Abstract:
A livestock enclosure washing assembly for automatically spraying down a livestock enclosure to remove dirt and waste materials includes a cart movable within an animal enclosure, an adjustable articulated arm that rotates around the cart in a settable range, a pivoting spray nozzle for spraying in and out from the cart as the articulated arm rotates around the cart, and a pressurizing unit for dispensing a pressurized fluid through the spray nozzle to effectively remove dirt, debris and waste material from surfaces contacted by the pressurized fluid spray.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to pressurized fluid cleaning machines and more particularly pertains to a new livestock enclosure washing assembly for automatically spraying down a livestock enclosure to remove dirt and waste materials. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     The use of pressurized fluid cleaning machines is known in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 5,462,227 describes an automatic cleaning device for use on a stock farm having a pivoting sprinkler head. Another type of pressurized fluid cleaning machine is U.S. Pat. No. 4,782,551 disclosing an apparatus for cleaning surfaces using a pivoting or oscillating spray nozzle. U.S. Pat. No. 5,947,387 discloses a rotatable high pressure tool for cleaning hollow objects in which the tool is rotated by the force of a fluid forced out of the tool at high pressure. U.S. Pat. No. 5,594,973 discloses a cable suspended pulley operated air gun for cleaning the interior walls of a silo. U.S. Pat. No. 3,625,425 discloses a device for cleaning the interior of a vat or tank. U.S. Pat. No. 5,312,044 discloses a rotating arm having downwardly directed spray nozzles for cleaning. 
     While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the need remains for a device that can be set up within an animal enclosure and operated automatically to spray down a selectable area to reduce man hours required to maintain sufficiently sanitary conditions within the enclosure. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention meets the needs presented above by providing a spray nozzle that pivots to spray a desired range of space coupled with a rotating assembly for moving the spray nozzle laterally to spray over a large three dimensional space. 
     Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new livestock enclosure washing assembly that can be set and left substantially unmonitored to reduce the number of man hours required to clean an enclosure for livestock such as pigs. 
     Yet another object of the present invention is to sufficiently and economically clean an enclosure such that only manual spot cleaning of particularly soiled areas is needed and that time required for the manual spot cleaning will be greatly reduced after use of the invention. 
     Even still another object of the present invention is to provide a new livestock enclosure washing assembly that substantially removes all dirt, debris, and waste material automatically from a livestock enclosure to maintain sufficiently sanitary conditions to maintain a high level of animal health. 
     To this end, the present invention generally comprises a cart movable within an animal enclosure, an adjustable articulated arm that rotates around the cart in a settable range, a pivoting spray nozzle for spraying in and out from the cart as the articulated arm rotates around the cart, and a pressurizing unit for dispensing a pressurized fluid through the spray nozzle to effectively remove dirt, debris and waste material from surfaces contacted by the pressurized fluid spray. 
     There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. 
     The objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The invention will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a new livestock enclosure washing assembly according to the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the spray nozzle assembly of the present invention. 
     FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of an alternate embodiment of the spray nozzle assembly of the present invention. 
     FIG. 4 is an interior view of the cart of the present invention. 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the base portion of the articulated arm assembly of the present invention. 
     FIG. 6 is a front view of a plurality of spray range disks of the present invention. 
     FIG. 7 is a view of the spray assembly of the present invention. 
     FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of the connection portion of the articulated arm assembly of the present invention. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1 through 8 thereof, a new livestock enclosure washing assembly embodying the principles and concepts of the present invention and generally designated by the reference numeral  10  will be described. 
     As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 8, the livestock enclosure washing assembly  10  generally comprises a cart  12  and an articulated arm assembly  20  coupled to the cart  12 . The articulated arm assembly  20  is adjustable for positioning a distal end  21  of the articulated arm assembly  20  at a desired position relative to the cart  12  up to 6 feet of extension from the cart. An articulated arm rotation means  39  is provided for rotating the articulated arm assembly  20  around a substantially vertical axis such that the distal end  21  of the articulated arm assembly  20  moves around the cart  12 . A spray nozzle  30  is fed by a hose  74  and coupled to the articulated arm assembly  20  and is pivoted back and forth by a nozzle pivoting means  32 . The combination of the rotation and pivoting provides a spray pattern that will effectively douse an area surrounding the cart  12 . 
     A fluid supply  40  is coupled to the spray nozzle  30  for dispensing a fluid  2  through the spray nozzle  30  as the articulated arm assembly  20  and the spray nozzle  30  move. 
     The articulated arm assembly  20  includes a proximal portion  22 , a distal portion  24  and a connection portion  26  positioned between the proximal portion  22  and the distal portion  24 . The proximal portion  22  is pivotally coupled to the connection portion  26  and a proximal portion locking means  23  is provided for holding the proximal portion  22  in a static position relative to the connection portion  26 . Similarly, the distal portion  24  is pivotally coupled to the connection portion  26  and a distal portion locking means  25  is provided for holding the distal portion  24  in a static position relative to the connection portion  26 . The proximal portion  22  is further pivotally coupled to the articulated arm rotation means  30  to permit positioning of the proximal portion  22  of the articulated arm assembly  20  at a desired angle extending away from the articulated arm pivoting means  39 . Thus, the articulated arm assembly  20  as a whole is adjustable to position the spray nozzle  30  at a desired position relative to the cart  12 . Further, the articulated arm assembly  20  is selectively positionable in a configuration that will permit free rotation of the articulated arm assembly within the available space in the livestock enclosure  4 . As shown, the various locking means for the proximal and distal portions of the articulated arm assembly each includes a thumbscrew type connector  76  that couples to a portion of each arm through a slot  77 . By tightening the thumbscrew the arm is held in a static position within the slot thus holding the arm in place. Equivalent structures such as locking pins and spaced apertures may also be used. 
     In an embodiment, a pressurization means  50  is coupled to the cart to pressurize the fluid being dispensed. The pressurization means is positioned between the spray nozzle  30  and the fluid source for pressurizing the fluid being dispensed from the spray nozzle  30 . Sufficient results are provided when the spray nozzle  30  dispenses between 3 and 10 gallons of fluid per minute and the fluid is dispensed at a pressure between 1500 and 3000 pounds per square inch. In an embodiment, a hose reel  60  may be included on the cart  12  for carrying a hose for connecting the water pressurization means to the fluid supply. 
     The spray nozzle  30  is one of a plurality of spray nozzles. Each of the plurality of spray nozzles includes a respective spray pattern to permit selection of a desired spray pattern by the user. Each of the plurality of spray nozzles is interchangeable such that a selectable one of the plurality of spray nozzles is couplable to the articulated arm assembly for permitting use of a desired spray pattern. Alternatively, an adjustable spray nozzle may also be used. 
     The invention includes an adjustable spray nozzle motion control means  52  for limiting pivoting of the spray nozzle to a selectable range so that the fluid is sprayed in and out relative to the cart over a selectable area. The adjustable spray nozzle motion control means  52  includes a nozzle sensor  54  operationally coupled to the articulated arm assembly  20  proximate the spray nozzle  30  and a spray range disk  56  coupled to the pivoting spray nozzle  30  proximate to the nozzle sensor  54  such that the spray range disk  56  pivots with the spray nozzle  30 . The nozzle sensor  54  is operationally coupled to the nozzle pivoting means  32  for reversing direction of the spray nozzle  30  upon the nozzle sensor  54  detecting that a portion of the spray range disk  56  is positioned adjacent to the nozzle sensor  54 . Thus, the size of a slice removed from the disk defines the range of motion of the spray nozzle. Alternately, a sensor arrangement may be utilized that reverses direction upon detection that the sensor is aligned with the removed slice and thus the size of the disk will define the range of motion. The spray range disk  56  is typically then one of a plurality of interchangeable spray range disks selectively couplable to the spray nozzle  30  with each spray range disk being shaped to define a respective spray range for the spray nozzle. 
     An alternative structure for the adjustable spray nozzle motion control means  52  includes a nozzle sensor  54 ′ operationally coupled to the articulated arm assembly  20  proximate the spray nozzle  30  and nozzle tabs  58  coupled to the pivoting spray nozzle  30  proximate to the nozzle sensor  54 ′ such that the nozzle tabs  58  pivot with the spray nozzle  30 . The nozzle sensor  54 ′ is operationally coupled to the nozzle pivoting means  32  for reversing direction of the spray nozzle  30  upon the nozzle sensor  54 ′ detecting one of the nozzle tabs  58  positioned adjacent to the nozzle sensor  54 ′. The nozzle tabs  58  are adjustably positionable to define a range of motion of the spray nozzle. The tabs  58  are coupled in a conventional fashion to permit setting the tabs  58  apart by an adjustable amount with the space-between the tabs  58  defining the range of motion of the spray nozzle  30 . It is preferred that the adjustable spray nozzle motion control means  52  has a range of 45 to 360 degrees. 
     Somewhat similarly, an adjustable arm motion control means  62  is provided for limiting pivoting of the articulated arm assembly  20  to a selectable range. 
     The adjustable arm motion control means  62  includes an arm rotation sensor  64  coupled to the cart  12  adjacent to a base portion  29  of the articulated arm assembly  20 . Because of the difference in accessibility compared to the spray nozzle structure is it preferred to use arm tabs  66  that are coupled to the base portion  29  of the articulated arm assembly  20  proximate to the arm rotation sensor  64  such that the arm tabs  66  pivot with the articulated arm assembly  20 . The arm rotation sensor  64  is operationally coupled to the articulated arm rotation means  39  for reversing direction of the articulated arm assembly  20  upon the arm rotation sensor  64  detecting one of the arm tabs  66  is positioned adjacent to the arm rotation sensor  64 . The arm tabs  66  are adjustably positionable to define a desired range of motion of the articulated arm assembly  20 . The adjustable arm motion control means has a range of 0 to 340 degrees. 
     Thus, the articulated arm assembly rotates to provide one degree of motion and the spray nozzle pivots back and forth to provide a second degree of motion whereby a complete area surrounding the cart can be sprayed and cleaned automatically by the invention. A timer mechanism  72  may be operationally coupled to the spray nozzle  30  using an actuating means  78  such as a microcontroller system or other form of device for turning the spray nozzle on and off at desired times or after a selectable duration of cleaning. 
     For ease of positioning, the cart  12  includes a plurality of wheels  68 . Wheel locking means  70  are provided for selectively preventing movement of the cart  12 . Additionally, cart moving means  67  may be provided for automatically moving the cart during use to increase an area of enclosure cleaned by the fluid. The cart moving means may include a automatic movement of the wheels combined with physical connection of the cart to a track system throughout the enclosure or connection to a winch system to pull the cart in a linear direction at a desired pace to permit ample time for the fluid to clean the enclosure. 
     In use, the articulated arm assembly is positioned as desired and/or required by the attributes of the enclosure to be cleaned. The invention is connected to a fluid source such as a water line. The desired range of motion for the spray nozzle and the articulated arm is selected to suit the area desired to be cleaned. The invention is then activated and may be shut off either automatically or manually after desired results are achieved. 
     With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention. 
     Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.