower, leading edge 8a at the free end of the releasing arrangement 2 hereby provides a releasing of the animal skin 45 from the rest of the carcass in a first releasing operation.. The intermediate connection parts 11a, lib can thus be moved relatively freely between the carcass 46 and the pelt/skin 47 during the subsequent second rotational movement where the side edges 9a, 9b are moved around the animal body in this space provided during the first movement.
In embodiments of the invention, the apparatus 1 may comprise a body holding arrangement 70 for holding at least partly around the animal body 40, e.g. by jaws 71a, 71b which are moved between an open position and a holding position by drive means 72 such as a an electric motor, a linear actuator or the like of the holding arrangement 70. The body holding arrangement preferably holds the body 40 between the fore legs 44a, 44b and the hind legs 41a, 41b. The holding by the arrangement 70 is preferably provided below the lowest edge 8a of the releasing arrangement 2 when the releasing arrangement 2 is in the second position POS2 and arranged in between the skin 45and the carcass 45 at the belly side of the animal body 40.
In fig. 5c, the second, relative, rotational movement RM between the animal body 40 and the releasing devices 5 a, 5b is provided by drive means (not illustrated) around the animal body.
By this rotational movement RM, the leading edges 9a, 9b of the parts 10a, 10b are moved from the belly side to the back side of the animal body 40 between the skin 45 and the carcass 46. The intermediate parts 11a, lib are during this movement RM moved in the space 47 at the belly side provided by the lower edge 8a during the first releasing operation, and will thus be exposed to almost no force during the rotational movement RM.
During the movement RM, where the leading edges 9a, 9b of the parts 10a, 10b are moved from the belly side to the back side of the animal body 40 between the skin 45 and the carcass 46, the edges 9a, 9b will release a part of the skin around the animal body from the carcass 46.
The releasing devices 5 a, 5b are moved around the animal body so that the end parts 10a, 10b comprising the leading edges 9a, 9b of the hook shaped releasing devices 5a, 5b may overlap after the movement RM has been finished as illustrated in fig. 5c. Alternatively, or additionally, the overlapping of the end parts 10a, 10b as disclosed in figs. 1 and 2 may be provided in further embodiments of the invention where one of the end parts 10b is arranged behind the other end part 10a, so that the other end part provides the, free end 7 of the releasing arrangement 2.
Generally, in further embodiments of the invention, which are not illustrated, the relative, rotational movement RM may be at least partly provided by providing a rotation of the animal body 40 around its longitudinal direction LD, e.g.by means of moving/displacing the holding arrangement 70. This may e.g. provide that just one releasing device 5 a, 5b may be needed.
In still further embodiments of the invention, which is not illustrated, one releasing device 5a, 5b, preferably with a hook shape, as e.g. described above or below, may be moved substantially all around the animal body while the animal body is held by holding means of the apparatus 1 such as the body holding means 70, thereby omitting the other releasing device so that just one releasing device is used.
Fig 5d illustrates the further releasing operation provided by the releasing devices 5a, 5b, where a relative displacement M2 between the animal body 40 and the releasing devices 5a, 5b is provided in the longitudinal direction LD of the animal body 40, after the second, relative rotational movement RM has been provided, or during the second, relative rotational movement, thereby releasing further skin from the animal body at the rear end 42 of the animal body 40 at the back side. Thereby, the skin 45 is released from the carcass 46 at the back side of the animal body as the releasing devices are pulled out through the opening 43 again in a second (e.g. linear) movement M2. This releasing is provided by the upper edges 19a, 19b of the end parts 10a, 10b providing a hook shape of the respective releasing device 5a, 5b.
The further releasing operation may preferably be provided while the holding arrangement 70 for holding at least partly around the animal body 40 still holds the animal body 40 in order to provide a counter force during the second movement M2.
The apparatus 1 may in embodiments of the invention comprise a cutting arrangement with one or more cutting devices 80a, 80b for cutting off the paws 41a, 41b of the hind legs during the relative rotational movement RM, or after the rotational movement RM has been provided, or the holding arrangements 50a, 50b may in other embodiments of the invention be moved to an open position. This may in embodiments of the invention be provided in order to allow the connection parts 11a, 1 lb to be moved further around the animal body towards the back side of the body 40, and/or in order to allow the subsequent further releasing operation as illustrated in fig. 5d so that the pelt/skin is also released around the hind legs during the further releasing operation.
Thus, the further releasing operation may be provided while the holding arrangement 70 for holding at least partly around the animal body 40 still holds the animal body 40 in order to provide a counter force during the second movement M2, as the holding arrangements 50a, 50b may not hold the animal body during this second movement.
Accordingly, in embodiments of the invention, the first releasing operation with the movement Ml may provide a releasing of the skin from the animal body at the rear end 42 of the belly side of the animal body 40, the said second, relative, rotational movement RM may provide a releasing of a part of the skin from the belly side to the back side of said animal body, and the further releasing operation by the movement M2 may release the skin from a back region at the rear end of said animal body 42. Thus, the skin 45 may be released from the carcass 46 all around the rear end 42 of the animal body 40 by the first releasing operation into the animal body in the opening 43, the second, relative, rotational movement RM and the further releasing operation back towards the opening 43.
In the first figure 5 a, the releasing devices 5 a, 5b are arranged to provide the mutual space 17 between the intermediate parts 11a, lib and the end parts 10a, 10b providing the hook form due to the bends 12a, 12b as previously described. This is provided at the belly side of the animal body.
The lower edges 8a, 8b at the free end 7 of the releasing arrangement 2 of the releasing device 5 a may be used for providing the first releasing operation of the skin from the rear end of the animal body.
In the figure 5 c, the releasing devices 5 a, 5b are again arranged to provide the mutual space 17 between the intermediate parts 11a, lib and the end parts 10a, 10b, after the relative, rotational movement RM has been provided by a rotation around the axis AX1 so that the end parts 10a, 10b are arranged at the other side / back side of the rear end of the animal body 40.
Figs. 6a-6c illustrates embodiments of the invention seen in perspective, where the first releasing operation, the second, relative rotational movement RM, and the further releasing operation are provided. The releasing arrangement 2 is illustrated relative to the carcass of the animal body, and the skin has been omitted to enhance simplicity and understanding. For the same reason, holding arrangement 50a, 50b, 70, optional cutting arrangement 80a, 80b and cutting unit 60 and/or the like have been omitted from the drawings 6a-6c. It is however to be understood that the releasing devices 5a, 5b in practice, during the operation in figs. 6a-6c will be arranged between the animal skin 45 and the carcass/body remains 46 of the animal body by being moved into an opening/hole in the rear end of the animal body 40.
Initially, the animal body is arranged in the apparatus 1 by holding arrangements 50a, 50b and/or 70 e.g. as previously described.
In fig 6a, the releasing devices 5 a, 5b are then moved in the longitudinal direction LD of the animal body in the first movement Ml, in between the skin of the body and the carcass 46 from the rear end of the animal body at the belly side of the animal body. This may provide the first releasing operation by means of the releasing arrangements 5a, 5b. Alternatively, the first releasing operation may have been provided before the releasing devices 5a, 5b are moved into the animal body by the first movement Ml, e.g. by another releasing element as disclosed in more details later on.
Then, the relative, rotational movement RM, illustrated in fig. 6b is provided, in this embodiment around a rotation axis AX1 extending substantially in the longitudinal direction LD of the animal body 40. The releasing devices 5a, 5b are thus moved in opposite directions around the axis, so that the left releasing device 5b is rotated right/counter clockwise seen from the top, and the right releasing device 5a is rotated left/clockwise seen from the top. Thereby the intermediate parts 11a, lib will cross during the rotational movement RM, and after the rotation RM, the hind legs 41a, 41b are arranged in the respective spaces 17a, 17b provided by the hook shape of the respective releasing device 5 a, 5b.
Thereby the end parts 10a, 10b providing a hook-like configuration are moved around the animal body so that the end parts 10a, 10b extend around the body 40 to the back side of the animal body as illustrated in fig. 6c. The hind legs of the animal body 41a, 41b may during this be arranged in the respective spaces 17a, 7b provided by the hook shape due to one or more bends 12a, 12b, see e.g. figs. 6a and 6b.
Then, from the position in fig. 6c, a relative movement M2 is provided in a further releasing operation in the longitudinal direction LD of the animal body 40 in order to loosening the skin from the carcass 46 at the back side of the animal body towards the rear end of the animal body by means of the edges 19a, 19b facing the spaces 17a, 17b of the respective releasing device 5a, 5b.
During this movement M2, a tail knife unit (not illustrated) of the apparatus 1 may in embodiments o the invention be arranged to cut open the tail 48 of the body 40 along the longitudinal direction of the tail. This may e.g. be provided by that e.g. a user, a robotic arm or the like arranges the part of the tail 46 nearest to the body in the tail knife unit so that, and during the movement M2, the tail knife unit (and/or the tail) is moved to cut open the tail in advance of the edges 19a, 19b reaching the part of the tail that is cut open, thereby providing that the edge(s) 19a, 19b of the parts 10a, 10b can preferably release the skin that has covered the tail, from the tail part of the carcass/body remains. E.g. figs 4a-4c, figs 5c-5d and 6a-6c illustrates a further embodiment of the invention wherein the releasing device 5 a, 5b comprises a further bend/curve 20a, 20b at the connected end part 18a, 18b of the releasing device 5a, 5b. This bend 20a, 20b provides the “rotational radius’Vdistancing A1 as illustrated in fig. 6a during the second relative rotational movement RM by a distancing part 21a, 21b connecting the respective releasing device to the drive means 6 (not illustrated in figs 6a-6c).
The distancing parts 21a, 21b provides that the intermediate parts 1 la, 1 lb, and the end parts 10a, 10b (together providing a hook shape) can be moved in between the skin and the animal carcass as previously described, and that the rotational axis AX1 is positioned in over the rear end of the animal carcass (e.g. substantially over the area of the centre axis of the animal body) during the rotational movement RM, so the intermediate parts 11a, lib and the end parts 10a, 10b are guided around the animal carcass between the skin and the carcass/body remains.
Accordingly, the releasing device(s) 5 a, 5b may, according to embodiments of the invention extend from the drive means/arrangement by the distancing parts 21a, 21b to a first bend 20a, 20b, and from there to a second bend 15a, 15b connecting the connected end parts 18a, 18b to the intermediate parts 1 la, 1 lb, and from this second bend 15a, 15b to a third bend 12a, 12b providing the end parts 10a, 10b.
The spaces 17a, lb may thus be formed by the second bends 15a, 15b and the third bends 12a, 12b
The second bend 15 a, 15b may however in embodiments of the invention be omitted, see e.g. fig. 8.
Fig. 7 illustrates an embodiment of the invention wherein the releasing arrangement 2 may comprise one releasing device 5 a. The releasing device 5 a comprises an end part 10a providing a hook form, where the end part 10a comprises an extendable part lOal. The extendable part can be displaced after the device 5a has been provided into the opening of the animal body, e.g. during the first operation, e.g. before the relative rotational movement around for example the axis AX1, or after this rotation. The apparatus may accordingly comprise displacement means such as an actuator, a chain drive or the like (not illustrated) arranged to provide a relative movement between the fixed part of the end part and the displaceable part lOal to extend the displaceable part lOax further around the animal body. This may provide that a further releasing device 5b as e.g. described previously in this document or below, may be omitted.
Fig. 8 illustrates an embodiment of the releasing arrangement 2 comprising two releasing devices 5a,5b, where the releasing devices 5a, 5b each comprises end parts providing a hook form by bends 12a, 12b.
The bends 12a, 12b provides that the free ends 9a, 9b extends in opposite directions, and the spaces 17a, 17b provided by the respective releasing device 5 a, 5b are divided by the intermediate parts 11a, lib during the movement to arrange the releasing devices in the second position POS2, see e.g. fig. 2 and fig. 5b. The lower edge(s) 8a at the free end 7 of the releasing arrangement may in embodiments of the invention be configured to provide the first releasing operation during the first movement Ml.
The left releasing device 5b is thus moved left, and the right releasing device 5 a is move right during the rotational movement RM, while the respective end edges 9a, 9b are the leading edges to be moved around the body to the back side of the animal body, see e.g. figs 5a-6c. The intermediate parts 11a, lib will be moved away from each other and thus not necessarily be moved in over each other during the relative, rotational movement RM during the movement to place the end parts 10a, 10b at the back side of the body, as opposed to the embodiments of the invention shown and described in relation to e.g. figs, l-6c.
As illustrated, the inner surfaces 13 a, 13b for facing the carcass may have a concave shape/form so the end parts 10a, 10b extends partly around the animal body.
After the rotational movement RM, the ends 9a, 9b may overlap as disclosed previously.
Alternatively, the overlapping may generally, in embodiments of the invention be provided by the ends 9a, 9b having recesses 25 and/or protrusions 26 fitting into each other as e.g. illustrated in fig. 9.
Fig. 9 illustrates an embodiment of the invention wherein the releasing arrangement 2 comprises a further releasing element 90 configured to be moved into the opening in the rear end of the animal body 40, e.g. in order to provide the first releasing operation by means of a lower edge 91 at the free end 7 of the releasing arrangement 2.
In embodiments of the invention, the further releasing element 90 may in a first operation be configured to be moved into the opening 43 (see e.g. figs 5a-5d) by drive means such as an actuator, an electric motor or the like (not illustrated) at the rear end of the animal body in order to release skin from the carcass at the belly side of the animal body. The releasing element 90 may then be pulled out again, and the releasing devices 5 a, 5b may then subsequently be driven into the space between the skin and the animal body provided by the further releasing element, in order to provide the second rotational movement RM and the subsequent further releasing operation.
In further embodiments of the invention, the further releasing element 90 may be configured to be moved into the opening 43 (see e.g. figs 5a-5d) by drive means such as an actuator, an electric motor or the like (not illustrated) at the rear end of the animal body together with the releasing devices 5a, 5b, in order to release skin from the carcass at the belly side of the animal body. The releasing element 90 may then be held at the belly side of the animal body while the releasing devices 5 a, 5b provides the second rotational movement RM and the subsequent further releasing operation, preferably while the further releasing element 90 is kept at the belly side at the animal body. The further releasing element 90 may be pulled out from the body during the further releasing operation, together with the releasing device(s) 5 a, 5b where the releasing devices 5a, 5b releases the skin from the animal body at the back side of the animal body.
In still further embodiments of the invention, the further releasing element 90 may be configured to be moved into the opening 43 (see e.g. figs 5a-5d) by drive means such as an actuator, an electric motor or the like (not illustrated) at the rear end of the animal body together with the releasing devices 5a, 5b, in order to release skin from the carcass at the belly side of the animal body. The further releasing arrangement may then be pulled out of the opening in the body again before the second, relative, rotational movement RM is provided.
In embodiments of the invention, the releasing element 90 may be provided by a metal plate providing a spade shape, e.g. having a concave inner surface facing the animal body. The releasing devices 5a, 5b may thus be arranged to substantially abut the surface of the releasing element 90 during the first releasing operation.
Figs 10a-1 lb illustrates schematically different embodiments of the releasing arrangement 2 during the relative, rotational movement RM according to embodiments of the invention, seen from the above from the rear end of the carcass 46. In fig. 10a, 10b, the releasing arrangement 2 does not comprise the further releasing element 90. The end parts 10a, 10b are moved partly around the animal carcass 46 between the skin (not illustrated) and the carcass 46 to the back side of the body as illustrated in fig. 10b by the rotational movement RM.
In fig. 11a, lib, the releasing arrangement 2 comprises the further releasing element 90. The end parts 10a, 10b are moved partly around the animal carcass 46 between the skin (not illustrated) and the carcass 46 during the rotational movement RM between the body and the releasing devices by drive means (not illustrated) to the back side of the body as illustrated in fig. 10b by the rotational movement RM. The releasing element 90a may however be kept at the belly side of the animal as illustrated, during the rotational movement RM.
Fig. 12 illustrates a flow chart for the operation of the apparatus 1 by means of a control arrangement according to embodiments of the invention.
In step S1 the control arrangement provides instructions to one or more holding arrangements 50a, 50b, 70 in order to fix the animal body in the apparatus 1, preferably after a user has arranged the body and/or the hind legs in a suitable position and activated one or more start buttons or the like of the apparatus 1.
In test T1 the control arrangement may test if the holding arrangement has closed. If it has, the control arrangement may go on to the next step. Alternatively, test T1 may be omitted and the user may manually activate a button or the like in order to activate step S2.
In step S2 The control arrangement moves the holding arrangements 50a, 50b so as jaws as previously described away from each other to stretch the hind legs away from each other, e.g. horizontally, and activates a cutting unit 60 to be moved from one hind leg to the other to provide a cutting operation CO to provide an opening in the rear part of the animal body. Alternatively, this cutting operation may have been pre-performed before the animal body is arranged in the apparatus 1.
In test T2 the control arrangement may test if the stretching and/or cutting operation has been provided, e.g. by sensors or the like. Alternatively, a user may activate a button or the like in order to activate step S3.
In step S3 the control arrangement provides a movement Ml of the releasing arrangement 2 in the longitudinal direction LD of the animal body by drive means 4 in order to provide the First Releasing Operation (FRO) at the belly pat of the animal body.
In test T3 the control arrangement may test the first releasing operation at the belly side has been provided, e.g. by a sensor or the like. Alternatively, a user may activate a button or the like in order to activate step S4.
In step S4, the control arrangement operates one or more drive means 6 in order to provide the second, relative, rotational movement RM around the animal body to arrange the end part(s) 10a, 10b at the back side of the animal body.
In test T4 the control arrangement may test if the second, relative, rotational movement RM around the animal body is done, e.g. by means if input from an end stop, a stepper motor (if the drive means 6 is a stepper motor) and/or the like.
In step S5 The control arrangement may control cutting off the paws of the hind legs, by controlling a cutting arrangement with one or more cutting devices 80a, 80b, e.g. comprising one or more saws, knives or the like. This may e.g. be provided during the relative rotational movement RM, or after the rotational movement RM has been provided as illustrated in fig. 12. Alternatively, step S5 may comprise that jaws of the holding arrangement releases the hind legs again, as the paws of the hind legs may have been cut off previously.
In test T5 the control arrangement may test if the cutting off of the hind legs has been done, e.g. by means of input from the cutting arrangement. Alternatively, a user may visually see that the hind legs have been cut and hence press a button or the like in order to activate step S6.
In step S6 the control arrangement activates drive means 4 in order to provide a further, relative movement M2 so that the releasing devices are pulled out of the animal body again, thereby providing the Further Releasing Operation (FURO) in order to release skin at the back side of the animal body.
In test T6, the control arrangement may test if the further releasing operation at the back side of the animal pelt has been performed, e.g. by testing if the releasing arrangement has been moved from the second position POS2 to the first position POS1 again, see e.g. figs. 1,2 and 5a-5c. Alternatively, this test may be provided by a user who may press a button in order to activate step S6. The control arrangement may then release body holding means 70 (in embodiments where the apparatus 1 comprises body holding means) (step S7), and hereby release the body from the apparatus 1.
The apparatus 1 has thus, by the above mentioned steps (of which e.g. step S2, and S5 in embodiments of the invention may be omitted) released the skin from the animal body at the rear end of the belly side of said animal body and from the back side at the rear end of said animal body so that the animal body is now ready for skinning by a skinning apparatus/arrangement.
Fig. 13 schematically illustrates an embodiment of the control arrangement 30 of the apparatus 1. The control arrangement 30 comprises one or more input/output arrangements 33 for controlling the operation of the apparatus 1 by means of the controller 31 in accordance with the program code stored in a data storage 32.
As illustrated the control arrangement 30 may by control signals CS control the: • the holding arrangement 50a, 50b, for holding the paws/hind legs of the animal body in the apparatus, this may comprise controlling displacement means 5la, 5lb such as a linear actuator, a chain drive, a tooth wheel drive to stretching the hind legs away from each other and/or to open close drive jaws of the holding arrangement 50a, 50b by control means 52a, 52b • a drive 72 such as a motor, an actuator or the like for controlling the body holding arrangement 70 for holding at least partly around the animal body 40, e.g. by jaws 71a, 71b,
• a cutting unit 60 configured to be moved from one hind leg of the animal body to the other to provide a cutting operation CO • drive means 4 for providing the relative displacement between the at least one releasing device 5a, 5b (not illustrated in fig. 13) and the animal body in the longitudinal direction LD of the animal body 40, preferably to provide the first releasing operation, preferably at the belly side of the animal body, • the drive means 6 for providing the second, relative, rotational movement (RM) between the animal body and the at least one releasing device around said animal body, • drive means 4 for providing the relative displacement M2 between the animal body 40 and the releasing arrangement 2 in the longitudinal direction LD of the animal body 40, after and/or during the second, relative rotational movement RM, thereby providing the further releasing operation to release further skin from the animal body at back side at the rear end of the animal body 40, • one or more drive means 81a, 81b such as an actuator, a motor or the like for controlling the cutting devices 80a, 80b for cutting off the paws 41a, 41b of the hind legs during the relative rotational movement RM, or after the rotational movement RM has been provided, and/or • a tail cutting arrangement (not illustrated) for cutting the tail open, preferably during the second movement M2. • A cutting unit (not illustrated) for cutting around the anus part of the dead animal body 40. Such a cutting unit may be provided together with the tail cutting arrangement so that during the first movement towards the head end of the animal body, the cutting unit for cutting around the anus part will provide this cutting operation, and during the second movement M2, the tail cutting arrangement cuts the tail open in the longitudinal direction of the tail to provide that a releasing device or devices 5 a, 5b can release the skin from the tail part.
The control is preferably provided based on one or more user inputs UI such as start/stop instructions provided by an operator/user activating one or more buttons (not illustrated) and/or the like.
The displacement means 51a, 51b, the drive means 4, the body holding arrangement 70, the holding arrangement 50a, 50b for paws of hind legs, the drive means 6 and/or the like may in embodiments of the invention be connected directly or indirectly to a fixed frame part 3 of the apparatus 1 and are arranged at suitable positions in order to provide the task for which they are provided.
Figs. 14- 15c discloses embodiments of the invention where the apparatus 1 comprises a releasing arrangement comprising a releasing device 5 a having a helical shape. As illustrated in fig. 1, the helical shape provides a centre space 27 in the longitudinal direction LD1 of the releasing device for receiving the carcass/body remains of said animal body during the relative displacement Ml between the releasing device 5a, 5b and the animal body in the longitudinal direction LD of the animal body 40, and during the second, relative, rotational movement RM.
As illustrated, the releasing device 5 a having a helical shape is moved by a relative movement, preferably by a linear movement Ml of the releasing device, into an opening at the rear end of the animal between the skin (not illustrated in fig. 14-15c) and the animal carcass 46 in the longitudinal direction LD of the animal body towards the head end of the animal body as e.g. previously described. During this movement Ml, the relative rotational movement RM is also provided so that the releasing device 5a is moved around the animal body during the movement Ml to extend to the back side of the animal body. During the movement Ml, a part of the skin from the fur is released in a direction away from the rear end 42 of the animal body.
The further releasing operation back towards the rear end 42 may then be provided in different ways. Either, as illustrated in fig. 15b, the rotational movement RM may be stopped when the releasing arrangement 2 is in the second position and a part of the releasing device is located at the back side of the rear end part of the animal body. Then a linear movement M2 may be provided in the longitudinal direction of the animal body in order to provide a releasing of the skin from the fur in a direction towards the rear end 42 by mans of an upper edge 19a facing towards the rear end of the animal body. In another embodiment of the invention, the further releasing operation may be provided by stopping the movement Ml towards the head end of the animal fur while continuing the relative rotational movement RM between the animal body and the releasing device 5a. This will provide that the helical releasing device 5 a will continue to move around the animal body, and thus an upper edge 19a facing towards the rear end of the animal body will provide a releasing operation towards the rear end of the animal body during the rotation. The releasing device is then subsequently pulled out of the animal body.
Also, it is naturally to be understood that a combination of the embodiments in figs. 15b and 15c may be provided in further embodiments of the invention, so that the rotational movement RM is continued while the movement M2 is provided to pull the releasing device 5 a out of the body at the rear end 42.
It is generally to be understood that the body holding means 70, the holding arrangement 5a, 5b for holding the hind paws, the cutting operation(s) by cutting means cutting means 80a, 80b, 60 and/or the like as previously described may naturally also be provide and included in further embodiments of the invention.
Thus, the animal body may e.g. be hold at the hind legs at previously described by means of a holding arrangement 50a, 50b during the first movement Ml, and the paws may then be cut off by cutting means 80a, 80b (or the legs may be released by the holding arrangement if the paws have been pre-removed), and then the releasing back towards the rear end may be provided.
In general, it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the particular examples described above but may be adapted in a multitude of varieties within the scope of the invention as specified in e.g. the claims.
For example, it is to be understood that the rotational movement may be provided by moving the releasing devices around a rotational axis as illustrated and described above, by means of guiding trails in a guiding plate or the like, or any other suitable combination of guiding means, drive means and/or shapes of the releasing device(s) providing the ability to move the releasing devices around the animal body in order to release the skin at the rear end of the animal body at both the belly side and the back side of the fur.
Also, it is to be understood that the releasing arrangement may comprise one or more releasing devices in embodiments of the invention.
Moreover, in general it is to be understood that the second, relative, rotational movement RM to place the end parts 10a, 10b at the back side of the animal body preferably is provided by rotating the releasing device(s) 5a, 5b relative to the animal body as e.g. previously described and as e.g. illustrated in relation to e.g. figs. 5c, βαβό, and 10a-1 lb. In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the relative, rotational movement RM may be at least partly be provided by rotating the animal body around it's longitudinal direction, e.g. while not moving the releasing device(s). This may e.g. be provided in combination with a releasing device as illustrated in fig. 7.
It is also to be understood that in embodiments of the invention where the releasing arrangement 2 comprises two releasing devices 5 a, 5b arranged to be rotated in opposite directions, this movement may be provided by the same drive means 6, and the releasing devices may e.g. be interconnected by one or more toothed wheels in order to provide a simultaneous, relative, rotational movement. However, in other embodiments of the invention, the rotational movement RM may be provided by separate, individual drive means connected to the respective releasing device 5 a, 5b.
In embodiments of the invention where the releasing arrangement 2 comprises two releasing devices 5 a, 5b arranged to be rotated in opposite directions the rotational movement RM may be rotated around the same axis AX1 preferably extending in the longitudinal direction LD of the animal body 40, see e.g. fig. 5c and 6a-6c. In other embodiments of the invention, the rotational movement may be provided by rotating the releasing devices 5a, 5b around displaced, separate rotation axes AX1, which preferably are substantially parallel and both extends in the longitudinal direction of the animal body, see e.g. fig. 8.
In general, it is moreover to be understood that the first relative movement Ml and /or the second relative movement M2 in the longitudinal direction of the animal body preferably is provided by moving the releasing arrangement 2 in the longitudinal direction LD of the animal body, e.g. vertically by drive means such as an actuator 4.. However, in other embodiments of the invention, the animal body may be moved in its longitudinal direction by e.g. moving the holding arrangement(S) 50a, 50b and/or body holding arrangement 70 in the longitudinal direction LD of the animal body.
In embodiments of the invention where the apparatus 1 comprises the optional body holding arrangement 70, the body holding arrangement may be controlled to hold the animal body between the fore legs and hind legs of the animal body 40 before the first releasing operation is provided, or alternatively after the first releasing operation is provided but before the paws 41a, 41b of the hind legs are cut off (in embodiments where the apparatus comprises cutting means 80a, 80b for this), or before the second, relative, rotational movement RM is provided.
Moreover, it is understood that even though the control arrangement 30 is not illustrated and described in relation to each figure, it is naturally to be understood that the control arrangement 30 may be configured to provide the operations described in relation to the different embodiments of the different figures 1 -15c.

权利要求:
Claims (49)
[1] 1. Apparatus (1) for releasing the skin from an animal body (40) of a furred animal, such as a mink, wherein said apparatus comprises: at least one holding arrangement (50a, 50b, 70) for holding said animal body in said apparatus (1), a releasing arrangement (2) comprising at least one releasing device (5 a, 5b), and a control arrangement (30) comprising a controller (31) for controlling the operation of said apparatus (1) wherein said control arrangement (30) is configured to control said apparatus (1) to provide a relative displacement (Ml) between said at least one releasing device (5a, 5b) and said animal body in the longitudinal direction (LD) of said animal body (40) by means of drive means (4) while said at least one holding arrangement (50a, 50b, 70) is arranged to hold said animal body (40), so that said releasing arrangement (2) is moved in between the skin and the body from the rear end of said animal body, and wherein said control arrangement (30) is configured to control said apparatus (1) to provide a second, relative, rotational movement (RM) between said animal body and said at least one releasing device (5 a, 5b) by drive means (6) around said animal body.
[2] 2. An apparatus (1) according to claim 1, wherein said relative displacement (Ml) between said at least one releasing device (5 a, 5b) and said animal body in the longitudinal direction (LD) of said animal body (40) by means of said drive means (4) is configured to provide a first releasing operation by means of said releasing arrangement (2) in order to release said skin from said animal body, preferably in a direction away from the rear end of said animal body, and preferably at the belly side of the animal body.
[3] 3. An apparatus (1) according to claim 2, wherein said first releasing operation is configured to provide releasing of the skin from the animal body (40) by a first, linear movement (Ml) at a first side of the animal body, such as the belly side, by means of an end edge (8a, 8b, 91) at a free end (7) of the at least one releasing arrangement (2), preferably by means of a leading end edge (8a, 8b) at the at least one releasing device (5a, 5b).
[4] 4. An apparatus (1) according to claim 2 or 3, wherein said first releasing operation is configured to provide releasing of the skin from the animal body in the longitudinal direction (LD) of said animal body (40) to a second position (POS2) by moving the releasing arrangement (2) into an opening (43) at the rear end of the animal body by a substantially linear movement (Ml) while the at least one holding arrangement (50a, 50b, 70) is kept in a fixed position.
[5] 5. An apparatus (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said control arrangement (30) is configured so that said second relative, rotational movement (RM) between the animal body (40) and the at least one releasing device (5a, 5b) by the drive means (6), is configured to be provided during or after the relative displacement (Ml) between said at least one releasing device and the animal body (40) in the longitudinal direction (LD) of the animal body is provided, while the at least one releasing device (5 a, 5b) is arranged in between the skin and the body.
[6] 6. An apparatus (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said apparatus comprises drive means (4, 6) configured to provide a releasing operation, such as a further releasing operation, by a relative displacement (M2, RM) between said animal body and said at least one releasing device, to provide a releasing of said skin from said animal body in a direction towards the rear end of said animal body.
[7] 7. An apparatus (1) according to claim 6, wherein said releasing operation is configured to be provided by a linear movement (M2) in the longitudinal direction (LD) of said animal body (40), after and/or during said second, relative rotational movement (RM), thereby releasing further skin from the animal body at the rear end (42) of said animal body (40) in a direction towards the rear end of said animal body.
[8] 8. An apparatus (1) according to claim 7, wherein said releasing operation is configured to be a substantially linear movement (M2) from a second position (POS2) in between the skin and the animal carcass/body remains to a first position (POS1) outside said animal body.
[9] 9. An apparatus (1) according to claim 6, 7 or 8, wherein said releasing operation by a relative displacement (M2, RM) between said animal body and said at least one releasing device (5a, 5b) is configured to provide a releasing of the animal skin from a back region at the rear end of said animal body.
[10] 10. An apparatus (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said at least one releasing device (5 a, 5b) has a hook formed shape configured so that a part of the releasing device is arranged at the back side of the animal body by said relative, rotational movement (RM).
[11] 11. An apparatus according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said at least one releasing device (5a, 5b) comprises an inner surface (13a, 13b) having a concave form.
[12] 12. An apparatus according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said second, relative, rotational movement (RM) is configured to be provided by a rotating movement of said at least one releasing device (5 a, 5b) by drive means (6) around said animal body, preferably around a rotation axis (AX1) extending in the longitudinal direction of the animal body.
[13] 13. An apparatus according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said at least one holding arrangement (50a, 50b) is configured to be arranged in a holding position to provide a holding operation of said animal body at the hind legs (41a, 41b) of said animal body, when said first releasing operation is provided, preferably by means of a first jaw set (50a) and a second jaw set (50b), and wherein said apparatus (1) preferably comprises cutting means (80a, 80b) configured for cutting off the paws of the hind legs (41a, 41b), thereby releasing said animal body from said holding arrangement (50a, 50b) before, during or after said second, relative, rotational movement (RM).
[14] 14. An apparatus according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said second, relative, rotational movement (RM) is configured to arrange a part (10a, 10b) of the at least one releasing device (5 a, 5b) ahead of a hind leg of the animal body.
[15] 15. An apparatus according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said at least one releasing device (5 a, 5b) comprises an end part (10a, 10b) connected to an intermediate connection part (11a, 1 lb) of the at least one releasing device (5a, 5b) through one or more bends (12a, 12b), which end part comprises a side edge (9a, 9b) configured to be a leading edge during said second, relative, rotational movement (RM).
[16] 16. An apparatus according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said at least one releasing device (5 a, 5b) comprises a side edge (9a, 9b) arranged to release the skin from the body during said second, relative, rotational movement (RM), which side edge (9a, 9b) preferably is provided at a free projecting end of said end part (10a, 10b) of said at least one releasing device.
[17] 17. An apparatus according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said at least one releasing device (5 a, 5b) comprises a space (17a, 17b) provided by a hook shape, preferably provided by a connection part (11a, 1 lb) and an end part (10a, 10b) by means of one or more bends/curves (12a, 12b, 15a, 15b), wherein said at least one releasing device (5a, 5b) comprises a projecting side edge (9a, 9b) configured to be a leading edge between the animal skin and the animal carcass/body remains during said second, relative, rotational movement between said animal body and said at least one releasing device (5a, 5b), wherein said connection part (11a, lib), during said second, relative, rotational movement is arranged to be moved in a pre-provided space between said animal skin and the body (40) of said animal, wherein said releasing arrangement (2) is preferably configured to provide said pre-provided space by a first releasing operation by said releasing arrangement (2).
[18] 18. An apparatus according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said releasing arrangement (2) comprises two releasing devices (5a, 5b), wherein said releasing devices (5 a, 5b) are configured to be moved in opposite directions around said animal body by drive means (6) to provide said second, relative, rotational movement (RM).
[19] 19. An apparatus according to claim 18, wherein said releasing arrangement (2) comprises two hook shaped releasing devices (5a, 5b) providing a mutual space (17) enclosed by intermediate connection parts (11a, lib) and end parts (10a, 10b) with free ends (9a, 9b) and preferably also connected end parts (18a, 18b) of said releasing devices (5 a, 5b), wherein said apparatus is configured so that said mutual space (17) is provided while the releasing devices (5 a, 5b) are arranged in a first position relative to each other during said relative displacement (Ml) between said releasing devices (5a, 5b) and said animal body in the longitudinal direction (LD) of said animal body (40), and/or subsequent to second, relative, rotational movement (Ml), preferably so that end parts (10a, 10b) overlaps.
[20] 20. An apparatus according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said apparatus comprises body holding means (70), which body holding means (70) are configured to be operated by said control arrangement (30) to hold the animal body (40) at location between the head end of said animal body and the hind legs (41a, 41b) of said animal body, preferably during said relative, rotational movement (RM) and/or during a releasing operation (RM, M2) by the at least one releasing device (5 a, 5b) towards the rear end of the animal body.
[21] 21. An apparatus (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said at least one releasing device (5 a, 5b) comprises a distancing part (21a, 21b) and a bend/curve (20a, 20b) at a connected end part (18a, 18b) of the at least one releasing device (5a, 5b), wherein said distancing part (21a, 21b) provides that a rotation axis (AX1) around which said second, relative rotational movement (RM) is configured to be provided is positioned in over the rear end (42) of the animal body during the rotational movement RM, and wherein said bend/curve (20a, 20b) is configured to provide that said at least one releasing device (5 a, 5b) extends from said distancing part (21a, 21b) and along the longitudinal direction (LD) of the animal body (40) so that the at least one releasing device (5a, 5b) extend in between the skin (45) and the animal carcass/body remains (46).
[22] 22. An apparatus (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said at least one releasing device (5 a) has a helical shape with a centre space (27)in the longitudinal direction (LD1) of said at least one releasing device for receiving the carcass/body remains of said animal body during said relative displacement (Ml) between the at least one releasing device (5a, 5b) and the animal body in the longitudinal direction (LD) of said animal body (40), and during said second, relative, rotational movement (RM).
[23] 23. An apparatus (1) according to claim 22, wherein said control arrangement (30) is configured to stop said rotation (RM) when the helical releasing device (5 a) is in a second position (POS2) and the releasing device (5a) preferably is located at the back side of the rear end part of the animal body, and then subsequently provide a linear movement (M2) in the longitudinal direction (LD) of the animal body to provide a releasing of the skin from the animal body (40) in a direction towards the rear end (42) of the animal body by means of an upper edge (19a) of the releasing device facing towards the rear end of the animal body.
[24] 24. An apparatus (1) according to claim 22 or 23, wherein said control arrangement (30) is configured to continue said relative, rotational movement (RM) after said relative displacement (Ml) between the at least one releasing device (5a, 5b) and the animal body in the longitudinal direction (LD) of said animal body (40) is stopped.
[25] 25. A method of releasing parts of animal skin from the body (40) of a furred animal, such as a mink, by means of an apparatus (1), which apparatus (1) comprises a holding arrangement (70, 50a, 50b), and a releasing arrangement (2) comprising at least one releasing device (5a, 5b), wherein said method comprises the steps of: arranging said animal body (40) in said holding arrangement (70, 50a, 50b) providing a relative displacement (Ml) between said at least one releasing device (5a, 5b) and said animal body (40) in the longitudinal direction (LD) of the animal body by drive means (4) while the holding arrangement (70, 50a, 50b) holds said animal body (40), so that said at least one releasing device (5a, 5b) is moved in between the skin and the body from the rear end (42) of said animal body, and providing a second, relative, rotational movement (RM) between said animal body and said at least one releasing device (5 a, 5b) by drive means (6) around said animal body while said holding arrangement (70, 50a, 50b) holds said animal body.
[26] 26. A method according to claim 25, wherein said relative displacement (Ml) between said at least one releasing device (5a, 5b) and said animal body in the longitudinal direction (LD) of said animal body (40) by means of drive means (4) provides a first releasing operation in order to release said skin from said animal body, preferably in a direction away from the rear end of said animal body.
[27] 27. A method according to claim 26, wherein said first releasing operation provides releasing of the skin from the animal body at the belly side at the rear end of the animal body during a first movement (Ml) in the longitudinal direction (LD) of said animal body (40) in a direction away from the rear end of said animal body, which first movement (Ml) preferably is a linear movement.
[28] 28. A method according to claim 26 or 27, wherein said first releasing operation releases the skin from the animal body at the belly side at the rear end part of said animal body during a first movement (Ml) in the longitudinal direction (LD) of said animal body (40), preferably by moving the releasing arrangement (2) into an opening (43) at the rear end of the animal body by a substantially linear movement (Ml), preferably while said holding arrangement (50a, 50b, 70) is kept in a fixed position.
[29] 29. A method according to any of claims 26-28, wherein said first releasing operation provides a releasing of the skin from the animal body at the rear end of the belly side of said animal body.
[30] 30. A method according to any of claims 25-29, wherein said at least one releasing device (5a, 5b) comprises a leading end edge (8a, 8b) at a free end (7) of said releasing arrangement (2), which end edge (8a, 8b) releases the skin from said animal body (40) during a first releasing operation.
[31] 31. A method according to any of claims 25-30, wherein said second relative, rotational movement (RM) between the animal body (40) and the at least one releasing device (5 a, 5b) by the drive means (6), around said animal body, is provided in between the skin and the body during or after said the relative displacement (Ml) between the at least one releasing device (5a, 5b) and the animal body (40) in the longitudinal direction (LD) of the animal body towards the head end of the animal body (40).
[32] 32. A method according to any of claims 25-31, wherein drive means (4, 6) provides a releasing operation, such as a further releasing operation, by a relative displacement (M2, RM) between said animal body and said at least one releasing device (5a, 5b), to provide a releasing of said skin from said animal body in a direction towards the rear end of said animal body.
[33] 33. A method according to claim 32, wherein said relative displacement (M2, RM) between said animal body and said at least one releasing device (5 a, 5b) is provided by a linear movement (M2) in the longitudinal direction (LD) of said animal body (40), after and/or during said second, relative rotational movement (RM), thereby releasing further skin from the animal body at the rear end (42) of said animal body (40) in a direction towards the rear end of said animal body by an upper edge 19a, 19b) of said at least one releasing device (5a, 5b).
[34] 34. A method according to claim 32 or 33, wherein said further releasing operation by a relative displacement (M2, RM) between said animal body and said at least one releasing device (5am 5b) releases the animal skin from a back region at the rear end of said animal body (40).
[35] 35. A method according to any of claims 25-34, wherein said second, relative, rotational movement (RM) between said animal body and said at least one releasing device (5a, 5b) is provided after said relative displacement (Ml) between said at least one releasing device (5a, 5b) and said animal body in the longitudinal direction (LD) of said animal body (40).
[36] 36. A method according to any of claims 25-35, wherein said second, relative, rotational movement (RM) provides a releasing of a part of the skin from the belly side to the back side of said animal body.
[37] 37. A method according to any of claims 25-36, wherein the skin is released all around the rear end of said animal body by a first releasing operation in a direction (Ml) towards the head end of said animal body, and a subsequent further releasing operation in a direction (M2) towards the rear end of said animal body during or after said second relative rotational movement (RM).
[38] 38. A method according to any of claims 25-37, wherein said at least one releasing device (5 a) has a helical shape with a centre space (27) in the longitudinal direction (LD1) of said at least one releasing device (5 a), wherein said centre space receives the carcass/body remains of said animal body during said relative displacement (Ml) between the at least one releasing device (5a, 5b) and the animal body in the longitudinal direction (LD) of said animal body (40), during said second, relative, rotational movement (RM), to arrange the helical releasing device around the animal body between the skin and the fur while the carcass (46) extends into said centre space (27).
[39] 39. A method according to claim 38, wherein said control arrangement (30) stops the rotational movement (RM) by drive means (6) when the helical releasing device (5a) is in a second position (POS2) and the releasing device (5a) preferably is located at the back side of the rear end part of the animal body, and wherein said control arrangement (30) control drive means (4) to provide a linear movement (M2) in the longitudinal direction (LD) of the animal body to provide a releasing of the skin from the animal body in a direction towards the rear end (42) of the animal body by means of an upper edge (19a) of the releasing device facing towards the rear end of the animal body.
[40] 40. A method according to claim 38 or 49, wherein said control arrangement (30) continues said relative, rotational movement (RM) after the relative displacement (Ml) between the at least one releasing device (5a, 5b) and the animal body in the longitudinal direction (LD) of said animal body (40) is stopped, thereby providing a releasing of the skin from the animal body, preferably by an upper edge (19a) facing the rear end of the animal body.
[41] 41. A method according to any of claims 25-40, wherein a holding arrangement (50a, 50b) is arranged in a holding position providing a holding operation of said animal body at the hind legs (41a, 41b) of the animal body, at least while said first releasing operation is provided, preferably by means of a first jaw set (50a) and a second jaw set (50b) which preferably are arranged to moved away from each other by a stretching arrangement (51a, 51b) to stretch the hind legs away from each other.
[42] 42. A method according to claim 41, wherein said apparatus (1) comprises cutting means (80a, 80b), which cutting means cuts off the paws of the hind legs (41a, 41b), thereby releasing said animal body from said holding arrangement (50a, 50b) before, during or after said second, relative, rotational movement (RM).
[43] 43. A method according to any of claims 25-42, wherein said apparatus comprises body holding means (70), which body holding means (70) holds the animal body (40) at location between the head end of said animal body and the hind legs (41a, 41b) of said animal body, preferably during said relative, rotational movement (RM) and/or during a releasing operation (RM, M2) by the at least one releasing device (5a, 5b) towards the rear end of the animal body.
[44] 44. A method according to any of claims 25-43, wherein said releasing arrangement (2) comprises two releasing devices (5 a, 5b) which are moved in opposite directions around said animal body by drive means (6) to provide said second, relative, rotational movement (RM).
[45] 45. A method according to any of claims 25-44, wherein said releasing arrangement (2) comprises two hook shaped releasing devices (5a, 5b) providing a mutual space (17) enclosed by intermediate connection parts (11a, lib) and end parts (10a, 10b) with free ends (9a, 9b) and preferably also connected end parts (18a, 18b) of said releasing devices (5a, 5b), wherein said mutual space (17) is provided while the releasing devices (5 a, 5b) are arranged in a first position relative to each other during said relative displacement (Ml) between said releasing devices (5a, 5b) and said animal body in the longitudinal direction (LD) of said animal body (40), and/or subsequent to the second, relative, rotational movement (Ml).
[46] 46. A method according to any of claims 44-45, wherein said releasing devices (5 a, 5b) comprises end parts (10a, 10b) arranged to overlap during the first relative displacement (Ml) between said at least one releasing device (5a, 5b) and said animal body (40) in the longitudinal direction (LD) of the animal body towards the head end of said animal body (40) by drive means (4), and/or during a further releasing operation by a relative displacement (M2, RM) between said animal body and said at least one releasing device (5a, 5b), to provide a releasing of said skin from said animal body in a direction towards the rear end of said animal body.
[47] 47. An apparatus according to any of claims 1-24, which apparatus (1) is configured to provide the method of any of claims 25-46.
[48] 48. A computer program product which, when installed in a data storage (32) of a control arrangement (30) of an apparatus (1) according to any of claims 1-24, is configured to provide the method of any of claims 25-47.
[49] 49. Use of an apparatus according to any of claims 1-24 and/or a method according to any of claims 25-48 for releasing the skin at the rear end part of a dead furred animal body (40) such as a mink body.

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同族专利:

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公开号 | 公开日

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DK179135B1|2017-11-27|

引用文献:

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公开号 | 申请日 | 公开日 | 申请人 | 专利标题

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US4099294A|1977-07-20|1978-07-11|Taber Gilbert L|Method of skinning small animals|

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EP0894437A1|1997-07-25|1999-02-03|Peis Maskinfabrik A/S|Apparatus for skinning fur-bearing animals|

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DK178204B1|2014-02-03|2015-08-17|Hedensted Gruppen As|Skinning apparatus|

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法律状态:

优先权:

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申请号 | 申请日 | 专利标题

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DKPA201670527A|DK179135B1|2016-07-15|2016-07-15|Apparatus and method for releasing the skin from an animal body of a furred animal|DKPA201670527A| DK179135B1|2016-07-15|2016-07-15|Apparatus and method for releasing the skin from an animal body of a furred animal|