Rotatable Element Demisting for Dairy Animal Optical Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Dairy animal treatment devices, such as milking robots, often malfunction due to condensation on optical windows caused by unfavourable weather and cleaning processes, leading to inaccurate detection and operational failures.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a rotatable element that can rotate independently of optical detection to perform a demisting operation before or during detection, utilizing heat from components like motors and electronics to evaporate condensation, and incorporating a cleaning device with a heating element to prevent condensation during cleaning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the housing is sealed to prevent water vapour ingress, then protection against condensation improves, but cleaning access and heat dissipation are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a housing that is substantially impermeable to water vapour but includes a transparent window that allows optical radiation to pass through. This flexible approach to sealing maintains protection against condensation while allowing necessary optical access for detection operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The rotatable element acts as an intermediary mechanism that serves dual purposes: it enables demisting operations by creating air flow to evaporate condensation, and it can be rotated independently to maintain housing integrity while allowing cleaning access from the outside.
2Measurement precision
If the rotatable element rotates during optical detection, then detection accuracy improves, but condensation formation increases due to cooling
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a preliminary demisting operation that activates before optical detection begins. The rotatable element rotates to create air flow and evaporate any condensation on the window prior to detection, ensuring clear optical paths while preventing condensation during the actual detection process.
Solution Approach 2:
The demisting operation continues throughout the optical detection process, maintaining continuous air flow over the window surface. This continuous action prevents condensation formation during detection while preserving detection accuracy, rather than operating intermittently.
3Measurement precision
If the housing is cleaned frequently to maintain optical clarity, then detection quality improves, but water vapour ingress and condensation risk increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical cleaning operations with a thermal demisting system. Instead of frequently opening or disassembling the housing for cleaning, the rotatable element creates air flow that evaporates condensation through heat from internal components, maintaining detection quality without increasing condensation risk.
Solution Approach 2:
The housing utilizes its own internal heat sources (motor, electronics, PCB) to automatically evaporate condensation on the window. This self-service demisting mechanism maintains optical clarity without external intervention or frequent cleaning, thereby preventing water vapour ingress risks associated with frequent maintenance.
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
Ensures reliable detection by maintaining a demisted window, reducing the risk of operational failures and improving the efficiency of dairy animal treatment processes by providing accurate information from the start of detection.
Implementation Method 1
The rotatable part provides an internal air flow which may cause the condensation to evaporate completely or partly
Implementation Method 2
parts contained in the housing which generate heat, such as the motor for rotating the component and/or the electronics, in particular the pcb of the control unit, add their heat to this internal air flow
Implementation Method 3
configured to optically detect the animal part by receiving transmitted optical radiation reflected by the dairy animal
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
AI summary
A dairy animal treatment device for performing an animal-related operation on a dairy animal comprises an optical animal-part detection device for optically detecting an animal part and for generating an information signal regarding the detected animal part, and a control unit for performing the animal-related operation on the basis of the position. The optical animal-part detection device (8) comprises a light source (23), a housing (21) with a window (22) and an optical detector (26) which is accommodated therein, and a detector control unit for the animal-part detection device. The housing furthermore comprises a rotatable element (28), and the detector control unit is configured to perform a demisting operation, independently from the detecting operation. In this way, any water vapour which has condensated on the window can evaporate due to the internal air flow which may have been heated by the heat generated by components in the housing. Thus, it is possible to ensure a clearer image for the optical detector in a more reliable way.