AU2011211394A1

AU2011211394A1 - An arrangement and method for monitoring conditions of individual hay bales in storage

Info

Publication number: AU2011211394A1
Application number: AU2011211394A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Glenn Herbert
Original assignee: RITEWAY HOLDINGS AUSTRALIA Pty Ltd
Current assignee: RITEWAY HOLDINGS AUSTRALIA Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2010-08-13
Filing date: 2011-08-11
Publication date: 2012-03-01

Abstract

An arrangement for monitoring the condition of hay bales in storage having a transmitter fitted to a bale of cut hay, a receiver adapted to receive transmitted information from the transmitter and interpret such transmission as a definable 5 selected characteristic of the conditions associated with the bale of hay, said receiver adapted to translate the information received from the transmitter attached to the bale of hay to communicate this characteristic to an indicating device once a particular threshold defined for that particular characteristic has been reached. (NN C>~

Description

AN ARRANGEMENT AND METHOD FOR MONITORING CONDITIONS OF INDIVIDUAL HAY BALES IN STORAGE This invention relates to an arrangement and method for monitoring the conditions of individual hay bales in storage and more particularly to such an 5 arrangement and method which when applied prevents or substantially reduces the possibility of spontaneous combustion of hay while in storage. Modern day economics now requires that harvested products such as hay need to be stored in order to be used during time when the product is unavailable. Hence the cutting and baling of hay and stacking of these bales into storage 10 warehouses or barns is not a new phenomenon. While it may be a conventional thing to cut and bale hay then store it for a period of time, there are significant hazards that need to be considered, not the least the dangerous spontaneous combustion if the cut and baled hay was too wet or too green when placed in storage. 15 As most farmers will let you know they are often faced with the unenviable scenario in deciding whether or not it is an appropriate time to cut and bale the hay in situations where they consider it perhaps still a little bit wet requiring further drying, but where the weather forecast suggests that rain is on its way and they are left with no choice but to go ahead and bale rather than potentially 20 expose themselves to more significant damage and degradation to the crop from rain. For the most part hay that is too wet from rain or dew, or was allowed to dry insufficiently while out in the field will go through what is known as a "curing process" which is a kind of sweating action upon the hay during storage. 25 The person skilled in the art is aware that this type of sweating process on the stored hay results in the production of heat, wherein the gradual and continual 2 build-up of heat is caused from the live plant tissue respiration coupled with bacteria and mold activity associated with the wet and/or green hay. This initial bacteria coupled with mould activity not only results in the hay generally ending up being musty or moldy which makes it not so suitable for 5 feed but the real concern comes from the fact that these organisms then start to grow in the hay which increases the moisture content of the material even further. The problem then compounds with further plant respiration, molds likewise consume the plant sugars, producing water and carbon dioxide, causing loss of 10 dry matter, digestible nutrients and so forth. The production of water through plant or mold organism's respiration can increase the moisture content of hay in storage resulting in this sweating characteristic if such moisture is not able to escape from the bale. As you can appreciate if the bales of hay are stacked one across the other, this 15 generates heat, moist conditions and so forth has nowhere to be exhausted out. The interface between dry hay and wet hay is an ideal spot for spontaneous combustion. As the wet or green spot of the hay within a large bale begins to heat, moisture is driven into the surrounding dry hay. The area where the wet and dry hay touch has the heat, dampness and insulation necessary to start a 20 fire. It is well recognised that if there is enough hay mass around the hot spot to prevent the escape of heat and there is slow infiltration of damp air, conditions for fire exist. While it is possible for some inspection to take place on the top bales or the end 25 of rows where all these bales of hay are stacked inside the warehouse or barn, the problem is that the real build up of heat will occur in the middle or lower bales which cannot be detected on the surface.

3 Therefore even if one was to generally monitor the temperature conditions of the atmosphere within the barn or warehouse this may not necessarily be reflective of isolated pockets of built up heat and damp conditions to which then the potential for spontaneous combustion of the hay is a real possibility. 5 Therefore there remains a need in the field of technology where cutting and baling of hay then results in these bales being stored in warehouses and barns for a period of time, that can monitor the condition of each bale, rather than those that sit upon the surface or at the end of rows that can be easily monitored. 10 It is an object of this invention to provide such an arrangement or method to be able to monitor conditions of individual hay or bales that are in storage so that if isolated pockets inside the middle of stacks of the hay begin to present levels of temperature and/or moisture making it conducive to those that one could reasonably expect the conditions to generate spontaneous combustion of the 15 hay, this can be recognised and accordingly acted upon before the event takes place. Accordingly in one form of the invention there is an arrangement for monitoring the condition of hay bales in storage, said arrangement including: a transmitter adapted to be fitted to a bale of cut hay, 20 a receiver adapted to receive transmitted information from the transmitter and interpret such transmission as a definable selected characteristic of the conditions associated with the bale of hay, said receiver adapted to translate the information received from the transmitter attached to the bale of hay to communicate this characteristic to an indicating 25 device once a particular threshold defined for that particular characteristic has been reached.

4 In preference the monitored condition of the or each hay bale is temperature and/or moisture. In preference the temperature monitored condition of the bale of hay has the transmitter further including a thermostat wherein the control mechanism of the 5 transmitter is able to determine the temperature of the bale of hay or the temperature conditions being emitted from said bale of hay or within the proximity connected to the bale of hay if it is in a stacked storage position. In preference inbuilt control of the transmitter in combination with the thermostat is able to send wireless data to the receiver. 10 In preference the receiver is adapted to interpret such information and translate the information into a visual display. In preference the visual display includes illuminated lights, LEDs, LCDs and/or display screens and monitors, In preference the receiver which has received a signal from the transmitter 15 indicating that a particular characteristic level of a condition to be monitored in the hay bale has been reached is adapted to then transmit this information to a visual and/or sound alarm. In preference the visual and/or sound alarm includes a message through a telephone and/or mobile wireless exchange at a distant location warning of the 20 condition monitored of the bale of hay. In preference the transmitter is placed in a sleeve, resistant envelope and/or satchel attachable to the bale of hay, wherein the sleeve, resistant envelope and/or satchel is characterised of being of material conducive to absorbing the environmental conditions about with changing those conditions.

5 In preference said sleeve, resistant envelope or satchel is heat sealable so that when the transmitter needs to be reviewed for maintenance or repair the seal can be cut and then re-sealed to again place the transmitter back inside the sleeve, envelope or satchel for further use and/or reuse. 5 In preference the sleeve, satchel or resistant envelope is a bright recognisable fluorescent colour so that its positioning on the bale can be easily recognisable. In preference the transmitter fittable to the bale of hay further includes and receiver. In preference the receiver adapted to receive transmitted information from the 10 transmitter fittable to the bale of hay includes transmitting functionality. In preference in operation the receiver adapted to receive transmitted information from the transmitter fittable to the bale of hay includes transmitting functionality, wherein this transmitting functionality is adapted to conduct a polling and/or sweep of each individual hay bale positioned inside a warehouse 15 or barn and then reconstruct the configuration of the stacked bales of hay upon a visual screen for an operator to review. In preference wherein the polling between the receiver transmitting functionality and each individual transmitter/receiver attached to each individual bale of hay is able to communicate with the receiver providing details of current conditions 20 associated with the hay whether it be temperature and/or moisture content, so that if certain levels of conditions have been met, to which internal logic and control of the transmitter has been programmed to interpret such conditions as being actionable, said main transmitter is then adapted to take send off an alarm and/or visual signals. 25 In preference the alarm and/or visual signals is adapted to be sendable to locations outside or within the barn.

6 In preference wherein the locations outside or within the barn include a computer screen, mobile phone, PDA, LED or LCD display. In order now to understand the invention in greater detail a series of preferred embodiments will be presented in greater detail herewith through the assistance 5 of illustrations and accompanying text. Nonetheless the general scope of the invention should be considered to the description provided in the above embodiments where for the most part the prevention of spontaneous combustion of hay is able to be ameliorated or at least substantially reduced because the individual bales of hay that have been 10 stacked withinside the storage area have had attached to them a simple transmitting device which is able to send out a signal providing advice as to a particular condition of the bale, notably temperature and/or moisture, which information is then fed to a main receiver who could interpret that information and identify the transmitter attached to the bale that sent the information so that 15 location can then be determined and realized as being in a distressed situation of which actioning is required in order to take away the build up of temperature and/or moisture. Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view showing the transmitter/receiver being attached to conventional bales of hay and its inter-working relationship with the 20 main transmitter which then communicates received data from the signal to transfer that off to warning signals either on an operator's mobile phone or computer or alternatively and/or to both visual and sound alarms. Figure 2 is a schematic representation similar to that presented in Figure 1 however what is shown there is the actual stacking of arrangements of 25 individual bales as they appear inside a main storage warehouse or barn. Figure 3 is just a general schematic of the actual satchel or sleeve to which the transmitter in the embodiment shown in Figures 1 and 2 could be placed there inside.

7 Figure 4 is a further preferred embodiment of the invention which is consistent to the general preferred embodiment shown in Figures 1 to 3 further including inbuilt logic and control of both the transmitters on each bale of hay but also the main receiver wherein both acquire the functionality of acting as transceivers for 5 greater communication and the ability then to provide more in depth detailing to an operator on particular conditions of individual bales of hay withinside the stacked storage arrangement. Referring to the illustrations now in greater detail and firstly to Figures 1 to 3. Each individual bale of hay either (24) or (26) would have attached to it a 10 satchel or envelope (14) where contained therein is a transmitting device which has its own internal logic or control shown generally as (16) along in this embodiment with a thermostat (18) as the monitored condition of the bale of hay in this preferred embodiment will be temperature. The antenna (20) of the transmitter (14) allows the information being received 15 by the controller (16) from the thermostat (18) to be sent at the set frequency (28) to the main receiver (30) and its antenna (32). The main receiver can preferably include a monitor (34) and push buttons (36) to which information can be placed thereupon or sent from, alternatively a series of indicator lights or alarms (38) which can highlight certain ranges of the 20 monitored characteristic being checked, for example temperature in this embodiment. When the controller (16) detects from the thermostat (18) that a particular temperature threshold has been reached a signal can then be transmitted (28) from the device (14) to be received by the main receiver (30) which can then be 25 interpreted so that a suitable warning can be sent to an alarm (38) and/or an operator's mobile phone and so forth shown generally as (40) with the warning placed upon the main screen (42).

8 In this particular embodiment the transmitter will also identify itself and will have a corresponding number. As best seen in Figure 2 when individual bales of hay (46), (48) and (50) are stacked inside the warehouse (44) with the satchel containing the transmitting 5 device thereupon, those responsible with the logistics of actually stacking each individual bale of hay withinside the warehouse (44) would keep a record of the number or identifying code associated with that particular transmitter and to the bale of hay to which it was attached and thereafter the location of the bale of hay withinside the stacked arrangement enclosed within the warehouse (44). 10 Therefore, once the transmitter sends out the distress signal that a certain unfavourable condition has been met (52) to which is being monitored and sends it across to the main receiver, the receiver can then acknowledge the signal and determine from which receiver it is coming. The operator then knows that it is coming from that particular transmitter that it will then be in a certain 15 location so the required action can then be taken. Advantageously by attaching the transmitting device to each individual bale of hay and then identifying the location to which it is then placed within the stacking arrangement withinside the warehouse that when there is a build up of heat and a hot spot is created and/or moisture and so forth is present if such 20 conditions are also being monitored, those causes which create the situation of spontaneous of the hay can then be prevented from happening as this arrangement and method for monitoring the conditions of the individual baled hay and send the necessary warnings out before the required heat is generated that will lead to spontaneous combustion. 25 The bales of hay (46), (48), (50) send out a distress signal (52) which is then being received by the main receiver (56) which then interprets this information and realizes that a warning needs to be sent to the main alarm (64) and also a signal or communication sent out (58) in this instance to a mobile phone (60) wherein it would then be displayed (62) that conditions for an area withinside 9 the storage area for the bales of hay has reached a threshold that requires actioning, "Bale Alarm" (23) so that the cause of spontaneous combustion of the hay can be removed and thereby prevented. Figure 4 is an expansion of the concept presented by the embodiment shown in 5 Figures 1 and 2 however it is taking away the reliance of the requirement for more manual recording or monitoring with respect to attaching the transmitter that is sending across information of individual conditions of each hay bale and making the electronics of the system define all the necessary arrangement. For example in the embodiment shown in Figure 4 each individual bale of hay 10 (68) still includes the corresponding satchel (70) which would include in this instance both a transmitter and receiver, "transceiver" device. Hence each bale of hay in a sense can send out but also receive signals for the inter-exchange of their information with the outside world but also input and interaction from outside signals with their own status. 15 Advantageously in this arrangement a farmer or operator can just randomly attach a satchel (70) to any particular bale of hay and stack it in any configuration they so wish. When contained withinside the warehouse (66) the main controller which could be a central transmitter and receiver "transceiver" (74) could send out individual 20 pollings to each bale of hay or in fact complete almost a sweeping operation of the entire warehouse (66) so that the inter-exchange of communication (76) and (78) between a bale of hay (68) through its satchel (70) with the main transceiver (74) is able to generate upon a computer monitor (80) and so forth a three dimensional array of the configuration (82) of the stacked bales of hay 25 withinside the barn (66). The main transceiver (74) is actually able to identify and locate each bale of hay, give it a location relative to another and identify for its own subsequent interpretation of information that comes from that particular bale of hay.

10 The main transceiver (74) can be assisted by GPS functionality and/or additional transmitters utilizing triangulation scenarios to come up with set locations of one bale of hay relative to another withinside a complete stack enclosed within the main warehouse or barn (66). 5 As can be seen in Figure 4 one bale of hay is sending out a distress signal (72) which is then able to be reproduced in a three dimensional easily viewable representation (84) upon the monitor (82) of the computer (80). Simultaneously this warning upon the computer screen (82) is still sent across to physical type alarms such as that shown generally as (86) in Figure 4 or 10 alternatively still on to a mobile phone (88) and so forth to alert those at a distance.

Claims

1. An arrangement for monitoring the condition of hay bales in storage, said arrangement including: a transmitter adapted to be fitted to a bale of cut hay, 5 a receiver adapted to receive transmitted information from the transmitter and interpret such transmission as a definable selected characteristic of the conditions associated with the bale of hay, said receiver adapted to translate the information received from the transmitter attached to the bale of hay to communicate this characteristic to an 10 indicating device once a particular threshold defined for that particular characteristic has been reached.

2. The arrangement of claim 1 wherein the monitored condition of the or each hay bale is temperature and/or moisture.

3. The arrangement of claim 2 wherein the temperature monitored condition 15 of the bale of hay has the transmitter further including a thermostat wherein the control mechanism of the transmitter is able to determine the temperature of the bale of hay or the temperature conditions being emitted from said bale of hay or within the proximity connected to the bale of hay if it is in a stacked storage position. 20

4. The arrangement of claim 3 wherein inbuilt control of the transmitter in combination with the thermostat is able to send wireless data to the receiver.

5. The arrangement of claim 4 wherein the receiver is adapted to interpret such information and translate the information into a visual display. 12

6. The arrangement of claim 5 wherein the visual display includes illuminated lights, LEDs, LCDs and/or display screens and monitors.

7. The arrangement of claim 6 wherein the receiver which has received a signal from the transmitter indicating that a particular characteristic level of a 5 condition to be monitored in the hay bale has been reached is adapted to then transmit this information to a visual and/or sound alarm.

8. The arrangement of claim 7 wherein the visual and/or sound alarm includes a message through a telephone and/or mobile wireless exchange at a distant location warning of the condition monitored of the bale of hay. 10

9. The arrangement of claim 8 wherein the transmitter is placed in a sleeve, resistant envelope and/or satchel attachable to the bale of hay, wherein the sleeve, resistant envelope and/or satchel is characterised of being of material conducive to absorbing the environmental conditions about with changing those conditions. 15

10. The arrangement of claim 9 wherein said sleeve, resistant envelope or satchel is heat sealable so that when the transmitter needs to be reviewed for maintenance or repair the seal can be cut and then re-sealed to again place the transmitter back inside the sleeve, envelope or satchel for further use and/or reuse. 20

11. The arrangement of claim 10 wherein the sleeve, satchel or resistant envelope is a bright recognisable fluorescent colour so that its positioning on the bale can be easily recognisable.

12. The arrangement of claim 1 wherein the transmitter fittable to the bale of hay further includes and receiver. 13

13. The arrangement of claim 1 wherein the receiver adapted to receive transmitted information from the transmitter fittable to the bale of hay includes transmitting functionality.

14. The arrangement of claim 13 wherein in operation the receiver adapted 5 to receive transmitted information from the transmitter fittable to the bale of hay includes transmitting functionality, wherein this transmitting functionality is adapted to conduct a polling and/or sweep of each individual hay bale positioned inside a warehouse or barn and then reconstruct the configuration of the stacked bales of hay upon a visual screen for an operator to review. 10

15. The arrangement of claim 14 wherein wherein the polling between the receiver transmitting functionality and each individual transmitter/receiver attached to each individual bale of hay is able to communicate with the receiver providing details of current conditions associated with the hay whether it be temperature and/or moisture content, so that if certain levels of conditions have 15 been met, to which internal logic and control of the transmitter has been programmed to interpret such conditions as being actionable, said main transmitter is then adapted to take send off an alarm and/or visual signals.

16. The arrangement of claim 15 wherein the alarm and/or visual signals is adapted to be sendable to locations outside or within the barn. 20

17. The arrangement of claim 16 wherein wherein the locations outside or within the barn include a computer screen, mobile phone, PDA, LED or LCD display.