Animal Watering Apparatus

摘要

An automatic animal watering apparatus includes a dish having an automatic watering valve disposed therein. When the valve is first closed, a water level in the dish is at a maximum level, and a hydraulic source pressure acts only across a smaller cross-sectional area of a valve seat which is closed by the valve, thus requiring only a first lower buoyancy force acting on a valve actuator float to maintain the valve closed. The water level can then drop from the maximum water level to a minimum water level before the hydraulic force action on the valve overcomes the first lower buoyancy force on the actuator float and reopens the valve. Then when the valve opens, the hydraulic source pressure acts against a larger cross-sectional area of the valve, thus requiring the buoyancy forces acting on the float to rise to a second higher buoyancy force to reclose the valve. The automatic watering device may be mounted on an external structure through the use of a mounting bracket, and removable mounting pins may connect the dish, the mounting bracket and a cover plate of the dish.

主权项

1. An automatic animal watering apparatus, comprising:
a dish; and a valve received in the dish, the valve including:
a valve body, the valve body including;
an inlet conduit having an inlet passage therethrough;an outlet conduit open into the interior of the dish;a valve seat defined on an inner end of the inlet passage, having a seat diameter and a seat cross-sectional area;a valve chamber defined in the valve body and including a cylindrical first chamber portion adjacent the valve seat, and a cylindrical second chamber portion on an opposite side of the first chamber portion from the valve seat, the first chamber portion having a first diameter larger than the seat diameter, the second chamber portion having a second diameter larger than the first diameter;a stepped valve piston slidably received in the valve chamber, the piston including a smaller diameter piston portion received in the first chamber portion, and the piston including a larger diameter piston portion received in the second chamber portion;a valve tip defined on an end of the smaller diameter piston portion and arranged to selectively engage the valve seat to open and close the valve;a float arm pivotally attached to the valve body and arranged to engage an end of the larger diameter piston portion; anda float attached to the float arm.