Floor mat for livestock

Details Floor mat for livestock Floor mat for livestock

1999-05-19

2001-01-16

Jordan, Charles T. (Department: 3644)

Animal husbandry

Confining or housing

Stall

Reexamination Certificate

active

06173677

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a floor mat for livestock such as cattle, and more particularly to a floor mat for livestock which has an excellent water permeability, which prevents livestock such as cattle from slipping thereon due to feces and urine of the livestock or due to water for washing away the feces and urine in cleaning, which prevents generation of mildews that are considered to be a cause of mammitis (breast inflammation) of the livestock, and which further has an antibacterial activity.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, a mat for livestock is used in a cowshed or on a mounting stage of a truck for transporting cattle. This is because, if livestock such as cattle slip, their legs tend to be hurt and a grave condition of the hurt may sometimes lead to death.
Therefore, various shapes such as unevenness are provided to increase the anti-slipping property of conventional floor mats for livestock. However, such floor mats for livestock have a complicated shape, so that feces and urine tend to be caught thereby and water for washing away the feces and urine tends to stay thereon, all the more leading to easy slippage of the livestock.
A floor mat for livestock that solves this problems is disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 7-203792/1995. This floor mat for livestock is characterized in that plural streaks of grooves extending in the same direction are arranged in an upper surface of a flat plate-like mat body in a groove width direction perpendicular to the length direction of the grooves.
However, this floor mat for livestock has a disadvantage of high processing costs because the processing on the mat is complicated, and a disadvantage of large weight because the material used for the mat is a soft rubber or the like.
A floor mat endowed with gas permeability and water permeability is disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 8-149935/1996. This floor mat for livestock is constructed with two (front and rear) layers of knitted textile and linking threads. This construction gives the gas permeability and the water permeability.
However, since this floor mat for livestock is made of a knitted textile, it is not possible to wash away the feces and urine completely from the inside of the fibers, so that it is difficult to prevent generation of mildews.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a floor mat for livestock which has an excellent water permeability, which prevents livestock such as cattle from slipping thereon due to feces and urine of the livestock or due to water for washing away the feces and urine in cleaning, which prevents generation of mildews that are considered to be a cause of mammitis (breast inflammation) of the livestock, and which further has an antibacterial activity.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In order to achieve the aforementioned object, the floor mat for livestock according to the present invention has the following construction. Namely, the characteristic feature of the floor mat for livestock according to the present invention is that it comprises a thermally bonded fiber mat layer with a surface hardness of 60 to 98 and a water permeability of not more than 120 seconds.
The surface hardness (Durometer hardness) according to the present invention is determined by an F-type hardness tester. The surface hardness of the thermally bonded fiber mat is 60 to 98, more preferably 80 to 95. When the livestock such as cattle sit down or stand up, two forelegs or hindlegs are loaded with the whole weight of the livestock. Therefore, if the surface hardness is less than 60, a problem of abrasion occurs due to claws of the livestock as the mat is used for a long period of time, so that it is not preferable.
The water permeability is not more than 120 seconds, preferably not more than 90 seconds, and more preferably not more than 60 seconds in accordance with the measurement method given in the following description. If the water permeability is more than 120 seconds, it is not preferable because the feces and urine or water for washing away the feces and urine stay on the mat, whereby mildews tend to be generated and bacteria tend to grow, leading to poor habitation environment for the livestock.
Thus, since the floor mat for livestock according to the present invention is composed of thermally bonded fiber mat having a specific surface hardness, it is safe as compared with a rubber sheet or a flat plate-like mat because the livestock do not slip thereon by washing water, and also it is not so heavy as a rubber sheet. The thermally bonded fiber mat of the present invention produces advantages that it has good gas permeability and water permeability and can keep cleanness because the feces and urine or the water for washing away the feces and urine in cleaning do not stay thereon.
The method for forming the thermally bonded fiber mat layer is not specifically limited as long as its surface hardness is not less than 60. However, it is preferable to thermoset the thermally bonded fiber mat layer. For example, it is possible to adopt a method in which webs made to pass through a card are stacked by a cross layer for thermosetting, a method in which webs are machine-interlocked by means of a needle punch for preventing exfoliation before thermosetting, or a method in which webs are stacked for thermosetting.
The fiber to be used in the thermally bonded fiber mat layer of the present invention may be any of natural fiber, inorganic fiber, regenerated fiber, or synthetic fiber, and is preferably a fiber mainly containing synthetic fiber such as polyester fiber or polyolefin fiber.
The synthetic fiber that constitutes the thermally bonded fiber mat layer of the present invention is not specifically limited. However, it is preferable to use a polyester staple fiber having a fineness of 1.5 to 100 deniers, preferably 2 to 20 deniers, and a fiber length of 10 to 100 mm, preferably 50 to 80 mm. If the fineness is less than 1.5 deniers or exceeds 100 deniers, or the cut length is less than 10 mm or exceeds 100 mm, the productivity in forming the webs or stack before forming the thermally bonded fiber mat tends to be poor.
The fiber for forming the thermally bonded fiber mat layer is preferably given crimps. The crimps are not specifically limited, but they are preferable in providing better card-passing property for forming the webs or web stack and better operability in forming the sheets. The method for giving crimps is not specifically limited, and it is possible to carry out an asymmetric cooling process in forming the threads for three-dimensional crimping or to carry out machine crimping. The number of crimps for providing better operability is 5 to 30 per inch, preferably 10 to 20 per inch, and the crimping degree is preferably 5 to 40%, more preferably 10 to 35%.
The fiber for forming the thermally bonded fiber mat layer may have a solid, hollow, or non-circular cross-sectional shape. The thermally bonded fiber mat layer preferably has a thickness of about 1 to 40 mm, more preferably 2 to 30 mm.
The thermally bonded fiber mat layer preferably has a mildew-proofing property and/or an antibacterial activity. This can prevent the mammitis of the cattle and the like with certainty.
The method for giving the mildew-proofing property or the antibacterial activity to the thermally bonded fiber mat layer may be a known method. In view of durability, however, it is preferable to use a mildew-proofing fiber or an antibacterial fiber obtained by allowing a fiber for thermally bonded fiber mat or a thermally bondable fiber to contain a mildew-proofing agent or an antibacterial agent in advance. The content of the mildew-proofing fiber and/or the antibacterial fiber in the thermally bonded fiber mat layer is 10 to 80% by weight, preferably 30 to 70% by weight.
The method for giving the mildew-proofing property and the antibacterial activity may be a method of compounding a mildew-proofing agent or an antibacterial agent at the time of spinning or a met

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