IES20090686A2 - A floor slat - Google Patents

Abstract

A floor slat (1) comprises a reinforced concrete body (2) having a number of spaced-apart drainage holes (3) extending through the body (2. A plastics insert (7) is mounted at an inlet of each drainage hole(3) at the top of the slat body (2). A drainage opening (9) through the plastics insert (7) allows drainage through the plastics insert (7) and associated drainage hole (3) in the slat body (2). <Figure 2>

Description

Introduction This invention relates to floor slats.

Reinforced concrete floor slats have been widely used for many years to form floors in cow sheds and pig sheds. Essentially the slats comprise a reinforced concrete body having a plurality of spaced-apart drainage slots extending through the slat to allow drainage of manure through the slat into a collecting tank beneath the shed. It is well known that such concrete slats are somewhat uncomfortable for the animals. To overcome this difficulty a rubber mat is often laid on top of the slat. The mat has drainage slots which are aligned with the drainage slots in the slat. This greatly increases the comfort of the animals with consequent improvement in productivity.

However, in use these mats have a tendency to move relative to the slat floor with the result that the drainage slots in the slat become somewhat obscured preventing or at least inhibiting drainage.

The present invention is directed towards overcoming this problem.

According to the invention there is provided a floor slat comprising a reinforced concrete body having a number of spaced-apart drainage holes extending through the slat body from a top face to a bottom face of the slat body, characterised in that a plastics insert is mounted at an inlet of each drainage hole at a top of the slat body, said insert having a drainage opening extending through the insert, an outlet of the drainage opening communicating with the associated drainage hole in the slat body.

Advantageously with the slat of the invention portion of the top surface of the slat comprises plastics material for improved comfort for the animals. Also, each insert is securely mounted at an inlet of a drainage hole and will not move in use.

In one embodiment of the invention, a number of spaced-apart recesses are provided at a top of the slat body, each recess having a plurality of spaced-apart drainage holes extending through the slat body, a plastics insert being mounted in each eKSTUPBBUC ffiSPECTfOB UIHHEttOTC'3-22 W BUIE & IE 090 6 86 -2recess, said plastics insert having a number of drainage openings which align with associated drainage holes in the recess.

In another embodiment, a top surface of the insert is substantially flush with the top 5 face of the slat.

In a preferred embodiment, a top surface of each insert is roughened or has a plurality of spaced-apart ribs or protrusions for improved grip by animais walking on the slat.

In another embodiment, the insert is a push fit into engagement with a periphery of the inlet of the drainage hole. This securely fixes the insert at the drainage hole inlet.

In a further embodiment, the inlet of the drainage hole forms a recess in the top of the 15 slat body for reception of the complementary insert.

In another embodiment, the insert is formed of polyethylene material.

The invention will be more clearly understood by the following description of some 20 embodiments thereof, given by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which; Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a floor slat according to the invention; and Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view of the floor slat taken along the line II -I I of Fig.1; Fig. 3 is a plan view of another floor slat according to a second embodiment of the invention; Fig. 4 is an underneath pian view of the floor slat shown in Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line V-V of Fig. 4; IE 090 6 86 -3Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line VI-VI of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line VII-VII of Fig.4; Fig. 8 is a plan view of a plastics insert for the floor slat of Fig. 3; Fig. 9 is a side elevational view of the plastics insert; and Fig. 10 is a sectional view taken along the line X-X of Rg. 8.

Referring to the drawings, and initially to Figs. 1 and 2 thereof, there is illustrated a floor slat according to the invention indicted generally by the reference numeral 1. The floor slat 1 comprises a reinforced concrete body 2 having a number of spacedapart drainage holes 3 extending through the slat body 2 from a top face 4 to a bottom face 5 of the slat body 2, A plastics insert 7 is mounted at an inlet of each drainage hole 3 at the top face 4 of the slat body 2. Each plastics insert 7 has a drainage opening 9 extending through the plastics insert 7 for discharge into the associated drainage hole 3 within which the plastics insert 7 is mounted, In this case, the plastics insert 7 is of polyethylene material. It is envisaged that alternative plastics materials might be used also. Each plastics insert 7 is mounted within an enlarged recess 10 at an inlet of the drainage hole 3 at a top of the slat body 2. The plastics insert 7 is a push fit into engagement with a periphery of the recess 10 to secure the plastics insert 7 within the recess 10. It will be noted that a top surface 12 of each plastics insert 7 is substantially flush with the top surface 4 of the slat body 2. An inlet 14 to each drainage opening 9 is provided at the top surface 12 of the plastics insert 7. An outlet 16 of the opening 9 discharges into the drainage hole 3 within which the plastics insert 7 is mounted.

In use, a number of the slats 1 form the floor of a cow shed in the usual fashion.

Manure is drained through the drainage openings 9 in the plastics inserts 7 and drainage holes 3 through the slat body 2 for collection in a tank mounted beneath the floor of the cow shed. It will be noted that the top surfaces 12 of all the plastics inserts form a large proportion of the top surface of the slat body 2. It will also be IE 0 9 0 6 86 -4appreciated that the plastics is much more comfortable for the cattle than the concrete surface 4 of the slat body 2. Further, because the plastics insert 7 are mounted within recesses within each drainage opening 3 they are firmly secured and will not move or obscure the drainage opening 3. Should any plastics insert 7 become worn or damaged it can be readily easily replaced by simply pulling the plastics insert 7 out of the associated recess 10 in the slat body 2 and replacing the worn plastics insert 7 with a fresh plastics insert 7.

Although not illustrated in the attached drawings preferably the top surface of each plastics insert 7 has a roughened surface such as by spaced-apart ribs or protrusions to improve grip.

Referring now to Figs. 3 to 10 there is illustrated another floor slat according to a second embodiment of the invention indicated generally by the reference numeral 20.

Parts similar to those described previously are assigned the same reference numerals. In this case, instead of mounting an individual plastics insert 7 at each drainage hole 3 several of the drainage holes 3 are covered by a common plastics insert. A number of spaced-apart rectangular recesses 21 are provided at a top of the slat body 2. Each recess 21 has a plurality of spaced-apart drainage holes 3 extending through the slat body 2. A plastics insert plate 24 is mounted in each recess 21. A number of drainage openings 9 in each plastics insert plate 24 align with associated drainage holes 3 in the recess 21 within which the plastics insert plate 24 is mounted.

In use, the slat 20 is used in similar fashion to the slat 1 described previously. With the construction of this embodiment a greater upper surface area of the slat 20 is provided by the plastics inserts 24. This further improves the comfort for the animals. This slat 20 is particularly suitable for a pig shed.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments hereinbefore described which may be varied in both construction and detail within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (5)

1. A floor slat comprising a reinforced concrete body having number of spacedapart drainage holes extending through the slat body from a top face to a 5 bottom face of the slat body, characterised in that a plastics insert is mounted at an inlet of each drainage hole at the top of the slat body, said plastics insert having a drainage opening extending through the plastics insert, an outlet of the drainage opening communicating with the associated drainage hole in the siat body within which the plastics insert is mounted.

2. The slat as claimed in claim 1 wherein a top surface of the plastics insert is substantially flush with the top face of the slat body, and preferably the top surface of the plastics insert is roughened or has a plurality of spaced-apart ribs or protrusions.

3. The slat as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the plastics insert is a push fit into engagement with a periphery of the inlet of the drainage hole.

4. The slat as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the inlet of the drainage 20 hole forms a recess in the top of the slat body for reception of the complementary plastics insert.

5. A floor slat substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.