Apparatus and method for cleaning poultry

摘要

An apparatus is provided for cleaning poultry carcasses (20) having a cavity. A plurality of cleaning heads (80) are spaced about a sprayer carousel (50) that is rotatably mounted upon a vertical shaft (15). The cleaning heads are mounted upon a plurality of vertically oriented guide rails (54) which are spaced about the sprayer carousel. A circumferential cam (70) is fixedly connected to the vertical shaft inside the sprayer carousel. A cam follower connected to each cleaning head follows the profile of the cam, displacing the cleaning head vertically along the guide rails. A conveyor transports the carcasses sequentially into and out of engagement with the sprayer carousel and an indexing member (58) maintains each of the carcasses in alignment with one of the cleaning heads. In response to relative movement between the fixed cam and the rotatable sprayer carousel the cam follower of each cleaning head follows the circumferential profile of the cam. In this way each cleaning head is inserted into the internal cavity of the carcass where the probe is maintained for a dwell period before being withdrawn from the internal cavity.