Apparatus for breaking and opening eggs

An apparatus for breaking and opening eggs and for removing and catching the yolks and whites thereof. A first conveyor is adapted to travel in a first direction of travel. Supply belts supply eggs to the first conveyor. Egg carriers are operably connected to the first conveyor for carrying eggs supplied from the supply belts. Egg receiving members are operably connected to each egg carrier for receiving eggs carried by each carrier. An egg opening element is operably associated with each egg carrier for breaking and opening eggs received by the egg receiving members. A second conveyor is adapted to travel underneath and in alignment with at least a portion of travel of the first conveyor. Egg holders are operably connected to the second conveyor. Cup members are operably connected to each egg holder for catching the yolk and white of the eggs openable by the opening element. In the improvement, a plurality of egg carriers are oriented in a direction transverse to the first direction of travel of the first conveyor. A plurality of juxtapositioned egg receiving members are disposed on each egg carrier and are configured to receive an egg with the longitudinal axis thereof oriented in the first direction of travel of the first conveyor.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to an apparatus for breaking and opening eggs in a 
controlled way and for catching and removing the yolks and egg whites, 
said apparatus comprising 
at least one supply belt for feeding eggs to a conveyor equipped with egg 
carriers, comprising egg-receiving and opening elements, 
the conveyor being a first conveyor whose egg carriers, after the eggs have 
been opened, transfer the contents of the eggs to holders with cups 
mounted on a second conveyor which travels in alignment with, and is 
located under, the first conveyor at least for the portion of the path of 
travel where the contents of the eggs are transferred. 
Such apparatus is known from GB-A-914,629. This apparatus is a rather 
complicated construction, having three transfer points and a handling 
capacity which is limited by the number of individual egg opening 
elements, that can be placed at the periphery of the frame structure. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is an object of the invention to provide an apparatus of the above 
described type having a simplified construction with less transfer points, 
an increased handling capacity within about the same volume and the 
possibility of visual inspection, in which apparatus the eggs are 
positioned with their longitudinal axes placed horizontally during the 
cracking and emptying steps. 
According to the invention an apparatus is provided in which 
each egg carrier of the first conveyor is directed transversely to the 
direction of travel of said first conveyor and comprises a plurality of 
juxtaposed egg-receiving positions with opening elements, the eggs being 
positioned in said positions with their longitudinal axes oriented in the 
direction of travel of said first conveyor, 
the number of supply belts being equal to the number of egg-receiving 
positions on each egg carrier, each supply belt being arranged in such a 
way that it transfers the eggs supplied exclusively to a defined one of 
the plurality of juxtaposed egg receiving positions. 
In the apparatus according to the invention the first conveyor combines the 
functions of feed conveyor and frame structure, by mounting egg carriers 
comprising opening elements on said first conveyor. These egg carriers are 
adaped to support a plurality of eggs, two in the embodiment shown. The 
problem of delivering eggs in the correct egg receiving position on said 
egg carriers is solved by installing as many separate supply belts as 
there are egg receiving positions on each carrier, each supply belt 
delivering eggs to a defined egg receiving position on an egg carrier. 
Preferably each egg holder of the second conveyor comprises a plurality of 
separate, juxtaposed cups for receiving the yolks and egg white from the 
broken eggs, present in the egg receiving positions which cups are located 
under the plurality of juxtaposed egg receiving positions of the first 
conveyor when both conveyors are traveling in alignment with each other. 
Each egg carrier is preferably pivotally connected to a holder element of 
the first conveyor, whereas, the different supply belts are mounted at a 
different height level in such a way that the transfer end of each supply 
belt is located at about the same distance above the related egg receiving 
position of the downwardly pivoted egg carriers.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring to the drawings and FIG. 1 in particular, an apparatus for 
breaking and opening of eggs and for separating and separately catching 
and removing the yolks and egg whites comprises a plurality of supply 
belts, in this case two, numbered 1 and 1'. Each supply belt comprises a 
plurality of parallel rows 2 for feeding eggs to a conveyor 4 provided 
with egg carriers 3. 
The transfer of the eggs from the supply belts 1, 1' to the conveyor 4 
appears from FIG. 2, which shows the two supply belts 1 and 1' by means of 
which eggs 6 are fed to the conveyor 4. 
As will appear from FIG. 2, there is arranged downstream of each of the 
supply belts 1, 1' a receiving mill or turnstile 5 which guides the eggs 6 
to a receiving element 7, arranged downstream of the supply belt, which 
element 7 after having received a row of eggs, travels in alignment with 
the conveyor 4 over a given distance and at the same time tilts from the 
position shown in dotted lines in FIG. 2 (the receiving position) into the 
position shown in solid lines. In the latter position, the eggs roll from 
the receiving element 7 into cup members 9 of spoons 10. This will not be 
described in further detail, since this is well known from U.S. Pat. No. 
3,370,691. 
The spoon 10 is pivotally connected to a holder 11 which is part of the 
conveyor 4. Connected pivotally to the spoon 10 are knife members 12 
formed with knife edges 18. 
The downward pivotal motion of the spoon 10 is effected by means of a 
roller 16 which runs in a guide 13 connected to a frame (not shown). The 
roller 16 is connected to the spoon 10 by means of a lever 30. 
To ensure that the two eggs are broken simultaneously, the knife members 12 
are pivotally connected by means of pins 25 to a knife holder 26 whose 
free end 37 is controlled over a certain distance of travel by a guide 17 
rigidly connected to the frame. 
Because the knife holder 26 is under the influence of a spring (not shown), 
the knife members 12, upon release from the guide 17, will be driven into 
the underside of the egg with a force determined by the spring, viz. 
between spaced cup members 9 of spoons 10. Each knife set 12 consists of 
two parallel knife members, so that after an egg has been broken, while 
the knife members are being moved apart, the two shell parts of the egg 
move apart, whereby the contents thereof are discharged downwards. 
Simultaneously with the discharge of the contents, the yolk and egg white 
are separated (see FIG. 3); however, this will not be described in further 
detail here as this is known as such from the prior art publication 
mentioned before. The egg contents are caught by cups 21 and 22 which are 
pivotally mounted on holders 23 which can be part of a second conveyor 24 
(FIG. 3). 
As will appear from the drawings, the cups 21 and 22 are pivotally mounted 
on the holders 23. This further allows easy cleaning of the cups 21 and 22 
in the position indicated by dotted lines. 
Referring to FIG. 1, it is noted that at the locations indicated at A and 
A', the eggs are transferred from the supply belts 1, 1' to the conveyor 
4. In the subsequent portion of the path of travel, designated B, the cup 
members 9 are closed, i.e., (see FIG. 2) a retainer 15 is placed upon the 
eggs, so that the eggs cannot move upwards upon impact of the knife. The 
movement of the retainers 15 is controlled by means of a guide 14 which is 
also known as such from the prior art mentioned and therefore will not be 
described in further detail. After a period of rest (portion D) (necessary 
for synchronization of the two chains) the two knife members are moved 
apart (portion E), whereupon the egg is emptied and its contents are 
separated in portion F. During the emptying and separating stage, the 
first and second conveyors 4 and 24, respectively, travel in alignment, 
and thereafter the two conveyors separate again. In the subsequent portion 
of the conveyor 4 (not shown), the egg shells are removed and the 
apparatus is washed and dried. The same holds for the second conveyor 24. 
In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, similar parts are indicated by 
the same reference numerals as in the apparatus according to FIGS. 2-3. 
Known parts such as a turnstile and receiving elements have been omitted 
for clarity. 
This embodiment likewise comprises spoons 10 with cup members 9 and knife 
members 12 with knife edges 18, pivotally mounted on the spoon. The drives 
of the spoon 10 and the knife members 12 have been omitted for clarity. 
After the knife members have struck and been moved apart, the contents of 
the egg are caught in the manner shown in FIG. 5, while at the same time 
the yolk and egg white are separated. The contents of the eggs are caught 
by the cups 21 and 22 each in turn mounted on a holder 23 for pivotal 
movement about axes 30 and 31. 
An important difference and advantage of the apparatus according to FIGS. 4 
and 5 relative to the apparatus according to FIGS. 2 and 3 is that in the 
apparatus according to FIGS. 4 and 5 the cups are mutually independently 
suspended from the holder 23, while in the embodiment according to FIGS. 2 
and 3, the cups 21, 22 are both suspended from the holder 23 by means of 
separate pivots, and hence can influence each other, with the 
understanding that sometimes after the first egg was broken, there was 
insufficient striking power left to break the second egg.