Animal husbandry – Feeding device – Having electronic identification and feed control
Reexamination Certificate
2002-10-02
2003-09-16
Abbott, Yvonne (Department: 3644)
Animal husbandry
Feeding device
Having electronic identification and feed control
C119S051120, C119S051130
Reexamination Certificate
active
06619228
ABSTRACT:
The invention relates to a device for automatically supplying a predetermined amount of at least one sort of feed to an animal in a period having a predetermined length according to the preamble of claim 1.
Such a device is known per se.
It is an object of the invention to provide a device for automatically supplying a predetermined amount of at least one sort of feed to an animal in a period having a predetermined length, by means of which the supply of feed over said predetermined period, for example one day or the period defined by the visit of a predetermined number of animals (for example 40) to the feeding parlour, takes place efficiently. Hereby is meant inter alia that no unnecessary waste of feed occurs, while sufficient nutritive substances are supplied to the animal.
According to the invention, for that purpose a device of the above-described type comprises the measures of the characterizing part of claim 1. Due to this there is supplied to an animal a feed balance which depends on, preferably is proportional to, the sub-period which has elapsed since the last feeding of the animal. This makes it possible for the animal to obtain a uniform supply of feed, which appears to be extremely efficient.
In an embodiment of a device according to the invention, the device is suitable for automatically supplying the predetermined amount of at least one sort of feed in a period of time having a predetermined length, the computer being provided with a clock for determining per animal the point of time of supply of feed, the computer being suitable for determining the sub-period as being the time interval between the last supply of feed to an animal and the momentary point of time when the animal is identified by the animal identification means at the feeding parlour.
An embodiment of a device according to the invention is characterized in that the computer is provided with a memory in which are stored correspondence tables containing the size of the feed balance per animal per sub-period. This makes it possible to determine in a simple manner the feed balance belonging to a determined sub-period.
Alternatively or additionally the computer may be provided with a calculating device for making a division of the predetermined amount of sort of feed by the predetermined period resulting in a sort-of-feed quotient, and in that the calculating device determines the product of the sub-period and the sort-of-feed quotient resulting in the feed balance. Due to this the memory capacity can remain limited.
It is possible to supply the feed balance to the animal in one time. However, this has the disadvantage that it may happen that an animal cannot eat up the entire feed balance, for example due to the fact that it is jostled from the feeding parlour by another animal. Accordingly, in an embodiment of a device according to the invention, the computer controls the device in such a way that the feed balance is supplied to the animal in feed portions. When a feed portion is not eaten up by the relevant animal, the computer is capable of controlling the relevant components in such a way that no possible further feed portions are supplied.
Depending on the measurement accuracy of the relevant device it is preferred when a feed portion has at least a minimum feed portion size. As a result thereof measurement errors in the case of too small portion sizes, which may result in an inaccurate feeding, are at least avoided to it considerable extent.
Although the feed portion size may have a previously adjusted value, it is preferred when the calculating device of the computer calculates a calculated feed portion size of the feed portions. As a result thereof the feed portion size can be adjusted per animal and possibly depending on the prevailing circumstances. It appears to be extremely suitable when the calculated feed portion size is approximately 5% of the feed balance.
In order not to discourage an animal to come to the feeding parlour, in an embodiment of a device according to the invention, the computer is provided with a comparing device for comparing the calculated feed portion size with the minimum feed portion size, while, when the comparison result indicates that the calculated feed portion size is smaller than the minimum feed portion size, the computer controls the device in such a way that one minimum feed portion size is supplied to the animal. Thus there is always supplied a minimum feed portion to the animal.
Depending on grazing and/or, when the animal is a dairy animal, depending on the last time the dairy animal has been milked or the time when it is expected to be milked again, the animal should not be fed. In an embodiment of a device according to the invention, this is realised in that there is included a blocking time in the memory, the computer only controlling the device for supplying a sort of feed to the animal after, counted from the last point of time of supply of feed to the animal, the blocking time has elapsed. Said blocking time may have a fixed value or be dynamic, i.e. variable.
In order to be able to check whether the animal actually visits the feeding parlour for eating, when an animal is identified by the animal identification means at the feeding parlour, the computer controls the device in such a way that first one minimum feed portion size is supplied to the animal. When the animal leaves the feeding parlour after the supply of said feed portion, no further portions are supplied. This has also the advantage that an animal can eat immediately and has not to wait too long until the relevant feed has been composed.
In a further embodiment of a device according to the invention, there is included in a memory of the computer a minimum and a maximum for the amount of a sort of feed to be supplied. The minimum may also be a negative value, so that an animal can actually consume more of the sort of feed than determined by the predetermined amount for that predetermined period. The maximum may have a very high value, which implies that a sort of feed can be supplied to a substantially unlimited extent. The latter may for example be the case for a sort of feed constituting a so-called calming component, such as for example ensilaged grass.
Also when an animal does not consume feed during its visit to the feeding parlour, it is advantageous when the computer stores the points of time when an animal leaves the feeding parlour in the memory. Said points of time may be used for (example for behavioural study, but may also be an indication about the state of health of the animal.
In a further embodiment of a device according to the invention, the device is provided with measuring means for measuring the weight of the feed in the feeding parlour. This makes it possible to determine the amount of a sort of feed consumed by an animal. The measuring means may comprise a weighing device for weighing the amount of feed in the feeding parlour, although other means, such as picture recognition equipment, may also be applied. It is then also possible that the computer stores data in relation to the amount of remaining feed in a feed trough in the memory The calculating device can take this value for the remaining feed into account when determining the feed balance. The feed balance is in particular determined as being the product of the sub-period and the sort-of-feed quotient, which product is reduced by the amount of remaining feed.
In order to take remaining feed present in a feeding parlour further into account, in an embodiment of a device according to the invention, the computer is provided with a comparing device for comparing the amount of remaining feed with a minimum threshold value, the computer only controlling the device for supplying feed in the feeding parlour when the comparison indicates that the amount of remaining feed is below the minimum threshold value.
The device is preferably suitable for automatically supplying several sorts of feed to an animal in a predetermined period. The device may then be provided with a mixing device for mixing the sorts of feed befor
van den Berg Karel
Voogd Lucien Eliza Niels
Abbott Yvonne
Albright Penrose Lucas
Lely Enterprises AG
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