This invention is an improvement of U.S. Pat. No. 3,734,063, hereafter sometimes referred to as the '063 valve. The '063 valve has been very successful and had been installed in farms and animal feed lots throughout the world. The construction and operation of the valve of the present invention is nearly identical to the construction and operation of the '063 valve except that the housing is formed with a flared extension surrounding a portion of the control valve.
There are many self actuated valves on the market and several will be identified and discussed in this application.
One of the problems common to self actuated and unguarded valves is the fact that the animals waste water by opening the valve by scratching themselves on the end of the control member or simply opening the valve accidentally by crowding up against it. On warm days some animals learn that they can convert the drinking valve into a shower by nudging the control member with any part of their body. Some of the animals such as pigs even learn that by partially blocking the end of the control valve they can even create a spray shower. The result of this abuse is wastage of water, which in arid areas or even farm areas such as California, which suffer from water drought from time to time is a serious problem. Needless to say, mudholes in barnyards and feed lots caused by animals playing with valves causes workers a great deal of extra work.
A problem which occurs to self-actuated valves in cold climates is the accumulation of ice beneath the control lever which renders the valves inoperative. The reason for the formation of "icicles" at the extreme tip end of the control valve results from the wind chill and radiation heat loss.
Some mechanical failures of the self actuated valves occurs due to build-up of dry dirt and dry food lodging between the housing wall and the control valve. Other failures occur from wet food build-up from food carried in the animals mouth when it is drinking. The problem of inoperation due to debris build-up results from the inside walls of the housing being parallel to the control member. When the control member is pivoted, a wedge shaped zone is created between the two walls. If debris becomes wedged in this triangular shaped zone, each operation of the control valve forces the debris further back into the valve. As new debris is added, the build-up continues until the valve cannot be opened or will open to such a slight degree that large animals can no longer receive a sufficient supply of water.
The problem of feed build-up between the pivoting lever and the housing was recognized in U.S. Pat. No. 3,613,642 granted to Restall, et al. Restall, taught the use of a slot in the housing beneath the nozzle to prevent debris build up. Apparently the Restall valve was particularly subject to debris build-up since the tapered nozzle was replaced in an alternate form of the invention with a lever located outside the housing. Little is known about the Restall device since to date Applicants have not seen the device on the market.
Restall's tapered nozzle and straight sided sleeve form a wedge which would contribute to the natural build-up of debris which would block the narrow opening valve.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,289,635 is another example of a mouth actuated watering device which has no means of preventing the build-up of debris.
Watering devices with lever actuated valves in which the water flows around the lever rather than through the lever with guards surrounding the lever are quite common. One watering valve is manufactured by Hjalmarsons of Sweden. The lever is parallel to the walls of the guard and debris build-up is a problem.
A slightly different shaped guard is sold by La Buvette of France in which the guard is slightly curved to form a channel in the bottom portion of the guard to allow the pig a better grip on the valve and to channel the water below the solid lever.