Automated Beef Shackling Tool

Summary

Background
 
As part of the slaughtering process at many meat processing plants the animal is hoisted up onto a bleed roller for processing. In order to do this a shackle is applied to the animal's rear leg by an operator. This takes place shortly after the animal has been stunned and the legs are still flailing. 
Manual shackling can have many drawbacks; from slow cycle times due to the operator waiting for the leg to stop kicking, to occupational health and safety issues arising from operators working within the kicking range of the beast.
Automating beef shackling tool aims to improve upon this method of manual shackling by removing the operator from the danger zone and increasing the consistency and reliability of the shackle application.
Research

The automated shackle loading system prototype was designed to automatically grab the top and bottom shackle links from the bleed roller then pick and place the shackles into the appropriate grips located in the beef shackling tool.  The system is designed to integrate with existing shackle return systems used in the industry.
The prototype was designed and constructed, and a trial of the system was carried out successfully under project A.TEC.0061, 0069 and 0077.
Outcomes