AU639778B2 - Improvements in or relating to a method of identifying articles and/or an article identifying means - Google Patents

Description

COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRAL 3 9 7 7 8 FORM PATENTS ACT 1952 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR OFFICE USE: Class Int.Class Application Number: Lodged: Complete Specification Lodged: Accepted: Published: SPriority: 'Related Art: Name of Applicant: .Address of Applicant: THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries, East Street, Hamilton, New Zealand Murray Winston Woolford, Robert Alan Sherlock and Darren John Coneybear Actual Inventor: Address for Service: SHELSTON WATERS, 55 Clarence Street, Sydney Complete Specification for the Invention entitled: "IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO A METHOD OF IDENTIFYING ARTICLES AND/OR AN ARTICLE IDENTIFYING MEANS" The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me:- 1 This invention relates to a method of identifying articles and/or an article identifying means and has been devised particularly though not solely for identifying animals such as cows for example to allow data received such as milk yield or the like to be correlated with an animal.

It is often required to identify animals, for e:ample, to associate sensed data with a particular animal. This has proved to be difficult. By way of example physical contact with an animal may often be difficult and remote sensing is therefore desirable. Although the distances involved may be relatively small but where batteries are provided these are bulky and have a finite life. Passive responder tags have been developed which have no internal power or energy. The tags are positioned, for example, in a necklace, ear tag or injectable cylinder and an antenna is provided which picks up energy from the exitation field such as a radio frequency generator and enough energy is oe S 2obtained to activate the circuit and retransmit some form 20 of code to the detection device. Although the responder gee can be produced relatively cheaply the reading station is relatively expensive and this limits the use of such oeoe responder tags to situations requiring relatively few .i reading stations. This is disadvantageous in some 25 applications such as identifyzing cows in herringbone cowsheds. Such arrangements have the further disadvantage -2that potential exists for radio frequency interference to give rise to false readings. For example, the responder tags may be closely physically adjacent in some circumstances.

Accordingly it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of identifying articles and/or an article identifying means which will obviate or minimise the foregoing disadvantages in a simple yet effective manner or which will at least provide the public with a useful choice.

Accordingly in one aspect the invention consists in a method of identifying articles comprising the steps of, providing a machine readable identifying device having an electrically conducting ground terminal and an electrically conducting contact terminal, mounting said identifying device on an article so that said ground terminal contacts said article, providing reading means to read said identifying means, said reading means being electrically eoooo connected to conductive connection means, and conductively 20 contacting said conductive connection means to said contact terminal, so that said article and the surrounding environment complete an electrical circuit including said identifying means and said reading means, allowing said reading means to determine the identity of said identifying 25 device and thereby the identity of said article.

In a further aspect the invention consists in an -3article identifying means comprising an identifying device having an electrically conducting ground terminal, an electrically conducting contact terminal, a machine readable identity means between said terminals, and a reading means able to read said identifying means when electrically conductively connected thereto, said reading means having associated therewith conductive connection means to, in use with said ground terminal in connection with an article, conductively contact with said input terminal in a manner such that an electric circuit is completed by the article and environmen-".

To those skilled in the art to which the invention relates, many changes in construction and widely differing embodiments and applications of the invention will suggest themselves without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. The 0 disclosures and the descriptions herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be in any sense limiting.

One preferred form of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which, Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of an identifying device forming part of the invention shown in position on 25 an animal, 2 OS Figure 2 is a diagrammatic representation of parts of oo -4an identifying device according to the invention in use, and Figure 3 shows the circuitry in one possible form of identifying device forming part of the invention.

Referring to the drawings a method of identifying articles and/or an article identifying means are provided as follows.

In the invention an identifying device is provided which may be provided in a housing 1 and which includes a contact terminal or connection 2 in the form, for example, of a contact plate.

A ground contact 3 is also provided and this is able to electrically conductively contact a conducting article and for example in the construction shown the ground contact 3 would be provided on the opposite side of the housing so as to rest against the skin for example of an animal leg 4. Of "course other parts of the animal body may be utilised. The construction may be held on by a strap 5 or in any other o suitable way. Between the contact terminal 2 and the ground terminal 3 is identity means, particularly circuitry to provide a code.

eei A reading means is provided which is able to read the identity means when electrically conductively connected thereto and the reading means in the embodiment shown may

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be provided in the electronics associated with each bail 6 S. for example in a milking shed indicated by the rail arrangement 7.

A probe or contact is provided and this may for example be provided by a contact point on the milking claw 8, the point being indicated at 9. A suitable electric connection 10 is provided.

All that is required is single point conductive contact to contact terminal plate 2 and this could be for example a liquid jet, that is to say a semi remote system. Metallic contact would be the usual technique, in all probability, but other techniques could be provided as the identifier circuit can be made to operate on extremely small currents such as for example currents of the order of 1 milliamp or much less.

The reading device 6 will also have a conductive contact to for example the rail structure 7. This completes the current circuit.

"The identity means may be provided in one preferred oo form for example by providing a shift register 20 which ee o turns a current switch 21 "on" and "off".

The excitation waveform at the contact point 2 is rectified for example by a diode 22 so as to provide a DC oeoee supply voltage at 23 to the current switch 21 and also to the shift register 20. The contact point 2 also feeds the

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clock signal to the shift register 20 to provide the 25 "on/off" input at 24 to the current switch 21.

In the embodiment shown the exitation wave form -6received from the reading device 6 provides a number of small dips 26 which are of the order of 10% of the whole to define a clock signal. The clock rate may be of the order of 200 per second.

The shift registers which may be parallel in/serial out are coded with a code in binary form which is unique for example to the animal. When contact at contact plate 2 is made the preset code is parallel loaded into the shift register. The clock signal then causes serial output of the shift register 20 to turn the current switch 21 "'on" and "off" according to the code. The current drawn in the "on" state is much larger than the current drawn by the rest of the circuitry so that the reading device 6 can clearly distinguish the difference between the "on" and "off" states. The overall read period may be as short as one tenth of a second.

The circuit is then completed for example from the eeee :reading device 6 and the connection 10 to the claw 8 at "contact point 9. The input contact 2 and contact (not oooo 20 fully shown) to the animal also form part of the circuit as does the animal itself and the surface structure on which 55.5.5 the animal rests or stands, and in the embodiment described the rail structure 7.

In a dairy shed environment there is always some 25 wetness and this aids current flows.

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In use an animal, such as a cow, is taken to the stall -7and prior to milking the claw contact 9 is contacted to the contact terminal 2. The exitation wave form provided by the electronics 6 then passes to the identifying device 1 to provide the coded return signal which is read by the reading device 6 and is used to identify for example readings from other sensors associated with the milking operation.

A backup key pad on read device 6 can be provided in the event that the system fails.

To provide an indication when this is needed the read device 6 can be provided with for example two tones or other signalling device so that when a correct reading is achieved the operator or farmer is given a clear indication that a correct reading has been obtained. The invention is not limited to the specific constructions described and for example the probe as previously described could be a spray

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or bristle brush or other device.

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:In the milking shed operation there is substantial e :metal or otherwise conductive surface, whether the shed be herringbone rotary or other. Contact or current flow at the sub-milliamp level is readily maintained for example by eo ee the wetness and also through reinforcing in a concrete o floor.

.too Clearly the invention can be used in other situations such as identifying deer or sheep in a race or in other .situations outside nimal husbandry where items require to situations outside 'imal husbandry where items require to -8be identified.

Thus it can be seen that a method of identifying articles and/or an article identifying means are provided which has the advantage that operation is more simple for the operator or farmer as no numbers need to be manually keyed thereby reducing the risk of error. Neither the reader nor the identifier has to generate any radio frequency excitations or detect and demodulate weak radio frequency signals in the presence of background noise or interfering signals (from either tags for example). Hence only simple digital circuitry is required, and in many cases where microcomputer circuitry is already present for other purposes, the cost of the additional componentry is negligible. The fact that the whole construction can be provided at )ow cost makes it economically feasible to associate a reading element with each bail and this means "that there is less chance of errors through ambiguities in e ee an animal identity when compared to single read systems that for example would read or identify the animal at for example the entrance to a milking shed. This allows simpler electronics in both the tag and the reading S"device. The construction can be used when a true remote p non contact reading is not essential and this is a frequently met situation. Use of the construction is in 25 reality no more time consuming than a true remote wand system in any event. It is also an advantage of the system that the -9single point contact required is not dependent on orientation or correct positional striking and need only be quite momentary. This facilitates use by the operator or farmer.

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Claims (9)

1. A method of identifying articles comprising the steps of, providing a machine readable identifying device having an electrically conducting ground terminal and an electrically conducting contact terminal, mounting said identifying device on an article so that said ground terminal contacts said article, providing reading means to read said identifying means, said reading means being electrically connected to conductive connection means, and conductively contacting said conductive connection means to 1Q said contact terminal, so that said article and the surrounding environment complete an electrical circuit including said identifying means and said reading means, allowing said reading means to determine the identity of said identifying device and thereby the identity of said article. i

2. A method of ider.-ifying articles as claimed in Claim 1 .wherein said article comprises an animal and said environment includes the conductive surface on which said animal stands or rests.

3. A method of identifying articles substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings

4. An article identifying means comprising an identifying device having an electrically conducting ground terminal, an electrically conducting contact terminal, and a machine an electrically conducting contact terminal, and a machine -11- readable identity means between said terminals, and a reading means able to read said identifying means when electrically conductively connected thereto, said reading means having associated therewith conductive connection means to, in use with said ground terminal in connection with an article, conductively contact with said input terminal in a manner such that an electric circuit is completed by the article and environment.

An article identifying means as claimed in Claim 4 wherein said conductive connection means comprise a probe or the like.

6. An article identifying means as claimed in either Claim 4 or Claim 5 wherein said identifying device modulates an exitation current provided by said reading means.

7. An article identifying means as claimed in Claim 6 wherein said modulation is provided by a shift register and a current switch, each shift of said shift register turning said current switch on or off to provide said code, said 5 shift register and said current switch each receiving input from said contact terminal.

8. An article identifying means as claimed in Claim 6 wherein said modulations could be provided by a clocked microcomputer associated with said identifying means.

9. An article identifying means substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED this 18th day of May 1993 THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE Attorney: PETER R REATRCOTE Fellow Institute of Patent Attorneys of Australia of SHELSTON WATERS S-12-