Method and apparatus for sorting and counting fish eggs
US4009782A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 26, 1975 |
| Grant date | Mar 1, 1977 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 26, 1995 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S209/906
- WIPO fieldOther special machines
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
An apparatus for separating dead fish eggs from live fish eggs is designed to automatically interrogate the degree of opaqueness of each egg in a batch of fish eggs. A selector individually separates an individual fish egg from the batch and injects the separated egg into a fluid stream for delivery past an optical interrogator. Dead fish eggs which display a high degree of opaqueness are optically detected and are hydraulically separated from live eggs which show a low degree of opaqueness. The optical interrogator delivers a light from a light source conveyed through fiber optics to the fluid stream in which the eggs are injected. An electronic detector generates a first pulse for live fish eggs and a second pulse for dead fish eggs. The second type of pulse activates a hydraulic fluid switch which causes the dead fish eggs to be deposited in a separate receptacle by changing the flow direction of the fluid stream. The second pulse further activates a numerical display showing the total number of dead fish eggs sorted. Both the first and second pulses activate a numerical display showing the total number of fish eggs in the batch.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.