THOMAS O NIEDERER
Broker in Titusville, NJ

4360099, Nov 23, 1982

Oct 24, 1980

6/200120

Lee H. Niederer - Titusville NJ
Thomas O. Niederer - Titusville NJ

Otto Niederer Sons, Inc. - Pennington NJ

B65G 4700

198424

An egg transfer apparatus as disclosed which is adapted to receive eggs from a position thereabove and transport the eggs gently to a location therebelow which includes a carriage plate which is generally vertically movable with respect to a housing. A slide retaining device fixedly secured to the carriage plate defines a slide channel which is adapted to receive therein a slide member which is approximately horizontally movable with respect to the vertically movable carriage plate. A cam arm is rotatably mounted in the housing and a cam roller is secured thereto. A cam follower is fixedly secured with respect to the slide member in a position adjacent the cam roller. Rotation of the cam arm causes engagement of the cam roller and cam follower causing movement of the slide member within the slide channel. With this configuration the vertical movement of the carriage with respect to the housing will cause cyclical horizontal movement of the slide member. An egg holding device generally divided into two egg support members is adapted to receive an egg therein.

4382501, May 10, 1983

Oct 24, 1980

6/200308

Thomas O. Niederer - Titusville NJ
Lee H. Niederer - Titusville NJ

Otto Niederer Sons, Inc. - Pennington NJ

B65G 4724

198384

An egg orientation device is disclosed which is adapted to receive eggs previously arranged along the longitudinal axes thereof and to arrange those eggs with the pointed ends thereof directed as desired. The device includes a conveyor formed by a plurality of egg supports defining egg receiving recesses therebetween each having an open bottom area through which protrudes at selected locations an egg inverter device. The inverter device comprises an abutment member which includes a friction surface thereon wherein the abutment member extends upwardly into the egg receiving recess through the open bottom area thereof to contact the bottom of the shell of an egg located therein to exert a primarily tangentially force upon the shell of the egg for inversion thereof. The egg receiving recesses being preferably approximately one and one half times the length of an average egg. The egg supporting member of the conveyor preferably being continuously rotating in a common direction such that the eggs will gravitate toward the pointed end such that the pointed direction will be defined for selective inversion.

4117922, Oct 3, 1978

Mar 7, 1977

5/775028

Thomas O. Niederer - Titusville NJ

Otto Niederer Sons, Inc. - Pennington NJ

B65G 3906, B65G 3920

198652

An improved coiled spring conveyor particularly usable in an egg handling system for movement through stations which include both operations of candling and washing which comprises a plurality of coiled springs positioned about parallel rods which extend transversely to the direction of movement of the conveyor and eggs, the coiled springs being generally cylindrical including a first spring section of narrow diameter for firmly gripping the parallel rods and including a second spring section being slightly concave with respect to the transverse cross-section thereof to cooperate with adjacent similarly configured second spring sections to define a plurality of egg receiving recesses therebetween, the first spring sections and second spring sections being alternately positioned along each coiled spring to define a plurality of rows of egg receiving recesses extending parallel to the direction of egg movement on the conveyor, the respective second spring sections including a generally centrally located opaque section which may be formed by abutment between adjacent turns within said coiled springs to thereby block the passage of light therethrough during candling, the spring conveyor further alternatively including a driving apparatus adjacent the ends of the parallel rods to provide a manner for driving the conveyor and also alternatively including a plurality of walls positioned above the spring conveyor and more particularly directly above the smaller internal diameter first spring sections to prevent the movement of eggs into the first spring section to thereby urge the movement of eggs into the plurality of rows of egg receiving recesses.

4335811, Jun 22, 1982

Oct 24, 1980

6/200119

Lee H. Niederer - Titusville NJ
Thomas O. Niederer - Titusville NJ

Otto Niederer Sons, Inc. - Pennington NJ

B65G 4768

198446

An apparatus is disclosed for ordering randomly positioned eggs travelling upon a conveyor into rows. The positioning device includes a plurality of vertically disposed spring abutment members, disposed above the conveyor to contact the eggs as they pass by. The spring abutment members are pivotally mounted for oscillating rotation about an axis perpendicular to the direction of conveyance. The positioning device further includes moving vertical walls, comprising endless belts driven about vertically disposed rollers, whose movement will stop responsive to lateral pressure on the walls caused by egg jams.

4258839, Mar 31, 1981

Sep 24, 1979

6/078405

Lee H. Niederer - Titusville NJ
Thomas O. Niederer - Titusville NJ

Otto Niederer Sons, Inc. - Pennington NJ

B65G 3700

198478

An egg transfer bar for use in groups arranged in parallel extending rows to form egg carrying conveyors, wherein each bar includes a main shaft, said main shaft defining a plurality of egg receiving locations each including a set of support members which are movably secured to the main shaft or to a carriage member which is, itself secured to the transfer bar, each of said support members within a set of support members being individually and independently pivotally movable with respect to the carriage member or the main shaft, each support member presenting an upwardly facing arcuate surface which is concave in the upwardly facing direction to thereby define the egg receiving locations laterally along the egg transfer bar, with use of the carriage member the egg transfer bar includes a pivot shaft which is secured to the carriage member and provides the point of attachment of each of the support members to the carriage member, each support member being pivotally movable about the pivot shaft or the main shaft to allow selective individual movement of each support member to allow release of an egg from the egg receiving location therebelow, the support members being biased into a steady state egg holding position, positioned by a resilient biasing device which is secured to the carriage member or the main shaft and urges the support members to be held in the horizontal orientation, each support member being movable to a releasing position responsive to a force being exerted against an abutment surface defined by the individual support members.

4478302, Oct 23, 1984

Oct 20, 1982

6/435427

Thomas O. Niederer - Titusville NJ
Lee H. Niederer - Titusville NJ

Otto Niederer Sons, Inc. - Pennington NJ

G01G 1900, A01K 4308, B65G 4722

177145

A device for weighing eggs is disclosed which is usable with a two element egg supporting conveyor and is particularly usable for the weighing of eggs while they are moving through a conveying system. The present invention actually places the eggs upon two rail members which are positively secured with respect to a high speed weighing means such as an electronic weighing means to very quickly determine the proper grade. The egg weighing device includes a delivery ramp for lifting the egg out of the egg receiving recess defined by the supporting members of the conveying configuration. The delivery ramp actually delivers the egg through a descending ramp section to the weighing platform. This weighing platform is positively secured with respect to the electronic weighing device to facilitate a high speed determination of the weight of the egg while the egg is traveling over the weighing platform. This platform preferably includes two longitudinally extending rails to facilitate secure holding of the egg and to allow longitudinal movement of the egg as it is urged by the egg conveying configuration.