Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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SPECIFICATION
COMPRESSED SOLID FEED AND
COMPRESSED SOLID FEED FORMING APPARATUS
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Technical Field
The present invention relates to compressed solid feed that can be fed to
ruminant mammals, such as cows, goats and deer. The compressed solid feed may
be
compression formed using fibrous plant materials, e.g. dried hay and corn
leaves.
More particularly, the present invention relates to compressed solid feed
containing
desirable amounts of such raw materials having long fibers. Methods and
apparatus
for making such compressed solid feed are also taught, as well as methods for
raising
ruminant livestock by feeding such compressed solid feed.
Background Art
Ruminant mammals ingest fibrous food, such as hay, straw and other
herbaceous plants. The food is digested while moving from the rumen to the
abomasum within the gastrointestinal tract. The rumen is large first
compartment of
the stomach of a ruminant mammal in which cellulose is broken down by the
action of
symbiotic microorganisms. The abomasum is the fourth and final true stomach of
the
rumen. In addition, a ruminant mammal will chew its cud in order to further
digest the
fibrous food, which is then digested in the respective stomachs and decomposed
to
smaller units that can be easily absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract.
For a ruminant mammal, complete digestion of cellulose-type food in the
rumen is especially important, so that the ruminant mammal can absorb all
essential
nutrients in the food. For example, propionic acid and acetic acid are
produced by
fermentation and decomposition of cellulose. If the cellulose is not
completely
digested, the absorption of these essential nutrients will be low and the
animal may
have health problems, such as reduced fertility and leg dropsy. Thus, in order
to raise
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healthy livestock, the animal must eat a sufficient amount of raw feed.
Further, the
raw feed must stay in the rumen for a sufficient duration so that the
cellulose can be
properly digested and essential nutrients can be absorbed.
Generally speaking, unprocessed raw hay, straw and other herbaceous plants
is usually cut in lengths of about 10 cm before feeding to ruminant mammals,
because
the animals seem to prefer such lengths. However, known compressed solid feed
is
prepared using raw hay, straw and herbaceous plants having much shorter
lengths.
Compressed solid feed is usually formed with a solid feed forming apparatus
(hereafter simply called a forming apparatus) that is specially designed to
make solid
feed pellets. This type of forming apparatus may include an outer drum, a
press wheel
eccentrically and rotatably supported in the outer drum and a large number of
dies
arranged radially around the circumferential face of the outer drum. Using
such a
forming apparatus, raw materials are successively pushed into hollow spaces
disposed
within the respective forming dies by movement of a tip end of the press
wheel, which
is disposed along the circumferential rim of the outer drum. This movement is
caused
by eccentrically rotating the press wheel so that the raw materials are pushed
from a
hopper into the outer drum. The raw materials are compressed in the hollow
space and
the compressed solid feed is discharged through an outlet of the hollow space
by
repeatedly pushing the press wheel. This compressed solid feed is formed from
fibrous materials having short lengths.
The compressed solid feed can be supplied to the animal using an automatic
feeding apparatus, which improves the efficiency of feeding the animals.
However, if
livestock only eat the known compressed solid feed, health problems have
sometimes
occurred. That is, even if the ruminant animal eats a sufficient amount of the
known
compressed solid feed, the animal still may not obtain sufficient nutrition
from the
known compressed solid feed, because it is not completely digested.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
It is, therefore, one object of the present invention to provide improved
compressed solid feed and methods and apparatus for making compressed solid
feed,
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as well as methods of raising livestock.
According to a study performed by the inventors, known compressed solid
feed does not stay in the rumen for a sufficient duration to allow complete
digestion,
because the length of the raw materials in the solid feed is too short. The
inventors
also found that this problem can be solved by providing compressed solid feed
having
fibers of appropriate lengths. Moreover, such compressed solid feed can be
mixed
with other feed to form a blended feed that provides sufficient nutrition so
that it
becomes unnecessary to also feed unprocessed hay or other raw fibrous plant
materials to the animal.
For example, in one aspect of the present teachings, the compressed solid feed
includes fibrous plant materials, e.g. dried hay, straw and other herbaceous
plants,
having lengths of at least 3 cm. Further, the content of such dried hay, straw
and other
herbaceous plant is preferably at least 20% of the total weight of the
compressed solid
feed. The content preferably also may be within a range of 20-40%, and more
preferably between 20-30%. Optionally, the length of the dried hay, straw and
other
herbaceous plants that are used as the fibrous plant materials in the
compressed solid
feed may between about 3 to 7 cm.
In another aspect of the present teachings, the content of such dried hay,
straw
and other herbaceous plant having lengths of at least 3 cm is at least about
40% of the
total weight of the compressed solid feed, more preferably at least 50% of the
total
weight and even more preferably, between about 55-80% of the total weight.
In another aspect of the present teachings, the compressed solid feed may
optionally have a density of between about 0.4 to 0.6 and more preferably
between
about 0.45 to 0.55.
Compressed solid feed of the present teachings stays in the rumen of the
ruminant livestock for a sufficiently long duration in order to be more
completely
digested and adsorbed, because appropriate amounts of long fibers are included
in the
compressed solid feed. Therefore, healthy livestock can be raised using such
compressed solid feed.
Methods of producing compressed solid feed are also taught. A
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representative example includes preparing a raw material comprising at least
60% by
weight of fibrous plant materials having lengths of at least 3 cm. The raw
material is
then compressed in a compressed solid feed forming apparatus to form
compressed
solid feed. This apparatus may include, for example, dies having raw material
receiving spaces and plungers positioned opposite to inlets of the raw
material
receiving spaces. After disposing the raw materials in the raw material
receiving
spaces, the raw materials may compressed by moving the dies relative to the
plungers
along the axial or longitudinal direction between the inlets and outlets of
the raw
material receiving spaces, thereby forming the compressed solid feed.
In addition, the fibrous plant materials having lengths of 3 cm or longer
length
may be mixed with the other raw materials prior to disposing the raw materials
in the
compressed solid feed forming apparatus. In the alternative, the two sets of
materials
may be separately placed in the compressed solid feed forming apparatus and
the solid
feed forming apparatus may mix these materials.
As noted above, preferably about 40% by weight of the raw materials having
lengths of 3 cm or longer are utilized in these methods.
Blended feed for ruminant livestock may also be prepared. Preferably, the
blended feed includes the compressed solid feed containing fibrous materials
having
lengths greater than 3 cm and the compressed solid feed is at least 15% of the
total
weight of the blended feed.
In another aspect of the present teachings, methods of raising livestock or
producing livestock product may include feeding the livestock the above-
described
blended feed. By preparing a blended feed based upon the compressed solid feed
and
other feed, the blended feed can be distributed to the animals using an
automatic
feeding machine. Because the fibrous plant materials in the compressed solid
feed
can be properly digested in the rumen to provide proper nutrition, it is not
necessary
to feed the animals any other cellulose-based feed. Thus, it is not necessary,
for
example, to manually distribute raw unprocessed hay or other cellulose-based
feed to
the animals and the feeding can be performed completely automatically. As a
result,
manual labor to feed the animals is significantly reduced and livestock can be
raised
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more cheaply and efficiently.
Further, compressed solid feed forming apparatus are taught. In one aspect,
the apparatus has a die with raw material receiving spaces and these raw
material
receiving spaces may have a tapered shape, in which the inlet opening has a
wider
5 surface area than the outlet side. The raw material receiving spaces receive
the raw
materials, which preferably includes a portion of fibrous plant materials
having a
length of at least 3 cm. A pushing rod may be installed opposite to the inlet
of each
raw material receiving space and may be adapted to compress the raw materials
by
reciprocally moving either one of or both of the die and the pushing rod along
the
axial direction between the inlet and an outlet of the raw material receiving
space.
Thus, the pushing rod will move relative to the die in the direction (in the
pushing
direction) from the inlet to the outlet of the raw material receiving spaces.
The
pushing rods will push in and out the raw material receiving spaces to
compress the
raw materials disposed between the pushing rod and the raw material receiving
spaces.
Because this apparatus is adapted to push the raw materials, the moving
direction of the pushing rod and the direction of compressing the raw
materials are
aligned. Therefore, the raw materials are not significantly squeezed and cut
between
the die and the pushing rod in the step of pushing the raw materials to the
raw material
receiving spaces. Therefore, the ratio of the raw materials in the compressed
solid
feed maintaining the desired length (about 3 to 7 cm) after compression can be
considerably increased.
Additionally, the raw material receiving space may be tapered in various
shapes. For example, the raw material receiving space may be so formed as to
be a
rectangular tapered raw material receiving space having a rectangular cross-
section
and the higher height on the inlet side than the outlet side. The raw material
receiving
space may also have a cylindrical shape. Further, the raw material receiving
space
also may have a conical or pyramidal shape in which the inlet side has a
longer length
and the wider transverse width than the outlet side. In the latter case, it is
preferable
to continuously install a straight pipe part with no change of the cross-
section shape
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in the outlet side of the raw material receiving space.
A plurality of raw material receiving spaces may be arranged in parallel and a
plurality of pushing rods may be arranged opposite to the respective raw
material
receiving spaces in the forming apparatus. Such a forming apparatus is capable
of
efficiently producing a plurality of types of compressed solid feed having the
desirable properties described above and below.
Additional objects, features and advantages of the present teachings will be
readily understood after reading the following detailed description together
with the
accompanying drawings and the claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a side view of a compressed solid feed forming apparatus according
to a first representative embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a plan view of the solid feed forming apparatus according to the
first
representative embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a raw material receiving space.
FIG. 4 is a transverse cross-sectional view a raw material receiving space.
FIG. S a perspective view of the compressed feed forming portion of a second
representative compressed solid feed forming apparatus.
MODES FOR PRACTICING THE INVENTION
Compressed solid feed may be formed by compressing various types of
fibrous plant materials, such as dried plant stalks and leaves. For example,
the plant
stalks and leaves that can be used for the solid feed of the present invention
may be
stalks and leaves of hay, straw and herbaceous plant products, all of which
may be
used without any specific limitation. Typical examples of hay include Timothy
grass,
alfalfa, Sudan grass, oat hay and other types of hay. Typical examples of the
herbaceous plant products include true grass straw, oats, sorghum, barley,
corn and
other similar plants.
For example, corn stalks and leaves may be utilized, and more preferably
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immature corn stalks and leaves may be utilized. In this case, the term
"immature"
means that the crop has not completely ripened and the stalks and leaves are
not yet
mature.
"Plant stalks and leaves" and "fibrous plant materials" are generally intended
to mean plant raw materials that mainly contain stalks and/or leaves of
plants. While
other plant components may be utilized, preferably the majority of the raw
materials
are stalks and/or leaves of plants. Thus, preferred compressed solid feed
mainly
contains the stalks and leaves of such plants as the main components, but
naturally
may further contain other raw materials.
The shapes of the preferred compressed solid raw materials are not
specifically limited and may include, for example, a cylindrical bale shape
and a
rectangular prism-like cubic shape. The cubic shape is preferable. A layered
body, a
sheet-like body or a plate-like body is more preferable.
The preferred compressed solid feed may be separated into layered bodies and
sheet-like bodies. Because it can be separated, the feed assumes a sheet-like
state
when given to the animal, which state is an original state of the plant stalks
and
leaves. Therefore, the compressed solid feed may provide improved taste,
chewing
properties and digestion for the livestock.
Also, the size of the solid feed is not especially limited. On the other hand,
the cross-section surface area vertical to the direction of the compression at
the time
of solidification is preferably between about 3 cm X 3 cm to 4 cm X 8 cm.
Further,
the compressed solid feed preferably has a cross-section surface area that is
less than
10 cm X 10 cm.
When the cross-section surface area is between about 3 cm X 3 cm to 4 cm X
8 cm and the thickness is between about 0.3 cm to 3 cm, the compressed solid
feed is
particularly useful for blending with other feed in order to make a blended
feed. With
such sizes, the compressed solid feed can be evenly blended with the other
feed and
the ruminant livestock will eat the solid feed eaten together with the other
feed. More
preferably, the thickness of the solid feed is between about 0.3 cm to 1.5 cm.
Finely cut plant stalks and leaves may also be contained in the compressed
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solid feed. However, plant stalks and leaves having a length of at least 2.5
cm are
preferably at least 10% of the total weight of the compressed solid feed. With
the
length and the content within such ranges, the compressed solid feed will
remain in
the rumen for a sufficient duration. More preferably, the length and the
content of the
plant stalks and leaves are at least 2.5 cm and at least 20% by weight,
respectively.
Further, plant stalks and leaves having a length of at least 3 cm are
preferably at least
20% by weight of the total weight of the compressed solid feed.
In one aspect, the weight of the fibrous plant materials having lengths of at
least 3 cm is between about 20-40% (preferably less than 40%), more preferably
between 20-35% and even more preferably, between 20-30%, of the total weight
of
the compressed solid feed. In these cases, the length range of plant stalks
and leaves
is preferably between about 3 cm to 7 cm. If plant stalks and leaves having a
length
of at least 3.0 cm are at least 20% of the total weight of the compressed
solid feed,
ruminant mammals (especially cattle and cows) can be exclusively fed a blended
feed
containing the compressed solid feed and no other cellulose-based feed is
required.
In another aspect, plant stalks and leaves having a length of at least 3 cm
are
preferably at least 40% by weight of the total weight of the compressed solid
feed,
more preferably 50% or higher and most preferably between about 55% to 80%.
Again, the length range of plant stalks and leaves is preferably between about
3 cm to
7 cm.
In this specification, the length of the plant stalks and leaves generally
means
the length of the plant stalks and leaves in a longitudinal direction.
Further, the ratio
of the plant stalks and leaves in the compressed solid feed having the desired
length
can be calculated in the following representative manner. After forming and
weighing the compressed solid feed, it is broken down to recover the plant
stalks
without cutting the plant stalks and leaves, which plant stalks and leaves are
then
sorted based on length. For example, the sort is performed by using a sieve to
separate
the plant stalks and leaves of the broken solid feed according to mesh size.
Thus, the
mesh size may be 3 cm and the plant stalks and leaves that remain in the mesh
after
separation have a length of at least 3 cm. Thereafter, the weight of the
sorted plant
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stalks and leaves is measured and compared to the total weight of the solid
compressed feed that was used to determine the weight ratio. Thus, the ratio
(the
weight ratio) of plant stalks and leaves having the defined length or longer,
as utilized
in this specification, is the ratio of the measured weight of the plant stalks
retained in
the sieve compared to the total weight of the compressed solid feed that was
used.
Preferably, the compressed solid feed has a density (g/cm3) between about 0.4
to 0.6. If the density is within the defined range, the compressed solid feed
retains its
shape during transportation and the animal can easily chew the compressed
solid feed.
If the density is less than 0.4, the compressed solid feed may easily break
during
transportation. Further, if the solid feed breaks before mixing with other
feed, the
broken solid feed becomes difficult to evenly mix and the livestock do not
prefer to
eat this broken solid feed. Moreover, the length of the stalks and leaves
sometimes is
shortened by this breakage.
On the other hand, if the density exceeds 0.6, it may become difficult for the
livestock to roughly pulverize (i.e. chew) the compressed solid feed.
Therefore, the
inventors have found that the livestock do not prefer to eat compressed solid
feed
having a high density. Further, if such solid feed is mixed in a blended feed,
the
difference between the solid feed and the other feed becomes noticeable to the
livestock and the livestock may not eat such blended food. The density is,
therefore,
more preferably between about 0.45 to 0.55 g/cm3. This density range provides
relatively durable compressed solid feed during transportation, but relatively
soft
compressed solid feed for chewing by the livestock.
While the water content of the compressed solid feed is not specifically
restricted, it is preferably 8% (hereafter % by weight) or higher, because the
solid
feed will easily break when the water content is less than 8%. The water
content is
more preferably between about 10% to 12%.
The compressed solid feed may be fed to ruminant livestock solely or together
with other feed to form a blended feed. In this specification, blended feed is
intended
to mean feed which contains previously mixed base feed and raw feed and does
not
require other raw feed such as hay. In other words, the present compressed
solid feed
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may be used solely or as solid feed of a blended feed or circulated and
supplied while
being mixed with blended feed. Thus, the compressed solid feed is preferably
used
either as one component of a blended feed or by itself.
If the solid feed has a cross-section surface area between about 3 cm X 3 cm
5 to 4 cm X 8 cm and the thickness is between 0.3 cm to 3 cm, and more
preferably
between 0.3 cm to 1.5 cm, it is quite suitable for use as a solid feed in a
blended feed.
The compressed solid feed is preferably fed to dairy cows or beef cattle,
although the
present compressed solid feed and methods and apparatus may be easily utilized
to
make compressed solid feed for other animals.
10 In blended feed for ruminant livestock, preferably 30 to 50% by weight of
the
total weight of the blended feed is fibrous components and more preferably 40 -
50%.
Preferably, at least 4% by weight of the total weight of the blended feed
comprises
fibrous plant materials having a length of at least 2.5 cm (preferably at
least 3.0 cm)
supplied by the present compressed solid feed. More preferably, at least 5% of
the
total weight of the blended feed comprises fibrous plant materials having a
length of
at least 3.0 cm supplied by the present compressed solid feed. This blended
feed may
preferably be fed to dairy cows and/or beef cattle.
A representative method for producing the solid feed of the present invention
will now be described below. The solid feed may be produced by compressing the
above-described plant stalks and leaves. The hay and the herbaceous products
used as
raw materials are, for example, cut into stalks and leaves after harvesting
and then
sorted. In many cases, only the stalks are cut to prevent the stalks from
being finely
powdered. The leaves and stalks produced in such a manner are dried and mixed
to
provide raw materials for the compressed solid feed.
The raw materials preferably contain between 10%-12% water. If the water
content is less than 10%, it becomes difficult to form the compressed solid
feed. If the
water content is higher than 12%, too much steam is generated during
compression
and it becomes difficult to harden the raw materials after forming.
Preferably, plant stalks and leaves having lengths 3 cm or longer are at least
60% of the total weight of the raw materials that form the compressed solid
feed, more
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preferably at least 70% and further preferably at least 80%. On the other
hand, plant
stalks and leaves having lengths shorter than 3 cm are preferably 40% or lower
and
more preferably 30% or lower and furthermore preferably 20% or lower.
The plant stalks and leaves may be dried, cut and processed in such a manner
to form desired shapes by compression forming. The below-described compressed
solid feed forming apparatus may be preferably utilized with this method.
Naturally,
the compressed solid feed may preferably have the above-described desirable
shapes
and also the above-described preferred densities may be utilized.
A representative compressed solid feed forming apparatus preferably
includes at least one die having raw material receiving spaces. A plunger is
preferably positioned opposite to an inlet of each raw material receiving
space. Thus,
plant stalks and leaves are compressed inside of the raw material receiving
spaces by
moving the die and/or the plunger along an axial line between the inlet and an
outlet
of the raw material receiving space. By compressing the raw materials in such
a
manner, the plant stalks and leaves are not substantially ruptured or cut
during
compression. Thus, the length of the plant stalks and leaves is maintained
during the
compression step and the compressed solid feed preferably contains raw
materials
having the above-described preferred lengths.
Preferably, the inlet of the raw material receiving space has an opening that
is
wider than the opening of the outlet. In that case, rupturing and cutting of
the plant
stalks and leaves can more effectively be prevented. Also, a guide portion is
provided
adjacent to the inlet of the raw material receiving space along the axial
direction. This
guide portion may guide the plant stalks and leaves into the raw material
receiving
space. Preferably, the opening area of the guide portion inlet is larger than
the
opening area of the inlet of the raw material receiving space. By providing
such a
tapered guide portion and pushing the plant stalks and leaves in order to fill
the guide
portion towards the outlet of the raw material receiving space using the
plunger, one
unit of compressed solid feed can be formed at the outlet of the raw material
receiving
space. The plant stalks and the leaves packed in a tapered state within the
guide
portion and the raw material receiving space are gradually formed by
compressing at
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the narrowest opening area. Consequently, the compressed solid feed can be
formed
by pushing the plant stalks and leaves using uniform pushing conditions. Thus,
the
intermediate pushing operation within the guide portion does not significantly
affect
the final product and the lengths of the plant stalks and leaves can easily be
maintained in the final product.
Naturally, one unit of the compressed solid feed may be formed by each
compression operation. For example, the compressed solid feed may be formed by
compressing the outer edge the plant stalks and leaves packed in the raw
material
receiving space so as to almost completely fill the raw material receiving
space. The
next unit of compressed solid feed is thus formed in the next successive
pushing
operation. Thus, the next unit of compressed solid feed is closely attached to
the rear
end face of the previously formed unit of compressed solid feed. In such a
manner, a
plurality of solid feed units are discharged out of the raw material receiving
space in
the order in which the units were formed. These units are attached at the
boundaries
of each unit. A block of the solid feed units can be easily divided along the
respective
boundaries formed by the respective pushing operations.
Further, the cross-sectional area of the raw material receiving space
preferably has an opening size larger than the length of the plant stalks and
leaves.
Practically, if the plant stalks and leaves are preferably at least 3 cm, the
opening size
of the raw material receiving space is also preferably at least 3 cm, even in
the
smallest cross section part of the raw material receiving space.
Compressed solid feed having the preferred densities can be obtained by
adjusting the amount of the plant stalks and leaves that are supplied into the
raw
material receiving space. In addition, the shape and the length of the raw
material
receiving space and the pushing force of the plunger and other similar
parameters can
be adjusted to change the density.
Preferably, the compressing step does not reduce the ratio of the plant stalks
and leaves having length greater than 3 cm to less than 40% of the total
weight of the
compressed solid feed. Immediately after compressing, the plant stalks and
leaves
(solid matter) generally reach a temperature as high as 95 to 100°C and
will be
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relatively soft. The solid matter in such state can be hardened by rapidly
cooling and
drying. The solid matter is pushed out of the raw material receiving space by
moving
the plunger. After being pushed out, the solid matter is then subjected to a
cooling
and drying process, in which the solid matter is cooled and dried until the
water
content reaches a preferable level.
Naturally, these methods can provide the preferred compressed solid feeds
described above in further detail.
Thus, the present teachings provide, for example, the following advantageous
properties:
(1) Compressed solid feed that may contain plant stalks and leaves (raw
fibrous materials) having lengths of at least 3 cm in 20% or more by weight of
the total
weight of the compressed solid feed.
(2) Compressed solid feed according to description (1), in which the
compressed solid feed has a density between about 0.4 to 0.6 g/cm3.
(3) Blended feed for ruminant livestock produced by blending the above
compressed solid feed with other feed components, in which the compressed
solid
feed is preferably at least about 15% of the total weight of the blended feed.
(4) Blended feed according to the description (3), wherein the compressed
solid feed has a density between about 0.4 to 0.6 g/cm3 and more preferably
between
about 0.45 to 0.55 g/cm3.
(5) Blended feed according to the description (3), wherein the solid feed has
a cross-sectional surface area size of between 3 cm X 3 cm to 4 cm X 8 cm and
a
thickness between about 0.3 to 3 cm.
(6) Compressed solid feed comprising a portion of plant stalks and leaves
having a length of at least 3 cm and having a cross-section surface area size
of 3 cm X
3 cm or wider and 4 cm X 8 cm or narrower and a thickness of between about 0.3
to
3 cm.
Representative examples of the present teachings will now be described in
further detail with reference to the attached drawings. This detailed
description is
merely intended to teach a person of skill in the art further details for
practicing
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preferred aspects of the present teachings and is not intended to limit the
scope of the
invention. Only the claims define the scope of the claimed invention.
Therefore,
combinations of features and aspects disclosed in the following detail
description
may not be necessary to practice the invention in the broadest sense, and are
instead
taught merely to particularly describe some representative examples of the
invention.
Moreover, various features of the representative examples may be combined in
ways
that are not specifically enumerated in order to provide additional useful
embodiments of the present teachings.
A first representative compressed solid feed forming apparatus (hereafter
called "solid feed forming apparatus 1") is illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 4. FIGS.
1 and 2
illustrate the entire solid feed forming apparatus 1 of the present example.
In the
drawings, reference numeral 2 denotes the main base on which an electric motor
3,
reduction gears 4, a crank mechanism part 5 attached to the output shaft 4a of
the
reduction gears 4, and a forming part 6 operated by the crank mechanism part 5
are
disposed.
The output of the electric motor 3 is transmitted to the reduction gears 4 by
a
belt 7. The reduction gears 4 may constructed using any conventional structure
that
provides a desired speed reducing ratio, preferably using the ratio of the
gear teeth in
a row of gears. No particular design is required for the first representative
embodiment. The tip end portion of the output shaft 4a of the reduction gears
4 may
be, for example, supported by bearings 4b so to be adapted to rotate relative
to the
base 2.
The crank mechanism part 5 may have an eccentric disk 8 that is eccentrically
attached to the output shaft 4a of the reduction gears 4. A crank arm 9 may be
attached
to the eccentric disk 8. The eccentric disk 8 may be fixed so that the
eccentric disk is
offset by a desired size relative to the output shaft 4a of the reduction
gears 4. A
circular supporting part 9a of the crank arm 9 may be rotatably supported on
the outer
circumference of the eccentric disk 8. The end portion of the crank arm 9 may
be
fixed to the rear end of a slide bar 20 of the forming part 6 by a supporting
shaft 20a
in a manner so that the end portion can rotate up and down relative to the
forming part
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6.
The forming part 6 may have respective front and rear dies 21, 22 comprising
a plurality of substantially cylindrical raw material receiving spaces 21a,
22a (also
called forming spaces 21a, 22a), which are adapted to receive the raw
materials. A
5 plurality of pushing rods 23, 24 may be positioned between dies 21, 22 and
opposite
to the respective substantially cylindrical raw material receiving spaces 21a,
22a of
dies 21, 22.
Dies 21, 22 are joined and supported at a constant interval from each other
and
adapted to reciprocate back and forth (in the right and left directions as
shown in the
10 figures.). More specifically, slide bars 26, 27 are installed in parallel
to each other
along the longitudinal direction and on the upper face of a sub-base 25, which
is
mounted on the main base 2. Both ends of the respective slide bars 26, 27 may
be
firmly supported by respective brackets 26a, 26a, 27a, 27a. Dies 21, 22 may be
installed so as to form a bridge between both slide bars 26, 27 (up and down
in the
15 FIG.2).
The number of forming spaces in dies 21, 22 are not particularly limited. In
the first representative example, six forming spaces 21a, 22a are shown for
purposes
of illustration. The respective forming spaces 21a, 22a may all have the same
shape
and are disposed within the respective dies 21, 22. Forming spaces 21a of the
front
side die 21 and forming spaces 22a of the rear side die 22 are preferably
arranged
symmetrically in the longitudinal direction. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the
respective
substantially cylindrical raw material receiving spaces 21a, 22a may include
guiding
parts 2laa, 22aa and forming parts 2lab, 22ab. The respective guiding parts
2laa,
22aa may be oppositely disposed along the longitudinal direction. As shown in
FIG.1,
slide bar 20 may be installed so as to bridge both dies 21, 22 and may be
disposed
along the center longitudinal axis.
As shown in FIG. 2, pushing rods 23, 24 may be supported on the main base
2 by supporting stands 28, 29 along the axial direction. Preferably, pushing
rods 23,
24 are between the inlets and the outlets of the respectively corresponding
substantially cylindrical raw material receiving spaces 21a, 22a and are
inserted into
CA 02354265 2001-06-07
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the inlets.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the sides of the guiding parts 2laa, 22aa receive
the pushing rods 23, 24, which are inserted into the inlets of the respective
forming
parts 21a and 21b. After pushing the raw materials within the respective
substantially
cylindrical raw material receiving spaces 21a, 22a, the compressed solid feed
is
discharged through forming parts 2lab, 22ab, which serve as outlets for the
final
product.
Preferably, the forming parts 2lab, 22ab of the respective substantially
cylindrical raw material receiving spaces 21a, 22a have a tapered shape and
the inlet
side is wider than the outlet side.
As shown in FIG. 3, the compressed solid feed forming portion 22 may have
a rectangularly tapered shape with a rectangular cross-section shape, in which
H1 >
H2. Height H1 represents the diameter of the inlet side (the right end side of
the
drawing) and height H2 represents the diameter of the outlet side (the left
end side of
the drawing).
As shown in FIG. 4, the width W of the forming part 22ab is preferably the
same for both the inlet side and the outlet side. Additionally, the guiding
parts 2laa,
22aa may have an approximately pyramidal shape in which the height and the
width of
the inlet side are larger than the outlet side. Naturally, FIGS. 3 and 4
illustrate one
representative raw material receiving space 22a of the die 22 and the other
respective
forming empty parts 21a of the die 21 also may have the same shape.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, raw materials may be placed into hopper 30, which is
preferably disposed above dies 21, 22. Two supporting ports 31, 32 may support
the
lower part of the hopper 30. The front side supporting port 31 may be
positioned
above the rear face of the front side die 21 and the rear side supporting port
32 may be
positioned above the front face of the rear side die 22.
In the solid feed forming apparatus 1 of the first representative embodiment,
the output shaft 4a of the reduction gears 4 rotates at an appropriate speed
by
supplying power to the electric motor 3 and subsequently eccentrically
rotating the
eccentric disk 8. Because the center of the eccentric disk 8 eccentrically
rotates about
CA 02354265 2001-06-07
17
the outlet shaft 4a, the circular supporting part 9a of the crank arm 9 also
rotates
around the output shaft 4a while rotating on the circumferential face of the
eccentric
disk 8. Consequently, the crank arm 9 provides a cranking movement. A recess
2a
may be formed in the upper face of the main base 2 so that the circular
supporting part
9a does not interfere with the crank arm 9 during operation.
Due to the crank movement of the crank arm 9, dies 21, 22 will reciprocate
back and forth along the slide bars 20. The hopper 30 also moves together with
both
dies 21, 22. On the other hand, because the pushing rods 23, 24 are fixed to
the main
base 2, they do not move. Therefore, the pushing rods 23, 24 are pushed in and
out the
respective substantially cylindrical raw material receiving spaces 21a, 22a of
the dies
21, 22.
The operation state illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 will not be described in
further
detail. When the crank arm 9 is withdrawn to the furthest position, dies 21,
22 reach
the furthest retracted position and the respective front side pushing rods 23
are
inserted into the front side of substantially cylindrical raw material
receiving spaces
21a. Thus, the raw materials are pushed into the forming parts 2lab of the
respective
substantially cylindrical raw material receiving spaces 21a, thereby
compressing the
raw materials. On the opposite side, the respective rear side pushing rods 24
are
withdrawn from the rear side substantially cylindrical raw material receiving
spaces
21a, and separate by an appropriate distance to form gaps between the rear
side die 22
and the rear side pushing rods 24. Therefore, raw materials can be supplied
into the
gaps from the supporting port 32 formed in the rear side of the hopper 30.
Although not specifically illustrated in the figures, the rods 23, 24 and the
dies 21, 22 naturally can be reciprocally moved to form compressed solid feed
within
raw material receiving spaces 22a. For example, when the crank arm 9 reaches
the
advanced end, the rear side pushing rods 24 are pushed into the respective
rear side
substantially cylindrical raw material receiving spaces 22a. Therefore, the
raw
materials that were supplied into the gaps between the rear side die 22 and
the rear
side pushing rods 24 are pushed in the respective substantially cylindrical
raw
material receiving spaces 22a and are thereby compressed. Further, the front
side
CA 02354265 2001-06-07
pushing rods 23 are withdrawn from the front side substantially cylindrical
raw
material receiving spaces 21a and separate by an appropriated distance to form
a gap
between the front side pushing rods 23 and the substantially cylindrical raw
material
receiving spaces 21a. Therefore, additional raw materials are supplied into
the gaps
5 by the supporting port 31 in the front side of the hopper 30.
As a result, dies 21, 22 reciprocate back and forth in the longitudinal
direction
by the crank movement of the crank arm 9 and subsequently the raw materials
are
repeatedly and reciprocally pushed into the substantially cylindrical raw
material
receiving spaces 21a, 22a. Therefore, raw materials are packed into all the
10 substantially cylindrical raw material receiving spaces and are compressed.
The
compression-formed and solidified raw materials (solid feed) are gradually
pushed
out of the outlet side by being pushed from the inlet side.
In one representative example that is particularly preferred for making feed
for dairy cattle, the following raw materials G may be supplied to the solid
feed
forming apparatus 1. For example, corn plant stalks and leaves maybe utilized
and the
stalks and leaves may be cut and sorted into stalks and leaves. Preferably,
the raw
stalks were cut into lengths between about 3 to 6 cm in length so as to
prevent the
stalks from being pulverized and dried in the sun. The leaves were also dried
in the
sun. After drying, the stalks and the leaves are mixed. A preferred blending
ratio is
as follows:
The length of the plant stalks and leaves wt.%
Shorter than 1 cm 2.0
Longer than or equal to 1 cm and shorter than 3 cm 20.9
Longer than or equal to 3 cm 77.1
Total 100%
Before compression, the weight of the plant stalks and leaves were immersed in
water
for 1 hour, dried, classified by length and weighed in order to obtain this
weight
percentage data.
Solid feed obtained by supplying this preferred set of raw materials into
solid
CA 02354265 2001-06-07
19
feed forming apparatus 1 have the following characteristics. The compressed
solid
feed has a prism-like shape with a cross-section surface area of about 3.5 cm
X about
7.5 cm and a thickness of approximately 3.5 cm. In order to determine the
weight
percentage of respective portions in the final product formed using the above-
described preferred set of raw materials, the compressed solid feed was
immersed in
water for 1 hour, broken apart, collected with a net and then dried. The
resultant plant
stalks and leaves were sorted and classified by length corresponding to the
lengths of
the plant stalks and leaves in each portion. Thereafter, each portion was
weighed.
The measurement results were as follows:
The length of the plant stalks and leaves wt.%
Shorter than 1 cm 9.5
Longer than or equal to 1 cm and shorter than 3 cm 33.2
Longer than or equal to 3 cm 57.3
Total 100%
According to these results, 25.7% of plant stalks and leaves that initially
had
a length of greater than 3 cm were pulverized or cut during compression and
shortened
to less than 3 cm. However, 55 % or more of plant stalks and leaves having
lengths
greater than 3 cm were retained, thereby forming a solid feed having excellent
taste
and digestion properties. This solid feed also can be easily blended with
other feed
and the cattle ate the blended food without a particular preference for the
solid feed or
the other feed in the blend.
The first representative solid feed forming apparatus 1 compresses the raw
materials G by pushing and pulling the respective pushing rods 23, 24 in and
out of the
substantially cylindrical raw material receiving spaces 21a, 22a. At the same
time,
dies 21, 22 reciprocate in the axial direction between the inlets and the
outlets of the
substantially cylindrical raw material receiving spaces 21a, 22a.
Consequently, the
raw materials are pushed into the respective substantially cylindrical raw
material
receiving spaces 21a, 22a. The direction of the relative movement of the
pushing rods
CA 02354265 2001-06-07
23, 24 and the direction of pushing the raw materials (the direction along the
axial
lines of the inlets and the outlets of the substantially cylindrical raw
material
receiving spaces2la, 22a) are aligned. Therefore, the raw materials are not
substantially squeezed and cut between the dies 21, 22 and the pushing rods
23, 24
5 when the raw materials are pushed into the substantially cylindrical raw
material
receiving spaces 21a, 22a. As a result, the ratio of raw materials having a
length of
about 3 to 6 cm in the final product formed by this compression technique can
be
increased.
In comparison, in the known art, only about 7% of the raw materials
10 maintained a length of about 3 to 6 cm after compression. On the other
hand, more
than 50% of the raw materials maintained the desired length using the first
representative solid feed forming apparatus 1. Thus, the present teachings
provide
compression methods and apparatus that are substantial improvement over the
known
art.
15 Additionally, various modifications may be made to the first representative
solid feed forming apparatus without departing from the spirit of the present
teachings. For example, the first representative example utilizes pushing rods
23, 24
fixed to the main base 2 and both dies 21, 22 reciprocate to perform the
relative
pushing movement of the pushing rods 23, 24. In the alternative, the solid
feed
20 forming apparatus may include pushing rods 23, 24 that are adapted to
directly
reciprocate to provide pushing movement of the pushing rods 23, 24.
Further, the first representative solid feed forming apparatus pushes the raw
materials G between the proceeding end and the recess end of the crank arm 9
by
arranging two sets of dies 21, 22 and pushing rods 23, 24 in the longitudinal
direction.
However, the apparatus may be constructed with a single die and a set of
pushing rods
to compress the raw materials G.
A second representative embodiment 40 is illustrated in FIG. 5 and includes
the same crank mechanism part 5 as the first representative embodiment.
However, a
different forming part 40a is utilized that may include a pair of a dies 42
provided with
a plurality of substantially rectangular raw material receiving spaces 41. A
plurality
CA 02354265 2001-06-07
21
of pushing rods 43 may be disposed opposite to the respective substantially
rectangular raw material receiving spaces 41. Unlike the apparatus of the
first
embodiment, one pair of pushing rods 43 is directly reciprocated within the
respective
substantially rectangular raw material receiving spaces 41 .
Further, a sub-base 44 is fixed on the upper face of a main base (not
illustrated) and the die 42 is fixed in a rear part of the upper face of the
sub-base 44.
Five rows of substantially rectangular raw material receiving spaces 41 are
formed
along the lateral direction of the upper and lower portions of die 42. Each
raw
material receiving space 41 preferably may have a rectangular tapered shape
with a
rectangular cross-section and the inlet side is preferably wider than the
outlet side.
This latter feature is the same as the first representative embodiment.
Raw material loading chambers 45 are formed in front of the respective rows
of the substantially rectangular raw material receiving spaces 41. A hopper 46
for
retaining raw materials is attached to the upper sides of the five rows of raw
material
loading chambers 45. Five rows of rectangular window portions 45a are formed
in the
upper and lower two stages in the lateral direction and correspond to the
respective
substantially rectangular raw material receiving spaces 41. The pushing rods
43 are
inserted into the respective raw material loading chambers 45 through the
rectangular
window portions 45a.
Similar to the first embodiment, the pushing rods 43 are installed in the rear
face of a supporting stand 47 that reciprocally moves (in the right and left
directions
in the drawing) due the pushing movement provided by electric motor 3,
reduction
gears 4, and crank mechanism part 5. In addition, similar to the first
embodiment, the
supporting stand 47 is attached to the tip end of the crank arm 9 of the crank
mechanism part 5.
Five rows of pushing rods 43 are installed along the lateral direction in
upper
and lower stages, so as to correspond to the respective substantially
rectangular raw
material receiving spaces 41 and window portions 45a. The rows of pushing rods
43
are preferably fixed so as to project behind and in parallel to one another
toward the
respective substantially rectangular raw material receiving spaces 41.
CA 02354265 2001-06-07
22
The solid feed forming apparatus 40 of FIG. 5 may be operated by supplying
power to the electric motor 3, whereby the supporting stand 47 will
reciprocate due to
the movement provided by the reduction gears 4 and the crank mechanism part 5.
When the supporting stand 47 moves backward, the respective pushing rods 43
are
inserted into the substantially rectangular raw material receiving spaces 41
through
the respective window portions 45 a. By pushing the pushing rods 43 into the
substantially rectangular raw material receiving spaces 41, the raw materials
G that
are disposed in the raw material loading chambers 45 are pushed in the
substantially
rectangular raw material receiving spaces 41 and compressed. Further, when the
supporting stand 47 moves forward, all the pushing rods 43 are pulled out the
substantially rectangular raw material receiving spaces 41 and then withdrawn
from
the raw material loading chambers 45. When the respective pushing rods 43 are
pulled out of the raw material loading chambers 45, raw materials (not shown
in the
figure) disposed in hopper 46 are supplied to the respective raw material
loading
chambers 45.
The supporting stand 47 is repeatedly reciprocated while raw materials are
supplied from the raw material loading chambers 45. Thus, the raw materials
are
repeatedly pushed into the substantially rectangular raw material receiving
spaces 41
from the raw material loading chambers 45 and compressed. Finally, the
compressed
solid feed is pushed through the outlet side (the rear face side of the die
42) of the
substantially rectangular raw material receiving spaces 41.
The solid feed forming apparatus 40 of the second representative embodiment
is also adapted to compress raw materials by reciprocating the pushing rods 43
along
in the axial direction between the inlets and the outlets of the substantially
rectangular
raw material receiving spaces 41, thereby pushing the raw materials G into the
substantially rectangular raw material receiving spaces 41. The movement
direction
of the pushing rods 43 and the pushing direction of the raw materials are
aligned with
each other. Therefore, unlike known apparatus, the raw materials are
substantially
prevented from being squeezed and cut in the pushing step. Therefore, the
ratio of the
raw materials which maintain the desired length (about 3 to 6 cm) in the
compressed
CA 02354265 2001-06-07
23
solid feed can be significantly increased.
Needless to say, various modifications may be made to the substantially
rectangular raw material receiving spaces 41 as described further above. For
example,
in the first and second representative embodiments, electric motor 2 supplies
driving
movement to the crank mechanism part 5 in order to reciprocate the dies 21, 22
(or the
pushing rods 23, 24). However, a hydraulic cylinder or a rack and pinion
mechanism
may be utilized to provide the reciprocating movement.
Furthermore, in addition to or instead of corn stalks and leaves, Timothy
grass, Sudan grass, alfalfa, true grass straw, oats stalks and leaves, sorghum
stalks
and leaves, barley stalks and leaves, and hay may be used as the raw
materials.
Finally, the raw material receiving portions naturally may have cross sections
other than rectangular or cylindrical.
In order to determine the usefulness of the compressed solid feed produced
according to the description above, a comparative test was performed. Two
groups of
cows were selected and compressed solid feed of the present invention was fed
to one
group and the other group was fed according to conventional feeding
techniques.
The cows in group A were feed two types of compressed solid feed according
to the present teachings. The first type of compressed solid feed consisted of
compressed oat hay in which 20% of the total weight of the compressed solid
feed was
oat hay having a length of between 3 cm to 7 cm. The second type of compressed
solid
feed consisted of compressed alfalfa hay in which 10% of the total weight of
the
compressed solid feed was alfalfa hay having a length of between 3 cm to 7 cm.
Both
of these compressed solid feeds were prepared with a rectangular cross-section
of 3.5
cm X 7 cm. These two types of compressed solid feed were mixed with other feed
materials (i.e., steamed and rolled corn, pellets, cotton seed, beet pulp)
such that the
oat hay compressed solid feed was 22% of the total weight of the blended feed,
the
alfalfa hay compressed solid feed was 15% of the total weight of the blended
feed and
the other materials were 63% of the total weight of the blended feed. The cows
of
group A were not feed any other feed materials, such as unprocessed cellulose-
based
feed.
CA 02354265 2001-06-07
24
The cows of group B were fed (1) "Mrs. Pine" blended feed which is
commercially available from CHUBU SHIRYO Co., Ltd. and includes dried
pineapple residue, steamed and rolled corn and other non-cellulose based feed
materials and (2) raw unprocessed oat hay having a length of about 10 to 30
cm. "Mrs.
Pine " blended feed was 65 % of the total weight of the feed given to the
animals and
unprocessed oat hay was the remaining 35 % of the total weight of the feed.
Eleven cows were in group A and 9 cows were in group B. The feed given to
the cows of group A was distributed using an automatic feeding machine.
Therefore,
it was much more convenient to feed the cows of group A than the cows of group
B,
because the raw uncompressed oat hay can not be automatically distributed and
must
be distributed by hand, thereby requiring more manual labor to distribute the
feed.
The cows of group A were fed 5 times a day using the automatic feeder and the
cows
of group B were manually fed 4 times a day. For the cows of group B, the raw
uncompressed oat hay was distributed 30 minutes after distributing the Mrs.
Pine
blended feed. On the other hand, the blended feed given to the cows of group A
was
pre-mixed and included both the compressed solid feed and the other feed
materials.
After birthing calves, the cows of each group were fed the respective feed for
1 year. During this time, the cows were milked three times a day and the
composition
of the milk from each group was determined. Over the course of the year, the
cows of
group A had an average daily milk output of 23.1 kg/day, whereas the cows of
group
B had an average daily milk output of 23.5 kg/day. The milk fat of group A was
3.97%, whereas the milk fat of group B was 4.15%. Finally, the non-fat milk
solids in
the milk of the cows of group A and B were 9.0 and 9.18%, respectively.
Thus, these results demonstrate that there was no difference between the cows
of group A and B. Therefore, the compressed solid feed of the present
invention
provides good nutrition and healthy cows. Moreover, because the compressed
solid
feed can be distributed to the cows more easily than raw, uncompressed fibrous
materials, efficiency is greatly increased. Thus, the present compressed solid
feed
can be utilized to provide improved and more efficient methods of feeding
livestock,
because the feed can be distributed to the livestock solely using automatic
feeding
25
machines.
