GB336328A - Improvements in apparatus for grading eggs, fruit or the like - Google Patents

Abstract

336,328. Cowan, I. M. July 29, 1929. Separating or sorting by weighing.-In grading- apparatus for eggs, fruit and other articles, of the kind in which the articles pass along an inclined track having one or more tiltable sections adapted to deposit articles exceeding a certain weight onto a lower track leading to a receptacle, means are provided to prevent the passage of subsequent articles until the leading article has been graded. As shown, eggs roll down an inclined track 2, Fig. 2, having a number of tilt'able sections 3 each mounted on a counterbalanced lever 4 fulcrummed on bearings 7. Under the load of an egg exceeding a certain weight, the section tilts and deposits the egg onto a rockable track 15 that in turn deposits the egg onto a counterbalanced track 20, connected by a stationary track 21 to a receptacle 32, Fig. 3. During the period that the section 3 is displaced, the passage of eggs along the track 2 is prevented by gravity-actuated stops 60 normally disabled by extensions 11 of the lever 4. Upon the return of the section, the passage of eggs is still prevented by a stop 27 connected to the track 20 in such a manner as to be operative while that track is depressed under the weight of an egg. The downward tilting of the section is accelerated, and the upward tilting thereof retarded, by a ball 9 freely movable within a tube 10 carried by the lever 4. The eggs are marked during their passage along the track 21 by a flexibly-mounted printing-element 36, Fig. 3. Inking-means for the printing-element comprise an arm 38 carrying pads 37 and given half a revolution by a clockwork mechanism 39, released upon the passing of each egg. Eggs are prevented from leaving the track 21, in the absence of a receptacle 32, by a spring-urged stop 28 normally held inoperative by the abutment of the tray against an extension 30, thereof.