IES86545B2 - Reinforced concrete floor slat - Google Patents

Abstract

A reinforced concrete floor slat (1) has a body (2) with a top face (3) and a bottom face. A reinforcing element is embedded in the body (2). A number of drainage slots (6) extend through the body (2) between the top face (3) and bottom face. Integrally formed indentations (7) extend into the body (2) from the top face (3) to provide improved grip for animals walking on the top face(3). <Figure 1>

Description

This invention relates to reinforced concrete floor slats for animal houses.

Various designs of precast reinforced concrete floor slats are currently available. Essentially, these comprise a reinforced concrete body having a top face and a bottom face with a plurality of spaced-apart drainage slots extending through the body between the top face and the bottom face. A number of these floor slats are mounted side-by-side on a support to form a slatted floor of a cow shed or the like animal house.

The drainage slots allow animal excrement to drop through the floor for collection in a pit beneath the floor. However, in use, a smooth top surface of the slats tends to become very slippery due to a coating of animal excrement which collects thereon. This makes it more difficult for the animals to walk on the floor, slowing them down and possibly causing injury if they slip and fall. To overcome this problem, it is known to cut indentations into the top surface of the slats to roughen the surface to provide more grip for the animals. However, a problem with this is that it weakens the strength of the slats by cutting into them and may lead to damage of the slats and a shortened useful lifespan for the slats.

The present invention is directed towards overcoming these problems.

Summary of the Invention According to the invention, there is provided a reinforced concrete floor slat for an animal shelter, the floor slat including: a reinforced concrete body having a top face and a bottom face, at least one drainage slot extending through the body between said top face and said bottom face, and S8654F -2one or more integrally formed indentations in said body extending into the body from said top face partially through the body towards the bottom face.

Advantageously, the integral indentations improve the grip of animals walking on the 5 top face while, at the same time, they do not weaken or damage the slat, as they are integrally formed therewith.

In one embodiment of the invention, a bottom of each indentation is located at least 30mm above a reinforcing element embedded in the body between said top face and said bottom face. in a preferred embodiment, the bottom of each indentation is located at least 35mm above the reinforcing element.

In another embodiment, the indentations have closed sides.

In a further embodiment, each indentation forms an upwardly open and closed channel at the top face of the body.

In another embodiment, a plurality of spaced-apart drainage slots are provided in the body and indentations are provided at each side of each drainage slot.

In another embodiment, cruciform indentations are formed in the body.

In another embodiment, each cruciform indentation comprises an elongate longitudinal spine interconnected by a plurality of spaced-apart transverse arms.

In another embodiment, the slat includes a plurality of spaced-apart longitudinal beams extending between opposite ends of the body with one or more cross beams extending between opposite sides of the body intermediate the ends of the body and interconnecting the longitudinal beams, drainage slots being defined between adjacent longitudinal beams.

In a further embodiment, a cruciform indentation extends along a top face of each longitudinal beam. -3In another aspect, the invention provides an elongate reinforced concrete beam for forming a slatted floor of an animal house, said beam having a reinforced concrete body with a top face and a bottom face and one or more integrally formed indentations in said body extending into the body from said top face partially through the body towards the bottom face.

In another aspect, the invention provides a process for manufacturing a reinforced concrete slat, including the steps: preparing a slat-forming mould, inserting one or more reinforcing elements into the mould, pouring concrete into the mould, pressing an indentation former a preset distance into a face of the cement forming the top face of a slat, and setting the concrete to form the slat with integral surface indentations.

In another embodiment, the indentation former has an elongate cement-engaging face with projections extending outwardly therefrom by said preset distance for forming the indentations in the cement. Thus, conveniently, the indentations can be accurately made to the required depth in the top face of the slat, leaving sufficient concrete materiai above the reinforcing element within the slat body.

Brief Description of the Drawings The invention will be more clearly understood by the following description of some embodiments thereof, given by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a reinforced concrete floor slat according to the invention; -4Fig. 2 is a detail perspective view showing portion of the floor slat; Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing a floor of an animal house formed by a 5 number of juxtaposed floor slats of the invention; Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view showing portion of the floor slat; Fig. 5 is a plan view of a mould used for manufacture of floor slats according to the invention; Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line A-A’ of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line B-B’ of Fig. 5; Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line C-C’ of Fig. 5; Fig. 9 is an underneath plan view of an indentation former used in the manufacturing process; Fig. 10 is an enlarged detail underneath plan view of portion of the indentation former; and Fig. 11 is an end elevational view of the indentation former.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments Referring to the drawings, and initially to Figs. 1 to 4 thereof, there is illustrated a reinforced concrete floor slat according to the invention, indicated generally by the reference numeral 1. The floor slat 1 has a reinforced concrete body 2 with a top face 3 and a bottom face 4. A reinforcing element 5 is embedded in the body 2 between the top face 3 and the bottom face 4. A number of drainage slots 6 extend through the body 2 between the top face 3 and the bottom face 4. Integrally formed indentations 7 are formed in the body 2 extending into the body 2 from the top face 3, partially through the body 2 towards the bottom face 4. A bottom 8 of each indentation 7 is -5located at least 35mm above the reinforcing element 5 embedded in the body 2.

The slat 1 includes a plurality of spaced-apart longitudinal beams 10 extending between opposite ends of the body 2 with a number of cross beams 11 extending between opposite sides of the body 2 intermediate the ends of the body 2 and interconnecting the longitudinal beams 10. The drainage slots 6 are defined between adjacent longitudinal beams 10 in each slat 1.

Each indentation 7 forms an upwardly open and closed channel in the top face 3 of 10 the body 2 at each side of each drainage slot 6. In this case, cruciform indentations are formed in the top face 3 of the body 2 extending along the top surface 3 of each longitudinal beam 10. Each cruciform indentation 7 comprises an elongate spine 15 extending centrally along the top face 3 of each beam 10 intersected by a plurality of spaced-apart transverse arms 16. In this case, each arm 16 does not extend fully to the side edge of the beam 10.

In use, a number of the slats 1 can be laid side-by-side on a support to form a floor 20 of a cow shed or the like, as shown in Fig. 3. The floor slats 1 allow animal excrement to fall through the drainage slot 6 into a pit beneath the floor 20. Advantageously, in accordance with the present invention, the integral indentations 7 in the top face 3 of each slat 1 provide improved grip for animals walking on the floor 20, whilst, at the same time, the provision of such integral indentations 7 does not weaken the structure of each slat 1.

Figs. 5 to 8 show a mould 30 used for forming the slats 1 of the invention. Inside surfaces of the mould 30 are sprayed with a release agent and the reinforcing elements 5 are positioned within the mould 30 prior to pouring concrete into the mould 30. Then an indentation former 35 (Fig. 9) is pressed into a top face of the concrete which is then allowed to set forming the integral indentations 7 in the top face 3 of the body 2.

The indentation former 35 has an elongate cement-engaging flat face 36 with cruciform projections 37 extending outwardly therefrom by a preset distance, in this case 10mm, for forming the indentations 7 in the top face 3 of the body 2 of the slat 1.

The fiat face 36 of the indentation former 35 engages against the top surface of the -6concrete to ensure the cruciform projections 37 only extend into the concrete to the required depth.

It will be appreciated that the embodiment described herein relates to a stat 1 having a 5 plurality of spaced-apart longitudinal beams 10. However, the floor 20 could also be formed by having individual beams 10 with the integral indentations 7 mounted on a support with spacings between the beams 10 to form the drainage slots 6 to essentially achieve the same effect.

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

Claims (5)

1. CLAIMS Ι . A reinforced concrete floor slat for an animal shelter, the floor slat including: 5 a reinforced concrete body having a top face and a bottom face, at least one drainage slot extending through the body between said top face and said bottom face, and 10 one or more integrally formed indentations in said body extending into the body from said top face partially through the body towards the bottom face.
2. 2. The reinforced concrete floor slat as claimed in claim 1 wherein a bottom of 15 each indentation is located at least 30mm above a reinforcing element embedded in the body between said top face and said bottom face.
3. 3. The reinforced concrete floor slat as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein a plurality of spaced-apart drainage slots are provided in the body and 20 indentations are provided at each side of each drainage slot, the slat including a plurality of spaced-apart longitudinal beams extending between opposite ends of the body with one or more cross beams extending between opposite sides of the body intermediate the ends of the body and interconnecting the longitudinal beams, drainage slots being defined between adjacent longitudinal beams.
4. 4. A reinforced concrete floor slat substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
5. 5. A process for manufacturing a reinforced concrete slat as claimed in any 30 preceding claim, including the steps: preparing a slat-forming mould, inserting one or more reinforcing elements into the mould, -8pouring concrete into the mould, pressing an indentation former a preset distance into a face of the cement forming the top face of a slat, and ύϊ :: setting the concrete to form the slat with integral surface indentations.