Slatted Floor Flap Valve for Livestock Gas Emission Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Slatted floors in animal housing emit hazardous gases and unpleasant odors from slurry collection tanks, posing health risks to animals and humans, and leading to stringent regulations that increase costs for livestock owners.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus with elongate members and flap valves made of resilient, high-slip materials that restrict the gap between slats, allowing waste to pass through while reducing gas emissions, featuring grooves or channels for easy mounting and replacement, and designed to return to a closed position after waste passage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If screws are used to secure the mat to individual slats, then the securing effectiveness and strength are improved, but the installation complexity and time consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a flexible mat with integrated securing elements that can be installed without individual screws. The mat incorporates elastic securing elements that flexibly attach to slats, eliminating the need for multiple screw fastenings while maintaining secure attachment.
Solution Approach 2:
The mat is designed with self-securing capabilities through integrated elastic securing elements that automatically attach to the slats. The design allows the mat to secure itself without requiring additional fastening components or complex installation procedures.
2Object-generated harmful factors
If the gap between adjacent slats is reduced, then gas emissions and air drafts are reduced, but waste material passage may be hindered
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates elastic securing elements that can dynamically adjust their position. These elements are flexible enough to allow waste passage while maintaining a closed position to prevent gas emissions. The elasticity allows the elements to move aside for waste and return to blocking position afterward.
Solution Approach 2:
The gap between slats is dynamically controlled by the elastic securing elements which can change their position between open and closed states. This allows the gap size to vary based on the need for waste passage versus gas emission prevention, optimizing both functions.
3Stability of the object's composition
If flap valves are made from resilient material, then the valves can return to closed position after waste passage, but the material selection and manufacturing complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The flap valves are constructed from elastic securing elements made of resilient material that can flex and return to their original position. This elasticity enables the valves to automatically close after allowing waste passage, providing self-closing functionality without complex mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The resilient material allows the flap valves to change their physical state between open and closed positions. The material's elastic properties enable automatic recovery to the closed position after deformation during waste passage, providing dynamic control without additional actuation mechanisms.
4Ease of operation
If elongate grooves or channels are provided in slats for mounting flap valves, then the ease of installation and replacement is improved, but the structural integrity of slats may be reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The slats are designed with integrated elongate grooves or channels that are formed as part of the slat structure itself. These grooves provide designated mounting locations for the flap valves while being integrated into the slat design, minimizing the impact on overall structural integrity compared to separate attachment components.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention is an apparatus for use with a slatted floor (D) which includes a plurality of floor slats mounted in a parallel arrangement above a slurry collection tank with a longitudinal gap between each pair of adjacent slats. The apparatus comprises a means (600) for restricting the gap between the adjacent slats so as to reduce the gas emissions and air draughts coming from the tank while allowing waste material to fall into the slurry collection tank. The apparatus comprises an elongate member (611) adapted to be fitted to the underside of a mat or slat and the gap restriction means comprises a flap valve (612) extending laterally outwardly from at least one longitudinal edge of the elongate member. The flap valve is manufactured from resilient and high slip or low friction material so that it returns or recovers after waste material has passed through the gap between adjacent floor slats, whereby the emission of gases and odours from the slurry collection tank is reduced by the valve arrangement fitted to the floor.