Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A01—AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
  • A01K—ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; AVICULTURE; APICULTURE; PISCICULTURE; FISHING; REARING OR BREEDING ANIMALS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; NEW BREEDS OF ANIMALS
  • A01K1/00—Housing animals; Equipment therefor
  • A01K1/0047—Air-conditioning, e.g. ventilation, of animal housings
  • A01K1/0082—Water misting or cooling systems
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A01—AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
  • A01K—ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; AVICULTURE; APICULTURE; PISCICULTURE; FISHING; REARING OR BREEDING ANIMALS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; NEW BREEDS OF ANIMALS
  • A01K13/00—Devices for grooming or caring of animals, e.g. curry-combs; Fetlock rings; Tail-holders; Devices for preventing crib-biting; Washing devices; Protection against weather conditions or insects
  • A01K13/001—Washing, cleaning, or drying devices

Definitions

• the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for cooling cattle, by means of coordinated groups of spray devices which direct spray streams to rows of said cattle in a controlled manner that accounts for environment conditions.
• said cattle are cows and the cooling method and apparatus are applied when the cows are housed in a shed and the relevant environment conditions are defined by the prevalent wind streams.
• a prior art cooling system generally consists of an air distribution duct for directing a turbulent air stream onto the cows and a separate water line that terminates with a nozzle which produces a spray. Nozzles are commonly used, in contrast with discharge directly from a hose, to conserve water.
• Sprinklers that are positioned in the feeding area of a dairy farm generally provide supplemental cooling, reducing the fan power needed and enabling a marginally hot cow to be much more comfortable. Since cows sweat only one-tenth as much as humans, a spray-fan cooling system conducts away surface heat and increases the vaporization of moisture from the skin. This body cooling effect enhances comfort and increases milk production.
• the water that falls to the ground generally collects as puddles, serving as a source of diseases to the cows, such as mastitis, especially in combination with cow droppings, despite the constant operation of a fan that additionally functions as a means to dry the ground. Also, water is sprayed at times on the face of the cows, thereby causing them much aggravation.
• Copending patent application WO 03/066168 Al discloses a spray device for comprising a fan for producing a mist stream and propelling to a predetermined location, viz. to a head of cattle, typically a cow. It is stated therein that when cows are interspersed throughout a large area, namely in the feeding area, corral and waiting pen, a plurality of spraying devices can be employed, each of which directs a controllable mist spray to a different location, viz. to a different head of cattle. While the device of WO 03/066168 Al is highly effective, it only cools one cow or other head of cattle at a time and must be operated and controlled manually by a person. It is therefore unsatisfactory for cooling rows of cattle in a shed, particularly for extended periods of time, as is often the case, and with varying atmospheric conditions, because it would require a functionally and economically unacceptable use of manpower.
• the method of the present invention for cooling cattle, particularly cows, distributed in an orderly configuration, particularly in corrals and more particularly in a shed, comprises the following steps: a) providing a plurality of spray generators; b) distributing said spray generators in a configuration corresponding to the configuration in which the cattle are distributed, particularly corresponding too the cattle rows in a shed; c) concurrently actuating said spray generators to generate water sprays, each of them directed substantially to at least one cow body; d) sensing the direction and optionally the speed and/or other relevant parameters, if any, of the wind; and e) concurrently changing the direction of the water sprays according to the direction and optionally the speed and or other relevant parameters, if any, of the wind, in such a way that each spray will still be directed substantially to at least one cow body.
• cattle are typically cows, they may be other kinds of cattle; while the orderly configuration in which they are distributed is typically the configuration of rows in a shed, it may be a different configuration as long as the spray generators are distributed in a corresponding configuration, so that the water sprays may reach the cattle; and the cattle may not be in a shed. All such variants are comprised in the invention.
• the apparatus of the present invention for cooling cattle, typically cows, distributed in an orderly configuration, particularly in rows and more particularly in a shed, comprises the following components: I - a plurality of water spray generators, arranged in a configuration corresponding to the said orderly configuration of the cattle; II - actuating means for concurrently actuating and concurrently stopping all of said water spray generators; III — wind sensor means for sensing the direction and optionally the speed and/or other relevant parameters, if any, of the wind; IV — kinematic connecting means for concurrently controlling the direction of the water sprays generated by said water spray generators; and V — means for actuating said kinematic means according to the direction and optionally the speed and/or other relevant parameters, if any, of the wind sensed by said sensing means.
• said kinematic means connect each sprayer to the next, and concurrently change or adjust, if and when needed, the direction of the water sprays generated by them.
• the direction of the water sprays is changed or adjusted by angularly displacing the sprayers about a substantially vertical axis.
• the sprayers preferably comprise each a fan having blades defining a blade diameter, and a guard grille, and comprises a nozzle unit for feeding water from a feed conduit, which is being centrally mounted on the downstream side of the grille and the blades.
• Said sprayers may be as described in the aforesaid WO 03/066168 Al, but may also be different.
• each nozzle unit is essentially concentric with the fan blades, comprises one or more nozzles essentially symmetrically positioned with respect to the center of the fan blades, and has preferably a low profile, viz. creates the smallest possible disturbance to the stream of air generated by the fan.
• the pressure of the liquid introduced to the nozzle unit is a relatively low pressure, ranges from 4 to 6 atmosplieres.
• each of said sprayers must be pivotally displaceable about a vertical axis. Changes in the wind direction and velocity also affect the water spray range, which decreases/increases, all other things being equal, as the component of the wind along the desired direction of the water spray decrease/increase. In a limit condition, if said component is reversed, viz. if the wind blows in the opposite of said desired direction, the water spray range decreases/increases as said component increases/decrease, and said range may become zero or even be reversed.
• the direction and speed of the wind and/or other relevant parameters, if any, sensed by the wind sensor are preferably transmitted to a computer which outputs the calculated rotation of the sprayers about a vertical axis, viz. the horizontal rotation, required to maintain the desired direction and range of the water spras ⁇ s.
• Said other relevant parameters may include the humidity of the wind and its temperature.
• the computer issues a command to change the direction of the sprayers only if the wind sensor maintains its new position for at least several minutes, in order to eliminate response to temporary changes in the wind direction.
• each sprayer is mounted on a horizontal axis which is the bottom side of a quadrilateral, preferably rectangular, support.
• Said support specifically its top side if the support is rectangular, is solid with a short, vertical shaft, which is retained and rotatably mounted in a sleeve attached to a static element, e.g. a partition, of the cattle shed.
• Said vertical shaft carries a first or high gear wheel and a second or low gear wheel.
• Other structural arrangements are of course possible, as long as the sprayer can be rotated about a vertical axis with respect to a static structural element.
• a control station is provided for controlling the direction of the sprayers.
• the kinematic connecting means for concurrently controlling the direction of the sprayers may be of any kind that appears convenient to skilled persons, but preferably comprises, for each sprayer, a two-way flexible member, viz. a flexible member, e.g. a metal or plastic or textile cable, that is continuous as it comprises two legs connected at both their ends.
• a two-way flexible member passes around the vertical shaft of each sprayer.
• the sprayer closest to said control station will be called the first sprayer, the successive one will be called the second sprayer, and so on till the last sprayer.
• the flexible member that passes around the vertical shaft of the first sprayer also passes around a support located at said control station, and will be called the first flexible member.
• Each flexible member other than the first pass around the vertical shafts of two adjacent sprayers, viz. one sprayer and the preceding sprayer, wherein "preceding" means the sprayer that is nearest to said one sprayer and is closer to the control station.
• Means are provided for displacing said first flexible member along itself, e.g. means for paying out one of its legs and drawing in the other leg, from said control station, wherein said means may be actuated merely by a manual action.
• Transmission means are provided for translating the displacements of said legs into rotation of said first sprayer about a vertical axis.
• Said transmission means may comprise, in an embodiment of the invention, the aforementioned first/second gear wheel of the first sprayer and a meshing first gearing, viz.
• the second/first gear wheel of the first sprayer meshes with a second gearing carried by a second, two-way flexible member, and when said wheel rotates, it displaces said second flexible member along itself.
• Said second flexible member engages a first/second gear wheel keyed to the vertical shaft of the second sprayer, and, when it is displaced along itself, causes said first/second gear wheel to rotate.
• the rotation is thus transmitted from the first sprayer to the second, and is transmitted in the same way from the second sprayer to the thirst, and so on, till the last sprayer. In this way the desired rotation is carried along the row of sprayers from the one closest to the control point to the farthest.
• the range of the water sprays also depends on the slant of the sprayers, viz. the angle that the axis of each sprayer makes with a horizontal plane. Therefore it may be desirable, according to an embodiment of the invention, to vary or adjust said slant. This would require rotating the sprayer about a horizontal axis, which can be done manually. However, said rotation, if desired, as well as other actions that may be desirable for the operation of the sprayers, such other actions being described for instance in WO 03/066168 Al, may be generated and controlled by control means, typically electromagnetic means, known per se, that may be included in the fans or in the supports of the sprayers or otherwise mounted. The concurrent actuations of such means is within the ability of skilled persons and need not be described.
• one of such control means may cause and control the intermittent cooling of cows.
• Optimal cooling of cows will take place when the water sprays are produced intermittently.
• cows will not be over-wet and water will be conserved.
• the air streams may continue to flow, so as to continue water evaporation and cooling from the cows.
• a feature of this invention is that, since the angular adjustment is transmitted from one sprayer to the next, it permits to adapt to any orderly configuration of the cattle, and particularly to any layout of the shed. For instance, if the cows are aligned successively along two lines forming an angle to one another, the sprayers may be similarly aligned, one of them being located at the junction of the two lines. If it is not necessary to place a sprayer at said junction: only a vertical shaft having two gear wheels keyed thereto need to be placed at said junction and it need not be the shaft of a sprayer. Several such shafts permit to deal with more complicated configurations of cattle and/or shed layouts, and with consequent irregular alignments of the cow positions and of the sprayers.
• the angular adjustment is transmitted from one sprayer to the next, where said level changes, by means of slanted flexible members; and the same means may be used to transmit the angular adjustment from one sprayer to the next in other configurations of the sprayers on a plurality of levels.
• Fig. 1 is a front view of a spray device rotatable about a vertical axis, according to a first embodiment of the present invention
• Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the spray device of Fig. 1 in another angular position.
• Fig. 3 illustrated the connection between the control station and the first sprayer according to an embodiment of the present invention
• Fig. 4 is a schematic plan view illustrating the application of the invention to two rows of cows in a shed
• Fig. 5A is a schematic plan view illustrating the application of the invention to two row of cows at an angle to one another in a shed
• Fig. 1 is a front view of a spray device rotatable about a vertical axis, according to a first embodiment of the present invention
• Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the spray device of Fig. 1 in another angular position.
• Fig. 3 illustrated the connection between the control station and the first sprayer according to an embodiment of the present invention
• Fig. 4 is a
• FIG. 5B is a schematic plan view illustrating the application of the invention to in a shed where a closed is formed by the sprayers' path;
• Fig. 6 schematically illustrates an embodiment of the invention when the sprayers are at two different vertical levels;
• Fig. 7 is a detail of Fig. 3 at an enlarged scale;
• Fig. 8 is a schematic illustration of a wind sensor; and
• Figs. 9 and 10 show an example of the influence of a transverse wind on the angular adjustment of the sprayers..
• numeral 10 indicates a static element of the shed, which can be a partition or a wall but could also be an open structure through which the water sprays can pass if the direction of the sprayers is reversed.
• the sprayer is generally indicated at 11, mounted at a convenient height on static element 10, in the way hereinafter described, and slanted downwards as required in order to obtain the desired range of the water spray, taking into account the said height.
• Sprayer 11 comprises a fan 12 and a water inlet through a water feed pipe 13, which, as seen in Fig. 2, may be fed from a water main 35.
• the sprayer is mounted on, and is angularly displaceable about, horizontal pivot means, which may consist of two pivots 14 or of a horizontal rod.
• the pivots or rod define the bottom side of a rectangular support 16, which also includes an upper horizontal side 17 and two vertical lateral sides 18. Said rectangular support, of course, is only an example and differently shaped supports may be used.
• Upper side 17, and therefore support 16 is solid with a shaft 21.
• Said shaft 21 is rotatably mounted in sleeve 19 which is attached to an arm 15, supported by to structure element 10, which keeps sprayer 11 at such a distance from component 10 that said sprayer may be rotated about a vertical axis as desired, even by 180 degrees.
• Arm 15 is shown as broken off in Fig. 1, but in Fig. 2 a way is shown of supporting it from structure element 10.
• Arm 15 is rigidly connected to a support 36, which in turn is connected to a sleeve or like hollow member indicated at 29, attached to structure element 10, through which wires or other connections can pass and be guided.
• this is only an example of a way in which arm 15 can be supported by to structure element 1O and many other supporting ways may be devised by skilled persons and implemented in carrying the invention into practice.
• shaft 21 is rotatably mounted in sleeve 19.
• Any suitable means not visible in the drawing, is provided for preventing said shaft from sliding along and/or out of said sleeve, e.g. a preferably annular projection can be formed around shaft 21 and engage a preferably annular seat in the inner surface of sleeve 19, or such a projection can be formed around the inner surface of said sleeve and engage a corresponding seat formed on the surface of said shaft.
• Shaft 21 carries an upper gear wheel 23 and a bottom gear wheel 24.
• a two-way flexible member is generally indicated at 25, and comprises two legs 26 and 27. It also comprises a gearing 28, viz. a row of gear teeth, positioned where it meshes with bottom gear wheel 24.
• member 25 is not seen in the drawing, but is similar to the end of two-way flexible elements 30 that will now be described and has a gearing, viz. a row of gear teeth, which meshes with the gear wheel carried by the preceding sprayer shaft, or, if the sprayer shown is the first, it engages an element of a control station, as will be hereinafter described with reference to Fig. 3.
• a gearing viz. a row of gear teeth, which meshes with the gear wheel carried by the preceding sprayer shaft, or, if the sprayer shown is the first, it engages an element of a control station, as will be hereinafter described with reference to Fig. 3.
• Two-way flexible member 30 comprises leg's 31 and 32 and gearing 33.
• Gearing 33 meshes with the upper gear wheel 23 of shaft 21 of the illustrated sprayer.
• gear wheel 23 causes one of the legs 31-32 to be drawn in and the other leg to be paid out.
• Two-way flexible member 30 meshes with a gear wheel on the shaft of the next sprayer, which is not seen in the drawing. Therefore, if sprayer shaft 21 is rotated by a certain angle, the shaft of the next sprayer will be rotated by the same angle, and the said rotation will be transferred from one sprayer shaft to the following one, all along the row of sprayers. If a sprayer is missing, but a shaft similar to a sprayer shaft is present, the rotation will be transmitted in the same way.
• control station for supporting the first two-way flexible member and for displacing said member to draw one leg in and pay the other leg out.
• the simplest way to provide this is to set at the control station a shaft carrying a gear wheel and to provide means for manually or mechanically rotating said shaft by the desired angle, whereby to rotate all the sprayers about their vertical axis. No flexible member need be provided after the last sprayer.
• the control station may be programmed to activate the sprayers to spray towards a desired direction for predetermined periods, during which the cattle eat.
• the control station may be programmed to activate the sprayers to spray towards a different desired direction and range for predetermined periods, during which the cattle normally lie. In this case, the control station may be programmed to activate the sprayers to spray while oscillating within a predetermined sector.
• Fig. 3 illustrates shows an embodiment of the connection of the first sprayer, generally indicated at 40, with a control station generally indicated at 41.
• Fig. 7 illustrates at an enlarged scale a detail of said connection.
• Fig. 3 could equally illustrate the connection between two successive lines of sprayers, set at an angle from one another and functionally coordinated.
• the control station illustrated comprises an arm 42 supported on structural element 10 in any convenient way.
• arm 42 is supported by a rigid connection 43, which in turn is attached to sleeve 47, similar to sleeve 38 of Fig. 2, which is attached to structural element 10.
• a two-way flexible member 45 carries two gearings, viz. rows of gear teeth, 46 and 51.
• Arm 42 supports a motor 48.
• Housing 49 houses a gear transmission from the shaft of said motor 48 to a shaft 53 to which is keyed a gearwheel 54.
• Gear wheel 54 meshes with a gear 55 keyed to a shaft 56, to which is keyed a gear wheel 50.
• Gear wheel 50 meshes with gearing 51, and therefore, when it rotates, flexible member 45 is displaced along itself, viz. one of its legs is drawn in and the other is paid out.
• Gearing 46 displaces sprayer 40 (only partially seen) in the way previously described in connection to Figs. 1 and 2.
• Other means in general any convenient means, could be used to displace flexible member 45 by drawing in one leg thereof and paying the other leg out.
• Housing 49 also conveniently contains the control processor which controls the operation. of the apparatus according to the relevant parameters, comprising the parameters of the wind.
• Fig. 4 schematically shows the operation of a row of sprayers 60 in a shed wherein the cows 61 are arranged in two opposite, straight rows 62 and 63.
• each sprayer 60 produces a spray 64 which reaches one of the cows 61, though it may exceptionally also reach second cow, as shown at 65.
• Figs. 4 and 5A are plan views; however, for the sake of illustration, the cows are shown as they would be seen in vertical and not in plan view.
• the control processor tilts all sprayers to be in a position that is essentially parallel to the cables 45, so as to save space required for tractors to clean the cattle's excrement.
• Fig. 5A shows a similar situations for a shed in which the cows 71 are arranged in two opposite rows each of which comprises two pairs of segments 72-73 and 74-75 respectively, the segments of each pair forming an angle ⁇ between them.
• Sprayers 70 are arranged correspondingly in two rows, and each row comprises two segments which form the same angle ⁇ between them.
• a sprayer 76 which transmits the angle of displacement from the preceding sprayer 70' to the following sprayer 7O".
• a shaft should be placed to transmit said angle of displacement.
• Fig. 5B shows a similar situations for a shed in which the cows 71 are arranged within the area of a closed polygon.
• Sprayers 70 are arranged correspondingly in two rectangles, and each row comprises four segments which form the same angle ⁇ between them.
• a sprayer 76 which transmits the angle of displacement from the preceding sprayer 70' to the following sprayer 70".
• a shaft should be placed to transmit said angle of displacement. This way, the angles of all the sprayers are concurrently changed using a single motor.
• the control station may cause all sprayers to oscillate within a predetermined sector, as well as to terminate the operation of those sprayers that are in an opposite position with respect to the wind direction.
• Fig. 6 illustrates the case that the sprayers must be arranged in two segments of row placed at different levels, due to the structure of the shed.
• the sprayers are assumed to be structured as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.
• the last sprayer 80 of the first segment has a shaft 21, actuated by flexible member 25 through its upper gear wheel 23. Its lower gear wheel 24, however, meshes with a gear wheel 82 keyed to a first slanted shaft 83, to which a second gear wheel 84 is also keyed.
• Gear wheel 84 meshes with gearing 86 of a slanted flexible member 85.
• gear wheel 84 displaces flexible member 85 by drawing in one leg thereof and paying the other leg out.
• Another gearing 87 is carried by flexible member 85 and meshed with gear wheel 88 of a second slanted shaft 89 and rotates said shaft.
• Shaft 89 has another gear wheel 90 keyed thereto.
• Gear wheel 90 meshes with a gearing 91 carried by another flexible member 92, which transmits angular displacements to a following sprayer, not seen in the drawing, in the same way that has been described hereinbefore.
• Fig. 8 schematically illustrates a wind sensor 95, which comprises a plate or flag 96 mounted on an arm 97 attached to a rotatable shaft 98.
• Sensor 95 preferably comprises means, such as e.g. spring means or a linear electrical potentiometer, for reacting to the rotation of shaft 98, so that it be contained within predetermined limits no matter what may be the direction and speed of wind that are considered possible.
• the rotation of shaft 98 generates a signal, which is transmitted to the control of the apparatus.
• the resistance scale may be divided to resistance ranges, each of which consisting of resistance values that correspond to turns of a selected gear wheel.
• the turns of said gearwheel are translated by the control station to a corresponding angle of each spraying device, so as to adjust its position and to determine whether its spraying or fan operation should be maintained or terminated. It is possible to concurrently control In extreme wind conditions, e.g. if the wind strongly blows against the desired direction of the water sprays, the said signal may cause the sprayers to stop operation in order to avoid waste of water.
• Figs. 9 and 10 schematically illustrate one example of the influence of the wind on the angular adjustment of the sprayers. Only one row of sprayers 100 and one row of cows, schematically indicated at 101, are shown. In Fig. 9, no significant wind is blowing. Each of the water sprays 102 is essentially symmetric with respect to an axis 103, which is the axis of the fan of the sprayer and is therefore perpendicular to the outer surface 104 of the sprayer. In Fig. 10, a significant wind 110 is blowing crosswise of the sprayer row, from the left as seen in the drawings, viz. from the west. To take the wind into account, each sprayer has been turned by an angle ⁇ counterclockwise, as seen in the drawing, viz. with the axis of its fan pointing approximately in a northwest direction. As a consequence, the water sprays have assumed the curved shape 111 and reach the cows in spite of the wind.

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• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Environmental Sciences (AREA)
• Zoology (AREA)
• Animal Husbandry (AREA)
• Biodiversity & Conservation Biology (AREA)
• Animal Behavior & Ethology (AREA)
• Housing For Livestock And Birds (AREA)
• Special Spraying Apparatus (AREA)

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Citations (4)

• 2004
  • 2004-01-01 WO PCT/IL2004/000001 patent/WO2005065447A1/en active Application Filing
  • 2004-01-01 CN CNA2004800422309A patent/CN1921751A/zh active Pending
  • 2004-01-01 MX MXPA06007656A patent/MXPA06007656A/es active IP Right Grant
  • 2004-01-01 EP EP04700021A patent/EP1703790A1/en not_active Withdrawn

Patent Citations (4)

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