Egg handling system
First Claim
1. An apparatus for transferring eggs continuously conveyed in spaced-apart, aligned relationship by a conveyor means to a receiving station in an egg grading apparatus at which the eggs are collected and packaged according to their physical characteristics, comprising,conveyor means including carrier members coupled thereto for conveying adjacently spaced rows of eggs in a spaced-apart aligned relationship,rotatable, resilient receiving means disposed at said receiving station below said conveyor means and having the peripheral edge thereof disposed at the approximate centerline of the adjacently spaced rows of eggs, said receiving means being adapted for rotational movement downwardly and away from said conveyor means for receiving eggs delivered by said conveyor means to said receiving station, said receiving means comprising rotatable, resilient cylinder means having a plurality of spaced-apart disk means forming a plurality of channels in said cylinder means for receiving said eggs, said carrier members being selectively actuated to release the eggs so that the eggs from both said adjacently spaced rows of eggs carried by said conveyor means fall onto and are received by respective ones of the channels of said cylinder means, andsupport means, disposed below said rotatable, resilient receiving means, for guiding eggs delivered to said receiving means downwardly and away from said receiving means.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An egg handling system for an egg grader in which eggs carried by a conveyor in spaced-apart, aligned pairs are released at a receiving station into at least one rotating resilient cylinder for transfer to an egg packer. A support member is disposed below the rotating cylinder for guiding eggs delivered to the cylinder downwardly and away from the cylinder to the egg packer.
54 Citations
34 Claims
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1. An apparatus for transferring eggs continuously conveyed in spaced-apart, aligned relationship by a conveyor means to a receiving station in an egg grading apparatus at which the eggs are collected and packaged according to their physical characteristics, comprising,
conveyor means including carrier members coupled thereto for conveying adjacently spaced rows of eggs in a spaced-apart aligned relationship, rotatable, resilient receiving means disposed at said receiving station below said conveyor means and having the peripheral edge thereof disposed at the approximate centerline of the adjacently spaced rows of eggs, said receiving means being adapted for rotational movement downwardly and away from said conveyor means for receiving eggs delivered by said conveyor means to said receiving station, said receiving means comprising rotatable, resilient cylinder means having a plurality of spaced-apart disk means forming a plurality of channels in said cylinder means for receiving said eggs, said carrier members being selectively actuated to release the eggs so that the eggs from both said adjacently spaced rows of eggs carried by said conveyor means fall onto and are received by respective ones of the channels of said cylinder means, and support means, disposed below said rotatable, resilient receiving means, for guiding eggs delivered to said receiving means downwardly and away from said receiving means.
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5. An apparatus for transferring eggs continuously conveyed in spaced-apart, aligned relationship by a conveyor means to a receiving station in an egg grading apparatus at which the eggs are collected and packaged according to their physical characteristics, comprising,
conveyor means including carrier members coupled thereto for conveying adjacently spaced rows of eggs in a spaced-apart aligned relationship, rotatable, resilient cylindrical receiving means disposed at said receiving station below said conveyor means and having the peripheral edge thereof disposed at the approximate centerline of the adjacently spaced rows of eggs, said receiving means being adapted for rotational movement downwardly and away from said conveyor means for receiving eggs delivered by said conveyor means to said receiving station, said carrier members being selectively actuated to release the eggs so that the eggs from both said adjacently spaced rows of eggs carried by said conveyor means fall onto and are received by said cylindrical receiving means, support means, disposed below said rotatable, resilient receiving means, for guiding eggs delivered to said receiving means downwardly and away from said receiving means, and a second conveyor means disposed at said receiving station below said first conveyor means, said cylindrical means being disposed at said receiving station between said first and second conveyor means, and said support means being disposed below the peripheral edge of said cylindrical means and above said second conveyor means for guiding eggs away from said cylindrical means to said second conveyor means, said second conveyor means comprising means for conveying said eggs away from said receiving means in a number of rows which is greater than the number of adjacent rows of eggs carried by said first conveyor means.
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8. An apparatus for delivering eggs to a receiving station in an egg grading apparatus at which the eggs are packaged according to their individual physical characteristics, comprising:
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first conveyor means including a plurality of releasable egg-engaging means for continuously conveying and delivering a plurality of eggs in a first direction in spaced-apart aligned relationship to the receiving station, rotatable, resilient receiving cylinder means disposed at the receiving station, said receiving means being adapted for rotational movement downwardly and away from said conveyor means for receiving eggs delivered by said conveyor means to said receiving station, said cylinder means having an axis substantially parallel to said first direction, support means, disposed below said receiving means, for guiding eggs delivered to said receiving means downwardly and away from said receiving means and in a direction substantially perpendicular to said first direction, means, disposed at said receiving station adjacent to said egg-engaging means of said conveyor means so as to release eggs carried by said egg-engaging means in a predetermined sequence into said receiving means at said receiving station and second conveyor means comprising means for conveying said eggs away from said receiving means in a number of rows which is greater than a number of rows of eggs carried by said first conveyor means. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An apparatus for delivering eggs to a receiving station in an egg grading apparatus at which the eggs are packaged according to their physical characteristics, comprising:
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first conveyor means including a plurality of releasable egg-engaging means for continuously conveying and delivering a plurality of eggs in a first direction in spaced-apart, aligned relationship to the receiving station, rotatable resilient receiving means disposed at the receiving station and including a pair of rotatable resilient cylinder means adapted for rotational movement in opposite directions toward one another and having the peripheral edges thereof disposed in a generally contiguous interference relationship for receiving eggs delivered by said conveying means to said receiving station between said contiguous peripheral edges of said cylinder means, said cylinder means each having an axis substantially parallel to said first direction, a second conveyor means disposed at said receiving station below said first conveyor means, said cylinder means being disposed at said receiving station between said first and second conveyor means, support means, disposed below said receiving means, for guiding eggs delivered to said receiving means downwardly and away from said receiving means and in a direction substantially perpendicular to said first direction, said support means being disposed below said contiguous peripheral edges of said cylinder means and above said second conveyor means for guiding eggs delivered between said contiguous peripheral edges of said cylinder means away from said cylinder means to said second conveyor means, and means, disposed at said receiving station adjacent to said first conveyor means, for selectively actuating said releasable egg-engaging means of said conveyor means so as to release eggs carried by said egg-engaging means in a predetermined sequence into said receiving means at said receiving station. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. An apparatus for delivering eggs to a receiving station in an egg grading apparatus at which the eggs are packaged according to their individual physical characteristics, comprising:
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first conveyor means including a plurality of releasable egg-engaging means for continuously conveying and delivering a plurality of eggs in a first direction in adjacent rows of spaced-apart eggs to the receiving station, a rotatable, resilient receiving cylinder means having an axis substantially parallel to said first direction disposed at the receiving station, said receiving means being adapted for rotational movement downwardly and away from said conveyor means for receiving eggs delivered by said conveyor means to said receiving station, said cylinder means receiving eggs from both said adjacently spaced rows of eggs carried by said first conveyor means, and moving the eggs in a direction substantially perpendicular to said first direction, guide means disposed below said first conveyor means and adjacent the peripheral edge of said rotatable resilient receiving means and having the lower portion thereof curved toward and in general conformance to the peripheral edge of said receiving means, means, disposed at said receiving station adjacent to said conveyor means, for selectively actuating said releasable egg-engaging means of said conveyor means so as to release eggs carried by said egg-engaging means in a predetermined sequence into said receiving means at said receiving station, whereby the eggs from both said adjacently spaced rows of eggs carried by said first conveyor means fall onto and are received by said receiving cylinder means in a number of rows which is greater than the number of rows of eggs carried by said first conveyor means and are moved away from said first conveyor means and second conveyor means for conveying said eggs away from said receiving means in a number of rows which is greater than the number of adjacent rows of eggs carried by said first conveyor means. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27)
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28. A method of transferring eggs delivered in spaced-apart aligned relationship by a first conveyor means to a receiving station, comprising the steps of,
delivering eggs to said receiving station in parallel spaced-apart rows on said first conveyor means, releasing eggs from said first conveyor means at the receiving station in accordance with a predetermined requirement, positioning a receiving means below the first conveyor means so as to receive therein and deliver to a common member the eggs released from the parallel spaced-apart rows of the first conveyor means, receiving said eggs in the receiving means disposed at said receiving station whereby the released eggs from both said parallel spaced apart rows of eggs fall on and are received by said receiving means, rotating the receiving means downwardly and away from said first conveyor means to urge the received eggs downwardly, guiding said eggs received in said receiving means downwardly and away from said receiving means, and conveying said eggs away from said receiving means on second conveyor means, said step of releasing comprising releasing said eggs successively from said first conveyor means at said receiving station along the length of said receiving means, and said step of conveying comprising conveying said eggs individually in rows away from said receiving means on said second conveyor means.
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34. An apparatus for delivering eggs to a receiving station in an egg grading apparatus at which the eggs are packaged according to their individual physical characteristics, comprising:
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first conveyor means including a plurality of releasable egg-engaging means for continuously conveying and delivering a plurality of eggs in a first direction in spaced-apart aligned relationship to the receiving station, receiving means having an axis substantially parallel to said first direction disposed at the receiving station below said first conveyor means and adapted for movement downwardly and away from said first conveyor means for receiving eggs delivered by said first conveyor means to said receiving station so as to move the eggs in a direction substantially perpendicular to said first direction, guide means disposed below said first conveyor means and said receiving means for guiding eggs delivered to said receiving means downwardly and away from said receiving means, means, disposed at said receiving station adjacent to said first conveyor means, for selectively actuating said releasable egg-engaging means of said first conveyor means so as to release eggs carried by said egg-engaging means in a predetermined sequence into said receiving means at said receiving station, whereby the eggs carried by said first conveyor means fall onto and are received by said receiving means and are moved away from said first conveyor means and second conveyor means for conveying said eggs away from said receiving means in a number of rows which is greater than a number of rows of eggs carried by said first conveyor means.
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Specification