IL274851A - In a stall, a gate for limiting the access of a dairy animal to its feed and method thereof - Google Patents

Description

IN A STALL, A GATE FOR LIMITING THE ACCESS OF A DAIRY ANIMAL TO ITS FEED AND METHOD THEREOF 1 274851/2 FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention generally pertains to means and methods to provide and operating a gate affixed in a stall. The gate is configured for limiting the access of a dairy animal, such as dried cows, to its feed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION US1009714, US2,601845, US3166044, US3167053, and US4171684 disclose a rear gate, for controllably limiting the accesses and exit of an animal to and from its stall. US4171684 discloses a hemispherical shape which generally conforms to the position of the animal's lower jaw when ingesting its food, aimed to permit the animal to eat in relative isolation and without the eye distraction caused by being able to see animals outside the stall.

It was disclosed by Clark et al. that to attain greatest milk yield a cow should be given a 50 to 60-day dry period. This allows the mammary gland to involute and prepare for subsequent lactation. Proper feeding of the dairy cow is essential during the dry period for best performance. Maximum dry matter intake and milk production can be obtained if cows are fed during the dry period so that they are in good body condition without becoming excessively fat. Conditioning of the cow for the next lactation should start near the end of the lactation because the overall efficiency of converting metabolizable energy of feed to body tissue is more efficient for lactating cows than for nonlactating cows, see Clark, Jimmy H., and Carl L.

Davis. "Some aspects of feeding high producing dairy cows." Journal of Dairy Science 63.6 (1980): 873-885.

Thus, as rear gates disclosed in the art are not provided useful, it is a long felt need to have and use a front feeding-type gate, thereby to at least temporarily prevent or otherwise limit free access of a dried animal staying in its stall to its feed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is in the scope of the invention to disclose, in a stall, a gate located between the animal and the feeding line thereby configured to at least temporarily prevent or otherwise limit free access of said animal to its feed. 2 274851/2 It is also in the scope of the invention to disclose a stall as defined above, further characterized by a set of front gate and rear gate, said front gate located between the animal and the feeding line, said rear gate located between the rear portion of the animal and the scraping line.

It is further in the scope of the invention to disclose a stall as defined in any of the above, wherein said front gate, said rear gate or both are movable along the main longitudinal axis of the stall.

It is further in the scope of the invention to disclose an FDR system comprising at least one stall, within said stall, a gate located between the animal and the feeding line thereby configured to at least temporarily prevent or otherwise limit free access of said animal to its feed.

It is further in the scope of the invention to disclose an FDR system, characterized by a set of front gate and rear gate, said front gate located between the animal and the feeding line, said rear gate located between the rear portion of the animal and the scraping line.

It is further in the scope of the invention to disclose an FDR system as defined in any of the above, wherein said front gate, said rear gate or both are movable along the main longitudinal axis of the stall.

It is also in the scope of the invention to disclose a method to at least temporarily preventing or otherwise limiting free access of an animal to its feed, comprising providing a gate and locating it between said animal and the feeding line.

It is also in the scope of the invention to disclose a method as defined above, further comprising steps of locating said front gate between the animal and the feeding line; and locating said rear gate between the rear portion of the animal and the scraping line.

It is also in the scope of the invention to disclose a method as defined above, further comprising steps of providing said front gate, said rear gate or both to be movable along the main longitudinal axis of the stall.

It is also in the scope of the invention to disclose the method as defined above, comprising step of identifying said dairy animal as a dried animal. It is also in the scope of the invention to disclose the method as defined in any of the above, comprising step of upon identifying said dairy animal (e.g., by means of tag or biometric features) as a dried animal, closing said gate or otherwise letting the gate rest in its closed configuration. It is also in the scope of the invention to disclose the method as defined in any of the above, further comprising step of upon identifying said dairy animal as a dried animal, intercommunicating with a computerized 3 274851/2 operator, and then, upon verification of said specific animal updated feeding program, closing said gate or otherwise letting the gate rest in its closed configuration.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES Having thus briefly discussed the invention, a more detailed discussion and description of it follows with reference to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification, and of which: Figure 1 schematically illustrates an FDR where gates of the present invention are utilizable according to one embodiment of the invention; and Figures 2 to 9 schematically illustrate stalls with gates of the present invention according to yet other embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the following description, the same numerical references refer to similar elements. The embodiments, geometrical configurations, materials mentioned and/or dimensions shown in the figures or described in the present description are preferred embodiments only, given for exemplification purposes only.

Moreover, although the present invention was primarily designed for milking cows in its stall, it may be used with other types of stations and objects, and in other fields, as apparent to a person skilled in the art. For this reason, expressions such as "milk", "cow", "stall", "free dome range (FDR, see e.g., WO2018008026)", etc., used herein should not be taken as to limit the scope of the present invention and includes all other kinds of objects or fields with which the present invention could be used and may e.g., active drying process during lactation, cow body scoring, measuring milk yield etc. The term "cow" generally refers to any animal of relevance, such as horse or pig; and it is specifically referring to a dairy animal, such as cow, and cattle as sheep and goat.

The term "dried cow" refers to a cow being conditioned for the next lactation. According to an embodiment of the invention, the term refers to such conditioned cow at certain time periods, e.g., the last 50 days before calving. According to an embodiment of the invention, the term refers to such conditioned cow, wherein the free access of the cow to its feed is at least temporarily and at least partially blocked or otherwise limited; and wherein the measure of 4 274851/1 such blocking or limiting is controllable. Hence for example, along the first period of such drying of the cow the limiting is relatively small, whereas the measure of such limiting along the final period is bigger, namely cow’s access is increasingly limited along time.

Furthermore, in the context of the present description, it will be considered that expressions such as "connected" and "connectable", or "mounted" and "mountable", may be interchangeable, in that the present invention also relates to a kit with corresponding components for assembling a resulting fully assembled rotary milking station.

In addition, although the preferred embodiment of the present invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings may comprise various components, and although the preferred embodiment of the milking station as shown consists of certain geometrical configurations as explained and illustrated herein, not all of these components and geometries are essential to the invention and thus should not be taken in their restrictive sense, i.e. should not be taken as to limit the scope of the present invention. It is to be understood, as also apparent to a person skilled in the art, that other suitable components and cooperation therein between, as well as other suitable geometrical configurations may be used for the milking station and corresponding components according to the present invention, as will be briefly explained hereinafter and as can be easily inferred herefrom by a person skilled in the art, without departing from the scope of the invention.

Broadly described, the present invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, relates to a milking station to be used for milking cows and the like, as is well known in the art. The present milking station may be used for milking various other types of animals. The present milking station is preferably of simple design and inexpensive to manufacture. As will be shown hereinbelow, the present milking station possesses several advantages when compared to conventional milking stations known in the art.

Moreover, and as can be easily understood by a person skilled in the art, in view of the accompanying drawings, the milking station according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is intended to be used as a working station for treating, or "milking" animals, typically milking cows, such as is known in the field of dairy farms and the like.

The present invention discloses, in a stall, a gate located between the animal and the feeding line thereby configured to at least temporarily prevent or otherwise limit free access of the animal to its feed. The term "gate" interchangeably refers a door, window, window blinds having both at least one open configuration and least one closed configuration, and to any 274851274851/2/2 flexible, semi-rigid or rigid barrier, being a continuous (intact) member or at least partially perforated member. The term also refers to either smooth or at last partially textured curtain, blind, screen, shutter, net, perforated member comprising aperture, holes or wires. The term also refers to a homogeneously-constructed member or heterogeneous one, namely a gate comprising a frame portion and a barrier portion interconnecting the frame portions. The term also refers to a mechanically operated gates, electrically operated gates, hydraulically or pneumatically operated gates, computer-operated or controlled gates, gates that are open or closed after animal’s identification, having a certain specification, animal/process verification, authorization and authentication. The term also refers to gates having electrical or acoustical means, such that the animal avoids passing through the gate at least partially due to application of low electrical currents or of shorting or an acoustical signal, such as noise, barking-like or human-like messages etc.

Figure 1 discloses an array of stalls (10) for dairy cows (1), here exempli gratia in a non- limiting manner are illustrated a line of parallel stalls provided in an FDR as defined in WO2018008026, IL268278 and IL271314. Each of the diary animals (1) is accommodated in an elongated stall, with its head facing a feeding line (11) ("front"). In this FDR, animals are at ground level, and mobile milking units (13) are movable at an upper level (12). It is well within the scope of the invention that all types of dairy farming are provided useful for utilizing a gate as hereto presented (e.g., robotic farms, milking institutes etc.), and not only an FDR system which is provided here in a non-limiting manner as an example.

Figures 2 to 9C, schematically illustrating in an out of scale manner a portion of the aforesaid FDR. Reference is now made to Fig. 2 that depicts a top and right view of a cow (1) accommodated in its stall (10), head facing the feeding line 11. A linearly reciprocating barrier (20) is affixed at the front portion of the stall, namely at frontal wall 11A. An accepting aperture 21 is provided within wall 11A configured by means of shape and size to accept barrier 20 when lowered down. Fig. 3 is showing a front view of the same. Cow 1 is directed forwardly, facing feeding-line wall 11A, and barriered by means of side fences 14 and 15, and frontal barrier 20. Reference is now made to Fig. 4A and Fig. 4B, schematically illustrating an embodiment of the invention, wherein the barrier (20) is linearly reciprocated from a closed configuration to an open configuration by means of a hydraulic or pneumatic telescopic gate shutting module (GSM). This type of GSM is reversibly switching barrier 20 from an "open configuration" to a "closed configuration" and vice versa. 6 274851/2 It is well in the scope of the invention wherein the GSM is operated in one or more mechanisms selected from one or more of the following: mechanical (e.g., by means of using rotating screws, or snails, springs etc.) electrical, manual, semi-automatic, automatic, hydraulic, pneumatic, and a combination thereof.

It is well in the scope of the invention wherein the term "gate" refers to any barrier located between the animal and the feeding line thereby configured to at least temporarily prevent or otherwise limit free access of said animal to its feed. This term interchangeably refers to one or more members of a group consisting of barrier(s), fence(s), movable obstacle(s), hurdle(s), curtain(s), net(s), pivot(s), lever(s), pole(s), door(s), block(s), wire(s) such as electric wire(s) and any combination thereof.

When a plurality of side-to-side or otherwise adjacent stalls are used, it is in the scope of the invention wherein one specific gate is operated (namely open or closed) thereby access of one specific cow to its food is denied. It is also in the scope of the invention wherein more than one gate, e.g., two, six or all gates are simultaneously operated at substantially same time, i.e., in a time interval of a few seconds.

Reference is now made to figures 5A and 5B, illustrating a swiveling door-like gate (21) having an erect (vertical) hinge (21H). In figures 6A and 6B, a horizontal hinge parallel to the front end main axis is utilized (Fig. 6A, 22H1) whereas, in Fig. 6B, other types of horizontal hinge, perpendicular to the front end main axis, are utilized (Fig. 6B, 22H2).

Reference is now made to figure 7, showing, much schematically, a window-like vertically and upwardly movable gate in its open configuration (23A), semi-closed configuration (23B) and closed configuration (23C).

Fig. 8 much similarly depicts a curtain-like gate (24) in its upper open configuration and shut (closed-) configuration, respectively. When shut closed (here shown only in its open configuration), curtain 24 selectively avoids cow 1 in stall 11, or collectively (namely closed to two or more cows in their stalls) from access to food lying on feeding line 11. As front side of stall 11 is blocked by gate 24, the rear exit (10R) is either open or blocked. Reference is hence made to figures 9A, 9B and 9C showing the rear portion of the stall (10R), where cow 1 is free to leave the stall, or otherwise it blocked by means of GSM having a single barrier (25) or multiple barriers, respectively.

The figures above, e.g., figures 9A, 9B and 9C, discloses means to provide a method of at least temporarily preventing or otherwise limiting free access of an animal to its feed, comprising 7 step of providing a gate and locating it between said animal and the feeding line. This method of at least temporarily preventing or otherwise limiting free access of a dried dairy animal to its feed, comprising step of providing a gate and locating it between said animal and the feeding line. The figures also provide method as defined above to be useful when it comprising step of identifying said dairy animal as a dried animal. The method may further comprise step of, upon identifying said dairy animal (e.g., by means of tag or biometric features by a reader in or near the stall) as a dried or otherwise nutritionally-different animal (e.g., animal required different nutrition program), closing the gate or otherwise letting the gate rest in its closed configuration.

The method may further comprise step of, upon identifying dairy animal as a dried animal, intercommunicating with a computerized operator, and then, upon verification of said specific animal updated feeding program, closing said gate or otherwise letting the gate rest in its closed configuration.

It is well in the scope of the invention wherein the mechanism and methods thereof to open the gate is moving it forward or forward or upwards and/or back, e.g., in a parallelogram-like gate.

Such a mechanism enables a gentle opening and closing by lightly pushing cow’s head backwards when time is come to stop eating.

Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been briefly described herein and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to these embodiments and that various changes and modifications could be made without departing form the scope and spirit of the present invention, as defined in the appended claims. 8 CLAIMS 1. In a stall, a gate located between an animal and a feeding line thereby configured to at least temporarily prevent or otherwise limit free access of said animal to its feed, said gate openable by a movement selected from a group consisting of: vertically upward movement, vertically downward movement, rotation about a vertical axis, and rotation about a horizontal axis parallel to a front end main axis of the stall; said gate closable by reversing the opening movement. 2. In the stall of claim 1, characterized by a set of front gate and rear gate, said front gate located between the animal and the feeding line, said rear gate located between the rear portion of the animal and the scraping line. 3. In the stall of claim 2, wherein said front gate, said rear gate or both are movable along the main longitudinal axis of the stall. 4. An FDR system comprising at least one stall, within said stall, a gate located between an animal and a feeding line thereby configured to at least temporarily prevent or otherwise limit free access of said animal to its feed, said gate openable by a movement selected from a group consisting of: vertically upward movement, vertically downward movement, rotation about a vertical axis, and rotation about a horizontal axis parallel to a front end main axis of the stall; said gate closable by reversing the opening movement.

. The FDR system of claim 4, characterized by a set of front gate and rear gate, said front gate located between the animal and the feeding line, said rear gate located between the rear portion of the animal and the scraping line. 6. The FDR system of claim 5, wherein said front gate, said rear gate or both are movable along the main longitudinal axis of the stall. 7. A method of at least temporarily preventing or otherwise limiting free access of an animal to its feed, comprising providing a gate and locating it between said animal and a feeding line, said gate openable by a movement selected from a group consisting of: vertically upward movement, vertically downward movement, rotation about a vertical axis, and rotation about a horizontal axis parallel to a front end main axis of the stall; said gate closable by reversing the opening movement. 8. The method of claim 7, further comprising steps of locating a front gate between the animal and the feeding line; and locating a rear gate between the rear portion of the animal and the scraping line. 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising steps of providing said front gate, said rear gate or both to be movable along the main longitudinal axis of the stall.

. The method of claim 7, further comprising step of identifying said dairy animal as a dried animal. 11. The method of claim 10, further comprising step of upon identifying said dairy animal as a dried animal, closing said gate or otherwise letting the gate rest in its closed configuration. 12. The method of claim 10, further comprising step of upon identifying said dairy animal as a dried animal, intercommunicating with a computerized operator, and then, upon verification of said specific animal updated feeding program, closing said gate or otherwise letting the gate rest in its closed configuration. 1/6

Claims (12)

1. In a stall, a gate located between an animal and a feeding line thereby configured to at least temporarily prevent or otherwise limit free access of said animal to its feed, said gate openable by a movement selected from a group consisting of: vertically upward movement, vertically downward movement, rotation about a vertical axis, and rotation about a horizontal axis parallel to a front end main axis of the stall; said gate closable by reversing the opening movement.

2. In the stall of claim 1, characterized by a set of front gate and rear gate, said front gate located between the animal and the feeding line, said rear gate located between the rear portion of the animal and the scraping line.

3. In the stall of claim 2, wherein said front gate, said rear gate or both are movable along the main longitudinal axis of the stall.

4. An FDR system comprising at least one stall, within said stall, a gate located between an animal and a feeding line thereby configured to at least temporarily prevent or otherwise limit free access of said animal to its feed, said gate openable by a movement selected from a group consisting of: vertically upward movement, vertically downward movement, rotation about a vertical axis, and rotation about a horizontal axis parallel to a front end main axis of the stall; said gate closable by reversing the opening movement.

5. The FDR system of claim 4, characterized by a set of front gate and rear gate, said front gate located between the animal and the feeding line, said rear gate located between the rear portion of the animal and the scraping line.

6. The FDR system of claim 5, wherein said front gate, said rear gate or both are movable along the main longitudinal axis of the stall.

7. A method of at least temporarily preventing or otherwise limiting free access of an animal to its feed, comprising providing a gate and locating it between said animal and a feeding line, said gate openable by a movement selected from a group consisting of: vertically upward movement, vertically downward movement, rotation about a vertical axis, and rotation about a horizontal axis parallel to a front end main axis of the stall; said gate closable by reversing the opening movement.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising steps of locating a front gate between the animal and the feeding line; and locating a rear gate between the rear portion of the animal and the scraping line.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising steps of providing said front gate, said rear gate or both to be movable along the main longitudinal axis of the stall.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising step of identifying said dairy animal as a dried animal.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising step of upon identifying said dairy animal as a dried animal, closing said gate or otherwise letting the gate rest in its closed configuration.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising step of upon identifying said dairy animal as a dried animal, intercommunicating with a computerized operator, and then, upon verification of said specific animal updated feeding program, closing said gate or otherwise letting the gate rest in its closed configuration. 1/6