In-ovo injection machine with transversely movable egg tray assembly for manual egg transfer after injection
First Claim
1. An automated injection machine for injecting fluid substances into eggs, said machine comprising:
- a support frame having a movable supporting structure mounted thereon, said movable supporting structure retaining an egg tray thereon and said movable supporting structure and said egg tray moving together laterally in a generally horizontal direction when said egg tray is retained on said support structure;
an injector assembly mounted on or coupled to said support frame and having a plurality of injectors arranged in a generally rectangular, longitudinally extending matrix above said egg tray;
said plurality of injectors being movable in a substantially vertical direction and having needles to inject eggs in said egg tray retained on and positioned by said supporting structure; and
said supporting structure being movable between an injection position in which eggs in an egg tray retained on said supporting structure are positioned directly underneath and in vertical alignment with said injectors and a loading position in which said supporting structure and said egg tray retained thereon are positioned laterally away from said injectors, said supporting structure being movable back and forth between said injection and loading positions.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An in-ovo egg injection machine has a transversely or laterally movable supporting structure which is mounted beneath and adjacent the injector assembly and enables the operator to move egg trays into and out of the injection area from the side of the machine. The supporting structure includes two longitudinally extending opposed support rails that are mounted on a movable member so that the longitudinal support rails are spaced from one another at a set distance to define a support cradle. The movable member is supported on two transversely extending guide rails that are approximately twice the width of the injection area in length so as to allow the support cradle to be moved, preferably by hand, to an injection position directly under the injector assembly and then, by moving the support cradle in a lateral direction on the guide rails, to a loading/unloading position horizontally spaced from the injection area.
-
Citations
24 Claims
-
1. An automated injection machine for injecting fluid substances into eggs, said machine comprising:
-
a support frame having a movable supporting structure mounted thereon, said movable supporting structure retaining an egg tray thereon and said movable supporting structure and said egg tray moving together laterally in a generally horizontal direction when said egg tray is retained on said support structure; an injector assembly mounted on or coupled to said support frame and having a plurality of injectors arranged in a generally rectangular, longitudinally extending matrix above said egg tray; said plurality of injectors being movable in a substantially vertical direction and having needles to inject eggs in said egg tray retained on and positioned by said supporting structure; and said supporting structure being movable between an injection position in which eggs in an egg tray retained on said supporting structure are positioned directly underneath and in vertical alignment with said injectors and a loading position in which said supporting structure and said egg tray retained thereon are positioned laterally away from said injectors, said supporting structure being movable back and forth between said injection and loading positions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
-
-
10. An automated injection machine for injecting fluid substances into eggs, said machine comprising:
-
an injector assembly having a plurality of injectors arranged in a matrix and coupled to a fluid delivery system; a machine frame including a manually movable supporting structure mounted thereon for holding and moving an egg tray through a horizontal range of motion with respect to said frame; said plurality of injectors being machine movable in a substantially vertical direction and having needles to inject eggs in an egg tray positioned on said supporting structure with a fluid provided by said fluid delivery system in accordance with an automated injection sequence; and said supporting structure being manually movable back and forth through said horizontal range of motion to move in one direction from an injection position in which eggs on an egg tray positioned on said supporting structure are underneath and in vertical alignment with said injectors, to a loading position in which said supporting structure is moved to one side with respect to said injection position, and then to move in an opposite direction to return to the infection position. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
-
19. A method of injecting eggs with a fluid using an automated injection assembly including a plurality of injectors arranged in a matrix and supported on a frame and a manually movable supporting structure also mounted on said frame and arranged to move horizontally back and forth from an injection position directly under the injection assembly to a loading position that is horizontally spaced from said injection position, the method comprising the steps of:
-
manually moving the supporting structure horizontally in a first direction to the loading position; arranging at least one tray of eggs onto the supporting structure in said loading position; manually moving the supporting structure horizontally in a second direction to the injection position, said second direction being opposite said first direction; activating the automated injection assembly to inject the eggs on the egg tray with a fluid in said injection position; and manually moving the supporting structure horizontally back to the loading position where the egg tray can be removed and a new egg tray loaded for a next automated injection sequence. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
-
Specification