NZ260687A

NZ260687A - Teat mounting for animal feeder: teat secured in annular neck feeder outlet by threaded collar

Info

Publication number: NZ260687A
Application number: NZ26068794A
Authority: NZ
Inventors: Stephen Henry Crawshaw
Original assignee: Stephen Henry Crawshaw; Elizabeth Maria Crawshaw Tradi
Priority date: 1994-06-03
Filing date: 1994-06-03
Publication date: 1997-11-24
Also published as: AU2051695A; AU691596B2

Description

<div class="application article clearfix" id="description"> 26068 0* NEW ZEAIAND Patents Act 1953 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION A TEAT MOUNTING No: Date: AMOUNT GST m ako 32 30 %3^£2l. - i JUN fSffi fJV*PATENT OFFICE U£}1 - fiecetpi Aoptowd "iSSUE^v CHKgBV ps-r^ne*-' We, (STEVEN HENRY CRAWSHAW and ELIZABETH MARIA CRAWSHAW » bo K> A'fJ ? -go* la^—< c- .T< ae <•— trading in partnership as STALLION PLASTICS/of 276 Park Road, Palmerston North, New Zealand do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a Patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed to be particularly described in and by the following statement:- -1- 260687 This invention relates to a teat mounting and to an animal feeder incorporating the teat mounting. The feeding of young animals with milk or other liquid feed is often carried out by using a "calfeteria" type feeder. Such feeders include a plurality of spaced apart teats so that a number of animals can feed at the same time. Typically the teats are each mounted by the outlet end of the teat being passed through an opening such that the base or inner end of the teat is wedgingly engaged in the opening. The opening can be formea in the wall of a container in which the milk or liquid feed is located. The inlet end of the teat can be either positioned within the feed or can be coupled to a tube which extends to the feed. To install the teat in the opening the base portion is forced into the opening such that the base of the teat is wedgingly and sealingly engaged within the opening. This is a fiddly and sometimes time-consuming operation especially as teats are often in need of routine replacement. A further problem associated with such feeders is that the teats often leak with the result that valuable feed can be lost between the time the container is filled and the animals commence feeding. This particular problem 26 0 6 8 7. is, however, normally confined to feeders where the inlet end of the teat is immersed in the milk or liquid feed. The object of the present invention is to provide a teat mounting which overcomes or goes some way to overcoming the aforementioned problems. According to one broad aspect of the invention there is provided a manifold for a plurality of teats in an animal feeder said manifold including a plurality of teat mountings each mounting having an opening into which opening an inlet end of a teat can locate, an annular wall spaced from and located about said opening, a cap having an aperture through which the body of a teat can locate such that the outlet end of the teat projects from said cap, the cap being locatable with said annular wall and engagable with the body of the teat to maintain the teat in place with said opening. In the preferred form of the invention the wall is provided with a screw thread which matingly engages with a screw threaded portion of the cap. Also according to the preferred form of the invention the aperture in the cap is dimensioned so that the teat wedgingly and sealingly engages therein. Preferably the manifold is a substantially enclosed elongate body having a wall with a plurality of spaced apart said openings and associated annular walls. In the preferred form the floor of the manifold slopes downwardly toward said openings. The enclosed body can 4 26 0 68 7 have at least one inlet opening for the supply of milk or liquid feed to the manifold. According to a third broad aspect of the invention there is provided an animal feeder comprising a tank for liquid feed, one or more manifolds according to the second broad aspect and a supply conduit connecting the tank with the or at least cine of the manifolds. In the preferred form of the invention a control valve is provided to control flov of feed from the container to the one or more manifolds. In a preferred arrangement a plurality of manifolds are provided with a supply conduit coupled to a first manifold, the other manifold(s) being coupled to the first manifold or inter-connected by transfer conduits. A more detailed description of the invention according to its preferred form will follow and reference will be made to the accompanying drawings in which:- N.Z. PATENT OFFICE l r:r 1997 260687 Figure 1 is an end view showing a manifold with a teat mounting according to the present invention, Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the arrangement shown in Figure 1, Figure 3 is a schematic plan view of an animal feeder incorporating manifolds according to the present invention, and Figure 4 is a perspective view of an embodiment of an animal feeder incorporating the invention. Referring firstly to Figure 1 there is shown a teat 10 of an animal feeder (being one of a plurality of teats) which is mounted with the bulk container of the feeder or as shown is mounted with a manifold 11 forming part of an animal feeder. In the preferred form of the invention manifold 11 is moulded from plastics material and to this end the manifold can be rotationally moulded so as to form an enclosed elongate body. The manifold includes a sloping floor 12 and a teat mounting wall 13. A plurality of openings 14 are formed in the wall 13 along its length. As illustrated the inlet end 15 of teat 10 is engaged within the opening 14 such that the inlet end 15 is located within manifold 11. Surrounding each opening 14 is an annular wall 16 which in the preferred form of the invention has an external screw thread. A cap 17 has the skirt portion 18 formed 260687 with an internal screw thread such that the cap can be screwed onto the annular wall 16. An aperture 19 is formed in the cap 17. The body of the teat 10 can be engaged through aperture 19 so that the outlet end 20 of the teat 10 projects from the cap and hence away from the manifold 11. The diameter of the aperture 19 is such that the body of the teat 10 wedgingly and sealingly engages within the aperture. To provide further sealing an 0 ring (not shown) is provided within the cap 17 so as to engage with the end of the annular wall 16. In order to mount a teat 10 with the manifold 11 the teat is simply inserted through the aperture in the cap and wedgingly and sealingly engaged therein. Following this the cap is simply screwed onto the annular wall such that the inlet end of the teat 10 is located within the manifold as shown in Figure 1. If all of the openings of the manifold are not to be provided with teats a simple blanking off cap can be located on those annular walls where teats are not required. With the teats (and where required blanking off caps) in position the manifold can be filled with milk or liquid feed such that young animals sucking or squeezing the teats can derive feed in the normal manner. 260687 In the event that a teat becomes damaged or for any other reason requires replacement the farmer can, preferably when the manifold is empty, simply unscrew the cap, replace the teat and then screw the cap back onto the annular wall. Also for working purposes the farmer can simply remove all the caps with teats and these can be deposited into a suitable washing container for washing/sterilisation, etc. The replacement of a teat is thus a simple and straight forward operation and is much simpler than the conventional fiddly and sometimes difficult operation of forcing the inlet end of the teat into an opening. This forcing action is even more difficult when a valve is incorporated in the inlet end of the teat. While the teat mounting arrangement according to the present invention is shown as part of a manifold the same type of mounting can be used when the teat is to be mounted directly with the container having the milk/liquid feed. In a preferred arrangement a container for the milk/liquid feed is provided and a conduit extends between an outlet of the container and an inlet of the manifold. An on/off valve is" provided so as to control the flow of milk/liquid feed from the container to the manifold. Preferably this valve is located in the length of the conduit though equally it could be provided as a 8 260687 mounting to the outlet of the container or the inlet of the manifold. One arrangement of an animal feeder is shown schematically in Figure 3 where a plurality of manifolds 11 are located about a central somewhat rectangular shaped (when viewed in plan) container 21. In the illustrated form each manifold is shaped to be (when viewed in plan) part of an ellipse so that four manifolds can be mounted about the container as illustrated. A conduit 22 extends from an outlet of the container 21 to one but preferably two of the manifolds 11. The other manifolds are coupled together by transfer tubes 23 such that milk/liquid feed supplied to the first manifold flows via the transfer tubes 23 to the other manifolds so that all manifolds are filled. In use a farmer would typically fill the container 21 with the control valve 24 shut so that feed cannot flow to the manifolds. The feeder would then be transferred to the site of operation whereupon the control valve 24 would be opened so as to fill the manifolds and enable the animals to feed from the teats. At the completion of feeding the control valve would be closed especially if feed remained within the container. By having a central control valve any loss of feed prior to the feeding operation commencing due to leaky teats can be prevented. 260687 Figure 4 illustrates a form of transportable feeder embodying the invention. As shown container 21 is mounted on a frame 25 carried by chassis 26 having land wheels 27 and draw bar 28. The manifolds can be formed in shapes other than the illustrated part elliptical shape. For example, they can be simply straight or of arcuate form. As a consequence a plurality of different shaped manifolds can be combined to not only extend either fully or partially about a container but also provide the length of manifold required to accommodate the total number of teats required by the farmer. The teat mounting arrangement accor<Iing to the present invention thus provides an easy means of mounting teats either at the time when initial mounting takes place or when replacement is required. The manifold according to the present invention provides a means of supplying teats in a "full flood" manner (ie with the inlet end of the teat immersed within the feed) but due to the ability to control the supply of feed to the manifold loss of feed through, say, a leaking teat is either prevented or minimised. Furthermore by the use of a plurality of separate manifolds used in combination an extremely versatile means of providing the mounting of a desired number of teats in combination with a central container can be achieved. </div>

Claims

<div class="application article clearfix printTableText" id="claims"> WHAT WE CLAIM IS 10 260 687

1. A manifold for a plurality of teats in an animal feeder, said manifold including a plurality of teat mountings each having an opening into which an inlet end of a teat can locate, an annular wall spaced from and located about said opening, a cap having an aperture through which the body of the teat can locate such that the outlet end of the teat projects from said cap, the cap being locatable with said annular wall and engagable with the body of the teat to maintain the teat in place with said opening.

2. A manifold as claimed in claim 1 wherein the annular wall is provided with a screw thread which matingly engages with a screw threaded portion of the cap.

3. A manifold as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein the aperture in the cap is dimensioned so that the teat wedgingly and sealingly engages therein.

4. A manif old as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 formed as a substantially enclosed elongate body having a wall with a plurality of spaced apart said opening and associated annular walls.

5. The manifold according to claim 4 wherein a floor of the enclosed body slopes downwardly toward the openings.

6. The manifold according to claim 4 or 5 wherein the enclosed body has at least one inlet opening for the supply of milk or liquid feed to the manifold. u 260 687

7. An animal feeder comprising a tank for liquid feed, one or more manifolds according to any one of claims 1 to 6 and a supply conduit connecting the tank with the or at least one of the manifolds.

8. The animal feeder according to claim 7 wherein a control valve is provided to control flow or feed from the container to the one or more manifolds.

9. The animal feeder according to claim 7 or 8 wherein a supply conduit is coupled to a first manifold, the other manifold (s) being coupled to the first manifold or inter-connected by transfer conduits.

10. The animal feeder according to any one of claims 7 to 9 wherein the manifolds are disposed about a lower part of said container, the container being located by a support frame which is carried by trailer.

11. An animal feeder substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

12. An manifold for a plurality of teats in an animal feeder substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. STEVEN HENRY CRAWSHAW and ELIZABETH MARIA CRAWSHAW trading in partnership as r?"' STALLION PLASTICS By their Attorney DON HOPKINS & ASSOCIATES per: isyy./L </div>