Animal husbandry – Watering or liquid feed device – Drop-delivering
Patent
1990-11-26
1992-04-07
Mancene, Gene
Animal husbandry
Watering or liquid feed device
Drop-delivering
A01K 700
Patent
active
051017695
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a drinking valve for fur cages.
It is an urgent environmental problem that in large mink farms considerable quantities of manure produced, which ought to be handled properly in order simply to rule out said environmental problems, and the trend is towards making use of proper liquid manure tanks for collection of the droppings. These are conveyed from elongated deposit zones below the existing rows of mink cages, as it turns out that the animals primarily drop the manure at one end of the cages, viz. the end where the drinking valve equipment is located. Therefore it is a matter of a well-defined and comparatively narrow deposit zone underneath each row of cages, whereby it is a manageable task to move the solid and liquid manure to the manure tank, applying more or less developed transport systems.
However, it is hereby an unfortunate circumstance that the deposit zones are found just below the area where the drinking valves are placed because falling surplus water gets mixed with the manure every time the animals operate the valves. This water thus forms part of the manure quantity and causes a substantial increase thereof such that the manure tank must be perhaps 3-5 times larger than otherwise required.
It is generally accepted that the drinking valves ought to give more water than strictly necessary for the animals' drinking capacity during use of the valves; this capacity is rather moderate, and if the valve passages are correspondingly narrow they are very prone to becoming blocked by the almost inevitable presence of small particles in the supplied water. As far as the water consumption itself is concerned, it is without special significance whether a certain overdosing takes place, and this at any rate is warranted by its serving to a large extent to prevent blockings of the valves. The said problem of the associated surplus water therefore only occurs in connection with the handling of manure, where the problem in return is exceedingly noticeable. It also forms part of the picture that the surplus water especially in the `cub season` is brought about by the animals playing with the valves.
The purpose of the invention is to provide a drinking valve which can be operated by the animals without the occurrence of any essential amount of surplus water, such that the quantity of manure is increased only to a very limited extent by falling drinking water. It is hereby a task to provide an applicable valve which has a limited flow-through without being easily blockable.
The invention is based on the considerations that the animals operate the valves in two different ways, viz. either by a rather short push or tilt movement of a protruding valve body of the valve, just sufficiently to open the valve, or--especially during play--by pressing the valve body completely home. Based on this it will be possible in accordance with the invention to provide a valve, which in both its initially opened and its completely `open` position only is able to supply a very limited quantity of water, while in an intermediate position it can deliver a comparatively large quantity through the same water passage, viz. such that the passage hereby be flushed clean from possible sediments. Such a flushing will only take place almost momentarily at the said full pressing home of the valve body as the animals normally are incapable of keeping the valve body depressed only to the said intermediate position; therefore the occasional flushings will be so brief that they do not amount to any significant use of water, that is water contribution to the manure, respectively.
The invention can be carried into effect in several ways, but it is preferred to use a valve of the type having a spring-loaded valve pin reaching through a valve passage and at the inner end of this passage, which is in connection with a water supply pipe, having a valve head, e.g. consisting of a protruding O-ring, which is held against a valve seat area at the inner end of the valve passage. The animals can open the valve by a tilt
REFERENCES:
patent: 1454284 (1923-05-01), Holmes
patent: 3418977 (1968-12-01), Godshalk
patent: 3646955 (1972-03-01), Olde
patent: 4320891 (1982-03-01), Cairns
patent: 4633816 (1987-01-01), Ove et al.
Arentoft Mogens
Jensen Jorgen D.
Forelco Billund A/S
Mancene Gene
Price Thomas
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