CN110547776A

CN110547776A - Active animal monitoring device

Info

Publication number: CN110547776A
Application number: CN201810564713.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 张益宪
Original assignee: Gongyuan Steel Mould Co Ltd
Current assignee: Gongyuan Steel Mould Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-06-04
Filing date: 2018-06-04
Publication date: 2019-12-10

Abstract

An active animal monitoring device is disclosed herein that is capable of measuring vital signs of an animal and actively sending information to an external device. The active animal monitoring device includes a pin, a washer, a base, a monitoring unit, and a cover. The pin is adapted to be passed through a predetermined portion of the animal's body. The gasket has an integrally formed double ring portion. The base has a first sleeve portion that allows the pins to be squeezed through to engage each other and prevents the pins from slipping after engagement. The cover has a second sleeve portion capable of receiving the first sleeve portion, and engages the base to seal the monitoring unit between the cover and the base in a watertight manner.

Description

Active animal monitoring device

Technical Field

The present application relates to active animal monitoring devices, and more particularly, to a monitoring device capable of measuring and actively wirelessly transmitting vital signs of an animal, such as body temperature, heartbeat, blood pressure, etc.

Background

Since vital signs such as body temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, etc. of an animal are important data for judging the health status of the animal and are thus used as key references for taking necessary measures such as medical treatment, isolation, etc., it is necessary to perform vital sign measurement and monitoring for high economic value animals such as pigs, cattle, sheep, horses, etc. fed to avoid or reduce loss.

Various electronic devices are used for monitoring animals, for example, passive electronic tags are used to attach to the animal body for identification, and electronic devices can be mounted on the animal body to monitor its position, body temperature, etc. In order to monitor vital signs such as body temperature, the monitoring device is mounted to at least one of a plurality of locations on the animal, and the design of securely mounting the monitoring device to the animal depends on the location where the device is to be mounted, in view of accuracy.

Therefore, there is a need for an active electronic monitoring device that can be securely installed at an appropriate part of an animal body, so as to accurately measure, for example, the body temperature, the heartbeat, and the like during the feeding period of the animal, and effectively and actively report the abnormal condition, abnormal device, and other exceptional events of the animal in real time, thereby significantly saving the feeding cost.

Disclosure of Invention

According to an embodiment of the present application, an active animal monitoring device capable of measuring vital signs of an animal and actively sending information to an external device includes a pin, a washer, a base, a monitoring unit, and a cover. The pin is adapted to be passed through a predetermined portion of the animal's body. The gasket has an integrally formed double ring portion. The base has a first sleeve portion that allows the pins to be squeezed through to engage each other and prevents the pins from slipping after engagement. The cover has a second sleeve portion capable of receiving the first sleeve portion, and engages the base to seal the monitoring unit between the cover and the base in a water-tight manner. The animal is preferably a domestic animal.

In one embodiment, the monitoring unit includes a sensor module, a wireless communication module, a controller, and a battery. The sensor module is used for measuring the vital signs of the animals. The wireless communication module can communicate with external equipment. The controller is used for receiving the measurement data from the sensor module and controlling the wireless communication module to transmit the measurement data to the external equipment. And a battery for powering the active device. The sensor module includes at least one of a temperature sensor, a blood pressure sensor, a heartbeat sensor, and an acceleration sensor.

in one embodiment, the wireless communication module can use at least one of Lora or Zigbee wireless communication standards to communicate with the external device.

In one embodiment, the monitoring unit further comprises a light emitting diode display to display the status of the device, and when the microprocessor detects that the battery is low, the microprocessor causes the light emitting diode to display the low power.

According to the active animal monitoring device, the active animal monitoring device can be easily and firmly installed on the ear of an animal, the body temperature of the animal can be automatically and accurately measured, the measured data can be actively reported, and therefore serious infection and mass death can be eliminated or reduced, and raising cost can be remarkably reduced.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is an external view of an active animal monitoring device according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of an active animal monitoring device according to one embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged base view of an active animal monitoring device according to one embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a block diagram of a monitoring unit according to an embodiment of the present application.

Description of the reference numerals

100: active animal monitoring device

102: inserting pin

104: gasket

106: base seat

108: monitoring unit

110: cover for portable electronic device

1021: head part

1022: support post

1023: tapered tip

1062: inner sleeve

1064: window (Refreshment window)

1081: antenna with a shield

1082: wireless communication module

1084: microprocessor

1086: light emitting diode

1088: sensor module

1102: outer sleeve

Detailed Description

in order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present application more apparent, the active animal monitoring apparatus of the present application is further described in detail by embodiments and with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the present application and are not intended to limit the present application.

In livestock farms feeding large numbers of livestock, it is necessary to continuously measure and report vital signs such as body temperature of the livestock, in order to timely rescue and prevent the death of the livestock. When installing a monitoring device on an animal body, generally speaking, firmness and measurement accuracy need to be considered. In view of these factors, the active animal monitoring device according to the present application is preferably mounted on the ears of the animal. The active monitoring device according to the embodiment of the present application can wirelessly transmit the measured data to external communication equipment such as a gateway, a router, etc. In addition, active animal monitoring devices may be required to function properly during, for example, 3 years of feeding without requiring battery replacement.

In the following section, the structure of the active animal monitoring device of the embodiment of the present application will be explained.

Referring to fig. 1 and 2, fig. 1 is an external view of an active animal monitoring device 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and fig. 2 is an exploded view of the active monitoring device 100. As shown in fig. 2, the active animal monitoring device 100 includes a pin 102, a pad 104, a base 106, a monitoring unit 108, and a cover 110.

For example, the pin 102 is formed of a larger head 1021, a post 1022 protruding from the head 1021, and a tapered tip 1023 formed at one end of the post 1022. In one embodiment, the tapered tip 1023 can be made of a metal or alloy to facilitate penetration of the animal body part, and the remainder of the tip 102 can be made of a material such as plastic, resin, or the like. Alternatively, the integral pin 102 may be made of a metal or alloy. The pin 102 is not limited to the above configuration or shape and may be formed of any shape or configuration that is capable of passing through a predetermined animal site and engaging a corresponding portion provided on the base 106 (described below).

In one embodiment, the gasket 104 is made of resin, rubber, plastic, silicone, or the like, for example. Here, the gasket 104 is a double ring, wherein two ring portions are connected by a hollow pipe column to form a one-piece gasket 104. Since the measurement effect of the sensor (described later) in the monitoring unit 108, especially the temperature measurement, is easily influenced by the distance between the measured part of the animal and the sensor, in one embodiment, the gasket 104 is used to fix the whole device more firmly on the ear of the animal and ensure that the distance between the sensor and the measured part is maintained within a predetermined range, thereby significantly improving the measurement performance of vital signs such as body temperature.

The base 106, the monitoring unit 108, and the cover 110 together form the body of the active monitoring device 100.

please refer to fig. 2 and 3 for explaining the base 106. An inner sleeve 1062 is formed in the top of the base 106. The inner sleeve 1062 has a smaller outer diameter than the outer sleeve 1102 provided on the top of the cap 110. Thus, when the base 106 and the cover 110 are engaged with each other, the inner sleeve 1062 can be properly inserted into the outer sleeve 1102. It is noted that the inner sleeve 1062 and the outer sleeve 1102 are formed of materials having different hardnesses, and specifically, the inner sleeve 1062 is formed of a material having a hardness less than that of the outer sleeve 1102. In addition, the inner diameter of the inner sleeve 1062 is smaller than the largest outer diameter of the conical tip 1023, but its stiffness is low enough to allow the conical tip 1023 to be squeezed through its passage. After being squeezed through the inner sleeve 1062, the conical tip 1023 is blocked from sliding back out of the inner sleeve 1062 because its maximum outer diameter is greater than the inner diameter of the inner sleeve 1062. In this manner, by squeezing the pin 102 through the inner sleeve 1062, the entire active device 100 can be securely fixed to the desired animal site.

in addition, the base portion 106 is formed with a window 1064 below the inner sleeve 1062 for a sensor disposed in the monitoring unit 108 to measure vital signs such as body temperature.

By the joining technique, the lid 110 and the base 106 are tightly joined to each other to seal a process unit 108 (described later) therebetween in a water-tight manner. The processing unit 108 will be described in detail below.

Fig. 4 is a block diagram for explaining the monitoring unit 108 according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 4, the monitoring unit 108 includes a wireless communication module 1082, a microprocessor 1084, a Light Emitting Diode (LED)1086, a sensor module 1088, an antenna 1081, a battery 1087, and the like. These electronic components are mounted on a printed circuit board. In one embodiment, the printed circuit board may be a double-sided circuit board, such that different electronic components may be arranged on different sides depending on the design.

The wireless communication module 1082 can communicate with an external communication device such as a gateway via the antenna 1081. The wireless communication module 1082 can transmit data received from the outside to the microprocessor 1084 and/or transmit data to the outside under the control of the microprocessor 1084. The wireless communication module 1082 may be configured to communicate using at least one wireless communication standard including Lora, Zigbee, and the like.

The sensor module 1088 includes at least one sensor, such as a temperature sensor, a heartbeat sensor, an acceleration sensor, a blood pressure sensor, and the like. According to an embodiment of the present application, the sensor module 1088 may be a temperature sensor disposed facing the window 1064 for non-contact measurement of the body temperature of the animal. The measurement results of the sensor module 1088 are input to the microprocessor 1084.

The microprocessor 1084 performs calculations based on data input from the sensor module 1088 and causes the wireless transmission chipset 1082 to communicate the vital signs such as the measured body temperature to an external device such as a gateway (not shown). The external device may then transmit the data to a cloud system or any computing platform for management. The microprocessor 1084 can determine whether there is an abnormal event, such as fever or temperature loss, based on the measured data.

The led 1086 displays the status of the active animal monitoring device 100, such as battery status, device operating status, etc. The microprocessor 1084 detects the voltage of the battery 1087 supplying power to the device and causes the led 1086 to indicate that the power is insufficient when the detected voltage is below a predetermined value.

in the above embodiments, the structure, components and functions of the active animal monitoring device of the present application have been described in detail. According to the application, the active animal monitoring device can be easily and firmly installed on the ear of the animal, automatically and accurately measure the body temperature of the animal and actively return the measured data, thereby eliminating or reducing serious infection, mass death and obviously reducing the raising cost. Although the above embodiments are described by taking livestock in an animal farm as an example, the active animal monitoring device of the present application is not limited to livestock in an animal farm, and can also be applied to other animals, such as: pets, poultry, animals in zoos, or even wild animals.

The features of the above-described embodiments may be arbitrarily combined, and for the sake of clarity of description, all possible combinations of the features in the above-described embodiments are not described, but should be considered as being within the scope of the present specification as long as there is no contradiction between the combinations of the features.

The above-mentioned embodiments only express several embodiments of the present application, and the description thereof is more specific and detailed, but not construed as limiting the scope of the present application. It should be noted that, for a person skilled in the art, several variations and modifications can be made without departing from the concept of the present application, which falls within the scope of protection of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present patent shall be subject to the appended claims.

Claims

1. An active animal monitoring apparatus for measuring vital signs of an animal and actively sending information to an external device, the active animal monitoring apparatus comprising:

A pin for passing through a predetermined portion of the animal's body;

A washer having an integrally formed double ring portion;

A base having a first sleeve portion allowing the pins to be pressed through to engage with each other and preventing the pins from slipping off after engagement;

A monitoring unit comprising:

A sensor module for measuring the vital signs of the animal;

the wireless communication module can communicate with the external equipment;

A controller for receiving the measurement data from the sensor module and controlling the wireless communication module to transmit the measurement data to the external device; and

A battery to supply power to the active device; and

a cover having a second sleeve portion capable of receiving the first sleeve portion, and engaging the base to seal the monitoring unit between the cover and the base in a water-tight manner.

2. The active animal monitoring device of claim 1 wherein the sensor module includes at least one of a temperature sensor, a blood pressure sensor, a heartbeat sensor, and an acceleration sensor.

3. The active animal monitoring device of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication module communicates with the external device using at least one of Lora or Zigbee wireless communication standards.

4. The active animal monitoring device of claim 1, wherein the first sleeve portion has a lower durometer than the second sleeve portion.

5. The active animal monitoring device of claim 1 wherein the predetermined portion of the animal's body is an ear.

6. The active animal monitoring device of claim 5 wherein the sensor module is a temperature sensor module.

7. The active animal monitoring device of claim 6 wherein the controller determines whether the animal body temperature is abnormal based on the body temperature measured by the temperature sensor module.

8. the active animal monitoring device of claim 1 wherein the animal is a livestock animal.

9. an active animal monitoring device according to any one of claims 1 to 8 further including a light emitting diode display to display the status of the device and to cause the light emitting diode to display a power deficiency when the microprocessor detects that the battery is not functioning adequately.