Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A01—AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
  • A01K—ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; AVICULTURE; APICULTURE; PISCICULTURE; FISHING; REARING OR BREEDING ANIMALS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; NEW BREEDS OF ANIMALS
  • A01K1/00—Housing animals; Equipment therefor
  • A01K1/01—Removal of dung or urine, e.g. from stables
  • A01K1/0103—Removal of dung or urine, e.g. from stables of liquid manure
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A01—AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
  • A01K—ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; AVICULTURE; APICULTURE; PISCICULTURE; FISHING; REARING OR BREEDING ANIMALS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; NEW BREEDS OF ANIMALS
  • A01K1/00—Housing animals; Equipment therefor
  • A01K1/015—Floor coverings, e.g. bedding-down sheets ; Stable floors
  • A01K1/0151—Grids; Gratings; Slatted floors

Definitions

• the present invention concerns a channel element, preferably for a mucking-out channel, including a connected manure and separation channel, where the channel element is made in one piece, and a grating element for placing across the mucking-out channel, and where the channel element is provided with coupling means that interact with corresponding coupling means on an adjacent channel element for forming a continu- ous mucking-out channel.
• the invention furthermore concerns a method for mounting the channel element.
• the animals' droppings are disposed of by the animals either going to an area with fully slatted floor, or there is provided an area with slots where the droppings may disappear down between the slots.
• a manure channel Under this slatted floor, a manure channel is provided.
• the semiliquid manure is typically stored in this manure channel over a period of time until the level in the manure channel has assumed a maximum level, after which one or more drain plugs are removed. Due to the geodetic level, the semiliquid manure will be sucked out from the manure channel with great speed. Thereby is ensured that the manure channel is almost entirely emptied, and there will not be any bottom deposits left.
• the manure channel is flushed afterwards with thin liquid manure from a manure storage tank so that it is ensured that the manure channel is clean.
• EP 0 251 101 is described a solution where at the bottom of the manure channel there is provided a urine pipe, so that the urine can be separated from the droppings.
• This urine pipe is provided with a number of closable openings that communicate with the manure channel.
• the drawback of this system is that the urine pipe is difficult to make and is technically intricate when it is to have a clos- able opening.
• a great amount of work is to be performed at laying and assembling/adjusting the urine pipe simultaneously with the manure channel is to be made. This provides that the building time for such a manure channel tend to be long and onerous.
• this is achieved with a channel element for constructing a mucking-out channel which is peculiar in including a connected manure and separation channel, where the channel element is made in one piece, and a grating element for placing across the mucking-out channel, and where the channel element is provided with coupling means that interact with corresponding coupling means on an adjacent channel element for forming a continuous mucking-out chamiel.
• the mucking-out channel is made of at least one channel element, where the channel element is made so that there is a manure channel that receive all droppings from the animals at first.
• a separation channel connected with the manure chamiel with a number of openings or a groove. This separation channel pro- vides that all droppings from the animals may be separated into a solid manure fraction and a urine fraction.
• the chamiel element is to be designed so that the bottom of the manure channel drops down towards the place where the openings for the separation channel are placed.
• the bottom of the manure channel has a drop of 1-5°.
• the grating element which is disposed across the mucking-out channel may be provided in modules that have the same length as the channel elements, or alternatively be of modular length covering more channel elements.
• the grating element has the same length as an underlying channel element, it will be possible to pre-fabricate the channel element and the grating element, and then to mount the grating element on the channel element, so that it is the finished mucking- out channel that is laid down in the groove in the levelling layer.
• the channel elements are provided with coupling means at each end. These coupling means are designed so that one end of the channel element has a coupling means complementary with the coupling means at the other end of the chamiel element. By assembling two adjacent channel elements, the coupling elements will engage each other and thereby ensure a tight and even transition between the channel elements.
• a laser-guided planing shovel may level and shape the bed at the bottom of the stable in few minutes, and that it is possible to provide a tight mucking-out channel.
• the separation channel is centrally placed under the manure channel.
• the channel element can have a certain compactness, as the distance from the centrally placed separation channel and out to the side of the manure channel is about half the width of the manure chamiel. This implies that the required inclination of 1-5° of the bottom of the manure channel does not require a deep groove for mounting the channel element.
• the separation channel is disposed in immediate vicinity of the side of the manure channel. This implies that the channel element becomes slightly higher, since the 1-5° inclination of the bottom of the channel element is to be distributed over the entire width of the manure channel.
• the coupling means for coupling channel elements into a continuous mucking-out channel is provided in the form of a rabbet joint and/or a mortise joint.
• the channel element is designed so that at one end a rabbet is made and at the other end a corresponding abutment surface is made. By laying two adjacent channel elements, the contact surface will be placed down in the rabbet.
• the continuous mucking-out channel is furthermore mounted so that it has a lesser inclination in one direction, and that the channel elements are laid so that coupling means with the abutment surfaces face in the direction which the mucking-out chaimel inclines, the mucking-out channel will be approximately tight.
• sealing unit may be a sealant or a plastic membrane.
• a mortise joint in the rabbet joint In order for the channel elements not to be displaced by subsidence of surrounding earth or by action of one of the mucking-out channel elements, in one embodiment of the invention there is provided a mortise joint in the rabbet joint.
• the pegs provide that a lateral or longitudinal displacement of the channel elements cannot occur.
• connection between the manure and the separation channel is a groove and/or a number of openings with conical cross-sections.
• connection between the manure and the separation channels is a groove, there will be carried a greater amount of solid matter automatically falling down through the groove. This implies that it is necessary that the underlying separation channel is to be cleaned in order not to clog.
• scraping equipment In order to clean this separation channel, scraping equipment is used, where a scraper blade with same shape as the cross-section of the separation channel has been provided. Hereby is ensured that possible solid matter or viscous liquid is prevented from settling in the separation channel and thereby clogging the separation channel in the long term.
• the manure channel may be provided with a hard-wearing surface coating.
• This surface coating may be a plastic coating or similar applied to the channel element at the manufacture. A surface coating will furthermore reduce the risk of manure settling in the manure channel and reduce the wear on the scraping system, since the surface coating will be smooth.
• the grating element In order to safeguard the animals walking on the grating element against foot injury, the grating element is provided with slat elements having a tread face, where the longitudinal side edges have been rounded. This implies that animals accidentally treading down between or getting part of their feet/legs caught between two slat elements will not, like previously, be injured by the sharp side edge. The rounded edges will furthermore assist the animal in more easily getting the foot/leg up from the grating element.
• the channel elements In order to ensure that droppings are led down between the slat elements and down into the manure chamiel, the channel elements have a convex tread face providing that urine and other liquids are led to the edge and down between two slat elements.
• the interspace between the slat elements of the grating element in the area over the openings in the bottom of the manure channel is closed so that the animals' droppings do not fall directly down into the openings for the separation channel, thereby causing clogging of these.
• a further object of the invention is to provide a method for mounting the element assembly for constructing a mucking-out channel.
• a scraper is drawn through the levelling layer, where the scraper has a profile corresponding to the shape of the pre-fabricated channel elements
• the scraper is adapted so that it can scrape a groove in the levelling layer, whereby the groove is either horizontal or has an inclination towards one end of the groove.
• a sealant or a plastic membrane is to be used, this is laid in between the channel elements when laying the latter.
• an easy and rapid mounting of a mucking-out channel is achieved.
• the mounting of the mucking-out channel does not require that water or pipes for return pumping of a urine fraction are to be connected for cleaning the mucking-out channel.
• the basic idea of an easy mounting of a channel element in a groove may furthermore be used in connection with mounting traditional mucking-out channels that include a liquid manure channel, an underlying emptying pipe, and where the liquid manure channel is provided with holes fitted with releasable plugs for emptying the manure channel.
• Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a chaimel element according to the invention and a grating element
• Fig. 2 shows a chamiel element according to the invention.
• a channel element 1 On Fig. 1 is seen a channel element 1 and a grating element 2, where the grating element 2 is constituted by a number of slatted elements.
• the channel element 1 includes a manure channel 5 and an underlying separation channel 6.
• Fig. 2 On Fig. 2 is seen the channel element 1, where the manure channel 5 is approximately U-shaped with a bottom part 11 in which is provided a number of through-going open- ings 10. These openings 10 connect the manure channel 5 with the underlying separation chamiel 6. The openings 10 are conical so that the inlet diameter is less than the outlet diameter.
• the bottom part 11 of the manure channel 5 is provided so that the bottom part 11 has an inclination from the sides and down towards the opening 10, which means that liquids will automatically run down towards openings 10 and thereby down into the underlying separation chamiel 6.
• the channel element 1 is designed with a rabbet joint, where the channel element 1 at one end has a rabbet 7 and at the opposite end has an abutment surface 8, where this abutment surface 8 is provided so that it may engage rabbet 7 on an adjacent channel element 1.
• a mortise joint 9 where at one side of rabbet 7 there is a peg, and at the other side there is a hole. Alternatively, there may be holes or pegs in the same end.
• a sealing element such as a sealant or a plastic membrane.

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• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Environmental Sciences (AREA)
• Zoology (AREA)
• Animal Husbandry (AREA)
• Biodiversity & Conservation Biology (AREA)
• Fertilizing (AREA)
• Housing For Livestock And Birds (AREA)

Priority Applications (1)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=28685792

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Cited By (1)

Citations (6)

• 2002
  • 2002-08-16 DK DK200201218A patent/DK174732B1/da not_active IP Right Cessation
• 2003
  • 2003-08-14 AU AU2003254636A patent/AU2003254636A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2003-08-14 WO PCT/DK2003/000543 patent/WO2004016075A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation

Patent Citations (6)

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