TWI667991B - Active Device for Monitoring Animal - Google Patents

Abstract

An active animal monitoring device is disclosed herein that is capable of measuring vital signs of an animal and actively signaling to external devices. The device includes: a spigot for passing through a predetermined portion of the animal's body; a gasket having an integrally formed double ring portion; and a pedestal having a first sleeve portion that allows the lance to be squeezed through to engage with each other and after engagement Preventing the tip from slipping off; the monitoring unit; and the cover having a second sleeve portion capable of accommodating the first sleeve portion and engaging the base portion to seal the monitoring unit therebetween in a waterproof manner.

Description

Active animal monitoring device

The present invention relates to active animal monitoring devices, and more particularly to monitoring devices that can measure and actively wirelessly transmit animal vital signs such as body temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, and the like.

Since the animal's body temperature, heartbeat, blood pressure and other vital signs are important data for judging their health status, they are taken as a key reference for taking necessary measures such as medical treatment, isolation, etc., so for pigs, cattle, sheep, horses, etc. Animals with high economic value need to perform vital signs measurement and monitoring to avoid or reduce losses.

A wide variety of electronic devices are used for animal monitoring. For example, passive electronic tags are used to attach to the animal's body for identification, and electronic devices can be mounted on the animal to monitor its position, body temperature, and the like. In order to monitor vital signs such as body temperature, the monitoring device is mounted on at least one of a plurality of parts of the animal, and the fixed design of the fixed monitoring device on the animal depends on the location of the device to be installed, taking into account the accuracy.

Therefore, there is a need for an active electronic monitoring device that can be securely mounted to an appropriate part of an animal's body so that, during animal feeding, it is possible to accurately measure, for example, body temperature, heartbeat, etc., in order to efficiently and actively notify the animal of abnormal conditions and devices. Abnormal events such as exceptions, to significantly save support costs.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, an active animal monitoring device is capable of measuring vital signs of an animal and actively transmitting to an external device, including: a tip for passing through a predetermined portion of the body of the animal; a gasket having an integral shape a double ring portion; a base having a first sleeve portion that allows the nipple to be squeezed through to engage with each other and prevent the spigot from slipping off after engagement; a monitoring unit; and a cover having a first sleeve portion The second sleeve portion is joined to the base portion to seal the monitoring unit therebetween in a waterproof manner. The animal is preferably a domestic animal.

Preferably, the monitoring unit comprises: a sensor module for measuring vital signs of the animal; a wireless communication module capable of communicating with the external device; and a controller for receiving the measurement data from the sensor module, and And controlling the wireless communication module to transmit the measurement data to the external device; and the battery for supplying power to the active device. The sensor module includes at least one of a temperature sensor, a blood pressure sensor, a heartbeat sensor, and an acceleration sensor.

In addition, the wireless communication module can communicate with the external device using at least one of the Lora or Zigbee wireless communication standards.

Preferably, the monitoring unit further includes a light-emitting diode marker to display the state of the device, and when the microprocessor detects that the battery is insufficient, the LED is caused to display insufficient power.

The active animal monitoring device according to the present invention can be easily and firmly installed on an animal's ear, automatically and accurately measure the body temperature of the animal and can actively report the measured data, thereby eliminating or reducing major infection, mass death, and significant Reduce feeding costs.

In the following description, numerous specific details are disclosed in order to facilitate a complete understanding of the illustrated embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the embodiments of the present disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known circuits, structures, and techniques are omitted or simplified to avoid obscuring the description.

In the livestock farm where a large number of livestock are raised, it is necessary to continuously measure and report vital signs such as the body temperature of the animals in order to timely treat and prevent large numbers of livestock from dying. When installing a monitoring device on an animal's body, in general, the robustness and measurement accuracy must be considered. In view of these factors, the active animal monitoring device according to the present invention is preferably mounted on the ears of the animal. The active monitoring device according to an embodiment of the present invention is capable of wirelessly transmitting the measured data to an external communication device such as a gateway, a router, or the like. In addition, an active animal monitoring device would be required to function properly during, for example, three years of maintenance without the need to replace the battery.

Next, the structure of an active animal monitoring device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be explained.

First, with reference to Figures 1 and 2, an active animal monitoring device 100 in accordance with the present invention will be described. 1 shows an appearance of an active animal monitoring device 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the device 100. As shown in FIG. 2, the active animal monitoring device 100 includes a tip 102, a spacer 104, a base 106, a monitoring unit 108, and a cover 110.

For example, the tip 102 is formed by a larger head 1021, a post 1022 protruding from the head 1021, and a tapered tip 1023 formed at one end of the post 1022. According to an embodiment, the tapered tip 1023 can be made of metal or alloy to facilitate penetration of the body part of the animal, and other portions of the tip 102 can be made of materials such as plastic, resin, and the like. Alternatively, the integral lance 102 can be made of metal or alloy. The lance 102 is not limited to the above configuration or shape, and may be formed of any shape or structure that can pass through a predetermined animal portion and engage with a corresponding portion provided on the susceptor 106 (described later).

According to an embodiment, for example, the gasket 104 is made of resin, rubber, plastic, or silicone. Here, the washer 104 is a double ring shape in which the two annular portions are connected by a hollow pipe string to form a one-piece washer 104. Due to the measurement effect of the sensor (described later) in the monitoring unit 108, particularly when measuring the temperature, it is easily affected by the distance between the animal-measured portion and the sensor, and thus, according to an embodiment of the present invention The washer 104 is used to fix the entire device more firmly to the animal's ear or the like, and to ensure that the sensor and the measured portion are maintained within a predetermined distance range, and the measurement performance of the vital signs such as body temperature is remarkably improved.

The base 106, the monitoring unit 108, and the cover 110 together form the body of the active monitoring device 100.

Hereinafter, the susceptor 106 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. An inner sleeve 1062 is formed in the top of the base 106. The outer diameter of the inner sleeve 1062 is smaller than the outer sleeve 1102 provided on the top of the cover 110. Therefore, when the base 106 and the cover 110 are engaged with each other, the inner sleeve 1062 can be properly inserted into the outer sleeve 1102. It should be noted that the inner sleeve 1062 and the outer sleeve 1102 are formed of materials having different hardnesses. Specifically, the hardness of the material forming the inner sleeve 1062 is smaller than the hardness forming the outer sleeve 1102. Additionally, the inner sleeve 1062 has an inner diameter that is smaller than the largest outer diameter of the conical tip 1023, but is sufficiently low in hardness to allow the conical tip 1023 to be squeezed through its passage. After being squeezed through the inner sleeve 1062, since the maximum outer diameter of the conical tip 1023 is greater than the inner diameter of the inner sleeve 1062, it will be blocked without slipping out of the inner sleeve 1062. Thus, by squeezing the lance 102 through the inner sleeve 1062, the entire active device 100 can be securely secured to the desired animal site.

In addition, the base 106 defines a window 1064 below the inner sleeve 1062 for sensing sensors such as body temperature and the like for sensors disposed in the monitoring unit 108.

The cover unit 110 and the base portion 106 are tightly joined to each other by a joining technique to seal the processing unit 108 (described later) therebetween in a waterproof manner. Processing unit 108 will be detailed below.

4 is a block diagram for explaining a monitoring unit 108 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, the monitoring unit 108 includes a wireless communication module 1082, a microprocessor 1084, a light emitting diode (LED) 1086, a sensor module 1088, an antenna 1081, a battery 1087, and the like. These electronic components are mounted on a printed circuit board. Preferably, the printed circuit board can be a double-sided circuit board such that different electronic components can be mounted on different sides as designed.

The wireless communication module 1082 can communicate with an external communication device such as a gateway via the antenna 1081. The module 1082 can transfer data received from the outside to the microprocessor 1084 and/or transfer the data to the outside under the control of the microprocessor 1084. The wireless communication module 1082 can be configured to communicate using at least one wireless communication standard including Lora, Zigbee, and the like.

The sensor module 1088 includes at least one sensor, for example, a temperature sensor, a heartbeat sensor, an acceleration sensor, a blood pressure sensor, and the like. In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the sensor module 1088 can be a temperature sensor disposed to face the window 1064 to measure the body temperature of the animal in a non-contact manner. The measurement results of the sensor module 1088 are input to the microprocessor 1084.

The microprocessor 1084 performs operations based on the data input from the sensor module 1088 and causes the wireless transmission chipset 1082 to communicate the measured vital signs such as body temperature to an external device such as a gateway (not shown). The external device may then transfer the material to the cloud system or any computing platform for management. The microprocessor 1084 can determine whether there is an abnormal event, such as a fever or a temperature loss, based on the measured data.

Light emitting diode 1086 will display the condition of device 100, such as battery status, device operating status, and the like. The microprocessor 1084 detects the voltage of the battery 1087 supplying the device power and causes the LED 1086 to display insufficient power when the measured voltage is below a predetermined value.

In the above, the structure, components and functions of the inventive active animal monitoring device have been described in detail. According to the present invention, the active animal monitoring device can be easily and firmly installed on the animal's ear, automatically and accurately measure the body temperature of the animal and can actively report the measured data, thereby eliminating or reducing major infections, mass deaths, and Significantly reduce feeding costs. Although the above embodiment is described by taking livestock of a livestock field as an example, the active animal monitoring device of the present invention is not limited to livestock of a livestock farm, and can be applied to other animals such as pets, poultry, animals in a zoo. Or even wild animals.

While the embodiments and examples are described in detail, it is understood by those skilled in the art that the details and forms thereof can be varied without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Various changes. The scope of the invention is defined by the scope of the appended claims, and is intended to be

100‧‧‧Active animal monitoring device

102‧‧‧ 插插

104‧‧‧shims

106‧‧‧Base

108‧‧‧Monitoring unit

110‧‧‧ cover

1021‧‧‧ head

1022‧‧‧ pillar

1023‧‧‧Conical tip

1062‧‧‧Inner sleeve

1064‧‧‧Window

1081‧‧‧Antenna

1082‧‧‧Wireless communication module

1084‧‧‧Microprocessor

1086‧‧‧Lighting diode

1088‧‧‧Sensor module

1102‧‧‧Outer sleeve

In the following description, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, like numerals generally refer to similar structures or components. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, the 1 shows the appearance of an active animal monitoring device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is an exploded view of an active animal monitoring device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 is an enlarged view showing the base of an active animal monitoring device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating a monitoring unit in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (8)

An active animal monitoring device for measuring vital signs of an animal, and actively transmitting to an external device, the device comprising: a tip for passing through a predetermined portion of the body of the animal; a gasket having an integral shape a double ring portion; the base has a first sleeve portion that allows the spigot to be squeezed through to engage with each other and prevent the spigot from slipping after engagement; the monitoring unit includes: a sensor module for measuring a vital sign of the animal; a wireless communication module capable of communicating with the external device; a microprocessor for receiving measurement data from the sensor module, and controlling the wireless communication module to transmit the measurement data Providing the external device; and the battery to the active animal monitoring device; and a cover having a second sleeve portion capable of receiving the first sleeve portion, and engaging the base to waterproofly The monitoring unit is sealed therebetween, wherein the first sleeve portion and the second sleeve portion are formed of a material having different hardness, and the first sleeve portion has a lower hardness than the second sleeve portion. The device of claim 1, wherein the sensor module comprises at least one of a temperature sensor, a blood pressure sensor, a heartbeat sensor, and an acceleration sensor. The device of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication module uses at least one of a Lora or Zigbee wireless communication standard to communicate with the external device. The device of claim 1, wherein the predetermined part of the animal body is an ear. The device of claim 4, wherein the sensor module is a temperature sensor module. The device of claim 5, wherein the microprocessor determines whether the body temperature of the animal is abnormal according to a body temperature measured by the temperature sensor module. The device of claim 1, wherein the animal is a domestic animal. The apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the monitoring unit further includes a light-emitting diode marker to display the state of the device, and when the microprocessor detects that the battery is insufficiently powered, The light-emitting diode is caused to display insufficient power.