Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A01—AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
  • A01K—ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; CARE OF BIRDS, FISHES, INSECTS; FISHING; REARING OR BREEDING ANIMALS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; NEW BREEDS OF ANIMALS
  • A01K63/00—Receptacles for live fish, e.g. aquaria; Terraria
  • A01K63/04—Arrangements for treating water specially adapted to receptacles for live fish

Definitions

• the invention concerns a device that is a cultivation tank for aquatic organisms, as described in the introduction to Claim 1.
• the main objective of the present invention is to design a fish cultivation tank that is hygienic, with restricted water motion in the tank and where the required cleaning work is minimal.
• Fig. 1 shows a first, preferred design in accordance with the present invention.
• Fig. 2 shows a detail of a second means of designing a water control mechanism for a device in accordance with the present invention
• Fig. 3 shows the cog in Fig. 1 in detail.
• Fig. 1 shows a cultivation tank, generally indicated as 1, with a wall, or walls 2 and a bottom 3.
• the bottom 3 is essentially circular, and the wall 2 is preferably cylindrical or conical.
• the bottom can for example be profiled in towards the centre.
• the tank 1 can be covered by a top.
• the tank 1 has a supply pipe 6 for water, and an external outlet pipe 7 for water and residue.
• the described fish tank 1 also has a rotating dredge unit 20 that uses suction or scraping to keep the bottom 3 clean of excess feed, excrement, dead eggs and other material lying on the bottom.
• the rotating suction dredge unit 20 comprises at least one suction arm, preferably two suction arms 24a, 24b.
• Suction arms 24a, 24b can be fitted with rubber scrapers or brushes to make the cleaning more efficient.
• the rotating suction dredge unit 20 is located in a recess 22 in the centre of the tank, an advantageous design would combine the recess 22 together with the outlet.
• a cog 19b is located concentrically, which can be seen in greater detail in Fig. 3.
• the cog 19b has sloping teeth that engage in an equivalent cog 19a.
• Cog 19a is notrotatable in relation to the bottom 3, but can be moved vertically in relation to it.
• Cog 19a is connected to a weight 18 and a float 14.
• Cogs 19a and 19b are designed like those found in standard ballpoint pens.
• the triangular teeth are tapered to a point.
• At least one of cogs 19a, 19b has teeth with a side that is parallel to the direction of motion when there is a rising or falling movement.
• Cogs 19a, 19b are coordinated so that their teeth become engaged next time there is falling motion.
• the two cogs 19a, 19b rotate in accordance with each other. This is done by the teeth in the cogs being at different distances, and/or are located asymmetrically to each other.
• the number of teeth and the ratio between the number of teeth on the respective cogs 19a, 19b help to determine the size of the sector that can be covered each time there is falling motion.
• Fig. 2 a design is shown where the water level control mechanism is located inside the tank 1. This design means that there is no need to have a valve in the air tube, however the air inlet 11 in the tank must be fitted with a sieve so that larva are not drawn into it.
• the syphon pipe 9 is placed centrally in the tank, as shown in Fig. 2, together with the weight/float that is enclosed by a casing.
• the suction arms 24a, 24b on the dredge unit 20 start to rotate above a limited section of the bottom 3.
• the suction dredge unit 20 is driven by the falling water level forcing weight 18 and float 14 to sink making the inclined cogs 19a, 19b move in relation to each other, cog 19b also moves in relation to the bottom 3.
• Other approaches are to drive the dredge unit with an electric motor or a screw/gear mechanism driven by the incoming water.
• the water exchange could either be done at intervals or continually. Rotation must take place between the suction unit and the bottom of the tank, so that it is possible to have a suction unit that remains stationary while the bottom of the tank rotates.
• suction unit upside down under a perforated plate. It is also feasible that the suction unit is fitted with a fine grille, brush or something similar that will chase away any live larva that comes too close to the suction unit. Another means of chasing away such larva is an electronic barrier around the suction unit.
• the tank 1 was equipped with a biological filter, or a protein trap. This could consist of a strainer tube 17, filter chamber 15, riser/aerator 16 and [spreader pipe] the weight 18.

Priority Applications (1)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=19892723

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (5)

Cited By (2)

Families Citing this family (10)

Citations (3)

Family Cites Families (1)

• 1989
  • 1989-12-29 NO NO895317A patent/NO168681C/no unknown
• 1990
  • 1990-12-17 WO PCT/NO1990/000189 patent/WO1991009517A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1990-12-17 CA CA002072357A patent/CA2072357A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1990-12-17 US US07/863,293 patent/US5293839A/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 1991
  • 1991-07-25 EP EP91901459A patent/EP0572385A1/en not_active Ceased

Patent Citations (3)

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