IES960676A2

IES960676A2 - A drinking trough

Info

Publication number: IES960676A2
Application number: IE960676A
Authority: IE
Inventors: John Francis Concannon
Original assignee: John Francis Concannon
Priority date: 1996-09-24
Filing date: 1996-09-24
Publication date: 1998-01-28
Also published as: IES78001B2; GB2317806B; IE970692A1; GB2317806A; GB9720106D0

Abstract

A drinking trough (1) comprising a base (2), an upstanding side wall (3) extending upwardly from the base (2), and defining with the base (2) a hollow interior region (7) for drinking water, the side wall (3) also defining an upwardly facing open mouth (8) to the hollow interior region (7) for providing access to an animal to the drinking water, a top wall (10) extending from the side wall (3) and closing part of the open mouth (8), a valve (15) for controlling flow of water to the hollow interior region (7) being located beneath the top wall (10), a water inlet (17) extending from the valve (15) through the top wall (10) and terminating in a connecting means (18) for connecting to a water supply pipe (17), and a portion of the base (2) being shaped for accommodating a corresponding connecting means (18) of an inlet (17) of another similar drinking trough (1) for facilitating stacking of the drinking trough (1) on top of another drinking trough (1).<Fig.1>

Description

A drinking trough A drinking trough (1) comprising a base (2), an upstanding side wall (3) extending upwardly from the base (2), and defining with the base (2) a hollow interior region (7) for drinking water, the side wall (3) also defining an upwardly facing open mouth (8) to the hollow interior region (7) for providing access to an animal to the drinking water, a top wall (10) extending from the side wall (3) and closing part of the open mouth (8), a valve (15) for controlling flow of water to the hollow interior region (7) being located beneath the top wall (10), a water inlet (17) extending from the valve (15) through the top wall (10) and terminating in a connecting means (18) for connecting to a water supply pipe (17), and a portion of the base (2) being shaped for accommodating a corresponding connecting means (18) of an inlet (17) of another similar drinking trough (1) for facilitating stacking of the drinking trough (1) on top of another drinking trough (l).

The present invention relates to a drinking trough, and in particular, though not limited to an animal drinking trough.

Animal drinking troughs, typically, are manufactured for receiving water from a mains or other water supply. Typically, a float controlled valve is mounted within the drinking trough, and an inlet to the float control valve extends externally from the drinking trough, and typically, terminates in a pipe connector for connecting a mains or other water supply pipe to the valve. In general, because of the fact that the inlet and connector to the inlet of the float valve extends externally from the drinking trough such drinking troughs, do not lend themselves to ease of packing in bulk for dispatch to a distributor or the like. In general, the inlet and pipe connector tend to prevent relatively close packing of one trough to its next adjacent trough in a bulk pack, thus, leading to a considerable amount of waste space in the bulk pack.

There is therefore a need for a drinking trough which overcomes this problem, and which lends itself to relatively easy packing in bulk with other similar troughs for ease of transportation. se e 0 6 7 6 The present invention is directed towards providing such a drinking trough.

According to the invention there is provided a drinking trough comprising a base, an upstanding side wall extending upwardly from the base, and defining with the base a hollow interior region for drinking water, the side wall also defining an upwardly facing open mouth to the hollow interior region for providing access to an animal to the drinking water, a top wall extending from the side wall and closing part of the open mouth, a valve for controlling flow of water to the hollow interior region being located beneath the top wall, a water inlet extending from the valve through the top wall and terminating in a connecting means for connecting to a water supply pipe, and a portion of the base being shaped for accommodating a corresponding connecting means of an inlet of another similar drinking trough for facilitating stacking of the drinking trough on top of another drinking trough.

In one embodiment of the invention the portion of the base which is shaped for accommodating the connecting means of another drinking trough lies beneath the top wall.

In another embodiment of the invention the base is 5860676 shaped for accommodating the top wall.

In a further embodiment of the invention a portion of the top wall projects upwardly for forming a housing for housing the valve.

In one embodiment of the invention the valve is a float controlled valve, and ideally, a valving spindle of the float controlled valve extends downwardly from the top wall, and a float carrying pivotal arm which is pivotally connected to the valve for operating the valving spindle is bent for facilitating operation of the spindle by a float carried on the end of the float carrying arm. Preferably, the float carrying arm is bent intermediate its ends to substantially form a right angle. Preferably, the top wall forms a housing for the valve and the float.

In another embodiment of the invention a portion of the side wall adjacent the top thereof terminates in a rim for forming the open mouth, and preferably, the base is shaped for engaging the rim of another similar drinking trough for facilitating stacking of the drinking trough on another similar drinking trough.

Preferably, the rim adjacent the top of a portion of the side wall is formed by an inwardly extending return SI 6 0 6 Ί e d. adjacent the top of the side wall, which terminates in a downwardly extending portion.

In a further embodiment of the invention the water trough is adapted for mounting in a corner, and preferably, for mounting in a corner defined by a pair of walls extending from each other at right angles. In one embodiment of the invention the trough comprises a pair of side walls extending from each other at an angle thereto, and terminating in a front wall.

Preferably, the front wall is of arcuate shape.

The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description of an embodiment thereof which is given by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a top perspective view of an animal drinking trough according to the invention, Fig. 2 an underneath perspective view of the trough of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the trough of Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is an underneath plan view of the trough of 5860676 Fig. 1, Fig. 5 is a side elevational view of the trough of Fig. 1, Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the trough of Fig. 1, which is similar to the plan view of Fig. 3, with the exception that the trough is oriented through 45°, Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the trough of Fig. 1 on the line VII-VII of Fig. 6, Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a detail of the trough of Fig. 1 on the line VIII-VIII of Fig. 7 , and Fig. 9 is a side elevational view of a plurality of troughs of Fig. 1 illustrated stacked one on top of the other.

Referring to the drawings there is illustrated an animal drinking trough according to the invention which is indicated generally by the reference numeral 1. The drinking trough 1 is of plastics material formed by a rotational moulding process, although, needless to say, it will be appreciated that the drinking trough 1 may 960676 be of any other suitable material, and may be formed by any other forming process. The drinking trough 1 is particularly suitable for mounting in a corner, and comprises a base 2, and a pair of side walls 3 extending upwardly from the base 2 and extending from an inner corner 4 from each other at right angles. An arcuate front wall 5 extends upwardly from the base 2 and joins the side walls 3. The base 2, side walls 3 and front wall 5 define a hollow interior region 7 for drinking water, and the side walls 3 and front wall 5 form an upwardly facing open mouth 8 to the hollow interior region 7.

A top wall 10 extends from the side walls 3 adjacent the corner 4, and closes part of the open mouth 8. The top wall 10 is shaped at 11, and with extensions 12 of the side walls 3 forms a housing 14 beneath and within which a float controlled valve 15 for controlling a supply of water to the hollow interior region 7 is located. An inlet 17 to the valve 15 extends through the top wall 10 and is threaded at 18 to form a connecting means for connection to a water supply pipe (not shown) typically, from a mains water supply.

The float control valve 15 extends downwardly from the top wall 10 and a valving spindle (not shown) which controls the flow of water through the valve 15 within S96067β the valve 15 extends vertically. A float 20 for controlling the valve 15 is carried on a carrier arm 21 which is in turn pivotally connected to the valve 15 by a pivot pin 22. In order to facilitate the vertical orientation of the valve 15, the carrier arm 21 is bent at right angles at 23. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the normal orientation for a float valve of the type of the float valve 15 is for the body of the float valve to extend horizontally, as opposed to vertically as in the case of the present invention.

A rim 24 extends around the open mouth 8 and a portion of the rim 24 is formed by an inwardly extending return 25 which extends from the front wall 5 and a portion of the side walls 3, and which terminates in a downwardly extending portion 26. The remainder of the rim 24 is formed by a portion 27 of the top wall which terminates in the downwardly extending portion 26.

A mounting means for mounting the trough 1 to adjacent walls forming the corner comprises a pair of mounting holes 28 which extend to the rim 24 at each side wall 3 adjacent the front wall 5. The holes 28 are formed in the side walls 3 and in the downwardly extending portion 26 of the rim 24. A cylindrical sleeve 30 located between each side wall 3 and the corresponding S9606761 downwardly extending portion 26 of the rim 24 is aligned with the holes 28 and forms a communicating bore 31 with the holes 28 for accommodating a mounting bolt or screw. The mounting means also comprises a pair of mounting brackets 33 which are formed by double skinned extensions of the respective side walls 3.

Holes 34 extending through the brackets 33 accommodate mounting bolts or screws for securing the trough 1 to the adjacent walls. A sleeve (not shown), which is similar to the sleeve 30 extends between the skins of the bracket 33.

A portion 37 of the base 2 beneath the top wall 10 of the trough 1 is shaped for engaging a top wall of a similar trough 1 for facilitating stacking of the trough 1 on top of another similar trough. An upwardly extending sleeve 38 extends from the portion 37 for accommodating the inlet 17 of another trough 1. The sleeve 28 is closed by a top cap 39. Inwardly extending recesses 40 are also formed adjacent the portion 37 of the base 2 for accommodating brackets 33 of another trough 1. Additionally, the base 2 is also shaped at 42 for receiving the rim 24 of another trough 1. In this way, a central portion 44 of the base 2 which is surrounded by the recess 42 extends into the open mouth 8 of another trough 1 beneath the trough for 6 Ο 6 7 β locating and centralising one trough in another for stacking thereof. Three troughs 1 are illustrated stacked in Fig. 9.

A drain outlet 45 is mounted in the base 2 and is closed by a cap 46. In this embodiment of the invention the outlet 45 is provided by a standard outlet from a sink, which is closed by the cap 46. During transportation, the outlet fitting 45 is mounted in the orientation illustrated in the drawings for facilitating packaging and handling of the trough 1, and is reversed into a normal position for use.

A plurality of troughs 1 according to the invention may be stacked one on top of the other for ease and convenience of bulk packing for transportation and delivery to, for example, a distributor.

In use, each trough 1 is mounted in a corner defined by adjacent walls by securing the trough 1 to the walls by bolts or screws (not shown) through the holes 28 and 34. The water inlet 17 is connected to a water supply pipe, and the outlet 45 may be connected to a drain or left unconnected.

The invention provides two important advantages. 5860676ί Firstly, by virtue of the fact that the base of the trough is shaped to accommodate a connecting means extending from a top wall of a similar trough, many troughs can be stacked one on top of the other. This, significantly increases the number of troughs which can be transported within a given volume. By extending the inlet and connecting means to the valve through the top wall, a further significant reduction in the space required for each container during packaging is achieved. In more conventional troughs, where a valve inlet and connecting means to the valve inlet extend through a side wall of the trough, considerable space is wasted between adjacent troughs when bulk packed. Furthermore, by shaping the base so that a part of the base extends into the open mouth of a similar trough on which it is stacked provides a relatively stable and secure stack. Secondly, by providing the holes 29 and 34 through the rim of the trough, and through the mounting brackets, and by virtue of the fact that the holes are located in double skinned parts of the trough, and a sleeve communicating the holes extends between the skins of the wall of the trough provides a relatively strong mounting, and the troughs can be securely and rigidly mounted to a wall by passing suitable screws or bolts through the holes 28 and 34 without any need for separate mounting brackets. 5980678 The invention is not limited to the embodiment hereinbefore described which may be varied in construction and detail.

F.F. GORMAN & CO. see 067 β

Claims

1. A drinking trough comprising a base, an upstanding side wall extending upwardly from the base, and defining with the base a hollow interior region for drinking water, the side wall also defining an upwardly facing open mouth to the hollow interior region for providing access to an animal to the drinking water, a top wall extending from the side wall and closing part of the open mouth, a valve for controlling flow of water to the hollow interior region being located beneath the top wall, a water inlet extending from the valve through the top wall and terminating in a connecting means for connecting to a water supply pipe, and a portion of the base being shaped for accommodating a corresponding connecting means of an inlet of another similar drinking trough for facilitating stacking of the drinking trough on top of another drinking trough.

2. A drinking trough as claimed in Claim 1 characterised in that the portion of the base which is shaped for accommodating the connecting means of another drinking trough lies beneath the top wall.

3. A drinking trough as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2 characterised in that the base is shaped for accommodating the top wall. >86 0 67 «

4. A drinking trough as claimed in Claim 1, Claim 2 or Claim 3 characterised in that a portion of the top wall projects upwardly for forming a housing for housing the valve.

5. 5. A drinking trough as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 4 characterised in that the valve is a float controlled valve, a valving spindle of the float controlled valve extending downwardly from the top wall and a float carrying pivotal arm being pivotally connected to the

6. 10 valve for operating the valving spindle being bent for facilitating operation of the spindle by a float carried on the end of the float carrying arm. F.F. GORMAN & CO.