Animal husbandry – Grooming – With means to supply treatment material to the animal; e.g.,...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-16
2002-09-10
Price, Thomas (Department: 3643)
Animal husbandry
Grooming
With means to supply treatment material to the animal; e.g.,...
C239S311000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06446578
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to improvements in or relating to spraying methods and apparatus. More particularly, it relates to spraying methods and apparatus that may be specifically adapted to permit the effective spraying of substantially viscous liquids. However, the invention is not to be limited to such use, and hence the prior art and possible applications of the invention as discussed below are given by way of example only.
BACKGROUND ART
Application of substances to a substrate by spraying is a convenient method of application in that good coverage usually ensues, that is a large surface area can quickly and easily be sprayed, with less effort expended and with less mess than with more direct means of applying substances to a substrate. Further, sprayed substances are more easily able to penetrate through substances due to the force with which the substance is ejected from the sprayer. Thus, spraying devices are many, and range in construction and potential application from aerosol cans through to hand pumped garden spray applicators through to powerful water sprayers using compressed air as a propellant.
One particular example where the application of products to a substrate by spraying is advantageous and desirable is in the dairy industry, particularly with regards to applying antiseptic or medical products to cows teats and udders. One particular bacterial infection for which the application of antibacterial substances is desirable is mastitis, which is a bacterial infection of the mammary glands of the cow. In addition to being a painful and unsightly infection, a main problem is that milk from mastitis infected cows is not permitted to be supplied to most dairy companies for distribution to and consumption by the general public. Hence, having one or more cows infected with mastitis during milking season can potentially prove very costly to the farmer. Whilst mastitis can be cured, clearly it is far more advantageous to prevent any occurrence of mastitis in the first place.
Whilst traditionally environmental and contagious forms of mastitis have been problematic for farmers, in present times environment mastitis is the more prevalent mode of infection. Environmental mastitis is primarily caused by infection of the mammary gland with streptococcus bacteria. Direct application of antibacterial solutions such as iodine preparations by spraying on the solutions or dipping the teats directly into the solutions have been used.
In most milking situations direct application of the treatments eg by dipping teats is difficult and time consuming. Cows may, for example, kick the container of preparation from the farmer's hands, or otherwise disrupt or delay the application process. Spraying on of treatment preparations is accordingly considered a more desirable treatment of applying these treatments.
To date the only commonly used sprayable treatments have been the lessor favoured iodine-based preparations. These preparations have been atomised and applied through product pressurised equipment. Product pressurised spraying equipment is generically available and will be familiar to the workers skilled in the art. However, it will be appreciated that purchasing and installing a product pressurised spraying system involves a significant purchase and set up cost and, further, has difficulties in operation. This is because product pressurised spraying equipment requires the product to completely fill the delivery lines. Depending on the distance of the pump to the spray head this means a significant volume of the preparation will be present throughout the delivery system and consequently large volumes of preparation are required to operate the delivery system. This results in ongoing costs in purchasing significant volumes of treatment preparation but furthermore causes significant ongoing running costs due to the necessity of replacement of exposed parts of the equipment. Such preparations are often reactive and/or corrosive and all exposed components of the equipment eventually need to be replaced. Furthermore, because of the large volume of treatment preparation contacting the exposed parts of the equipment, it is difficult and time consuming to effectively flush and clean the equipment. Furthermore, because of the significant volume of preparation required to operate the delivery system, flushing and cleaning also results in a significant wastage of unused preparation remaining in the equipment.
Particularly effective mastitis treatments have been developed by Alcide Corporation (USA) and are sold under the trade mark UDDERGOLD™. UDDERGOLD™ treatments are a teat sanitiser that has proven to be especially effective against environmental pathogens, and are often considered to be the treatment of choice for the control of both environmental and contagious mastitis. UDDERGOLD™ treatment is provided in a two-pot mixture which when mixed has a limited shelf life of less than 24 hours. Furthermore, the mixed UDDERGOLD™ treatment is quite viscous, unlike iodine solutions that are essentially the same density of water and are easily atomised.
To date, UDDERGOLD™ treatments have not been able to be spray applied in an effective manner. Presently, the treatment mixture is made up and then directly applied by teat dipping. The reason it has been unable to be applied by commonly used product pressurised equipment is primarily due to its viscosity. The spray heads of such equipment have simply been unable to atomise the mixture. However, there are additional problems with attempting to apply UDDERGOLD™ treatment with product pressurised spraying equipment. As noted above, the UDDERGOLD™ treatment has a limited shelf life, which means that shortly after use the equipment must very shortly thereafter be flushed and cleaned with consequent wastage of preparation present in the equipment. The preparation is costly and the flushing of unused preparation represents loss of income for the farmers. Furthermore, the flushing and cleaning is rendered difficult as the UDDERGOLD™ treatment, due to its viscosity when mixed, is a tenacious and difficult product to clean off surfaces it contacts. It is also corrosive and/or reactive to the surfaces it contacts. Accordingly, cleaning of product pressurised spraying equipment is an additional problem to the basic inability of such equipment to adequately spray the mixture. Farmers have accordingly reverted to directly applying UDDERGOLD™ by teat dipping.
It would be desirable to provide spraying methods and apparatus that would minimise the contact of such viscous and corrosive/reactive mixtures with componentry of same. It would further be desirable to enable the effective spraying of viscous mixtures such as the UDDERGOLD™ treatments. It would further be desirable to provide a spraying device that would be of comparatively low cost, minimise product loss due to run off, relatively easy to clean and also requires relatively small volumes of preparation in operation thereby minimising wastage and optimal utilisation of preparations with short shelf lives and high cost. It would further be desirable to provide a spraying device that would enable antiseptic preparations to penetrate into cow's teats and exert an antiseptic effect there.
It is an object of the present invention to address the foregoing problems or difficulties or at least to provide the public with a useful choice.
Further aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the ensuing description that is given by way of example only.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided an air spray device for spraying a veterinarian mixture, said device including
(a) a mixture delivery line to deliver mixture from a source to a mixing chamber, and
(b) the air delivery lines to deliver air from a source to the mixing chamber, and
(c) control means for controlling the rate of delivery of mixture and/or to the mixing chamber, and
(d) a nozzle,
wherein the arrangement and configuration of the mixing chamber is such
Brown Martin Haller & McClain LLP
Maxim Products Limited
Price Thomas
LandOfFree
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