# US 4,396,158 A · Device and method for processing hatchery offal

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- Number: US 4,396,158 A
- Document ID: US4396158A
- Status: Granted
- Kind: A
- Application number: 06/268,059
- Filed: 1981-05-28
- Granted: 1983-08-02
- Earliest claimed: 1981-05-28
- Inventors: Jerome A. Olsen
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US4396158A

## CPC

- B02C 4/08: with co-operating corrugated or toothed crushing-rollers
- B02C: CRUSHING, PULVERISING, OR DISINTEGRATING IN GENERAL; MILLING GRAIN ({household tools and machines for pulverising foodstuffs, e.g. coffee and spice mills A47J42/00; pharmaceutical mortars A61J3/02; mechanical processing of refuse and garbage B03B9/06; dressing mould materials by grinding B22C5/04}; obtaining metallic powder by crushing, grinding or milling B22F9/04; {recovery of plastics by disintegrating B29B17/00; crushing raw materials in starch making C08B30/02; beaters for papermaking D21D1/02; crushing devices specially for transport in mines E21F13/002; slag crushing devices F23J1/00; fuel milling devices in combustion apparatus F23K1/00; household devices for crushing coal F24B15/02; ice disintegrating devices F25C5/02})

## Abstract

Offal from a poultry hatchery, including new-born chicks, is processed into a form suitable for rendering or disposal as land fill by dumping same into a device including a pair of elongated, generally cylindrical, counter-rotating rollers. Each roller has external longitudinally extending corrugations which mesh with the corrugations on the other roller. The corrugations are configured so that, as the offal passes between the counter-rotating rollers, new-born chicks and live, unhatched embryos are killed instantly and other debris, such as egg shells, are crushed into a smaller form.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method for processing offal from a poultry hatchery, including new-born chicks, into a form suitable for rendering or disposal as land fill comprising the steps of
providing a pair of elongated, generally cylindrical rollers, each roller having an outer periphery including a plurality of longitudinally-extending corrugations which are circumferentially spaced at uniform intervals and mesh with, but do not contact corrugations on the other roller as the rollers are counter-rotated, the corrugations having peaks and valleys which are configured so that the body of a new-born chick can fit into the space between the valley of a corrugation on one roller and the peak of a corrugation on the other roller just prior to meshing,
counter-rotating the rollers,
introducing the offal into the nip between the rollers,
passing the offal between the rollers to instantly kill the new-born chicks therein and to crush other debris into smaller form, and
discharging the processed offal from the rollers into a means for conveying same to a remote location.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

A method according to claim 1 wherein said rollers are rotated at about 12 to about 18 rpm.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

A method according to claim 1 wherein the clearance between the meshing corrugations of the rollers is sufficient to prevent jamming and yet close enough to instantly kill new-born chicks.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

A method according to claim 1 including directing a liquid spray onto the surface of the rollers shortly before they mesh.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

A method according to claim 1 including providing a hopper including a chute having a pair of downwardly diverging walls for guiding the offal into the nip between the rollers, each of these walls terminating in a lower edge located close to the travel path of the peaks and inwardly from the center line of the respective roller.