Programmable apparatus and method for delivering microingredient feed additives by weight

• US 5,340,211 A
• Filed: 11/17/1993
• Issued: 08/23/1994
• Est. Priority Date: 02/26/1986
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Micro Beef Technologies Ltd (MWI Veterinary Supply Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Micro Chemical Inc.
• Inventors: Pratt, William C.
• Primary Examiner(s): JENKINS, ROBERT
• Application Number:
  US08/154,636
• Time in Patent Office: 279 Days
• Field of Search: 366/141, 366/142, 366/140, 366/151, 366/152, 366/160, 366/161, 366/154, 366/18, 366/17, 366/19, 366/20, 366/21, 141/83, 141/104, 414/21, 414/294, 414/282, 222/57, 222/77, 222/58, 222/59
• US Class Current: 366/141
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 5/0216 for the distribution of liquid fodder A01K9/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 2101/18 Mixing animal food ingredients
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 23/53 using driven stirrers
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 23/56 by introducing solids in liquids, e.g. dispersing or dissolving
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 23/60 Mixing solids with solids
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 25/901 using one central conveyor or several separate conveyors, e.g. belt, screw conveyors or vibrating tables, for discharging flows from receptacles, e.g. in layers
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 35/71 Feed mechanisms with proportioning B01F35/80
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 35/712 for feeding fluids
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 35/714 for feeding predetermined amounts B01F35/88 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 35/7173 using gravity, e.g. from a hopper
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 35/71731 using a hopper
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 35/71805 using valves, gates, orifices or openings
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 35/7544 using pumps
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 35/881 by weighing, e.g. with automatic discharge
• CPC Class Codes: G01G 15/001 Volumetric pre-dispensing to an estimated weight; Gravimetric make-up device for target device
• CPC Class Codes: G01G 19/24 using a single weighing apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: G01G 23/06 Means for damping oscillations, e.g. of weigh beams
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 11/001 with discontinuous action
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 11/134 by sensing the weight of the individual components

Abstract

A method and apparatus whereby livestock and poultry are administered feed additives in their feed ration. The apparatus stores additive concentrates separately until just prior to use, then on demand dispenses the additive concentrates into one or more weigh hoppers for weighing therein. The weighed contents of the weigh hoppers are discharged into a liquid carrier within a mixing vessel where the dispensed additives are diluted, suspended, and dispersed by mixing. The resulting carrier-and-additive slurry is pumped to a receiving station for mixing with a feed ration. The weighing components are isolated from movements that would affect additive weight determinations during the weighing process so that accurate measurements of additive weights are obtained. Dispensing and weighing of multiple additives within a single weigh hopper are sequential. Each additive may be weighed and discharged from the hopper individually or cumulatively with other additives. With multiple weigh hoppers, dispensing, weighing and discharge of additives from the different hoppers can occur simultaneously or independently. A programmable control can program the apparatuses for dispensing either entirely on a weight basis, partly on a weight basis and partly on a metering basis, on a weight-compensated metering basis, or entirely on a metering basis if the weighing means malfunctions.

Claims

1. A method of dispensing and delivering microingredient feed additives into a livestock feed ration shortly before delivering the feed ration to the livestock for consumption, comprising the steps:

storing separately multiple said additives in concentrate form, including multiple additives in liquid concentrate form and at least one of said multiple additives in solid particulate concentrate form;

dispensing a predetermined amount of said solid particulate concentrate by weight into a liquid carrier;

dispensing predetermined amounts of at least two selected said liquid additive concentrates into a liquid carrier by volume;

intermixing the additive concentrates in the liquid carrier, including both the solid particulate additive concentrate and the liquid additive concentrates, to dilute, disperse, and suspend them and form a liquid carrier-additive slurry;

after forming the slurry, directing the slurry to a receiving station while maintaining the suspension and dispersion of the additives until delivered into a feed ration.

2. A method of dispensing and delivering microingredient feed additives into a livestock feed ration shortly before delivering the feed ration to the livestock for consumption, comprising the steps:

storing separately multiple said additives in concentrate form;

dispensing selected said additives from their respective storage means into a weigh hopper means, weighing each selected additive in the weigh hopper means, and stopping the dispensing of each selected additive into the weigh hopper means when a predetermined weight of the selected additive is weighed;

discharging each selected additive from the weigh hopper means into a pool of liquid carrier after the additive has been weighed; and

positively intermixing the selected weighed additives with the pool of liquid carrier to disperse and suspend the additives in the pool to create an additive-carrier slurry; and

pumping the slurry into a feed ration and positively mixing the slurry with the feed ration before delivering the feed ration to the livestock for consumption.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the pool contains a predetermined volume of liquid carrier.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the pool is in a receiving tank beneath the weigh hopper means and the slurry is formed before being discharged from the receiving tank.

5. The method of claim 2 wherein the selected additives are cumulatively weighed in the weigh hopper means before any of the selected additives are discharged from the hopper means into the pool.

6. The method of claim 2 wherein at least some of the selected additives are cumulatively weighed in the weigh hopper means before being discharged from the hopper means into the pool.

7. A method of dispensing and delivering microingredient feed additives into a livestock feed ration shortly before delivering the feed ration to the livestock for consumption, comprising the steps:

storing separately multiple said additives in concentrate form;

dispensing predetermined weights of selected said additive concentrates from their storage means and depositing the selected additives after weighing into a liquid carrier;

intermixing the selected additives in the liquid carrier to dilute, disperse and suspend them and form a liquid carrier-additive slurry;

directing the slurry into a feed ration;

the step of dispensing predetermined weights including weighing multiple additive concentrates simultaneously.

8. The method of claim 7 including weighing multiple additive concentrates simultaneously by measuring the loss-of-weight of their respective storage means as the additive concentrates are dispensed from said storage means.

9. The method of claim 7 including weighing multiple additive concentrates simultaneously by measuring the loss-of-weight of their respective storage means as the additive concentrates are dispensed from said storage means.

10. A method of dispensing and delivering microingredient feed additives into a livestock feed ration shortly before delivering the feed ration to the livestock for consumption, comprising the steps:

storing separately multiple said additives in concentrate form, including multiple additives in liquid concentrate form;

dispensing predetermined amounts of at least two selected said liquid additive concentrates by weight into a liquid carrier;

intermixing the additive concentrates in the liquid carrier to dilute, disperse and suspend them in the carrier;

directing the additive-carrier mixture into a feed ration and intermixing the mixture and the feed ration.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the multiple additives include both multiple liquid additives and multiple dry additives in concentrate form and wherein both the selected multiple liquid additives and at least one selected said dry additive are dispensed by weight into the liquid carrier and are intermixed therein.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the multiple liquid additives are dispensed by weight by weighing them in a weighing container means after they are dispensed from their storage means and before they are discharged into the liquid carrier.

13. A method of dispensing and delivering microingredient feed additives into a livestock feed ration shortly before delivering the feed ration to the livestock for consumption, comprising the steps:

storing separately multiple said additives in concentrate form, including at least one said additive in liquid concentrate form and at least one said additive in solid particulate concentrate form;

dispensing a predetermined amount of said solid particulate concentrate by weight into a liquid carrier;

dispensing a predetermined amount of said liquid additive concentrate by weight into said liquid carrier;

intermixing the liquid and dry additive concentrates in the liquid carrier to dilute, disperse and suspend them and form a liquid carrier-additive slurry;

directing the slurry to a receiving station while maintaining the suspension and dispersion of the additives until delivered into a feed ration.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the at least one dry particulate additive concentrate and the at least one liquid additive concentrate are cumulatively weighed in a weigh hopper means before they are discharged from the weigh hopper means into said liquid carrier.

15. The method of claim 13 wherein the at least one dry particulate additive concentrate and the at least one liquid additive concentrate are weighed in a common weigh hopper.

16. The method of claim 13 including weighing at least two selected said dry particulate additive concentrates and at least two liquid additive concentrates.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the selected additive concentrates are cumulatively weighed before being discharged into the liquid carrier.

18. A method of dispensing and delivering microingredient feed additives into a livestock feed ration shortly before delivering the feed ration to the livestock for consumption, comprising the steps:

storing separately multiple said additives in concentrate form;

dispensing predetermined amounts of selected said multiple additive concentrates by weight into a liquid carrier;

intermixing the weighed additive concentrates in the liquid carrier to dilute, disperse, and suspend them and form a liquid carrier-additive slurry;

directing the slurry to a receiving station while maintaining the suspension and dispersion of the additives until delivered into a feed ration;

the step of dispensing a predetermined amounts of said multiple additive concentrates by weight includes weighing each selected said additive concentrate to the nearest one gram.

19. A method of dispensing and delivering microingredient feed additives into a livestock feed ration shortly before delivering the feed ration to the livestock for consumption, comprising the steps:

storing separately multiple said additives in concentrate form;

dispensing selected said additives from their respective storage means into a weigh hopper means, weighing each selected additive in the weigh hopper means, and stopping the dispensing of each selected additive into the weigh hopper means when a predetermined weight of the selected additive is received in the weigh hopper means;

discharging each selected and weighed additive from the weigh hopper means into a liquid carrier;

intermixing the selected weighed additives in the liquid carrier to disperse and suspend them in the carrier to create an additive-carrier slurry;

pumping the slurry into a feed ration and positively mixing the slurry with the feed ration before delivering the feed ration to the livestock for consumption;

the step of weighing each selected additive in the weigh hopper means including weighing at least some of the selected additives cumulatively in the weigh hopper means before discharging the cumulatively weighed additives into the liquid carrier.

20. An apparatus for dispensing and delivering microingredient feed additives into a livestock feed ration at a livestock feedlot shortly before delivering the feed ration to the livestock for consumption, the apparatus comprising:

multiple storage means for storing separately multiple said additives in concentrate form;

dispensing means for dispensing selected said additives from their respective said storage means;

a weigh hopper for receiving additives dispensed from said storage means by said dispensing means and weighing the dispensed additives;

receiving tank means for receiving a liquid carrier from a source of said liquid carrier and for receiving additives discharged from said weigh hopper after they have been weighed;

pumping means for pumping additive bearing liquid carrier from the receiving tank to a receiving station for delivery into a livestock feed ration;

said weigh hopper being partitioned into separate container portions, each separate container portion being positioned to receive a different said additive dispensed by said dispensing means.

21. The apparatus of claim 20 wherein said weigh hopper includes at least one container portion for receiving a liquid additive, said storage means includes at least one liquid storage container for storing a liquid additive in concentrate form, and said dispensing means includes at least one liquid dispensing means for dispensing liquid additive from said liquid storage container into the liquid container portion of said weigh hopper.

22. The apparatus of claim 20 including means for rotating said weigh hopper from an upright position for receiving additives dispensed by said dispensing means to an upside down position for discharging additives weighed in said weigh hopper into said receiving tank means.

23. Apparatus for dispensing and delivering microingredient feed additives into a livestock feed ration shortly before delivering the feed ration to the livestock for consumption, the apparatus comprising:

multiple storage means for storing separately multiple said additives in concentrate form;

dispensing means for dispensing selected said additives separately from their respective storage means;

weighing means for weighing the amounts of selected additives dispensed by said dispensing means and stopping the dispensing means for the selected additives when predetermined weights of said selected additives are weighed by said weighing means;

receiving tank means for receiving the predetermined weighed amounts of the selected additives dispensed from said storage means by said dispensing means and weighed by said weighing means and for receiving a liquid carrier from a source of said carrier;

pumping means for pumping additive-bearing liquid carrier from said receiving tank to a receiving station for delivery into a feed ration;

metering means for operating said dispensing means to meter additives from their respective storage means on a volumetric weight-per-unit-of-time basis;

and control means for selectively disabling said weighing means and enabling said metering means.

24. Apparatus according to claim 23 wherein said control means is operable normally to operate said dispensing means in a weigh mode and is operable upon malfunction of said weigh means to operate said dispensing means in a volumetric mode.

25. Apparatus for dispensing and delivering microingredient feed additives into a livestock feed ration shortly before delivering the feed ration to the livestock for consumption, the apparatus comprising:

multiple storage means for storing separately multiple said additives in concentrate form;

dispensing means for dispensing selected said additives separately from their respective storage means;

weighing means for weighing predetermined amounts of the selected additives dispensed by the dispensing means and stopping the dispensing means when predetermined weights of the selected additives are dispensed;

receiving tank means for receiving a liquid carrier from a source of liquid carrier and for receiving the weighed amounts of said selected additives;

pumping means for pumping additive-bearing liquid carrier from said receiving tank means to a receiving station for delivery into a feed ration;

said weighing means including means for weighing said multiple storage means and determining the weights of selected said additives dispensed by determining the loss of weight of the respective storage means for the selected additives.

26. An apparatus for dispensing and delivering microingredient feed additives into a livestock feed ration at a livestock feedlot shortly before delivering the feed ration to the livestock for consumption, the apparatus comprising:

multiple storage means for storing separately multiple said additives in concentrate form;

dispensing means for dispensing selected said additives from their respective said storage means;

a weigh hopper for receiving additives dispensed from said storage means by said dispensing means and weighing the dispensed additives;

receiving tank means for receiving a liquid carrier from a source of liquid carrier and for receiving weighed additives discharge from said weigh hopper;

pumping means for pumping additive-bearing liquid carrier from the receiving tank to a receiving station for delivery into a livestock feed ration;

and means for rotating the weigh hopper from an upright position for receiving additives from the dispensing means to an upside down position for discharging weighed additives into the receiving tank means.

27. A method of dispensing and delivering microingredient feed additives into a livestock feed ration shortly before delivering the feed ration to the livestock for consumption, comprising the steps:

storing separately multiple said additives in concentrate form;

dispensing predetermined weights of selected said additive concentrates into a liquid carrier;

directing the liquid carrier containing the dispensed feed additives to a receiving station for delivery into the feed ration; and

determining the predetermined weights by weighing at least some of the selected additive concentrates dispensed within weighing container means, and after said some concentrates are weighed, discharging them simultaneously into the liquid carrier.

28. The method of claim 27 wherein the some selected additive concentrates are dispensed and weighed cumulatively within weighing container means comprising a single container.

29. A method of dispensing and delivering microingredient feed additives into a livestock feed ration shortly before delivering the feed ration to the livestock for consumption, comprising the steps:

storing separately multiple said additives in concentrate form;

dispensing predetermined weights of selected said additive concentrates into a liquid carrier;

directing the liquid carrier containing the dispensed selected additive concentrates to a receiving station while maintaining the additive concentrates in suspension in the liquid carrier until the carrier is delivered into a feed ration; and

determining the predetermined weights of the different selected additive concentrates dispensed by measuring the loss of weight of the additive storage source for each additive concentrate dispensed.

30. An apparatus for measuring, dispensing, and delivering microingredient feed additive concentrates in small but accurate amounts in a liquid carrier into a livestock or poultry feed ration shortly before the delivery of the feed ration to the animals for consumption, said apparatus comprising:

multiple storage means for storing separately a plurality of different microingredient feed additive concentrates;

multiple dispensing means for dispensing separately several additive concentrates from said multiple storage means;

weighing means for determining the weights of said different additive concentrates dispensed;

isolating means for isolating said weighing means from influences affecting the weighing function of said weighing means so that accurate weight determinations are obtained;

control means for controlling separately the operation of said plural dispensing means in response to weight determinations of said weighing means to control the weights of additive concentrates dispensed;

receiving means for receiving additive concentrates dispensed from said storage means and for receiving a liquid carrier for suspending the concentrates dispensed and carrying said concentrates to a destination;

delivery means for delivering the liquid carrier containing the additive concentrates dispensed to a receiving station for mixing with a feed ration;

a support frame for supporting the weighing means;

said weighing means including a weigh hopper for receiving additive concentrates dispensed by said dispensing means and at least a pair of load cells mounting said weigh hopper to said support frame;

hopper discharge means for discharging weighed additive concentrates from the weigh hopper into the receiving means;

said isolating means including resilient vibration dampening means between said weigh hopper and said load cells, electrically operated said discharge means on said weigh hopper and supplied with electrical power from a power source remote from the weigh hopper through flexible electrical conductor means, and panel means enclosing the support frame to isolate the support frame and the weigh means from ambient influences that might otherwise affect weight determinations.

31. A method of dispensing and delivering formulations of microingredient feed additives into a livestock feed ration at a feedlot shortly before delivering the feed ration to the livestock for consumption, comprising the steps:

storing separately multiple said additives in concentrate form, including some of said additives in dry concentrate form and at least one additive in liquid form;

weighing predetermined amounts of selected said additives including at least two said additives in dry concentrate form, with no substantial intermixing of the selected additives during the weighing process;

discharging the weighed amounts of the selected additives in dry concentrate form into a mixing vessel;

introducing a liquid carrier into the mixing vessel;

intermixing the liquid carrier and weighed amounts of selected additives in dry form in the mixing vessel to form a slurry within the mixing vessel; and

conveying the slurry to a receiving station while maintaining the weighed amounts of additive concentrates in dry form in suspension and dispersion until the slurry is delivered into the feed ration.

32. A method of dispensing and delivering microingredient feed additives into a livestock feed ration shortly before delivering the feed ration to the livestock for consumption, comprising the steps:

storing separately multiple said additives in concentrate form, including multiple additives in liquid concentrate form;

dispensing predetermined amount of at least two selected said liquid additive concentrates by weight into a liquid carrier;

directing the additive-bearing carrier into a feed ration and intermixing the additive-bearing carrier and the feed ration.

33. The method of claim 32 wherein the multiple additives include both multiple liquid additives and multiple dry additives in concentrate form and wherein both the selected multiple liquid additives and at least one selected said dry additive are dispensed by weight into the liquid carrier.

34. The method of claim 32 wherein the multiple liquid additives are dispensed by weight by weighing them in a weighing container means after they are dispensed from their storage means and before they are discharged into the liquid carrier.

35. A method of dispensing and delivering microingredient feed additives into a livestock feed ration shortly before delivering the feed ration to the livestock for consumption, comprising the steps:

storing separately multiple said additives in concentrate form, including at least one said additive in liquid concentrate form and at least one said additive in solid particulate concentrate form;

dispensing a predetermined amount of said solid particulate concentrate by weight into a liquid carrier;

dispensing a predetermined amount of said liquid additive concentrate by weight into said liquid carrier;

directing the carrier bearing the liquid and dry additives dispensed to a receiving station for delivery into a feed ration.

36. The method of claim 35 wherein the at least one dry particulate additive concentrate and the at least one liquid additive concentrate are cumulatively weighed in a weigh hopper means before they are discharged from the weigh hopper means into said liquid carrier.

37. The method of claim 35 wherein the at least one dry particulate additive concentrate and the at least one liquid additive concentrate are weighed in a common weigh hopper.

38. A method of dispensing and delivering microingredient feed additives into a livestock feed ration shortly before delivering the feed ration to the livestock for consumption, comprising the steps:

storing separately multiple said additives in concentrate form;

dispensing predetermined weights of selected said additive concentrates from their storage means and depositing the selected additives after weighing into a liquid carrier;

delivering the carrier bearing the diluted additive concentrates into a feed ration;

the step of dispensing predetermined weights including weighing multiple additive concentrates simultaneously.

39. A method of dispensing and delivering microingredient feed additives into a livestock feed ration shortly before delivering the feed ration to livestock for consumption, comprising the steps:

storing multiple said additives in concentrate form in separate storage containers;

dispensing volumetrically from their separate storage containers predetermined amounts of selected said additives by operating a separate dispensing device for each selected additive at a predetermined dispensing rate for a predetermined period of time;

calculating the theoretical weight of each said selected additive dispensed at said predetermined rate and for said predetermined period of time;

determining the actual weight of each selected additive dispensed at said predetermined rate and period of time;

comparing the theoretical and actual weights of each selected additive dispensed and from the comparison calculating an adjustment for at least one of the predetermined dispensing rate and period of time for the associated dispensing device such that the theoretical weight will be substantially the same as the actual weight of additive dispensed upon continued operation of the dispensing device;

adjusting the dispensing device for each selected additive using the calculated adjustment for such dispensing device;

depositing each selected dispensed, and weighed additive into a liquid carrier and delivering the selected additives-bearing liquid carrier to a receiving station for intermixing with the livestock feed ration.

40. The method of claim 39 including determining the actual weight of each selected additive by measuring the loss-of-weight of the storage container for the selected additive.

41. The method of claim 39 including determining the actual weight of each selected additive by dispensing a selected additive from its storage container into a weigh hopper and weighing the selected additive in the weigh hopper.

42. The method of claim 39 including determining the actual weight of a selected additive in a weigh hopper and then discharging the weighed additive from the weigh hopper into the liquid carrier.

43. The method of claim 39 including dispensing each selected additive sequentially into a weigh hopper, determining the actual weight of each selected additive in the weigh hopper before dispensing sequentially the next selected additive into the weigh hopper.

44. The method of claim 39 wherein the steps of calculating the theoretical weight and determining the actual weight are performed using a computer.

45. The method of claim 44 wherein the steps of comparing the theoretical and actual weights of each selected additive dispensed and calculating the adjustment for the dispensing device for each selected additive dispensed are performed using a computer.

46. The method of claim 45 wherein the adjustment of the dispensing device for each selected additive is performed by a computer.

47. The method of claim 39 wherein the steps of calculating the theoretical weight, determining the actual weight, comparing the theoretical and actual weights, calculating an adjustment and adjusting the dispensing device for each selected additive are performed at least once for each said predetermined period of time a selected additive is dispensed volumetrically from its storage container.

48. The method of claim 39 wherein the steps of calculating the theoretical weight, determining the actual weight, comparing the theoretical and actual weights, calculating an adjustment and adjusting the dispensing device for each selected additive are performed selectively and not necessarily for every predetermined period of time a selected additive is dispensed volumetrically from its storage container.

49. The method of claim 39 wherein the steps of calculating the theoretical weight, determining the actual weight, comparing the theoretical and actual weights, calculating an adjustment, and adjusting the dispensing device for each selected additive are performed periodically as the selected additive is dispensed volumetrically from its separate storage container.

50. Apparatus for dispensing and delivering microingredient feed additives into a livestock feed ration shortly before delivering the feed ration to the livestock for consumption, the apparatus comprising:

multiple storage containers for storing separately multiple said additives in concentrate form;

dispensing devices, one for each storage container, for dispensing selected said additives separately from their respective storage containers;

weighing means for weighing the amounts of selected additives dispensed by said dispensing devices;

a receiving tank for receiving the selected additives dispensed from said storage containers by said dispensing devices and for receiving a liquid carrier from a source of said carrier;

a pump for pumping additive-bearing liquid carrier from said receiving tank to a receiving station for delivery into a feed ration; and

a programmable control for controlling the operation of the dispensing devices, the weighing means and the pump, the control being operable to;

(a) selectively operate the dispensing devices to meter selected additives from their respective storage containers on a volumetric weight-per-unit-of-time basis;

(b) selectively operate the weighing means to determine the actual weight of each additive dispensed volumetrically by its dispensing device;

(c) calculate the theoretical weight of each additive dispensed volumetrically by its dispensing device;

(d) compare the theoretical and actual weights of each additive dispensed volumetrically; and

(e) calculate an adjustment factor for the dispensing device for each additive dispensed based on the comparison of (d) such that upon adjustment of the dispensing device using such factor, the theoretical weight of additive dispensed volumetrically should be substantially the same as the actual weight of additive dispensed by the adjusted dispensing device.

51. The apparatus of claim 50 wherein the weigh means includes a weigh hopper into which a dispensing device dispenses additive volumetrically for subsequent weighing.

52. The apparatus of claim 50 wherein said weighing means includes means for measuring the loss-of-weight of each storage container.

53. The apparatus of claim 50 wherein said programmable control includes means for adjusting each dispensing device using the calculated adjustment factor.