GB1567665A

GB1567665A - Branding apparatus

Info

Publication number: GB1567665A
Application number: GB30233/77A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Deutsche ITT Industries GmbH; ITT Industries Inc
Current assignee: TDK Micronas GmbH; ITT Inc
Priority date: 1976-07-28
Filing date: 1977-07-19
Publication date: 1980-05-21
Also published as: SE7708235L; PL199673A1; DE2732899A1; DK336177A

Description

(54) BRANDING APPARATUS (71) ITT INDUSTRIES INC., a Corporation organised and existing under the laws of the State of Delaware, United States of America, of 320 Park Avenue, New York 22, State of New York, United States of America, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement:- This invention relates to branding apparatus.

It has been common practice for sime time in the meat packing industry to identify animals by lot number for the purpose of grade and/or yield analysis. This is usually accomplished by tattooing a specific number on each batch of animals. This method is unsatisfactory in that it is time consuming, usually requires one full-time employee and does not serve to identify the individual animal but only one in a lot or a group.

According to the present invention in its broadest aspect there is provided apparatus for branding. for identification purposes, each carcass in a series of carcasses with an individual identifying mark, which apparatus comprises a housing adjacent the location of a carcass and movable between a rest position and a branding position, marking means carried by the housing and adapted to be heated and brought into contact with a carcass when the housing is in the branding position, means for moving the housing between its two positions, control means for cyclically operating the means for moving the housing so as to bring the marking means into branding contact with a carcass, and means for altering the marking means upon each cycle of the control means whereby an individual mark is applied to each carcass in the series An embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accom panying drawings. in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention mounted in position in association with a restrainer located at a position in the packing house where an animal is restrained during killing; Fig. 2 is an elevational view, partially diagrammatic, illustrating the apparatus of Fig. 1 in position to brand an animal; Fig. 3 is a side view of the device of Fig.

1; Fig. 4 is a rear elevational view of the device of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a perspective of the device of Fig.

1 looking from the front toward the back thereof; Fig. 6 is a front view illustrating details of the number segments and relative position of the heated platen and the number segments, and Fig. 7 is a sequence block diagram of the device of Fig. 1.

The apparatus of the present invention permits the identification with a numerical sequence or serial number branded into the skin of a pig or other animal which permits the packer to evaluate each individual animal from profit and loss standpoint and also permits identification of each carcass for other purposes.

Apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention is shown in Fig. 1 and comprises a device illustrated generally at 10, preferably mounted over an aperture (not shown) in a discharge door 12 of a pig restrainer, indicated generally at 14, associated with a conveyor 16. The restrainer 14 is generally utilized to hold the animal in position while it is stunned. It will be appreciated, however, that the installation may be at any convenient location. Also while the device is described as one which is manually operated by a stunner or restrainer operator, who depresses a pedal or thumb switch, it will be appreciated that a micro switch located in connection with conveyor 16 or some other suitable location would satisfactorily operate to cause the device 10 to operate to brand the carcass.

As can be seen in Fig. 2, the device 10 carried on door 12 is shown extended into its branding or operative position. Front end 18 carries movable numerical segments 20 which are heated to a temperature sufficient to cause those segments 20 presented to brand the animal 22, which is held in a restrained position between the door of the restrainer 12, the branding device 10 and a side wall 24. The entire device 10 is moved into and out of engagement with the animal by an hydraulic cylinder 26 and an associated shock absorber element 27.

Referring now Fig. 3, in which is illustrated the front or animal contact portions of the device 10, front end 18, there are a plurality of push rods 28, each of which have return springs 30 associated therewith.

For a five digit device there are thirty-five push rods 28. Each of the push rods 28 is associated with one portion of a seven segment mechanically operated digit indication.

It will be understood that each of the push rods 28 in connection with each of the seven segment element 20 will be activated as described below in order to present at that location the digit desired to be branded as part of a multiple digit brand identification.

Each of the push rods 28 selectively operated by a respective pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder 32 which in turn is controlled by a sequence and electronic control as described below (Fig. 7).

The device 10 is in its entirety movably carried on a carriage or mounting surface 34 and is moved from its inoperative position to its operative position by a switch operated solenoid 60 which activates a drive cylinder 62 which propels the unit 10 from its inoperative position and then returns it, after a timed interval of contact between the heated segments and the animal, to its inoperative position.

It will be appreciated that the carriage or mounting surface 34 may, as illustrated in the preferred embodiment shown in Figs. 1 and 2, he a part of the restraining door 12 or a separate structure which permits the front end 18 of the device to be inserted through an aperture in the restraining door.

Since a substantial amount of weight is involved in the push rods 28, return springs 30, associated pneumatic cylinders 32 and related components, a substantially rigid Isection beam member 36 acts as a support for all of the components which are movable with respect to the mounting surface 34.

Carried by the beam member 36 is a housing 38 which houses the push rods 28 and pneumatic cylinders 32 the solenoid valves 40 for each of the cylinders 32, illustrated at 40, along with associated electronics, consisting of control panel 42 which may include logic and counting control elements described below, and positioned on the exterior of the housing 38, at the top preferably, is a visual display 44 which, as described below, will visually display to the operator the next number to be branded. This general arrangement of the parts may be seen in Fig. 4 which illustrates some of the mounting details of the device.

The perspective view illustrated in Fig. 5 shows the general arrangement of parts looking at the front 18 of the unit illustrating a typical five digit numerical sequence to be branded, as presented on the selected segments 20.

Fig. 6 shows further details looking at the front end 18 of the device 10. A platen 46 heats the entire front end 18 which in turn has carried in it heaters 48 which, for example, may have the capacity of 1,000 watts.

The heaters 48 generate sufficient heat to heat the entire platen 46 and the number segments 20. The number segments 20 extend through the platen 46 only when activated by push rods 28, illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 6, associated with each of the segments 20, so that only those segments constituting the desired number will extend beyond the platen and hence cause the desired number to be branded on the animal 22.

Referring now to the sequence diagram illustrated in Fig. 7, the desired number may be set utilizing thumbwheels 50 to input the desired number into a register 52. Register 52 may conveniently be any device which will produce a four bit binary coded decimal representative of each of the digits in the desired number to be branded, The output of register 52 is put into a "four bit binary coded decimal to seven segment" encoder device 54, whose output in turn is applied to a device 56 which, for the first five digit number illustrated in Fig. 6, comprises a total of 35 transistor switches, representing five digits times the seven segments 20 in each digit. The output of device 56 goes to the solenoids 40 which in turn operate the pneumatic cylinders 32 to cause the advance of the selected numbers segments 20 to create the desired digit in each of the five positions.

A switch 58 which as indicated above may be manually operated by the restrainer 14 (or may be operated by a micro-switch associated with conveyor 16) is closed to operate a solenoid 60 which in turn activates drive cylinder 62 to cause the advance of the beam support member 36 and hence the entire device 10 for, typically, a two inch total movement from the inoperative to the operative position. At the same time the switch 58 causes a timer 64 to start its counting. The support 36 is stopped in its forward travel by mechanical stops 50 illustrated on Fig. 3 so that the heated segments 20 rest against the animal and brand the number into the animal's skin. Once timer 64 has completed its cycle, it causes the drive cylinder 62 to return the support member 36. At the same time the timer closes switch 66 which deactivates transistor switches 56 to cause the solenoids 40 for the heated segments 20 to be deactivated. At the same time, timer 64 creates a pulse to a count increasing device 68 whose output is to register 52 and causes the count held in register 52 to be advanced by one and at the same time cause the new number to be branded to appear on the display 44.

Once the unit is turned on through suitable controls located in the control panel 42, the entire electronic logic counting unit is reset.

The register 52 accepts the five digit number put in by thumb wheels 50 which is presented to the register 52 in the form of switch closures (not shown). The closing of switch 70 inserts those numbers into the register 52 and causes the number to appear on the visual display 44. The output of register 52 is to a commercially available integrated circuit known as a "four bit to seven segment encoder" 54. The output of each line of the seven segment encoder 54 drives an individual one of the 35 transistor switches in unit 56 which are now armed but not fired.

The closure of switch 58 causes the drive cylinder 62 to be activated along with the activation of the selected solenoids associated with the push rods 28 and their pneumatic cylinders 32 so that the appropriate number to be branded will be presented as corresponding to the number displayed at display 44. The variable timer 64 is at the same time activated and operates for a fixed time desired for the cycle. At the end of the cycle the timer switch closes, returns the carriage 62 and at the same time inserts another count into register 52 through the device 68.

The heater elements 48 in the front end 18 of the device 10 are activated to heat the surface of each of the segments. Preferably thermocouples are associated with the platen 46 in order to limit the maximum heat to the branding surface.

It will be appreciated that the device as illustrated in the drawings and as described above may be interfaced easily with a com puter to directly report sequence of opera tion, or to take instructions for initiating specific number sequences, as opposed to manually inserting a desired beginning number sequence through the use of thumb wheels 50.

Utilization of the apparatus of the present invention permits positive identification in the form of a branded number for each carcass and is useful for a number of purposes in order to permit a packer to evaluate each animal from a profit and loss standpoint. It will also be appreciated that the number branded as identification for each carcass may be utilized in conjunction with other devices so as to permit the collection of data associated with each individual carcass.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. Apparatus for branding, for identification purposes, each carcass in a series of carcasses with an individual identifying mark, which apparatus comprises a housing adjacent the location of a carcass and movable between a rest position and a branding position, marking means carried by the housing and adapted to be heated and brought into contact with a carcass when the housing is in the branding position, means for moving the housing between its two positions, control means for cyclically operating the means for moving the housing so as to bring the marking means into branding contact with a carcass, and means for altering the marking means upon each cycle of the control means whereby an individual mark is applied to each carcass in the series.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the marking means comprises a plurality of seven-segment-digit devices, the number formed by said devices being changed upon each cycle of the control means.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein five seven-segment-digit devices are provided whereby a five digit numerical sequence is branded on each carcass.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, further including means for presetting a desired number into the control means.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4, further including numerical display means for displaying the number to be branded.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 or 5, further including a manually operated switch to initiate the operation of the control means.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 or 5, wherein micro-switch means are located to be operated by the carcass to initiate the operation of the control means.

8. Apparatus for branding a carcass for identification purposes with an individual identifying mark substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **.

by mechanical stops 50 illustrated on Fig. 3 so that the heated segments 20 rest against the animal and brand the number into the animal's skin. Once timer 64 has completed its cycle, it causes the drive cylinder 62 to return the support member 36. At the same time the timer closes switch 66 which deactivates transistor switches 56 to cause the solenoids 40 for the heated segments 20 to be deactivated. At the same time, timer 64 creates a pulse to a count increasing device 68 whose output is to register 52 and causes the count held in register 52 to be advanced by one and at the same time cause the new number to be branded to appear on the display 44.

Once the unit is turned on through suitable controls located in the control panel 42, the entire electronic logic counting unit is reset.

The register 52 accepts the five digit number put in by thumb wheels 50 which is presented to the register 52 in the form of switch closures (not shown). The closing of switch 70 inserts those numbers into the register 52 and causes the number to appear on the visual display 44. The output of register 52 is to a commercially available integrated circuit known as a "four bit to seven segment encoder" 54. The output of each line of the seven segment encoder 54 drives an individual one of the 35 transistor switches in unit 56 which are now armed but not fired.

The closure of switch 58 causes the drive cylinder 62 to be activated along with the activation of the selected solenoids associated with the push rods 28 and their pneumatic cylinders 32 so that the appropriate number to be branded will be presented as corresponding to the number displayed at display 44. The variable timer 64 is at the same time activated and operates for a fixed time desired for the cycle. At the end of the cycle the timer switch closes, returns the carriage 62 and at the same time inserts another count into register 52 through the device 68.

The heater elements 48 in the front end

18 of the device 10 are activated to heat the surface of each of the segments. Preferably thermocouples are associated with the platen 46 in order to limit the maximum heat to the branding surface.

It will be appreciated that the device as illustrated in the drawings and as described above may be interfaced easily with a com puter to directly report sequence of opera tion, or to take instructions for initiating specific number sequences, as opposed to manually inserting a desired beginning number sequence through the use of thumb wheels 50.

Utilization of the apparatus of the present invention permits positive identification in the form of a branded number for each carcass and is useful for a number of purposes in order to permit a packer to evaluate each animal from a profit and loss standpoint. It will also be appreciated that the number branded as identification for each carcass may be utilized in conjunction with other devices so as to permit the collection of data associated with each individual carcass.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. Apparatus for branding, for identification purposes, each carcass in a series of carcasses with an individual identifying mark, which apparatus comprises a housing adjacent the location of a carcass and movable between a rest position and a branding position, marking means carried by the housing and adapted to be heated and brought into contact with a carcass when the housing is in the branding position, means for moving the housing between its two positions, control means for cyclically operating the means for moving the housing so as to bring the marking means into branding contact with a carcass, and means for altering the marking means upon each cycle of the control means whereby an individual mark is applied to each carcass in the series.
2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the marking means comprises a plurality of seven-segment-digit devices, the number formed by said devices being changed upon each cycle of the control means.
3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein five seven-segment-digit devices are provided whereby a five digit numerical sequence is branded on each carcass.
4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, further including means for presetting a desired number into the control means.
5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4, further including numerical display means for displaying the number to be branded.
6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 or 5, further including a manually operated switch to initiate the operation of the control means.
7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 or 5, wherein micro-switch means are located to be operated by the carcass to initiate the operation of the control means.
8. Apparatus for branding a carcass for identification purposes with an individual identifying mark substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.