Barn Floor Covering Maintenance Device with Sensor-Controlled Pick-Up
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing devices for maintaining barn floor-covering materials are insufficient in maintaining the condition of the floor, particularly in dairy cattle barns, as they fail to efficiently manage soiled and unssoiled materials effectively, leading to discomfort and health issues for the animals.
Innovation Solution
A device with a controllable pick-up mechanism, adjustable rotation direction and speed of a rotatable tillage device, and a measuring system to determine the parameter values of the floor-covering material, allowing for precise control of material lifting and displacement, separation of soiled and unssoiled materials, and efficient energy use.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the pick-up device continuously lifts and processes floor-covering material, then the floor-covering is maintained, but energy is wasted on processing already clean material
Solution Approach 1:
A measuring device determines a parameter value (moisture content, temperature, or odor concentration) of the floor-covering material before it is lifted. The pick-up device is controlled based on this parameter value, creating a feedback loop that prevents processing of already clean material and optimizes energy consumption while maintaining floor-covering quality.
2Productivity
If the rotation speed of the tillage device is increased to lift more material, then productivity improves, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The rotation speed of the tillage device is made dynamically adjustable based on the parameter value determined by the measuring device. When the floor-covering material is clean (parameter value within threshold), the rotation speed is reduced or stopped. When material needs processing (parameter value exceeds threshold), the rotation speed increases to lift and process more material, optimizing both productivity and energy consumption.
3Reliability
If the pick-up device lifts all floor-covering material for processing, then clean material is recovered, but processing time for already clean material is wasted
Solution Approach 1:
The measuring device extracts information about the floor-covering material condition (moisture content, temperature, or odor) before lifting. This allows the control device to selectively process only contaminated material by comparing the parameter value against a threshold, extracting only the necessary processing action while skipping clean material to reduce processing time.
4Ease of operation
If the measuring device is positioned upstream to detect material before lifting, then processing decisions are improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The measuring device is designed to measure multiple parameters (moisture content, temperature, odor concentration) using a single integrated system positioned upstream of the pick-up device. This multi-functional approach improves processing decision accuracy by considering multiple indicators of contamination while avoiding the complexity of multiple separate measuring systems.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The device efficiently maintains the barn floor by controlling the lifting and displacement of floor-covering material based on parameter values, ensuring a comfortable and clean environment for the animals by separating soiled and unssoiled materials, reducing energy consumption, and promoting a pleasant living environment.
Implementation Method 1
the measuring device is configured for determining a parameter value of the floor-covering material present on the barn floor
Implementation Method 2
the parameter value indicates the moisture content, temperature or odor concentration of the floor-covering material
Implementation Method 3
the parameter value indicates the moisture content, temperature or odor concentration of the floor-covering material
Implementation Method 4
The blades and/or hooks lift the floor-covering material from the barn floor and carry it in the direction of the rotation movement
Implementation Method 5
the blades and/or hooks come into contact with the floor-covering material. The blades and/or hooks lift the floor-covering material from the barn floor
Implementation Method 6
the wet material is supplied to a top sieve and the dry material to a bottom sieve. After the manure has been sieved out of the material, the wet material is squeezed
Implementation Method 7
means for separating manure from the floor-covering material, in particular from sawdust
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A~2B
Figure 3~4
AI summary
A device which is moveable over a barn floor in a proposed direction for maintaining floor-covering material present on the barn floor, comprising: • a measuring device which is configured to determine a parameter value of the floor-covering material present on the barn floor, and • a pick-up device configured to lift floor-covering material from the barn floor, and • a control device actively connected to the measuring device and configured to control the pick-up device depending on the parameter value.