Intelligent cage paralleling device, cage paralleling control method and application

Abstract

This invention discloses an intelligent cage-combining device, cage-combining control method, and application. It includes an operating platform for placing poultry cages, with an automatic actuator on the platform for opening and closing the cages. The upper and lower cover plates of the cages are laterally slidably connected to the cage body. The cage-combining control method includes the following steps: stacking two cages, controlling an electromagnet to move laterally to the magnetic blocks of the two cages and then energizing it; then controlling the extension rod of a horizontal cylinder to reset, causing the lower and upper cover plates to be simultaneously pulled out, allowing all the poultry in the upper cage to fall into the lower cage. This cage-combining control method can be applied to poultry loading. The solution of this invention not only has the advantages of extremely simple structure and high cage-combining efficiency, but also significantly reduces the labor intensity of operators, greatly reduces the cost of cage-combining and transporting poultry ready for slaughter, and the required equipment cost. More importantly, it achieves a cage-combining method with almost no stress on the poultry.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention belongs to the field of poultry cage loading technology for large-scale farming, specifically involving an intelligent cage merging device, a cage merging control method using the device, and the application of the method in poultry loading. Background Technology

[0002] In almost all large-scale poultry farms, the issue of cage-loading and transporting poultry is involved. Currently, there are two main methods for cage-loading poultry: one is to manually grab multiple poultry ready for slaughter and put them into the same cage (i.e., cage merging), but this method has the problems of extremely low cage merging efficiency, high labor intensity, and high cost; the other is to use large equipment similar to harvesting machinery to automatically introduce multiple poultry into the cage and load them onto a vehicle. A typical example is the poultry cage assembly, filling method and device disclosed in the existing literature US6612918B2. However, this method has the problem that the equipment is very expensive (up to hundreds of thousands of yuan) and is only suitable for very large-scale poultry farms.

[0003] With the development of poultry farming technology, some companies have adopted a multi-cage poultry farming model, where poultry are raised in multiple cages and transported along with the cages. For example, each cage holds about ten birds, and at the slaughter stage, the cages (containing the poultry waiting to be slaughtered) are directly moved to poultry transport vehicles. Because the remaining space within the cages is relatively large (i.e., the poultry's activity space), the cost of this direct cage-based transport method remains high. In response, some companies have combined the poultry from multiple cages into one cage before loading the full cage onto a truck for transport. However, this method still requires a large number of birds to be caught and combined. Others use herding equipment to move the poultry from multiple cages into one cage. Both methods still suffer from low cage-combining efficiency, high labor intensity, and high costs. More importantly, they cause significant stress to the poultry, although they are slightly better than the traditional method of manually catching and combining poultry from ground-raised farms. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This invention provides an intelligent cage-combining device, a cage-combining control method using this device, and its application in poultry loading. This solution can at least effectively solve the problems of low cage-combining efficiency, high labor intensity, and high cost in existing methods.

[0005] The present invention adopts the following technical solution.

[0006] An intelligent cage-jointing device includes an operating platform for placing poultry cages, and an automatic actuator is provided above or to the side of the operating platform. The automatic actuator is used to open and close the poultry cages. The poultry cage includes a cage body, an upper cover plate disposed on the top of the cage body, and a lower cover plate disposed on the bottom of the cage body. The upper cover plate and the lower cover plate are both fitted onto the cage body in a lateral sliding connection.

[0007] Furthermore, the automatic actuator includes a vertical cylinder connected to the suspension rail, the end of the telescopic rod of the vertical cylinder is connected to a horizontal cylinder, and an electromagnet is provided at the end of the telescopic rod of the horizontal cylinder; magnetic blocks are provided on the outer sidewalls of the upper and lower cover plates to match the electromagnet; the magnetic block refers to a block with magnetism that can attract each other to the electromagnet after it is energized.

[0008] Furthermore, sliding grooves are provided on two parallel frame edges at the top and bottom of the cage, with the groove openings facing each other. The upper and lower cover plates are inserted into their respective grooves, and the lengths of both the upper and lower cover plates are not less than the length of the groove. This design allows for smoother, more stable, and more flexible cage assembly.

[0009] Furthermore, the cage body, upper cover plate, and lower cover plate all have a mesh structure.

[0010] A method for controlling cage merging using the aforementioned intelligent cage merging device, comprising the following steps:

[0011] S1, stack two identical upper and lower poultry cages together, at which point the lower cover of the upper poultry cage and the upper cover of the lower poultry cage are close to each other.

[0012] S2 controls the vertical cylinder to move, causing the end of the vertical cylinder's extension rod to rise or fall to the target height;

[0013] S3 controls the horizontal cylinder to move laterally to the magnetic blocks of the two poultry cages.

[0014] S4, first control the electromagnet to be energized (at this time, the electromagnet will attract the magnetic block), then control the extension rod of the horizontal cylinder to reset. During this process, the lower cover plate and the upper cover plate are pulled out at the same time, and all the poultry in the upper poultry cage fall into the lower poultry cage by themselves.

[0015] S5, control the horizontal cylinder to move again, causing the lower cover plate and the upper cover plate to reset simultaneously, and then control the electromagnet to de-energize.

[0016] As a preferred method, the steps for stacking two identical upper and lower poultry cages together are as follows:

[0017] S11, after the lower poultry cage moves to the target position with the conveyor belt, control the robotic arm to grab the lower poultry cage and transfer it to the operating table;

[0018] S12, after the upper poultry cage moves to the target position with the conveyor belt, control the robotic arm to grab the upper poultry cage and stack it on the lower poultry cage.

[0019] As a preferred embodiment, the operating platform is located next to the cargo box of the poultry transport vehicle; and after step S5 is completed, the robotic arm is controlled to grab the poultry cage below and move it into the cargo box.

[0020] As a preferred option, the cargo box floor of the poultry transport vehicle is used as the operating platform; and after step S5, the robotic arm is controlled to grab the poultry cage above and move it to the designated area.

[0021] Furthermore, the poultry referred to are chickens or geese raised on a large scale in poultry cages.

[0022] Beneficial effects: The solution of this invention not only has the advantages of extremely simple structure and high cage-joining efficiency, but also significantly reduces the labor intensity of operators, greatly reduces the cost of cage-joining and transporting poultry ready for slaughter, and the cost of required equipment. More importantly, it achieves a cage-joining method with almost no stress on the poultry. Taking the raising of 20 chickens in a single cage as an example, it only takes about 25 seconds to join 40 chickens into one cage (while the existing manual method of joining chickens takes about 6-8 minutes), and it only takes about 50 seconds to join 60 chickens into one cage (while the existing manual method of joining chickens takes about 6-8 minutes). The chicken cooping method takes about 10 to 14 minutes. The entire cooping process does not require manual operation (while the existing manual chicken cooping method requires personnel to repeatedly open, grab and close the cage, which is very labor-intensive and inconvenient to operate). It saves the cost of manual chicken cooping. The cost of cooping 10,000 chickens can be reduced by about 2,000 yuan. The cost of the required equipment (mainly the cost of two sets of cylinders, a simple mechanical arm and operating table) is less than 20,000 yuan (while to achieve the same efficiency, currently only large-scale poultry packaging equipment is available, and such equipment costs almost hundreds of thousands of yuan). Attached Figure Description

[0023] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the poultry cage in the embodiment;

[0024] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the main orientation when two poultry cages are stacked in the embodiment (the lower cover of the upper poultry cage and the upper cover of the lower poultry cage are not removed).

[0025] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the main orientation when two poultry cages are stacked in the embodiment (after the lower cover plate of the upper poultry cage and the upper cover plate of the lower poultry cage are pulled out).

[0026] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the state corresponding to step S3 in the embodiment;

[0027] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the state corresponding to step S4 in the embodiment (after the lower cover of the upper poultry cage and the upper cover of the lower poultry cage are pulled out). Detailed Implementation

[0028] The technical solutions of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0029] Example 1

[0030] Combination Figures 1 to 5 As shown, an intelligent cage-closing device includes an operating platform for placing poultry cages 1. An automatic actuator is provided above the operating platform for opening and closing poultry cages 1. The poultry cage 1 includes a cage body 10, an upper cover plate 11 at the top of the cage body 10, and a lower cover plate 12 at the bottom of the cage body 10. The upper cover plate 11 and the lower cover plate 12 are slidably connected to the cage body 10. Sliding grooves 8 are provided on two parallel frame edges at the top and bottom of the cage body 10, with the groove openings facing each other. The upper cover plate 11 and the lower cover plate 12 are respectively inserted into the corresponding sliding grooves 8, and the lengths of the upper cover plate 11 and the lower cover plate 12 are not less than the length of the sliding groove 8. The cage body 10, the upper cover plate 11, and the lower cover plate 12 all have a mesh structure. The automatic actuator includes a robotic arm for grabbing the poultry cage 21 (a common low-to-mid-range domestic robotic arm is sufficient, as long as it has the function of grabbing the poultry cage 21 and moving linearly), a vertical cylinder 4 connected to the suspension rail 3, the end of the telescopic rod of the vertical cylinder 4 is connected to a horizontal cylinder 5, and an electromagnet 6 is provided at the end of the telescopic rod of the horizontal cylinder 5; the outer sidewalls of the upper cover plate 11 and the lower cover plate 12 are provided with magnetic blocks 7 that are paired with the electromagnet 6.

[0031] Example 2

[0032] A method for controlling the parallel cage operation using the intelligent parallel cage device in Embodiment 1, comprising the following steps:

[0033] S1, stack two identical upper poultry cages 21 and lower poultry cages 22 together. At this time, the lower cover plate 112 of the upper poultry cage 21 and the upper cover plate 111 of the lower poultry cage 22 are close to each other, as shown in the figure. Figure 2 As shown;

[0034] In this step, the specific steps for stacking two identical upper poultry cages 21 and lower poultry cages 22 together are as follows: S11, after the lower poultry cage 22 moves to the target position with the conveyor belt, the robotic arm is controlled to grab the lower poultry cage 22 and transfer it to the operating table; S12, after the upper poultry cage 21 moves to the target position with the conveyor belt, the robotic arm is controlled again to grab the upper poultry cage 21 and stack it on the lower poultry cage 22.

[0035] S2 controls the vertical cylinder 4 to move, causing the end of the telescopic rod of the vertical cylinder 4 to rise and fall to the target height;

[0036] S3 controls the horizontal cylinder 5 to move, causing the electromagnet 6 on the horizontal cylinder 5 to move laterally to the magnetic blocks 7 of the two cages 1. The state at this time is as follows: Figure 4 As shown;

[0037] S4, first control the electromagnet 6 to be energized, then control the extension rod of the horizontal cylinder 5 to reset. During this process, the lower cover plate 112 and the upper cover plate 111 are simultaneously pulled out, and the state at this time is as follows. Figure 5 As shown, all the poultry in the upper cage 21 fell into the lower cage 22 on their own.

[0038] S5, control the horizontal cylinder 5 to move again, causing the lower cover plate 112 and the upper cover plate 111 to reset simultaneously, and then control the electromagnet 6 to de-energize.

[0039] Taking a cage with 20 chickens as an example, it takes about 25 seconds to put 40 chickens into one cage (while the existing manual method of grabbing chickens and putting them into cages takes about 6 to 8 minutes). Step S1 takes about 15 seconds, step S2 takes about 2 seconds, step S3 takes about 2 seconds, step S4 takes about 4 seconds, and step S5 takes about 2 seconds. Putting 60 chickens into one cage takes about 50 seconds (while the existing manual method of grabbing chickens and putting them into cages takes about 10 to 14 minutes). First, according to steps S1 to S5, the chickens in the two cages are put into one cage, which takes about 25 seconds. Then, the cages that have been put into one cage are stacked with another cage containing 20 chickens, and steps S1 to S5 are repeated once more. This is equivalent to performing steps S1 to S5 twice. The entire cage-joining process requires no manual operation (while the existing manual method of grabbing chickens and joining cages requires personnel to repeatedly open the cage, reach into the cage to grab the chickens, and close the cage, which is very labor-intensive and inconvenient to operate), saving the cost of manual chicken grabbing and joining cages. The cost of joining cages for every 10,000 chickens can be reduced by about 2,000 yuan (calculated based on a market price of 0.2 yuan per chicken). The required equipment cost (mainly the cost of two sets of cylinders, a simple robotic arm, and the operating table) is less than 20,000 yuan (while to achieve the same efficiency, currently only large-scale poultry packaging equipment is available, and such equipment almost always costs hundreds of thousands of yuan).

[0040] Example 3

[0041] An application of the cage-combining control method using the intelligent cage-combining device in Embodiment 1 in the loading of poultry (cage-raised chickens) involves placing the control panel next to the cargo box of the poultry transport vehicle; the specific application implementation steps include:

[0042] S1, stack two identical upper poultry cages 21 and lower poultry cages 22 together. At this time, the lower cover plate 112 of the upper poultry cage 21 and the upper cover plate 111 of the lower poultry cage 22 are close to each other, as shown in the figure. Figure 2 As shown;

[0043] In this step, the specific steps for stacking two identical upper poultry cages 21 and lower poultry cages 22 together are as follows: S11, after the lower poultry cage 22 moves to the target position with the conveyor belt, the robotic arm is controlled to grab the lower poultry cage 22 and transfer it to the operating table; S12, after the upper poultry cage 21 moves to the target position with the conveyor belt, the robotic arm is controlled again to grab the upper poultry cage 21 and stack it on the lower poultry cage 22.

[0044] S2 controls the vertical cylinder 4 to move, causing the end of the telescopic rod of the vertical cylinder 4 to rise and fall to the target height;

[0045] S3 controls the horizontal cylinder 5 to move, causing the electromagnet 6 on the horizontal cylinder 5 to move laterally to the magnetic blocks 7 of the two cages 1. The state at this time is as follows: Figure 4 As shown;

[0046] S4, first control the electromagnet 6 to be energized, then control the extension rod of the horizontal cylinder 5 to reset. During this process, the lower cover plate 112 and the upper cover plate 111 are simultaneously pulled out, and the state at this time is as follows. Figure 5 As shown, all the poultry in the upper cage 21 fell into the lower cage 22 on their own.

[0047] S5, control the horizontal cylinder 5 to move again, drive the lower cover plate 112 and the upper cover plate 111 to reset simultaneously, and then control the electromagnet 6 to de-energize.

[0048] S6 controls the robotic arm to grab the poultry cage 22 below and move it into the cargo box of the poultry transport vehicle.

[0049] Example 4

[0050] An application of the cage-combining control method using the intelligent cage-combining device in Embodiment 1 in the loading of poultry (cage-raised chickens) involves using the cargo box floor of the poultry transport vehicle as an operating platform; the specific application implementation steps include:

[0051] S1, stack two identical upper poultry cages 21 and lower poultry cages 22 together. At this time, the lower cover plate 112 of the upper poultry cage 21 and the upper cover plate 111 of the lower poultry cage 22 are close to each other, as shown in the figure. Figure 2 As shown;

[0052] In this step, the specific steps for stacking two identical upper poultry cages 21 and lower poultry cages 22 together are as follows: S11, after the lower poultry cage 22 moves to the target position with the conveyor belt, the robotic arm is controlled to grab the lower poultry cage 22 and transfer it to the operating table (i.e., the cargo box of the poultry transport vehicle); S12, after the upper poultry cage 21 moves to the target position with the conveyor belt, the robotic arm is controlled again to grab the upper poultry cage 21 and stack it on the lower poultry cage 22.

[0053] S2 controls the vertical cylinder 4 to move, causing the end of the telescopic rod of the vertical cylinder 4 to rise and fall to the target height;

[0054] S3 controls the horizontal cylinder 5 to move, causing the electromagnet 6 on the horizontal cylinder 5 to move laterally to the magnetic blocks 7 of the two cages 1. The state at this time is as follows: Figure 4 As shown;

[0055] S4, first control the electromagnet 6 to be energized, then control the extension rod of the horizontal cylinder 5 to reset. During this process, the lower cover plate 112 and the upper cover plate 111 are simultaneously pulled out, and the state at this time is as follows. Figure 5 As shown, all the poultry in the upper cage 21 fell into the lower cage 22 on their own.

[0056] S5, control the horizontal cylinder 5 to move again, drive the lower cover plate 112 and the upper cover plate 111 to reset simultaneously, and then control the electromagnet 6 to de-energize.

[0057] S61, control the robotic arm to grab the upper poultry cage 21 and move it to the designated area. At this time, the lower poultry cage 22 and the chickens inside it remain in the cargo box of the poultry transport vehicle.

[0058] Taking a poultry transport vehicle that can accommodate 1800 chickens at a time as an example, it involves 90 cages 21. With 60 chickens grouped into one cage 21, according to the schemes in Embodiments 3 or 4, only 30 cages 21 need to be loaded. The entire loading time for 30 cages 21 is approximately half an hour, after which they can be transported to their destination in one go. However, using the traditional direct cage-based transport method (forklift loading or rail-based manual loading), loading 30 cages 21 takes approximately 50 minutes, and crucially, it requires three separate transports to reach the destination. In comparison, the cage-grouping cost of this invention can be reduced by approximately 30%, and the cage-grouping transport cost can be reduced by at least approximately 60%.

[0059] Furthermore, the scheme described in the foregoing embodiments can be used to combine caged geese into one cage.

[0060] The solution of this invention not only has the advantages of extremely simple structure and high cage-joining efficiency, but also significantly reduces the labor intensity of operators, greatly reduces the cost of cage-joining and transportation of poultry to be sold and the cost of required equipment. More importantly, it achieves a cage-joining method that causes almost no stress to the poultry, because in the short time after the cover is pulled out, the poultry in the upper cage falls into the upper cage in a manner similar to jumping, which is in line with the physiological habits of poultry and will hardly cause them any stress.

Claims

1. A method for controlling the parallel cage operation using an intelligent parallel cage device, characterized in that, The intelligent cage-combining device includes an operating platform for placing poultry cages (1), characterized in that: an automatic actuator is provided above or to the side of the operating platform, the automatic actuator being used at least to open and close the poultry cages (1); wherein, the poultry cage (1) includes a cage body (10), an upper cover plate (11) provided on the top of the cage body (10), and a lower cover plate (12) provided at the bottom of the cage body (10), the upper cover plate (11) and the lower cover plate (12) being fitted onto the cage body (10) by means of a horizontal sliding connection; the automatic actuator includes a vertical cylinder (4) connected to a suspension rail (3), the end of the telescopic rod of the vertical cylinder (4) being connected to A horizontal cylinder (5) is connected to the telescopic rod of the horizontal cylinder (5), and an electromagnet (6) is provided at the end of the telescopic rod. A magnetic block (7) matching the electromagnet (6) is provided on the outer side wall of the upper cover plate (11) and the lower cover plate (12). A sliding groove (8) is provided on two parallel frame edges at the top and bottom of the cage (10). The groove openings of the sliding groove (8) are arranged face to face. The upper cover plate (11) and the lower cover plate (12) are respectively inserted into the corresponding sliding groove (8), and the length of the upper cover plate (11) and the lower cover plate (12) is not less than the length of the sliding groove (8). The cage (10), the upper cover plate (11) and the lower cover plate (12) all have a mesh structure. The method steps include: S1, stack two identical upper poultry cages (21) and lower poultry cages (22) together, at which point the lower cover plate (112) of the upper poultry cage (21) and the upper cover plate (111) of the lower poultry cage (22) are close to each other; S2, control the vertical cylinder (4) to move, so that the end of the telescopic rod of the vertical cylinder (4) rises and falls to the target height; S3, control the horizontal cylinder (5) to move the electromagnet (6) on the horizontal cylinder (5) laterally to the magnetic block (7) of the two poultry cages (1); S4, first control the electromagnet (6) to be energized, then control the telescopic rod of the horizontal cylinder (5) to be reset. During this process, the lower cover plate (112) and the upper cover plate (111) are pulled out at the same time, and all the poultry in the upper poultry cage (21) fall into the lower poultry cage (22) by themselves. S5, control the horizontal cylinder (5) to move again, drive the lower cover plate (112) and the upper cover plate (111) to reset at the same time, and then control the electromagnet (6) to de-energize.

2. The co-cage control method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The steps for stacking two identical upper poultry cages (21) and lower poultry cages (22) together are as follows: S11, when the lower poultry cage (22) moves to the target position with the conveyor belt, control the robotic arm to grab the lower poultry cage (22) and transfer it to the operating table; S12, after the upper poultry cage (21) moves to the target position with the conveyor belt, control the robotic arm to grab the upper poultry cage (21) and place it on the lower poultry cage (22).

3. The application of the cage control method as described in claim 2 in poultry loading, characterized in that: The control panel is set next to the cargo box of the poultry transport vehicle; and after step S5, the robotic arm is controlled to grab the poultry cage (22) below and move it into the cargo box.

4. The application of the cage control method as described in claim 2 in poultry loading, characterized in that: The bottom of the cargo box of the poultry transport vehicle is used as the operating platform; and after step S5, the robotic arm is controlled to grab the poultry cage (21) above and move it to the designated area.

5. The application as described in claim 3 or 4, characterized in that: The poultry referred to are chickens or geese raised on a large scale in cages.

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