Dosing apparatus for eggs or like substantially round articles

Abstract: A dosing apparatus for eggs (E) or like substantially round or ellipsoid articles, comprising at least one endless conveyor (1,16) having a conveying face (1a,16a) above which guiding elements (2,3,4,5,6) are disposed intended for ordering an unordered flow of articles into a number of ordered flows each having the width of one article, wherein a main surface of each of the guiding elements includes, with the conveying face part extending between the opposite guiding elements (2,3,4,5,6), an angle greater than 90°, enabling the articles to be gradually pushed upwards along the guiding elements (2,3,4,5,6), wherein at the inlet of the dosing apparatus, said dosing apparatus comprises one conveying channel and wherein, viewed in the conveying direction, the number of conveying channels doubles each time, so that at a discharge end of the dosing apparatus the width of the conveying channels (7,8,9,10) at that location is such that, viewed in conveying direction, the articles can only travel therein in file.

Description: The invention relates to a dosing apparatus for eggs or like substantially round or ellipsoid articles, comprising at least one endless conveyor having a flat, substantially horizontally disposed conveying face, wherein guiding elements are disposed above the at least one conveyor, intended for ordering an unordered flow of articles into a number of ordered flows each having the width of one article, wherein in each case two opposite guiding elements bound, together with a part of the conveying face that extends between the guiding elements, a conveying channel, which conveying channel has a cross-sectional profile having a channel bottom and channel walls, wherein the channel bottom is formed by the conveying face and the channel walls are formed by the two opposite guiding elements. Such dosing apparatus is known from DE-A-1 481 370. The drawback of the known apparatus is that the guiding elements extend, at least adjacent the upstream ends thereof, substantially perpendicularly to the conveying face, so that the eggs bump against it. As a consequence of the bumping, the eggs may become damaged. It is moreover a drawback that it is not guaranteed that the eggs at the outlet of the dosing apparatus are evenly distributed over the different conveying channels. In the known apparatus, it is very well possible that a particular conveying channel delivers at the discharge end of the apparatus a continuous flow of eggs, whereas another conveying channel delivers at the discharge end not a single egg. This is in particular due to the fact that exchange of eggs between the different channels is not or hardly possible any longer. Another drawback of the known apparatus is that not all eggs have their longitudinal axes oriented in the same manner when discharged by the dosing apparatus. Moreover, in the known apparatus, thrust of eggs may easily occur through bridge formation before the inlet of the channels. When two eggs come to abut against the vertically upright elements at the upstream ends of the guiding elements, a bridge may easily be formed which closes the inlet of the channel. In that situation, no even distribution of the eggs over the conveying channels takes place any longer. The object of the invention is to provide a dosing apparatus of the type mentioned in the opening paragraph without the aforesaid drawbacks. To this end, according to the invention, the dosing apparatus is characterized in that a main surface of each of the guiding elements includes, with the conveying face part extending between the opposite guiding elements, an angle greater than 90°, enabling the articles to be gradually pushed upwards along the guiding elements, wherein at the inlet of the dosing apparatus, this dosing apparatus comprises one conveying channel, and wherein, viewed in the conveying direction, the number of conveying channels multiplies each time, so that at a discharge end of the dosing apparatus the width of the conveying channels at that location is such that, viewed in the conveying direction, the articles can only travel therein in file. In this system, an unordered flow of eggs or like substantially round or ellipsoid articles will behave in the manner of water in a river. The eggs or like articles are controlled and guided with gentle compulsion by the inclined guiding elements. An article never bumps against a stationary vertical wall, but can, due to the inclined walls of the guiding elements and the roundness of the article, always move upwards through tilting or running up. The bumping of articles against one another is prevented as much as possible by promoting that the flow of articles always remains in motion. As the number of conveying channels multiplies in each case, a gradual increase of the ordering of the articles is established. With such dosing apparatus, a capacity of at least 13,500 eggs or articles per row per hour can be obtained. Such capacity is more than one and a half times greater than the capacity of the dosing apparatuses for eggs that are available at this moment. In order to cause the ordering of the unordered flow of eggs or like articles to increase gradually, according to a further elaboration of the invention, the width of each conveying channel, viewed in the conveying direction, gradually decreases over at least a part of the length of the conveying channel. With this gradual decrease of the width, the eggs or like articles will be pushed upwards against the oblique walls of the guiding elements, whereby the width of the article flow decreases and the articles gradually come to lie more in file. To further promote the articles ending up in file, according to a further elaboration of the invention, the dosing apparatus is characterized by two endless conveyors that connect to each other and each form, over a part of the length of the dosing apparatus, the conveying face, with the first conveyor extending over at least a part of the dosing apparatus where the number of conveying channels is smaller than the number of conveying channels located at the discharge end, and the second conveyor extending over at least a part of the dosing apparatus where the number of conveying channels corresponds to the number of conveying channels located at the discharge end, while the conveying velocity of the first conveyor is lower than the conveying velocity of the second conveyor. According to a further elaboration of the invention, the conveying velocity of the first conveyor is maximally about 9 m per minute and the conveying velocity of the second conveyor is about 14 m per minute. At a conveying velocity of 9 m per minute, no collisions resulting in the breaking of an egg will occur, not even in an unordered flow of eggs. As in the unordered flow of eggs, more eggs are positioned side by side than at the discharge end of the dosing apparatus where only a specific number of ordered flows having the width of one egg are juxtaposed, approximately the same feed-through capacity is realized at the inlet and at the discharge end by virtue of the higher conveying velocity of the second conveyor. Further elaborations of the invention are described in the subclaims and will hereinafter be specified on the basis of an exemplary embodiment, with reference to the accompanying drawings. Fig. 1 is a top plan view of an exemplary embodiment of the dosing apparatus according to the invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the dosing apparatus shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line III-III of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line IV-IV of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line V-V of Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on the line VI-VI of Fig. 1; and Fig. 7 is a top plan view of the dosing apparatus shown in Fig. 1, showing a possible distribution of the eggs. The dosing apparatus for eggs E shown in the exemplary embodiment, which apparatus is in fact also suitable for processing similar substantially round or ellipsoid articles, comprises a first endless conveyor 1 having a flat, substantially horizontally disposed conveying face 1a, and a second endless conveyor 16 likewise having a flat, substantially horizontally disposed conveying face 16a. Arranged above the conveyors 1, 16 are guiding elements 2,3,4,5,6, intended for ordering an unordered flow of eggs E into a number of ordered flows each having the width of one egg. Two opposite guiding elements 2,3; 2;4, 3,4; 3,5; 4,5; 4,6; 2,6 bound, together with a part of the conveying face 1a, 16a that extends between these guiding elements, a conveying channel, respectively 13;12;11;7;8;9;10. The conveying channel has a cross-sectional profile having a channel bottom and channel walls, the channel bottom being formed by the conveying face 1a, 16a, and the channel walls being formed by the two opposite guiding elements 2,3; 2,4; 3,4; 3,5; 4,5; 4,6; 2,6. A main surface of each of the guiding elements includes, with the conveying face part 1a, 16a extending between the opposite guiding elements, an angle α which according to the invention is greater than 90°, so that the eggs E can be gradually pushed upwards along the guiding elements. In the present exemplary embodiment, this angle α is about 135°. Although this angle is preferred in practice, the angle α may vary between 110° and 160°. The inlet 14 of the dosing apparatus comprises one conveying channel 13 and, viewed in the conveying direction T, the number of conveying channels doubles each time, so that at a discharge end 15 of the dosing apparatus the width of the conveying channels 7,8,9,10 is such at that location that, viewed in the conveying direction T, the eggs E can only travel therein in file. To obtain a gradual ordering of the eggs, the width of each conveying channel 7-13 gradually decreases over at least a part of the length of the conveying channel, viewed in the conveying direction T. This is realized in that the upstream ends 4c,5c,6c,4,5,6 arranged between other guiding elements 2,3 gradually slope upwards from a point 4c,5c,6c adjacent the conveying face to a particular maximum guiding element height, while also, viewed in the conveying direction T, the distance between two opposite guiding elements 2,3; 2,4; 3,4; 3,5; 4,5; 4,6; 2,6 gradually decreases. In the present exemplary embodiment, the gradual decrease of the conveying channel width is deviated from at one point only. Indeed, directly upstream of the position where an upstream end 5c, 6c of the guiding elements 5,6 is located which are each included between two opposite guiding elements 3,4; 2,4, the distance L2 between the two opposite guiding elements 3,4; 2,4 slightly increases, viewed in the conveying direction T. This is effected in particular in order to slightly reduce the extent of accumulation of the eggs E at this point, so that in the flow of eggs space is created for inserting the intermediate guiding elements 5, 6. Moreover, the eggs E are thus prevented from rolling over the intermediate guiding elements 5, 6, which would have an adverse effect on the ordering action of the guiding elements 5, 6. To minimize the chance of bridge formation of eggs E before in inlet of a conveying channel, at least the upstream ends 5c, 6c of the guiding elements 5, 6 arranged between two other guiding elements 3,4; 2,4 perform a horizontal, reciprocating movement M directed perpendicularly to the conveying direction. In the present exemplary embodiment, viewed in conveying direction T, only the last-added guiding elements 5,6, bounding the conveying channels 7,8,9,10 at the discharge end 15, perform this movement M. The travel of the reciprocating movement M at the upstream ends of the guiding elements 5, 6 is about 4 mm, and the frequency of the movement is about 3 Hz. As is clearly shown in Fig. 7, the eggs E in the upstream part of the channels 7,8,9,10 are not yet completely ordered into one row extending in the conveying direction. In order to effect this ordering, the guiding elements 2,3,4,5,6 converge at the discharge end 15, viewed from the upstream end in the conveying direction T, with the converging angle for each guiding element being about 0.75°. Because of this very slight converging angle, the eggs are forced into the file position in a highly gradual manner. Moreover, adjacent the discharge end 15, the downstream parts of the guiding elements 2,3,4,5,6 are provided with a bent profile. The main surface of a first guiding element part 5b located adjacent the conveying face 16a includes with the conveying face 16a an angle β greater than about 135°. The angle α between the main surface of a second guiding element part 5a connecting to the first guiding element part and the conveying face 16a is about 135°. As a result of the bent profile, both large and small eggs E automatically orient themselves with their main longitudinal axes perpendicularly to the conveying direction T of the dosing apparatus. Moreover, owing to the bent profile, it is provided that even small eggs sit in file, viewed in the conveying direction. Hence, at the discharge end, the eggs E are not merely in file in a number of separate tracks, but the eggs E are also equally oriented, which enables them to be readily transferred onto for instance a roller conveyor 19 that can connect to the discharge end 15 of the dosing apparatus. The conveying direction of the roller conveyor 19 is preferably so that the eggs, when transferred from the dosing apparatus onto the roller conveyor 19, undergo a change of direction not greater than 20°. As a result, the velocity of the eggs is maintained as much as possible. As observed hereinabove, in the present exemplary embodiment the conveying face 1a, 16a is formed by two endless conveyors 1, 16. The first conveyor 1 extends over the part of the dosing apparatus where the number of conveying channels 11,12,13 is smaller than the number of conveying channels 7,8,9,10 located at the discharge end 15 of the dosing apparatus. The second conveyor 16 extends over the part of the dosing apparatus where the number of conveying channels 7,8,9,10 corresponds to the number of conveying channels 7,8,9,10 located at the discharge end 15. The conveying velocity of the first conveyor 1 is lower than the conveying velocity of the second conveyor 16 in order to keep the feed-through capacity of the dosing apparatus at the inlet 14 approximately equal to the feed-through capacity at the discharge end 15. The conveying velocity of the first conveyor is maximally about 9 m per minute, at which velocity, even in an unordered flow, no breaking of eggs E will occur. The conveying velocity of the second conveyor will in that case be about 14 m per minute in order to keep the feed-through capacities at the inlet 14 and the discharge end 15 of the dosing apparatus approximately equal. Under some conditions, the feed of eggs at the inlet 14 of the apparatus can be so great that the dosing apparatus cannot process the eggs at the normal conveying velocity of the first conveyor 1. In that case, a substantial thrust occurs whereby the eggs are pushed up along the guiding elements 2,3,4 and the gradual ordering of the unordered flow does not take place in the desired manner. To overcome this problem, according to a further elaboration of the invention, a light beam coming from a light source 17 shines, at least at the location of the guiding element 4 dividing the single unordered flow of eggs E into two separate flows of eggs, above the conveying path right across the dosing apparatus in an electronic eye 18. The electronic eye 18 is connected to a control adapted to reduce the feed velocity of at least the first conveyor 1 if the light beam is interrupted for some time. The feed velocity can for instance be reduced to zero. The interruption of the light beam should last some time to prevent the feed velocity of the first conveyor 1 from already being reduced when an egg E standing on its tip passes the light beam. For a simple cleaning of the dosing apparatus, it is particularly favourable when the guiding elements can readily be disassembled. For the purpose of cleaning, the guiding elements 2,3,4,5,6 can then be temporarily be removed from the conveying face 1a, 16a and re-assembled after the cleaning thereof and of the conveying face 1a, 16a. It is understood that the invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiment described, but that various modifications are possible within the framework of the invention. For instance, the number of channels may of course vary and the first subdivision may also be a triplication or multiplication, rather than a doubling.

Claims: A dosing apparatus for eggs or like substantially round or ellipsoid articles, comprising at least one endless conveyor (1) having a flat, substantially horizontally disposed conveying face (1a), wherein guiding elements (2,3,4,5,6) are disposed above the at least one conveyor, intended for ordering an unordered flow of eggs or like articles into a number of ordered flows each having the width of one article, wherein in each case two opposite guiding elements (2,3; 2;4, 3,4; 3,5; 4,5; 4,6; 2,6) bound, together with a part of the conveying face that extends between the guiding elements, a conveying channel (respectively 13;12;11;7;8;9;10), said conveying channel having a cross-sectional profile having a channel bottom and channel walls, wherein the channel bottom is formed by the conveying face (1a or 16a) and the channel walls are formed by the two opposite guiding elements (2,3; 2,4; 3,4; 3,5; 4,5; 4,6; 2,6), wherein a main surface of each of the guiding elements (2,3,4,5,6) includes, with the conveying face part (1a,16a) extending between the opposite guiding elements, an angle (α) greater than 90°, enabling the articles to be gradually pushed upwards along the guiding elements (2,3,4,5,6), wherein at the inlet (14) of the dosing apparatus, said dosing apparatus comprises one conveying channel (13) and wherein, viewed in the conveying direction (T), the number of conveying channels multiplies each time, so that at a discharge end (15) of the dosing apparatus the width of the conveying channels (7,8,9,10) at that location is such that, viewed in the conveying direction (T), the articles can only travel therein in file. A dosing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that, viewed in the conveying direction (T), the width of each conveying channel (7-13) gradually decreases over at least a part of the length of the conveying channel (7-13). A dosing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by two endless conveyors (1,16) that each form the conveying face over a part of the length of the dosing apparatus, wherein the first conveyor (1) extends over at least the part of the dosing apparatus where the number of conveying channels (11,12,13) is smaller than the number of conveying channels (7,8,9,10) located at the discharge end (15), and wherein the second conveyor (16) extends over the part of the dosing apparatus where the number of conveying channels (7,8,9,10) corresponds to the number of conveying channels (7,8,9,10) located at the discharge end (15), wherein the conveying velocity of the first conveyor (1) is lower than the conveying velocity of the second conveyor (16). A dosing apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that the conveying velocity of the first conveyor (1) is maximally about 9 m/min and the conveying velocity of the second conveyor (16) is about 14 m/min. A dosing apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least the upstream ends (5a,6a) of at least a number of the guiding elements (5,6) arranged between two other guiding elements (respectively 3,4; 2,4) perform a horizontal, reciprocating movement (M) directed perpendicularly to the conveying direction. A dosing apparatus according to claim 5, characterized in that, viewed in conveying direction (T), only the last-added guiding elements (5,6), bounding the conveying channels (7,8,9,10) at the discharge end (15), perform said horizontal, reciprocating movement (M) directed perpendicularly to the conveying direction (T). A dosing apparatus according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the travel of the reciprocating movement (M) at the upstream ends (5c,6c) of the guiding elements (5,6) is about 4 mm and the frequency is about 3 Hz. A dosing apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the main surface of each of the guiding elements (2,3,4,5,6) includes, with the conveying face part extending between the opposite guiding elements, an angle (α) of at least about 135°. A dosing apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least the downstream parts of the guiding elements (2,3,4,5,6) adjacent the discharge end (15), which guiding elements (2,3,4,5,6) bound the conveying channels (7,8,9,10) in which the articles can only travel in file, viewed in conveying direction (T), are provided with a bent profile, wherein the main surface of a first guiding element part (5b) located adjacent the conveying face (16a) includes, with the conveying face (16a), an angle (β) greater than about 135°, and wherein the angle (α) between the main surface of a second guiding element part (5a), connecting to the first guiding element part (5b), and the conveying face (16a) is about 135°. A dosing apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the upstream ends (4c,5c,6c) of the guiding elements (4,5,6) arranged between other guiding elements (2,3) gradually slope upwards from a point (4c,5c,6c) adjacent the conveying face to a particular maximum guiding element height, wherein also, viewed in the conveying direction (T), the distance (L) between two opposite guiding elements (2,3; 2,4; 3,4; 3,5; 4,5; 4,6; 2,6) gradually decreases. A dosing apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least directly upstream of the position where an upstream end (5c,6c) is located of a guiding element (5,6) included between two opposite guiding elements (3,4; 2,4), the distance (L2) between the two opposite guiding elements (3,4; 2,4), viewed in the conveying direction (T), slightly increases. A dosing apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the guiding elements (2,3,4,5,6) converge at the discharge end (15), viewed from the upstream end in the conveying direction (T), wherein the converging angle for each guiding element is about 0.75°. A dosing apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at some distance above the conveying face (la), a light beam coming from a light source (17) shines, at least at the location of the guiding element(s) (4) that divide(s) the single unordered flow of eggs or like articles into two or more separate flows of articles, right across the dosing apparatus in an electronic eye (18), wherein said electronic eye (18) is connected to a control adapted to reduce the feed velocity of the first conveyor (1) if the light beam is interrupted for some time.

Inventors: VAN DE POL GERRIT, VAN VELDHUISEN WILLEM, VAN DE POL, GERRIT, VAN VELDHUISEN, WILLEM
Applicants: FOOD PROCESSING SYSTEMS, FPS FOOD PROCESSING SYSTEMS B.V.
Application year: 1997
Main classification: A01K43
IPC codes: B65G47, A01K43