The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 18, 2003
Filed:
Dec. 20, 2000
B. Alan Chalker, II, Durham, NC (US);
James E. Hutchins, Durham, NC (US);
Embrex, Inc., Research Triangle Park, NC (US);
Abstract
Methods and apparatus that can non-invasively identify the present condition of eggs, namely, whether an egg is a live egg, a clear egg, an early dead egg, a middle dead egg, a late dead egg, a rotted egg, a cracked egg, and/or an inverted egg, are provided. An egg is illuminated with both visible and invisible light at wavelengths of between about three hundred nanometers and about eleven hundred nanometers (300 nm-1,100 nm). Light passing through the egg is received at a detector positioned such that a path of the received light does not pass through an aircell within the egg, except in the case of an inverted egg. The intensity of the light is determined at a plurality of the visible and infrared wavelengths, and a spectrum that represents light intensity at selected ones of the visible and infrared wavelengths is generated. The generated spectrum is compared with one or more spectra associated with a respective known egg condition to identify a present condition of the egg.