NZ314425A - Animal drafting race with side gate near race exit opened and closed by transponder sensors respectively near race entrance and exit - Google Patents

Description

New Zealand No. 314425 International No. PCT/ TO BE ENTERED AFTER ACCEPTANCE AND PUBLICATION Priority dates: 17.03.1997 Complete Specification Filed: 16.03.1998 Classification: (6) A01K29/00 Publication date: 25 November 1998 Journal No.: 1434 NEW ZEALAND PATENTS ACT 1953 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION Title of Invention: Animal drafting system Name, address and nationality of applicant(s) as in international application form: TRU-TEST LIMITED, a New Zealand company of 241 Ti Rakau Drive, East Tamaki, Auckland, New Zealand 314425 NEW ZEALAND PATENTS ACT, 1953 No: 314425 Date: 17 March 1997 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION Animal Drafting System We, TRU-TEST LIMITED, a company duly incorporated under the laws of New Zealand of 241 Ti Rakr.u Drive, East Tamaki, Auckland, New Zealand, do hereby declare the invention for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be -performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: Intellectual Property Office of NZ . i. 16 MAR 1998 received 1 5 OCT iC3: LjkeiveoJ 314425 This invention relates to an animal drafting system based on animal borne transponders which signal the animal's identification.

The purpose of a two-way animal drafting system is to sort animals into two groups based on some characteristic and traditionally this has been done manually by running the animals through a race which has a gate which can be actuated to divert animals having a particular characteristic from the race into a holding pen. Animals not having the characteristic are allowed to pass straight through the race.

Systems for the automatic drafting of cattle using animal borne identification systems are known. Typically they use necklace or ear mounted transponders carried by the animals and a multiple gated race. The animal walks into the race and a gate closes behind it to prevent it backing out and to prevent following animals entering the race behind it. From the signal emitted from the necklace or ear mounted transponder the animal is identified and one or other of two exit gates opens to allow the animal to exit into the main race or into a holding pen. Determination of when the animal has exited the race is typically either by photocell or timing methods. A variant where a stop gate is located in front of the sort gate and is activated by a second identification system is disclosed in New Zealand patent specification 268584.

The use of a stop gate is disadvantageous in that animal throughput is reduced and also that animals are intimidated by being required to walk into an apparently closed trap. Furthermore there are disadvantages in forward mounted animal transponders since if confirmation is required that an animal has passed through an exit two detection systems are required each mounted downstream of a respective exit from the sorting gate. In addition the prior art systems rely on all animals having identification transponders. In reality this may not be the case and in such circumstances animals without identification transponders should be allowed to proceed through the race without diversion.

Therefore it is an object of the present invention to provide animal drafting apparatus which goes at least some way towards overcoming the abovementioned disadvantages.

Accordingly in one aspect the invention consists in an animal drafting apparatus comprising: an animal race having an entrance and a normal exit, a normally closed gate located in the side of the exit end of said race, a gate actuator which moves said gate between the normally closed position and a position which opens the side of the race but closes the normal race exit, radio frequency transponders which in use are attached to the hindquarters of at least some of the animals to be drafted and which on activation emit a coded signal, first transponder activation and detection means located near the entrance of the 1 § OCT 1233 RECEIVE C L» l Ljj 314425 race, a controller which receives from said first transponder activation and detection means the transponder code when said transponder has been activated, said controller causing said gate actuator to open said gate on receipt of a transponder code, second transponder activation and detection means located in the race immediately prior to said gate which supplies said controller with a transponder code from animal borne transponders it activates, said controller upon receiving a transponder code from said second transponder activation and detection means following the latter's receipt of a coded signal from a transponder causing said gate actuator to close the gate and to repeat the foregoing sequence of operations upon again receiving an identification code from said first transponder activation and detection means.

In a second aspect the invention consists in an animal drafting apparatus comprising: an animal race having an entrance and an exit, a normally closed gate located in the side of the exit end of said race, a gate actuator which moves said gate between the normally closed position and a position which opens the side of the race but closes the race exit, radio frequency transponders which in use are attached to at least some of the animals to be drafted and which on being activated by a first radio signal emit after a first time delay a signal coded with the identity of the animal they are attached to and on being activated by a second radio signal emit after a second time delay a coded signal, first transponder activation and detection means which emits said first radio signal located near the entrance of the race, a data loadable controller in which animal identity codes may be stored which establishes a first time window centred about said first delay and which receives from said first transponder activation and detection means in said first time window the identity code of an animal when a transponder has been activated, said controller causing said gate actuator to open said gate if the received animal identity code matches one of the codes stored in the controller, an animal presence detector located to detect animals in the race between the entrance and the gate, said detector supplying said controller with a signal indicating the presence or absence of an animal, a second transponder activation and detection means which emits said second radio signal located in the race immediately prior to said gate which supplies said controller with a second coded signal from animal transponders it activates, said controller upon detecting the loss of an animal presence signal establishing a J.5'1'"1 i 314425 R EC EIV CO J second time window within which saidlJSftSftd'cSaed"signaHrom said second transponder activation and detection means is expected and if no coded signal is received in said second time window causing said gate actuator to close the gate and to repeat the foregoing sequence of operations upon again receiving an animal identification code from said first transponder activation and detection means within said first time window.

In a third aspect the invention consists in an actuator system for opening and closing gates comprising: a low pressure hydraulic cylinder which in use is connected to a fixed point having water inlet and outlet means and a piston which in use is coupled to said gate, a first solenoid valve connected in use to a water supply which when energised supplies water to said cylinder inlet means to cause said piston to move due to the force exerted on it by the pressure of the water, a return spring which provides a bias force on said piston which opposes the force due to water pressure, and a second solenoid valve which when energised allows water in said cylinder to discharge to thereby cause the piston to move in the opposite direction under the influence of the return spring, the combination characterised in that the valves, hoses and hose fittings are inexpensive items normally used in domestic garden watering systems.

One preferred form of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which; Figure 1 is a diagrammatic top view of an animal drafting system showing an animal entering the system, Figure 2 shows an hydraulic drafting gate actuator, and Figure 3 shows a flow diagram for the drafting system logic.

The preferred form of the invention has been developed for automatic drafting of cattle into a holding pen 1 (see figure 1). It is intended to operate with two modes of cattle identification. In mode 1 animals to be drafted are fitted with temporary hindquarters-mounted electronic identification (EID) transponders. Preferably these are mounted on bracelets which are fitted to the hind ankles of animals ("anklets"). These transponders emit a signal when actuated by another signal at that frequency. Any animal passing through the system which has a transponder is drafted off into a holding pen. All others are allowed to pass through. In mode 2, all animals have a permanently fitted anklet, with a transponder programmed with a unique ID number. ID numbers of animals to be drafted are pre-programmed into the system and only animals having transponders with corresponding IDs are drafted off.

The system consists of a length of race 2 at the exit of which is mounted a two-way 314425 sorting gate 3 which is moved by a powered actuator 4. Animals normally proceed straight through the race, but may be diverted to one side into holding pen 1 by the gate. An antenna system 5 is positioned near the entrance to the race which is capable of energising any EID transponder passing through it and detecting the transponder's ID code. In a particularly preferred form of the invention a "presence detector" 7 is located near the middle of the race and this returns to the system controller 6 a signal corresponding to the presence or absence of part of an animal at that point in the race. A second antenna system 8 is located near the end of the race before the sort gate 3 and in one form of the invention functions in the same fashion as antenna system 5.

Any animal which enters the race that has no transponder fitted is not drafted, but is to be allowed to pass straight through. Thus controller 6 does not receive an input from antenna system 5 and therefore does not energise the gate actuator 4 leaving sort gate 3 closing off the exit to holding pen 1 and leaving the race exit open. If an animal 9 with a transponder fitted enters the race, its transponder signal is detected by the first antenna system 5 and its ID is passed to the controller 6. In the event that the animal is one preprogrammed for drafting, the controller operates actuator 4 to open the gate 3. Where no IDs are loaded into the controller it will operate actuator 4 on receipt of all or any ID received. In conjunction with the rear mounting of the transponders the length of race 2 is such that any previous animal must be mostly or completely past the gate before the current animal can get far enough in to trigger the first antenna.

By the time the first antenna system 5 has been triggered (by a hind leg mounted anklet), the presence of animal 9 has been registered by the presence detector 7. As the animal moves forward in the race, the presence detector loses the animal, and a short time later, the second antenna system 8 is triggered. By this point the animal is mostly through the gate, and the gate is closed by controller 6. The gate will rub along the animal's rump as it does so. This prevents any closely following animal from pushing behind the first one.

If within a time window a short period after the presence detector ceases to detect animal 9 the second antenna does not receive a signal from the animal transponder, the controller assumes that the animal has backed out of the race. Gate 3 is then closed, to give the animal a clear line of sight through the race and to encourage it to move forward again. This also prevents any animals without transponders which force their way past the "stalled" animal from being accidentally drafted off into holding pen 1.

The sequence of steps described above is illustrated in Figure 3.

Animal presence detector 7 is an ultrasonic pulse return system. In this application all that is required is to determine the presence or absence of an animal in the race under the presence detector. An ultrasonic transmitter transmits vertically downwards and in the 314425 absence of an animal in the race, a strong reflection is obtained from the ground and this reflection is received using an ultrasonic receiver mounted with the transmitter. The receiver is set up to detect a reflection within a time window established antenna a predetermined delay equal to the return transit time between the presence detector and the ground. When an animal is present under the presence detector the bulk of the ultrasonic energy returned to the receiver is that which has been reflected off the animal's back and this will have a smaller delay than the ground reflection and thus will result in a much lower level received signal in the established time window. Some energy will be reflected off the ground and accordingly be received but the receiver level detector threshold can be set above this and thus the presence of an animal indicated by the absence of an acceptably strong signal from the receiver within the designated time window.

An ultrasonic signal of around 40 kHz is suitable and the receiver will preferably incorporate a band pass filter centred at this frequency.

In a second form of the invention the animal transponders are programmed to transmit two differently coded signals after different time delays depending on the activation signal they receive. Upon actuation by a first coded signal the transponder transmits a signal coded with the animal ID after time T,. However on actuation by a second coded signal the transponder transmits a signal coded with a simple acknowledgement after time T2.

In this form of the invention the first antenna system activates transponders so that an ID coded signal is received back after delay T„ while the second antenna system activates transponders so that an acknowledgement code is received back after delay T2.

By this means any potential cross-talk between the two antenna systems on occasions when each is activating a transponder is eliminated.

The actuator 4 used to move the gate is a low pressure hydraulic ram 10 (figure 2) operated by whatever water supply is available in the dairy shed. This may be town supply, bore, or washdown pumps. It is controlled by two solenoid valves 11 and 12. Valve 11 is opened by controller 6 to allow water from supply line 16 into the cylinder and extend piston rod 13 which is coupled to a gate 3 to open it. Valve 12 is opened by controller 6 to vent water in the race to waste, allowing a return spring 14 within the ram to retract the piston and close gate 3. Controller 6 closes valve 11 during this phase. Rate of movement of the gate is adjusted at installation to suit the available water pressure by a ball valve 15.

An actuator of the type outlined above can be manufactured very cheaply because it is a low pressure hydraulic system and water leakage is acceptable in this application. As the pressure is equivalent to household mains water, the ball valve, solenoid valves and associated hydraulic lines and fittings do not need to be high specification items and 314425 readily available garden watering fittings may be used.

The ram is fabricated using an aluminium tube which may typically be 50 mm in diameter stopped with threaded plastic end caps. Provision for cylinder mountings can be made in each end cap. Because of the low pressure and tolerance of water leakage the piston cup 17 can be an inexpensive nitrile cup or preferably simply an O-ring. The hydraulic lines can be formed from conventional reinforced household garden hose.

The preferred form of the present invention has been designed to be readily installed and maintained by farmers. The drafting system must be installed near a source of water and a power supply. Distance from the water source is virtually immaterial as water flow rate in use is extremely low and therefore there will be little pressure drop along the hydraulic hoses. Only a low voltage direct current supply is required for the controller and distances of up to 30 metres from the power supply can be tolerated with acceptable voltage drop.

The disclosed drafting system is inherently safe in that the low pressure ram has a stall force which is not substantially higher than the normal operating force reducing risk of injury to an animal or a person while the power supply is at low voltage and low current.

Claims (11)

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: ,SE,ra 314425

1. An animal drafting apparatus comprising: an animal race having an entrance and a normal exit, a normally closed gate located in the side of the exit end of said race, a gate actuator which moves said gate between the normally closed position and a position which opens the side of the race but closes the normal race exit, radio frequency transponders which in use are attached to the hindquarters of at least some of the animals to be drafted and which on activation emit a coded signal, first transponder activation and detection means located near the entrance of the race, a controller which receives from said first transponder activation and detection means the transponder code when said transponder has been activated, said controller causing said gate actuator to open said gate on receipt of a transponder code, second transponder activation and detection means located in the race immediately prior to said gate which supplies said controller with a transponder code from animal borne transponders it activates, said controller upon receiving a transponder code from said second transponder activation and detection means following the latter's receipt of a coded signal from a transponder causing said gate actuator to close the gate and to repeat the foregoing sequence of operations upon again receiving an identification code from said first transponder activation and detection means.

2. An animal drafting apparatus according to claim 1 further including an animal presence detector located to detect animals in the race between the entrance and the gate, said detector supplying said controller with a signal indicating the presence or absence of an animal, and said controller upon detecting the loss of an animal presence signal establishing a time window within which a coded signal from said second transponder activation and detection means is expected and causing said gate actuator to close the gate only if a coded signal is not received from said second transponder activation and detection means.

3. An animal drafting apparatus according to either of claims 1 or 2 wherein said controller includes a data loadable memory, each animal borne transponder has a unique identity code, said data memory is loaded with a subset of transponder identity codes, said controller compares codes received from said first transponder activation and detection means with the identity codes in its data memory and only causes said gate actuator to open said gate when the received code matches a code in memory.

4. An animal drafting apparatus comprising: an animal race having an entrance and an exit, a normally closed gate located in the side of the exit end of said race, 1 5 OCT 5033 - . PEcnvi.3 I 31 4425 a gate actuator which moves saitJ^ateT5etween the normally closed position and a position which opens the side of the race but closes the race exit, radio frequency transponders which in use are attached to at least some of the animals to be drafted and which on being activated by a first radio signal emit after a first time delay a signal coded with the identity of the animal they are attached to and on being activated by a second radio signal emit after a second time delay a coded signal, first transponder activation and detection means which emits said first radio signal located near the entrance of the race, a data loadable controller in which animal identity codes may be stored which establishes a first time window centred about said first delay and which receives from said first transponder activation and detection means in said first time windov the identity code of an animal when a transponder has been activated, said controller causing said gate actuator to open said gate if the received animal identity code matches one of the codes stored in the controller, an animal presence detector located to detect animals in the race between the entrance and the gate, said detector supplying said controller with a signal indicating the presence or absence of an animal, a second transponder activation and detection means which emits said second radio signal located in the race immediately prior to said gate which supplies said controller with a second coded signal from animal transponders it activates, said controller upon detecting the loss of an animal presence signal establishing a second time window within which said second coded signal from said second transponder activation and detection means is expected and if no coded signal is received in said second time window causing said gate actuator to close the gate and to repeat the foregoing sequence of operations upon again receiving an animal identification code from said first transponder activation and detection means within said first time window.

5. An animal drafting apparatus according to claim 4 wherein if no identity codes are loaded into said controller the controller causes the gate actuator to open said gate on receipt of all identity codes.

6. An animal drafting apparatus according to either of claims 4 or 5 wherein said animal presence detector is a pulsed ultrasonic transceiver which is mounted above the race at a height which allows animals to pass under which continuously monitors ground reflections of the pulses it emits and which generates an animal presence signal when there is a substantial loss of pulse reflections from the ground.

7. An animal drafting apparatus according to any one of claims 4 to 6 wherein said transponders are mounted in bracelets which in use are fitted to at least the hind legs of those animals to be drafted. 15 OCT I?33 IT a A A OR -10 - I vJ I *t £* s)

8. An animal drafting apparatus according to am>^i]e.^f9laimis ^io»7^vflerein the length of the race from the entrance to the gate and the location of the first transponder activation and detection means are such that before an animal can proceed far enough into the race to have its transponder activated any previous animal must have substantially passed said gate.

9. An animal drafting apparatus according to claim 1 including an actuator system for opening and closing gates comprising: a low pressure hydraulic cylinder which in use is connected to a fixed point having water inlet and outlet means and a piston which in use is coupled to said gate, a first solenoid valve connected in use to a water supply which when energised supplies water to said cylinder inlet means to cause said piston to move due to the force exerted on it by the pressure of the water, a return spring which provides a bias force on said piston which opposes the force due to water pressure, and a second solenoid valve which when energised allows water in said cylinder to discharge to thereby cause the piston to move in the opposite direction under the influence of the return spring, the combination characterised in that the valves, hoses and hose fittings are inexpensive items normally used in domestic garden watering systems.

10. An animal drafting apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

11. An animal drafting apparatus having an actuator system for opening and closing gates substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings DATED THIS 14^ DAY OF Cfcfoter (CJC] g A.J. RARK & SON PER fesCfcatf-ws* ol<2erAj AGENTS FOR THE APPLICANT