EGG BREAKING MACHINE

Abstract: The invention relates to an apparatus for regularly breaking and opening eggs and for catching and removing the yolks and egg whites, which apparatus comprises at least one supply belt (11) on which eggs are fed to a conveyor (4) equipped with egg carriers comprising egg-receiving and opening elements (3), the eggs being positioned in the carriers with their longitudinal axes, oriented in the direction of travel of the conveyor, the conveyor (4) being a first conveyor whose egg carriers, after the eggs have been opened, transfer the contents of the eggs to holders with cups (23) mounted on a second conveyor (24) 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, characterized in that each egg carrier (3) of the first conveyor (4) comprises a plurality of egg-receiving positions with opening elements.

Description: Title: Egg breaking machine This invention relates to an apparatus for regularly breaking and opening eggs and for catching and removing the yolks and egg whites, which apparatus comprises at least one supply belt on which eggs are fed to a conveyor equipped with egg carriers comprising egg-receiving and egg-opening means, the eggs being positioned in these carriers with their longi¬ tudinal axis oriented in the direction of travel of the con¬ veyor, the conveyor being a first conveyor whose egg carriers, after the eggs have been opened, transfer the contents of the egg to a holder with cups mounted on a second conveyor which travels in alignment with, and is disposed under, the first conveyor at least for the portion of the path of travel where the contents of the eggs are transferred. The object of the invention is to increase the capac- ity of such an apparatus which is known from GB patent speci¬ fication 914,629. To that end, the apparatus is characterized in that each egg carrier of the first conveyor as well as each egg holder with cups of the second conveyor comprises a plurality of egg-receiving, egg-opening and catching elements. Each egg carrier of the first conveyor can be provided with a plurality of egg-receiving positions with opening elements, enabling the eggs to be received and processed properly and rapidly. The invention further relates to an apparatus for the controlled breaking and opening of eggs and for catching and removing the yolks and the egg whites, which comprises at least two supply belts on which a plurality of eggs can be supplied in mutually parallel relationship to a conveyor comprising egg carriers equipped with egg-receiving and egg- opening elements, which apparatus is characterized in that each egg carrier comprises a plurality of egg-receiving positions with opening elements, the arrangement being such that the first supply belt transfers its eggs to the rear positions of each egg carrier and the second supply belt transfers its eggs to the front position of each egg carrier. In further elaboration of the invention, the plurality of receiving and catching elements of each egg carrier and egg holder, respectively, can be situated at right angles to the direction of travel of the conveyors. The egg-receiving member with the opening element of each egg carrier can pivot downwards for receiving the eggs. If a plurality of supply belts is used, they may be arranged at different heights, in such a manner that their transfer ends are in line with the heights of the egg- receiving positions of the downwardly pivoted egg-receiving members of the egg carriers. To clarify the invention, one embodiment of the egg breaking apparatus will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a top plan view of an apparatus for regularly breaking and opening eggs and for separating and separately catching and removing yolks and egg whites; Fig. 2 is a section taken on the line II-II of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line III-III of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a section of a part of the apparatus accord¬ ing to Fig. 2; and Fig. 5 is a section similar to Fig. 3 of a part of the apparatus according to another embodiment of the egg breaking apparatus according to the invention. Referring to the drawings and Fig. 1 in particular, an apparatus for controlled 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. The last-mentioned figure shows the two supply belts 1 and 1' via which eggs 6 are fed to the conveyor 4. As will appear from Fig. 2, there is arranged down¬ stream 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 receiv¬ ing 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. patent specification 3,370,691. The spoon 10 is pivotally connected to a holder 11 which is part of the conveyor . Connected pivotally to the spoon 10 are knife members 12 formed with knife edges 18. The downward pivotal motion of the spoon 10 is ef¬ fected by means of a roller 16 which runs in a guide 13 con¬ nected to a frame (not shown) . The roller 16 is connected to the spoon 10 via 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 partly controlled 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, 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, like parts are indicated by the same reference numerals as in the appara¬ tus 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 move¬ ment 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.

Claims: £ &IM_i 1. An apparatus for regularly breaking and opening eggs and for catching and removing the yolks and egg whites, which apparatus comprises at least one supply belt on which eggs are fed to a conveyor equipped with egg carriers comprising egg- receiving and opening elements / said eggs being positioned in said carriers with their longitudinal axes oriented in the direction of travel of the conveyor, 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, characterized in that each egg carrier of the first conveyor comprises a plurality of egg-receiving posi- tions with opening elements. 2. An apparatus for regularly breaking and opening eggs and for catching and removing the yolks and egg whites, which apparatus comprises at least one supply belt on which eggs are fed to a conveyor equipped with egg carriers comprising egg- receiving and opening elements, said eggs being positioned in said carriers with their longitudinal axes oriented in the direction of travel of the conveyor, 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 disposed under, the first conveyor at least for the portion of the path of travel where the contents of the eggs are transferred, characterized in that each egg carrier of the first conveyor as well as each egg holder with cups of the second conveyor comprises a plurality of egg-receiving, egg- opening and egg-catching elements. 3. An apparatus for regularly breaking and opening eggs and for catching and removing the yolks and the egg whites, which apparatus comprises at least two supply belts, charac- terized in that a plurality of eggs are supplied in mutually parallel relationship on the supply belts to a conveyor equipped with egg carriers comprising egg-receiving and open¬ ing elements and each egg carrier comprises a plurality of egg-receiving positions with opening elements, the arrangement being such that the first supply belt transfers its eggs to one (e.g. the rear) position of each egg carrier and the other supply belt transfers its eggs to the other (e.g. the front) position of each egg carrier. . An apparatus according to claim 1, 2, or 3, character¬ ized in that the plurality of receiving and catching elements of each egg carrier and egg holder, respectively, are situated at right angles to the direction of travel of the conveyors. 5. An apparatus according to claim 4, characterized in that the egg receiving member with the opening element of each egg carrier can pivot downwards for receiving the eggs. 6. An apparatus according to claim 5, characterized in that if a plurality of supply belts are used, they differ in height in such a manner that their transfer ends are in align- ment with the heights of the egg-receiving positions of the downwardly pivoted receiving members of the egg carriers. 7. An apparatus according to one or more of the preceding claims, in which the breaking of the eggs is done by means of knives striking against the eggs from below, characterized in that the knives are each separately pivotally suspended from a holder in turn suspended for movement in alignment with the eggs.

Inventors: VAN DEN HAZEL BRAND, VAN DEN HAZEL, BRAND
Applicants: FOOD PROCESSING SYSTEMS, FPS FOOD PROCESSING SYSTEMS B.V.
Application year: 1991
Main classification: A47J43
IPC codes: A23J1, A47J43