Heat detection for animals including cows

• US 5,542,431 A
• Filed: 12/30/1993
• Issued: 08/06/1996
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/1993
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: DDX, Inc.
• Original Assignee: DDX, Inc.
• Inventors: Zapp, Loretta M., Mihran, Richard T., Cattell, Marguerita, Starzl, Timothy W.
• Primary Examiner(s): HINDENBURG, MAX F
• Application Number:
  US08/176,133
• Time in Patent Office: 950 Days
• Field of Search: 128/738, 128/774, 119/174
• US Class Current: 600/551
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 10/0012 Ovulation-period determination for animals A61D17/002
• CPC Class Codes: A61D 17/002 for detecting period of heat of animals, i.e. for detecting oestrus for humans A61B10/0012
• CPC Class Codes: A61D 19/00 Instruments or methods for reproduction or fertilisation

Abstract

A system is disclosed for making determinations related to the heat cycle in a cow. The system includes an electronic patch attached to the cow. A transmitter module for transmitting heat mount data is contained in a pouch of the electronic patch. A removable and disposable battery is also contained in the pouch for powering the transmitter module. The heat mount data from the transmitter module is sent to a repeater module to maintain the quality of the transmitted heat mount data signal. The heat mount data is re-transmitted by the repeater module to a central receiver module which includes a memory for storing heat mount data. The heat mount data is downloaded to a computer upon request using software that is also used to analyze the heat mount data. Analysis of the heat mount data results in determining a value that is useful in deciding on the optimal time to breed the cow.

Claims

1. An apparatus for use in making a determination related to the occurrence of estrus in a subject animal, comprising:

first means for sending heat mount data obtained as a result of a subject animal heat mount, said first means being provided with the subject animal and transmitting as a signal said heat mount data including duration data indicative of the amount of time of said heat mount of the subject animal;

second means communicating with said first means for receiving said heat mount data, said second means including a receiver to which said signal is inputted and controller means for obtaining said heat mount data from said signal, said second means also including a buffer memory for storing said heat mount data;

third means, communicating with said second means and including processing means and dedicated software, for making a determination related to the occurrence of estrus in the subject animal, wherein said third means receives said duration data including from said buffer memory and also receives time data indicating when said heat mount occurred, said processing means using said time data and said duration data indicative of the amount of time of said heat mount in determining whether a predetermined number of heat mounts occurred in a predetermined time interval, said processing means being different from said controller means and said processing means being usable for executing non-dedicated software, different from said dedicated software, when said non-dedicated software is provided with said processing means.

2. An apparatus, as claimed in claim 1, wherein:

said first;

means includes a harness for attachment to the subject animal, said harness adapted for receiving a battery and a transmitter module.

3. An apparatus, as claimed in claim 2, wherein:

said harness comprises a member for engaging one of the animal'"'"'s tail, the animals'"'"'s neck and leg of the animal.

4. An apparatus, as claimed in claim 2, wherein:

said harness comprises straps for engaging both of the animal'"'"'s rear legs.

5. An apparatus, as claimed in claim 1, wherein:

said first means includes an electronic patch attached to the subject animal, said electronic patch including a pouch having a battery and a transmitter module, said battery being electrically connected to said transmitter module wherein said transmitter module is removable from said pouch and at least one of said pouch and said battery is disposable.

6. An apparatus, as claimed in claim 1, wherein:

said first means includes a transmitter module having a switch and transmitter circuitry with said switch including an electrical contact located on a first printed circuit board and said transmitter circuitry also located on said first printed circuit board.

7. An apparatus, as claimed in claim 1, wherein:

said first means includes a transmitter module having switch means and means associated with said switch means for maintaining the monitoring of time associated with an animal mount duration, said switch means being activated when an animal mount occurs and being deactivated after the animal mount has ended, said means for maintaining including a threshold time associated with deactivation of said switch means in which a determination that said threshold time has passed is made before determining that an animal mount has ended.

8. An apparatus, as claimed in claim 1, wherein:

said first means includes a transmitter module having timer means with a power down delay circuitry for controlling removal of power to circuits of said transmitter module, said power down delay circuitry providing power to said circuits after an animal mount has ended.

9. An apparatus, as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first means includes:

counter means for counting pulses related to the duration of an animal mount;

encoder means for encoding heat mount data related to the duration of an animal mount; and

isolating circuit means communicating with said counter means and said encoder means for providing a buffer between said counter means and said encoder means.

10. An apparatus, as claimed in claim 1, wherein:

said first means includes a transmitter module having fourth means for providing identification data, said identification data includes first identification data related to an identity of said transmitter module and second identification data related to an identity of a source of transmission of heat mount data.

11. An apparatus, as claimed in claim 10, wherein:

said transmitter module includes first timer means for use in controlling the sending of said identification data and second timer means for controlling the sending of heat mount data related to the duration of an animal mount.

12. An apparatus, as claimed in claim 1, wherein:

said first means includes a transmitter module having means for providing data indicative of the status of battery power used in providing power to said transmitter module and wherein said battery power status data is sent concurrently with heat mount data.

13. An apparatus, as claimed in claim 1, wherein:

said second means includes a repeater module for receiving and transmitting a data signal including heat mount data in order to maintain signal strength.

14. An apparatus, as claimed in claim 13, wherein:

said repeater module is positioned remotely from both said first means and said third means at a location that provides a substantially unimpeded path for a data signal from said first means whereby a structure in the vicinity of said first means does not cause a substantial loss of signal quality associated with said data signal outputted by said first means.

15. An apparatus, as claimed in claim 1, wherein:

said second means includes means for conserving power used by circuitry of said repeater module.

16. An apparatus, as claimed in claim 15, wherein:

said means for conserving power includes first decoding means for determining whether an inputted signal has indicia related to data generated using the apparatus.

17. An apparatus, as claimed in claim 13, wherein:

said heat mount data is controlled to be transmitted only after said repeater module has received a complete transmission of said heat mount data from said first means.

18. An apparatus, as claimed in claim 13, wherein:

said repeater module outputs a modulated data signal at substantially the same frequency as the frequency of a modulated data signal from said first means.

19. An apparatus, as claimed in claim 13, wherein:

said data signal transmitted by said repeater module includes identification data related to the identity of said repeater module distinguishing it from said first means.

20. An apparatus, as claimed in claim 1, wherein:

said second means includes a receiver module that is located more adjacent to said third means than said first means.

21. An apparatus, as claimed in claim 1, wherein:

said second means includes means for providing real time clock information for association with heat mount data.

22. An apparatus, as claimed in claim 1, wherein:

said second means includes means for receiving temperature data related to heat mount data.

23. An apparatus, as claimed in claim 1, wherein:

said controller means has buffering software for use in storing said heat mount data in said buffer memory for subsequent accessing by said third means.

24. An apparatus, as claimed in claim 23, wherein:

said controller means further includes decoding software for obtaining heat mount data from an inputted data signal and serial communication software for providing heat mount data to said third means.

25. An apparatus, as claimed in claim 1, wherein:

said processing means includes software used to download said heat mount data from said buffer memory.

26. An apparatus, as claimed in claim 1, wherein:

said duration data is used to weight a time value related to when said heat mount occurred and said third means includes means for determining a peak estrus value depending on said weighted time value and a sum value related to sail duration data for said heat mount and any other heat mount of the subject animal during a time interval.

27. An apparatus, as claimed in claim 26, wherein:

said peak estrus value equals each of said time values multiplied by a duration for said time value and with the result of each of said multiplications summed together and with the resulting sum divided by a total duration for all heat mounts occurring for said time interval.

28. An apparatus, as claimed in claim 1, wherein:

said predetermined number of heat mounts is within the range of 3-4 and said predetermined time interval is within the range of 3-4 hours.

29. An apparatus, as claimed in claim 1, wherein:

said processing means processes at least one of intermount information and intramount information, wherein said intermount information includes a temporal pattern associated with said heat mount data and said intramount information includes at least one of the following;

the ambient temperature that the subject animal is experiencing, a frequency of mounting by an animal that mounts the subject animal, the breed of the subject animal, the age of the subject animal, the amount of time since the subject animal last birthed, the kind of surface that supports the subject animal, the type of confinement that the subject animal is experiencing, the humidity of the air that the subject animal is experiencing, the mounting activity of the subject animal and the geographic location of the subject animal.

30. An apparatus, as claimed in claim 1, wherein:

said first means is mounted exteriorly of the subject animal.

31. An apparatus for use in making a determination related to the occurrence of estrus in a subject animal, comprising:

first means for sending heat mount data obtained as a result of the subject animal being mounted by a mounting animal, said first means including an electronic patch having a transmitter module and a battery disposed in a pouch located exteriorly on the subject animal with said battery electrically communicating with said transmitter module, said transmitter module being removable from said pouch and said battery being removable from said transmitter module and being disposable after said removal and said transmitter module being provided with the subject animal after said battery is removed;

second means responsive to said first means for receiving said heat mount data; and

third means responsive to said second means for processing said heat mount data used in making determinations related to estrus in the subject animal.

32. A method for making determinations related to the occurrence of estrus in a number of subject animals using heat mount data, comprising:

generating heat mount data when each subject animal is mounted, said heat mount data including duration data indicative of the amount of time of a heat mount, with said duration data of said heat mount exceeding a predetermined time threshold;

sending said heat mount data including said duration data over an air link;

inputting said heat mount data to processing means, said heat mount data including said duration data for each subject animal indicative of the amount of time of said heat mount, wherein time data indicative of when said heat mount occurred is provided to said processing means;

making a determination related to estrus in a first of the subject animals using said heat mount data of the first of the subject animals including said duration data indicative of the amount of time of said heat mount and said time data when said heat mount occurred; and

making a determination that the onset of estrus has occurred in a second of the subject animals using secondary considerations including at least one of;

(a) the second of the subject animals has no greater than two heat mounts per heat cycle with each said heat mount having duration data exceeding said predetermined time threshold and (b) historical data stored in memory related to the second of the subject animals.

33. A method, as claimed in claim 32, wherein:

said step of generating includes transmitting said heat mount data using a transmitter module, receiving said heat mount data using a repeater module and transmitting said heat mount data using said repeater module.

34. A method, as claimed in claim 33, wherein:

said transmitter module includes a switch and said step of generating includes continuing to keep track of time related to a single heat mount when said switch opens for less than a predetermined amount of time.

35. A method, as claimed in claim 32, wherein:

said step of generating includes storing said heat mount data in memory means communicating with said processing means with said heat mount data being transferred from said memory means upon a request received from said processing means.

36. A method, as claimed in claim 32, wherein:

said processing means is part of a computer for executing software other than software used in determining whether estrus has occurred in each subject animal and in which said computer initiates a downloading of said heat mount data to said computer.

37. A method, as claimed in claim 32, wherein:

said step of inputting includes inputting data other than said heat mount data obtained from each subject animal.

38. A method, as claimed in claim 37, wherein:

said step of inputting includes inputting data related to at least one of the following;

the ambient temperature associated with each subject animal, the breed of each subject animal, the amount of time since each subject animal last birthed, the surface on which each subject animal is supported, the type of confinement of each subject animal, the humidity associated with each subject animal, the mounting done by each subject animal, the geographic location of each subject animal and the activity of a mounting animal that mounts each subject animal.

39. A method, as claimed in claim 32 wherein:

said making a determination related to estrus in a first of the subject animals applies greater significance to a number of heat mounts occurring over a period of time in comparison to a single heat mount that is greater in duration than each of said number of heat mounts.

40. A method, as claimed in claim 39, wherein:

said step of making a determination related to estrus in a first of the subject animals includes obtaining a first value that depends upon a temporal pattern associated with said heat mount data.

41. A method, as claimed in claim 32, wherein:

said making a determination related to estrus in a first of the subject animals includes obtaining a first value that relates to a peak estrus value with said peak estrus value related to heightened heat activity in at least one of the subject animals.

42. A method, as claimed in claim 32, wherein:

said step of inputting includes inputting variable intramount data including at least one of the following;

ambient temperature associated with the second subject animal and humidity associated with the second subject animal.

43. A method, as claimed in claim 32, wherein:

said step of inputting includes inputting intramount data that is substantially static for a predetermined time interval, with said intramount data including at least one of the following;

the number of heat mounts experienced by the second subject animal for a specific heat cycle;

the number of heat cycles since the last birthing of the second subject animal;

the age of the second subject animal;

the surface on which the second subject animal is supported and the breed of the second subject animal.

44. A method, as claimed in claim 32, wherein:

said step of making a determination related to estrus in a first of the subject animals includes summing all times during which heat mounts associated with said heat mount data occurred during a time interval.

45. A method, as claimed in claim 32, wherein:

said step of making a determination related to estrus in a first of the subject animals includes obtaining a sum of the total number of heat mounts associated with said heat mount data during a time interval.

46. A method, as claimed in claim 32, wherein:

said step of making a determination related to estrus in a first of the subject animals includes summing all duration data of said heat mount data occurring during a time interval for the first subject animal.

47. A method, as claimed in claim 32, wherein:

said step of making a determination related to estrus in a first of the subject animals includes multiplying each of a number of time values related to when each said heat mount associated with said heat mount data occurred by corresponding duration data.

48. A method, as claimed in claim 32, wherein:

said step of making a determination related to estrus in a first of the subject animals includes obtaining a first value that is a peak estrus value obtained using a sum of all times when said heat mounts associated with said heat mount data of the first subject animal occurred and a sum of said heat mounts.

49. A method, as claimed in claim 32, wherein:

said step of making a determination related to estrus in a first of the subject animals includes obtaining a first value that is a peak estrus value obtained using a sum of all times when said heat mounts associated with said heat mount data of the first subject animal occurred, weighted by said duration data and a sum of said duration data for the first subject animal.

50. A method, as claimed in claim 32, wherein:

said generating step includes mounting a transmitter on the exterior of each subject animal.

51. A method for making a determination related to the occurrence of estrus in a subject animal using heat mount data, comprising:

generating heat mount data when the subject animal is mounted, said heat mount data including duration data that comprises a time interval for said heat mount of the subject animal, which time interval is determined at the subject animal using means for determining duration data attached to the animal and in which said duration data is to be used in making a determination related to estrus in the subject animal;

transmitting said determined duration data including said time interval from the subject animal to a remote station;

separately associating time data with each determined duration data, wherein each of said time data and said determined duration data is provided to processing means;

determining, after said separately associating step, whether a predetermined number of heat mounts of the subject animal has occurred in a predetermined time period using said processing means, said time data and said determined duration data; and

making a determination related to the occurrence of estrus in the subject animal after said determining step.

52. A method, as claimed in claim 51, wherein:

said step of separately associating includes generating said time data at said remote station.

53. A method, as claimed in claim 51, wherein:

said step of determining includes receiving said determined duration data at said remote station using controller means and a buffer memory for storing said heat mount data.

54. A method, as claimed in claim 51, wherein:

said remote station includes dedicated software for determining whether said predetermined number of heat mounts of the subject animal has occurred in said predetermined time period and in which said processing means is usable for executing non-dedicated software, different from said dedicated software, when said non-dedicated software is provided with said processing means.

55. A method, as claimed in claim 51, wherein:

said step of determining includes, when said predetermined number of heat mounts has not occurred in said predetermined time period for the subject animal, making a determination related to estrus in the subject animal using secondary considerations including at least one of;

(a) the subject animal has no greater than two heat mounts per heat cycle with each said heat mount having duration data exceeding a predetermined time threshold and (b) historical data stored in memory related to the subject animal.

56. A method, as claimed in claim 51, wherein:

said generating step includes using a transmitter located exteriorly of the subject animal.