Importance

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Abstract

A hydraulic stunner apparatus for use in slaughtering animals includes a housing that defines a cylinder within which a rear seat is disposed. An elongated stunner element is received in and closes off the front end of the cylinder. The stunner element is movable between a cocked position in which the first end of the element is sealed against the seat, and a fired position in which the first end of the element is unseated and the stunner element is extended relative to the cylinder. Hydraulic fluid under pressure is directed into the cylinder to pressurize the cylinder, and an actuator is provided for unseating the stunner element from the cocked position to initiate movement of the element to the fired position. Preferably, the apparatus also includes a compressible biasing assembly for maintaining the hydraulic pressure within the cylinder upon separation of the stunner element from the seat and movement of the stunner element toward the extended position. The biasing assembly is compressed by the hydraulic fluid directed into the cylinder and occupies a volume of the cylinder that is variable as the biasing assembly is compressed. The change in the volume occupied by the biasing assembly is substantially equal to the volume within the cylinder that is occupied by the stunner element in the cocked position so that the pressure of the hydraulic fluid in the cylinder is maintained on the stunner element as the element is moved to the fired position.

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First Claim