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EP-4606215-B1 - SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATICALLY DETERMINING THE SEX OF A CHICK

EP4606215B1EP 4606215 B1EP4606215 B1EP 4606215B1EP-4606215-B1

Inventors

  • SALAUN, Damien
  • CHANU, Romaric

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20250131

Claims (16)

  1. System for automatically determining the sex of a chick, comprising - a belt conveyor comprising a conveyor belt (21) under tension for freely transporting said chick, said conveyor belt (21) defining a movement direction, - a device for unbalancing the chick and causing it to voluntarily spread its wings as it moves along at least a portion of said belt conveyor, - at least one light source (25) for illuminating the thusly spread wings of the chick, - at least one imaging device (22, 23) for capturing one or more images of the thusly illuminated wings of the chick, - a central unit configured to process the images acquired by said at least one imaging device (22, 23), so as to isolate the tip of at least one of the wings of said chick in at least some of these images, analyze the configuration of the feathers at said at least one tip, and determine from this configuration whether it is a male chick or a female chick or else whether the sex is undetermined, characterized in that said device for unbalancing the chick and causing it to voluntarily spread its wings has at least one rotating cam (19) positioned under said conveyor belt (21), each cam being rotated about an axle (20) positioned transversely, or substantially transversely, with respect to said movement direction, said cam being shaped so as to periodically come into contact with said conveyor belt (21) and thus raise a portion thereof during this contact.
  2. System according to claim 1, characterized in that each rotating cam (19) has at least one active-profile zone, said active-profile zones coming into contact with said conveyor belt (21) one after the other during the rotation of the corresponding cam, said active-profile zone or zones of said cam being shaped so as to ensure that said cam remains out of contact with this conveyor belt (21) during at least part of its rotation.
  3. System according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that each rotating cam (19) has at least one rounded active-profile zone, such as a semi-cylindrical active-profile zone.
  4. System according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it has two rotating cams (19) positioned under said conveyor belt (21) and spaced apart in the movement direction defined by said conveyor, each of these cams being rotated about an axle (20) positioned transversely, or substantially transversely, with respect to said movement direction, each cam being shaped so as to periodically come into contact with said conveyor belt (21) and thus raise a portion thereof during this contact so as to cause said chick to voluntarily spread its wings when it is in said thusly raised portion of conveyor belt (21).
  5. System according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said rotating cams (19) are identical, said system being configured to operate them synchronously or asynchronously.
  6. System according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the frame of said belt conveyor is configured such that said conveyor belt (21) is directed in the shape of a trough in order to automatically center said chick as it is transported.
  7. System according to claims 4 or 5 and 6, characterized in that said first cam and said second cam are spaced apart and shaped so as to move the portion of the conveyor belt (21) positioned between said cams between a free, or non-contacting, trough-shaped configuration and a raised flat, or substantially flat, configuration in order that said chick at least partially follows a rectilinear or substantially rectilinear trajectory.
  8. System according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that each rotating cam (19) is configured to raise, as it rotates, a portion of said conveyor belt (21) and to transmit an impulse, positioned on said portion of conveyor belt (21), to said chick (11) so as to propel said chick into the air above said conveyor belt (21).
  9. System according to claim 8, characterized in that said conveyor has two rotating cams (19) and at least two matrix cameras (22, 23) spaced along said conveyor, the field of view of a first (22) of said cameras covering a first zone of the conveyor belt (21), at least a majority of which is positioned downstream of the first rotating cam (19), and the field (24) of view of a second camera (23) covering a second zone of the conveyor belt (21), which may or may not overlap a portion of said first zone of conveyor belt (21), a portion of said second zone of the conveyor belt (21) thus imaged being positioned downstream of the second rotating cam (19).
  10. System according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said conveyor has, in the outlet zone thereof, a device (18) for ejecting the chick, configured to send said chick to a first processing conveyor (12) or to a second processing conveyor (13) distinct from the first, depending on the sex of the chick identified during processing of said images.
  11. System according to claims 9 and 10, characterized in that the field of view of the second matrix camera (23) also covers said outlet zone of said conveyor in order to ensure individual tracking of the chick at least until it arrives at, or passes through, the ejection device (18).
  12. System according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises at least two belt conveyors arranged parallel to one another in order to process a plurality of chicks at the same time, each conveyor being equipped with one or more rotating cams (19) positioned under the conveyor belt (21) of the corresponding conveyor, each cam being rotated about an axle (20) positioned transversely, or substantially transversely, with respect to the movement direction defined by the corresponding conveyor, each cam being shaped so as to periodically come into contact with the conveyor belt (21) of the corresponding conveyor and thus raise a portion thereof during this contact.
  13. System according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises n rectilinear belt conveyors arranged in series, n being greater than or equal to 2, the outlet of each conveyor opening onto the inlet of the immediately following conveyor, all of these conveyors defining a transport path, each conveyor having one or more rotating cams positioned under the conveyor belt (21) of the corresponding conveyor, each cam being rotated about an axle (20) positioned transversely, or substantially transversely, with respect to the movement direction, each rotating cam (19) being shaped so as to periodically come into contact with the conveyor belt (21) of the corresponding conveyor and thus raise a portion of this conveyor belt (21) during this contact, only the conveyor positioned furthest downstream comprising said at least one imaging device (22, 23) and said at least one light source (25), said belt conveyor or conveyors positioned upstream thereof allowing said chick to be prepared for the sex thereof to be determined on the rectilinear conveyor positioned furthest downstream.
  14. Method for automatically determining the sex of a chick, wherein the following steps are carried out: - moving a chick on a belt conveyor comprising a conveyor belt (21) under tension, said conveyor defining a movement direction of the chick, - momentarily raising at least a portion of this conveyor belt (21) on which the chick is freely transported, in order to generate at least one elevation on this conveyor belt (21) such as a bump or plateau raised relative to the rest of the conveyor belt (21), so as to unbalance said chick and cause it to voluntarily spread its wings, this elevation having at least the portion of the belt with which said chick is directly in contact, - illuminating at least one thusly spread wing of said chick, and - detecting the light reflected by said at least one thusly illuminated wing, - processing the thusly acquired images so as to isolate the tip of at least one of the wings of said chick in at least some of these images, analyze the configuration of the feathers at said at least one tip, and determine from this configuration whether it is a male chick or a female chick or else whether the sex is undetermined, and in that - said at least one portion of conveyor belt (21) is raised by one or more rotating cams (19) positioned under said conveyor belt (21), each cam being rotated about an axle (20) positioned transversely, or substantially transversely, with respect to said movement direction, each cam being shaped so as to periodically come into contact with said conveyor belt (21) and thus raise a portion thereof during this contact.
  15. Method according to claim 14, characterized in that said at least one portion of conveyor belt (21) is raised by two rotating cams (19) positioned under said conveyor belt (21), the operations of the first cam and the second cam being synchronized.
  16. Method according to claim 14 or 15, characterized in that the frame of the belt conveyor is configured so that said conveyor belt (21) is directed in the shape of a trough in order to automatically center said chick as it is transported, a portion of said conveyor belt (21) being raised in order to switch it from a first, trough-shaped configuration referred to as the free configuration to a second configuration referred to as the flat or substantially flat configuration, wherein said portion of conveyor belt (21) is flat or substantially flat.

Description

technical field The present invention relates to an installation and a method for automatically determining the sex of a chick. Previous technique Sexing chicks is an important step in the poultry industry, allowing male chicks to be distinguished from female chicks as soon as they hatch. Such early differentiation of chicks is necessary to optimize their rearing by adapting management practices to each group of chicks of the same sex, which helps to improve the efficiency and profitability of poultry farms. It is well known that experienced operators are able to discern subtle details, enabling them to distinguish male chicks from females from the first hours of the chicks' lives. Among the methods for sexing a chick, it is common to observe the feathers at the tips of the wings of a chick, preferably one that is less than a day old, or even two days old, for reasons of reliability. The sexing of chicks by the wings is indeed linked to a different arrangement of feathers at the tips of the wings in females and males. As illustrated on the Figures 1 (female) and 2 (male), at the end of a chick's wings, we can observe two rows of feathers, the primary flight feathers and the primary covert feathers. Whereas in the male the primary covert feathers are longer, or roughly the same size, as the primary remiges, in the female the tip of the primary covert feathers is always shorter than the tip of the primary remiges. This method of determining the sex of a chick is relatively quick and non-invasive. However, when it comes to differentiating several thousand chicks per hour, every day, with a small margin of error, as is practiced in intensive egg production, these operations can prove tedious for skilled operators. Furthermore, it is currently difficult to find a sufficient number of workers specializing in this field, which makes this necessary step relatively expensive. Automated chick sexing methods are also known from the state of the art. The patent FR 2 892 599 B1 on behalf of the present applicant, hereby discloses an automatic chick sexing system using a camera to acquire images of the wing tips of a chick exposed to blue light and to identify, by analysis of these images, the characteristic arrangements of the male or female feathers. To ensure individual control of each chick, they are positioned in cups arranged in a line, with their wings held apart by resting them on the rim of their respective cup. Although it gives good results, as the wings are stable and therefore easily imaged, this method of automatic chick sexing can still be improved. Indeed, this machine is relatively bulky and complex to maintain. Furthermore, this machine does not allow high processing rates, which are nevertheless sought after today in intensive poultry farming. We also know from the demand for patent EP 1 092 347 A1 , a method for determining the sex of a chick in which the chick is made to lose its balance to induce it to voluntarily spread its wings, then at least one wing thus spread is illuminated and said at least one wing thus spread is photographed in order to determine the sex of that chick. The chick's imbalance can result from various stimuli, such as being encouraged to jump, being shaken, or being placed near a source of acoustic shock or heat, or being moved on a vibrating surface. However, and according to the teaching of this document, once the chick's wings are deployed, they physically interact with one or more supports in order to stabilize them in the deployed position during the illumination of their tips and the capture of images. This physical interaction with rigid objects occurs while the chick is moving rapidly through the determination device of the sex of a chick, which increases the risk of injuries to the chick, potentially fatal. Furthermore, it is noted that the process which involves vibrating a conveyor belt on which the chick is transported, in order to cause it to spread its wings, requires high vibration frequencies. Consequently, the animal is subjected not only to vibrations throughout its movement on the conveyor belt, but also to high levels of mechanical noise. The animal's well-being is seriously affected. There is therefore an urgent need for an installation and a method for the automatic determination of the sex of a chick, the original design of which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art described above. Object of the invention The present invention aims to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art by proposing an installation and a method for the automatic determination of the sex of a chick, simple in their design and in their operating method, allowing to ensure the welfare of the animal and preserve its health. Another object of the present invention is such an installation and such a method for automatically determining the sex of a chick allowing extremely rapid processing rates, and by way of illustration, exceeding 70,000 chicks per hour. Another object of the