Patent Application
20050230512
Object for the invention is a method for producing fodder portions, in which method fodder is unpacked from a fodder bale with an unpacking device for a fodder bale, unpacked fodder is prepressed with a prepressing device mainly into a solid fodder bar, the fodder bar is cut with a cutting device into fodder portions of suitable size and the weight of fodder portions is measured with a weighing machine located after the cutting device and on grounds of the weighing results from the weighing machine the weight and/or the size of fodder portions is automatically regulated. Object of the invention is also an apparatus for producing of fodder portions, which apparatus consists of an unpacking device for unpacking of fodder bales, prepressing device for prepressing of unpacked fodder into a continuous fodder bar, a cutting device for cutting of a fodder bar into fodder portions and a weighing machine for weighing of cut fodder portions as well as a control device for controlling a cutting device and devices before that as well as for regulating the weight of fodder portions automatically on grounds of weighing results from the weighing machine. In addition, object of the invention is a fodder portion package, which consists of several fodder portions attached with at least one binding element, in which fodder portions in a fodder portion package, have been produced by unpacking fodder from fodder bales with an unpacking device, by prepressing the unpacked fodder into a fodder bar with a prepressing device and by cutting a fodder bar with a cutting device into fodder portions with predetermined weight.
The basis of feeding a horse is good hay and/or straw. Traditionally oat is used additionally. In addition, various kind of industrial fodder is growing its share year after year. In terms of welfare of a horse, it is important that these nutritive substances suitable for a horse be fed in suitable amounts in suitable proportions. Especially, this is important while racehorses are concerned, since the amount of nutrition as well as the energy and nutritive substance content of nutrition play an important role in the performance of a horse. The regulation of the amount of hay and other different kind of straw fodder (in this application fodder) is very difficult while employing present dosing methods, while, for example, density of loose fodder unpacked from a fodder bale (the amount of solid material) varies quite a lot, due to which estimation of amount by visual estimate only leads to great variations in the amount of nutrition in a fodder portion in which case fodder is also wasted. In order to eliminate these problems the amount of fodder fed to a horse has been tried to measure by weighing every fodder portion given to a horse. In this way somewhat better results than what was described in the previous method have been achieved, but it is clear that weighing of every fodder portion before feeding is troublesome and slow, because the mere unpacking of a fodder bale in a controlled way by using present methods such that unpacked amounts would form suitable portions for one feeding time, is cumbersome.
For facilitating the unpacking of fodder bales and for eliminating previously mentioned problems, various kinds of unpacking devices of fodder bales have been developed. Some of them include devices, by means of which, out of one fodder bale pieces consisting smaller amounts of fodder than in the original fodder bales can be produced, handling of which smaller pieces is easier than that of loose fodder and which may, such as they are, be used as fodder portions to be fed to animals. Weight of these kinds of fodder portions varies and fodder portions produced in this way must be weighed in case the amount of energy and nutritive substances of the fodder they include is desired to be estimated.
The purpose of the invention is to provide a method, by employing of which the previously mentioned problems are eliminated. Especially, the object of the invention is to provide a method, by employing of which it is possible to produce fodder portions of defined weight and/or size as well as to pack fodder portions formed in that way into fodder portions with predetermined weight which can be stored in small space and which are easy to unpack. In addition, the object of the invention is to provide an apparatus suitable for producing of these kinds of fodder portions and fodder portion packages formed in that way, which is efficient and simple, and with which it is possible to produce fodder portions and fodder portions packages formed of those quickly and with ease. Furthermore, the object of the invention is to provide a fodder portion package for making it easier to handle and store fodder portions produced in accordance with the method, in which fodder portions package the fodder portions may be stored in such a form, which takes little space but from which they are easily detached from each other into fodder portions of the original size and by means of which it is possible to minimize the amount of fodder wasted. The object of the invention is accomplished by a method, apparatus and fodder potion package, the characteristics of which are presented in the claims.
Characteristic to the method in accordance with the invention is the fact, that two or more fodder portions are placed into a bundle press one on top of the other and/or adjacent, and that fodder portions placed one on top of the other and/or adjacent are pressed with a bundle press into fodder portions bundles. In this way, it is possible to have several fodder portions in a form taking only a little space such that separate fodder portions may, however, be detached from each other in original size while unpacking the fodder portion bundle. In addition, while unpacking a package/bundle it is possible to have fodder portions packed in this way to be of predetermined weight and/or size. Therefore, while feeding a horse (or some other animal) with these kinds of fodder portions it is possible to be aware of the amount of energy and nutrition the horse is getting without laborious and slow weighing of each fodder portion. Therefore, while employing this kind of method it is possible to eliminate the previously mentioned problems related to feeding of a horse and estimating the amount of nutrition.
In an advantageous application of the method in accordance with the invention, the weight of a fodder portion bundle is measured after a bundle press with a weighing machine and on grounds of the results, the target weight of fodder portions regulated on grounds of the results from the weighting machine before the bundle press is corrected. In case the weight of an uncut fodder bar is measured while defining of the size of a fodder portion, there appears a systematic error in the result due to motion of a fodder bar, which error may, in this way, be corrected. Due to this, the weight of a fodder portion may be regulated exactly to the desired target value.
In an additional advantageous application of the method in accordance with the invention, a fodder portion bundle is bound into a fodder portion package with a binding device. A bound fodder portion bundle forms a fodder portion package, which may be moved from one place to another and from which fodder portions of certain weight may easily be separated by opening the binds of the package. When a fodder portion is tightly pressed mere binding is enough, in case fodder portion packages are not transported or kept outdoors.
In an advantageous application of the method in accordance with the invention, a fodder portion package is packed into package material with a packing machine. In this way a fodder portion package may be formed tight and unspreading as well as is kept away from moisture and rain during transportation or while storing outdoors. Characteristic to the apparatus in accordance with the invention is the fact that the apparatus comprises a bundle press in order to place two or more fodder portions one on top of the other and/or adjacent and to press into fodder portions bundles. By means of this kind of apparatus it is possible to produce fodder portions in accordance with the method in accordance with the invention, which fodder portions are of certain weight and/or of certain size, and which may be separated from a fodder portions bundle/package of several fodder portions having the size of the original fodder portions while unpacking a fodder portion bundle/package. Therefore, while feeding, for example, a horse with fodder portions produced with this kind of apparatus it is easy to define the amount of energy and nutritive substances in the fed fodder.
Characteristic to a fodder portion package in accordance with the invention is the fact, that in between separate fodder portions there is a detaching area for making it easier to detach fodder portions from each other, and that the detaching area has been formed by pressing two or more fodder portions placed one on top of the other and/or adjacent against each other with a bundle press. A fodder portion package produced in this way keeps well together and fodder is well being kept and transported in a form demanding only a little space. In addition, due to detaching areas being included in this kind of fodder portion package fodder portions are easy to be detached from the package in their original size. While the size of a fodder portion is previously known the amount of energy and nutritive substances fed to an animal may simply and quickly be defined without weighing each fodder portion. This saves time and working costs related to feeding, for example.
Next, the invention will be explained in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which an apparatus in accordance with the method in accordance with invention is presented.
The unpacking device 1 consists of a rotating device 11 with a hydraulic motor for a round bale, lifting and narrowing devices 12, beams of the bottom grating 13 and a feeding reel 14 placed under these, which reel is run with its own hydraulic motor to the opposite direction with regard to the running direction of the rotating device of a round bale. The rotating speed of the rotating device and the feeding reel may be steplessly adjusted. By means of these devices, fodder on a round bale is unpacked from a round bale and directed to a conveyor belt of a prepress.
The prepress 2 has been formed of a conveyor belt 15, tightening belts 16 and flattening belts 17 and 18, the speed of which is also steplessly adjustable. The prepress 2 presses the fodder unpacked by the unpacking device 1 into uniform, in this case square by cross-section fodder bar, and moves it to the cutting device 3, with which the fodder bar is cut continuously into fodder portions of desired target weight and/or size.
The cutting device 3 is a guillotine-type cutting device of recognized construction, in this case, which includes a cutting blade 19 to be moved with vertical reciprocating motion and a counter blade 20 placed under it. While the fodder bar from the prepress 2 has pushed pass the cutting device to the weighing machine 4 so long that there is a target weight amount of fodder bar on the weighing machine, the cutting blade 19 is moved downwards to the side of the counter blade 20. As a result, fodder bar is cut and a fodder portion of desired target weight stays on the weighing machine 4.
The weighing machine 4 consists of a weighing plate 21, which has been connected to an electronic weighing device (not illustrated in FIGURE), from which the measuring data is transmitted to the central unit of the controlling centre 8, which central unit gives a cutting command to the fodder bar, when there is the target weight amount of fodder bar on the weighing machine. The weighing machine 4 includes also a clearing scraper 22, with which the fodder portion package on the weighing plate 21 is moved forward to the bundle press 5, which is placed after the weighing machine. In addition, the weighing machine 4 includes a pneumatic clearing device 23, which cleans the weighing plate 21 from any possible separate parts of fodder fallen from a fodder portion and other litter simultaneously with the clearing scraper.
The bundle press 5 has been formed of a pressing chamber 24 of square cross-section, with a pressing piston 25 mounted inside, which piston moves with reciprocating motion by a hydraulic cylinder 26. There is an opening 27 in the pressing chamber 24 at the point of the weighing plate of the weighing machine 4, therefore the fodder portion taken off from the weighing plate by the clearing scraper 22 falls to the bottom 28 (or on already fallen fodder portions) of the pressing chamber 24. The clearing scraper 22 performs the emptying process of the weighing machine while the pressing piston 25 is on the upper position. The pressing piston of the pressing chamber always performs the pressing motion while a new fodder portion has been added to the pressing chamber. The bottom 28 of the pressing chamber is movable in the direction of motion of the pressing piston and two opposite walls of the chamber have been diagonally serrated. The bottom is moved such that the pressing piston presses each fodder portion somewhat equally. After pressing the fodder portions of the same fodder portion bundle have been pressed more tightly than after prepressing stage such that fodder portions are placed tightly one against the other but between separate fodder portions there is a more loose space than the inner parts of fodder portions, so-called detaching area 10. In addition, the pressing chamber includes a portion counter 33 for counting the number of fodder portions to be pressed.
The binding device 6 has been mounted, in this application, inside the pressing chamber 24 of the bundle press 5. Fodder portions, piled one on top of the other and pressed into fodder portion bundles by a binding device are bound with binding elements into a fodder portion package to be handled as one unit. In this application, a binding band or cord made of plastic and reinforced with fibreglass act as binding elements. The bundle press 5 includes also a clearing plate 29 placed in the lower part of the pressing chamber 24 as illustrated in
The weighing machine 31 is an electronic measuring device of weight resembling in function principle the weighing machine 4, the data from which is transmitted to the central unit of the controlling centre 8, which defines the average weight of a separate fodder portion on grounds of the weight of a fodder portion package. This information is utilized while regulating the target weight of a fodder portion bar to be cut such, that the weight of a fodder portion 9 thus being cut would be as close as possible to the value planned in advance. In this case, the packing device 7 is a recognized wrapping machine (so-called wrapping machine with stretching wrap) by construction, with which it is possible to wrap plastic or some other suitable material that is possible to be wrapped with the machine around the fodder portion package. The packing device includes also a fodder portion package counter 32 connected to the central unit for counting the number of ready fodder portion packages.
While mounting a round bale to a unpacking device included in the apparatus in accordance with
While producing fodder portions and fodder portion packages made of them the round bale is rotated with the rotating device 11 of the unpacking device 1 to the direction in accordance with
The method in accordance with the invention may be realized, in many parts, differing from the previously mentioned application. In accordance with the method in accordance with the invention the fodder is unpacked from a fodder bale with an unpacking device for fodder bale, the unpacked fodder is prepressed with a prepress mainly to a solid fodder bar, the fodder bar is cut with a cutting device into fodder portions of suitable size and the weight of fodder portions is measured with a weighing machine located after the cutting device and on ground of the weighing data from the weighing machine the weight and/or the size of fodder portions is regulated automatically. After these phases, two or more fodder portions are placed one on top of the other and/or adjacent, after what fodder portions placed like this are pressed into fodder portion bundles in a bundle press. Further, after these phases fodder portion bundles may, only either be bound or packed, or carry out the both previously mentioned packing measures. Fodder portion bundles may also be left unpacked and unbound in case they are meant to be used immediately.
In addition, the apparatus needed to realize the previously mentioned phases of the method and the fodder portion package produced with it may, in many different ways, be realized differing from the example apparatus illustrated in
The invention is not limited to the presented advantageous application but it can vary within the frames of the idea of the invention formed in the claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20022206 | Dec 2002 | FI | national |
This is a continuation patent application of International Patent Application No. PCT/FI03/00958 filed Dec. 17, 2003, which is hereby incorporated in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/FI03/00958 | Dec 2003 | US |
| Child | 11149657 | Jun 2005 | US |
