MXPA96003360A - Artificial nipple for feeding ganes of gan - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an artificial nipple having a wall or walls, having a hollow defined by the wall or walls, having an inlet end, having means of attachment at the inlet end that allow the nipple to be held to a source of liquid during use to project outwardly from the source, having an exterior that is closed away from a slot therein, said slot being normally adapted in itself to be closed in order to provide a seal to the liquid; nipple being made of an elastic material with intergral internal reinforcing means on each side of the selectively stiffened slot part of the nipple so if the nipple end is crushed or compressed by forces with components along the direction of the groove, the reinforcing means stretch the groove so that it opens, thus allowing the liquid to flow out of the same during the suso, characterized in that the rigid means Internal wall idlers are provided by opposing areas of the internal face internal wall or wall spaces, beyond the slot, with each other to provide internal rigidity that leads to keeping the door closed.

Description

ARTIFICIAL NIPPLE FOR FEEDING, LIVESTOCK BREEDS TECHNICAL FIELD This invention relates to an improved artificial nipple for feeding livestock. Where animals are artificially bred with milk or other liquids, artificial nipples are generally the preferred means of facilitating a newborn animal to self-align.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION For example, in order to feed numerous calves at the same time, there may be a row of artificial nipples projecting horizontally around the upper perimeter of a container and those nipples would normally be connected to tubes equipped with one-way valves for eg It requires that the liquid be removed from the bottom of the container when the nipple is sucked. Obviously in such construction, as long as the level of the nipple is above the level of the liquid, there will be no danger that appreciable amounts of liquid drain from the nipple under gravitational pressure. However, where the nipples are to be filled by gravity, they can be placed, for example, at the base of a container so that there is a head of liquid above the "nipples maybe up to 2 me + and then c , and it becomes necessary that the nipples be self-sealing and be able to withstand the amount of pressure This invention relates to a modification of the invention described in PCT Patent Application NZ 93/00065, published as UO 94/04023 on 3 March 1994. With constant intense use it has been found that the nipples of that invention tend to flatten as the rubber from which they are made is fatigued, and when this occurs the teat of the nipple is slightly open allowing it to run off. a small quantity.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention consists of an artificial nipple having a wall or walls; which has an internal gap defined by the wall or walls; having an end of ey "that has means of attachment at the inlet end that allow the nipple to be attached to a source of liquid during use to project outward from the source, having an outer end that is closed separately from a slot therein, said slot being normally adapted in itself to be closed in order to provide a seal to the liquid, the nipple being made of an elastic material with integral internal reinforcement means on each side of the slot selectively stiffening part of the nipple, so if the nipple exten- sion is crushed or compressed by forces with make + is along the direction of the groove, the reinforcement means will stretch the groove so that it opens, allowing so that the liquid flows out of the same during use, characterized in that the internal wall stiffener means are provided by joining opposite areas of the internal face or internal faces of the wall or walls, more beyond the groove, to each other, to provide internal rigidity that leads to keeping the groove closed. The advantage of the present invention is that the small anterior groove can be used with even better sealing characteristics while ensuring that a high volume of liquid is released through the groove by pulling it open when it is sucked and keeping it closed when not It sucks.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The preferred form of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a central longitudinal cross section of the preferred artificial nipple shape of the prior art of the inventor of the present, the section being aligned with the slot; Figure 2 shows a lateral elevation of the artificial nipple of Figure 1; Figure 3 shows a longitudinal cross section of the artificial nipple of Figure 1 at right angles to the cross section of Figure .1.; Figure 4 shows a cross-sectional view of the plane IV-IV of Figure 2; Figure 5 shows an end view in the direction V-V of Figure 2; Figure 6 shows an extreme view in the direction '^ VI of Figure 2; Figure 7 shows a central longitudinal cross section of the artificial nipple of the present invention showing the modification made to the prior art invention of the present inventor, the section being aligned with the slot, and Figure 8 shows a cross section longitudinal of the artificial nipple of Figure 7 at right angles to the cross section of Figure 7.

MODALITIES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The artificial nipple of the prior art of the present inventor is preferably substantially cylindrical, having an internal hollow 1 and the thickness of the wall 2 is thinner in what will be the outer end of the artificial nipple during use, compared to the Thickness of the internal ion 3 that will be supported against the source of liquid-usually a container. A flange 4 is adapted to lie against the inner surface of the liquid container so that the surface 5 bears against the inner wall of the container. The cylindrical surface 6 will pass through a hole in the wall of the container, having an airtight fit at this point, and locking means, which may be in the form of a circumferential rib 7 of semicircular cross-section or, as shown, triangular , are adapted f.,. to lean against the outer wall of the container to lock the artificial nipple in place. The artificial nipple will normally be projected horizontally, but in some cases the artificial nipple can be installed with an ascending or descending inclination. Typically, the length of the nipple will be about 80 mm and the thickness of the wall near its outer end 9 will be about 2.5 nm. The artificial nipple is made of elastic rubber or suitable material and the outer end 9 is closed by means of a preferably concave portion 10 having a groove 11 provided at its center.The groove will be about 5 to 10 mm in length and it is not molded in the nipple but is pierced in the nipple after being molded in. Reinforcing means are preferably provided by means of 2 integrally molded tapes 12 and 13 and these are preferably coplanar, at right angles to the groove 11, and they are laid on the same diameter as can be seen in Figure 4. During operation, when there is a crushing action exerted on the side walls at the outer end 9 and there are force components aligned with the direction of the groove 11, of so that the outer walls are tending to be squashed towards the tapes 12 and 13, then the stiffness imparted by the tapes, which will then be under tension, with d If there is deformation of the end of the nipple, they will stretch or pull the groove so that it opens, allowing fluid to flow through it. In this way, with the typical suction action of an animal consisting of the animal effectively biting and then stopping biting the nipple in a rapid series of repetitive movements, the feeding liquid can flow out of the slot when the Nipple is bitten or crushed, as long as there is a force component along the length of the groove. However, if the components of tV ^ z are all at right angles to the length of the slot, then there will be no tendency for the slot to open. Generally, since the nipples will be installed to project horizontally, or at least at a right angle with some horizontal component, the slots will be arranged, as the nipples are being inserted into the liquid container, so that each slot it is in a vertical or substantially vertical plane. In this way, there is a reasonable probability that the suction action will be in the correct ¬ correction to cause the slot to open. Experimentation has shown that the larger and thicker the ribbons 12, 13, the faster the milk flow will be and the better the seal of the groove 11. However, this puts a lot of stress on the end of the nipple and the ends of the milk. The groove tends to come off after prolonged use. A smaller ribbon of the same thickness (namely 2 mm) has a lower milk flow but still puts strain on the end of the nipple, although it lasts longer than one f ", a larger ribbon. The seal is still satisfactory in addition to the fatigue problem faced in the present invention. A thin and longer tape with a thickness of 0.75 mm, as illustrated, seems to be the best option. The flow of milk is still adequate and the tape can be stretched before it puts too much effort on the nipple. The seal is good, in addition to the problem of fatigue, and the nipple lasts a lot. An artificial nipple without internal ribbons is too slow to release liquid to be of any use unless the groove becomes larger, which makes the seal unsuitable. It will be appreciated that the seal of the invention of the prior art of the inventor of the present described above is achieved mainly by means of elasticity of the rubber of the artificial nipple, aided by an inward concavity, inward taper or hr- ridge formation. .a inside the end where the same is provided, and secondly the cin + as can be of some help to igidi ar the sides of the slot. Tapes 12, 13 of the prior art construction of the present invention preferably have an included angle of about 30 ° where they meet the substantially cylindrical internal face 17 of the nipple and where they lie on the convex internal surface 19 of the closed end 9 of the nipple are separated ac * |.-oximetely 5rnm, as shown in Figure 4. The preferred radius of curvature of the concave outer end 10 of the nipple is about 5 mm. In order to prevent the slot 11 from elongating or detaching, it is preferable to mold a small internal stress relief cavity 21 at each end of the slot. The cavities only need to be about 1 mm in diameter and about 75% of the thickness of rubber in Lf * jitude as shown in Figures 1 and 4. The center-to-center separation of the cavities is preferably about 6 rnrn . The preferred length of the artificial n-fish of the prior art of the inventor of the present is approximately 66 mm in total. The length of the artificial nipple projecting beyond the flange 22 is approximately 60mm. If this length is much longer, then it becomes too long for a calf smaller than it was to feel nauseous while feeding. If it is more then it becomes too short for an older calf to feed properly. In order to smooth the placement of the artificial fish in a liquid source from the outside, eg, where the nipple is to be inserted into the side wall of a tube length, for example, and there is no ready access from the inside, it is preferable that the flange portion 22 be substantially elliptical with its minor axis aligned with the direction of the r./.ura, or flattened at 26 as illustrated in Figures 5 and 6. Obviously, the Artificial nipples can also be slid over the end of a tube in which case an eyelash would not be necessary but the fastening means could conveniently be internal ridges in the hole 24 adapted to be clamped in external circumferential rims at the end of the tube. As illustrated, the flange 22 has two bottoms p't "-" - ios 26 at right angles to the groove 11. The flat bottoms are preferable to an elliptical flange making it even easier to insert the artificial nipple into an elliptical flange. source of fluid from the outside and also where the end users will install the artificial nipples themselves in the liquid source, the flat bottoms, which are 90 ° to the groove, can provide easy means of visual alignment. The groove 11 must be substantially vertical so that the artificial nipple functions properly when it is submitted to the patient. 1 < normal bite action of a sucking animal. Position < Since artificial nipples are generally installed on the f-side of the side wall of a container that may have been pressed from stainless steel or molded from plastics, the flat bottom as low as 26 prevents the flange from being pushed of the inner wall of the container by the curve that would generally be present between the side walls and the base of the container while the nipple is located as low as possible on the side wall. Several rubbers have been developed for a long period to be suitable for use in the farm environment, eg, with milk extraction machines and the like. Said rubber compounds are suitable for use with the present invention but obviously there is some choice available and they can be selected from different rubber hardnesses, with the consequent different sealing capabilities and different life times. The rubber that has been found to be the most suitable is the 50 Shore A natural rubber. The artificial nipple is molded in a single piece of the same rubber compound. From the above description it will be appreciated that the reinforcing means, which are provided by means of the tapes, generally act in tension when the nipple end is crushed in the proper direction. In fact, they serve to hold the midpoint of the preferably dome-shaped end on either side of the slot and to stretch it for q. < and open because the tapes restrict the distortion of the relative spacing between the internal dome-shaped end 19 and the inner wall 2 of the nipple in the plane of the tapes. When the e ^ o? S subjected to a bite action with a force component along the length of the groove, the end of the nipple tends to assume an oval shape with the minor axis aligned with the direction of the groove. Since the relative spacing of the points such as 27 and 29 (shown in Figure 3) remain substantially constant (the tendency of the tapes to stretch) it can be seen that there are opposing forces applied to both sides of the slot 11 to through the tapes 12, 13 which tend to pull the slot to open. In such a situation, the tapes are acting in tension. When there is no biting force on the end of the nipple, then the tapes tend to assume their normal position and may contribute to pushing the edges of the slot to close. In this way, the invention of the prior art of the inventor of the present allows the use of a much smaller groove than would otherwise be possible for a given flow velocity of liquid towards the outside of the groove, facilitating a sealing better from the slot when there is no suction. It will also be appreciated that where it is practical to mold a direct link between points 27 and 29, such as a rubber bar, this could achieve an equal separation effect of the groove when the end is crushed together with the direction of < anura However, the tapes are easier to mold. There can also be more than a single pair of tapes if desired. Although the end of fish n is preferably "do" or "in" shaped, it can be formed into an inner cone or a vertex shape or even a multi-sided shape, e.g., in the form of a gable roof or of gable with the groove running along the flange or any other suitable incoming angle shape that helps seal the groove. In accordance with the present invention, it has been found that wall piping means joining opposing areas of the inner face or inner faces of the wall or walls, to the a of the slot, can advantageously be provided to each other, for provide internal rigidity tending to keep the slot closed. There are preferably two internal reinforcing tapes that are coplanar on the same diameter at right angles to the slot, the tapes that are being joined thus forming wall pugging means 101 in continuity with the tapes extending from the slot towards the inlet end and joining diametrically opposite areas of the inner face of the wall, beyond the slot , to provide internal rigidity to keep the slot closed.In this arrangement, advantage is taken of the ease of molding the stiffener poricon of the wall integrated with the previous tapes, however, since a portion of the piping means of 101 wall forms a bridge with the e <; - // * anterior between the tapes adjacent to the slot, it needs to be slotted in a short distance of approximately 5 - 5 mm as the slot is formed to allow slot 11 to be opened as much as the construction of the prior art. The effect is very similar to whether the wall piping means had been completely separated from the reinforcing tapes with the lower edge 4 to 5 m from the slot. In fact, with the right tool, the wall stiffener means could be molded in the shape of a b, da or a bar. It could also be provided as two bands or tapes, each in a respective plane parallel to, and each flanking, but not coplanar with, the plane of the reinforcement tapes of Figure 4. Since there are many possible configurations of tapes of multiple reinforcement, most, if not all, can be extended to one another to ligate and perhaps be extended toward the inlet end of the artificial nipple thereby ejecting integral multiple wall or piping media. The artificial nipple shown in Figures 7 and 8 is therefore representative of the present invention but many other configurations would be possible although perhaps not so convenient to manufacture. It should be appreciated that the views of the embodiment of Figures 7 and 8 corresponding to Figures 2, 5 and 6 will be identical. As before, the portions of the tape at the dome-shaped end of the groove adjacent to the slot pull the groove so that it opens when the suction produces forces aligned with the groove and the additional integral wall stiffener tape 101 ( the additional part being shown in punctuated line) serves to pull back, or hold, the sides of the nipple together when it has finished sucking, closing the slot tightly that would otherwise be the case after the elastic material of the nipple is Therefore, by a very simple modification of the invention of the prior art of the inventor of the present invention, a problem of slight drainage has been resolved in fatigued artificial nipples to provide a longer life for the nipple. Improved artificial at an insignificant cost providing a very important economic benefit to end users and minimizing the waste of inevitable material mind involved with artificial nipples thrown away. Since artificial nipples are used in V * 'jrnen very considerable in all countries where there is a dairy industry, this invention is of significant economic importance to the dairy industry.

Claims (13)

NOVELTY OF THE INVENTION CLAIMS

1. An artificial nipple that has a wall or walls; which has an internal gap defined by the wall or walls; which has an inlet end; having means of attachment at the inlet end which allow the nipple to be held to a f? t of liquid during use to project outwardly from the source; having an outer end that is closed apart from a slot therein, said slot being normally adapted in itself to be closed in order to provide a seal to the liquid; the nipple being made of an elastic material with integral internal reinforcement means on each side of the groove selectively blocking part of the nipple so that if the nipple end is crushed or compressed by forces with components along ia < When the groove is cut, the reinforcement means will stretch the groove to open, thereby allowing the liquid to flow out of the groove during use, characterized in that the internal wall-pegging means are provided by attaching opposite areas of the inner face or internal faces of the wall or walls, beyond the slot, with each other to provide internal rigidity which leads to the slot being kept closed.

2. An artificial peron according to claim 1, further characterized in that the end IB ^ x rno closed is characterized by being concave torma, comea, vertex or an angle otherwise entrabe.

3. An artificial nipple according to claim 1, characterized in that the nipple has a wall that is substantially cylindrical having substantially cylindrical internal and external surfaces, and is characterized in that the reinforcement means comprise bridges that form a bridge. in the internal surface of the outer end portion and the inner surface of the cylindrical sub-surface internal wall.

4. An artificial nipple according to claim 3, further characterized in that there are two tapes which are coplanar on the same diameter at right angles with respect to the slot, the tapes being joined to form the wall piping portion in continuity with the tapes and extending from the slot towards the entrance end and joining diametrically opposite areas of the inner side of the p. * s, beyond the slot, with each other.

5. An artificial nipple according to claim 4, further characterized in that the groove partially penetrates the wall piping portion.

6. An artificial nipple according to claim 5, further characterized in that the penetration is about 4 to 5 rnn.

7. An artificial nipple according to claim 3, further characterized in that there are multiple Ca ia on each side of the groove that are joined with one or more wall piping portions.

8. An artificial nipple according to any of the preceding claims, further characterized in that the reinforcement means are ribbons and the walls with ribbons have a thickness of 0.75 m.

9. An artificial nipple according to any of the preceding claims, further characterized in that the length of the groove is about 6 rnrn ..

10. An artificial nipple according to any of the preceding claims, further characterized in that the groove ends in the internal indentation or cavity at each end.

11. An artificial nipple according to any of the preceding claims, further characterized in that the fastening means are characterized in that they comprise a substantially circular flange portion f ?, intended to be laid on the inside of the liquid source, such as a container, during use, a substantially cylindrical portion adapted to pass through a hole in the container, during use, and locking means adapted to exert pressure on the outer wall of the container, during use, to maintain the nipple in position with the flange against the inner wall of the conner.

12. An artificial nipple according to claim 11, further characterized by the IB means < r a comprise a circumferential rib.

13. An artificial nipple according to claim 12, further characterized in that the locking means are in the form of an integral circumferential rib b of substantially triangular cross-section. 1.4.- An artificial nipple according to any of claims 11, 12 or 13, further characterized in that the thickness of the nipple wall is thicker at its inner end that rests against the container, lasting 0 e * use . 15. An artificial nipple according to any of claims 11 to 14, further characterized in that the substantially circular flange has two opposite platforms in its circumference that are aligned L5 substantially at right angles to said groove. 16. An artificial nipple as described with reference to figures 7 and 8 of the attached drawings. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An artiticial nipple is described for providing liquids to animals, which has fastening means that allow the nipple to be attached to a source of liquid such as a tube or a drum during use to project outwardly from the source. The artificial nipple is elastic having an outer end (9) that closes apart from a groove (11) in the rn? ° mo, said groove being normally adapted to be expensive in order to provide a seal to the liquids. The closed external end is preferably concave, cone-shaped, apex or an otherwise incoming angle. Comprehensive reinforcement means, such as ribbons, are located internally on either side of the groove so if the nipple end is crushed? compressed by suction forces exerted by the animal with components along the direction of the groove, the reinforcement means make the groove stretch for a? leave, allowing the liquid to flow outward during use. The pulling action or stretching action allows an acceptable flow velocity from a comparatively small groove that is less prone to tearing than a large groove. A wall piping belt is also provided, preferably as a transverse tape (101) integral with the tapes of the reinforcing means, extending from or near the slot towards the entrance end of the pylon, to provide internal rigidity, and acting together with the e-elements to keep the groove closed when you are not sucking. 33 P96 / 464F