JPH06133663A - Feeding station - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the useless motion of cattle, avoid the wasteful power consumption and remarkably improve the reliability and durability. CONSTITUTION:The feeding station is provided with a station stall 2 allowing the entrance of only one milking cow (cattle) A at a time through a gate 2i, an automatic door-opening apparatus 3 for opening or closing a door 4 of the gate 2i according to the detection of the entrance or exit of the milking cow A and an automatic feeding apparatus 5 to discriminate the entered milking cow A and supply a definite amount of feed according to the individual milking cow. The station is also provided with a controller 6 of the automatic feeding apparatus 5 for controlling the opening or closure of the door 4 by the automatic door-opening apparatus 3 based on the discrimination information Dd on the milking cow A.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a feeding station having an automatic door opening / closing device for opening / closing a door of a station stall and an automatic feeding device for supplying a set amount of feed according to individual livestock.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a free-stall type grazing ground is provided with a plurality of feeding stations according to the number of dairy cows (livestock) to be grazing. This kind of feeding station
With a station stall that allows only one cow to enter from the entrance and exit, if a cow enters the station stall, the cow that entered is identified and the set amount of feed (concentrated feed) according to each cow is supplied from the automatic feeding device. It has the function of supplying to the feeding tank.

By the way, since strong and weak dairy cows coexist in grazing cows, even if weak dairy cows enter such a feeding station, they are driven away by the strong dairy cows and the weak dairy cows become short of foraging. was there.

Therefore, in the conventional feeding station, a door is attached to the entrance and exit of the station stall, and
An automatic door opening / closing device was installed to detect the entrance or exit of dairy cows and open or close the door. In addition, normally, this kind of automatic door opening and closing device, at the entrance and exit, etc., is provided with a photoelectric sensor that detects the entry and exit of a dairy cow, and if the photoelectric sensor detects that the dairy cow has entered, the door is automatically closed, This ensured that the dairy cows entering were not threatened by other cows.

[0005]

However, the above-mentioned conventional feeding station has the following problems.

First, in order to detect the movement of the dairy cow, for example, the door is closed even when the dairy cow temporarily enters the station stall for the purpose of feeding,
Useless operation is likely to occur, and useless power consumption is caused by the opening / closing operation of the door.

Secondly, since the feeding station is usually installed outdoors exposed to sunlight and wind and rain, and electric parts such as photoelectric sensors are also placed in a severe environment of use, it is extremely disadvantageous in terms of reliability and durability. Become.

The present invention solves the problems existing in the prior art, prevents unnecessary operation, eliminates unnecessary power consumption, and dramatically improves reliability and durability. The aim is to provide a feeding station that can be enhanced.

[0009]

The present invention is provided with a station stall 2 that allows only one dairy cow (livestock) A to enter from the entrance / exit 2i, and detects the entrance or exit of the dairy cow A and installs a door 4 provided at the entrance / exit 2i. Automatic door opening and closing device 3 that opens and closes
When configuring the feeding station 1 including the automatic feeding device 5 that identifies the dairy cow A that has entered and supplies the set amount of feed according to each dairy cow, in particular, the identification of the dairy cow A in the automatic feeding device 5 is performed. A control device 6 for controlling opening / closing of the door 4 in the automatic door opening / closing device 3 based on the information Dd is provided.

In this case, the identification information Dd is the automatic feeding device 5
Motion information can be used. Further, the control device 6 has an abnormal-time protection function of controlling the door 4 in the opening direction when the door 4 is not closed within a preset time Tm.

[0011]

According to the feeding station 1 of the present invention, when the dairy cow A enters the station stall 2 with the door 4 open, the automatic feeding device 5 identifies the dairy cow A that has entered. At this time, the automatic feeding device 5 obtains the remaining feed amount from the preset set amount and the already fed amount, and feeds based on the remaining feed amount. Therefore, when the remaining feed amount is other than zero, the automatic feeding device 5 operates to supply the feed, but when the remaining feed amount is zero, the automatic feeding device 5 does not operate and the feed is not supplied. I don't know.

At the same time, the operation information of the automatic feeding device 5, which is the identification information Dd of the dairy cow A in the automatic feeding device 5, is given to the control device 6. In this case, when the remaining feed amount is zero, the automatic feeding device 5 does not operate, and thus the identification information Dd is not given to the control device 6. When the identification information Dd is given to the control device 6, the control device 6 controls the automatic door opening / closing device 3 to close the door 4. That is, when the dairy cow A enters the station stall 2, the door 4 is closed only when the dairy cow A needs feeding, and in other cases, the door 4 is kept open without performing an unnecessary closing operation.

The control device 6 has an abnormal protection function for controlling the door 4 in the opening direction when the closing operation of the door 4 is not completed within a preset time Tm. Even if is caught, the door 4 is quickly opened to protect the cow A.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, preferred embodiments according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

First, the feeding station 1 according to this embodiment.
The configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a station stall, which is constructed to have a size such that only one cow A can enter by using a plurality of frames 11 arranged vertically and horizontally. The station stall 2 has a rear end opened to provide a doorway 2i,
Support post 1 erected at the right end (or left end) of the doorway 2i
One end of the door 4 is rotatably attached to the door 2 via hinge portions 13, 13. The door 4 is also composed of a combination of a plurality of frames 14. In addition, the pin 4 is provided on the upper end of the door 4.
As shown in FIG.
The electric cylinder 15 as shown in FIG. in this case,
The electric cylinder 15 has a support frame 11s at the rear end of the cylinder.
In addition, the tip of the movable rod is rotatably attached to the pin portion 4p. Therefore, the door 4 has a closed position P1 shown by a solid line in FIG.
It selectively moves to the open position P2 indicated by an imaginary line that is rotated by approximately 90 ° from 1.

On the other hand, a food tank 21 into which the head of the dairy cow A can enter is arranged at the front end of the station stall 2, and a distributor 22 is arranged above the food tank 21. The distributor 22 stores feed (concentrated feed) inside, and a screw auger 24 rotated by a drive motor 23.
With the rotation of the screw auger 24, the internal feed is supplied from the feed outlet 25 to the feed tank 21 in a constant amount every hour.

Reference numeral 6 is a control device having a built-in computer function for controlling the overall operation. A drive motor 23 incorporated in the distributor 22 is connected to the control device 6 and an identification antenna 26 arranged at the lower portion of the food tank 21 is connected, whereby the automatic feeding device 5 is configured. On the other hand, while connecting the electric cylinder 15 to the control device 6, for example,
The position detection switch built in the electric cylinder 15 is connected, and thus the automatic door opening / closing device 3 for the door 4 is configured. In this case, the position detection switch is the closed position P1 of the door 4.
It can be configured by a door close detection limit switch that is turned on at and a door open detection limit switch that is turned on at the open position P2 of the door 4.

In FIG. 1, 6s indicates an operation panel in which the actual control device 6 is built. A collar 27 having a discriminator 28 is hung on the neck of the dairy cow A. The discriminator 2
A unique identification code capable of identifying each dairy cow is set in 8.

The feeding station 1 configured as described above
For example, a plurality of dairy cows are installed in a free-stall type pasture according to the number of dairy cows.

Next, the feeding station 1 according to this embodiment
The operation will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, the overall operation will be described with reference to the flow chart shown in FIG. Now cow A enters the station stall 2 with the door 4 open (step 3
1) As shown in FIG. 1, when the cow A has his / her head enter the feeding tank 21, the discriminator 28 of the collar 27 has the discrimination antenna 26.
Close to. As a result, the identification antenna 26 becomes the identification device 2
The identification code of the dairy cow A set to 8 is received, and the identification code is read by the control device 6 (step 32).

Since the controller 6 pre-stores the set amount of feed to be supplied to each dairy cow, the remaining feed amount is obtained from the set amount and the already fed amount, and it is necessary based on this remaining feed amount. To provide a good feed. In this case, when the remaining feed amount is other than zero, the drive motor 23 of the distributor 22 operates to supply the feed, and when the remaining feed amount is zero, the drive motor 23 does not operate and the feed is supplied. Absent.

Therefore, when the remaining amount of dairy cow A is other than zero, the screw auger 24 of the distributor 22 rotates and the internal feed is fed from the feed discharge port 25 by a fixed amount every hour.
1 (step 33). In addition, the drive motor 2
Simultaneously with the operation of 3, the first timer for preventing chattering built in the control device 6 is activated and the set time Ti (about 2 seconds) is measured (step 34). If the first timer times out, the control device 6 determines that the electric cylinder 1
5 is controlled to operate the door 4 in the closing direction (steps 35 and 37). That is, the operation information of the automatic feeding device 5 (identification information Dd of the cow A) is given to the control device 6, and the electric cylinder 15 is controlled. When the first timer has not timed out and the presence of the dairy cow A is no longer detected, the dairy cow A is considered to be a temporary intrusion not intended for feeding (step 36). In this case, since the door 4 is kept open, the cow A can leave the doorway 2i (step 44). This means that even when the dairy cow A enters the station stall 2, the door 4 is closed only when the dairy cow A needs feeding, and the door 4 is opened without performing unnecessary closing operation in other cases. Means to maintain.

On the other hand, when the dairy cow A continues to eat the feed in the feeding tank 21 (step 38) and finishes eating the necessary feed, the dairy cow A leaves the feeding tank 21. As a result,
The control device 6 stops detecting the presence of the cow A by the identification antenna 26 (step 39). As a result, the second timer provided in the control device 6 is activated to measure the set time Ts (about 10 seconds) (step 40). When the second timer times out, the control device 6 controls the electric cylinder 15 to open the door 4 (step 4).
1, 43). Therefore, dairy cow A is station stall 2
You can leave (step 44). When the second timer has not timed up, the feed is continued to be kept in a feedable state (step 42).

Next, the abnormality protection function provided in the control device 6 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, when the operation information of the automatic feeding device 5 is given to the control device 6, the door 4 operates in the closing direction (step 51). At this time, the door open detection limit switch built in the electric cylinder 15 is turned on, and at the same time, the third timer built in the control device 6 is started to measure the set time Tm (steps 52 and 53). If the door closing detection limit switch built in the electric cylinder 15 is turned on before the third timer times out, the door closing operation is completed (steps 54 and 55). On the other hand, when an abnormality occurs such as when the cow A is caught in the door 4, the third timer times out before the door closing detection limit switch is turned on, so the control device 6 stops the door closing operation (step 5
4, 56, 57), and further operates the door 4 in the opening direction (step 58). When the door open detection limit switch is turned on, the door open operation is completed (steps 59 and 6).
0). In this way, the abnormal time protection function provided in the control device 6 protects the dairy cow A by opening the door 4 quickly even when the dairy cow A is caught in the door 4 that is about to be closed.

The embodiment has been described in detail above.
The present invention is not limited to such an embodiment,
The detailed configuration and method may be arbitrarily changed without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[0029]

As described above, the present invention includes a station stall that allows only one livestock to enter from the entrance and exit, and an automatic door opening / closing device that detects entrance or exit of livestock and opens and closes the door installed at the entrance and exit. At a feeding station equipped with an automatic feeding device that identifies the livestock and supplies a set amount of feed according to each livestock, the door of the automatic door opening and closing device is opened and closed based on the identification information of the livestock in the automatic feeding device. Since the control device for controlling is provided, the following remarkable effects are achieved.

Since the opening and closing of the door is controlled based on the identification information of the dairy cow, for example, even when the dairy cow temporarily enters the station stall without the purpose of feeding, the door is kept open. To maintain. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the unnecessary opening / closing operation of the door and eliminate unnecessary power consumption.

Since no parts such as photoelectric sensor are used even in a severe environment of use, reliability and durability can be dramatically improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 is an overall side view of a feeding station according to the present invention,

FIG. 2 is an overall plan view of the feeding station,

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the overall operation of the feeding station,

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an abnormal protection function provided in the control device of the feeding station,

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Feeding Station 2 Station Stall 2i Doorway 3 Automatic Door Opening / Closing Device 4 Door 5 Automatic Feeding Device 6 Control Device A Dairy Cattle (Livestock) Dd Identification Information

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A station stall that allows only one livestock to enter from the entrance and exit, an automatic door opening / closing device that opens and closes the door installed at the entrance and exit by detecting the entrance or exit of the livestock, and identifies the individual livestock that has entered In a feeding station equipped with an automatic feeding device that supplies a set amount of feed according to the livestock, a control device for controlling the opening and closing of the door in the automatic door opening and closing device is provided based on the identification information of the livestock in the automatic feeding device. A feeding station characterized by that. 2. The feeding station according to claim 1, wherein the identification information uses operation information of the automatic feeding device. 3. The feeding station according to claim 1, wherein the control device has an abnormal protection function for controlling the door in the opening direction when the door is not closed within a preset time. 4. The feeding station according to claim 1, wherein the livestock are dairy cows.