JP2015025780A - Inspection device of egg under incubation and inspection method of egg under incubation - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inspection device of an egg under incubation not generating erroneous determination caused by internal shaking of an egg under incubation generated by conveyance of a setter tray.SOLUTION: An inspection device 1 of an egg under incubation includes a measuring part 10 for measuring a vital sign of a plurality of eggs E under incubation stopped on a measurement place 13, and a determination part 5 for determining the quality of each egg E under incubation by the vital sign measured by the measuring part 10. The determination part 5 determines the quality of each egg E under incubation by the vital sign after the plurality of eggs E under incubation are stopped on the measurement place 13, and after attenuation of internal shaking of the eggs E under incubation caused by being stopped.

Description

The present invention relates to a hatching egg inspection apparatus that performs pass / fail determination based on vital signs of eggs during hatching.

In addition to edible eggs, eggs typified by chicken eggs and the like include eggs for producing chicks and eggs for producing vaccines. Such an egg is particularly referred to as “an egg during hatching (or a seed egg)”. In the incubation place, eggs in the middle of hatching are placed on a special tray called a setter tray, and the incubation process is performed in an incubator.

The day on which the incubation process is started is defined as the date of incubation, and the number of days elapsed since the date of implantation is defined as the number of incubation days. Chicks are born on the 21st day of incubation. On the 18th or 19th day of incubation, in preparation for the hatching of eggs in the middle of hatching, an operation is carried out to transfer the eggs in the middle of hatching from a setter tray to a special tray called Hatchery. During this transfer operation, the hatching eggs for producing the vaccine are subjected to a predetermined test on the hatching eggs on the 10th day of incubation just before the virus is injected. Here, the inspection will be described.

Even in the middle of hatching eggs, not all eggs in the middle of hatching grow smoothly, but a certain percentage contains unfertilized eggs from the beginning, and embryo development stops during the incubation process. There are eggs that stop growing. Such unfertilized eggs and eggs whose development has been ceased are rotted, and rotten eggs are called spoiled eggs.

Usually, eggs in the middle of hatching to produce chicks are vaccinated in the state of eggs in the middle of hatching in order to reduce the risk of infection with infectious diseases after hatching, but they are housed in setter trays. When a vaccination egg is inoculated with a vaccine, the hatching egg whose internal pressure has increased due to decay may explode due to an impact when the injection needle contacts the shell. Moreover, even if it does not explode, the injection needle is contaminated by vaccinating the rotten egg, and other healthy hatching eggs are also contaminated by the contaminated injection needle. In addition, if eggs in the middle of hatching explode after being transferred to Hatchery, chicks that have already been born may be contaminated.

In order to prevent such contamination, “live eggs” that are hatching eggs in which embryos are alive, and “non-viable” that are unfertilized eggs or developmentally stopped eggs in which embryos have died The test is divided into “eggs”. That is, it is determined whether or not the eggs are hatched. Conventionally, an optical method has been mainly used to determine the quality of eggs during hatching. In these methods, the pass / fail determination is performed by irradiating predetermined eggs on eggs in the middle of hatching and analyzing the time-varying components of the light transmitted through the eggs in the middle of hatching. The hatching eggs determined as non-viable eggs in this way are immediately removed to prevent the live eggs from being contaminated.

The time-varying component of light transmitted through a living egg contains vital signs such as embryo movement and embryo heartbeat, but the time-varying component of light transmitted through a non-viable egg includes vital signs. I can't. However, when measuring the time-varying component of the light transmitted through the non-viable egg, if vibration is applied from the outside to the egg inspecting apparatus during hatching, the vibration is transmitted to the dead embryo inside, and thus the non-viable egg Despite this, it is erroneously determined that vital signs such as embryo movement are included.

In order to prevent such a misjudgment, for example, as proposed in Patent Document 1, when the number of eggs in the middle of hatching determined to be viable eggs greatly exceeds expectations, or the number of embryo movements is a predetermined number. A technique is adopted in which, when eggs are hatched at almost the same time in the middle of hatching, it is detected that there is an erroneous determination due to vibrations from the outside, and the inspection is restarted.

JP 2011-177188 A

However, the conventional hatching egg inspection apparatus has the following problems. As described above, in order to detect that the hatching egg test apparatus is an erroneous determination due to vibration, if the number of hatching eggs that are determined to be viable eggs greatly exceeds expectations, This is limited to when strong vibrations are applied from the outside, such as in the case where a large number of eggs are hatching at almost the same time.

Then, when the dead embryo is in a state of being easily shaken like the inside of the development stop egg (rotted egg) shown in FIG. 9, even if strong vibration is not applied from the outside, it died due to inertia when it was carried to the measurement place. The embryo shakes swayingly. Such shaking is similar to the movement and heartbeat of the embryo, and even though it is a non-viable egg, it may be erroneously determined to be a living egg. Therefore, there is a need for a hatching egg inspection apparatus that does not erroneously determine that a non-viable egg is a living egg even in such a case.

The present invention has been made as part of the above development, and its purpose is to provide a hatching egg test apparatus in which erroneous determination does not occur due to shaking inside a non-viable egg that occurs when a hatching egg is transported to a measurement location It is to be.

The hatching egg inspection apparatus according to the present invention determines the quality of each hatching egg by a measuring unit that measures vital signs of a plurality of hatching eggs stopped at a measurement place and the vital sign measured by the measuring unit. A determination unit, wherein the determination unit stops the eggs in the middle of hatching by the vital signs after the shaking generated in the eggs in the middle of hatching is attenuated by stopping the plurality of hatching eggs at the measurement location. Judge the quality.

According to the hatching egg test apparatus according to the present invention, when the hatching egg is stopped at the measurement place, erroneous determination due to shaking generated inside the development-stopped egg is greatly suppressed.

It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the hatching egg test apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. In the same embodiment, it is a top view which shows the structure of the hatching egg test | inspection apparatus. In the embodiment, it is a front conceptual diagram which shows the structure of the hatching egg test | inspection apparatus. 5 is a flowchart for explaining a measurement operation by a measurement head in the same embodiment. It is a graph which shows the time fluctuation component of the light which permeate | transmitted the growth stop egg (rotted egg) and a living egg. In the same embodiment, it is a flow chart for explaining another measurement operation by a measurement head. It is a top view which shows the structure of the hatching egg test apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. 5 is a flowchart for explaining a measurement operation by a measurement head in the same embodiment. It is a figure which shows the internal state of a growth stop egg (rotted egg) and a living egg.

A hatching egg inspection apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described. As shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, the hatching egg test apparatus 1 includes a measuring unit 10 to which a measurement head 11 for measuring a vital sign of the hatching egg E is attached, and a hatching egg E using the measured vital sign. The determination unit 5 that performs the determination, the transfer unit 20 to which the transfer head 21 that transfers the hatching egg E based on the measurement result by the measurement head 11 is attached, and a plurality of hatching eggs E are accommodated. A transport unit 30 that transports the setter tray 2 and a control unit 6 that performs these controls are provided.

Next, the measurement unit 10 to which the measurement head 11 is attached will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 3, the measurement unit 10 includes a light emitting unit 12 that irradiates predetermined light toward the hatching egg E, and light that has passed through the hatching egg E among the light emitted by the light emitting unit 12. And a measuring head 11 that measures the above.

The light emitting unit 12 is arranged so that, for example, a plurality of light emitting elements such as light emitting diodes correspond to the arrangement of the plurality of hatching eggs E accommodated in the setter tray 2 conveyed by the conveying unit 30 described later. ing. The light emitting element is not limited to a light emitting diode as long as it emits light in a predetermined wavelength region, and may be laser light, for example.

A plurality of caps 14 are attached to the measurement head 11 so as to correspond to the arrangement of the light emitting elements of the light emitting unit 12. That is, the number of caps 14 is the same as the number of hatching eggs E on the setter tray 2. The cap 14 has flexibility and light-shielding properties, and has a structure in which only the light transmitted from the inside of the hatching egg E passes through the upper end of the hatching egg E.

Light receiving elements such as photodiodes are disposed inside the plurality of caps 14. The light emitted from the light emitting element of the light emitting unit 12 passes through the inside of the hatching egg E, and only the light transmitted from the upper end of the hatching egg E is received by the light receiving element inside the cap 14. The light receiving element converts the received light into an electrical signal and sends it to the determination unit 5. The light receiving element is not limited to a photodiode or the like as long as predetermined light transmitted through the egg E during hatching can be captured as a signal.

The determination unit 5 is an arithmetic processing unit that determines the quality of the egg E during hatching. The determination unit 5 analyzes the time-varying component of the light included in the electrical signal sent from the light receiving element and is accommodated in the setter tray 2. It is determined whether the egg E during hatching includes vital signs such as embryo movement and embryo heartbeat. If the vital sign is not included, the hatching egg E is determined to be a non-viable egg such as an unfertilized egg or a development-stopped egg. In addition, as a technique for deciding pass / fail by illuminating eggs in the middle of hatching and measuring vital signs contained in the transmitted light, JP 2011-106892 describes a detailed determination method, and the method is used. can do. Hereinafter, measuring vital signs included in the light transmitted through the egg during hatching and determining pass / fail is referred to as “vital sign measurement”.

The measurement head 11 is attached to a fixed part 15 fixed to the frame of the measurement part 10 via a measurement expansion / contraction part 16. The measurement expansion / contraction part 16 lowers the measurement head 11 when measuring the egg E during hatching, thereby bringing the cap 14 into close contact with the upper end of the egg E during hatching. Further, after the measurement, the measuring head 11 is raised to the position depicted by the broken line in FIG. In the present embodiment, the measurement expansion / contraction unit 16 uses an air cylinder, but is not limited to an air cylinder as long as the measurement head 11 can be raised and lowered, and may be raised and lowered by, for example, motor driving.

Next, the transfer unit 20 to which the transfer head 21 is attached will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 3, the transfer unit 20 includes a transfer head 21 that transfers the hatching eggs E based on the determination result by the determination unit 5, and a non-transferred state where the transfer head 21 is transferred from the setter tray 2. A non-viable egg exclusion unit 25 that excludes the live egg D to the outside of the egg inspection apparatus 1 during hatching is provided.

The transfer head 21 has a suction cup 22 for selectively vacuum-sucking the non-viable eggs D corresponding to the arrangement of half of the hatching eggs E accommodated in the setter tray 2 conveyed by the conveyance unit 30 described later. It is attached so that two or more. In the present embodiment, half of the plurality of hatching eggs E accommodated in the setter tray 2 can be transferred by a single transfer operation by the transfer head 21. That is, one setter tray 2 is divided into a first half part and a second half part, and the non-viable eggs D on the setter tray 2 are removed by two transfer operations, so the number of suction cups 22 attached to the transfer head 21 Is composed of half the number of caps 14 attached to the measuring head 11.

The number of suction cups 22 attached to the transfer head 21 is the same as the number of caps 14 attached to the measuring head 11 (that is, the same as the number of hatching eggs E that can be accommodated in the setter tray 2). Thus, all the non-viable eggs D stored in one setter tray 2 may be removed by a single transfer operation by the transfer head 21. However, if all the non-viable eggs D can be removed by a single transfer operation, the transfer head 21 becomes large and the hatching egg inspection apparatus 1 cannot be made compact. The number of 22 is made half of the number of eggs E during hatching on the setter tray 2, and the non-viable eggs D are removed by two transfer operations. Furthermore, if the number of suckers 22 is set to a quarter of the number of eggs E during hatching on the setter tray 2, in order to remove all non-viable eggs D on the setter tray 2, transfer is performed up to four times. Although operation is required, the entire apparatus can be made more compact.

The transfer head 21 is provided with a vacuum pipe connected to a compressor (not shown) for generating a vacuum in each of the plurality of suction cups 22, and the suction cups 22 are based on the determination result of the determination unit 5 described above. However, only those determined to be non-viable eggs D among the eggs E during hatching on the setter tray 2 can be selectively vacuum-sucked. Further, as a technique for selectively transferring only non-viable eggs D from the setter tray 2, a detailed transfer technique is described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2012-231700, and the technique or the like can be used.

The transfer head 21 is connected to a transfer slide unit 23 fixed to the frame of the transfer unit 20 via a transfer expansion / contraction unit 24. When the non-viable egg D is transferred, the transfer expansion / contraction part 24 lowers the transfer head 21 to bring the suction cup 22 into close contact with the upper end of the non-viable egg D. Further, after vacuum suction is performed on the non-viable egg D, the transfer head 21 is raised to the position depicted by the broken line in FIG. In this embodiment, the transfer expansion / contraction part 24 uses an air cylinder. However, as long as the transfer head 21 can be moved up and down, it is not limited to the air cylinder, and may be moved up and down by motor drive, for example.

The transfer slide unit 23 is a slider that horizontally moves the transfer head 21 from the setter tray 2 to the non-living egg exclusion unit 25. In the present embodiment, a motor and a ball screw are used to drive the transfer slide 23. However, the transfer head 21 is not limited to the motor and the ball screw as long as the transfer head 21 can be moved horizontally. It may be moved horizontally by driving.

The non-viable egg exclusion unit 25 is transferred with a slight inclination so that the non-viable egg D transferred from the setter tray 2 by the transfer head 21 can be excluded from the egg inspecting apparatus 1 during hatching. It is attached to the part 20. When the transfer head 21 releases the vacuum suction of the non-viable egg D on the non-viable egg exclusion unit 25, the non-viable egg D rolls on the non-viable egg exclusion unit 25 along the inclined surface, and the hatching egg inspection apparatus 1 Are collected in a collection container (not shown) for non-viable eggs placed outside the container. In the present embodiment, the non-viable egg D is configured to roll on the inclined surface by its own weight, but the non-viable egg D may be actively excluded using a belt conveyor or the like.

Further, in place of the non-viable egg exclusion unit 25, a conveyor or the like for conveying the viable egg is provided, and the hatching egg E determined as a viable egg by the determination unit 5 is transferred by the transfer head 21 to be non-viable. The eggs D may be left in the setter tray 2 and transported in the unloading direction 4. By doing so, it is possible to reduce the problem that the rotten eggs whose contents are rotten explode due to the impact of transfer and contaminate the living eggs on the setter tray 2.

The transfer unit 20 is covered with a cover as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3. Thereby, when the rotten egg explodes due to the impact of the transfer, the contents of the rotten egg are prevented from scattering to the outside of the hatching egg inspection apparatus 1. In this embodiment, the cover is made of an opaque member. However, if the cover is made of a transparent member such as an acrylic plate, the contents of the spoiled egg are prevented from being scattered outside the egg inspecting apparatus 1 during hatching. However, it is also possible to monitor the state of transfer from the outside.

In addition, since the measurement part 10 and the transfer part 20 are arrange | positioned at predetermined intervals, without connecting directly, the vibration which arises when the transfer head 21 operate | moves can be interrupted | blocked.

Next, the conveyance unit 30 will be described in detail. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the transport unit 30 transports the setter tray 2 in which the eggs E during hatching are accommodated in the carry-in direction 3, and the setter tray 2 after the measurement or the like is carried out. A dog 31 for transporting to 4 is provided.

The dog 31 is a member for sandwiching and transporting the setter tray 2 from the front and rear in the transport direction. The end of the dog 31 is connected to two chains (not shown) provided on the right side and the left side in the transport direction of the transport unit 30, and the two chains are driven simultaneously to The setter tray 2 is conveyed while sliding on the surface 32. In the present embodiment, the transport surface 32 is made of a stainless steel member so that the setter tray 2 can slide, but the light from the light emitting unit 12 is allowed to pass at the measurement location 13 immediately below the measurement head 11. The conveyance surface 32 is a transparent body such as glass so that it can be used.

The control unit 6 is an arithmetic processing device, and controls operation timings of the measurement unit 10, the transfer unit 20, and the transport unit 30. In the present embodiment, the determination unit 5 and the control unit 6 are described as separate arithmetic processing devices, but these functions can be realized by a single arithmetic processing device. Moreover, you may provide the control part independent in each of the measurement part 10, the transfer part 20, and the conveyance part 30. FIG.

Next, the operation of the hatching egg inspection apparatus 1 according to this embodiment will be described.

When the setter tray 2 taken out from the incubator is placed on the carry-in position between the dog 31 and the dog 31 on the carrying unit 30, the carry unit 30 carries the setter tray 2 in the carrying-in direction 3 to the inside of the measuring unit 10. The setter tray 2 is conveyed to the measurement place 13 indicated by a two-dot chain line and stopped.

Next, the measurement operation of the measurement unit 10 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. When the setter tray 2 stops at the measurement place 13, the measurement expansion / contraction part 16 measures to a position where the cap 14 attached to the measurement head 11 comes into contact with the upper end of the hatching egg E stopped at the measurement place 13. The head 11 is lowered (S1).

When vital signs are measured when sufficient time has not elapsed since the setter tray 2 stopped at the measurement location 13, the dead embryo shakes like the inside of the development stop egg (rotted egg) shown in FIG. In the easy state, the embryos that have died due to the inertia force generated when the setter tray 2 is transported to the measurement place 13 sways swayingly. Since such a shake is measured like the waveform of the non-viable egg shown in FIG. 5, it may be erroneously determined to be a viable egg even though it is a growth-discontinued egg. In the present embodiment, the measurement is performed after the waiting time of 2 seconds elapses after the setter tray 2 stops at the measurement place 13 (S2). Thereby, the quality of each hatching egg can be determined by the vital sign after the shaking generated inside the hatching egg E is attenuated.

Note that the waiting time is not limited to 2 seconds, and may wait for a longer time. However, if the waiting time is increased, the processing amount per unit time of the hatching egg inspection apparatus is reduced. In this embodiment, the spoiled egg generated by the inertia force when the setter tray 2 is conveyed at a maximum speed of 50 cm / s. The waiting time is set to 2 seconds, which is the time during which most of the internal shaking disappears and no erroneous determination occurs. If the transport speed of the setter tray 2 is slow, the waiting time may be shortened. Further, the standby time does not always have to be constant, the standby time may be set to n seconds, and the value of n may be appropriately changed according to the conveyance speed or the like.

If more than 2 seconds have passed since the setter tray 2 stopped at the measurement location 13, light is emitted from the light emitting element of the light emitting unit 12, and the light passes through the egg E during hatching, and the transmitted light is transmitted. Vital sign measurement is performed by passing through the inside of the cap 14 and being received by the light receiving element of the measuring head 11 (S3). The received light is converted into an electrical signal and sent to the determination unit 5. The determination unit 5 determines pass / fail of each hatched egg E on the setter tray 2 based on the electrical signal sent from the measurement unit 10, and sends the determination result to the control unit 6. Thereafter, the measurement expansion / contraction unit 16 raises the measurement head 11 to a position indicated by a broken line in FIG. 3 (S4). This completes the measurement operation of the measurement unit 10.

Further, as an example of changing the start timing of vital sign measurement according to the degree of shaking inside the hatching egg E in addition to the standby time, the measurement operation of the measurement unit 10 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

When the setter tray 2 stops at the measurement place 13, the measurement expansion / contraction part 16 measures to a position where the cap 14 attached to the measurement head 11 comes into contact with the upper end of the hatching egg E stopped at the measurement place 13. The head 11 is lowered (S10).

In this measurement operation, after the setter tray 2 stops at the measurement place 13, after waiting time of n seconds or longer (S11), or when the setter tray 2 is stopped at the measurement place 13, hatching eggs When there is no fluctuation inside E (S12), vital sign measurement is performed (S13). Thereby, the quality of each hatching egg can be determined by the vital sign after the shaking generated inside the hatching egg E is attenuated. Note that “there is no shaking inside the egg E during hatching” means that the shaking has completely disappeared, including the case of shaking that does not cause misjudgment when performing vital sign measurement. Not limited to.

Further, in order to determine whether or not there is a shaking inside the hatching egg E (in this case, the rotten egg), the measuring head 11 is lowered, and the cap 14 contacts the upper end of the hatching egg E. It is necessary to immediately measure the time-varying component of the light transmitted through the egg E during hatching. The measurement of the time-varying component of light performed at this time is not a vital sign measurement for determining the quality of the egg E during hatching, but is performed to determine whether there is a shake inside the egg E during hatching. Measurement. Hereinafter, the measurement performed to determine whether there is a shake inside the egg E during hatching is referred to as “shake measurement”.

When shaking measurement is performed, if the dead embryo is in a state of being easily shaken like the inside of the development stop egg (rotted egg) shown in FIG. 9, the death is caused by the inertia force generated when the setter tray 2 is transported to the measurement place 13 The swaying swaying of the embryo is measured. Such shaking often has a waveform that is clearly different from the waveform of a living egg, such as the waveform of a growth-stopped egg (rotted egg) shown in FIG.

Here, the growth-stopped egg (rotted egg) shown in FIG. 5 and the graph of the time-varying component of the light transmitted through the living egg will be described in detail. FIG. 5 shows the time variation of light transmitted through the inside of one development-stopped egg (rotted egg) among a plurality of hatching eggs E accommodated in the same setter tray 2 and the time variation component of light was measured simultaneously. A graph of the components (left side) and a graph of the time-varying components of the light transmitted through one living egg (right side).

In both graphs, the vertical axis represents the intensity of light received by the light receiving element of the measuring head 11, and the horizontal axis represents time (seconds). The time-varying component of light that has passed through the inside of the live egg on the right side contains a periodically changing heartbeat, but the time-varying component of light that has passed through the inside of the left-stopped egg (rotted egg) is like a heartbeat. It does not include a time variation component, but includes a time variation component due to a shake caused by an inertial force when the setter tray 2 is conveyed.

If a waveform such as a growth-stopped egg (rotted egg) in FIG. 5 is measured by shaking measurement, the vital sign is not measured because there is an internal shaking (S12). However, at this time, if a certain time (n seconds) has elapsed since the setter tray 2 stopped at the measurement location 13 (S11), vital sign measurement is performed, but if the certain time has not elapsed. Then, the time-varying component of light is measured again, and it is determined whether or not there is a shake inside the egg E during hatching (S12). In this measurement operation, “sway measurement” and “vital sign measurement” are separated, but only the time-varying component of the light is measured first, and the vibration and undulating waveform are included in the measurement. If is not included, the measurement of the time-varying component of light performed first may be used as vital sign measurement.

If a fixed time has passed since the setter tray 2 stopped at the measurement place 13 or if there is no shaking inside the egg E during hatching, vital sign measurement is performed (S13). The light received by the light receiving element of the measuring head 11 is converted into an electric signal and sent to the determination unit 5. The determination unit 5 determines pass / fail of each hatched egg E on the setter tray 2 based on the electrical signal sent from the measurement unit 10, and sends the determination result to the control unit 6. Thereafter, the measurement expansion / contraction unit 16 raises the measurement head 11 to a position indicated by a broken line in FIG. 3 (S14). Thus, the measurement operation of the measurement unit 10 is completed.

When the measurement by the measuring head 11 is completed, the transport unit 30 resumes transport, transports the non-viable egg D included in the first half of the setter tray 2 to a position where it can be vacuum-sucked, and stops. At this time, if the next setter tray 2 taken out from the incubator is placed at the carry-in position between the dog 31 and the dog 31 on the transport unit 30, the next setter tray 2 is transported to the measurement place 13. And stop.

When the setter tray 2 stops, the transfer expansion / contraction unit 24 lowers the transfer head 21 and stops at a position where the suction cup 22 contacts the upper end of the egg E during hatching. Based on the measurement result of the measurement head 11, the transfer head 21 selectively vacuum-sucks the hatching eggs that the determination unit 5 has determined to be the non-viable eggs D. When vacuum suction is performed, the transfer expansion / contraction part 24 raises the transfer head 21 to a position indicated by a broken line in FIG.

When the transfer head 21 is raised to the position indicated by the broken line, the transfer slide unit 23 moves the transfer head 21 onto the non-viable egg exclusion unit 25. When the movement onto the non-viable egg exclusion unit 25 is completed, the vacuum suction is released and the non-viable egg D is transferred to the non-viable egg exclusion unit 25. The non-viable egg D on the non-viable egg exclusion unit 25 is collected in a non-viable egg collection container prepared outside the egg inspection apparatus 1 while inclining.

When the transfer head 21 transfers the non-viable egg D to the non-viable egg exclusion unit 25, the transfer head 21 starts to move again onto the setter tray 2 by the transfer slide unit 23, and the transfer head 21 moves to the latter half of the setter tray 2. When the non-viable egg D contained in is moved to a position where vacuum suction can be performed, the operation stops. Thereafter, the same operation as the transfer of the non-viable egg D in the first half is repeated.

When all the non-viable eggs D on the setter tray 2 are removed by the transfer head 21, the transport unit 30 transports the setter tray 2 in the unloading direction 4 and stops. At this time, the next setter tray 2 for which measurement has been completed is transported by the transport unit 30 and stopped immediately below the transfer head 21, and the next setter tray 2 is transported by the transport unit 30 to be measured at the measurement place 13. It has stopped. Thereafter, a series of operations are repeated until the inspection of all eggs E hatching in the incubator is completed.

Furthermore, as another example of the present embodiment, the conveyance unit and the transfer unit can be eliminated and only the measurement unit can be provided. In this case, an operator who inspects eggs during hatching puts a setter tray into the measurement unit, starts vital sign measurement after a lapse of a certain time (n seconds) from the insertion, and the determination unit makes a determination based on the measurement result The non-viable egg may be marked by an inkjet device provided in the measurement unit based on the determination result of the determination unit. The operator removes the non-viable eggs marked by the ink jet device to complete the egg hatching inspection.

According to the hatching egg inspection apparatus according to the present embodiment, the vital sign measurement is performed after the shaking generated inside is attenuated by carrying the hatching egg housed in the setter tray to the measurement place. A non-viable egg such as a rotten egg whose dead embryo is shaking or an unfertilized egg whose egg yolk is shaking inside is not erroneously determined as a living egg.

Next, a hatching egg inspection apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In addition, about the same structure as the said 1st Embodiment, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and description is abbreviate | omitted. As shown in FIG. 7, the hatching egg test apparatus 100 determines a hatching egg E using a measurement unit 110 to which a measurement head 11 that measures a vital sign of the hatching egg E is attached, and the measured vital sign. A determination unit 5 (see FIG. 3) to be performed, a transfer head 21A for transferring the egg E in the middle of hatching based on a measurement result by the measurement head 11, a transfer unit 120 to which the transfer head 21B is attached, and a plurality of hatches A transport unit 130A and a transport unit 130B for independently transporting the setter tray 2 in which the intermediate eggs E are accommodated in parallel are provided, and a control unit 6 (see FIG. 3) for controlling them.

First, the conveyance unit 130A and the conveyance unit 130B will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 7, the setter tray 2 in which the eggs E that are hatching are accommodated is conveyed in the carrying-in direction 3 to the carrying unit 130 </ b> A and the carrying unit 130 </ b> B, and the setter tray 2 after measurement and the like is carried out A dog 31 for transporting in the direction 4 is provided.

The dog 31 is a member for transporting the setter tray 2 sandwiched from the front and rear in the transport direction in the transport unit 130A and the transport unit 130B. The end portion of the dog 31 provided in the conveyance unit 130A is connected to two chains (not shown) provided on the right side and the left side in the conveyance direction of the conveyance unit 130A. By driving simultaneously, the setter tray 2 is conveyed while sliding on the conveyance surface 32. Similarly, the end portion of the dog 31 provided in the conveyance unit 130B is connected to two chains (not shown) provided on the right side and the left side in the conveyance direction of the conveyance unit 130B. The setter tray 2 is conveyed while sliding on the conveying surface 32 by simultaneously driving the chains. Since the conveyance unit 130A and the conveyance unit 130B independently convey the setter tray 2, the other conveyance unit can be moved when one conveyance unit is stopped.

In the present embodiment, the transport surface 32 is made of a stainless steel member so that the setter tray 2 can be slid. However, in the measurement place 13A and the measurement place 13B indicated by the two-dot chain line, the light emitting unit 12 is used. The transport surface 32 is a transparent body such as glass so that light from (see FIG. 3) can pass therethrough.

Next, the measurement unit 110 to which the measurement head 11 is attached will be described in detail. The measuring unit 110 is provided with a measuring head 11 that measures light transmitted through the hatching egg E out of the light emitted from the light emitting unit 12 from below the hatching egg E. The measurement head 11 is attached to a measurement slide part 17 fixed to the frame of the measurement part 110 via a measurement expansion / contraction part 16 (see FIG. 3).

The measurement slide unit 17 is a slider for horizontally moving the measurement head 11 between the measurement location 13A and the measurement location 13B. In the present embodiment, a motor and a ball screw are used to drive the measurement slide unit 17, but the measurement head 11 is not limited to the motor and the ball screw as long as the measurement head 11 can be moved horizontally, for example, by driving a linear motor. It may be moved horizontally.

Next, the transfer unit 120 to which the transfer head 21A and the transfer head 21B are attached will be described in detail. The transfer unit 120 includes a transfer head 21 </ b> A and a transfer head 21 </ b> B that transfer the hatching eggs E based on a determination result by the determination unit 5, and a transfer head 21 </ b> A and a transfer head 21 </ b> B are transferred from the setter tray 2. There is provided a non-viable egg exclusion unit 125 that excludes the non-viable egg D placed on the hatching egg inspection apparatus 1 to the outside.

The transfer head 21 </ b> A and the transfer head 21 </ b> B have suction cups 22 for selectively vacuum-sucking non-viable eggs D, half the hatched eggs E accommodated in the setter tray 2 transported by the transport unit 30. A plurality are attached so as to correspond to the arrangement. In the present embodiment, half of the plurality of hatching eggs E accommodated in the setter tray 2 can be transferred by a single transfer operation by the transfer head 21A or the transfer head 21B. In other words, one setter tray 2 is divided into a first half portion and a second half portion, and the non-viable eggs D on the setter tray 2 are removed by two transfer operations. Therefore, the setter tray 2 is attached to each of the transfer head 21A and the transfer head 21B. The number of suction cups 22 that are provided is half of the number of caps 14 that are attached to the measurement head 11.

The transfer head 21 </ b> A and the transfer head 21 </ b> B are connected to the transfer slide unit 23 </ b> A and the transfer slide unit 23 fixed to the frame of the transfer unit 120 via transfer expansion / contraction units 24 (see FIG. 3), respectively. ing.

The transfer slide unit 23A and the transfer slide unit 23B are sliders that horizontally move the transfer head 21A and the transfer head 21B from the setter tray 2 to the non-living egg exclusion unit 25. In the present embodiment, a motor and a ball screw are used to drive the transfer slide portion 23A and the transfer slide portion 23B. However, the transfer head 21 is not limited to the motor and the ball screw as long as the transfer head 21 can be moved horizontally. For example, it may be moved horizontally by driving a linear motor.

The non-viable egg exclusion unit 125 is slightly inclined so that the transfer head 21A and the transfer head 21B can exclude the non-viable egg D transferred from the setter tray 2 to the outside of the hatching egg inspection apparatus 1. And attached to the transfer unit 120. When the transfer head 21A and the transfer head 21B release the vacuum suction of the non-viable egg D on the non-viable egg exclusion portion 25, the non-viable egg D rolls on the non-viable egg exclusion portion 25 along the inclined surface and hatches. It is collected in a collection container (not shown) for non-viable eggs placed outside the egg inspection apparatus 1 on the way. In the present embodiment, the non-viable egg D is configured to roll on the inclined surface by its own weight, but the non-viable egg D may be actively excluded using a belt conveyor or the like.

Next, the operation of the hatching egg inspection apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment will be described.

When the setter tray 2 taken out from the incubator is placed at the carry-in position between the dog 31 and the dog 31 on the carry unit 130A and the carry unit 130B, the carry unit 130A and the carry unit 130B carry the setter tray 2 in the carry-in direction 3. Then, the setter tray 2 is conveyed to the measurement place 13A and the measurement place 13B of the measurement unit 110 and stopped.

Next, the measurement operation on the measurement place 13A side of the measurement unit 110 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. When the setter tray 2 stops at the measurement location 13A, the measurement slide unit 17 slides the measurement head 11 onto the measurement location 13A (S20). When the measurement slide part 17 slides the measurement head 11, the measurement expansion / contraction part 16 is a position where the cap 14 attached to the measurement head 11 comes into contact with the upper end of the hatching egg E stopped at the measurement place 13A. Until the measuring head 11 is lowered (S21).

When vital signs are measured when sufficient time has not elapsed since the setter tray 2 stopped at the measurement location 13A, the dead embryo shakes like the inside of the development stop egg (rotted egg) shown in FIG. In the case of an easy state, an embryo that has died due to inertia generated when the setter tray 2 is transported to the measurement location 13A shakes swayingly. Since such a shake is measured like the waveform of the non-viable egg shown in FIG. 5, it may be erroneously determined to be a viable egg even though it is a growth-discontinued egg. In the present embodiment, measurement is performed after 2 seconds of standby time have elapsed since the setter tray 2 stopped at the measurement location 13A (S22). Thereby, the quality of each hatching egg can be determined by the vital sign after the shaking generated inside the hatching egg E is attenuated.

Note that the waiting time is not limited to 2 seconds, and may wait for a longer time. However, if the waiting time is lengthened, the processing amount per unit time of the hatching egg inspection apparatus is reduced. In this embodiment, the spoiled egg produced by the inertia force when the setter tray 2 is conveyed at a maximum speed of 50 cm / s is used. The waiting time is set to 2 seconds, which is the time when the internal shaking almost disappears and no erroneous determination occurs. If the maximum speed when conveying the setter tray 2 is low, the waiting time may be shortened. Further, the standby time does not always have to be constant, the standby time may be set to n seconds, and the value of n may be appropriately changed according to the conveyance speed or the like.

If more than 2 seconds have passed since the setter tray 2 stopped at the measurement place 13A, light is emitted from the light emitting element of the light emitting unit 12, and the light is transmitted through the egg E during hatching, and the transmitted light is transmitted. Vital sign measurement is performed by passing through the inside of the cap 14 and being received by the light receiving element of the measuring head 11 (S23). The received light is converted into an electrical signal and sent to the determination unit 5. The determination unit 5 determines pass / fail of each hatched egg E on the setter tray 2 based on the electrical signal sent from the measurement unit 110, and sends the determination result to the control unit 6. Thereafter, the measurement expansion / contraction unit 16 raises the measurement head 11 (S24). Thus, the measurement operation on the measurement location 13A side is completed.

When the measurement by the measuring head 11 is completed, the transport unit 130A resumes transport, transports the transport head 21A to a position where the non-viable egg D included in the first half of the setter tray 2 can be vacuum-sucked, and stops. At this time, if the next setter tray 2 taken out from the incubator is placed at the carry-in position between the dog 31 and the dog 31 on the conveyance unit 130A, the next setter tray 2 is conveyed to the measurement place 13A. And stop.

When the setter tray 2 stops, the transfer expansion / contraction unit 24 lowers the transfer head 21A and stops at a position where the suction cup 22 contacts the upper end of the egg E during hatching. 21 A of transfer heads selectively vacuum-suck the hatching halfway egg which the determination part 5 determined with the non-viable egg D based on the measurement result of the measurement head 11. FIG. When vacuum suction is performed, the transfer expansion / contraction part 24 raises the transfer head 21A.

When the transfer head 21A moves up, the transfer slide unit 23A moves the transfer head 21A onto the non-viable egg exclusion unit 125. When the movement onto the non-viable egg exclusion unit 125 is completed, the vacuum suction is released. The non-viable egg D is transferred to the non-viable egg exclusion unit 125. The non-viable egg D on the non-viable egg exclusion unit 125 is collected in a non-viable egg collection container (not shown) prepared on the outside of the egg-inspecting apparatus 100 during hatching while rolling.

When the transfer head 21A transfers the non-viable egg D to the non-viable egg exclusion unit 125, the transfer head 21A starts to move again onto the setter tray 2 by the transfer slide unit 23A, and the transfer head 21A moves to the latter half of the setter tray 2. When the non-viable egg D contained in is moved to a position where vacuum suction can be performed, the operation stops. Thereafter, the same operation as the transfer of the non-viable egg D in the first half is repeated.

When all the non-viable eggs D on the setter tray 2 are removed by the transfer head 21A, the transport unit 130A transports the setter tray 2 in the unloading direction 4 and stops. At this time, the next setter tray 2 whose measurement has been completed is transported by the transport unit 130A and stopped immediately below the transfer head 21A, and the next setter tray 2 is transported by the transport unit 130A and is measured at the measurement location 13A. It has stopped. Thereafter, a series of operations are repeated until the inspection of all eggs E hatching in the incubator is completed.

Next, the measurement operation on the measurement location 13B side of the measurement unit 110 will be described. If the setter tray 2 is stopped at the measurement location 13B when the vital sign measurement by the measurement head 11 is completed at the measurement location 13A, the measurement slide unit 17 slides the measurement head 11 onto the measurement location 13B (S25). When the measurement slide part 17 slides the measurement head 11, the measurement expansion / contraction part 16 is a position where the cap 14 attached to the measurement head 11 comes into contact with the upper end part of the hatching egg E stopped at the measurement place 13B. Until the measuring head 11 is lowered (S26).

When the measurement head 11 is lowered, if the waiting time of 2 seconds has already elapsed since the setter tray 2 stopped at the measurement location 13B (S27), vital sign measurement is performed (S28). Thereby, the quality of each hatching egg can be determined by the vital sign after the shaking generated inside the hatching egg E is attenuated. Note that the waiting time is not limited to 2 seconds, and may be waited for a longer time. If the conveying speed of the setter tray 2 is slow, the waiting time may be shortened. Further, the standby time does not always have to be constant, the standby time may be set to n seconds, and the value of n may be appropriately changed according to the conveyance speed or the like.

Furthermore, in addition to the waiting time, the shaking measurement may be performed as in the first embodiment, and the start timing of the vital sign measurement may be changed depending on the degree of shaking inside the hatching egg E (FIG. 6). (Refer to the flowchart).

The light received by the light receiving element of the measuring head 11 is converted into an electric signal and sent to the determination unit 5. The determination unit 5 determines pass / fail of each hatched egg E on the setter tray 2 based on the electrical signal sent from the measurement unit 110, and sends the determination result to the control unit 6. Thereafter, the measurement expansion / contraction unit 16 raises the measurement head 11 (S29). Thus, the measurement operation on the measurement location 13B side is completed.

When the measurement by the measurement head 11 is completed, the conveyance unit 130B resumes conveyance, and the transfer head 21B conveys the non-viable egg D included in the first half of the setter tray 2 to a position where it can be vacuumed and stops. At this time, if the next setter tray 2 taken out from the incubator is placed at the carry-in position between the dog 31 and the dog 31 on the transport unit 130B, the next setter tray 2 is transported to the measurement place 13B. And stop.

When the setter tray 2 stops, the transfer expansion / contraction part 24 lowers the transfer head 21B and stops at a position where the suction cup 22 contacts the upper end of the egg E during hatching. The transfer head 21 </ b> B selectively vacuum-sucks the hatching eggs that the determination unit 5 has determined to be the non-viable eggs D based on the measurement result of the measurement head 11. When vacuum suction is performed, the transfer expansion / contraction part 24 raises the transfer head 21B.

When the transfer head 21B is raised, the transfer slide unit 23B moves the transfer head 21B onto the non-viable egg exclusion unit 125, and when the movement onto the non-viable egg exclusion unit 125 is completed, the vacuum suction is released. The non-viable egg D is transferred to the non-viable egg exclusion unit 125. The non-viable egg D on the non-viable egg exclusion unit 125 is collected in a non-viable egg collection container (not shown) prepared on the outside of the egg-inspecting apparatus 100 during hatching while rolling.

When the transfer head 21B transfers the non-viable egg D to the non-viable egg exclusion unit 125, the transfer head 21B starts to move again onto the setter tray 2 by the transfer slide unit 23B. When the non-viable egg D contained in is moved to a position where vacuum suction can be performed, the operation stops. Thereafter, the same operation as the transfer of the non-viable egg D in the first half is repeated.

When all the non-viable eggs D on the setter tray 2 are removed by the transfer head 21B, the transport unit 130B transports the setter tray 2 in the unloading direction 4 and stops. At this time, the next setter tray 2 for which measurement has been completed is transported by the transport unit 130B and stopped immediately below the transfer head 21B, and the next setter tray 2 is transported by the transport unit 130B to be measured at the measurement location 13B. It has stopped. Thereafter, a series of operations are repeated until the inspection of all eggs E hatching in the incubator is completed.

Furthermore, as another example of the present embodiment, the conveyance unit and the transfer unit can be eliminated and only the measurement unit can be provided. In this case, an operator who inspects eggs during hatching puts the setter tray alternately into the measurement location A and the measurement location B of the measurement unit, starts a vital sign measurement after a lapse of a certain time from the insertion, Based on the determination result of the determination unit, the determination unit may make a determination, and a non-viable egg may be marked by an inkjet device provided in the measurement unit. The operator removes the non-viable eggs marked by the ink jet device to complete the egg hatching inspection.

In the present embodiment, the setter tray 2 is placed at the respective carry-in positions of the transport unit 130A and the transport unit 130B. However, if the setter tray 2 is placed at one carry-in position, the transport unit 130A is automatically set. Alternatively, the setter trays 2 may be distributed alternately between the conveyance units 130B. Furthermore, after passing through the measurement unit 110, the conveyance unit 130A and the conveyance unit 130B may be automatically integrated into one unloading position.

According to the hatching egg test apparatus according to the present embodiment, since the measurement place is divided into two places, when waiting for the internal shaking of the development stop egg to attenuate at one measurement place, The setter tray can be stopped or moved at the measurement location.

Further, in this embodiment, since there is one measuring head, the processing speed is about 1.5 times that of the first embodiment. However, two measuring heads are provided, and the measuring place 13A and the measuring place 13B are provided. If each measurement is performed, it is possible to achieve a processing speed about twice that of the first embodiment.

In the above description, hatching eggs are described as objects, but hatching eggs include various hatching eggs such as chickens, ducks, and quails.

The embodiment disclosed this time is an example, and the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the scope described above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is effectively used for preventing erroneous determination in a hatching egg inspection apparatus using vital signs.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,100 Egg hatching inspection apparatus 2 Setter tray 3 Carry-in direction 4 Carry-out direction 5 Judgment part 6 Control part 10,110 Measurement part 11 Measurement head 12 Light emission part 13 Measurement place 14 Cap 15 Fixing part 16 Measurement expansion-contraction part 17 Measurement slide part 20, 120 Transfer section 21 Transfer head 22 Suction cup 23 Transfer slide section 24 Transfer expansion / contraction section 25, 125 Non-viable egg exclusion section 30, 130 Transport section 31 Dog 32 Transport surface D Non-live egg E Hatching egg

Claims (7)

A hatching egg inspection device for inspecting eggs during hatching,
A measuring unit for measuring vital signs of a plurality of hatching eggs stopped at a measuring place;
A determination unit for determining the quality of each hatched egg by the vital sign measured by the measurement unit,
The determining unit stops the plurality of hatching eggs at the measurement location, and determines whether each hatched egg is good or not based on a vital sign after the shaking generated inside the hatching egg is attenuated by stopping. Egg inspection device. The hatching egg inspection apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a transport unit that transports the plurality of hatching eggs to the measurement place. The said determination part determines the quality of each hatching intermediate egg by the vital sign after n seconds have passed since the said several hatching intermediate eggs stopped in the said measurement place. Egg inspection device. The hatching egg inspection apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the n seconds are appropriately changed for each of the plurality of hatching eggs. The determination unit determines whether each hatched egg is good or not based on a vital sign after the plurality of hatching eggs are stopped at the measurement location and no shaking occurs inside the hatching egg by stopping. The hatching egg test | inspection apparatus as described in any one of Claims 1-4. The measurement unit includes at least two measurement locations,
2. The plurality of hatching eggs at a different measurement location can be stopped or moved when the measurement unit is measuring vital signs of the hatching eggs that have been stopped at one measurement location. The hatching egg test | inspection apparatus as described in any one of Claim 5 from. A hatching egg inspection method for inspecting eggs during hatching,
Stopping a plurality of hatching eggs at a measurement location;
Measuring vital signs of a plurality of hatching eggs stopped at a measurement location;
A hatching egg inspection method comprising: stopping a plurality of hatching eggs at a measurement location, and determining whether each hatching egg is good or not by a vital sign after the shaking generated inside the hatching egg is attenuated by stopping. .

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