Meyn has developed an automated Meyn Selective Hock Ejector system to operate at line speeds up to 13,500 bph and maximise yield by ejecting individual hocks, right or left, or both
The Meyn footpad inspection system (FIS) provides a fully automated process complete with camera and product sensing equipment. It aims to direct different quality grades of hocks into the correct processing lines.
Demand for faster production speeds is making it more and more difficult for operators to perform at the speeds required. Variations in grading and data logging also arise, as a result of different interpretation of the grading guidelines.
With the new Selective Hock Ejector, customers can automatically inspect, grade and divert products, thus minimising the labour cost and maximising the profitability of feet processing. Using information detected in the FIS, it can select, per foot or hock, which products should be ejected and directed into specific processing lines.
Meyn said that this allows for non-human consumption products to be separated automatically from human consumption at the touch of a button.
In addition to this, the Selective Hock Ejector can be linked to a product sensor located after the veterinarian inspection platform in evisceration. If a product is removed by the veterinarian, the corresponding hocks can also be removed from the line and eliminated from a human consumption processing stream. This creates a closed loop system to guarantee product quality for the retailers.
The system also collects information on footpad lesions per flock, in compliance with the latest animal welfare legislation.
The FIS is now supplied with the new hock positioning disc as standard. The hock positioning disc has been added to improve the number of hocks that can be captured by the camera system.