Incubator apparatus

Claim 1

In an incubator apparatus for the brooding of any egg types comprising a bottom wall, plural sidewalls and a top wall defining a closed chamber having therein means defining a brooding chamber with support means for supporting at least one brooding tray, and a door providing access to said closed chamber and said brooding chamber, the improvement wherein said means defining said brooding chamber inside said closed chamber includes plural crosswalls which also define plural air-conducting channels, said crosswalls being spaced from said walls of said closed chamber so that said air channels have uniformly sized cross sections, wherein said air channels terminate at means defining an inlet to said brooding chamber over a region below said at least one brooding tray and at an equal distance from said walls defining said closed chamber, wherein at least one fan with a heat source is provided and is arranged on a central axis of said brooding chamber equidistant from said inlet means, wherein between said at least one fan and said brooding chamber there is arranged a dust filter extending over a majority of a cross-sectional area of said brooding chamber and at a location remote from said inlet means, said air channels being connected to a pressure side of said at least one fan and receiving equal volumes of air from said at least one fan, wherein a heatable water tank is provided with two connections, first means for connecting one of said connections to said pressure side of said at least one fan and second means for connecting the other of said connections to a suction side of said at least one fan, and said second means for connecting said water tank to said suction side of said at least one fan terminating in a region between said dust filter and said at least one fan, whereby said air channels are connected to said heatable water tank so that the pressure difference between said suction side and said pressure side of said at least one fan effects a flushing of air over the surface of water in said water tank, whereby said air corresponding with the water temperature is enriched with moisture, and wherein a control of the relative humidity of said air passing through said brooding chamber is regulated by a controllable water heating system on said water tank.