Egg breaking apparatus and a method for increasing the yield of an egg breaking process

An egg breaking apparatus for breaking eggs having a shell and contents including yolk and albumen, the apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of egg breaking devices, each egg breaking device being adapted for holding, breaking and opening a single egg at a time, where said egg breaking devices are adapted for moving along a direction of travel during the breaking and opening of eggs, and where said egg breaking devices are arranged in a plurality of columns and rows, each column extending substantially perpendicular to the direction of travel of the egg breaking devices, and each row extending in the direction of travel of the egg breaking devices;
• at least one breaking activator adapted for activating each egg breaking device to break and open a respective egg held by a respective egg breaking device of the plurality of egg breaking devices;
• at least one egg contents receiving device for receiving the contents of eggs broken and opened by the egg breaking devices, said contents being discharged from the shells under the influence of gravity;
• at least one albumen collection unit for collecting albumen remaining on the shells and/or egg breaking devices after the egg contents have been discharged under the influence of gravity, said albumen collection unit comprising:
• at least one collection member, each of the at least one collective member having at least one opening adapted for allowing the passage of a fluid, said at least one opening being provided in an outer surface of the at least one collection member;
• and
• at least one cover member adapted for covering the at least one opening in the at least one collection member;
• wherein the at least one collection member and/or the at least one cover member are moveable between a first mutual position where the at least one cover member covers the at least one opening and a second mutual position where the at least one opening is uncovered.