A cutting system is provided for cutting carcass parts while the carcass parts are carried by carriers connected to and moved by an overhang transport system. A detection device is provided for determining a cutting position of an incoming carcass part. At least one cutting device having an upwardly and downwardly facing surface structure is provided and a moving mechanism is mechanically connected to the at least one cutting device for controlling the position of the at least one cutting device on the basis of the determined cutting position. A carcass displacement device is arranged to initiate displacement of the carcass part away from the at least one cutting position while the carcass part or a resulting sub-part carried by a carrier and is located between the upstream cutting edge and the downstream edge.

The invention relates to a method for treating a food product by non-conventional resistive heating using. contact with spaced-apart electrically conductive electrodes connected to a power source that regulates current to the electrodes by pausing heating of the food product to a predetermined temperature. The electrodes are configured into two groups at a first distance from one another. Each electrode group has individual electrodes, similar to a comb-like set of needles, wherein neighboring needles of each group are at a second distance from one another that is greater than or equal to the first distance. Each set of needles penetrates the food product such that points of the needles leave penetration points, wherein the food product is accommodated in a space between two conveyor belts and the individual electrodes extend from at least one of the conveyor belts in the direction of the opposite conveyor belt.

A method is described for unhooking a portion of meat from a support element to which the portion of meat is hooked, the support element including a plurality of hooks by means of which the portion of meat is hooked to the support element, a bar to which the hooks are rigidly connected by a connection body comprising a first face, from which the hooks rise, and a second face facing in the opposite direction to the first face, and a grasping appendage rising from the second face at least in a direction away from the first face and from the second face. The method includes pulling the grasping appendage in a predetermined extraction direction, and holding the portion of meat, or pushing the portion of meat in a direction opposite to the predetermined extraction direction, at the same time as the step of pulling the grasping appendage in the predetermined extraction direction, completely pulling the hooks off the portion of meat.

The present invention relates to a food product processing plant including a loading unit (10), one or more processing units (20), and a food product unloading unit (30) that are connected via a rail (41) supporting a plurality of carriages (61) with a hook (62) which are clustered together forming multiple independent trains of carriages (60) which are independently actuated by means of multiple actuating units (51).

An apparatus for loading and unloading slices of bacon includes a loading portion including: a motor-driven conveying arrangement arranged to convey the slices of fresh bacon; a first motor-driven conveyor arranged to convey the seasoning hooks; a second motor-driven conveyor arranged to receive the seasoning hooks loaded with the slices of fresh bacon, and to move away the seasoning hooks from the loading zone; and a manipulator device configured to load onto the seasoning hooks the slices of fresh bacon. The apparatus further includes: an unloading portion including a motor-driven conveying arrangement, arranged to convey the seasoning hooks, loaded with the slices of seasoned bacon; and a manipulator device cooperating with the conveying arrangement to unload/extract one hook after another of the seasoning hooks from the slices of seasoned bacon.

Provided is a stick turning device capable of turning a stick on which a chain of sausages is suspended while reducing defects in the sausages when delivering the stick from an upstream device to a downstream device. The stick turning device includes a turning arm unit, a turning driving unit, and an actuator unit. The turning driving unit causes the turning arm unit to turn at a predetermined angle around a turning shaft. The actuator unit lifts the turning arm unit such that both ends of the stick are horizontally picked up from the upstream device and the stick is lifted, and such that by bringing the stick close to the turning shaft, a peripheral speed of the stick is reduced with respect to a turning speed of the turning driving unit, and defects in the sausages are reduced, and lowers the stick turned by the turning driving unit.

A method and a plant for the storage of sausages, according to which two rows of sausages are simultaneously transferred from a loading station to a support cross member of a vertical store by means of a pick-and-place device provided with two support arms, which are parallel to one another, have an elongated shape, are provided with respective pluralities of holding members and are movable relative to one another between a closed position and an open position; the sum of the holding members of the two support arms being equal to the number of hooking members of the support cross member of the store. Main drawing: FIG. 1

The present invention relates to a system and a method for producing sausage-shaped products, like sausages, containing a flowable filling material in a tubular or bag-shaped packaging casing and a suspension element, like a suspension loop. The system includes a clipping machine for producing the sausage-shaped products, a discharge device for discharging the sausage-shaped products out of the clipping machine and a feeding device for feeding a rod-like element into a loading position in which the sausage-shaped products are stored on the rod-like element by the discharge device.

The invention relates to an automated loading station (10) for meat portions (15) configured so as to hook, at a hooking area, a meat portion (15) to a sustaining element (20A,20B), which loading station (10) is provided with: —a movement apparatus (70) for moving the sustaining elements (20A,20B) configured so as to move a sustaining element (20A,20B) at the hooking area, —a conveying apparatus (A) for conveying the meat portions (15) configured so as to convey the meat portion (15) at the hooking area and to align a segment of the meat portion (15) to a plurality of needles (40) of the sustaining element (20A,20B), and—a press (125) configured so as to press the meat portion (15) against the needles (40) of the sustaining element (20A,20B) positioned in the hooking area to penetrate the meat portion (15) with said needles (40).

The present invention concerns a suspension apparatus (1) for hanging up and transporting at least one sausage string (2) including a transport device (6) for transporting the at least one sausage string (2), that has at least one carrier hook (8) for carrying the sausage string (2), the hook being movable along a path of movement (10) by means of a guide and drive device. The apparatus further includes a spreading device (14) arranged stationarily relative to the transport device (6) for spreading the sausage string (2). The spreading device has at least one spreading element (16) which is arranged adjacent to the path of movement (10) of the carrier hook (8) and which in operation acts on the sausage string (2) carried by the carrier hook (8) in such a way that the sausage string (2) is spread.