JPH0727600A - Outlet gate for dynamic measuring device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an outlet gate for a dynamic measuring device capable of suppressing a succeeding walking animal from going down from a weighing base early by controlling the returning speed of a door member to the closed state. CONSTITUTION:This dynamic measuring device of a walking animal is provided with a returning force changing means CM changing the return energizing force when a door member provided near the outlet of a weighing base freely rockably, openably, and closeably is return-energized to the closed state and a control means 5b discriminating whether one or two or more walking animals exist on the weighing base and operating the returning force changing means CM based on the discriminated result. The control means 5b operates the returning force changing means CM in the increasing direction of the return energizing force to accelerate the returning speed of the door member when two or more walking animals exist on the weighing base than when only one animal exists.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a dynamic weighing device for calculating the weight of a walking animal such as a cow on the basis of load data obtained when the walking animal walks through a weighing platform.
The present invention relates to an exit gate in which a door member that is swingably opened and closed near the exit of the weighing platform is biased to return to a closed state.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The exit gate of such a dynamic weighing device is provided mainly for detecting that a walking animal has descended from a weighing platform. The detection information is used as information for controlling the opening / closing of the entrance gate. That is, in order to raise the walking animals one by one to the weighing platform, the entrance gates are opened as it is detected that the walking animals that have finished weighing have passed through the exit gate or are in transit.

For example, when a door member is provided on a side frame near the exit so as to be swingable around a vertical axis and is biased to return to a closed state, a walking animal pushes the door member open and weighs the weighing platform. Get off from. When the walking animal completes the passage, the door member returns to the closed state and waits for the following walking animal. The return biasing force of the door member is determined so that the door member returns to the closed state at an appropriate speed.

Further, as described above, the walking animals are usually lifted one by one to the weighing platform by the separating means such as the entrance gate, but sometimes two (or more) walking animals are consecutive, that is, the preceding walking animal is still present. Subsequent walking animals may climb to the weighing platform while on the weighing platform. In this case, a period in which only one walking animal is on the weighing platform is extracted based on the load data and the weight of each walking animal is calculated separately.

[0005]

However, when the time from when the preceding walking animal descends from the weighing platform to when the following walking animal descends is short, the load data for the period in which only the following walking animal is on the weighing platform is obtained. It may not be possible to obtain sufficient weight to calculate the weight of the following walking animal. In order to avoid such a problem, it is necessary to extend the time when only the following walking animal stays on the weighing platform.

[0006] Therefore, the present invention provides an exit gate of a dynamic weighing device capable of suppressing the trailing walking animal from quickly descending from the weighing platform by controlling the return speed of the door member to the closed state. The purpose is to do.

[0007]

The characteristic constitution of the exit gate of the dynamic weighing apparatus of the present invention is the restoring force changing means for changing the restoring biasing force of the door member and one or two walking animals on the weighing platform. A control means for determining whether the number of heads or more is present and operating the restoring force changing means based on the result of the determination is provided, and the control means is one when there are two or more walking animals on the weighing platform. It is configured to operate the restoring force changing means in a direction to increase the restoring biasing force in order to increase the restoring speed of the door member.

It is preferable that the control means determines whether there are one or two or more walking animals on the weighing platform based on the load data obtained when the walking animal walks through the weighing platform. Alternatively, the entrance and exit of the weighing platform are provided with detection means for detecting passage of a walking animal, and the control means is
It may be configured to determine whether there are one or two or more walking animals on the weighing platform based on the detection information of the detection means.

[0009]

According to the above characteristic structure, the control means determines whether there are one or two or more walking animals on the weighing platform, and based on the determination result, the return force changing means is operated to operate the door. Change the return bias of the member. That is, when there are two or more walking animals on the weighing platform, the return urging force is made larger than when there is one. By doing this, when the walking animal pushes the door member open and descends from the weighing platform, the speed at which the door member returns to the closed state increases, and relatively fast damping oscillation occurs until it settles in the return position. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the following walking animal from quickly descending from the weighing platform. The restoring force changing means may change the initial urging force of the returning urging means such as a spring by an electric actuator, for example. The return biasing force in the normal state in which there is only one walking animal on the weighing platform is set so that the mechanical load of the swing mechanism of the door member and the return force changing means does not become too large.

[0010]

Therefore, according to the exit gate of the dynamic weighing device of the present invention, when there are two or more walking animals on the weighing platform, the door member is closed when the preceding walking animal descends from the weighing platform. Since it is possible to speed up the return to the growth state and prevent the following walking animals from descending from the weighing platform quickly, it is possible to obtain sufficient load data by gaining time only for the following walking animals to stay on the weighing platform. I can do it now.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The dynamic weighing apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is for calculating the weight of a cow based on time-series load data obtained when the cow walks past the weighing platform 1. In front of and behind the weighing platform 1, fences 2 for forming a cow guideway are erected on the left and right. A pair of left and right fences 3 are erected on the weighing platform 1,
A passage is formed so that cows can walk through the weighing platform 1 one by one. In front of the entrance of the weighing table 1, an entrance gate G1 that is controlled to open and close in order to raise each cow to the weighing table 1 is installed, and an exit gate G2 is attached to the exit part of the weighing table 1.

The weighing platform 1 includes a frame body made of steel and a footboard made of FRP (fiber reinforced resin) placed on the frame body.
The four corners are supported by the load cell 4. The load applied to the tread and the frame when the cow walks through the weighing platform 1 is 4
It is detected as the total value of the outputs of the load cells 4. However, since the value changes according to the walking cycle of the cow, it is necessary to estimate and calculate the stationary weight by an appropriate calculation process. This changing weight output (analog voltage) is input to the processing device 5 and subjected to signal processing such as amplification and smoothing. Further, the weight calculation means 5 provided in the processing device 5 is A / D converted at a predetermined sampling time and provided as a digital value.
a) (see FIG. 9). The weight calculation means 5a temporarily stores the load data, which are sequentially digital values, in the memory, and calculates the weight of the cow as described later.

The calculated weight is displayed and output together with the individual number of the cow on the display provided in the processing device 5,
It is printed out by the printer. The cow individual number is automatically entered as follows. A transponder T for transmitting the cow's individual number is attached to the ankle of the hind leg of the cow. The transponder T includes a memory for storing an individual number and a micro wireless communication device, and transmits the individual number in response to a transmission request by wireless communication. A loop antenna 6 for receiving the individual number from the transponder T is installed on the footboard of the weighing platform 1.

With the above-mentioned configuration, the processing device 5 automatically identifies the individual number of the cow according to the following procedure. When the weighing of one cow is completed, a response request signal and a radio wave serving as a power supply are transmitted from the loop antenna 6 at a constant cycle in order to receive the individual number of the next cow. When the next cow goes up to the weighing platform 1 and the transmitting means T attached to the ankle thereof is supplied with electric power by the radio wave and becomes active, it transmits the stored information (that is, the individual number) in response to the response request signal. This signal is input to the processing device 5 via the loop antenna 6 for both transmission and reception.

The entrance gate G1 is constructed as shown in FIGS. A pair of left and right door members 8 and 9 are pivotally supported by the left and right columns so as to be swingable around the vertical axis. The pair of door members 8 and 9 are biased to return to the closed state indicated by the solid line in FIG. 4 by a torsion coil spring (not shown). The structure of the return biasing force by the torsion coil spring is similar to the return biasing structure of the door member of the exit gate which will be described later.

The door member 8 on the right side (the left side in FIG. 3) facing the entrance gate is urged by the opening / closing drive motor 10 to have its position biased between a position shown by a solid line and a position shown by an imaginary line in FIG. It is rotationally driven so that it can be switched between. That is, the closed state shown by the solid line and the half-open state shown by the imaginary line are switched. When the entrance gate is in the closed state, the cow stops before the entrance gate, and when the entrance gate is in the half-opened state, the cow pushes the door members 8 and 9 open and goes up to the weighing platform 1. The opening / closing drive device 10 is driven by a control signal from the control means 5b (see FIG. 9) in the processing device 5.

A magnetic proximity sensor 11 and a detected piece 12 thereof are provided as means for detecting passage of a cow on the door member 9 and the fixed frame on the left side of the entrance gate, and the door member 9 is at a predetermined angle. The proximity sensor 11 is turned on when the proximity sensor 11 is rotated by α or more. This detection signal is input to the control means 5b as a signal for determining that the cow is passing through the entrance gate or has passed.

As shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, the outlet gate G2 is pivotally supported around the vertical axis on the right side fence 3 of the outlet of the weighing platform 1 so as to return to the closed state. It is composed of a horizontally long door member 13 and the like. The size and installation height of the door member 13 are set so that the tip end of the door member 13 hits the cow's shoulder bone and is pushed open. And
As a means to detect the passage of cows, a magnetic proximity sensor 1
4 to the fixed frame (fence) 3, the detected piece 15 to the door member 13,
Each is attached, and the proximity sensor 14 is turned on when the door member 13 rotates by a predetermined angle β or more. This detection signal is input to the control means 5b as a signal for determining that the cow is passing or has passed the exit gate.

As will be described below, the door member 13 at the outlet is biased to return to a closed state (state shown by a solid line in FIG. 6) by a torsion coil spring. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, a vertical shaft member 16 is fixed to the fence 3, and a pipe 17 rotatably fitted to the vertical shaft member 16 is integrally attached to the pivot end side of the door member 13. A spring receiving bar 18 protruding in the radial direction is fixed to the upper portion of the pipe 17, and one end side 19 of a pair of torsion coil springs 19 and 20 provided above and below the spring receiving bar 18 are fixed.
a and 20a are locked to the spring receiving bar 18.
A pair of torsion coil springs 19 loosely fitted on the pipe 17,
20 has winding directions opposite to each other and has the same restoring force for the same torsional deformation amount. And the same initial biasing force (deformation amount) is given.

With the above-described structure, the door member 13 is biased to return to the closed state, and is swingable about the vertical axis P with the closed state as the swing center angle. Further, the return urging force is configured to be changeable as described below. The other ends 19b and 20b of the pair of torsion coil springs 19 and 20 are locked to a pair of upper and lower rotating members 21 and 22 which are rotatable around the vertical axis P. Rotating member 2
1, 22 are rotatably fitted on the pipe 17, and are vertically rotatably supported and rotatably supported by a fixed frame 3a fixed to the fence 3. In between, a pair of screw coil springs 19, Holds 20. Inside the rotating members 21 and 22, there are provided recesses 21a and 22a for accommodating a part of the torsion coil springs 19 and 20 and axial small holes 21b and 22b communicating with these, and the torsion coil springs 19 and 22b are provided in these small holes. The other end side 19b, 20b of 20 is inserted.

Bevel gears are formed by engraving oblique teeth on the outer circumferences of the pair of rotating members 21, 22. However, the rotating members 21 and 22 and the bevel gear fixed concentrically to the rotating members 21 and 22 may be separately configured. A bevel gear 23 that meshes with the pair of bevel gears (rotating members) 21 and 22 and is driven to rotate around a horizontal axis perpendicular to the vertical axis P is provided. Bevel gear 23 is coupling 24
Is connected to the output rotary shaft of the electric motor with reduction gear 25 via.

When the bevel gear 23 is rotationally driven by the electric motor 25 with a reducer, a pair of upper and lower bevel gears 2 are driven.
1 and 22 rotate in mutually opposite directions, and the torsional deformation amounts of the pair of torsion coil springs 19 and 20 both increase or decrease. The position after the increase / decrease of the torsional deformation amount is maintained even when the power supply to the electric motor 25 with a reducer is stopped. As a result, the initial biasing force of the pair of torsion coil springs 19 and 20 is increased or decreased by the same amount in the same direction, and the door member 13
, Its return force increases or decreases without changing its swing center angle, that is, the return urging position.

The restoring force changing means CM of the exit gate door member 13 having the above-mentioned structure is automatically operated by the control means 5b. That is, normally, the restoring force is set to such an extent that the mechanical load of the swinging mechanism of the door member 13 and the restoring force changing means CM does not become too large.
If two cows go up in the next one, the next cow will be the weighing platform 1
In order to gain time to stay and obtain sufficient load data for weight calculation, the restoring force is increased to accelerate the returning speed of the door member 13.

Next, the algorithms for calculating the weight and controlling the restoring force changing means CM and the like executed by the weight calculating means 5a and the control means 5b of the processing apparatus 5 will be described with reference to FIGS.
A brief description will be given based on. FIG. 9 is a control block diagram showing the flow of signals. In the figure, the weight calculation means 5a and the control means 5b are actually configured as one microcomputer program, and information is exchanged with each other. FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 respectively show a simplified example of changes in the load (voltage after smoothing) obtained from the weighing table 1 when there is only one cow and two cows on the weighing table 1. is there. In the figure, S11 and S14 respectively represent an ON signal of the proximity sensor 11 of the input gate or the proximity sensor 14 of the output gate, that is, a signal indicating that the cow is passing through the input gate or the output gate. Are shown at different levels.

First, when the control means 5b drives the entrance gate opening / closing drive motor 10 to open the door member 8 in a half-opened state, the cow pushes the door members 8 and 9 open and moves up to the weighing table 1. When the ON signal S11 of the proximity sensor 11 at the input gate is detected and the sequential load data input from the weighing platform 1 through the processing by the low pass filter, the A / D converter, etc. exceeds the predetermined threshold value, the weight calculation is performed. The means 5a starts writing the load data into the memory. Further, the control means 5b returns the door member 8 of the entrance gate to the closed state. Then, the weight calculation means 5a extracts the maximum values P1, P2, P3, ... Which appear in a relatively long cycle corresponding to the walking cycle of the cow from changes in the load data and stores them. When the number of stored maximum values reaches three, the first maximum value P1 to the third maximum value P3
Is calculated as the effective data section T1, and the average value of the load data in this section is calculated and used as the rest weight of the cow.

When the cow eventually comes down from the weighing platform 1 through the exit gate, the ON signal S14 of the proximity sensor 14 at the exit gate is detected as shown in FIG. The door member 8 of 1 is set to the anti-open state. Then, the next cow pushes open the door members 8 and 9 and goes up to the weighing platform 1, so that the ON signal S11 of the proximity sensor 11 is detected, the valid data section T2 is obtained in the same manner as described above, and the average value during that period. The weight of the cow is calculated from this. By repeating such a process, continuous weighing of a plurality of cows can be automatically performed.

FIG. 11 shows a case in which the subsequent cow is moved up to the weighing table 1 while the previous cow is still on the weighing table 1. Such a situation occurs when a subsequent cow forcibly passes through the entrance gate despite the entrance gate being closed. In this situation, the ON signal S11 of the proximity sensor 11 of the input gate and the ON signal S of the proximity sensor 14 of the output gate
It can be detected in the order of 14. That is, in the normal case, the signal S11 and the signal S14 are alternately detected as shown in FIG. 10, but in the case of the abnormality, the signal S11 continues as shown in FIG. That is, the next signal S11 is detected before the signal S14 is detected.

The control means 5b has a signal S11 and a signal S1.
4 is temporarily stored and the above-mentioned abnormal state is judged. Then, the signals S11 to S14 in FIG.
During the period up to, since two cows are on the weighing platform 1, the data in this section are ignored. That is, processing such as extraction of the maximum value or the effective data section and calculation of the average value are not performed.
Then, if the first signal S14 is detected, only the cattle after descending from the weighing platform 1 are on the weighing platform 1, and the weight calculation is performed to calculate the weight of the cattle after the first signal S14 is detected. .

As shown in FIG. 11, there is no problem if three or more maximum values can be extracted from the time when the previous cow descends from the weighing platform 1 to the time when the latter cow descends. If a subsequent cow descends immediately after going down from 1, the maximum value of three or more cannot be detected, and therefore the valid data section T2 cannot be obtained, so that the weight of the subsequent cow cannot be calculated. In order to avoid such a situation, it is necessary to gain time for the subsequent cow to descend from the weighing platform 1.

In order to cope with such a case, the control means 5b operates the restoring force changing means CM of the exit gate door member 13 to increase the restoring force and accelerate the returning speed of the door member 13. That is, normally, the restoring force is set to such an extent that the mechanical load of the swinging mechanism of the door member 13 and the restoring force changing means CM does not become too large, but to detect the state where there are two cows on the weighing platform 1. Along with this, the restoring force changing means CM is operated to increase the restoring force. As a result, when the preceding cow pushes open the exit gate door member 13 and descends from the weighing platform 1, the door member 1
The speed at which 3 returns to the closed position becomes faster, and a relatively rapid damping swing occurs until it settles at the returned position, so that it is possible to prevent a subsequent cow from quickly descending from the weighing platform 1.
As the subsequent cow descends from the weighing platform 1, the restoring force changing means CM is operated to restore the original restoring force.

[Other Embodiments] The control means determines whether there is only one cow or two cows (or more) on the weighing platform, as in the above embodiment, by detecting passage signals at the entrance gate and the exit gate. It is not limited to the method of determining from the above, and there is a method of determining from the change of the load data. For example, as shown in FIG.
When it is detected that the maximum value at the almost same level following the T1 period suddenly changes to the maximum value at the large level, it can be determined that the cows on the weighing table as well as the subsequent cows have moved to the weighing table. Alternatively, the determination may be made based on both the gate passage detection signal and the change in the load data. In addition, the position of the cow on the weighing platform is detected by utilizing the fact that the communicable distance between the loop antenna 6 for automatically inputting the individual number and the transponder T is relatively short, and the information is used for the above determination. It can be used.

The present invention is not limited to a cow dynamic measuring device,
It can also be applied to a dynamic measuring device for walking animals such as horses and pigs.
It should be noted that reference numerals are added to the claims for convenience of comparison with the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the configurations of the accompanying drawings by the entry.

[0033]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of a cow dynamic weighing device.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of a dynamic measuring device.

[Figure 3] Front view of the entrance gate

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the entrance gate.

[Fig. 5] Front view of the exit gate

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the exit gate.

FIG. 7 is a side view of the exit gate door restoring force changing means.

8 is a sectional view taken along line VIII-VIII of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a control block diagram.

FIG. 10 is a graph showing an example of changes in load values and the like when there is only one walking animal on the weighing platform.

FIG. 11 is a graph showing an example of changes in load values and the like when two walking animals are on the weighing platform.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Weighing platform 5b Control means 11, 14 Detection means 13 Door member CM Return force changing means

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A dynamic weighing device for calculating the weight of a walking animal on the basis of load data obtained when the walking animal walks through the weighing platform (1).
(13) that is swingably opened and closed near the exit of the door
Is an exit gate that is urged to return to the closed state, and a return force changing unit (CM) that changes the return urging force of the door member (13) and a walk on the weighing platform (1). Control means (5b) for discriminating whether there are one or more animals and operating the restoring force changing means (CM) based on the discrimination result.
And the control means (5b) is configured to accelerate the return speed of the door member (13) when the number of walking animals on the weighing platform (1) is two or more than when the number of walking animals is one. An exit gate of a dynamic measuring device configured to operate the restoring force changing means (CM) in a direction to increase the restoring biasing force. 2. The control means (5b) is configured to determine, based on the load data, whether there are one or two or more walking animals on the weighing platform (1).
Exit gate of the described dynamic weighing device. 3. Detection means (11, 14) for detecting passage of a walking animal at the entrance and exit of the weighing platform (1).
Is provided, and the control means (5b), based on the detection information of the detection means (11, 14), the weighing platform (1)
The exit gate of the dynamic weighing device according to claim 1, wherein the exit gate of the dynamic weighing device is configured to determine whether there are one or more walking animals above.