JP2008011837A - Device for identifying individual of cattle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device for making the individuals of cattle clear to identify a specified cattle, a disease-treated cattle, a cattle having abnormality caused by sexual excitement, disease or the like, etc., from a group of the cattle in pasture, a freestall barn or the like. <P>SOLUTION: The device for identifying the individual of the cattle is attached to the cattle and is equipped with a light-emitting part 15, a controlling part 16 for controlling the light-emitting part 15, and carrying out the light-emitting action and stopping action, and a power source part 17. Preferably, a wireless communication part 19, a measuring machine 20 and a calendar function are added thereto. Cattle to be searched and abnormal cattle can be identified from a cattle group by remote operation or automatic action at the time when abnormality is caused in the cattle, the specified day or the like to reduce work load and work time required for the search of the cattle. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention is useful for finding a specific livestock from a group of livestock at a grazing farm, a free stall livestock house, etc., for clearly identifying a livestock that has been grazed and treated for illness, or for abnormalities such as estrus or disease. It is a device for clarifying livestock individuals that are identified when there is.

  Even when cattle and other livestock are grazed, it is necessary to manage them individually when estrus, seeding, childbirth management and disease treatment are performed. However, the task of finding a specific livestock from a group of livestock is visually sought from a management number tag attached to the neck of the livestock, which is very complicated and labor-intensive. For this reason, putting a mark that is easy to find contributes to a reduction in labor load and working time.

  At present, as a landmark, the body is supplementarily marked with ink, etc., and identification is carried out, but it remains after the identification is completed, so it is effective if the marked livestock can grow I can't get it.

  In addition, a device has been invented in which a sensor is mounted on livestock to measure body temperature and health, transmit data using wireless communication, and notify abnormality or the like.

  For example, in Patent Document 1, a body temperature sensor and a transmission unit are integrated, and the identification number is read using a PDA within a range where the identification number can be received, and the same accumulation as the identification number is performed by communication with the base station that accumulated the measurement data. This is a system for receiving and browsing data with a PDA.

  Patent Document 2 is attached to a chicken's neck, stores information, detects an angle from the normal of the ground plane, and wirelessly communicates the stored information and information indicating whether or not it is tilted. It consists of an RFID tag to transmit, an RFID reader to receive the information, a counting device for counting the received information, and a display device for displaying the counting results. The display device is installed in the management room of the poultry house, and the administrator It is a system for going to a poultry house when a change is predicted from received information and checking the chicken by the room number and the chicken number.

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-253451 (paragraphs 0014 to 0018, FIG. 2) JP 2005-278547 A (paragraphs 0030 to 0034 and 0045, FIG. 1)

  Thus, the system described in Patent Document 1 is based on body temperature measurement and browsing of accumulated data, and does not have a problem of searching for livestock. The system described in Patent Document 2 does not have a presentation function in a device mounted on livestock, and the operation of searching for livestock from livestock groups in livestock houses and pastures is the same as before. Further, the present invention is different from the present invention that contributes to reduction of labor load and working time by presenting.

  The present invention is intended to solve the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide a mark function for identifying a specific livestock from a livestock group.

  Claim 1 is an apparatus mainly for wearing a livestock and presenting a specified specific livestock, and controls and blinks a belt, a light emitting part, and a light emitting part for attaching to the livestock. The gist of the present invention is to provide a control function for causing the light emitting operation to be stopped and a power supply unit.

  According to the first aspect, the light emitting part is attached to the belt wound around the livestock, and the light emitting part emits / flashes, whereby the livestock can be specified from a remote place, and the search and confirmation of the livestock can be easily performed.

  The gist of the present invention is to provide a belt for wrapping around the neck of livestock and a curved flat plate at a position corresponding to the upper portion of the belt, and press the belt so that the neck is lightly sandwiched by the flat plate. Does not rotate, and the position of the light emitting portion can be generally fixed. For this reason, a light emitting part can be attached to a flat plate or a belt, and can be easily disposed on the upper part of the neck of the livestock, on both sides, or both. At this time, if a heavy object such as the power supply unit is arranged on the lower neck side, the weight is further stabilized.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the curved flat plate is pressed in such a way as to sandwich the neck of the livestock, and since the position is fixed by the flat plate, the light emitting portion does not move greatly, and the livestock presentation function is not impaired.

  Claim 3 is equipped with a wireless communication function with an identification code, is attached to one or more animals, and transmits a control command with an identification code added from a wireless command unit equipped with a wireless communication function from a remote location By doing so, the gist is to operate only the light source of a specific livestock individual identification device having the same identification code as the transmitted identification code.

  In claim 3, the identification code is not necessarily different for all domestic animals, and can have the same identification code for each group, and a plurality of identification codes are continuously transmitted from a remote location by a wireless communication function. Can be activated.

  The gist of the present invention is that it has a calendar function and automatically operates after a set month or day.

  In claim 4, the work purpose of finding specific livestock from the livestock group includes estrus, confirmation of conception, medical treatment of illness, etc. In this case, the estrus cycle of cattle is about 28 days, Since there are many things whose number of days is determined in advance, the input work can be omitted.

  Claim 5 is equipped with measuring instruments such as temperature, vibration, strain, etc., compared with a preset reference value for each measuring instrument, and operates when the set allowable range is exceeded. The gist is to detect and automatically operate.

  In claim 5, since it is difficult to always manage livestock individuals in livestock groups, they often miss estrus or are ill without being aware of livestock abnormalities. It can contribute to the discovery of an appropriate estrus and early treatment of illness by operating when it deviates from the value measured on a daily basis and prompting examinations.

  The gist of the present invention is that it has a wireless communication function, stores an identification code that has transmitted the operation control command from a remote location, and retransmits the operation command at every set time interval to ensure that the operation is performed.

  In claim 6, there is a possibility that the transmission may have failed due to the influence of the wireless state or the like, but there is no means to confirm in the unidirectional communication, and there is a livestock having the same identification code even in the bidirectional communication In this case, since the confirmation procedure becomes complicated, the transmitted identification code is stored and retransmitted at every set time interval to be surely operated.

  The gist of claim 7 is to provide a sound source and generate a sound when an operation control command is received, thereby facilitating the determination of the direction of the livestock that has been lost in the livestock group. Can assist.

  According to the invention of this application, it is possible to detect and notify an individual who has been searching for a number tag attached to livestock by wireless communication and an abnormal individual. As a result, the labor efficiency is improved, and the work load is reduced and the work is speeded up.

  Hereinafter, a livestock identification device according to the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings. However, the drawings used for the description are merely schematically shown to such an extent that these inventions can be understood.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing one configuration example of an embodiment of a livestock identification apparatus according to claim 2 of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 10 is an overall view of a livestock individual identification device, 12 is a flat plate, 13 is a belt, 15 is a light emitting unit, 16 is a control unit, 17 is a power supply unit, 18 is a control instruction unit, and 19 is a wireless communication unit. , 20 is a measuring instrument.

  In claim 1, the belt 13 for wrapping around livestock, the light emitting unit 15, the control unit 16, the control instruction unit 18, and the power supply unit 17 need only be attached to the belt so that the light emitting operation can be confirmed. It is not limited.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, a curved flat plate is provided at a position corresponding to the upper part of the belt wound around the neck, whereby the livestock's neck is fixed by being pinched lightly, so that the belt does not rotate and the light source position is largely shifted. Can be prevented. At this time, by placing a heavy power supply unit or the like on the lower side of the neck, it is possible to make the structure more difficult to shift. This is effective when the position of the light emitting unit or the measuring instrument is to be fixed.

  The flat plate 12 may be anything as long as it has a certain degree of strength and corrosivity, such as an aluminum plate or a plastic plate, and the material is not specified.

  The control unit 16 may be attached anywhere, but when the control unit has a wireless communication function, it is desirable that the antenna is on the upper side. However, it may be anywhere where a sufficient wireless communication function can be obtained, and if it is placed under the neck like the power supply unit, the stability is further improved.

  The light emitting unit 15 is small and has few protrusions in order to make it difficult to break, and further, in order to ensure sufficient luminance, a control unit is housed on a board on which 16 surface-mounted high-intensity light emitting diodes (LEDs) are mounted. Realized by attaching to the housing and both ends of the flat plate 12, but in the cattle herd, the purpose is to obtain sufficient visibility for identification, so the light source is not specified, Any number of locations can be installed anywhere.

  FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an electronic device, which includes a light emitting unit 15, a control unit 16 that performs light emission control, and a control instruction unit 18 that issues a light emission operation instruction. The control instruction unit 18 includes a control instruction mounted on livestock. There is a control instruction unit 18-2 that performs wireless communication with the unit 18-1. The control instruction unit 18 is connected to the control unit 16 through a wired and wireless communication unit 19. In the embodiment, the control unit 16, the control instruction unit 18-1 mounted on livestock, and the wireless communication unit 19 are configured as one device. is doing.

  In order to find changes in the physical condition of livestock, a measuring instrument 20 such as a temperature measuring instrument, a strain measuring instrument, and an accelerometer is equipped. In the embodiment, the temperature measuring device is mounted on the back side of the flat plate that is in close contact with the livestock, the strain measuring device is mounted in an appropriate place on the flat plate, and the accelerometer is mounted inside the housing containing the control unit 16, thereby enabling high-precision measurement. However, it may be a place where a target measurement result can be obtained.

  As shown in the operation flow of the livestock wearing apparatus shown in FIG. Whether to operate (S7), or whether the identification code received by the wireless communication unit 19 is equal to the set identification code (S3), determines a direct input instruction (S4) (S5), and turns on / off the light emitting unit Blink operation (S7) or stop (S6). At this time, visibility is improved by changing the blinking interval.

  Thereby, livestock can be found and operated directly, automatically operated based on calendar settings and measurement results, or remotely operated by a wireless function.

  When an instruction is given by wireless communication from a remote location, an identification code is set in the wireless communication section 19 mounted on the livestock, and the remote control instruction section 18-2 is linked with a directly input identification code or a database. An operation command is added to the identification code acquired in step S1 and transmitted. If the identification code added to the sent instruction command is the same as its own identification code, the control unit 16 activates / deactivates the light emitting unit 15 and does nothing if different.

  At this time, since it is assumed that normal communication cannot be performed due to radio wave interference or the like, the remote control instruction unit 18-2 stores the transmitted operation command and does not operate the control instruction unit 18-2. Resend in between. This retransmission is effective and efficient by shortening the transmission interval immediately after command transmission and gradually increasing it.

  In the present embodiment, retransmission is performed every 30 seconds up to the first 5 times, 1 minute interval from the 6th time to 10th time, 5 minutes time thereafter, and retransmission can be stopped by setting 20 times or more. The time interval and the number of times can be changed because the optimum values differ depending on the communication status.

  The activated display unit 15 stops when a stop command is sent from the control instruction unit 18 or when a direct stop operation is performed.

  When a wireless communication function is added, the communication distance can be extended by installing a repeater. Any number of repeaters can be installed, but it is necessary to prevent interference. It is possible to provide a relay function to all or some of the wireless communication units 19 mounted on livestock.

  Since the operation time of this apparatus is often determined every day, it is possible to save power by providing a clock function and limiting the operation time.

  In many cases, the light emission operation is performed every day, such as after days from birth or fertilization, or during days after disease treatment. For this reason, an instruction work can be omitted by adding a calendar function and automatically operating according to a preset schedule.

  In addition, when the livestock is sick or estrus, the body temperature rises, the action decreases, or the condition becomes intense. For this reason, measuring instruments such as temperature, acceleration, strain, etc. are mounted, normal measurement values for each livestock are measured in advance, and when the set range is exceeded, abnormalities can be notified by operating the light source it can.

  The temperature measuring instrument can be brought into close contact with a flat plate, making it easy to measure with high accuracy. The strain measuring instrument can be attached to the flat plate to measure body movement and rumination. The accelerometer can be used for walking and stopping. It is possible to measure the state.

  Although the body temperature varies depending on the place of measurement, it is thought that it is sufficient to measure from about 30 ° C. to about 42 ° C. in order to find an abnormality in the physical condition. Therefore, in this embodiment, a thermistor is used and A is connected via an amplifier. A numerical value is converted by the / D converter, the setting resolution is set to 0.2 ° C., and when the set body temperature exceeds the set range, a command signal is output to the control unit to perform the light emission operation. At this time, a more accurate measurement result can be obtained by measuring and correcting the outside air temperature.

  When measuring abnormal behavior with a strain measuring instrument, it is difficult to detect abnormal values when instantaneous values or long-term averaging is performed, so every short period of about several minutes is the specified time, and the average of the measured values is the representative value. Although the evaluation value is the number of times the representative value exceeds the specified value, it can be evaluated by an integral value or an absolute value.

  When discriminating behaviors such as walking / upright / recumbent with an accelerating clock, the amplitude of maximum value-minimum value for each specified time can be used as a representative value, and walking, upright, recumbent states can be determined in descending order of amplitude From this time ratio, it is possible to detect abnormalities based on criteria such as a high possibility of illness in livestock that were lying in the most part of the day. A threshold value such as an amplitude at this time is measured and set in advance for each livestock individual.

  If a wireless communication unit with a bidirectional communication function is installed, the measurement information from a measuring instrument attached to livestock is transmitted to a remote control instruction unit and stored in an external database, etc. Can be updated and history management can be performed.

The invention's effect

  As is apparent from the above description, according to claim 1, it is a device for attaching an animal to a livestock to identify an individual, and helps to increase the efficiency of the operation of finding a designated livestock from a group of livestock.

  According to claim 2, when attached to livestock, there is little movement of the light emitting part, and visibility is not lowered.

  According to claim 3, a livestock individual identification device having a specific identification code can be operated from a remote location by wireless communication. Furthermore, it becomes possible to operate grouped livestock at once, such as livestock treated for diseases.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the calendar function can be used to perform time management, and can be automatically operated after the set month and day, and the operation can be saved. It is done.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to manage the individual by attaching the measuring device and operating when it is different from the daily measurement value.

  Furthermore, since detailed history management is easily performed, an effect that integration with a traceability system or the like becomes possible is obtained.

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to reliably operate the device that could not be operated.

  According to the seventh aspect, it is possible to narrow down the direction in which the sound is produced even if it is mixed in the livestock group, and the effect that the search becomes easy can be obtained.

  In the livestock industry for raising livestock such as cattle, it is possible to easily search for designated livestock and abnormal livestock from livestock groups at pasture farms and free stall livestock houses.

  It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the external shape of the livestock individual identification device which concerns on this invention.   It is a block diagram explaining an example of 1 composition of an embodiment of the invention.   It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of the livestock mounting apparatus of implementation of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

10: Livestock individual identification device 12: Flat plate 13: Belt 15: Light emitting unit 16: Controller 17: Power supply unit 18: Control indicator 19: Wireless communication unit 20: Measuring device

Claims (7)

  A device to be attached to livestock in order to identify a specified specific livestock individual from a livestock group, a belt for wrapping around livestock, a light emitting unit attached to the belt, and for operating and stopping the light emitting unit A livestock individual identification device comprising a control unit and a power supply unit.   The belt comprising a belt for wrapping around the neck of livestock and a curved flat plate at an upper portion of the neck of the belt. The livestock individual identification device according to claim 1, wherein:   A wireless communication function in which an identification code is set in the control unit is mounted, a control command with an identification code is transmitted from a wireless command unit capable of communicating with the wireless communication function from a remote location, and a specific command having the same identification code The livestock individual identification device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein only the device attached to the livestock is operated or stopped.   The livestock individual identification device according to claim 1, wherein either the control unit or the wireless command unit has a calendar function and automatically operates after a preset month or day. .   The belt or the flat plate is equipped with measuring instruments such as temperature, acceleration, strain, etc., and compared with the reference value of each measuring instrument that has been measured in advance. The livestock individual identification device according to claim 1, wherein an abnormal state is notified.   The livestock individual according to claim 3, wherein the wireless command unit stores an identification code for which an operation and stop control command has been issued, and is reliably operated and stopped by retransmitting at every set time interval. Identification device   The livestock individual identification apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit includes a sound source and generates a sound in accordance with the operation of the light emitting unit.