Abstract:
Concrete slabs including anchored rubber surfaces are described which are useful as flooring elements in barns for cows and other animals. A mat is laid over curing concrete in a slat mold. The undersurface of the mat includes a number of projecting elements which are narrowed by undercuts, so that once cured the mat is “locked” in place by the hardened concrete filling concave recesses in the anchoring elements.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application claims priority from provisional U.S. Patent Application No. 60/715,397, filed on Sep. 9, 2005.  
       RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0002]     This application is a replacement of and claims priority from Provisional Application No. 60/715,397 filed Sep. 9, 2005 and entitled ANIMAL BARN FLOORING SYSTEM. 
     
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT  
       [0003]     Not Applicable  
       INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISK  
       [0004]     Not Applicable  
       FIELD OF INVENTION  
       [0005]     This invention relates to flooring designs and structures for use in the husbandry of domestic animals, in particular cattle, horses and hogs.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     It is now a common arrangement in barns for cows for the floor to be of a slotted structure, in which concrete slats, which may be about six inches wide, are separated by gaps of about one and one half inches wide. The purpose of the slats or gaps is to drain off feces and urine produced by the cows. However, the concrete slats can be quite slippery. That can result in the cows falling and injuring themselves. This is a particular problem with older dairy cows, which are the best producers of milk.  
         [0007]     It is an object of the present invention to provide concrete slats with embedded rubber surface coverings in a variety of surface textures which are particularly suitable as cow barn flooring elements.  
         [0008]     A description of concrete slats including anchored rubber surfaces according to the invention is given in more detail below. We have discovered that a particularly advantageous and economical source of rubber for our invention is readily available as by-product in the manufacture of vehicle tires. Current methods for manufacturing vehicle tires produce a considerable amount of waste rubber which is usually discarded to landfill. The presence of small amounts of residual solvent from the tire molding processes render such rubber unsuitable for vehicle tires, but of a quality entirely satisfactory for application in the present invention.  
       DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0009]     The invention contemplates, as an article of manufacture, a rectangular flooring element comprising a concrete slat overlaid with a firmly anchored rubber mat having a top walking surface which is textured for anti-slip properties.  
         [0010]     The rubber mat is formed in a “wringer” style machine which forms the rubber (typically, waste tire rubber) into a mat by pressure with the application of heat. Once the rubber has been processed to the approximate desired thickness it is put into a large press which includes first molding elements that are configured to form on one of the two mat faces a regular pattern of slightly convex surface formations to provide a textured slip-resistant surface. The press is provided with second molding elements to form regularly spaced perpendicularly projecting elements on the bottom face of the mat. These projecting elements are narrowed by undercuts so that the projection-bearing surface can be pressed into the curing concrete slat, with the result that the projections on the underface of each mat are embedded and locked into the concrete during the curing process. The press is closed and heat is applied for typically twenty minutes to set or “cure” the rubber in its final shape. The pressing elements are then separated and the rubber removed, put in a water-cutting machine and an array of holes cut therethrough to conform to the cores of the concrete mold.  
         [0011]     I have discovered this locking arrangement to be superior to known arrangements that are commonly in use. Two typical flooring structures currently used are (i) the lagging onto the concrete of measured strips of conveyor belting or (ii) a mat formed from crumbed recycled tire rubber, bonded and pressed together is then physically bolted to the concrete slats to form the walking surface. From my observations, the lengths of such recycled tire surface materials suffer fracture as the bonding glue breaks down, through continuing traffic of livestock on the floor surface. The lagging or bolting of lengths of rubber or crumbed mats to the slats also negatively affects the integrity of the concrete itself. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]     The invention will now be described by way of example and reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:  
         [0013]      FIG. 1   a  is a top perspective view of a rubber mat section with pairs of undercut projecting elements according to a first embodiment of the invention;  
         [0014]      FIG. 2   a  is a bottom perspective view thereof;  
         [0015]      FIG. 3   a  is an end elevational view thereof;  
         [0016]      FIG. 4   a  is a side elevational view thereof; and  
         [0017]      FIG. 5   a  is a top plan view thereof.  
         [0018]      FIG. 1   b  is a bottom perspective view of a rubber mat section with undercut projecting elements according to a second embodiment of the invention;  
         [0019]      FIG. 2   b  a side elevational view thereof; and  
         [0020]      FIG. 3   b  is an end elevational view thereof.  
         [0021]      FIG. 6  gives schematic end elevational sectional views of alternative rubber anchor contours A to T which may be formed integrally with the rubber mat section used in flooring elements with the present invention, to achieve the desired locking of rubber to concrete. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0022]     Concrete slat flooring elements are first formed by pouring concrete into molds of a suitable rectangular dimension, typically from 2-4 ft wide and up to 14 ft long. The concrete is vibrated to consolidate by settling and removal of bubbles.  
         [0023]     To the surface of an unset concrete slab is pressed a preformed rubber mat of conforming rectangular dimensions. A currently preferred embodiment of such rubber mat is indicated in drawing  FIGS. 1   a - 5   a  as  10 .  
         [0024]     The upper, walking surface of mat  10  presents a rectangular pattern of integral, convex surface formations  12 , while its lower surface  13  is smooth except for symmetrically disposed integral anchoring projections such as  15   a  to  15   d.    
         [0025]     As best seen in  FIGS. 2   a  and  3   a , projections  15   a  to  15   d  are disposed in symmetric pairs  15   a / 15   b  and  15   c / 15   d  toward opposite ends of mat underside  13 . Each projection is recessed at an undercut surface formation  16   a - 16   d . When the rubber mat  10  is pressed into the wet concrete and projections  15   a  to  15   d  are fully embedded therein, concrete flows into the formed recesses to “lock” the projections in place.  
         [0026]     When the full complement of laminated concrete slats has been prepared, they are installed on the barn floor. This may be done by a conventional arrangement of posts and beams in which each concrete slat is supported on its ends by a beam which is in turn held up at its ends by vertical posts. Alternatively, the slats may be supported on their ends by a port concrete wall. The lateral gaps between laminated beams in the assembled flooring system are typically about 1% inches wide, to allow for drainage of animal waste.  
         [0027]     We have found in comparative studies conducted in a cattle barn fitted out over one half with conventional flooring and over the other with a flooring system according to the present invention that the cattle appeared to be more sure-footed and experienced less stumbling, lay down more comfortably and rose more easily in the region with the floor system of the invention and, indeed, tended to gravitate in numbers over time to that section of the barn.  
         [0028]      FIGS. 1    b  to  3   b  show a similar rubber mat  10  configured for embedding of its anchoring projections in concrete slats according to the invention, but having a different form of integral anchoring elements  17   a  and  17   b . These too, however, include the essential feature of a stepped, recessed or undercut portion  18   a / 18   b  configured to allow for flowover of wet cement in the lamination step, conducive to locking the anchor elements in place in the concrete.  
         [0029]     A variety of shapes of anchoring element which might be used for this purpose are illustrated in the schematic end sectional views of  FIG. 6 , variants A to T being shown. All feature projections and recesses configured to allow the locking of the rubber anchoring elements into the concrete slats.  
         [0030]     Without further elaboration the foregoing will so fully illustrate my invention that others may, by applying current or future knowledge, readily adapt the same for use under various conditions of service.