Pivoting Animal Drinker Container for Easy Cleaning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing animal drinkers are difficult to clean due to the accumulation of dust, dirt, and foreign matter, and the need for flexible conduits to pivot the drink trough can lead to disconnection and water leakage.
Innovation Solution
An animal drinker with a container pivotally mounted on a support, allowing a 90° to 180° pivot between operative and discharge states, featuring a rigidly secured inlet port and a float control valve, enabling easy cleaning without flexible conduits and maintaining water level control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a flexible conduit is used to connect the water supply to the float control valve during pivoting, then the trough can be pivoted between operative and discharge states, but the flexible conduit can be snagged by animals and disconnected, and deteriorates over time causing water leakage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the flexible conduit from the system entirely. Instead, a rigid inlet port is fixed to the support structure, and the container is pivotally mounted to receive water directly at a fixed position. This extraction of the flexible conduit eliminates the reliability issues while maintaining pivoting capability through the rigid support structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The system is divided into distinct functional components: a fixed support structure with the rigid inlet port, and a separately pivotable container. This segmentation allows the inlet port to remain stationary and reliable while the container performs the pivoting motion, resolving the contradiction between adaptability and reliability.
2Reliability
If the drink compartment and level control compartment are enclosed to prevent animal access, then water level control is maintained, but dust, dirt and foreign matter accumulate making cleaning difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The container is made dynamically pivotable between operative and discharge states. In the operative state, the compartments are enclosed for water level control. In the discharge state, the container pivots to allow drainage and cleaning access. This dynamic transformation resolves the contradiction between maintaining enclosed protection and enabling cleaning access.
Solution Approach 2:
The system automatically performs preliminary drainage action before cleaning by pivoting to the discharge state, which drains water and debris from the compartments. This preliminary action prepares the compartments for easier cleaning while maintaining the enclosed structure during normal operation.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Facilitates easy cleaning and prevents water leakage by allowing the drinker to pivot without flexible conduits, ensuring effective water level management and easy maintenance.
Implementation Method 1
a float control valve provided in the level control compartment
Implementation Method 2
the container being pivotal relative to the support and the inlet port between an operative state for receiving the drinkable liquid from the inlet port and for presenting the drinkable liquid to an animal, and a discharge state for discharging the liquid therefrom
Data Source
Figure 1~6
Figure 7~11
AI summary
An animal drink bowl (1) comprising a support framework (5) and a mounting plate (3) for mounting the drink bowl (1) to a wall or other structure, and from which the support framework (5) extends outwardly. A container (7) for drinking water is pivotally coupled to the support framework (5) by a main pivot shaft (15) which is carried on a pair of mounting members (14) extending downwardly from the support framework (5). A float control valve (35) rigidly secured to the support framework (5) terminates in an inlet port (39) through which drinking water is supplied into the container (7). The container (7) is pivotal downwardly about the main pivot shaft (15) from an operative state for presenting drinking water to an animal and a discharge state for discharging water and other debris therefrom during cleaning of the container (7) independently of the float control valve (35) and the inlet port (3), so that the float control valve (35) can be rigidly secured to a mains water supply.