Animal husbandry – Watering or liquid feed device
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-31
2001-07-03
Swiatek, Robert P. (Department: 3643)
Animal husbandry
Watering or liquid feed device
C137S505120, C251S331000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06253708
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to animal watering systems such as poultry drinker systems and more particularly to an improved remote controlled drinker system and drinker line control valve.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Drinker systems for supplying drinking water to poultry typically include an allay of drinker runs each including a dedicated pressure regulator supplying water to a drinker line having numerous drinker outlets such as nipple or cup drinkers. The dedicated regulator supplies water to the drinker line at a low pressure, typically less than one pound per square inch (PSI), and measured in inches of water column (WC, one PSI equals 28 inches WC). In a typical system, high pressure water is delivered from a common water supply to the dedicated pressure regulators of the colresponding drinker runs, and the dedicated pressure regulators reduce the inlet pressure and maintain a predetermined low pressure level in the drinker lines. The drinker runs including the drinker lines and pressure regulators are arrayed around the floor of a poultry building.
A spring in each regulator typically applies a force establishing the outlet pressure. The regulators are adjusted by changing the spring preload, but this requires the operator to go to each regulator and make the adjustment manually. The necessity for the operator to move around the poultry floor to each regulator location in sequence to perform adjustments is time consuming, inconvenient and undesirable. In addition, the presence of a person in the poultry building can disrupt the flock.
Periodically the drinker runs are flushed with higher pressure water to remove stale or contaminated water or to remove water containing residual medications or nutrients. In a typical drinker system, each drinker line is connected to a normally closed flush passage that bypasses the dedicated pressure regulator supplying that line. When a flush bypass passage is opened, high pressure water bypasses the regulator and flows directly into the corresponding drinker line and is discharged through an outlet weir. One disadvantage of this arrangement is that the flow passage through the regulator is not flushed when water flows through the bypass passage.
Manual control of the flushing operation requires the operator to move about the poultry floor opening and reclosing the bypass passages to flush the drinker lines in sequence. As noted above, movement of the operator around the poultry floor can be disturbing to the flock. In order to avoid the necessity for manually initiating a flushing operation at each regulator, the flushing operation may be accomplished from a remote location using electrically operated valves in the bypass passages. However, the bypass valves are located on the poultry floor with the drinker lines, and as a result this approach is expensive because in the harsh environment of the poultry house, the hardware including valves, wiring and electrical connectors must be highly corrosion resistant.
In order to avoid such difficulties, it has been proposed to remotely control dedicated drinker line regulators from a control valve stack or assembly at central location using air or fluid pressure control signals. The control signals are supplied to the dedicated regulators through control lines extending from the central location to the regulators on the poultry floor. Such a system is disclosed in pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/130,217 filed on Aug. 8, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,967,167 issued on Oct. 19, 1999. The system disclosed in that patent has many important advantages. However, in some situations it might be considered a disadvantage to require a control valve stack or assembly at a central location and discrete ani pressure or fluid control lines extending from the central location to each drinker line regulator. To the extent that such disadvantages are a concern, it would be desirable to provide a drinker system that is controlled remotely without the need for control lines extending to the dedicated pressure regulators.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A principal object of the present invention is to provide an improved drinker system for animals such as poultry or the like. Other objects are to provide an improved drinker system with which the need for manual adjustments of dispersed system components is eliminated and the resulting inconvenience and on-floor disturbance is avoided; to provide a drinker system in which both normal drinker operation and periodic flush operations are controlled from a centralized remote location; to provide a drinker system in which drinker line control valves are remotely controlled without the necessity for providing additional control connections from a remote location to the drinker line control valves; to provide an improved drinker line control valve that is remotely controlled by variation of the inlet pressure supplied to the drinker line control valve; to provide an improved drinker line control valve in which both normal and flush operations are controlled with inlet pressure variations; and to provide a drinker system and drinker line control valve overcoming disadvantages of known systems and valves.
In brief, in accordance with the invention there is provided a drinker system for supplying dispersed low pressure drinker water from a high pressure water source. The system includes a plurality of drinker runs, each having a three-way selector valve, a drinker line having a plurality of drinkers and a control valve assembly between the selector valve and the drinker line. Each selector valve includes first and second selector valve inlets, an outlet connected to one of the control valve assemblies and selector means for connecting either the first or the second selector valve inlet to the selector output. A control pressure supply network is connected to the first selector valve inlets and a high pressure supply network is connected from the water source to the second selector valve inlets. A pressure reducing controller connected between the water source and the control pressure supply network supplies the control pressure supply network with water at a reduced control pressure. Each control valve assembly includes a proportional relay valve biased closed with a first, relatively weak spring for providing low pressure drinker water to the corresponding drinker line in response to the receipt of control pressure water from the corresponding the selector valve. Each control valve assembly includes a relief valve biased closed with a second, relatively strong spring for providing high pressure rinse water to the corresponding the drinker line in response to the receipt of high pressure water from the corresponding selector valve.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided a drinker line control valve for use with a source of water having a range of supply pressures including lower, intermediate and higher pressure segments of the supply pressure range. The drinker line control valve alternatively supplies low pressure water to a drinker line and flushes the drinker line with high pressure water. The drinker line control valve includes a housing having an inlet adapted to be connected to the water source and an outlet adapted to be connected to the drinker line. A proportional relay valve in the housing includes a first, relatively weak spring biasing the proportional relay valve to a closed position. The first spring has a spring characteristic for holding the relay valve closed at inlet pressures in the lower pressure segment of the supply pressure range and for opening the relay valve to permit low pressure flow to the outlet at inlet pressures in the intermediate pressure segment of the supply pressure range. A relief valve in the housing includes a second, relatively strong spring biasing the relief valve to a closed position. The second spring has a spring characteristic for holding the relay valve closed at inlet pressures in the lower and intermediate pressure segments of the supply pressure range and for open
Kolehmainen Philip M.
Mason, Kolehmainen Rathburn & Wyss
Swiatek Robert P.
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