The invention relates generally to shellfish processing and more particularly to apparatus and methods for removing the heads and shells from shrimp.
Originally introduced because of the high labor costs of peeling small shrimp by hand, shrimp-peeling machines are now widely used in the shrimp-processing industry. Roller-type peeling machines, in particular, dominate the bulk shrimp-peeling industry. U.S. Pat. No. 2,778,055, Jan. 22, 1957, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,537,355, Jan. 9, 1951, describe the basic structure and principles of operation of roller-type shrimp peelers, which detach heads and shells from shrimp. But the fluids and slime squeezed from the heads of the shrimp coat the peeling rollers, which degrades their grip on the shrimp and peeling quality.
Deheading shrimp by hydrodynamic force is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,195,921, Mar. 23, 1993. In that patent, a shrimp-laden fluid is pumped through conduit that abruptly narrows. The abrupt decrease in the cross-section of the conduit causes the flow to accelerate through the narrow cross section according to the Venturi Effect. Hydrodynamic forces caused by the change in cross-section tend to detach heads from shrimp. Because of the high-speed water flow and rollerless operation, the removal of heads is not degraded by shrimp fluids. As shown in
Thus, there is a need for a shrimp-processing system that can dehead and shell shrimp without damaging shrimp meats.
A system embodying features of the invention for processing shrimp comprises a hydraulic head detacher including one or more venturis that accelerate a flow of fluid carrying shrimp to subject the shrimp to turbulence detaching heads from the bodies of the shrimp. A peeler detaches shells, appendages, and residual heads from the headless shrimp bodies received from the hydraulic head detacher. An inspection station receives the shrimp bodies from the peeler and redirects those with residual shell or appendages back to the peeler.
In another aspect of the invention, a method for processing shrimp comprises: (a) detaching heads from the bodies of the shrimp by flowing a fluid carrying the shrimp bodies through one or more venturis; (b) peeling the headless shrimp bodies to remove the shells from the shrimp meat; and (c) inspecting the headless shrimp bodies for residual shell and appendages and repeating step (b) on headless shrimp bodies having residual shell or appendages.
In yet another aspect of the invention, a system for processing shrimp comprises a hydraulic head detacher and a hydraulic shell detacher. The head detacher includes one or more venturis that accelerate a flow of fluid carrying shrimp. The venturis subject the shrimp to turbulence that detaches heads from the bodies of the shrimp. A hydraulic shell detacher includes one or more venturis that accelerate a flow of water carrying headless shrimp to subject the shrimp to turbulence that detaches shell from the bodies of the shrimp received from the hydraulic head detacher.
In another aspect of the invention, a system for processing shrimp comprises a hydraulic shell detacher and an inspection station. The shell detacher includes one or more venturis that accelerate a flow of water carrying shrimp to subject the shrimp to turbulence that detaches shell from the bodies of the shrimp. The inspection station receives the shrimp bodies from the hydraulic shell detacher and redirects those shrimp bodies with residual shell or appendages back to the hydraulic shell detacher.
These aspects and features of the invention are described in more detail in the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings, in which:
A venturi tube, or venturi, usable in a shrimp-processing system embodying features of the invention is shown in
A transition portion 26 of the conduit extends downstream from the input portion 24 to the venturi 16. The transition portion 26 defines a length of the fluid channel with a converging cross-sectional area formed by two pairs of converging parabolic walls: large walls 25 and small walls 27. The venturi 16 has a cross-sectional area A2 that is less than that of the input portion 24. In the example of
As shown in
One version of a deheading system 40 is shown in
The deheading and shelling system shown in
One version of a shrimp-processing system embodying features of the invention is shown in
The detached heads flow to a collector 84 that collects the headless shrimp bodies and the detached heads conveyed through connecting conduit from the head detacher 82. One example of a collector includes the feed plenum 54 and the screen slide 56 of
The peeled shrimp are conveyed to a shell separator 90, which includes one or more cleaners or roller separators interconnected by conveyors or flumes. The shell separator separates loosened and detached shell and appendages from the peeled shrimp meats, which are conveyed to an inspection station 92. The inspection station 92 may include a machine-vision accept-reject sorter or be a manned inspection station in which shrimp with residual shell or appendages are sorted from the accepted peeled shrimp meats. Rejected shrimp are conveyed back to the roller peeler 88 for re-processing.
Another version of a shrimp-processing system is shown in
Like the first infeed system 80, the second infeed system 96 can include a feed tank, in which the headless shrimp with loosened shell and appendages are accumulated, a food pump for entraining the shrimp in a fluid flow through a conduit leading to another hydraulic detacher 98 that is used to detach shell and appendages from the headless shrimp bodies. The hydraulic shell detacher 40 is similar to the hydraulic head detacher 82. The number of venturis, their velocity gradients, and their flow rates can all be tailored to detach shell and appendages without damaging the peeled shrimp meat.
The peeled shrimp are collected in a peeled shrimp collector 100. Like the headless, shell-on collector 84 downstream of the hydraulic head detacher 82, the peeled shrimp collector 100 can include a water removal screen, a collection tank, and an outfeed conveyor 44. A water recirculator (not shown) may be used with the shell detacher and separator. The peeled shrimp collector drains the water from the shrimp meat and the detached shell and appendages. The shrimp meat and the detached shell and appendages are transported to the shell separator 90, which separates the shrimp meat from the detached shell and appendages. The headless, shelled shrimp bodies are then sent to the inspection station 92. Rejected shrimp with residual shell or appendages are returned to the headless shrimp infeed 96 for another pass through the hydraulic shell detacher 98.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/862,552, filed Aug. 6, 2013, and incorporated entirely by reference into this specification.
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2778055 | Lapeyre et al. | Jan 1957 | A |
4222153 | Schmidt | Sep 1980 | A |
4251902 | Grinberg | Feb 1981 | A |
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4387485 | Grinberg | Jun 1983 | A |
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5108342 | Lapeyre et al. | Apr 1992 | A |
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6099400 | Ragnarsson | Aug 2000 | A |
6488576 | Shelton | Dec 2002 | B1 |
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7357706 | Hansen | Apr 2008 | B2 |
8801507 | Vedsted et al. | Aug 2014 | B2 |
Entry |
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International Search Report and Written Opinion of the International Searching Authority, PCT/US2014/049844, dated Nov. 21, 2014, Korean Intellectual Property Office, Republic of Korea. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20150044952 A1 | Feb 2015 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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61862552 | Aug 2013 | US |