Egg Conveying Device with Laser Crack Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Eggs with open cracks cause soiling during grading, leading to contamination of the conveyor and other eggs, as existing systems fail to prevent smearing effectively.
Innovation Solution
A conveying device with rollers arranged in pairs to create wider receiving spaces, allowing each egg to rest on both rollers, and a transfer device that moves eggs to match the conveyor's spacing, along with blocking elements to prevent incorrect positioning, and an inspection device using multiple stationary lasers to detect cracks by observing light transmission changes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If eggs are conveyed using a conveyor with rollers spaced to match tray egg spacing, then eggs can be efficiently transferred from trays, but cracked eggs cause smearing of contents onto the conveyor and other eggs
Solution Approach 1:
The invention divides the conveyor system into distinct functional zones: a transfer zone with rollers spaced for efficient egg pickup from trays, and a conveying zone with wider roller spacing that creates isolated receiving spaces for each egg. This segmentation allows the system to achieve both high transfer efficiency and prevention of smearing by ensuring that cracked eggs in isolated spaces cannot contaminate other eggs.
2Object-generated harmful factors
If roller spacing is increased to create wider receiving spaces for egg isolation, then smearing is prevented, but the conveyor speed must be increased to maintain productivity
Solution Approach 1:
The invention employs a dual-speed conveyor system where the transfer section operates at a slower speed optimized for picking eggs from trays, while the conveying section operates at a faster speed to maintain productivity despite wider roller spacing. This dynamic speed adjustment allows the system to achieve both smearing prevention through isolation and maintained productivity without requiring uniform high-speed operation throughout.
3Productivity
If eggs are placed closer together on the conveyor to match tray spacing, then conveyor capacity is maximized, but cracked eggs can smear contents onto adjacent eggs and the conveyor
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies different spatial arrangements to different sections of the conveyor system. The transfer section maintains close roller spacing to match tray egg spacing for high capacity utilization, while the conveying section implements wide roller spacing with isolated receiving spaces. This local differentiation allows the system to maximize overall capacity while creating contamination-free zones where cracked eggs cannot affect other eggs.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Prevents smearing by maintaining egg separation and effectively detects cracks through enhanced light observation, ensuring efficient egg conveyance and sorting without contamination.
Implementation Method 1
a laser for exposing the egg to a laser beam, optical observation means for observing the light transmission by the egg
Data Source
AI summary
A conveying device for conveying eggs comprises an endless conveyor provided with rollers extending transversely to the direction of conveyance. The rollers are arranged in pairs, and each pair of rollers forms an receiving space, in which an egg is accommodated in such a way that the egg rests on both rollers. The conveying device furthermore comprises a transfer device provided with a plurality of pick-up elements for picking up the eggs from a tray and placing the eggs on the conveyor. The pick-up elements on the transfer device can be moved from a first position in which they are positioned at a distance from each other corresponding to the distance between the individual eggs on the tray, viewed in the direction of conveyance, and a second position corresponding to the centre-to-centre distance between two receiving spaces. In use, the rollers are set in rotation, with the result that an egg resting on them is set in rotation, which is advantageous if the eggs on the conveyor have to be inspected for cracks. In this case by means of a plurality of lasers disposed in a stationary position one after the other a laser beam is directed at the egg during movement of the egg, and the light transmission of the egg surface is observed by optical observation means. Data processing means are equipped to decide on the basis of the observed light transmission whether or not an egg has a crack.