The invention concerns an installation for feeding animals, consisting of a dosage unit that can be operated by the animal for delivering feed in a dry form into a trough, and a nipple connected to a supply pipe for supplying water to the trough, which can also be operated by the animal.

- In an existing design the nipple for supplying the water is connected directly to the waterworks or to a water reservoir. The disadvantage of this construction is that the fodder is given to the animal cold, which is less appetizing than fodder which is given warm. As a result, the animal will ingest less fodder than if the fodder had been warm, and it will have to produce more energy tc raise the temperature of the ingested food in its digestive tract. These factors have a negative effect on the growth rate of the animal. Furthermore, when the weather is hot the animal will tend tc imbibe more water to cool down than is strictly necessary for an optimal development of the animal, which will result in more manure being produced. Suggestions have been made to prepare a porridge of warm water and fodder and to feed this porridge to the animals from a central location by means of dosage units which the animals themselves can operate. However, this porridge cools down during the transport and its sojourn in the supply pipe and on account of the fact that the dosage unit is operated by the animals themselves occasionally, will, as known to a hot water supply from a central service point for other purposes, give during a certain period firstly a cold mixture and hereafter warm mixture. However, at that moment the animal will _^ have released the dosage unit, to eat the cold porridge, so that the intended effect is not reached. In practice such implementations have proved unsuccessf l.

The present invention provides an installation for feeding animals in which the water which is added to the feed in the trough has the required temperature from the very first drop and the animal will not imbibe excessive amounts of water. This effect has been obtained in the present invention by connecting the water nipple tc

the water mains by means of a ring main equipped with a pump and a thermostatically controlled heating element in order to keep the water that is fed to the nipples at a pre-set higher temperature.

If the nipple is operated, warm water with the ideal temperature will flow out immediately. This means that the animal will always receive warm fodder, and even in hot weather the animal will have little inclination to drink water, as the warm water cannot aid it in cooling down.

The ring main for supplying the nipples with water is preferably not connected directly to the water mains, but to the bottom of a reservoir equipped with a float valve; the water mains then enters the reservoir via a ball valve operated by a float. In this setup the reservoir serves as a storage buffer for water returning from the ring main. The water in the .ring main can be heated by including a second reservoir in the ring main which is connected to the reservoir with the float valve and which contains a thermostatically controlled heating element.

The pump should preferably be placed in that part of the ring main which is located between the buffer tank and the nipple. In that case the nipple will be on the delivery side of the pump, so that the water will have a controllable overpressure with respect to the atmosphere when it reaches the nipple, causing it to flow from the nipple with a certain velocity. In order to check this a manometer can be included in the circuit near the delivery side of the pump.

In the preferred implementation of the invention the part of the ring main connected to the nipple will consist of two concentrically placed pipes, such, that the interior of the inner pipe communicates with the space between both pipes in the vicinity of the nipple.

When the nipple is operated, the water which is supplied by means of one of the pipes will flow via this communicating opening though the nipple outside and will return to the tank through the other pipe when the nipple is not being operated. In the recommended implementation the innermost pipe is connected to the delivery side of the pump, as this arrangement will reduce the extent of cooling

of the water flowing from the pump to the nipple to a minimuir,. However, it is also possible to connect the outer pipe to the delivery side of the pump, in which case the surplus water will return via the innermost pipe. The invention will now be explained in greater detail, referring to the implementation depicted, by way of example, in the sketch.

Over a feeding trough (1) there is a dosage mechanism (2) which is mounted to the bottom of a fodder bunker (3). The dosage mechanism (2) could be of a type as described in the Dutch patent 185.597. In addition to this dosage mechanism (2) there is also located over the trough a nipple (4), connected to a ring main (5). Both the dosage mechanism (2) and the nipple (4) can be operated by the animal .

The ring main (5) consists of a buffer reservoir (6) with a supply pipe (7) and a return pipe (8). A centrifugal pump (9) is included in the supply pipe (7), which pumps the water from the reservoir (6) towards the nipple (4). The pump will preferably be of a type that can be regulated, and have a manometer (10) at the delivery side so that the pressure in the supply pipe to the nipple can be monitored. This supply pipe (7) stops at some distance from the nipple (4) and is surrounded by a wider return pipe (8) close to the nipple (4) . Any water that is not drained through the nipple will flow back to the reservoir (6) via of the annular opening between the concentrically mounted pipes (7) and (8). The bottom of the reservoir (6) communicates through an opening (11) with another reservoir (12), which is equipped with a float valve. In this reservoir (12) there is a float (13) which is connected by means of a rod to the flow controlling element of a valve (15) which in its turn is connected to the water mains (14). If the water level in the reservoir (12) drops because water is being delivered through the nipple (4), the float will also move downwards, causing the valve (15) to open, so that water will then be admitted into the reservoir (12) until the water has reached its original level. The reservoirs (6) and (12) can be constructed as separate units, but they can also be combined into one reservoir

that is divided into two compartments by means of a shared wall (16).

In the reservoir (6) is placed a heating element (17) that is connected to a power source (18). The current through the heating element is controlled by means of a thermostat (19), which can be adjusted in such a way that the water in the reservoir (6) has the temperature required for feeding the animal. As warm water has a lower specific weight. han cold water, the warm water will rise to the top of the reservoir. In order to prevent mixing of the warm and cold water the communicating opening (11) between both reservoirs is placed at the bottom of the reservoirs and also the return pipe (8) also enters the reservoir at the bottom. The supply pipe (7) for the warm water leaves the reservoir near the top. The pump (9) which is placed in this supply pipe can be regulated, and must be adjusted in such a way, that the pressure of the liquid near the nipple (4) is so high, that the correct amount of water flows from the nipple (4) when the animal operates it.

By implementing this invention the advantage will be gained, that under all circumstances warm water will flow into the trough (1) whenever the animal operates the nipple (4). This will promote the growth rate of the animal, and makes the installation especially suitable for feeding young animals, such as piglets. They can now be removed from their mother at a very young age and fed by means of the feeding installation, making the sows available for farrowing down within a shorter period.

The implementation of the invention can be realized in any number of ways, and is not limited to the method given in the example. The conclusions that follow offer a number of possibilities. For example, the warm water can be transported to multiple pens by means of the pump (9), in which case the required number of supply pipes (7) will run to these pens, and the same number of return pipes (8) will run back to the reservoir (6). The water in the reservoir can also be heated using an immersed heating coil through which hot combustion gases or steam is led. Instead of a centrifugal pump a piston pump or a diaphragm pump can be used.