| 摘要 |
A method and apparatus for removing a knee cap from a poultry part, and particularly a deboned poultry thigh, includes a plurality of bays attached to an endless conveyor and movable by the conveyor in a processing direction. Each bay includes a plate sized to support a poultry thigh and having an aperture formed therethrough. A plunger assembly includes a plunger tip that can be moved selectively into and out of the aperture by a cam mechanism. Poultry parts are placed by workers on the plates as they move in the processing direction with the knee caps of the parts aligned with and pressed partially into the apertures. The cam mechanism then moves the plunger tip of each bay into its respective aperture to press the knee cap through the aperture, where it is severed by a rotating knife. The plunger tip is then withdrawn for a successive processing cycle. |
