WO2010151108A1

WO2010151108A1 - Apparatus and method for handling eggs

Info

Publication number: WO2010151108A1
Application number: PCT/NL2009/050377
Authority: WO
Inventors: Tjitze Meter
Original assignee: Hatchtech Group B.V.
Priority date: 2009-06-26
Filing date: 2009-06-26
Publication date: 2010-12-29

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for handling eggs, comprising a cycle with the subsequent steps of feeding a tray holding eggs in a fixed position to a measuring device, in said measuring device, measuring the eggs in said holding tray for determining which egg is fertilized and/or may be hatched and is thus approved, and which egg is rejected, and removing approved eggs from the feeding tray and positioning these approved eggs in a hatcher basket.

Description

Apparatus and method for handling eggs

Background

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for sorting eggs.

US 2006/0038978 discloses an automatic candling machine. In this machine, eggs are loaded on a tray in rows and columns and conveyed to a candling station, a controller operating various devices in the candling station produces a quality value for each egg in order to assess whether the egg is acceptable or not. The unacceptable eggs are removed from each tray by a suction head operated by the controller.

WO2004/023136 disclosed a method for determining the viability of an egg, said method comprising impinging IR electromagnetic radiation upon an egg, detecting the IR radiation that passed through the egg.

From a hygienic point of view, however, the method of sorting can be improved. One of the disadvantages in known methods is that unacceptable eggs are handled or touched in the vicinity of acceptable eggs. The unacceptable eggs may break, thus possibly contaminating acceptable eggs. In particular as unacceptable eggs tend to break easily and tend to be more susceptible to contamination. Currently, unacceptable eggs are touched and/or broken in the same room and in the presence of the accepted eggs.

Summary of the Invention

The invention aims to improve the known methods of sorting eggs.

Another object of the invention is to improve the known method and apparatus for sorting eggs which are viable for hatching from eggs which are not viable for hatching. According to a first aspect of the invention this is realized with a method for handling eggs, comprising a cycle with the subsequent steps of feeding a tray holding eggs in a fixed position to a measuring device, in said measuring device, measuring the eggs in said holding tray for determining which egg is fertilized and/or may be hatched and is thus approved, and which egg is rejected, and removing approved eggs from the feeding tray and positioning these approved eggs in a hatcher basket.

The invention furthermore provides an apparatus for sorting eggs, comprising a measuring station, a handling station, and a controller, wherein said measuring station measures parameters of a series of eggs in fixed positions, said measuring station is operationally coupled to said controller for transferring said measuring parameters to said controller, said controller storing in a memory for each egg if it is approved or rejected, said controller further operationally coupled to said handling station, said handling station having one or more handling devices adapted for taking up and displacing eggs, said controller operationally coupled to said handling station for activating the at least one handling device for removing the approved eggs from said series of eggs in fixed positions.

The method and apparatus of the invention avoids handling of unacceptable or rejected eggs in the presence of approved eggs. It allows removal of rejected eggs in an easy way. The method allows further improvements explained later.

In an embodiment, the measuring device comprises candling of eggs. This measurement method in which eggs are exposed to a high intensity of light is well known in the art, and for instance described in the reference cited above. The measuring device may also use other known measuring methods and principles for assessing the quality of an egg, in particular a fertilized egg, or for assessing the probability that such an egg will successfully hatch.

The method and apparatus of the invention will in general be used for poultry eggs. Examples of such eggs are chicken eggs. The method may however also prove viable for other types of eggs. The handling of individual eggs is in this description described by means of suction cups. It is, however, also possible to use other known methods for handling individual eggs. For instance using mechanical grabbers having fingers engaging an individual egg. Other engaging devices for handling individual eggs as such are well known in the art. In the current invention, it can be beneficial if engaging devices are used which can be operated individually. In can also be possible to use series of engaging devices which can be positioned and moved with respect to one another. This allows removing eggs from a tray and positioning them in another tray with other mutual positioning.

In an embodiment of the method, the feeding tray with remaining, rejected eggs is removed while leaving the approved eggs in the hatcher basket.

In an embodiment of the method, the number of approved eggs are counted.

In an embodiment of the method, the steps of method are repeated in a cycle, and using the counted number of approved eggs, each time the number of eggs in a hatcher basket are completed for completely filling the hatcher basket with eggs, and placing remaining eggs in a new subsequent hatcher basket.

In an embodiment of the method, approved eggs from subsequent cycles of the method are positioned in a hatcher basket, filling up the subsequent hatcher basket with approved eggs.

In an embodiment of the method, said measuring device comprise a controller having a memory in which it stores the positions of approved eggs.

In an embodiment of the method, a handling station having a series of handling devices is operationally coupled to said controller, said controller activating individual handling devices for removing approved eggs from the feeding tray.

In an embodiment of the method, said controller controls said handling station, said handling devices positioning approved eggs in said subsequent hatcher basket. In an embodiment of the method, said controller controls said handling devices to fill up said subsequent hatcher basket with approved eggs. The filling up of a hatcher basket has the advantage that the hatcher baskets will always be completely filled. Thus, an optimal use of space is realised.

In an embodiment of the method said tray with rejected eggs is transported to a room separate, in particular hermetically separated, from the room in which said approved eggs are handled.

In an embodiment, said separate room is at an under pressure of vacuum with respect to the room in which said approved eggs are handled. Thus, cross contamination of approved eggs with bacteria and other infections from rejected eggs can be prevented.

In an embodiment of the apparatus said handling station comprises a series of handling devices, each for taking up and displacing an egg, said controller operationally coupled to said handling station for activating those handling devices positioned at the positions of approved eggs for removing the approved eggs from said series of eggs in fixed positions. Thus several eggs can be picked up and handled simultaneously. The handling devices can have fixed positions, in an embodiment fixed at positions corresponding to the fixed positions of the eggs in the tray. Thus, the controller can activate those handling devices corresponding with approved eggs. It is also possible to move a series of displaceable handling devices to positions corresponding to the fixed positions of the eggs in the tray. Thus, it is only needed to activate the handling devices to take up the eggs and to displace the handling devices. In yet another embodiment, a handling device goes along a series of eggs and takes out those eggs which are approved. These removed eggs an be placed on a transporter transporting the eggs to a container, for instance a hatcher basket.

In an embodiment of the apparatus said controller has a target value stored in a memory, said target value being the number of eggs that can be held in a hatcher basket, and said controller has a current number of approved eggs stored in a further memory and a current number of eggs in a current hatcher basket, in operation said controller using the difference between said target value and said current number of eggs in a current basket, determines if further and how many eggs can be added to said current basket, determines how many of the current number of approved eggs can be added to the current basket, determines from the difference the number of currently approved eggs can be added to the current basket, controls the handling devices to position that number of currently approved eggs in the current hatcher basket and updates the current number of eggs in the current hatcher basket.

The invention further pertains to computer software which, when running on a computer, performs the steps of one or more of the preceding method steps described above.

The invention further pertains to a computer program product which, when running on a general purpose computer, performs the subsequent steps of: - receiving a series of measurement results from a series of positioned eggs, with at least one measurement from each egg;

- determining, from said measurement results, which eggs are approved and which eggs are rejected and storing the position and identifier indication approval and/or rejection in a memory; - positioning a series of handling devices at the positions of said approved eggs;

- instructing said handling devices to engage said approved eggs and to remove said approved eggs from said series of positioned eggs;

- counting the number of said approved eggs;

- instructing said handling devices to position said approved eggs at new positions remote from said initial series of positioned eggs.

In an embodiment of this computer program product, it further comprises the step of

- counting the number of approved eggs in each cycle;

- comparing the number of eggs at new positions with a target value; - adding additional approved eggs at the new positions until the number of eggs equals the target value. The invention further pertains to an apparatus comprising one or more of the characterising features described in the description and/or shown in the attached drawings. The invention further pertains to a method comprising one or more of the characterising features described in the description and/or shown in the attached drawings.

The various aspects discussed in this patent can be combined in order to provide additional advantages. Furthermore, some of the features can form the basis for one or more divisional applications

Description of the Drawings

The invention will be further elucidated referring to an embodiment of an apparatus for sorting eggs shown in the attached drawings, showing in:

Figure 1 layout of a state of the art line for sorting eggs;

Figure 2 layout of a line for sorting eggs according to an aspect of the invention;

Figure 3 a side view of a known handling station.

Detailed Description of Embodiments

In figure 1, a layout of a sorting line for eggs according to the state of the art is shown. In figure 1, a pre-hatching chart 1 with trays with eggs are transported to a sorting line comprises a feeding conveyor which feeds trays with eggs to a measuring station 2. In the measuring station 2 the eggs in the trays are individually measured and the eggs are identified as approved or rejected. Next, the trays are conveyed to a handling station 3 next to the measuring station 2. There, the rejected eggs are removed from the trays and taken away via an exit conveyer 4. At that stage, these rejected eggs often already break. Next, using a further conveyor 5, the trays with the remaining approved eggs are conveyed to a further handling station 6 where the approved eggs are taken out of the tray and removed to a next tray or a pre-hatcher basket on a parallel conveyor 7. The now empty trays on conveyor 5 are conveyed further to a washing station. In this sorting line according to the state of the art, the measurement results from the measuring station 2 are transmitted to a controller 10 which stores for each measured egg if it is approved or rejected. Next, it controls handling station 3 to take up the rejected eggs and leave the approved eggs in the tray. Next, the eggs are transported to the next handling station 6 which takes up the remaining eggs. In fact, this handling station does not need control from controller 10: it has for instance suction cups at all the positions of the tray where an egg can be held, and all the suction cups can be activated.

In figure 2, a layout of a sorting line 1 for eggs according to an embodiment of the invention is shown. In this drawing, identical reference numbers show in principle the same components. The trays with eggs are again transported to a sorting line comprises a feeding conveyor which feeds trays with eggs to a measuring station 2. In the measuring station the eggs in the trays are individually measured and the eggs are identified as approved or rejected. These results are again transmitted to and stored in controller 10, storing for instance the position of the eggs in the tray and an identification marking the eggs approved or rejected. In this case, there is one handling station 6 operationally coupled and controlled by the controller 10. The controller 10 controls the handling station 6 to take up the approved eggs only and position them in a basket in which they are processed further to be hatched. In an embodiment where the handling station 6 comprises suction cups for taking up the eggs, the controller activates those cups which are positioned at approved eggs. The cups positioned at rejected eggs are thus not activated.

The rejected eggs remain in the tray and in this embodiment they are transported to a separate space where they are removed from the tray, usually are broken and disposed of. In an embodiment, this separate room is at an underpressure, i.e. a pressure lower than the surrounding, in order to prevent any contamination from the rejected eggs, like bacteria, from leaving this confined space.

Just for information purposes, figure 3 shows a handling station 6 and controller 10 , known in the art, which can be used in the current invention. It has a frame 11. On this frame 11 it has a standard 13 with a holding frame 13 which can move up and down standard 12. The holding frame 13 has a plate 14 with a two-dimensional array of suction cups 15 positioned at the positions of the eggs in a tray. The suction cups 15 are coupled via an air hose 16 to an air pump 17. The controller 10 controlling the handling station 6 will activate those suction cups positioned at the position of those eggs which are approved. Thus, the controller 10 will open valves in those suction cups 15 and thus provide an under pressure ( "vacuum") to those cups, allowing them to take up approved eggs. Next these eggs will be placed in a basket or crate on a output conveyer and transported away.

In operation, the controller 10 will have a target value stored in a memory, this target value comprising the number of eggs which should be placed in a hatcher basket. Furthermore, the controller 10 stores in a memory the number of eggs already stored in the hatcher basket. Each time the handling station has taken up approved eggs, it compares the number of vacant positions in the hatcher basket, i.e. the difference between the target value and the number of eggs already stored in the hatcher basket, with the current number of approved eggs. If the difference is above or equal to the current number of approved eggs, the controller 10 controls the handling station to add all the currently approved eggs to the hatcher basket. If the difference is smaller than the number of currently approved eggs, the controller will control the handling station to add and amount of eggs equal to the difference to the hatcher basket, and it will control the sorting station to supply a new hatcher basket in which the remaining eggs will be placed. In this way, a hatcher basket will always be completely filled and have the same number of eggs. It thus uses hatching space optimally.

It will also be clear that the above description and drawings are included to illustrate some embodiments of the invention, and not to limit the scope of protection. Starting from this disclosure, many more embodiments will be evident to a skilled person which are within the scope of protection and the essence of this invention and which are obvious combinations of prior art techniques and the disclosure of this patent.

Claims

1. A method for handling eggs, comprising a cycle with the subsequent steps of:

- feeding a tray holding eggs in a fixed position to a measuring device; - in said measuring device, measuring the eggs in said holding tray for determining which egg is fertilized and/or may be hatched and is thus approved, and which egg is rejected;

- removing approved eggs from the feeding tray and positioning these approved eggs in a hatcher basket.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the feeding tray with remaining, rejected eggs is removed while leaving the approved eggs in the hatcher basket.

3. The method of claims 1 or 2, wherein the number of approved eggs are counted.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the steps of claim 1 are repeated, and using the counted number of approved eggs, each time the number of eggs in a hatcher basket are completed for completely filling the hatcher basket with eggs, and placing remaining eggs in a new subsequent hatcher basket.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein approved eggs from subsequent cycles of claim 1 are positioned in a hatcher basket, filling up the subsequent hatcher basket with approved eggs.

6. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said measuring device comprise a controller having a memory in which it stores the positions of approved eggs.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein a handling station having a series of handling devices is operationally coupled to said controller, said controller activating individual handling devices for removing approved eggs from the feeding tray.

8. The method according to claim 7, in which said controller controls said handling station, said handling devices positioning approved eggs in said subsequent hatcher basket.

9. The method according to claim 8, in which said controller controls said handling devices to fill up said subsequent hatcher basket with approved eggs.

10. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said tray with rejected eggs is transported to a room separate, in particular hermetically separated, from the room in which said approved eggs are handled.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein said separate room is at an under pressure of vacuum with respect to the room in which said approved eggs are handled.

12. An apparatus for sorting eggs, comprising a measuring station, a handling station, and a controller, wherein said measuring station measures parameters of a series of eggs in fixed positions, said measuring station is operationally coupled to said controller for transferring said measuring parameters to said controller, said controller storing in a memory for each egg if it is approved or rejected, said controller further operationally coupled to said handling station, said handling station having one or more handling devices adapted for taking up and displacing eggs, said controller operationally coupled to said handling station for activating the at least one handling device for removing the approved eggs from said series of eggs in fixed positions.

13. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said handling station comprises a series of handling devices, each for taking up and displacing an egg, said controller operationally coupled to said handling station for activating those handling devices positioned at the positions of approved eggs for removing the approved eggs from said series of eggs in fixed positions.

14. The apparatus of claim 12 or 13, wherein said controller has a target value stored in a memory, said target value being the number of eggs that can be held in a hatcher basket, and said controller has a current number of approved eggs stored in a further memory and a current number of eggs in a current hatcher basket, in operation said controller using the difference between said target value and said current number of eggs in a current basket, determines if further and how many eggs can be added to said current basket, determines how many of the current number of approved eggs can be added to the current basket, determines from the difference the number of currently approved eggs can be added to the current basket, controls the handling devices to position that number of currently approved eggs in the current hatcher basket and updates the current number of eggs in the current hatcher basket.

15. Computer software which, when running on a computer, performs the steps of one or more of the preceding method claims.

16. A computer program product which, when running on a general purpose computer, performs the subsequent steps of:

- receiving a series of measurement results from a series of positioned eggs, with at least one measurement from each egg;

- determining, from said measurement results, which eggs are approved and which eggs are rejected and storing the position and identifier indication approval and/or rejection in a memory;

- positioning a series of handling devices at the positions of said approved eggs;

- counting the number of said approved eggs; - instructing said handling devices to position said approved eggs at new positions remote from said initial series of positioned eggs.

17. The computer program product of claim 13, further comprising the step of

- counting the number of approved eggs in each cycle; - comparing the number of eggs at new positions with a target value;

- adding additional approved eggs at the new positions until the number of eggs equals the target value.

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