Animal husbandry – Method of incubation or brooding
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-05
2001-02-06
Carone, Michael J. (Department: 3643)
Animal husbandry
Method of incubation or brooding
C119S306000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06182608
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for incubating and hatching eggs and more particularly to such methods and apparatus in which heat generated from living embryos and built up in an enclosed environment is transferred out of the environment so that optimum conditions can be maintained.
2. Description of the Related Art
Egg hatcheries in which environmental conditions are controlled to optimize the number of hatched eggs and/or properly maintain hatched chicks are known in the art. The primary concerns for operating an incubator or hatchery are maintaining the ambient air around the incubator/hatchery chamber at an optimum temperature of 70° F. and temperatures within the chamber of around 99° F. Other concerns include maintaining the proper humidity and mixture of gases within the hatchery chamber. Unfortunately, living embryos within the incubator or hatcher produce heat that interferes with the careful environmental equilibrium established in the enclosed system. Accordingly, environmental control apparatuses have been developed especially for the hatchery/incubator market in response to these concerns.
One of the most successful designs is described in applicant's own U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,619 in which hot and cold water are circulated through coils under the control of microprocessor means responsive to conditions within the hatchery chamber to either raise or lower the temperature for optimum conditions. Heat is exchanged between the ambient air and the water filled coils thus regulating the temperature of the chamber.
Water-based heating and cooling systems, including applicant's own, have several drawbacks. It has been found, for instance, that the efficiency of this system is reduced over time by the build-up on all exposed surfaces of down from chick feathers. This is especially pronounced on the cool water coils where down sticks to the condensate formed on the coils. A by-product of this phenomenon makes the coils drip, thus causing wet floors and wet down which can harbor bacteria. Additionally, water-based cooling systems tend to dry out the air within the chamber thus forming the need for a separate humidity control device within the chamber. Finally, such systems tend to be complicated, expensive, and difficult to recover wasted heat.
Air has been used as a medium for temperature control but this has been primarily limited to simply dumping quantities of cooled or heated air into the hatchery/incubator chamber. This has the drawback of changing the gas mixture within the chamber which is bad for the newly hatching chicks.
Accordingly, a need remains for an improved system for regulating the temperature within a hatchery/incubator chamber that avoids the drawbacks of the prior art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide a system that can be incorporated into a hatchery much cheaper that a closed circuit water system.
Another object of the invention is to provide a heat exchange system that reduces the chance for condensation and thus is much easier to clean and keep in a sanitary condition.
A further object of the invention is to provide a system whose efficiency is maintained over time.
The invention is an apparatus for removing heat caused by living embryos within an insulated enclosure. The apparatus comprises an enclosed chamber bounded by two pairs of opposing side walls and opposing first and second end walls spanning the insulated enclosure. The first end wall has a heat conductive portion, such as a copper plate, adapted to conduct heat between an outer surface of the end wall facing an interior of the insulated enclosure and an inner surface of the end wall adjacent the enclosed chamber. A plurality of baffles within the chamber define a serpentine path within the chamber through which air is directed from a start position along the path to an end position. A fresh air inlet coupled to the start position communicates fresh air taken from outside the insulated enclosure into the chamber and then through the serpentine path. An exhaust air outlet coupled to the end position communicates air that has flowed through the serpentine path away from the chamber and out of the insulated enclosure.
The heat removal apparatus operates by exposing the outer surface of the first end wall to the interior of the insulated enclosure. Heat generated from living embryos raised within the insulated enclosure warms the air within the enclosure, which heats the exposed end wall of the heat removal apparatus. The heat is conducted to the inner surface of the end wall. Air passing within the chamber along the serpentine path is heated by its proximity to the now-heated inner surface of the end wall as it passes from the start position to the end position. The heated air is then exhausted from the heat removal apparatus.
The air-based heat removal system constructed according to the teachings of the present invention has several advantages over prior art water-based systems. First, it can be incorporated into a hatchery must more cheaply than a closed circuit water system and it does not present as difficult or expensive a problem in recovering waste heat. Second, the invention is a closed system relative to the hatchery enclosure thus eliminating the problems associated with cooling the hatchery by dumping refrigerated air into the hatchery chamber. Third, the condensation problems associated with water-based systems is substantially eliminated. Down is thus less likely to stick to the exterior surfaces of the system thus maintaining the efficiency of the device over time. Finally, the present system can be easily retrofitted to older hatcheries and work in conjunction with existing machines.
The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention that proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.
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Carone Michael J.
Marger Johnson & McCollom PC
Shaw Elizabeth
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