Apparatus for measuring amount of feed using weight sensor

Abstract

Provided is an apparatus of measuring the amount of feed. The apparatus includes a feed tank, a plurality of sliders, a case, a plurality of guides, and a weight sensor. The feed tank includes a discharge tube disposed at a lower part thereof and includes a body filled with feed. The plurality of sliders is radially and vertically disposed on an outer surface of the feed tank. The case has a discharge tube insertion hole at a lower part thereof to receive a discharge tube of the feed tank and receives the feed tank. The plurality of guides is radially and vertically disposed on an inner surface of the case. The weight sensor is disposed under the guide and makes contact with a lower end of the slider of the feed tank to measure the weight of the feed tank and feed.

Claims

1. An apparatus of measuring the amount of feed, comprising: a feed tank comprising a discharge tube disposed at a lower part thereof and comprising a body for containing feed; a plurality of sliders radially and vertically disposed on an outer surface of the feed tank; a case having a discharge tube insertion hole at a lower part thereof to receive a discharge tube of the feed tank and receiving the feed tank; a plurality of guides radially and vertically disposed on an inner surface of the case; and a weight sensor disposed under one of the plurality of guides and making contact with a lower end of one of the plurality of sliders of the feed tank to measure a weight of the feed tank and feed.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the body of the feed tank comprises an inclination surface downwardly narrowing at a lower part thereof, and comprises the discharge tube at a lower end of the inclination surface.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the discharge tube has a blocking plate insertion slit formed at one side thereof, and the blocking plate insertion slit receives a blocking plate to close the discharge tube.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the discharge tube has a blocking plate insertion slit formed at one side thereof, and the blocking plate insertion slit receives a blocking plate to close the discharge tube.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of sliders has a cross-section of a T shape, and each of the plurality of guides has a cross-section of a U shape such that a protrusion of each of the plurality of sliders is inserted and guided in a groove of each of the plurality of guides.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, comprising a sensor supporting member disposed at a lower part of the case to support a lower part of the weight sensor.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the present invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments of the present invention and, together with the description, serve to explain principles of the present invention. In the drawings:

(2) FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a typical apparatus of measuring the amount of feed;

(3) FIG. 2 is a view illustrating the size of livestock pen according to the age of livestock;

(4) FIG. 3 is a view illustrating a typical livestock pen;

(5) FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a typical apparatus of measuring the amount of feed according to an embodiment of the present invention;

(6) FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the configuration of an apparatus of measuring the amount of feed according to an embodiment of the present invention;

(7) FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an apparatus of measuring the amount of feed according to an embodiment of the present invention;

(8) FIG. 7 is a partial side cross-sectional view illustrating a combination structure of a case and a feed tank according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

(9) FIG. 8 is a view illustrating a use state of an apparatus of measuring the amount of feed according to an embodiment of the present invention.

(10) Reference numerals set forth in the drawings includes reference to the following elements as further discussed below: 100: apparatus of measuring the amount of feed 110: feed tank 111: slider 112: inclination surface 113: discharge tube 114: outlet 115: blocking plate insertion slit 116: blocking plate 120: case 121: discharge tube insertion hole 122: guide 123: weight sensor 124: sensor supporting member

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(11) Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In order to clarify the present invention, a description irrelevant to the constitution of the present invention will be omitted, and in the drawings, like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.

(12) Since the terms including, comprising, and having can be construed as encompassing corresponding components unless specially described as opposite, it should be understood that they do not exclude other components but encompass other components. Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms have the same meanings as commonly understood by those skilled in the art to which the present invention belongs.

(13) Hereinafter, an exemplary embodiment of apparatus of measuring the amount of feed according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(14) As shown in FIG. 4, the apparatus of measuring the amount of feed may include a case 120 having cylindrical shape and a feed tank 110 having a cylindrical shape and inserted into the case 120.

(15) The feed tank 110 may be filled with a feed to supply the feed into a feed bucket 30 of a livestock pen 20. The case 120 may house the feed tank 110 and may support the feed tank 110.

(16) As shown in FIG. 5, the feed tank 110 may include a body having a cylindrical shape and having an upper part and a lower part opened. The lower part of the body of the feed tank 110 may be formed such that the inner diameter thereof gradually narrows in a downward direction. Also, a discharge tube 113 having a pipe shape may be formed at the lower end of the body of the feed tank 110.

(17) Also, a blocking plate insertion slit 115 may be formed at the discharge tube 113 formed at the lower part of the feed tank 110 to receive a blocking plate 116 in a lateral direction. When the blocking plate 116 is inserted into the blocking plate insertion slit 115, the blocking plate 116 may close an outlet 114 such that the feed filled in the feed tank 110 is not discharged through the outlet 114.

(18) That is, when a livestock pen manager pulls out the blocking plate 116 from the blocking plate insertion slit 115 of the feed tank 110, the feed filled in the feed tank 110 may be discharged through the outlet 114. When the blocking plate 116 is inserted into the blocking plate insertion slit 115 of the feed tank 110, the blocking plate 116 may close the outlet 114, blocking the feed from being discharged out of the outlet 114.

(19) The body of the feed tank 110 may have an inclination surface 112 such that the inner diameter of the lower part of the body gradually narrows in a down direction. Thus, when the feed is discharged out of the outlet 114, the feed in the feed tank 110 may be smoothly discharged out of the outlet 114 by the inclination surface 112, and all the feed may be discharged without remaining in the feed tank 110.

(20) The feed tank 110 may be inserted into the case 120, and the feed tank 110 may include a slider 111 radially formed on the outer surface of the feed tank 110 and formed in a vertical direction. Thus, the slider 111 may guide the feed tank 110 such that the feed tank 110 is inserted into the center of the case 120 having a lager diameter than the feed tank 110.

(21) As shown in FIG. 5, the case 120 receiving the feed tank 110 may include a body having a cylindrical shape and including an upper part and a lower part opened. Also, the case 120 may include a guide 122 formed on the inner wall of the body in a vertical direction, and the lower part of the case 120 may be formed such that the inner diameter thereof gradually narrows in a downward direction. In addition, the case 120 may have a discharge tube insertion hole 121 to receive the discharge tube 113 of the feed tank 110.

(22) As shown in FIG. 6, when the feed tank 110 is inserted into the case 120, the slider 111 radially formed on the outer surface of the feed tank 110 may make contact with the guide 122 formed in the inner surface of the case 120, and may serve to guide the feed tank 110 such that the feed tank 110 can be accurately inserted into the center of the case 120.

(23) In this embodiment, the slider 122 may have a cross section of a T shape, and the guide 111 may have a cross section of a U shape such that a protrusion (not numbered) of the slider 122 is inserted into a groove (not numbered) of the guide 110 and thus the guide 111 guides the slider 122. However, the guide 111 may also be configured to guide the slider 122 in another form.

(24) Also, a unit for measuring the weight of feed filled in the feed tank 110 may be disposed on the case 120. The unit may include a weight sensor 123 and a sensor supporting member 124. As shown in FIG. 7, the weight sensor 123 may be disposed under the guide 122 of the case 120, and the weight sensor 123 may be supported by the sensor supporting member 124.

(25) When the feed tank 110 is filled with feed, the weight of the feed tank 110 may be heavy, and the coupling part of the weight sensor 123 and the case 120 may be broken. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 7, the weight sensor 123 may be configured to be stably supported by the sensor supporting member 124.

(26) When the feed tank 110 is inserted into the case 120, the lower end of the slider 111 of the feed tank 110 may make contact with the top surface of the weight sensor 123 while the slider 111 of the feed tank 110 is guided by the guide 122 of the case 120.

(27) When the slider 111 of the feed tank 110 makes contact with the weight sensor 123, the weight of the feed tank 110 and the feed filled in the feed tank 110 may be delivered to the weight sensor 123, and the weight sensor 123 may measure the weight. Thus, the amount of feed inside the feed tank 110 can be measured.

(28) As shown in FIG. 8, the apparatus 100 of measuring the amount of feed configured as above may be disposed over the feed bucket 30 of the livestock pen 20, thereby conveniently supplying feed filled in the feed tank 110 into the feed bucket 30.

(29) Also, in the apparatus 100 of measuring the amount of feed according to the embodiment, including the feed tank 120 and the case 110, when a failure occurs on any part of the apparatus 100, the feed tank 110 can be simply separated from the case 120, and can be repaired. In addition, since any one of the feed tank 110 and the case 120 can be replaced, the maintenance is easy. Furthermore, since the disassembling and assembling are simple, the replacement can be quickly performed.

(30) Also, since the remaining amount of feed in the feed tank 110 is monitored in real-time by measuring the weight of the feed tank 110, the growth of livestock according to the amount of feed intake can be efficiently managed. In addition, efficient feed management can be achieved by controlling the amount of feed to be supplied next time through the monitoring of the amount of feed remaining in the feed tank 110.

(31) In this embodiment, although the feed tank 110 and the case 120 are configured to have a cylindrical shape, the feed tank 110 and the case 120 may be formed into various shapes such as triangular or rectangular shape.

(32) For example, if the slider 111 formed on the outer surface of the feed tank 110 can be vertically guided by the guide 122 formed on the inner surface of the case 120, the feed tank 110 and the case 120 may be formed into any shapes.

(33) The technical spirits of the present invention have been described through some embodiments above.

(34) It will be clear that those skilled in the art can variously change or modify the above-mentioned embodiments from the described details of the present invention.

(35) Also, although not described or shown in the drawings, it will be clear to those skilled in the art that the present invention can be modified into various forms including the technical spirit of the present invention from the described details of the present invention, which still belong to the scope of the present invention.

(36) The above embodiments described with reference to the accompanying drawings have been described in order to explain the present invention, and the scope of the present invention will not be limited to these embodiments.