Manure-removal device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10743513-B2
Application number	US-201414155391-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 15, 2014
Priority date	Jul 15, 2011
Publication date	Aug 18, 2020
Grant date	Aug 18, 2020

Abstract

A manure-removal vehicle and an assembly thereof having a manure-discharging location. The vehicle comprises a pump and a tank having an air discharge. The vehicle collects manure by means of a scraper and this is subsequently suctioned up via a manure extraction opening in the tank. The pump works at low power and in particular at low pressure, due to the fact that a constant stream of manure is collected in front of the opening, in particular if a sealing plate is provided.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A self-propelled manure-removal vehicle for removing manure from a floor, comprising:
at least two wheels, at least one motor and a control device, for displacing the vehicle in a desired direction of travel by driving at least one of the wheels,
a tank for storing manure comprising an interior defined by a bottom wall having a lowest level, a side wall and an upper part, having an air discharge near the upper part,
a vacuum pump which is connected to the control device and configured to apply a negative pressure to the tank via the air discharge, and
a manure-collecting device having a floor-scraping part which, viewed in the direction opposite to the desired direction of travel, narrows to a closed end, defining a collecting area,
wherein the tank comprises a manure supply/discharge opening which is arranged through the bottom wall of the tank and is at least partly surrounded by the floor-scraping part fluidly connecting the collecting area with the interior of the tank, wherein the manure supply/discharge opening is without a closure capable of separating the collecting area from the interior of the tank, and the manure supply/discharge opening is configured to supply manure from the floor into the tank and to discharge said manure from the tank,
wherein the control device is configured to control the vacuum pump so as to apply negative pressure to the tank when the vehicle is displaced over the floor for supplying manure from the floor via the manure supply/discharge opening into the tank,
and
wherein the control device is configured to (i) switch off the vacuum pump or (ii) control the vacuum pump so as to keep applying negative pressure to the tank when the vehicle is situated with the supply/discharge opening in the bottom wall of the tank above an opening in the floor at a manure-discharging location to cause manure from the tank to be discharged through said opening in the floor on account of the force of gravity.

2. The vehicle according to claim 1 , comprising a sealing device which, viewed in the desired direction of travel, is situated in front of the manure supply/discharge opening, is surrounded by the floor-scraping part and is situated at a higher level than a bottom side of the floor-scraping part.

3. The vehicle according to claim 2 , wherein the sealing device comprises a plate which connects two points on the floor-scraping part and, together with the floor-scraping part, horizontally encloses a manure buffer chamber.

4. The vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the total height of the vehicle during operation is at most 65 cm.

5. The vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the vacuum pump configured to generate a maximum vacuum pressure of 0.1 bar during operation.

6. The vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the vacuum pump is a membrane pump and is connected, on a supply side, to the air discharge and, on a discharge side, to a pump discharge, wherein the vacuum pump discharge is configured to expel at the front side of the vehicle, viewed in the desired direction of travel.

7. The vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the floor-scraping part, at the end surrounding the manure supply opening, comprises a section which is horizontally narrowed with respect to the rest of the floor-scraping part.

8. The vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein an opening of the air discharge is situated in a top part of the tank.

9. The vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the vehicle rests on two wheels, on one side, and rests on a front support device, on the other side, and the tank is shaped volume-symmetrically with respect to the wheels.

10. The vehicle according to claim 1 , comprising a tank level sensor, configured to emit a full signal to the control device if a predetermined filling level of the tank has been reached.

11. The vehicle according to claim 1 , comprising a battery and a connector for connecting the battery to an external battery-charging device for the purpose of charging the battery, wherein the control device is configured to switch off the vacuum pump during charging.

12. The vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the manure supply/discharge opening is situated completely at the lowest level of the bottom of the tank.

13. The vehicle according to claim 6 , wherein the vacuum pump discharge is configured to expel at the front side of the vehicle, viewed in the desired direction of travel above and in front of the floor-scraping part.

14. The vehicle according to claim 7 , comprising side walls, which are parallel to one another.

15. The vehicle according to claim 8 , wherein the opening of the air discharge is situated in the centre at the top of the tank.

16. The vehicle according to claim 8 , wherein the opening of the air discharge is open towards the top of the tank.

17. The vehicle according to claim 8 , further comprising a closable lid above the air discharge which is open towards the top of the tank.

18. The vehicle according to claim 9 , wherein the front support device comprises a castor wheel or the floor scraping part.

19. A system comprising the self-propelled manure-removal vehicle according to claim 1 and a floor with a manure-discharging location, comprising an opening in the floor and a manure storage chamber situated underneath said opening.

20. A method for operating a self-propelled manure-removal vehicle, comprising the following steps:
providing a self-propelled manure-removal vehicle according to claim 1
at least once carrying out the following steps:
collecting manure at a floor-scraping part by moving the vehicle;
suctioning up at least part of the collected manure in a tank of the vehicle by means of a vacuum pump;
emptying the tank of the vehicle; and
charging a battery of the vehicle,
wherein charging of the battery is carried out when the tank of the vehicle is at least partly filled with manure.

Assignees

• Lely Patent Nv

Inventors

• Hillforth Mikael
• Van Den Beukel Huibrecht Johannes Arjen
• Clements Peter Henry

Classifications

• Y02A40/28

  specially adapted for farming · CPC title

• A01K1/01 Primary

  Removal of dung or urine {; Removal of manure from stables}(A01K1/015 takes precedence) · CPC title

• A01K1/0128

  by means of scrapers or the like moving continuously · CPC title

• A01C3/04

  Manure loaders · CPC title

• E01H1/006

  Specially adapted for removing excrements (hand implements E01H1/12) · CPC title