JP2020174564A - Livestock barn preventive maintenance system - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a system by which a cause of a failure can be detected quickly by grasping a state in a livestock feed pipe in real time.SOLUTION: A livestock barn preventive maintenance system includes: a livestock feed supply hopper, a livestock feed pipe to which livestock feed is supplied from the livestock feed supply hopper and which conveys the supplied livestock feed, a long-sized member for conveyance disposed in the livestock feed pipe for conveying the livestock feed in the livestock feed pipe, a motor 32 for driving the long-sized member for conveyance for conveying the livestock feed, and a computer 50 for receiving a current value supplied to the motor 32. A control unit 52 of the computer 50 measures the current value supplied to the motor 32, and determines an abnormality in the livestock feed pipe when it is determined that the measured current value has exceeded a preset threshold, which is lower than a rating current value.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

The present invention relates to a barn preventive maintenance system that predicts a failure in a barn facility before it occurs.

For example, as shown in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, in a livestock barn including a chicken barn, a pig barn, etc., a feed supply hopper in which a large amount of feed is stored is provided in order to automatically supply the feed to the feeder. A facility that supplies feed to a feeder from a feed pipe connected to a feed supply hopper has been conventionally used.

The equipment shown in Patent Document 1 (Registered Utility Model No. 3020591) and Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-143125) circulate in the barn and supply feed to the feed pipes connected endlessly. Feed is dropped from the hopper and supplied. Then, the movement of the feed in the feed pipe is carried out by a transport cable or a transport chain arranged in the feed pipe. The transport cable or transport chain is provided with resin-made pieces (for example, a disk shape) at predetermined intervals on the cable or chain. The transport cable or transport chain moves in the feed pipe, so that the top transports the feed in the feed pipe.

In addition, in FIG. 1 of Patent Document 3 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-304402), a spiral transport screw is arranged inside the feed pipe, and the feed in the feed pipe is transported by rotating the transport screw. Is also disclosed.

Registered Utility Model No. 3020591 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-143125 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-304402

When the transfer cable or the transfer chain moves in the feed pipe to transfer the feed, if the piece provided on the transfer cable or the transfer chain is damaged, the damaged piece will be clogged in the feed pipe. It will cause food clogging. However, as the cause of the food clogging, there are other causes such as foreign matter mixed in the feed in addition to the damage of the coma.

Further, when the transport screw is damaged, it causes food clogging as in the case where the transport cable or the transport chain is damaged.

If the feed is continuously transported while the feed is clogged, the transport cable or the transport chain may be stretched or cut.
In addition, the motor driving the transfer cable, transfer chain, or transfer screw may break down.
Therefore, there is a desire to detect an abnormal state before these problems occur.

Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a system capable of grasping the state in the feed pipe in real time and quickly detecting the cause of the failure.

According to the preventive maintenance system of the livestock barn facility according to the present invention, the feed supply hopper in which the feed is stored, the feed pipe to which the feed is supplied from the feed supply hopper and the supplied feed is transported, and the feed pipe are provided. A long transport member that is arranged and for transporting feed in the feed pipe, a motor that drives the long transport member for transporting feed, and a computer that receives the current value supplied to the motor. The computer has a control unit and a monitor, and the control unit measures a current value supplied to the motor, and the measured current value exceeds a preset threshold value. When it is determined that this is the case, it is characterized in that the monitor is controlled to display an abnormality in the feed pipe and / or the abnormality is reported to a predetermined address of the worker in the barn. ..
By adopting this configuration, it is possible to detect that the motor for driving the long transport member has flowed more than a preset current value, so that the state inside the feed pipe can be constantly grasped. Then, when an abnormality occurs, the occurrence of the abnormality can be immediately grasped.
Generally, the motor is provided with an overload prevention circuit from the beginning, or an overload prevention circuit is installed later, and the motor is stopped in order to prevent the motor from burning when an overload occurs. I try to let you. However, in the present invention, since it is possible to determine an abnormality in the feed pipe before the motor is automatically stopped due to an overload, before the long transport member is stretched or cut, or the motor breaks down. Can be dealt with.

Further, the feed supply hopper is provided with a feed remaining amount sensor that measures the remaining amount of stored feed, and the control unit determines that the remaining amount of feed measured by the feed remaining amount sensor has elapsed after a predetermined time. When there is only a change less than the preset amount of change threshold, the monitor may be controlled to display an abnormality in the feed pipe or an abnormality in the feed supply hopper.
According to this configuration, if the remaining amount of feed does not change in the feed supply hopper, it can be determined that there is a problem such as a bridge being generated and the feed not falling.

Further, a corner wheel for guiding the long member for transportation is provided at a corner portion of the feed pipe so that the long member for transportation bends and moves at the corner portion, and the corner wheel is provided with a corner wheel. A rotation detection sensor for detecting the rotation of the wheel is provided, and when the rotation detection sensor detects that the corner wheel is not rotating, the control unit causes the monitor to display an abnormality in the corner portion of the feed pipe. It may be characterized by being controlled in such a manner.
According to this configuration, by detecting that the corner wheel is not rotating, the corner wheel is clogged with feed, foreign matter, etc., or the long transport member (for example, the transport cable or the transport chain) is scraped. It is possible to determine a problem such as poor engagement with the corner wheel.

According to the preventive maintenance system of the livestock barn facility of the present invention, the state in the feed pipe can be grasped in real time.

It is explanatory drawing which shows the outline of a barn facility. It is explanatory drawing which showed the barn facility of FIG. 1 in more detail. It is explanatory drawing of the transport chain. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure of the drive unit. It is a block diagram which shows the connection between a motor and a computer. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure of the corner wheel. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure of the feed supply hopper. It is explanatory drawing of another embodiment of a barn facility. It is explanatory drawing explaining the connection between a computer and a barn.

1 and 2 show an example of livestock barn equipment, and FIG. 3 shows a transport chain as an example of a long transport member.
The barn shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is a pig barn, but the barn is not limited to the pig barn.
As the livestock barn facility, a feed supply hopper 10 in which feed is stored and a feed pipe 12 connected to the feed supply hopper 10 to supply the feed in the feed supply hopper 10 are provided. The feed pipe 12 has a pipe shape and is configured so that feed flows through the inside, and is endlessly connected so as to circulate around the inside of the barn 11.

In the feed pipe 12, a transport chain 14 as an example of a long transport member is arranged. As shown in FIG. 3, the transport chain 14 is configured by attaching resin pieces 22 (disk-shaped members) to a metal chain 20 at predetermined intervals. Specifically, the coma 22 is attached to every other ring constituting the chain 20.
The transport chain 14 is endlessly connected so as to be arranged throughout the feed pipe 12 connected endlessly. The transport chain 14 is driven by a drive unit 26, which will be described later, so as to move inside the feed pipe 12. As the transport chain 14 moves in the feed pipe 12, the feed in the feed pipe 12 flows through the feed pipe 12.

A feeder 13 is provided below the predetermined portion of the feed pipe 12. The feed flowing through the feed pipe 12 falls into the feeder 13 and is supplied to the livestock from the feeder 13.
Further, FIG. 2 shows an example in which not only the feeder 13 but also a simple pipe 15 is provided toward the livestock from the lower part of the feed pipe 12.

As shown in FIG. 2, the transport chain 14 is driven by a drive unit 26 provided at any position in the feed pipe 12.
The internal configuration of the drive unit 26 is shown in FIG.
Two pulleys 28 and 30 are provided in the housing 27 of the drive unit 26. A motor 32 is connected to the rotating shaft of one of the pulleys 28, and constitutes a drive pulley 28 that transmits power to the transport chain 14. The other pulley 30 is a driven pulley 30 provided to rotate freely.

In the housing 27 of the drive unit 26 of the present embodiment, the transport chain 14 enters from the chain inlet side 27b (right side in FIG. 5), and the transport chain 14 is passed over the drive pulley 28. The drive pulley 28 turns the transport chain 14 in the direction of returning to the right side.
The pitch circle is located on either the left or right side of the drive pulley 28 when viewed from the transfer direction of the transfer chain 14 (in the present embodiment, the driven pulley 30 is located on the front side in the vertical direction of the paper surface in FIG. 4). Handed over to.

The drive pulley 28 is formed with teeth 28a that mesh with the top 22 of the transport chain 14, and is driven to rotate by a motor 32 to give power to the transport chain 14.
Then, the transport chain 14 exits the drive unit 26 from the chain outlet side 27a (left side in FIG. 5) located at a position facing the chain inlet side 27b of the housing 27.

Further, FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of this system including a motor.
The motor 32 is provided with an overload prevention circuit 33. The overload prevention circuit 33 detects whether or not an overcurrent has been supplied based on the rating of the motor 32, and when it detects that an overcurrent has been supplied, supplies power to prevent the motor 32 from burning. It has a function to stop. This is provided in advance as an accessory to the motor 32, or is provided separately from the motor 32.

In the present embodiment, it is intended to detect a state such as food clogging when the load of the motor 32 increases at a stage prior to the overload state detected by the overload prevention circuit 33. Therefore, in the present embodiment, a current detection circuit 37 for detecting the current value supplied to the motor 32 is provided, and the current value data detected by the current detection circuit 37 is transmitted to the computer 50.
It is not necessary to provide the current detection circuit 37 separately from the overload prevention circuit 33, and if the current value data can be output from the overload prevention circuit 33, the current value data from the overload prevention circuit 33 to the computer 50. May be sent.

As the computer 50, a general personal computer can be used. Further, the connection between each sensor and the computer 50 may be made by using a wired or wireless LAN or the like, or may be connected via the Internet in the case of a long distance.

The computer 50 includes at least a control unit 52 composed of a CPU, a memory, and the like, and a monitor 54. The control unit 52 presets a threshold value of the current value when it is considered to be abnormal in the feed pipe with respect to the current value supplied to the motor. In this case, the threshold value is set as a value lower than the current value as the overload set in the overload prevention circuit 33. Generally, the overload determination in the overload prevention circuit 33 is based on the rated current value of the motor 32, but the threshold value set by the control unit 52 is less than the rated current value, and the motor 32 is damaged. In the previous stage, it is calculated in advance by experiments or the like as a value that can determine whether or not the food is clogged.
The control unit 52 compares the threshold value stored in advance with the current value supplied to the motor 32, and when it detects that the current value supplied to the motor exceeds the threshold value, the transport screw 55 is damaged or It is determined that the feed pipe 12 is clogged due to the mixing of foreign matter or the like.
Then, the control unit 52 causes the monitor 54 to indicate that the feed pipe 12 is clogged.

Next, the corner wheel provided in the middle of the feed pipe 12 will be described with reference to FIG.
A corner wheel 35 is provided at a position where the feed pipe 12 is bent 90 degrees.
The corner wheel 35 is a pulley that rotates freely so as to guide the transport chain 14, and is arranged in a cover 36 that covers the corner wheel 35 integrally with the feed pipe 12.
The corner wheel 35 is formed with teeth 35a that mesh with the top 22 of the transport chain 14, and rotates freely when the transport chain 14 moves. Where the feed pipe 12 is bent 90 degrees. The transport chain 14 in the feed pipe 12 is passed over the corner wheel 35 to change the direction.

Further, in the cover 36 covering the corner wheel 35, a rotation detection sensor 42 for detecting the presence or absence of rotation of the corner wheel 35 is provided. As the rotation detection sensor 42, a photoelectric sensor or the like can be adopted.
The rotation detection signal detected by the rotation detection sensor 42 is input to the computer 50.

As shown in FIG. 7, a feed remaining amount sensor 44 for measuring the remaining amount of stored feed is provided in the feed supply hopper 10.
As the feed remaining amount sensor 44, for example, a photoelectric sensor provided in the feed supply hopper 10 can be adopted. The photoelectric sensors are arranged on the inner wall surface of the feed supply hopper 10 at predetermined intervals along the vertical direction, and the remaining amount of feed can be calculated depending on which of the plurality of photoelectric sensors can detect the feed.

Further, as the feed remaining amount sensor 44, a distance measuring device capable of transmitting and receiving laser light is provided in the feed supply hopper 10, and the feed remaining amount is measured by scanning the entire inside of the feed supply hopper 10 to measure the height position of the feed. May be calculated.
Further, a weigh scale may be adopted as the feed remaining amount sensor 44, and the weigh scale may be provided in the feed supply hopper 10 to calculate the feed remaining amount based on the weight. Further, a load cell is adopted as the feed remaining amount sensor 44, and the load cell is arranged in the feed pipe 12 located below the bottom surface of the feed supply hopper 10 to measure the weight of the feed supplied to the falling feed pipe 12 each time. The remaining amount of feed in the feed supply hopper 10 may be calculated.
The feed remaining amount signal detected by the feed remaining amount sensor 44 is input to the computer 50.

The abnormality of the corner wheel will be described.
The control unit 52 constantly measures the signal from the rotation detection sensor 42 of each corner wheel 35, and when the rotation detection signal from any of the rotation detection sensors 42 is interrupted, the corner wheel 35 is not rotating. It is determined that the monitor 54 is displayed to indicate that the predetermined corner wheel 35 is not rotating.

Next, the abnormality of the feed supply hopper will be described.
The control unit 52 constantly measures the signal from the feed remaining amount sensor 44 in the feed supply hopper 10. However, the operation of the control unit 52 differs depending on the type of the feed remaining amount sensor 44.
Next, a case where the feed remaining amount sensor 44 is provided in the feed supply hopper 10 at predetermined intervals along the vertical direction will be described. The control unit 52 calculates the amount of decrease in feed per unit time when the photoelectric sensor that detects the feed moves downward after a predetermined time has elapsed. Here, the amount of decrease may be simply the height of decrease in the height of the accumulated feed. Then, the control unit 52 compares the change amount threshold value (change amount of the accumulated feed height) stored in advance with the decrease amount per unit time, and the decrease amount per unit time is less than the change amount threshold value. When it is calculated that the feed supply hopper 10 is calculated to be, it is determined that the feed supply hopper 10 is clogged due to a bridge at the lower part of the feed supply hopper 10.
Then, the control unit 52 causes the monitor 54 to indicate that the feed supply hopper 10 is clogged.

As the feed remaining amount sensor 44, a distance measuring device, a weigh scale, or a load cell capable of transmitting and receiving laser light can be adopted as described above.
Also in the case of the distance measuring device, the change amount threshold value stored in the control unit 52 may be the change amount of the height in the hopper, but in the case of the weight scale or the load cell, it is the change amount of the weight.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the transport chain has been described as the transport long member. However, the long member for transportation is not limited to the transportation chain. For example, a transport cable in which frames are provided at predetermined intervals of the cable may be adopted.

Next, an embodiment in which a transport screw is used as the transport long member will be described.
FIG. 8 shows an embodiment in which a transport screw is provided in the feed pipe. The same components as those in the above-described embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof may be omitted.
In the present embodiment, the feed pipe 12 is not endlessly connected, and both ends of the feed pipe 12 are closed. For the feed pipe 12 that is not endlessly connected in this way, the feed screw 55 is arranged in the feed pipe 12, and the feed is conveyed by rotating the feed screw 55. The transport screw 55 is a metal member formed in a spiral shape.

A motor 32 that rotationally drives the transport screw 55 is attached to one end of the transport screw 55.
An end metal 56 is attached to the other end of the transport screw 55. The end metal 56 is provided so as to close the feed pipe 12 at the other end of the transport screw 55 and rotate together with the transport screw 55.

The block diagram of the motor 32 for rotationally driving the transfer screw 55 and the computer 50 is as shown in FIG.
The motor 32 is provided with an overload prevention circuit 33. The overload prevention circuit 33 detects whether or not an overcurrent has been supplied based on the rating of the motor 32, and when it detects that an overcurrent has been supplied, supplies power to prevent the motor 32 from burning. It has a function to stop. This is provided in advance as an accessory to the motor 32, or is provided separately from the motor 32.

In the present embodiment, a state such as food clogging is to be detected when the load of the motor 32 increases at a stage prior to the overload state detected by the overload prevention circuit 33. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the current detection circuit 37 for detecting the current value supplied to the motor 32 is provided, and the current value data detected by the current detection circuit 37 is transmitted to the computer 50.
It is not necessary to provide the current detection circuit 37 separately from the overload prevention circuit 33, and if the current value data can be output from the overload prevention circuit 33, the current value data from the overload prevention circuit 33 to the computer 50. May be sent.

The control unit 52 presets a current value when it is considered to be abnormal in the feed pipe with respect to the current value supplied to the motor as a threshold value. In this case, the threshold value is set as a value lower than the current value as the overload set in the overload prevention circuit 33. Generally, the overload determination in the overload prevention circuit 33 is based on the rated current value of the motor 32, but the threshold value set by the control unit 52 is less than the rated current value, and the motor 32 is damaged. In the previous stage, it is calculated in advance by experiments or the like as a value that can determine whether or not the food is clogged.
The control unit 52 compares the threshold value stored in advance with the current value supplied to the motor 32, and when it detects that the current value supplied to the motor exceeds the threshold value, the transport screw 55 is damaged or It is determined that the feed pipe 12 is clogged due to the mixing of foreign matter or the like.
Then, the control unit 52 causes the monitor 54 to indicate that the feed pipe 12 is clogged. With such a configuration, it is possible to detect breakage of the transport screw 55 and wear or breakage of the end metal 56.

FIG. 9 shows the arrangement relationship between the computer and the barn.
The management of one computer 50 is not limited to one barn, but also includes managing a plurality of barns. In addition, the plurality of barns may be managed separately. That is, the operator of the system of the present embodiment owns the computer 50 and executes maintenance management so as to check the sensor data from a plurality of barn managers.
In this case, various data of the current detection circuit 37, the feed remaining amount sensor 44, and the rotation detection sensor 42 in the barn are connected to the computer 50 via the Internet. Since it is connected via the Internet, the barn and the computer 50 may be installed at different locations.

The operator of the computer 50 confirms the data of various sensors from a plurality of barns, and when an abnormality is found, reports the abnormality to the barn. As a report, the person in charge of the barn can be contacted by telephone or by e-mail. The computer 50 may automatically make a report. Therefore, the computer 50 is equipped with an automatic communication device, or is equipped with mail transmission / reception software (including a social network), and the automatic communication device notifies the corresponding telephone number, or the mail transmission / reception software automatically notifies the corresponding telephone number. The control unit 52 controls to send an e-mail (in the case of a social network, a comment instead of an e-mail). In the scope of claims, telephone numbers of workers, e-mails, social network addresses, etc. are collectively referred to as predetermined addresses.
Therefore, the person in charge of the barn may check the barn equipment by receiving a contact from the operator of the computer 50 (system operator), and can save the trouble of daily check.

10 Feed supply hopper 11 Livestock barn 12 Feed piping 13 Feeder 14 Transport chain 15 Pipe 20 Chain 22 frames 26 Drive unit 27b Chain outlet side 27a Chain inlet side 27 Housing 28 Drive pulley 28a Tooth 30 Driven pulley 32 Motor 35 Corner wheel 35a Cover 42 Rotation detection sensor 44 Feed remaining amount sensor 50 Computer 52 Control unit 54 Monitor 55 Conveyor screw 56 End metal

According to the preventive maintenance system of the livestock barn facility according to the present invention, the feed supply hopper in which the feed is stored, the feed pipe to which the feed is supplied from the feed supply hopper and the supplied feed is transported, and the feed pipe are provided. A long transport member that is arranged and for transporting feed in the feed pipe, a motor that drives the long transport member for transporting feed, and a computer that receives the current value supplied to the motor. A corner wheel, which is a pulley provided at a corner of the feed pipe and that guides the long member for transportation and freely rotates so that the long member for transportation bends and moves at the corner, and the corner. A rotation detection sensor for detecting the rotation of a wheel is provided, the computer has a control unit and a monitor, and the control unit measures a current value supplied to the motor and the measured current value. However, if it is determined that the current value is less than the rated current value and exceeds the threshold value set in advance as a value that can determine whether or not the feed is clogged , the corner wheel is rotated by the rotation detection sensor. When it is detected that it has not been detected , the monitor is controlled to display an abnormality in the feed pipe, and / or the abnormality is reported to a predetermined address of the worker in the barn. It is said.
By adopting this configuration, it is possible to detect that the motor for driving the long transport member has flowed more than a preset current value, so that the state inside the feed pipe can be constantly grasped. Then, when an abnormality occurs, the occurrence of the abnormality can be immediately grasped.
Generally, the motor is provided with an overload prevention circuit from the beginning, or an overload prevention circuit is installed later, and the motor is stopped in order to prevent the motor from burning when an overload occurs. I try to let you. However, in the present invention, since it is possible to determine an abnormality in the feed pipe before the motor is automatically stopped due to an overload, before the long transport member is stretched or cut, or the motor breaks down. Can be dealt with.
Further, according to this configuration, by detecting that the corner wheel is not rotating, the corner wheel is clogged with feed, foreign matter, or the like, or a long transport member (for example, a transport cable or a transport chain) is formed. It is possible to determine problems such as scraping and poor engagement with the corner wheel.

Claims (3)

With the feed supply hopper where the feed is stored,
A feed pipe that supplies feed from the feed supply hopper and transports the supplied feed,
A long member for transporting the feed, which is arranged in the feed pipe and for transporting the feed in the feed pipe,
A motor that drives the long member for transport for transporting feed,
A computer that receives the current value supplied to the motor.
The computer has a control unit and a monitor.
The control unit
When the current value supplied to the motor is measured and it is determined that the measured current value exceeds a preset threshold value less than the rated current value, the monitor is displayed with an abnormality in the feed pipe. A preventive maintenance system for livestock barn equipment, which is characterized by controlling and / or controlling to report an abnormality to a predetermined address of a barn worker. The feed supply hopper is provided with a feed remaining amount sensor for measuring the remaining amount of stored feed.
When the remaining amount of feed measured by the remaining amount of feed sensor is less than the preset change amount threshold after a lapse of a predetermined time, the control unit displays an abnormality in the feed pipe or a feed supply hopper on the monitor. The preventive maintenance system for livestock barn equipment according to claim 1, wherein the control is performed so as to display an abnormality inside. At the corner of the feed pipe, a corner wheel for guiding the long member for transportation is provided so that the long member for transportation bends and moves at the corner.
The corner wheel is provided with a rotation detection sensor that detects the rotation of the corner wheel.
1. The control unit is characterized in that when the rotation detection sensor detects that the corner wheel is not rotating, the control unit controls the monitor to display an abnormality in the corner portion of the feed pipe. Alternatively, the preventive maintenance system for the livestock barn equipment according to claim 2.

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