METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INCUBATING EGGS

摘要

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INCUBATING EGGS The incubation method comprises placing a rack of eggs in a closed circuit flow path, conditioning and driving air continuously through the path and around the eggs, removing down released by hatching chicks and filtering the air upstream of the blower. Gradual clogging of the filter increases the pressure differential in the circuit, automatically causing the blower to draw in a proportionately increasing amount of fresh air through an upstream inlet and to exhaust waste air from a downstream outlet to improve the air supply and quality in the final stages. Apparatus suitable to perform such method comprises an air conditioning bay and an incubation or hatching bay adjacent thereto, with air conditioning means in one bay and one or more egg racks in the other. Conditioned air is blown from the first bay to the second to maintain optimum environmental conditions around the eggs and to remove down released by hatching chicks. The stale air goes back to the first bay through a filter which gradually becomes more clogged with down and increases the pressure differential. Therefore, the blower draws in increasing amounts of fresh air through an inlet between the filter and the blower and discharges increasing amounts of waste air through an outlet downstream of the blower and filter. Another feature is the provision of means in the hatching bay to divert some of the air flowing past the egg racks and cause it to flow generally perpendicularly to the main stream and between the egg layers to bathe all of the eggs in freshly conditioned air. A further feature is the provision of a self-contained air conditioning unit with a quick detachable connection between the blower and the outlet port of the air conditioning bay to provide for very rapid withdrawal and replacement in case of failure of the unit.