| 摘要 |
Shucked whole clams are drawn by suction through a delivery tube having multiple bulbous portions and intervening constrictions. In passing through the delivery tube, the clams are subjected to repetitive massage or squeezing followed by sudden release from each constriction into a bulbous zone where the clam is suddenly decelerated prior to entering the next constriction in the delivery tube. The clams with their bellies essentially separated from the remainder of the meat are discharged from one end of the delivery tube into a primary suction chamber and are then propelled through a flush pipe under influence of two converging fluid jet streams somewhat downstream from the delivery tube which exert a further squeezing pressure on each clam while propelling it through the flush pipe and maintaining the required degree of suction in the system. At the far end of the flush pipe, the product exits through a gently curved reversely directed and flared decelerator onto a separating conveyor from which the bellies and usable meat are collected in two different receptacles. The process is gentle and substantially eliminates damage to the meat.
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