Brushing – scrubbing – and general cleaning – Machines – For fruit – vegetables – meat or eggs
Patent
1995-12-22
1998-06-02
Graham, Gary K.
Brushing, scrubbing, and general cleaning
Machines
For fruit, vegetables, meat or eggs
15 316, 15 77, A01K 4300
Patent
active
057583781
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a machine for washing eggs, the eggs being positioned in rows on a conveyor which may move the eggs in its longitudinal direction from a feeding section through a washing section to a delivery section, the washing section comprises spray nozzles for the discharge of washing water and a brush frame carrying brushes facing downwards towards the conveyor and having an underside profiled according to the egg shape, the frame itself is suspended in a stationary machine frame and may be actuated by a drive for reciprocating movement in the longitudinal direction of the conveyor.
The degree of cleaning of the eggs obtainable in the washing section depends on the design of the brushes and of the brush movements in relation to the eggs. In the known machines, it is usual to reciprocate the brush frame between two extreme positions which are substantially further spaced apart than the largest diameter of the eggs washed. British patent No. 745 616, for example, describes a machine wherein transverse rows of brushes are mounted on a common frame which is suspended in the machine frame via four identical linkages and is connected with a motor-driven eccentric disc through a horizontal linkage. By rotation of this disc, the brush frame is driven reciprocatingly in a movement which is arcuate in the vertical plane and rectilinear in the horizontal plane, and the distance between the extreme points of this movement is about four egg diameters. The rectilinear movement may be effected either in the longitudinal or the transverse direction of the conveyor. The brushes of the British patent all have the same length.
To prevent the brushes from breaking or piercing the eggshell, the underside of the brushes may be profiled according to the egg shape so that the brush bristles have a shorter length in the areas where the eggs are to pass than in the areas located between the eggs. In such a known machine, the brushes are reciprocated in the longitudinal direction of the conveyor so that they largely only act on the eggs with forces rotating the eggs about their longitudinal axes without any risk that the eggs are displaced in the transverse direction of the conveyor, which might cause a risk of harmful collisions of the eggs. The bristles at the ends of the eggs extend tangentially to the egg surface, and as the bristles easily bend in the transverse direction, their action on the egg at the end areas is very modest. Correspondingly, the cleansing effect is rather poor. In order to obtain an acceptable cleansing of the eggs it is necessary with relatively large brush movements in relation to the conveyor, which makes the eggs turn back and forth in relation thereto. The large relative movements between eggs and conveyor involve a certain risk of damage to the eggshells.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,097,382 describes a machine for washing eggs, wherein the brush frame is designed basically in the same manner as in the above British patent, but where the four linkages are fastened on a respective sprocket wheel rotated by the drive motor to make the frame as a unit execute a circular movement about an axis extending in the transverse direction of the conveyor. The cleansing movement of the brushes is also in this case arcuate in the vertical plane and rectilinear in the horizontal plane. However the movement is not reciprocatory, which results in the advantage, according to the US patent, that the brush movement does not transmit vibrations to the remainder of the structure of the machine.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,909,290 describes an egg washer with brushes mounted on associated pairs of transverse brush holders which are moved in pairs in mutually opposite transverse movements. The conjugate, mutually opposite movements contribute to limiting the resulting transverse forces on the eggs so that the risk of collision of eggs is reduced, but the design of the brushes with associated driving means is complex and thus costly. It is also necessary to incline the brushes at a relatively large angle to
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Graham Gary K.
Sanovo Engineering A/S
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