US 12,070,041 B2
Apparatus and method for recovering liver from poultry carcasses or parts thereof
Martijn Hendrikus Lentjes, BM Doesburg (NL); Koen van der Veen, BM Doesburg (NL); Gerhard Albertus Willemsen, BM Doesburg (NL); and Daan Thiele, BM Doesburg (NL)
Assigned to BAADER FOOD SYSTEMS DENMARK A/S, Trige (DK)
Appl. No. 17/778,992
Filed by BAADER FOOD SYSTEMS DENMARK A/S, Trige (DK)
PCT Filed Nov. 29, 2019, PCT No. PCT/EP2019/083162
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date May 23, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/104650, PCT Pub. Date Jun. 3, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2022/0408741 A1, Dec. 29, 2022
Int. Cl. A22C 21/06 (2006.01); A22C 21/00 (2006.01)
CPC A22C 21/0053 (2013.01) [A22C 21/06 (2013.01)] 28 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An apparatus, configured and adapted for the recovery of liver from viscera sets of poultry carcasses, wherein the viscera sets comprise at least lungs, liver, proventriculus and gizzard, which are connected together at least in part by connective tissue, comprising;
a viscera conveying device, adapted to convey the viscera sets in a suspended manner along a conveying line in a transport direction, having a drive unit and a conveying element for conveying at least one holding element, wherein the at least one holding element comprises a receiving region for receiving and for holding the viscera set, and wherein the holding element is so configured that at least the lungs are arranged above the receiving region and at least the liver, the proventriculus and the gizzard are arranged beneath the receiving region;
a detaching device arranged in the transport direction along the conveying line and having a detaching section comprising a detaching means for detaching the liver, wherein the detaching device is so configured that at least a connective tissue connecting the liver with the viscera set is detached from the viscera set in some regions by the detaching means,
a separating device arranged downstream of the detaching device along the conveying line in the transport direction and comprising a separating means, wherein the separating means is so configured that the liver detached from the connective tissue is separated completely from the viscera set.