Cage and cage row structure
The cage with a mass scale facilitates stress-free, automated weight measurement of animals by using a load cell system, addressing the labor-intensive and stressful manual weight measurement methods in large-scale facilities.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- JP · JP
- Patent Type
- Patents
- Current Assignee / Owner
- HYTEM CO LTD
- Filing Date
- 2022-03-30
- Publication Date
- 2026-07-07
AI Technical Summary
Existing animal weight measurement methods in large-scale facilities require manual handling, causing labor burden and stress to the animals.
A cage equipped with a mass scale that includes a pair of side sections, a front and rear section, a frame, a separation floor, fixing bars, a base plate with a strain gauge load cell, and movable and suspension bars that allow weight measurement without manual intervention.
Accurate weight measurement of animals is achieved without causing stress, reducing labor burden and enabling automated weight determination.
Smart Images
Figure 0007886049000001 
Figure 0007886049000002 
Figure 0007886049000003
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The present invention relates to a cage for raising animals such as birds and a cage row structure.
Background Art
[0002] Facilities for raising animals such as birds may raise animals in cages surrounded by a plurality of planar structures formed of wires or bars. For example, in a large-scale poultry farm, there are a plurality of cage row layers in which a plurality of cage rows in which a plurality of cages are arranged horizontally side by side are stacked in multiple stages, and a very large number of birds are raised.
[0003] When raising animals, the feeding amount may be adjusted according to the stage in the growth process. Specifically, when the actual weight is smaller than the target ideal weight at that point in the growth process, the feeding amount is increased, and when the actual weight is larger than the ideal weight, the feeding amount is adjusted so as to decrease the feeding amount. Also, in order to keep the weight of the animal constant, the feeding amount may be adjusted. For such adjustment of the feeding amount, it is necessary to always know the weight of the animal. Knowing the weight is also required to check the health condition of the animal.
[0004] Conventionally, in facilities for raising a large number of animals, a large number of animals in the same growth stage are used as a population, a part of them is extracted as a sample, and for that sample, the weight of each individual is measured manually by an operator to estimate the weight of an individual belonging to the population. Measuring the weight manually is troublesome and time-consuming, so there is a problem that the labor burden on the operator is high. Also, for the animals, there is also a problem that being moved or touched for weight measurement causes stress. Therefore, there has been a demand for a technique capable of measuring the weight of an animal housed in a cage without requiring manual work.
Summary of the Invention
Problems to be Solved by the Invention
[0005] Therefore, in view of the above circumstances, the present invention aims to provide a technology that can measure the weight of animals kept in cages without requiring manual work. [Means for solving the problem]
[0006] To solve the above problems, the present invention provides a cage with a mass scale, "A pair of side sections, a front section, and a rear section, A frame supporting the pair of side sections, the front section, and the rear section, A separate floor section that covers the space enclosed by the pair of side sections, the front section, and the rear section from below, but does not come into contact with any of the pair of side sections, the front section, the rear section, or the frame, A pair of fixing bars, fixed directly or indirectly to the frame at a position higher than the separated floor section, A base plate is stretched between the pair of fixed bars, A strain gauge type load cell is mounted on the base plate from above, A movable bar is attached from above to the load-receiving part of the load cell, The movable bar is supported by a suspension bar that supports the separation floor section, The movable bar and the suspension bar do not come into contact with any of the pair of side sections, the front section, the back section, or the frame. The movable bar is pushed down via the suspension bar when the animal's weight is applied to the separation floor.
[0007] To solve the above problems, the inventors conceived of housing animals in a cage equipped with a mass scale. In this configuration, when animals are housed in the cage with the mass scale, the weight of the animals is applied to the separation floor. The separation floor is suspended from a movable bar via a suspension bar. Therefore, the movable bar is pushed down according to the weight of the animals. Consequently, the load-receiving part of the load cell is pushed down by the movable bar and deflects downward, so the weight of the animals can be determined based on this amount of deformation.
[0008] The separation floor, movable bar, and suspension bar do not come into contact with any of the pair of side panels, front panels, back panels, vertical members, or horizontal members, nor do they come into contact with any components of other adjacent cages belonging to the same cage row. Therefore, the weight of animals housed in cages with mass scales can be accurately measured by load cells.
[0009] Therefore, with this configuration, there is no need to manually measure the weight of animals; the weight is measured by a load cell simply by keeping the animals in cages. As a result, the workload of workers in measuring animal weight can be greatly reduced, and the weight can be determined without causing stress to the animals.
[0010] In this configuration, examples of "a pair of fixing bars being indirectly fixed to the frame" include a configuration in which the pair of fixing bars are fixed to the frame via each of the pair of side portions, and a configuration in which the pair of fixing bars are fixed to the frame via the front portion and the rear portion, respectively.
[0011] The trough unit with a mass scale cage according to the present invention, in addition to the above configuration, "The separation floor section is inclined to descend toward the front side, The load cell is a substantially rectangular beam-type load cell, with one end in the longitudinal direction attached to the base plate and the remaining part being the load-receiving portion. These are attached symmetrically to both ends of the aforementioned base plate, forming a pair. the law of nature, The longitudinal direction of the load cell is a horizontal direction perpendicular to the front-to-back direction from the front to the rear. It also coincides with the longitudinal direction of the base plate. "That is the case."
[0012] If the separation floor is sloped downwards towards the front, when animals kept in cages with mass scales lay eggs, the eggs will roll towards the front due to their own weight on the separation floor. Therefore, the task of collecting the eggs into egg trays or conveyors located on the front side of the cage can be performed without manual intervention.
[0013] Furthermore, this configuration employs a roughly rectangular beam-type load cell. If the longitudinal direction of the load cell were in the front-to-back direction, the deflection of the load-receiving part might be affected by the inclination of the separation floor. In contrast, in this configuration, the longitudinal direction of the load cell is in the horizontal direction, perpendicular to the front-to-back direction. Therefore, the deflection of the load-receiving part is less affected by the inclination of the separation floor, allowing for more accurate measurement of the animal's weight.
[0014] Next, the cage row structure according to the present invention is "A cage row structure in which multiple cages are arranged horizontally, At least one of the cages belonging to the aforementioned cage row is the cage with the mass scale described above. The frame is a frame that supports the cage row, In a cage with a mass scale, the separating floor, the movable bar, and the suspension bar are not in contact with any components of other cages that belong to the same cage row and are adjacent to each other.
[0015] This is a configuration of a cage row structure to which a cage with a mass scale having the above configuration is applied. In this cage row structure, in addition to the mode in which the cage with a mass scale is adjacent to a cage without a mass scale, it is also conceivable that one cage row includes a plurality of cages with a mass scale and the cages with a mass scale are adjacent to each other. In any case, when focusing on a certain cage with a mass scale, the cage adjacent to that cage with a mass scale is the "other cage".
Advantages of the Invention
[0016] As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a cage with a mass scale capable of measuring the weight of an animal housed in the cage without requiring manual work, and a cage row structure including the same.
Brief Description of the Drawings
[0017] [Figure 1] It is a perspective view of a cage with a mass scale which is an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] It is a plan view of the cage with a mass scale of FIG. 1. [Figure 3] It is a sectional view taken along line A-A. [Figure 4] It is an end face view of the cut portion along line B-B. [Figure 5] It is a sectional view taken along line C-C. [Figure 6] It is a perspective view showing a movable part in the cage with a mass scale of FIG. 1. [Figure 7] It is a front view of FIG. 6. [Figure 8] It is a perspective view showing a fixed plate, a base plate, and a load cell in the cage with a mass scale of FIG. 1. [Figure 9] It is a front view of FIG. 8. [Figure 10] It is a partial perspective view of a structure in which a gauge row to which the cage with a mass scale of FIG. 1 is applied and a conventional cage row are adjacent to each other. [Figure 11] It is a perspective view of the structure of FIG. 10 seen from the opposite side. [Figure 12] This is a perspective view showing the fixed plate, base plate, and load cell in a modified cage with a mass scale. [Modes for carrying out the invention]
[0018] Specific embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, an example is given of the application of the present invention to cages and cage row structures in a poultry farming facility. In this document, "upper and lower" refers to the upper and lower positions when animals are housed in the cage and used.
[0019] The poultry facility features multiple rows of cages, each consisting of several cages arranged horizontally, stacked in multiple layers. Long troughs for feeding are positioned horizontally along each cage row.
[0020] First, the structure of a typical conventional cage row 90R will be described. Figures 10 and 11 show both a conventional cage row 90R and a cage row 1R equipped with a mass scale cage 1, so these figures will be partially referenced here. Note that in Figure 10, the front section 91, the planar structure of the separation floor section 10, and the trough 85 of the cage row 1R are omitted, as are the back section 92, floor section 94, trough 85, egg tray 86, vertical members 81, and horizontal members 82 of the cage row 90R. Also, in Figure 11, the floor section 94 and the planar structure of the separation floor section 10 of the cage row 1R are omitted.
[0021] A conventional cage row layer 90R comprises multiple planar structures formed by multiple wires or bars arranged at intervals, and multiple vertical members 81 and horizontal members 82 that form a frame supporting the planar structures. The planar structures can be a structure in which wires or bars intersect in a grid pattern, or a structure in which wires or bars are adjacent to each other at intervals parallel to each other in only one direction. In the cage row 90R, the side on which the trough 85 is arranged will be referred to as the "front," and the opposite side as the "rear." Each cage 90 consists of a front section 91 that covers it from the front, a rear section 92 that covers it from the rear, a floor section 94 that covers it from below, and a side section 93 that separates adjacent cages, each consisting of a planar structure.
[0022] In a conventional cage row 90R, the front section 91, the back section 92, and the floor section 94 are all sized to cover all cages 90 belonging to a single cage row 90R, or to cover at least several of the cages 90 belonging to a single cage row 90R. That is, taking the floor section 94 as an example, there is one floor section 94 for multiple cages 90. The floor section 94 is inclined to slope downward toward the front. This is so that eggs laid by birds in the cages 90 roll forward on the floor section 94 due to their own weight and are caught in the egg tray 86 formed at the front end of the floor section 94.
[0023] In many poultry farms, two rows of cages 90R are arranged adjacent to each other with their rear surfaces 92 facing each other. In such cases, one side surface 93 is provided so as to span two cages 90 belonging to the two adjacent rows of cages 90R.
[0024] The front section 91, the rear section 92, the floor section 94, and the side sections 93 are fixed to at least one of the vertical members 81 and horizontal members 82 that form the frame. The cage row 90R may also be configured to further include a top section that covers the cages from above.
[0025] Next, the configuration of the mass scale cage 1 and the cage row 1R comprising the mass scale cage 1 will be described. Cage row 1R is equivalent to the conventional cage row 90R described above, in which at least one of the cages 90 belonging to it is replaced with the mass scale cage 1.
[0026] The mass scale cage 1 comprises a pair of side sections 93, a front section 91, a rear section 92, a separation floor section 10, a pair of fixed bars 20, a base plate 30, a load cell 40, a suspension bar 60, and a movable bar 50. The side sections 93, front section 91, and rear section 92 have the same configuration as described above for a typical cage row 90R.
[0027] The mass scale cage 1 shares its front section 91 and rear section 92 with another adjacent cage (in this case, a conventional cage 90) belonging to the same cage row 1R. In this embodiment, the cage row 1R to which the mass scale cage 1 belongs is adjacent to another cage row (in this case, a conventional cage row 90R) with their respective rear sections 92 facing each other. The mass scale cage 1 shares its side section 93 with a cage 90 belonging to another cage row 90R.
[0028] The separated floor section 10 is configured such that a floor support frame 10f supports a planar structure formed of multiple wires or bars from below. The structure of the planar structure is the same as described above. The floor support frame 10f is formed by assembling a pair of first bars 11 extending in the front-rear direction and a plurality of second bars 12 extending in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the front-rear direction.
[0029] The separation floor section 10 is separated from the floor sections 94 of other adjacent cages 90 belonging to the same cage row layer 1R. The separation floor section 10 has an area smaller than the area enclosed by the pair of side sections 93, front section 91, and back section 92, and does not come into contact with any of the pair of side sections 93, front section 91, and back section 92. The separation floor section 10 does not come into contact with either the vertical members 81 or the horizontal members 82 that form the frame. The separation floor section 10 does not come into contact with any components of other adjacent cages 90 belonging to the same cage row 1R.
[0030] The separation floor section 10, like the floor surface section 94, is inclined to slope downward toward the front. This is to allow the eggs to roll forward by their own weight, as described above. While the egg tray 86 described above was formed continuously with the front end of the floor surface section 94, the egg tray 8b for the cage with a mass scale 1 is separated from the separation floor section 10. The egg tray 86b is supported by the floor surface section 94 by being formed continuously with the egg tray 86.
[0031] A pair of fixing bars 20 are fixed one end to one of a pair of side sections 93 and the other end to the other of the pair of side sections 93. The fixing bars 20 are elongated members with an L-shaped cross-section, and one of the two sides forming the L-shape abuts against the upper end of the side section 93. Fixing pieces 29 are used here to fix the fixing bars 20 to the side sections 93. The side sections 93 are sandwiched between the fixing bars 20 and the fixing pieces 29, and in this state, the fixing bars 20 and the fixing pieces 29 are fastened together via the side sections 93 with bolts and nuts (not shown), thereby fixing the fixing bars 20 to the side sections 93.
[0032] The base plate 30 is a long, narrow flat plate that spans between a pair of fixing bars 20. Specifically, on each fixing bar 20, the base plate 30 is fixed to the fixing bar 20 with its end resting on the other of the two faces that form an L-shape. On the fixing bar 20, the position where the base plate 30 is placed is the center in the longitudinal direction.
[0033] The load cells 40 are beam-shaped with a roughly rectangular parallelepiped form and come in pairs. One of the load cells 40 is mounted symmetrically near one end of the base plate 30, and the other load cell 40 is mounted near the other end of the base plate 30. The orientation of the load cells 40 is such that their longitudinal direction coincides with the longitudinal direction of the base plate 30. In other words, the longitudinal direction of the load cells 40 is the horizontal direction perpendicular to the front-to-back direction.
[0034] The load cell 40 has a fixing portion 41 at one end in the longitudinal direction, and the remaining portion is a load-receiving portion 42 made of a strain-generating body. A strain gauge (not shown in the figure) is attached to the strain-generating body. The load cell 40 is attached to the base plate 30 by fasteners 37 that penetrate the base plate 30 from below, with the fixing portion 41 in contact with the upper surface of the base plate 30, with the load-receiving portion 42 close to the side portion 93. A gap is formed between the load-receiving portion 42 and the upper surface of the base plate 30. In addition, to prevent the load-receiving portion 42 from contacting the base plate 30 when it bends downward, a hole 35 is provided in the base plate 30 in the portion directly below the load-receiving portion 42.
[0035] The suspension bars 60 are erected upward from the front and rear ends of each of the pair of first bars 11.
[0036] There is a pair of movable bars 50, corresponding to the load cells 40. One of the pair of movable bars 50 is attached from above to one of the load cells 40, and the other is attached from above to the other of the load cells 40. Specifically, the movable bar 50 is an elongated member with an inverted L-shaped cross-section, and its longitudinal direction is the front-to-back direction. The movable bar 50 is fixed to the load cell 40 by fasteners 57 with one of the two surfaces forming the L-shape in contact with the upper surface of the load-receiving portion 42 of the load cell 40. The position of contact between the movable bar 50 and the load cell 40 is the center in the longitudinal direction.
[0037] In each of the pair of movable bars 50, a suspension bar 60 is connected from below to its front and rear ends. Specifically, in each movable bar 50, the front and rear ends of the other of the two faces that make up the L-shape are superimposed on the suspension bar 60, and the suspension bar 60 is connected to the movable bar 50 in this manner.
[0038] Furthermore, the movable bar 50 and the suspension bar 60 do not come into contact with any of the pair of side sections 93, front section 91, back section 92, vertical members 81, and horizontal members 82. In addition, the separation floor section 10, the movable bar 50, and the suspension bar 60 in the cage with mass scale 1 do not come into contact with any of the components of other adjacent cages 90 belonging to the same cage row 1R.
[0039] With the above configuration, when one or more birds are housed in the cage 1 with a mass scale, the weight of the birds is applied to the separation floor section 10. The separation floor section 10 is suspended from the movable bar 50 via the suspension bar 60. Therefore, the movable bar 50 is pushed down in accordance with the weight of the birds. Consequently, the load-receiving section 42 of the load cell 40 is pushed down by the movable bar 50 and bends downward, so the weight of the birds can be determined based on this amount of deformation.
[0040] The gap between the load-receiving portion 42 of the load cell 40 and the upper surface of the base plate 30, and the size of the hole 35 provided in the base plate 30 are set so that the load-receiving portion 42 does not come into contact with the base plate 30 when the upper limit of the weight of a bird is applied to the separation floor portion 10. The separation floor portion 10, the movable bar 50, and the suspension bar 60 do not come into contact with any of the pair of side portions 93, the front portion 91, the back portion 92, the vertical members 81, and the horizontal members 82, nor do they come into contact with any components of other adjacent cages 90 belonging to the same cage row 1R, so that the weight of a bird kept in the cage with a mass scale 1 can be accurately measured by the load cell 40. The weight of the bird is calculated by subtracting the tare weight (the mass when the bird is not on the separation floor portion 10) from the mass measured by the load cell 40 and accumulating the results by the number of load cells 40. If there are multiple birds, the average value is obtained by dividing by the number of birds.
[0041] In typical poultry farms, birds at the same stage of development (birds hatched from eggs laid on the same day) are raised in cage rows, cage row layers, or facility units. Therefore, by considering a large number of birds at the same developmental stage as the population, and replacing some cages with cage 1 equipped with a mass scale, and then determining the weight of each individual bird raised in that cage as a sample, it is possible to estimate the weight of each individual bird belonging to the population.
[0042] Furthermore, while the bird is being kept in the cage 1 with a mass scale, a load is constantly applied to the load cell 40. However, it is desirable to use the electrical signal output from the load cell 40 during the time when the bird is sleeping to accurately measure the bird's weight. If the bird is moving around, vibrations will occur in the separation floor section 10, and these vibrations will be transmitted to the load cell 40 via the suspension bar 60 and the movable bar 50, which may make it difficult to stably measure the bird's weight.
[0043] In this embodiment, a beam-type load cell 40 with a roughly rectangular parallelepiped shape is used. Since the separation floor 10 is inclined to slope downward toward the front, if the longitudinal direction of the load cell 40 were in the front-to-back direction, the deflection of the load-receiving portion 42 may be affected by the inclination of the separation floor 10. In contrast, in this embodiment, the longitudinal direction of the load cell 40 is set to the horizontal direction perpendicular to the front-to-back direction, so that the deflection of the load-receiving portion 42 is less affected by the inclination of the separation floor 10, and the weight of the bird can be measured more accurately.
[0044] Although the present invention has been described above with reference to preferred embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various improvements and design changes are possible without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
[0045] For example, the above example illustrates the use of a beam-type load cell 40, but other types of load cells can be used as long as they are subjected to a force from above and produce deformation. For example, if a column-type (cylindrical) load cell is used and the axis of the column is in the vertical direction, the weight of a bird can be measured based on the deformation that occurs in the radial direction perpendicular to the direction in which the force is applied.
[0046] Furthermore, although the example shows two load cells 40, the number of load cells is not limited. For example, if the depth (length in the front-to-back direction) of the cage 1 with the mass scale is long, the number of base plates 30 can be increased in multiples, as shown in Figure 12, and the number of load cells 40 can be increased in proportion to the number of base plates 30. In addition, the number of movable bars and suspension bars can be increased accordingly (not shown in the illustration). By doing so, even if the depth of the cage is long, the weight of the bird on the separation floor can be measured in a balanced manner.
[0047] Furthermore, the above example illustrates the application of the present invention to cages used for raising birds. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to facilities that raise other animals such as dogs and cats, or to animal hospitals, where animals are kept in cages and their weight needs to be monitored and managed.
Claims
1. A pair of side sections, a front section, and a back section, A frame supporting the pair of side sections, the front section, and the rear section, A separate floor portion that covers the space enclosed by the pair of side portions, the front portion, and the rear portion from below, but does not come into contact with any of the pair of side portions, the front portion, the rear portion, or the frame, A pair of fixing bars, fixed directly or indirectly to the frame at a position higher than the separated floor section, A base plate is stretched between the pair of fixed bars, A strain gauge type load cell is mounted on the base plate from above, A movable bar is attached from above to the load-receiving part of the load cell, The movable bar is supported by a suspension bar that supports the separation floor section, The movable bar and the suspension bar do not come into contact with any of the pair of side sections, the front section, the back section, or the frame. When the weight of the animal is applied to the separation floor, the movable bar is pushed down via the suspension bar. The aforementioned separation floor section is inclined to descend toward the front side, The load cell is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped beam-type load cell, with one end in its longitudinal direction attached to the base plate, and the remaining part being the load-receiving portion, which is attached symmetrically to both ends of the base plate in pairs. The longitudinal direction of the load cell is a horizontal direction perpendicular to the front-to-back direction from the front to the rear, and coincides with the longitudinal direction of the base plate. A cage with a mass scale, characterized by the following features.
2. A cage row structure in which multiple cages are arranged horizontally, At least one of the cages belonging to the cage row is the mass scale cage described in claim 1, The frame is a frame that supports the cage row, In a cage with a mass scale, the separating floor, the movable bar, and the suspension bar do not come into contact with any components of other adjacent cages belonging to the same cage row. A cage array structure characterized by the following: