Patent ID: 7047904

Claim:
An egg harvester for collecting eggs of laying hens including: an elongate hen-laying zone, having a plurality of hen-laying stations or nests along the zone; a flexible belt or band, extending along the zone forming the floor for the laying stations or nests; a shuttle or carriage movable along the zone, roller, drum, or disc means on the shuttle or carriage, engageable with the belt or band to selectively deflect or guide a portion of the belt or band, as the shuttle or carriage advances, below the level of adjacent portions of the belt or band; an intermediate floor section, on the shuttle or carriage, the intermediate floor section having a longitudinal axis, with respective end portions of the intermediate floor section spaced a vertical distance above adjacent portions of the belt or band, the respective end portions of the intermediate floor section and adjacent portions of the belt or band forming respective, substantially horizontally-directed, slots which advance to the hen-laying stations or nests, as the shuttle or carriage is advanced, wherein the slots are generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the intermediate floor section; so arranged that: any litter and/or eggs on the belt or band pass through the leading one of the slots for collection of eggs and/or cleaning of litter as the shuttle or carriage is advanced.