A Digital Egg Albumen Height Measurement Gauge

Abstract

INTRODUCTIONTHE height of thick albumen in broken-out eggs is combined with egg weight to express albumen height in Haugh units, one of a number of parameters commonly used to assess egg quality (Haugh, 1937; Brant et al., 1951; Wells, 1968). The gauge generally employed for measuring albumen height is a direct reading, tripod micrometer (Fig. 1) which was introduced by Brant (1951) and is available commercially (B. C. Ames Co., Waltham, Mass.). When using the micrometer to measure albumen height, the operator must carefully observe the measuring tip to detect the critical point at which the tip just touches the albumen. This necessary care of measurement increases the time required to complete the measurement and can introduce errors due to operator fatigue. The instrument herein described displays the measuring tip height on an easy-to-read, digital meter. Electronic circuitry detects the point of contact of the measuring tip with the…