DE8707229U1 - Feeding device for animals, especially horses - Google Patents

Description

Feeding device for animals, especially for horses

The invention relates to a feeding device for animals, in particular for horses, with a partition wall that blocks access to a feed storage area.

When keeping animals in groups, it is necessary to allocate a common feeding place to the animals where they can eat food frequently and undisturbed. For horses in particular, this type of keeping is much more species-appropriate than keeping them in individual boxes with feeding only twice a day, which means that the horses rarely eat food but in large quantities _, which is physiologically unfavourable for them.

It is known to design the partition as a rolling rack, whereby it can be moved into a feed storage area so that the animals can move the wall far enough to reach a feed storage area again. This design of a feeding device has the advantage that the animals can eat food unsupervised for several days if necessary. The partition is provided with vertical slots through which the animal can

Tiieodor-Heuss-Strasse 2
D-3300 Brunswick

Federal Republic of Germany

Telephone 0531-80079

Telex 09 52 620 gramm d

Fax 0531-81297 (COTT 2+3)

Tetegram address Patent Braunschweig

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for example, the horse can turn its head to get food on the other side of the partition* In the simplest case, the partition can be formed by a grid with vertical bars.

The known feeding device is suitable for feeding roughage, such as hay, which the animals can eat until they are full without any health risk. It is not possible to feed concentrated feed in this way, as the animals can only tolerate concentrated feed in small doses.

The invention is based on the object of designing a feeding device of the type mentioned at the outset in such a way that an individual feeding plan can also be adhered to for concentrated feed without the need for supervision by operating personnel.

This object is achieved according to the invention with a feeding device with

- a partition wall blocking access to a feed storage area and

- at least one vertical slot in the partition wall allowing the animal's head to pass behind the partition wall to take in feed,

solved by the following additional features of the feeding device:

- a barrier plate that can be moved vertically in the slot, the upper edge of which has a recess in the contour of an animal's neck,

- sensors arranged at the edge of the trough,

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- a collar adapted to the shape of the contour of the trough and having at least one sensor element,

- a locking device for the shut-off plate in its final position closing the slot and

- a circuit arrangement which opens the locking device depending on the output signals of the sensors.

The feeding device according to the invention therefore provides a clearly assigned feeding place for a specific animal, where only this specific animal can eat. For this purpose, the collar is put around the animal's neck. When the animal comes to its feeding place and, in the urge to eat the food, puts its neck in the recess of the barrier plate in order to push it down, the circuit arrangement recognizes the correct animal and opens the locking device so that the barrier plate can be moved downwards, allowing the animal to reach the roughage lying on the ground or the concentrated feed supplied via a dosing dispenser. It is necessary for the barrier plate to move back up automatically as soon as the pressure from the animal decreases. This restoring force can be generated by a spring. In a preferred embodiment, however, the barrier plate is connected to a counterweight which is more than the weight of the barrier plate. The counterweight ensures that a constant return force is available for the barrier plate at any height, i.e. that the return force does not increase as the barrier plate moves. In addition, the counterweight makes it very easy to adjust the force required to push the barrier plate down and to ensure that the barrier plate is gently returned to the closed end position without any risk of injury to the animals.

It is advisable to close the shut-off plate after
Do not close the locking device immediately to avoid
A short-term lifting of the animal's head during feeding should not lead to locking, which would disturb the feeding process. Preferably, a timer for the
Closing the locking device after closing the
The time after which the locking
However, the time interval must not be too long so that
not the eligible animal from an unauthorized animal;

can be displaced and the unauthorized animal can eat because the barrier plate is not yet locked. &iacgr;

In a very practical embodiment, the locking device is formed by a pivoting lever which is positioned approximately vertically upwards, the pivot point of which is arranged directly next to a sliding guide for the shut-off plate and the upper end of which can be swivelled into the guide. In this arrangement, the lever is swivelled into the guide by a small angle , for example by a motor , and
locks the shut-off plate. To unlock, adjust
the motor moves the lever in the opposite direction. This arrangement has
the advantage that the horse pushing for food may
already presses on the shut-off plate when it is still locked
If the sensors detect the authorized animal, the engine
switched on. The opening movement takes place in this
Arrangement of the locking lever perpendicular to the
The force exerted by the animal pushing for food is completely dependent on the
upwards lever via its swivel joint
The engine can therefore be kept relatively small and
Nevertheless, when the animal exerts full pressure on the barrier plate,
Open locking device.

The feeding device according to the invention should enable the animals to be fed even if they are left unattended for several days. In order not to cut the animals off from feeding completely in the event of a power failure, it is advantageous to
liability if the feeding device eleventh battery And a

Has a switching device that opens the locking device in the event of a power failure. This gives the animals free access to the roughage behind the partition wall, while the concentrated feed is regularly fed via electrically operated dosing screws that stop working in the event of a power failure. In the event of a power failure, the only thing that can happen is that the animals have to feed on the roughage for a certain period of time and do not receive any concentrated feed. This does not pose a health risk.

The collar provided according to the invention preferably consists of an oval-shaped plastic part with a rounded cross-section that is open at the top and is closed by a strap on its open side, with the sensor counterpart being attached to the plastic part.

The plastic part, with its rounded cross-section, prevents any risk of injury to the animal. Due to the open design at the top, the plastic part always hangs in the right position due to its weight, so that the sensor counterpart, which must be detected by the sensor on the barrier plate, always remains in the right position and can therefore be reliably detected. The strap is conveniently fastened with a safety buckle in the form of a panic lock, which opens when a predetermined load, for example 50 kp, is exceeded in order to avoid the risk of strangulation.

The feeding device according to the invention allows concentrated feed to be given in a species-appropriate form, namely in small doses often during the day. The feeding device therefore preferably has a concentrated feed dispenser arranged behind the partition wall, which consists of a storage container with an outlet opening and a notoriously driven conveyor screw connected to the outlet opening, which rises diagonally upwards relative to the horizontal, at the end of which an outlet pipe is connected &igr; which ends above a feed bowl* The diagonally

The upwardly rising conveyor screw reliably prevents the possibly fine-grained concentrated feed from trickling through, so that even small quantities can be portioned safely. The motor drive for the conveyor screw is released by a control circuit after certain time intervals and can then be started when the locking device is opened or by moving the shut-off plate into the slot.

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The invention will be explained in more detail below using an embodiment shown in the drawing. Show:

Figure 1

a schematic representation of a feeding device with a movable partition

Figure 2 -

a schematic representation of a section of the partition wall with a movable barrier plate

Figure 3 -

Figure 4 -

a view of a collar with a sensor counterpart

a schematic view of a concentrate container mounted on the back of the partition wall

Figure 1 shows a schematic representation of a sliding partition wall 1, referred to as a rolling rack, which is suspended on two parallel guide rails 2. The partition wall 1 separates an exercise area 3 - in the embodiment shown for horses 4 - from a feed storage area 5 on the other side of the partition wall 1. In the partition wall there are several vertical slots 6 in which vertically sliding barrier plates 7 are mounted. In the feed storage area there is roughage 8, which is raised into a feeding position for the horse 4 when the partition wall is moved by means of an inclined slider 9 reaching to the floor of the feed storage area 5.

Concentrated feed containers 10 are arranged in the individual slots 6, from which concentrated feed is conveyed by means of a dosing dispenser into a feeding bowl 11 and is thus accessible to the horse 4.

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Figure 2 shows the arrangement of the vertically movable shut-off plate 7 in the vertical slot 6 of the partition wall 1, whereby
partially the arrangement inside the shut-off plate 1 or in the
Inside the partition wall 1 is indicated schematically.

The vertical slot 6 is formed by two lateral U-shaped &iacgr;

Guide rails 12, into which laterally projecting |

Guide pieces 13 of the shut-off plate 7 engage and slide &iacgr;

An upper guide piece 13 is guided by a rope IM |

and a pulley 15 connected to a counterweight 16» the |

is guided vertically in the partition wall 1. The counterweight has |

compared to the weight of the shut-off plate 7 a small excess I

weight, so that the shut-off plate 7 &iacgr;&iacgr;&idiagr; the illustrated upper |

End position pulls. |

On the other side of the vertical slot 6 is. Immediately ä

next to the guide rail 12 there is a locking device j

direction forming locking lever 17 in a swivel joint 18 g

The lever is approximately vertical and points to |

at its upper end a laterally projecting flag 19, which in the illustrated locking position of the lever 17 in the

Guide rail 12 and the upper guide piece L

13 of the shut-off plate 7. On the other side of the s

Flag 19 is actuated by a link 20 which is driven by a gear 21 through 1

a motor 22 is horizontally displaceable. With the help of the &zgr;

handlebar 20, the motor 22 can release the locking lever 17 from j>

its locking position so that the shut-off f

plate 7 can be pressed downwards against the counterweight 16. The upper edge of the shut-off plate is designed as an approximately U-shaped
Hollow 23 and approximately the shape of the neck of a horse 4
At the edge of the trough 23, five

Places 24 are provided on which a coil Sp as a sensor 25 &iacgr;

e can be arranged. In the illustrated embodiment

The sensor 25 is mounted on position 24 at the top right. The
Connections of the coil Sp are connected on the one hand to an alternating voltage source 26 and on the other hand via a rectifier 27 and

A connecting cable 28 laid with play is connected to a differential amplifier 29 which works as a threshold value detector and controls a relay R30. If a piece of metal (Figure 3) as a sensor counterpart comes close to the coil 25, the oscillation behavior of the coil Sp changes due to electromagnetic induction and the signal change is detected by the differential amplifier 29. This activates a switch in the power supply of the motor 22, causing the motor to pull the handle 20 and thus the locking lever 17 away from the guide rail 12, thereby releasing the locking of the shut-off plate 7. The animal pushing towards the feed can easily push the shut-off valve 7 downwards with its neck due to the only slight excess weight of the counterweight 16 and take in the feed. After the animal has finished taking in the feed, it raises its head and, if necessary, moves away from the feeding place. When the pressure on the shut-off plate 7 by the animal's neck is released, the counterweight 16 pulls the shut-off plate 7 upwards into the starting position shown in Figure 2. An upper guide piece actuates a limit switch 33, which controls the differential amplifier 29 via an RC element 34 so that the relay 30 switches the changeover switch 32 so that the motor 22 pivots the control lever 17 back into the guide rail 12 below the upper guide piece of the shut-off plate 7. The resistance of the RC element is adjustable, so that the time delay for the locking can be adjusted and adapted to the needs of the respective group of animals.

Figure 3 shows a collar 35, which consists of an oval-shaped plastic part 36, which is open at the upper end and is closed there by a strap 37. The plastic part has a rounded cross-section with a relatively large diameter (for example 4 cm) and, due to its weight, ensures that the collar 35 as a whole always hangs in the correct position. A metal piece is pushed over the plastic part 36 as a sensor counterpart 31, which is connected to the

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Sensor 2,5 acting as sink Sp for detecting the animal belonging to the vertical slot 6.

The shape of the plastic part 36 avoids any risk of injury for the animal* Due to its shape, the animals get used to this unusual collar relatively quickly, so that after a short period of getting used to it, they can wear the collar 35 without any problems. The strap 37, which is preferably injected into the plastic part 36, is closed with a safety buckle 38. Figure 3a shows the principle of this buckle in a top view. It consists in the usual way of two parallel round bars 39, 40, one of which carries a pin 41 mounted on it so that it can rotate. The second bar 40 serves as a counter-bearing for the tip of the pin 41 and limits its rotational movement when pulled by the strap, which is pushed over the pin 41 with a hole.

The two webs 39, 40 are connected to two corrugated connecting pieces 42 connected to the respective ends of the webs 39, 40, which can stretch like a spring when a predetermined force is applied and increase the distance between the two webs 39, 40 so that the mandrel 41 no longer finds a support, so that the strap 37 is pulled off the mandrel. Of course, other closures known as panic closures, for example for riding stirrups, can also be used for this closure.

j Figure 4 shows a concentrate feed dispenser 43 on the back of the partition wall, directly next to the slot 6 with the vertically movable shut-off plate 7. The concentrate feed dispenser consists of a funnel-shaped downwardly tapering storage container 44, to which a conveyor screw 45 is attached, which rises diagonally upwards in accordance with the funnel-shaped taper and is controlled by a motor 46. The end of the conveyor screw is connected to an approximately vertically positioned pipe 47, which is above a feed bowl 48, which is slightly below the

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of the slot 6.

The concentrated feed exiting from the lower outlet opening of the storage container 44 is transported in carefully measured quantities at an angle upwards by the conveyor screw and falls into the approximately vertical pipe 4?, through which it reaches the feed hopper.

Basically, the transport screw 45 is started when the locking device opens after the authorized horse is recognized or when the barrier plate 7 is pushed down in the vertical slot 6. A further condition for starting the transport screw 45 is set by a timer, which prevents the small portions of concentrated feed from being consumed too frequently by the horse. Therefore, the transport screw 45 is only ready to start again after a certain minimum time has elapsed since the last activation.

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Claims (8)

1. Feeding device for animals, in particular for horses, with a partition wall (1) which blocks access to a feed storage area (5), at least one vertical slot (6) in the partition wall (1) which allows the animal's head to pass through behind the partition wall (1) to take in feed, a barrier plate (7) which can be moved vertically in the slot (6) and whose upper edge has a recess (23) in the contour of an animal's neck, at least one sensor (25) arranged on the edge of the trough (23), a collar (35) which is adapted to the shape of the contour of the trough (23) and which has at least one sensor counterpart (3D, Theödör-Heuss-Strasse 2
D-3300 Brunswick Federal Republic'DeutecWartd.:!. Telephone 0531-80079 Telex Ö95262Ögrammd Fax 0531-31297 (CCITT 2+3) Telegram address Patent Braunschweig a locking device (17,18,19,20) for the shut-off plate (7) in its end position closing the slot (6) and a circuit arrangement which opens the locking device depending on the output signal of the sensor (25). 2. Feeding device according to claim 1, characterized in that the partition wall (1) is a rolling rack. 3· Feeding device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the sensor (25) is formed by an electromagnetic coil (Sp) and the sensor counterpart (31) by a metal part. 4. Feeding device according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized by a timer (34) for closing the locking device (17 - 20) after closing the shut-off plate (7). 5. Feeding device according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the shut-off plate (7) is connected to a counterweight (16) which represents an excess weight compared to the weight of the shut-off plate (7). 6. Feeding device according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the locking device is formed by a rotatably mounted locking lever (17) which is approximately vertically upwards, the pivot point (18) of which is arranged directly next to a sliding guide (12) for the shut-off plate (7) and the upper end (19) of which can be pivoted into the guide (12). « i i &igr;&igr;&igr; t &igr;&igr;&igr; «14 4 I tit ItI · « 1*1 7. Feeding device according to one of claims 1 to 6,
characterized by a battery and a switching _device which opens the locking device (17 I - 20) in the event of a power failure. I 8. Feeding device according to one of claims 1 to 7» | characterized in that the collar (35) consists of a top | &lgr;.** *"ii»i ah /MrhlfKnm4 nnn KitncifeafenFffciSl 1 t "Zn \ with ahaor>Un(tatam I cross-section, which is separated at its open top by jl a belt (37) is closed and that the sensor element ⁴ | Patent attorneys
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Li/bk piece (31) is attached to the plastic part (36), Feeding device according to one of claims 1 to 8,
characterized by a concentrated feed dispenser (M3) arranged behind the partition wall (1) consisting of a storage container (44) with an outlet opening and a motor-driven conveyor screw (45) connected to the outlet opening and rising obliquely upwards relative to the horizontal, at the end of which an outlet pipe (47) is connected, which ends above a feed bowl (48)