Optics: measuring and testing – Egg candling – Photoelectric
Patent
1989-09-20
1991-05-21
McGraw, Vincent P.
Optics: measuring and testing
Egg candling
Photoelectric
209510, G01N 3308
Patent
active
050170031
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an automatic sorting candler.
Eggs are candled to observe their interiors so as to ascertain the the state of their contents.
This candling operation has the particular purpose of verifying the incubation state or to look for various possible changes in the eggs.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is particularly common to candle of eggs near the 18th day of incubation so as to be able to transfer to hatching baskets the "good eggs" and eliminate the clear eggs, i.e. eggs which are not fertilized. It is also possible to proceed to this candling operation with a view towards to removing the rotten eggs, the eggs invaded by mildew, putrefied eggs, containing dead embryos, etc. Up until the present, candling was done directly by hand or by means of a candling lamp or candler. The conventional candler is equipped with a light source to make it possible to appraise in the egg the transparency state of the eggs. However, one has sought to design more sophisticated equipment capable of measuring the transparency state of eggs.
A problem with automating this type of operation rests in the sorting after candling between the good eggs and the defective eggs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention proposes an automatic sorting candler, which is remarkable in that it comprises a light box provided underneath a candling head which is furnished with at least one suction cup adapted to take hold of eggs individually by suctioning and which is equipped with a vacuum means and a light sensitive means, while a control device for the vacuum means makes it possible to apply by suctioning each suction cup onto an egg to be candled and to appraise the transparency as a function of the output of the light coming from the light box and reaching the sensitive means, while the control device is servo-controlled by the signal of said light sensitive means, such that said suction cup can retain by suctioning the egg when the signal of the light sensitive means indicates that a certain predetermined transparency of said egg has been exceeded.
Preferably, the candling head is mounted in a vertically movable manner above a routing conveyor and an evacuation conveyor, all to evacuate, after candling, the defective eggs by means of the evacuation conveyor, to recover, after candling, the good eggs by means of the routing conveyor and to bring a new batch of eggs to be candled by means of said routing conveyor.
According to an embodiment, the automatic sorting candler further comprises a transfer conveyor adapted to receive, after candling, the good eggs, which are transferred by means of the candling head, from the routing conveyor, to said transfer conveyor.
Preferably, the vacuum means of each suction cup comprises a suctioning conduit of which one of the ends opens into the bottom of said suction cup and of which the other end is connected to a vacuum pump by means of an electrovalve, while the light sensitive means is an infrared phototransistor, and the light box is provided with means to produce the infrared light.
To control the good operation of the apparatus, it can comprise a control system which makes it possible to control the correct detection of absence of light be each sensitive means when the light box is switched off and the suction cup in question is applied under a vacuum to an egg. In this case, it is preferably provided with a means for display of poor operation of the controlled suction cup, as well as a means which makes it possible to isolate said suction cup in case of detected breakdown.
According to another embodiment, the automatic sorting candler is further comprised of a suction cup, a comparator provided to compare the signal of the corresponding light sensitive means with at least one predetermined signal, generated by a generator of threshold signals, so as to create a detection signal which is a function of the comparison of said signals. Then, the threshold signal generator is provided to generate at least one predetermine
REFERENCES:
patent: 1987336 (1935-01-01), Powell
patent: 4805778 (1989-02-01), Nambu
Breuil Jean-Pierre
Keromnes Bernard
Breuil, S.A.
Keesee LaCharles P.
McGraw Vincent P.
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