Patent ID: 8196509

Claim:
An apparatus for shelling boiled eggs, comprising: a plurality of spaced-apart shelling rollers which are axially parallel to one another, are arranged in a circulating belt guided over end deflecting rollers in a conveying direction, and are driven in the same rotational direction, a plurality of longitudinal guides having an angled portion at an entry and a substantially straight portion lying in a substantially horizontal plane along a length and extending from the angled portion, the plurality of longitudinal guides arranged above a top strand of the circulating belt, wherein pairs of the plurality of longitudinal guides form a roof-like channel extending in the conveying direction and are moveable transversely to the conveying direction, wherein a region of the top strand is subdivided into a first operating region including at least two of the plurality of longitudinal guides configured to break open shells of the boiled eggs, a second operating region including at least two of the plurality of longitudinal guides configured to shell the boiled eggs, and a third operating region located between the first and second operating regions, the third operating region including a centering arrangement including a plurality of directing bodies disposed adjacent to one another and, in pairs, the directing bodies forming an entry funnel that widens toward the first operating region and directs the boiled eggs into the second operating region; wherein pairs of the first set of longitudinal guides form a first angle therebetween and are moveable transversely at a first frequency; wherein pairs of the second set of longitudinal guides form a second angle therebetween and are moveable transversely at a second frequency; and wherein the first angle is smaller than the second angle.