Apparatus and process for harvesting hearts and livers of poultry

摘要

A process and apparatus for mechanized separation of the heart and liver from slaughtered poultry. The apparatus is located alongside an existing overhead conveyor (12) and includes a secondary conveyor (26) which engages a portion of the gut extending from the eviscerated bird to a viscera package including the gall, the liver, and the heart and lungs. A pair of guide fingers (54, 55) define a channel for receiving the connective tissue (79) attaching the heart (80) to the liver (81), and a first rotary knife (61) positioned alongside that channel severs the connective tissue. A second rotary knife (66) severs the liver from the gall without cutting the gall or releasing the bile within. A pair of helical rollers (88) separates the mutually connected heart and lungs.