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US 12,357,442 B2Granted
Material delivery systems, beak opening apparatus and methods of use
AssigneeNova-Tech Engineering, Inc.
InventorsNathan A. Blum, Jeff Deming, Matthew H. Erickson, Scott C. Johnson, James Kleven, Greg R. Swenson
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Abstract
Beak opening apparatus and methods of using the same are described herein. The beak opening apparatus includes a beak splitter and beak opening actuator along with a control unit used to operate the beak opening actuator to move the beak splitter between a home position and an opening position to open the beak of a bird.
Claims29
A beak opening apparatus comprising:
- a beak splitter comprising an upper beak contact surface and a lower beak contact surface forming a wedge configured for insertion between an upper mandible and a lower mandible of a beak of a bird, the beak splitter movable between a home position and an opening position, wherein the upper beak contact surface is in contact with the upper mandible of the bird when the beak splitter is in the opening position and spaced apart from the upper mandible of the bird when the beak splitter is in the home position, the beak splitter configured to separate the upper mandible of the bird from the lower mandible of the bird to open the beak of the bird when the beak splitter moves from the home position to the opening position;
- a beak opening actuator operably connected to the beak splitter, wherein the beak opening actuator is configured to move the beak splitter between the opening position and the home position, wherein the beak splitter is configured to contact the upper mandible of the beak of the bird before the beak splitter contacts the lower mandible when the beak splitter is moving from the home position to the opening position to separate the upper mandible from the lower mandible to open the beak of the bird;
- and a control unit operably connected to the beak opening actuator, wherein the control unit is configured to operate the beak opening actuator to move the beak splitter between the home position and the opening position.
An apparatus comprising:
- a beak splitter comprising an upper beak contact surface and a lower beak contact surface forming a wedge configured for insertion between an upper mandible and a lower mandible of a beak of a bird, the beak splitter movable between a home position and an opening position, wherein the upper beak contact surface is in contact with the upper mandible of the bird when the beak splitter is in the opening position and spaced apart from the upper mandible of the bird when the beak splitter is in the home position, the beak splitter configured to separate the upper mandible of the bird from the lower mandible of the bird to open the beak of the bird when the beak splitter moves from the home position to the opening position;
- a passageway formed through the beak splitter;
- a beak opening actuator operably connected to the beak splitter, wherein the beak opening actuator is configured to move the beak splitter between the opening position and the home position, wherein the beak splitter is configured to contact the upper mandible of the beak of the bird before the beak splitter contacts the lower mandible when the beak splitter is moving from the home position to the opening position to separate the upper mandible from the lower mandible to open the beak of the bird;
- a delivery tube extending between a delivery end and a supply end;
- a delivery tube driver configured to move the delivery tube between a retracted position and a delivery position, wherein the delivery tube moves within the passageway in the beak splitter when moving between the retracted position and the delivery position when the beak of the bird is open;
- and a control unit operably connected to the beak opening actuator and the delivery tube driver, the control unit configured to:
- operate the beak opening actuator to move the beak splitter between the home position and the opening position, and operate the delivery tube driver to move the delivery tube in the passageway.
4 more elements
A method of opening a beak of a bird, comprising:
- positioning a bird in a delivery location;
- moving a beak splitter into contact with a beak of a bird using a beak opening actuator operably connected to the beak splitter and controlled by a control unit, the beak splitter comprising an upper beak contact surface and a lower beak contact surface forming a wedge;
- wherein moving the beak splitter into contact with the beak of the bird comprises contacting an upper mandible of the beak of the bird before contacting a lower mandible of the beak of the bird with the lower beak contact surface;
- wherein moving the beak splitter into contact with the beak of the bird separates the upper mandible from the lower mandible to open the beak of the bird;
- and
- moving the bird out of the delivery location after opening the beak of the bird.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.