EP-4404739-B1 - DEVICE FOR CONTACTLESS INSPECTION OF EGGS

EP4404739B1EP 4404739 B1EP4404739 B1EP 4404739B1EP-4404739-B1

Inventors

BERIER, Frédéric
TRUBUIL, Laura
REVOIS, Hugo

Dates

Publication Date: 20260513
Application Date: 20220919

Claims (7)

Device for automatically contactlessly inspecting a plurality of eggs, such as poultry eggs, comprising for each egg a radar module (13, 14) configured to emit millimeter waves towards said egg and detect millimeter waves which are reflected by said egg, said radar module emitting output signals from said detected reflected millimeter waves, said measuring device comprising a processing unit for analyzing said output signals and deducing therefrom the right-side-up or upside-down positioning of the corresponding egg, or a viable, non-viable or uncertain state of the corresponding egg, characterized in that each radar module is configured to emit a beam of millimeter waves having a power of less than 0.15 mW/cm 2 , and even more preferably less than or equal to 0.1 mW/cm 2 in order to avoid any risk to the development of the embryo.
Device according to claim 1, characterized in that each radar module (13, 14) comprises a lens (15) for focusing the millimeter-wave beam onto the corresponding egg, said focusing lens (15) preferably being a convex lens.
Device according to either claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that said radar module (13, 14) is configured to send a millimeter-wave radio-frequency signal toward the egg in the frequency range of between 150 and 300 GHz, and even more preferentially between 200 and 300 GHz.
Device according to any of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that said radar module comprises a first antenna (12) for emitting a millimeter-wave beam toward said egg and a second antenna (14) for receiving the millimeter waves reflected by said egg, said first and second antennas (14) being carried by the same support while being coaxial.
Device according to any of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it comprises a straight conveyor (11) for moving trays (10) comprising divots arranged in rows and columns, each row comprising n divots, said conveyor (11) defining a conveying axis, said device comprising n radar modules aligned along the same measurement axis that is perpendicular, or substantially perpendicular, to said conveying axis, said radar modules being spaced apart from one another by an equal or substantially equal distance to come above and/or below a single one of the divots of said row when the latter is placed below and or above, respectively, said radar modules.
Device according to claim 5, characterized in that it comprises a position sensor placed upstream of said radar modules on said conveyor (11) and connected to a central unit so as to launch a data acquisition cycle for an egg tray (10), the downstream end of which is detected in a first position defined by said position sensor, said central unit being configured to trigger said millimeter-wave emissions on each passage of a row of the egg tray (10) during acquisition.
Device according to either claim 5 or claim 6, characterized in that each radar module (13, 14) is arranged to be centered, or substantially centered, on the axis of symmetry of the corresponding divot when this divot of the tray (10) being acquired passes under, and/or above, respectively, a radar module.

Description

technical field The present invention relates to a device for the automatic, contactless control of eggs placed in containers on a processing line. Previous technique It is known in the field of poultry farming, particularly in chick production, to use the optical properties of eggs to discriminate between them and ignore during processing those eggs identified as unlikely to hatch and produce a chick. These are essentially infertile eggs or fertilized eggs, but where the embryo is dead or malformed. This distinction is necessary to minimize vaccine losses during in ovo administration, that is, when a vaccine is injected through the eggshell using a needle to promote post-hatching development and prevent disease. It is also necessary to prevent the explosion of rotten eggs that could contaminate surrounding viable eggs in the container, as well as the injection equipment used to administer these viable eggs, which could also contaminate them. Note that the explosion of rotten eggs is also likely to soil the protective screens of the optics used in egg discrimination, the process associated with the latter being commonly called "candling". However, these contaminants can impair the accuracy of egg condition detection when they are light, or even prevent detection altogether if the contamination is more significant. The machine used for candling, called a candling machine, must therefore be stopped for cleaning. It is also observed that this candling process is sensitive to the external environment, with light sources such as sunlight or halogen lighting being likely to disrupt the measurements obtained during the candling stage of the eggs contained in a basket. This process is also sensitive to the level of soiling of the eggs being measured. Furthermore, such a mirage process only allows a low processing rate. Furthermore, methods are known for identifying eggs placed upside down in a batch of eggs. Such detection of eggs in reversed position is necessary to prevent, during an in ovo injection of a vaccine or nutrients, the injector needle from being directed away from the air cell of the corresponding egg, thus preventing damage to or even death of the embryo. For example, a state-of-the-art method for identifying upside-down eggs in a batch of eggs involves heating that batch of eggs with a radiation source. The eggs are then thermally imaged while they are no longer exposed to the radiation source, and the thermal images thus captured are analyzed to detect the presence of a hot zone and identify eggs placed upside down, or even in an inverted position. Indeed, because the air cell of an egg acts as an insulator, when an upside-down egg is exposed to thermal radiation, the temperature of its shell around this air cell increases. Conversely, when the egg is right-side up, the heat generated by the exposure of its shell to thermal radiation dissipates into the liquids inside the egg, and the shell then appears "cool". However, such a process requires a preliminary heating step of the eggs which is time-consuming and reduces the processing rates that can be achieved on the processing line, which typically do not exceed 70,000 eggs/h. Furthermore, this preliminary heating step is typically carried out using halogen flash lamps with a power output exceeding 3000 W, or even 5000 W and above, to provide a detectable temperature rise in the shell of the inverted egg without significantly heating the rest of the egg. Indeed, the temperature increase in the other parts of the egg—that is, the yolk, amniotic fluid, and embryo—must remain negligible. However, the energy consumption of these light sources is very high and therefore expensive. FR 3 089 298 A1 describes a device for avian embryo sexing by radio frequency spectroscopy. US 2020/163314 A1 describes a device for avian embryo sexing and fertility determination by radio frequency spectroscopy. There is therefore an urgent need for a method of controlling eggs placed in the compartments of containers, the original design of which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art described above. Object of the invention The present invention aims to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art by proposing a contactless control device for eggs placed in containers, simple in design and operation, economical and insensitive to the external environment as well as to the cleanliness of the eggs to be measured. Another object of the present invention is such a contactless control device allowing high rates, and by way of illustration, greater than 90,000 eggs per hour. Another object of the present invention is such a contactless control device which is safer for egg embryos, and consequently promotes the hatching of these eggs to ensure higher yields. Description of the invention The invention is described in the attached set of claims. A method for the non-contact inspection of an egg comprises the following steps: a) to emit a millimeter-wave radio frequency signal from