A method for feeding eggs to an egg breaking apparatus and an egg breaking apparatus
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Solution Overview
Problem
High-speed egg processing systems face challenges in ensuring precise transfer of eggs from shell egg in-feed conveyors to egg breaking devices, leading to eggs being dropped or not caught correctly due to asynchrony between conveyors, resulting in loss or shell contamination, especially when speed changes occur.
Innovation Solution
Independent drives for the shell egg in-feed conveyor and egg breaking conveyor, with a control unit adjusting their positions based on speed changes and encoder/sensor feedback to maintain phase synchronization, ensuring precise egg transfer and handling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the egg breaking conveyor speed is increased to improve productivity, then more eggs can be processed per hour, but the eggs experience free fall and may not be caught correctly by the egg breaking devices
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the phase relationship between the shell egg in-feed conveyor and egg breaking conveyor based on their respective speeds. The control unit continuously monitors the speed of both conveyors and adjusts the phase shift accordingly, allowing the system to maintain reliable egg transfer even at varying high speeds. This dynamic adjustment resolves the contradiction by making the system adaptable rather than fixed.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the phase parameter (relative positioning) between the two conveyors based on speed changes. When the egg breaking conveyor speed changes, the control unit calculates and applies an appropriate phase shift to the in-feed conveyor, ensuring that eggs are properly positioned for transfer. This parameter adjustment allows high-speed operation without compromising transfer accuracy.
2Reliability
If the egg breaking conveyor speed is reduced to improve egg transfer accuracy, then eggs are caught more correctly, but productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
Rather than fixing the conveyor speeds, the system dynamically adjusts the phase relationship between conveyors based on their actual operating speeds. This allows the system to maintain high productivity while ensuring accurate egg transfer, as the phase adjustment compensates for speed variations in real-time.
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit receives feedback from speed sensors on both conveyors and automatically adjusts the phase shift accordingly. This closed-loop feedback system ensures that even when operating at high speeds for maximum productivity, the egg transfer accuracy is maintained through continuous monitoring and adjustment.
3Device complexity
If a single drive controls both conveyors to simplify the system, then device complexity is reduced, but the conveyors become asynchronous when speed changes occur
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the drive control into independent units for each conveyor, allowing each to operate at its optimal speed. The control unit then coordinates these independent drives by adjusting their phase relationship, ensuring synchronized egg transfer. This segmentation resolves the contradiction by allowing independent speed control while maintaining transfer precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit acts as an intermediary between the two independent drives, receiving speed information from both conveyors and calculating the appropriate phase shift. This intermediary coordination allows each conveyor to be driven independently while maintaining precise synchronization for egg transfer, resolving the contradiction between independent control and synchronized operation.
4Manufacturing precision
If the position of drives is adjusted to maintain phase synchronization, then egg transfer accuracy improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit continuously receives feedback from speed sensors on both conveyors and automatically adjusts the phase shift based on this feedback. This automated feedback control achieves precise egg transfer synchronization without requiring complex manual intervention or overly complicated control mechanisms, resolving the contradiction between precision and complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The control system automatically monitors and adjusts the phase relationship between conveyors without external intervention. The system self-regulates to maintain optimal synchronization, reducing the need for complex external control mechanisms while ensuring high transfer accuracy.
Data Source
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AI summary
A method for feeding eggs to an egg breaking apparatus and such an apparatus is provided. In the method eggs are fed to a plurality of egg breaking devices (10) mounted on a egg breaking conveyor (5) by a shell egg in-feed conveyor, each egg breaking device receiving one egg at a time. The shell egg in-feed conveyor is driven by a first drive (20) and the egg breaking conveyor is driven by a second drive (21), and the position of the first drive and/or the position of the second drive is adjusted in response to changes in the speed of at least one of the shell egg in-feed conveyor and the egg breaking conveyor. The adjustment is preferably performed automatically by a control unit using input from encoders on one or more drive motors, which are preferably servo motors. Size and/or size variation of the eggs may also be taken into account.