FR2898011A1 - Wild, farm or domestic animal e.g. bovine, tracing/managing device for use during e.g. calving, has chip containing transponder with RAM or electrically EPROM to store information e.g. list of diseases undergone by animal, and treatments - Google Patents

Abstract

The device has an electronic module with an electronic chip containing a transponder, and an aerial for transmitting radio frequency signals, where the module is packaged in a capsule (1). An one time programmable (OTP) memory or a ROM stores information such as an origin country number conformed to ISO 3166 standard, and an unique identification number conformed to ISO 11784 standard. The transponder has a RAM or an electrically EPROM for storing information such as a list of diseases undergone by a wild, farm or domestic animal, and medical treatments.

Description

The present invention relates to a system (module) injected into an animal

  or hooked to his ear or any other part of his body, containing a transmitting and receiving part for sending and receiving real-time data on the physiological or geographical state of an animal. Food traceability in general and traceability of meat in particular have become major concerns for consumers. On the other hand, the concern for the quality of the products implies a knowledge of the origin of these. The invention described here makes it possible to respond to this concern. The invention allows the identification and management of animals, for traceability, from birth to slaughter and / or rendering. The invention allows secure processing in reading and writing of information throughout the life of the animal made by encryption. The information contained in the module may be temporarily or permanently and neutralized, at the slaughterhouse and / or rendering stage. This system maintains the essential elements for traceability to the final product. The system (module) allows by sensors to process physiological and / or biological and / or geographical information useful for example in the management of a herd as part of its productivity.

  TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION Currently, monitoring the history of a farm animal using tags or earrings is done entirely manually, using sheets, on which is recorded the sanitary history and possibly food of the farm animals. This monitoring process is therefore heavy for the farmer, for the veterinarian, and is subject to errors or omissions, leaving the door open to the possibility of fraud.

  There is therefore an urgent need for reliable and simple traceability (without errors) throughout the life of the animal The consumer needs to be reassured, so he must be able to use information defined by the administration to know the origin of the animal. Breeders are demanding greater transparency of information in the labeling process (AOC, Quality and Origin Labels). In the dairy sector, the breeder is asking for help in detecting ovulations for insemination, and in calving and pathology detection. The administration must ensure control throughout the life of the animal for various reasons. The administration must have an effective tool to fight against all types of fraud, slaughterhouse, rendering, customs borders, labels, etc. The administration must ensure in a safe and effective manner a role of controller, manager in the agricultural sector, such as animal identification, livestock management, subsidies, compliance with various regulations through traceability, etc ... The medical profession (veterinarians) who have the agricultural responsibility, are essential actors in the process both in the care provided and controls of sanitary standards. Process-related devices such as slaughterhouses and rendering require a reliable, secure and above all fast (instant) system to maintain traceability until the animal dies. Thus, at the slaughterhouse after cutting the animal in two or more pieces, the identification must be maintained through a secure mark as a food ink stamp.

The state of the prior art

  The use of tags, or identification rings, is well known in the field of agriculture and animal husbandry.

  The conventional technique for identifying animals includes the use of tattoos, rings or loops containing a number possibly coded using a bar code.

  The identification by a unique number of the animals is prescribed by the ISO 11784 standard. The means for implementing this unique identification are described in numerous ways. Some techniques deal with making an earring and how to install it so that it is not lost or replaced. For example, the invention NZ 276156, discloses a fastener attachable to the tail or leg of the animal and containing detachable notes for managing a medical treatment.

  The invention WO 03 / 000045A1 discloses a system including a part, attached to the animal, containing the identification information, and a detachable part, also containing the identification information, as well as a sample taken from the animal . Thus are associated without risk of error an identification number and a sample containing the genetic information of the animal. However, verification of coincidence between the sample and the animal requires DNA analysis, which is a cumbersome and expensive procedure.

  The invention US 2005 / 0190038A1 describes a method of identifying an animal, preferably a domestic animal, including an RFID chip (Radio Frequency Identifier) injected into the animal, and a second chip attached to the passport of the animal. Both chips contain the same information. The information includes a unique identifier that preferably complies with ISO 11784 standards (ISO 11784 specifies the RFID code structure) and ISO 3166 (Country Code). The purpose of this system is essentially to allow easier border control, and can be used in the case of farm animals. However, it does not provide for the storage of data other than the identification number and only allows the emission of the coding of the animal. The invention US 2003/0051678 describes a system comprising an electronic chip carrying an identifier (predefined in the factory), associated with a communication system, capable of reading the information stored in the electronic chip, storing the additional information. related to this animal in a remote database. However, they can not be stored in the chip itself. On the other hand the communication system is connected to a central database accessible by a telecommunications network (Internet). The essential object of this invention is to replace the paper passport of the animal with an electronic information system, thus eliminating paper information management.

  The invention WO 2005/101273 A1 describes an integrated system for animal management and production optimization. The system includes an identification means, and devices for measuring animal parameters such as weight, color, speed of movement, temperature, etc. The disadvantage of such a system is its complexity, which requires equipment. heavy weighing, shape recognition, color analysis including calibration to standards. This system is not economically feasible in farms typically encountered in France and Europe.

  30 There are different systems to help identify bovine heats such as painting that marks the number of overlaps of a cow example (Estrus Alert), there are three types of hormonal treatments can synchronize heat in cattle, by injection. Another series of inventions deals more with management by RFID tags or chips, information relating to an animal, from the slaughterhouse to the packaged final product. (US 6878052B2, EP 1 561 381 A1), as well as the management of this information through a computerized system, including access to one or more central databases. The invention EP 0 970 244 Bi describes a system and a method for identifying meat products by genotype, and therefore does not include the management of the animal from birth.

detailed description

  The device according to the invention includes an electronic module including one or more electronic chips, (FIG. 1) which will be packaged in a capsule (1), in particular allowing injection into the body of the animal, for example under the skin of this one. It is implicitly accepted that according to the invention, any type of packaging may be used to allow the injection of the module. The examples and applications defined below are not exhaustive.

  The module includes an electronic chip containing a transponder (3) (TRANSmitter resPONDER) an antenna (2) for transmitting radio frequency signals and a memory, preferably OTP (One Time Programmable) (4) or ROM type (Read Only Memory) (5). This memory contains for example, but the list is not exhaustive, the following information available at the time of injection: 1) Country of origin number, in accordance with ISO 3166 (Code 30 of the country). 2) A livestock number, or a farm number. 3) Unique identification number that may be in accordance with IS011784 which prescribes the structure of the animal identification code by radiofrequency. However, it will be noted that the ISO 11784 standard does not guarantee, by its implementation 2898011 -6 work, the filing date of the invention the absolute uniqueness of the identification number. Therefore, according to the invention, compliance with this standard is not necessarily applied. An algorithm for encoding a unique number, allowing a guarantee of the uniqueness of the identification number will be preferred. 4) The date of writing in ROM 5) The breed of the animal 6) The blood type of the animal. 7) Vaccines made on the animal. 8) Other data, morphological for example. This information can be read by a transmitting system, possibly in accordance with the ISO 11785 standard which prescribes the technical concept of reading information by radio frequencies. According to the invention, the transponder also contains a rewritable memory, of RAM (Random Access Memory) type, or an electrically erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM) type of electrically reprogrammable memory, commonly called flash memory. This characteristic of the invention will make it possible to maintain the information stored throughout the life of the animal, for example: The list of diseases suffered by the animal. 25 Medical treatments. Vaccines, performed after injection or device installation. Administrative information (recommendations, constraints).

  Legal information (change of ownership).

  According to the invention, this information is defined as being static, it does not vary with time, and its cumulative (vaccines, owner).

  According to the invention an electronic system will transmit and program in the rewritable memory of the module this additional information. Thus the animal becomes the bearer of all information concerning him.

  According to an additional characteristic of the invention shown in FIG. 2, the memory of the transponder can also collect so-called dynamic information, that is to say information which varies relatively rapidly with time (temperature, resistivity of the tissues, rhythm heart, geographic coordinates ...). The list is not exhaustive. According to the invention the information held in the module can be neutralized permanently and / or temporarily. According to an additional feature of the invention, the module will include a microcontroller (6) ensuring the encryption of information and the management of the information from the sensors (7). According to an additional characteristic of the invention, the module (FIG. 2) contains one or more sensors (7) for measuring physiological or biological parameters of the animal. For example, a sensor will measure the temperature of the animal. Another sensor will measure the resistivity of the animal's tissues. Another sensor will measure the heart rate of the animal, etc. According to an additional characteristic of the invention (FIG. 3), the module will comprise a transceiver (10), powered by a battery (8) or an on-board battery, enabling reading at a greater distance than a simple transponder. For example, the module will include an electronic device transmitting information stored in memory using the IEEE 802.11.4 protocol better known as Zigbee'm. Thus, the distance at which the information contained in the memory of the module can be transmitted will be much greater than the usual distance of data transmission by RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) transponder limited to a few meters. According to an additional feature of the invention, the Zigbeel protocol "providing mesh network operation, each animal of a herd can become a node of a Zigbeel mesh network" which further extends the distance at which information from an animal can be transmitted or received. It will be recognized that a radio frequency transmission protocol different from Zigbeel® may be advantageously used, if it has interesting characteristics for the application, The field of the invention is not limited to this protocol.

  According to an additional feature of the invention, the range of the radio link thus produced with each of the animals of a herd, allowing the communication of information at a distance of a few tens of meters, and up to a hundred meters , opens the possibility of transferring the information to a database in real time, without having to approach the transmitter system 20 receiving, acting as base station. It will be sufficient for the transceiver system to be in the zone of possible reception of the injected module. According to an additional feature of the invention, the increased range compared to conventional RFID systems, allows the transfer of dynamic information, such as temperature, heart rate, etc.

  The so-called embedded smart system module will also benefit from a longer lifespan than the life of the animal thanks to a technology allowing hibernation or standby modes to extend the life of the power source.

  LEXIC OTP One Time Programmable. (Nonvolatile memory, one-time writable) ROM: Read Only Memory EEPROM: Electrically-Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory 5 RAM RAM: Random Access Memory NVM: No Volatile Memory FLASH EEPROM memory type, allowing multiple memory elements to be written or read in one operation.

IEEE: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Zigbee'm: Trademark of the Zigbee Alliance, an association of companies to promote the standard of the same name, or called IEEE 802.15.4

Claims (6)

claims   1) Device for traceability of animals characterized in that it comprises one or more RFID type electronic chips 5 and a memory type OTP or rewritable. 2) Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the rewritable memory makes it possible to store information that can be read by a transmitting system. 3) Device according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a system for disabling data on command. 4) Device according to claim 1 or 3 characterized in that it comprises a microcontroller ensuring the encryption of information. 5) Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it includes sensors for measuring physiological or biological parameters. 6) Device according to claim 5 or 6 characterized in that a sensor for measuring the temperature. 7) Device according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that another sensor is used to measure the resistivity. 8) Device according to claim 5 characterized in that a third sensor makes it possible to measure the heart rate. 9 ") Device according to any one of claims 2 to 8 characterized in that the transceiver system makes it possible to transmit the data eti-Mtl_1S1" r / iS fr ~ t o la. 10) Device according to any one of claims 2 to 9 characterized in that the transceiver system is capable of constituting a mesh network for transporting the data transmitted by the onboard device.