An egg breaking device, an egg breaking apparatus, and the use thereof for breaking and opening eggs Field of invention

The present invention relates to an egg breaking device, an egg breaking apparatus, and the use of an egg breaking device.

Background of invention In most modern day egg breaking apparatuses for breaking and opening eggs operating on an industrial scale, eggs are fed to a plurality of egg breaking devices by means of a feeder, each egg breaking device receiv ing one egg at a time. Each egg breaking device includes an egg support on which the egg is received and which is adapted for supporting a first side of the egg. To keep the egg in place, an egg clamp is moved towards the egg support so that it comes into contact with a second side of the egg opposite the first side. An egg breaker is then activated to break and open the egg so that its contents may empty into at least one egg contents receptacle.

By the first side and the second side of the egg is meant two oppo- site surface areas of the shell of the egg. As eggs are generally strongest at the ends when seen along the longitudinal axis or symmetry axis of the egg, eggs are usually opened by cracking the egg shell at a side, i.e. by applying force in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis or symmetry axis of the egg, and the first and second sides will then be extending in an overall direction, which is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis.

Often the egg support comprises a first support plate and a second support plate arranged with a space between them when in a breaking posi tion, and the egg breaker comprises a first blade and a second blade. The blades are arranged adjacent to each other when in a breaking position and a blade activation mechanism is configured for abruptly moving the blades into the space between the first and second support plate to thereby break an egg held by the egg breaking device. The first and second support plates and the first and second blades are pivoted away from each other from the breaking position to an egg emptying position, said first blade and said first support plate moving together as a pair and said second blade and said second sup port plate moving together as a pair. In this way, the shell of the egg is broken in two halves, each of which is clamped between the egg clamp, a support plate, and a blade during opening of the egg.

Such egg breaking apparatuses have found wise-spread use, as they are very reliable and have a high yield, but with the ever increasing demand for higher speed and higher quality of the egg products there is a need for increasing the efficiency of such apparatuses even further.

Experiments have shown that a key to increasing the yield of an egg breaking apparatus is to improve the ability of the egg breaking device to handle natural variations in eggs, including differences in size, shape, and surface properties of the shells of the eggs. Particularly differences in size and shape may lead to eggs being received by the egg breaking device in a variety of different positions, leading to the egg breaking device not always achieving a proper hold on the received egg. Without a proper hold on the received egg, there is a risk of the whole egg being dropped before breaking, of the egg not being broken, of egg shell being dropped prematurely, and of egg shell fragments ending up in the egg contents, which may lead to a lower yield and/or a contamination of the egg product.

Summary of invention

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an egg breaking device, an egg breaking apparatus, and a use of an egg breaking device, which allows for an improved hold on an egg and on an opened egg shell.

In a first aspect of the invention this is achieved with an egg breaking device where the egg clamp comprises a centre section, a first clamping wing, and a second clamping wing, all of which are configured for contacting the second side of the egg, where the first clamping wing is connected pivot ally to the centre section by a first pivot connection, the second clamping is connected pivotally to the centre section by a second pivot connection, and where the first clamping wing and the second clamping wing are located on opposite sides of the centre section.

The provision of wings connected pivotally to the centre section en tails that the egg breaking device will almost always contact the second side of the eggs at three different places, one at the centre section, one at the first clamping wing, and one at the second clamping wing, regardless of the shape of the egg. This alone means that the egg breaking device has a better hold on whole eggs than egg breaking devices with only one of two points of con tact. Furthermore, by the first clamping wing and the second clamping wing being connected by two different pivot connections to the centre section, the clamping wings can move independently to adapt to different egg sizes and shapes, thereby increasing the likelihood of achieving contact at three differ ent places. In addition, the wings may compensate independently if the egg received on the egg support is positioned off-centre or otherwise suboptimal, and they may possibly even push the egg towards a more centred position on the egg support.

The clamping wings being able to move, is also an advantage during breaking and opening of an egg, since it allows them to stay in contact with the two halves of the shell of the egg as these are moved away from each other during opening of the egg. The centre section will usually also stay in contact with the shell of the egg, but as the breaking of the egg will usually result in the shell of the egg breaking at the point where it is in contact with the centre section, the hold provided by the centre section may not be optimal ones the shell has been broken.

Having two independent clamping wings also means that the egg clamp is capable of compensating for the fact that eggs have narrow pointy end and a more rounded blunt end. The clamping wing contacting the pointy end can move further towards the egg support than the clamping wing con tacting the blunt end, thereby compensating for the smaller average diameter of the shell half with the pointy end. Moreover, if an egg has been received slightly off-centred on the egg support and the two shell halves resulting from the breaking of the egg is therefore of different sizes in addition to having different shapes, the clamping wings may compensate for this. The clamping wing contacting the smaller of the two shell halves will then move further towards the egg support than it would have done if the egg had been broken in a regular manner, and the clamping wing contacting the bigger shell half will be further away from the egg support than it would have otherwise been. A difference in size may also result from the egg not breaking in a clean break, for example as a result of a pre-existing crack or other weakness in the egg shell.

The improved hold on an egg and on shell halves after breaking of the shell of the egg, reduces the risk of prematurely dropping the egg shells and of the eggs not being broken, which in turn may lead to an improved yield and may reduce the number of eggshell fragments in an egg product.

The egg support may be any standard egg support which can hold an egg, such as tongs or half cup, but a pair of plate curved or bent shape members, which are inclined slightly towards each other to form a hollow, are more commonly used today.

The egg breaker may be any standard egg breaker which can break an egg, such as blades, but other breakers may be used.

The egg receiving position is the position where the egg breaking de vice is ready to receive an egg, and the egg clamping position is the position where the egg clamp is in contacts the second side of the egg.

In one embodiment the pivot axis of first clamping wing and the pivot axis of the second clamping wing are substantially parallel. This means that the egg clamp not only presses the egg towards the egg support, but that the two halves of a broken egg are pressed towards each other by the clamping wings, thereby providing a better hold on the egg shell halves.

A similar effect may be achieved even if the pivot axes of the clamp ing wings are angled at for example 45 degrees in relation to each other, but this will result in an uneven pressure on egg shell halves, which may poten tially result in an increased formation of egg shell fragments. On the other hand, it may help in opening the egg, which may be considered advanta geous.

The pivot axis of first clamping wing and the pivot axis of the second clamping wing are preferably located on opposite sides of the centre section, i.e. not coinciding.

In one embodiment the egg clamp is pivotable between the egg re ceiving position and the egg clamping position, and the pivot axis of first clamping wing and the pivot axis of the second clamping wing are substantial ly perpendicular to the pivot axis of the egg clamp, about which it pivots when moving between the egg receiving position and the egg clamping position. It is presently considered advantageous that the pivot axis of the egg clamp is substantially perpendicular to the intended position of the longitudinal axis of the egg.

In one embodiment the centre section comprises a protrusion adapted for coming into contact with the egg, said protrusion preferably hav ing a triangular cross-section, where one of the vertices of the cross-section is adapted for contacting the second side of the egg.

The contact between the protrusion and the second side may help to facilitate a clean uniform break of the egg shell, as the protrusion provides a local pressure against the second side of the egg. The protrusion may further help to keep the halves of the shell in placed during opening of the egg as it hinders a movement towards the other half.

In the case of a triangular protrusion, wherein one vertices of the tri angular cross-section is adapted to contact the second side of the egg, the vertices provides a very precise pressure point or line at/along which the egg shell can break. Similar results may also be achieved with other shapes providing an edge or point. The protrusion may be solid or provide as a bent on a sheet material.

In one embodiment, the triangular protrusion has a shape resembling a knife edge extending in a direction perpendicular to the intended position of the longitudinal axis of the egg during breaking. This is particularly advanta geous with respect to keeping egg shell halves apart after the egg has been broken. As an example, if the egg is broken substantially into two parts, with the triangular protrusion acting as a pressure line for the egg shell to break along, then after breaking of the egg the protrusion will be positioned between the egg shell halves thereby keeping them apart. A similar effect may also be achieved with a none-triangular protrusion extending in a direction perpendic ular to the intended position of the longitudinal axis of the egg during break ing.

In one embodiment the egg support comprises a first support plate and a second support plate arranged with a space between them when in a breaking position, the egg breaker comprises a first blade and a second blade arranged adjacent to each other when in a breaking position and a blade acti vation mechanism configured for moving the first second blades into the space between the first and second support plate to thereby project above the first and second support plates and break an egg held by the egg breaking device, and the first and second support plates and the first and second blades are pivotable away from each other from the breaking position to an egg emptying position, said first blade and said first support plate moving to gether as a pair and said second blade and said second support plate moving together as a pair.

The egg breaking position refers the position where support plates are closest to each other and the blades are adjacent to each other and the egg emptying position refers the position where the support plates and the blades have been moved away from each other.

Here the first clamping wing may be configured for pushing towards the first blade, so that a first part of the shell of the egg is clamped between the centre section of the egg clamp, the first clamping wing, the first blade and the first support plate, and the second clamping wing configured for push ing towards the second blade, so that a second part of the shell of the egg is clamped between the centre section of the egg clamp, the second clamping wing, the second blade and the second support plate. This results in the rims of the shell of the opened egg created when the egg was broken being pressed against the protrusion and the blades. This provides a very efficient and reliable hold of the two halves of the shell of the egg after breaking, which is particularly advantageous in egg breaking apparatuses where the egg breaking devices are tilted in order to facilitate the emptying of the egg. Egg breaking devices with such support plates and blades are well known in the prior art in combination with traditional egg clamps and will therefore not be described in detail here. It is, however, noted that the support plates may comprise protrusions or bends at their respective end, which is furthers from the other support plate, i.e. opposite the space between the support plates, and/or along the sides extending substantially in parallel to the intended position of the longitudinal axis of an egg support by the egg sup port. This will not only help position the egg correctly on the egg support when first received, it may also contribute to keeping the shell halves in place dur ing opening of the egg, thereby contributing to ensuring that eggs or parts of the shell are not prematurely released from the egg breaking device.

In one embodiment the egg clamp is mechanically biased towards the egg clamping position.

Having the egg clamp mechanically biased allows for the egg clamp to be moved between two positions, while only needing to apply an external force towards one of the positions. This lowers the amount of externally mov ing parts needed to interact with the egg clamp while it is in use, which in re turn lowers the risk of mechanical or electrical malfunctions. Furthermore, the mechanical bias may be adjusted so the egg clamp contacts the egg with just the right amount of force, thereby avoiding breaking the egg when the egg clamp contacts the second side of the egg. When adjusting the force applied by the mechanically biased egg clamp the risk of crushing egg shell halves after opening of the egg should also be taken into consideration.

The mechanical bias may be achieved through spring tensioning, hy draulic tensioning, pneumatic tensioning or tensioning through deformation of resilient materials. As an alternative to the mechanical bias, the bias may also be obtained through magnetic means, such as electro magnets or permanent magnets.

In some embodiments, the weight of the clamping wings may be enough to apply a sufficient force on the egg held by the egg breaking device, but in one embodiment the first clamping wing and the second clamping wing are mechanically biased for contacting the second side of an egg. Having the clamping wings mechanically biased allows for the clamp ing wing to adapt to the different shapes and sizes of eggs, while still putting enough pressure on an egg to keep it in place during breaking and opening of the egg. Furthermore, the mechanical bias may be adjusted so the clamping wings contacts the egg with just the right amount of force, thereby avoiding unintentional breaking or fracturing of the egg shell.

The mechanical bias may be achieved through spring tensioning, hy draulic tensioning, pneumatic tensioning or tensioning through deformation of resilient materials. As an alternative to the mechanical bias, the bias may also be obtained through magnetic means, such as electro magnets or permanent magnets.

In one embodiment the mechanical bias(es) is/are obtained by spring tensioning.

The springs used to obtain the mechanical bias(es) may be torsion springs, helical springs, conical springs, barrel springs, compression springs, extension springs, clock springs, tension springs or zig zag springs. Springs are a mechanically simple and cheap solution, which is particularly attractive in breaker apparatuses comprising several egg breaking devices.

In one embodiment the egg support, the egg breaker and/or the egg clamp is/are made at least partially from stainless steel.

Forming parts of the egg breaking device from stainless steel en sures that the egg breaking device is easy to clean, thereby potentially further improving the bacteriology an egg product produced with the egg breaking device. Furthermore, stainless steel is cheap and relatively easy to shape, while also being wear resistant. Alternatively, or as a supplement, different parts may be made from other food-grade materials, such as polymers or elastomers. Parts made of polymers or elastomers may for example be used as cushioning or serve as wear parts.

In a second aspect of the invention the object is achieved with an egg breaking apparatus comprising a plurality of egg breaking devices as de scribed above and a plurality of egg product receptacles, wherein each egg product receptacle is configured for receiving the egg contents of an egg bro- ken and opened by an egg breaking device. It may further include a plurality of egg receiving devices adapted for receiving the contents of one egg at a time and for emptying the contents into one or more egg product receptacles. The egg receiving devices may be configured for separating egg contents into yolk and albumen.

In a third aspect of the invention the object is achieved with the use of an egg breaking device or egg breaking apparatus as described above for breaking and opening an egg.

A feature described in relation to one of the aspects may also be in corporated in the other aspect, and the advantage(s) of the feature is applica ble to all aspects in which it is incorporated.

The eggs referred to in the above and subsequent text is mainly meant to be thought of as chicken eggs, though it is within the scope of this disclosure that the egg breaking device and the egg breaking apparatus may be configured for use on other kinds of eggs, such as duck eggs, goose eggs or quail eggs.

Other objectives, features and advantages of the present inventive concept will appear from the following detailed disclosure, from the attached claims, as well as from the drawings.

Brief description of drawings

In the following the invention will be described in more detail with ref erence to the drawing, where:

Fig. 1 is perspective view of one embodiment of an egg breaking de vice according to the disclosure, and

Fig. 2 shows the breaking device in Fig. 1 from a tilted front perspec tive.

Detailed description of drawings

One embodiment of an egg breaking device 1 is shown in Fig. 1. The breaker device 1 comprises an egg support including a first support plate 4 and a second support plate 5, an egg breaker including a first blade 2 and a second blade 3, and an egg clamp including a centre section 6 and clamping wings 7, 8.

In the drawing the egg breaking device is shown in an egg emptying position, where the egg E has been broken and opened.

The first support plate 4 and the second support plate 5 may pivot away and towards each other as shown by the arrow P1, and in an egg re ceiving position (not shown) they are arranged close to each other with a space between the allowing the blades 2, 3 to get in between them as indi cated by the arrow P2. To break the egg E, the blades 2, 3 are abruptly moved from a retracted position (not shown), where they are located below the egg support plates to the position in the space between the support plates 4, 5. During the breaking of the egg, the blades 2, 3 are arranged closely side-by-side.

The egg clamp 6 in the shown embodiment can pivot so that it moves along the direction indicated by the arrow P5. The egg clamp 6 is at least able to pivot between a raised egg receiving position and the egg clamping posi tion shown in the drawing. In the egg receiving position the egg clamp is piv oted to a raised position, which allow the egg breaking device 1 to receive an egg and letting just the first support plate 4 and the second support plate 5 hold the received egg. In the egg clamping position, the egg clamp 6 is clamping the egg in place against the first support plate 4 and the second support plate 5, thereby ensuring the egg does not move unnecessarily dur ing breaking and opening of the egg. The egg clamper 6 is mechanically bi ased by springs, towards the egg clamping position.

In the egg clamping position, a triangular protrusion 61 on the egg clamp contacts the second side of the egg. The protrusion 61 , which is here of a triangular cross-section and resembling a knives edge 62, makes sure that the contact between the egg clamp and the egg is well-defined, thus con tributing to a precise breaking of the egg shell. In other embodiment it is pointed, providing a single point of contact, or consisting of a row of mem bers, providing a row of contact points.

In the shown embodiment, the first support plate 4 and the second support plate 5 are mechanically biased toward each other by springs and the opening of the egg overcomes this biasing force. Likewise, the upwards movement of the first blade 2 and the second blade 3 are mechanically bi ased by springs, and the egg clamp 6 is biased downwards towards the egg.

It is noted that referenced to directions such as “raised”, “upwards” and “downwards” are to be understood with reference to the drawing, mean ing the egg breaking device might in principle be oriented differently and that these indication of the direction will then have to be adapted accordingly.

The first blade 2 is adapted to follow the first support plate 4 when it pivots and moves along the direction P1 and the second blade 3 is adapted to follow the second support plate 5, thereby bringing them to the position shown in the drawing. As the blades 2, 3 remain in their raised breaking posi tion, where they project above the support plates 4, 5, when moved to the emptying position, the blades support the rims of the shell of the opened egg E created when the egg was broken as is best seen in Fig. 2. The blades thus not only contribute to opening the egg, but also helps retain the egg shell halves, each of which are confined by a clamping wing 7, 8 at the upper outer side, by the protrusion 61 on the centre section at the upper inner side, by a support plate 4, 5 at the lower outer side, and by a blade 2, 3 at the lower in ner side as seen in Fig. 2.

In the embodiment shown, the first support plate 4 and the second support plate 5 are bent about an axis L corresponding to the intended posi tion of the longitudinal axis of the egg during breaking, thereby having a V- shape to facilitate the holding of an egg. Alternatively, to the first support plate 4 and the second support plate 5 having an abrupt bent resulting in a V-shape the plates may be bent continuously, thereby achieving a curved shape. The first support plate 4 and the second support plate 5 in the shown embodiment, further comprises protrusions at their ends. The protrusions may be formed by bending of the first support plate 4 and the second support plate 5, or they may be attached to the longitudinal ends by welding, adhesives, or mechani cal engagement.

The egg support plates and the blades are in the shown embodiment made from stainless steel, but other materials may also be used, such as for example polymers or elastomers for the egg support plates and ceramics for the blades.

To release the egg shell halves from the egg breaking device 1 and to prepare for breaking a new received egg, the first blade 2 and the second blade 3 are moved back towards each other along the direction P1 and away from the egg clamp 6 in the direction P2.

According to the invention the egg clamp includes a first clamping wing 7 and a second clamping wing 8, which are connected to the centre sec tion 6 comprises at a first pivot connection 71 and a second pivot connection 81 , respectively. The first clamping wing 7 and the second clamping wing 8 projects from opposing sides of the centre section 6 and are adapted for con tacting the egg so that there are three points of contact between the egg clamp and the egg. The first clamping wing 7 and the second clamping wing 8 are biased towards an egg received in the egg breaking device 1 and thus provides a pressure towards the centre of the egg breaking device. This re sults in the rims of the shell of the opened egg E created when the egg was broken being pressed against the protrusion 6 and the blades 2, 3.

The pivot connections may be placed on any surface of the centre section 6, in the shown embodiment they are placed on the surface opposite of the triangular protrusion. Placement of the pivot connections opposite of the triangular protrusion may be advantageous to ensure that the egg break ing device 1 is compact. Placing the pivot connections on side surfaces may on the other hand allow for a higher degree of freedom of rotation on the pivot connection. The centre section 6 in the shown embodiment is made from stainless steel, though other materials, such as ceramics, polymers or elas tomers may also be used, alone or in combination.

The first clamping wing 7 and the second clamping wing 8 are formed with bevelled or rounded edges, this may reduce the risk of the first clamping wing 7 and the second clamping wing 8 breaking the egg when con tacting the egg. The first clamping wing 7 and the second clamping wing 8 in the shown embodiment are made from stainless steel, though resilient mate- rials such as polymers or elastomers may also be used in order to provide a softer contact with the egg.

Each of the clamping wings have a separate associated pivot axis. The first clamping wing 7 can pivot at hinge 71 , thereby moving as shown by arrow P3, and the second clamping wing 8 can pivot at hinge 81, thereby moving as shown by arrow P4. The first clamping wing 7 and the second clamping wing 8 are separately mechanically biased by springs. As may be seen in Fig. 2, this allows the two clamping wings 7, 8 to compensate for dif ferences in the size and shape of the two halves of the egg shell resulting from the breaking of the egg E. Here the left-hand half of the egg shell is con siderably larger than the right-hand half and the right-hand clamping wing 8 has therefore move further downwards towards the corresponding support plate 5 and blade 3 than the left-hand clamping wing 7.

In the embodiment shown, the two hinges 71, 81 provide pivot axes, which are substantially parallel to each other and to the contact edge 62 of the protrusion on the centre section 6 and perpendicular to the pivot axis of the egg clamp, about which it pivots when moving between the egg receiving position and the egg clamping position. Other embodiments may, however, require a different orientation. Particularly it is envisaged that a different em- bodiment of the egg support might make a different orientation of the axes advantageous.