DEVICE FOR EGG COLLECTION IN AVIARIES

Abstract

A device for collecting eggs in aviaries which comprise a nesting box provided with an inclined floor onto which hens deposit their eggs, said device comprises a scoop located at the lower end of the inclined floor, wherein said scoop in turn comprises an oscillating body wherein the following are defined a housing for housing the eggs which roll down the inclined floor, a protrusion for preventing the entry of more than one egg into the housing, and a counterweight, located at one end of the body, opposite the housing. Device further comprises a channel that runs below the inclined floor to release the eggs towards the outside of the aviary, and a fixed shaft, transverse to the body of the scoop, around which said scoop oscillates.

Claims

1. A device for collecting eggs in aviaries, wherein said aviaries comprise a nesting box provided with an inclined floor onto which hens deposit their eggs, said device comprising: a scoop located at the lower end of the inclined floor, wherein said scoop in turn comprises an oscillating body wherein the following are defined: a housing defined at one end of the body shaped to receive one of the eggs which roll down the inclined floor, and a protrusion defined at a location above the housing, and a counterweight, located at one end of the body, opposite the housing, a channel that runs below the inclined floor to release the eggs towards the outside of the aviary, wherein said channel is limited at the top by the inclined floor and at the bottom by a plane, and a fixed shaft, transverse to the body of the scoop, around which said scoop oscillates between a first position, wherein the housing faces the lower end of the inclined floor for collecting the egg, and a second position, wherein the housing faces the channel for releasing said egg, being the device characterized in that the protrusion has a geometry that when the same is located on a position coinciding with the lower end of the inclined plane, it prevents more eggs from falling into the housing and in that the counterweight is defined in the scoop in such a way that when the scoop is in the first position the counterweight is located on a plane below the housing.

2. (canceled)

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] As a complement to the description provided herein and for the purpose of helping to make the characteristics of the invention more readily understandable, in accordance with a preferred practical embodiment thereof, said description is accompanied by a set of drawings constituting an integral part of the same, which by way of illustration and not limitation represent the following:

[0016] FIG. 1 shows a front view of a transverse cross section of the nest of an aviary provided with the device for collecting eggs, wherein the main constituent elements thereof can be seen.

[0017] FIG. 2 shows a detailed view of the scoop.

[0018] FIG. 3 shows a front view of a first stage of collecting an egg with the device.

[0019] FIG. 4 shows a front view of a second stage of collecting an egg with the device.

[0020] FIG. 5 shows a front view of a third stage of collecting an egg with the device

[0021] FIG. 6 shows a front view of a fourth stage of collecting an egg with the device.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

[0022] What follows is a detailed description, with the help of the figures referenced above, of an exemplary preferred embodiment of the object of the present invention.

[0023] The device for collecting eggs in aviaries described herein, shown in FIG. 1, is made up of an oscillating scoop (1), which transfers the eggs deposited by a hen inside the nesting box of an aviary, which slide down an inclined floor (2) of said nesting box due to gravity until they fall inside the scoop (1), towards a channel (3), which runs below the inclined floor (2) in a direction perpendicular to the nesting box in order to transfer said eggs to the exterior of the aviary, where they are collected by means of a conveyor belt, not shown in the attached figures, for selection and packaging thereof.

[0024] The scoop (1), which in this preferred embodiment is made of a molded plastic piece, is intended to be arranged at the lower end of the inclined floor (2) to thus collect the eggs that slide down due to gravity. As shown in detail in FIG. 2, it in turn comprises a body (4), at one of end of which a housing (5) is defined, intended to collect, like a tray, the egg that slides down the inclined floor (2), a protrusion (6) defined at a location above the housing (5), and a counterweight (7) located at one end of the body (4), opposite the end at which the housing (5) is defined. The body (4) of the scoop (1) oscillates with respect to a fixed shaft (8) running transverse to said body (4) between a first position and a second position, depending on both the weight of an egg housed in the housing (5) and the weight of the counterweight (7).

[0025] As shown in FIG. 1, the channel (3) runs transversely and perpendicularly to the inclined floor (2), and is limited at the top by an inner face of the inclined floor (2) and at the bottom by a horizontal plane (9).

[0026] FIG. 3 shows the device described herein in a resting position, wherein the scoop (1) is in its first position, such that the housing (5) thereof is located in a position that coincides with the lower end of the inclined floor (2), with the counterweight (7) located on a plane below said empty housing (5). Thus, when a hen is placed inside the nesting box and lays an egg on the inclined floor (2), the same slides down along said inclined floor (2), due to gravity, towards the lower end thereof until it is deposited inside the housing (5), as seen in FIG. 4.

[0027] The weight of the egg deposited in the housing (5), which is greater than the weight with which the counterweight (7) is tared, causes the body (4) of the scoop to oscillate with respect to the shaft (8) thereof, such that the housing (5) with the egg therein is located on a plane below that of the counterweight (7), the channel (3), as shown in FIG. 5, whereby the egg is deposited inside said channel (3) for subsequent removal from the aviary. The geometry of the protrusion (6) causes that when the same is located in a position coinciding with the lower end of the inclined plane (2), it prevents more eggs from falling into the housing (5).

[0028] As can be seen in FIG. 6, once the egg leaves the housing (5), the body (4) of the scoop (1) oscillates again with respect to the shaft (8) thereof through the action of the counterweight (7) to return to its first position. Thus, this counterweight (7) is once again arranged on a plane below said housing (5), which is prepared to receive a new egg sliding down the inclined floor (2) and then transfer it below to the channel (3) and remove it from the aviary.