AU656056B2

AU656056B2 - A floor module for an animal pen

Info

Publication number: AU656056B2
Application number: AU33749/93A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Robert Charlton
Original assignee: Viscount Plastics Pty Ltd
Current assignee: Viscount Plastics Pty Ltd
Priority date: 1992-03-27
Filing date: 1993-02-24
Publication date: 1995-01-19
Anticipated expiration: 2013-02-24
Also published as: AU3374993A

Description

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AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT Name of Applicant: Name of Inventor: Address for Service: VISCOUNT PLASTICS PTY LTD ROBERT CHAR LTON o r o CULLEN CO., Patent Trade Mark Attorneys, 240 Queen Street, Brisbane, Qld. 4000, Australia.

Invention Title: A FLOOR MODULE FOR AN ANIMAL PEN

D

e Details of Associated Provisional Applications: Nos. PL1537 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us: THIS INVENTION relates to a floor module for an animal pen and more particularly to a pig pen where a plurality of floor modules according to the invention can be laid over a channel such that waste products can pass through the module and into the channel.

There is a growing popularity for high density animal pens where animals are constrained more or less permanently within their pens. The pens are provided with eating troughs, and just as importantly, need to be able to be 16% cope efficiently with waste products.

For high density animal pens, considerable waste Sproducts are produced including faeces, urine, food scraps and waste water from cleansing hoses. Obviously, if waste products are not effectively removed from the pen, this can i0' result in poor hygiene and diseases can be introduced.

It is known to provide animal pens with floor panels which are apertured to provide a mesh or grid-like arrangement. Waste products can then pass through the floor panels and into a collecting channel. The collecting channel can be periodically or regularly flushed to remove the waste material from the animal pen.

These known panels are sheet like in configuration and are bolted to the upper walls of the channel.

Should a panel be damaged, it is difficult to remove and expensive to replace.

It is an object of the invention to provide a floor module which may overcome the abovementioned disadvantages or provide the public with a useful choice.

In one form, the present invention resides in a floor module for an animal pen, including an upper support surface provided with a plurality of openings to allow waste products to pass therethrough, a pair of leg members depending from adjacent opposed edges of the support surface, and one or more deflecting surfaces extending from adjacent the opposed edges of the support surface to adjacent lower ends of the leg members to deflect waste products away from the lower ends of the leg members.

Suitably one or more deflecting surfaces extend from adjacent the opposed edges of the support surface to adjacent lower ends of the leg members to deflect waste products away from the lower ends of the leg members.

In this manner, waste products do not accumulate around the leg members but instead are efficiently deflected away therefrom and usually to a collecting drain or channel underneath the floor module.

The upper support surface of the floor module is suitably formed with a multiplicity of openings.

Suitably, the openings define a grid or mesh-like *oo* arrangement.

The walls defining the or each opening may comprise an upper curved or domed configuration. This facilitates efficient passage of waste material to a respective aperture and prevents accumulation of waste material on the support surface.

Suitably, each floor module is rectangular when viewed in plan and preferably comprises an elongate rectangular configuration when viewed in plan.

The support surface adjacent the opposed edges is suitably not provided with openings but instead may be 4 provided with a configuration to facilitate passage of waste products away from the respective edge and towards a nearby opening in the support surface.

Suitably, the configuration comprises inclined sloping surfaces inclined towards a respective opening or openings.

The pair of leg members may depend substantially at right angles from adjacent the opposed edges of the floor module. For elongate rectangular floor modules, the leg members suitably extend from opposed longitudinal edges.

Suitably, each leg member extends along the width of the support surface. In this manner, the leg member may form .o0 a depending wall.

The or each leg member may comprise an inner wall and an outer wall spaced apart relative to each other. One or more struts may be located between the inner and outer walls if desired.

e4 The outer wall may be co-terminus with a respective opposed edge of the support surface.

The one or more deflecting surfaces may comprise part of the inner wall of the leg member. Preferably, the one or more deflecting surfaces extend from adjacent a first set of openings spaced inwardly from a respective edge of the support surface to adjacent a lower end of the inner wall of the leg member.

The floor module may be provided with one or more strengthening ribs, flanges or partitions. Suitably, such ribs depend from edges defining the openings in the support surface.

Additional diagonal ribs may expend along and beneath the support surface to provide additional strength to the support surface.

The floor module may be formed from suitable material such as plastics, reinforced plastics, filled plastics and the like.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is an upper perspective view of a floor module according to the invention; Figure 2 is an underneath perspective view of the floor module of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a section view of the floor module of 1i-" Figures 1 and 2; Figure 4 is a diagrammatic view of a pair of floor modules installed in an animal pen.

Referring to the drawings, and especially Figure 1, there is disclosed a floor module 10 particularly suited for a pig pen. The module comprises an upper support surface 11 provided with a plurality of openings 12 to provide a gridlike or mesh-like surface. The openings are dimensioned to facilitate passage of waste material therethrough.

The upper support surface 11 is of an elongate rectangular configuration when viewed in plan and includes opposed edges 13, 14.

A pair of leg members 15, 16 depend substantially at right angles from adjacent opposed edges 14, 13.

e.

4 4* 6 Each leg member 15, 16 extends across the full width of the support surface to form a wall member.

Leg members 15, 16 are formed from an inner wall 16a and an outer wall 15b, 16b. The inner and outer walls are spaced apart and are parallel relative to each other. The walls are strengthened by intermediate strut members 15c, 16c. This arrangement of the leg members provides improved strength to the floor module.

The inner wall 15a, 16a of each leg member is curved inwardly and extends from adjacent a respective outer edge 13, 14. In this manner, the curved inner wall forms the one or more deflecting surfaces.

It can therefore be seen that waste products passing through the support surface and especially adjacent opposed edges 13, 14 do not accumulate around the respective leg members 15, 16 but instead are deflected by the deflecting surfaces (that is, the inner wall of the respective leg member) to a drain or channel located beneath the floor module.

To prevent accumulation of waste products adjacent edges 13, 14 of the floor module, the support surface in this region is provided with inclined surfaces 17, 18 which incline downwardly from adjacent a respective edge 13, 14 to a first set of aper'cures 19, The support surface is strengthened against the considerable weight of animals walking over it by a number of ribs extending underneath the support surface. A preferred rib arrangement is shown in Figure 2. It can be seen in this 7 figure that each of the openings in the floor module is surrounded by a depending rib arrangement to provide strength.

For instance, as shown in Figure 2, opening 20 is strengthened by ribs or flanges 21 and 22. As shown in Figure 3, these ribs extend approximately one-third to one-half the height of the floor module. This is, of course, is preferred only.

To prevent twisting of the floor module, the module is provided with a pair of diagonal major ritk 25, 26 which extend between opposed corners of the support surface, and a I. pair of cross ribs 23, 24.

To prevent accumulation of waste products on the support surface, the walls defining a respective opening may be domed or curved. For instance, as shown in Figure 3, wall 27 is domed to assist waste products to fall towards an adjacent opening.

Figure 4 shows diagrammatically the floor modules in use. In this figure, there is shown part of an animal pen.

0o.0 The animal pen is provided with a pair of waste channels 31 separated by a partition 32 which is typically formed from concrete blocks. Each waste channel is provided with a side wall 33, 34 also typically formed from concrete blocks. A pair of floor modules according to an embodiment of the invention 35, 36 are placed on upper edges of walls 33, 32, 34. In this embodiment, a pair of modules are provided although it is envisaged that a larger module can be made which can span the entire width. The deflecting surfaces as shown in ph&ntom and it can be seen how waste products are deflected into the respective channel 30, 31 and do not 8 accumulate around the leg members of the floor moaule. Each module can be sized to approximately the size of a concrete block.

It should be appreciated that various other changes and modifications may be made to the embodiment described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

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Claims

2. The module as claimed in claim i, wherein the openings extend substantially over the upper support surface. S3. The module as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the support surface, adjacent the opposed edges, is configured to facilitate passage of waste away from 9 .the respective edge and towards a said opening. oe
4. The module as claimed in claim 3, wherein the 9 configuration cormprises one or more inclined recesses or channels, having a said opening in a lower end thereof. The module as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein each leg members depends substantially at right angles from adjacent a respective opposed edge.
6. The module as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein each leg member comprises an inner wall and an outer wall which are spaced relative to Aeach other.
7. The module as claimed in claim 6, wherein the inner wall of a respective leg member it curved and comprises part or all of the deflecting surface.
8. The module as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the one or more deflecting surfaces extends from adjacent a first set of said openings which are spaced inwardly from a respective edge of the support surcface, to adjacent a lower end of the inner wall of the respective leg member.
9. The module as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the wall defining a said opening has a curved or domed upper configuration to facilitate movement of waste through the opening. The module as claimed in any onue of the preceding claims, wherein the module is substantially rectangular when viewed in plan.
11. The module as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, including means to interlock, or retain, adjacent modules together.
12. The module as claimed in claim 11, wherein the means comprises one or more projections extending from one side of a said module, which can locate within one or more recesses provided in a side of an adjacent module.
13. The module as claimed in claim 12, wherein the one or more projections and one or more recesses are provided on the same module.
14. The module as claimed in any one of the preceding claims comprising one or more strengthening ribs, flanges or partitions.
15. The module as claimed in claim 14, wherein the see ribs, flanges or partitions depend from edges defining the openings in the support surface.
16. A floor module substantially as hereinbefore i described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 25 17. A floor comprising a plurality of modules as claimed in any one of the preceding claims.
18. An animal pen comprising a floor module, or a floor as claimed in any one of the preceding claims. DATED this seventeenth day of October 1994 VISCOUNT PLASTICS PTY. LTD. By their Patent Attorneys Cullen Co. ABSTRACT A floor module 10, for a pig pen which has an upper support surface provided with a grid like arrangement of openings 20 having curved or domed upper edges to facilitate passage of waste through the opening. The module further includes a pair of legs 15, 16 which are formed from an inner leg member 15a, 16a and an outer leg member 15b, 16b. The inner leg member is curved and facilitates passage of waste away from the base of the leg member and into a collecting 1* channel. The edges of the floor module are configured to facilitate passage of waste away from the edges and towards the openings. The floor modules can be releasably coupled together to form a floor. The modules can be easily removed for inspection and replacement where necessary and can be readily assembled to form a floor. a ao *6Se