Milk cart with a cleaning function

Abstract

A milk cart comprises a chassis, a storage tank coupled to the chassis, and a conveyor system comprising an exit configured to connect to a return line that terminates inside the storage tank. The return line comprises a first portion extending vertically towards a bottom of the inside of the storage tank, a second portion extending vertically in a direction towards a top of the inside the storage tank, and a base portion extending from the first portion to the second portion. The second portion is positioned at a lateral distance from an interior of a wall of the storage tank and further comprises an upper end comprising at least one opening.

Claims

1. A milk cart comprising: a chassis; a storage tank configured to hold a liquid, the storage tank being coupled to the chassis; and a conveyor system comprising an exit configured to connect to a return line that terminates inside the storage tank, wherein the return line comprises, a first portion positioned inside of the storage tank and extending in a downward direction to a first portion end positioned within the storage tank and towards a bottom of the storage tank, a base portion positioned inside the storage tank and extending from the first portion end to a base portion end and positioned below a fill level of the liquid, and a second portion positioned inside the storage tank and extending from the base portion end in an upward direction away from the bottom of the storage tank and terminating at an upper end inside the storage tank, wherein the upper end comprises at least one opening, wherein the second portion is positioned at a lateral distance from an interior of a wall of the storage tank such that the upper end of the second portion is free-standing within the storage tank.

2. The milk cart according to claim 1, wherein the at least one opening is positioned at a height from 0-30 cm below an upper rim of the storage tank.

3. The milk cart according to claim 1, wherein the lateral distance of the second portion of the return line from the interior of the wall of the storage tank is at least 10 cm.

4. The milk cart according to claim 1, wherein the second portion of the return line is positioned at a lateral distance from a central vertical axis of the storage tank.

5. The milk cart according to claim 1, wherein the second portion of the return line comprises a length of at least 15 cm.

6. The milk cart according to claim 1, wherein the first portion, second portion, and the base portion of the return line are connected to form a U-shaped section positioned inside the storage tank that is configured to accept a feeding bucket.

7. The milk cart according to claim 1, wherein the return line further comprises a delivery device positioned outside the storage tank and configured to connect to the exit of the conveyor system.

8. The milk cart according to claim 7, wherein the return line further comprises a middle section configured to pass from outside of the storage tank to inside of the storage tank.

9. The milk cart according to claim 8, wherein the middle section of the return line is configured to connect to a delivery device positioned outside of the storage tank.

10. The milk cart according to claim 9, wherein a portion of the return line positioned inside the storage tank is configured to be detachably connected to the middle section of the return line.

11. The milk cart according to claim 1, further comprising a filter positioned at an outlet of the storage tank.

12. The milk cart according to claim 1, further comprising a conduit configured to connect an inlet of the conveyor system to an outlet positioned at the bottom of the storage tank and a filter positioned within the conduit.

13. The milk cart according to claim 1, wherein the milk cart comprises a controller configured to activate the conveyer system in a cleaning mode for a predetermined period of time.

14. The milk cart according to claim 1, further comprising a spray nozzle positioned over the upper end of the second portion of the return line, and wherein the spray nozzle is configured to generate a plurality of liquid jets when the liquid is conveyed by the conveyor system.

15. A method of cleaning a feeding container by a milk cart that comprises a chassis, a storage tank for liquid foodstuff, and a conveyor system comprising an inlet connected to an outlet of the storage tank, the method comprising: filling the storage tank for liquid foodstuff with a cleaning liquid; structuring the conveyor system to include, a first portion positioned inside of the storage tank and extending in a downward direction to a first portion end positioned within the storage tank and towards a bottom of the storage tank, a base portion positioned inside the storage tank and extending from the first portion end to a base portion end and positioned below a fill level of the cleaning liquid, and a second portion positioned inside the storage tank and extending from the base portion end in an upward direction away from the bottom of the storage tank and terminating at an upper end inside the storage tank, wherein the upper end comprises at least one opening, wherein the second portion is positioned at a lateral distance from an interior of a wall of the storage tank such that the upper end of the second portion is free-standing within the storage tank; positioning the feeding container over the second portion of the conveying system located inside the storage tank for the liquid food stuff; and cleaning an interior of the feeding container using one or more jets of cleaning liquid produced by the second portion of the conveyor system while the feeding container is located inside the storage tank.

16. The method according to claim 15, further comprising a return line extending from the conveyor system, and wherein the one or more jets of cleaning liquid are expelled from the second portion of the return line positioned within the storage tank for the liquid food stuff and extending along a vertical axis of the storage tank.

17. The method according to claim 15, further comprising removing the feeding container from the storage tank for the liquid food stuff after the cleaning.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The invention is explained in more detail below using an exemplary design shown in two figures.

(2) FIG. 1 shows a side schematic view of an embodiment of a milk cart.

(3) FIG. 2 shows a front schematic view of the milk cart from FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(4) The embodiment of a milk cart illustrated in FIG. 1 has a chassis 10 with two front wheels 12 and two steerable rear wheels 14. The chassis comprises a handlebar 16 for pulling or pushing the milk cart.

(5) On the chassis 10 a storage tank 18 for liquid food is arranged. The storage tank 18 has the shape of an upright circular cylinder with a lateral tank wall 20 and a tank bottom 22. An outlet 24 is arranged in the tank bottom 22, which is connected via a conduit 26 to an inlet 28 of a conveyor system 30, which is an electrically driven pump. A filter not shown is arranged at the outlet 24.

(6) The exit 32 of the conveyor system 30 is connected to a delivery device comprising a hose 34 and a dosage arm 36 with a grip 38 and a front end 40. This delivery device forms a section of a return line arranged outside the storage tank 18.

(7) The front end 40 of the dosage arm 36 is inserted into a receptacle 42. The receptacle 42 forms an external connection to a middle section 44 of the return line which passes through the tank wall 20. This can be seen better in FIG. 2.

(8) A coupling 46 is disposed at the end of the middle section 44 of the return line located within the storage tank 18, by means of which a U-shaped section 48 of the return line located within the storage tank 18 is connected to and secured to the middle section 44. The coupling 46 has two small locking levers 50 which allow this connection to be made and released without tools.

(9) Considering FIGS. 1 and 2 together, it can be seen that the U-shaped section 48 of the return line has a first portion or first bracket 52 leading substantially downward, which begins at the coupling 46 and extends from there to a substantially horizontally arranged base portion or base 54 of the U-shaped section. The first bracket 52 runs close to the tank wall 20. A second portion or second bracket 56 of the U-shaped section 48 is slightly shorter than the first bracket 52. It forms an end section of the return line which is arranged substantially vertically and runs from bottom to top, where it ends at its upper end with a spray nozzle 58 which has several openings 60. The second bracket 56 is slightly shorter than the first bracket 52 of the U-shaped section 48, so that the spray nozzle 58 is located slightly below the coupling 46. It is located at a height of about 20 cm below an upper rim 62 of the storage tank 18.

(10) The milk cart also has a controller C, which is shown schematically in FIG. 1, and which controls in particular the conveyor system 30. By pressing a button B on handlebar 16 or on a control unit on grip 38 of dosage arm 36, conveyor system 30 can be activated for a specified period of about 45 seconds in the example.

(11) For cleaning a feeding bucket 64, for example, which has a teat 66 (see FIG. 2), the storage tank 18 is filled up to a fill level 68 with a cleaning liquid slightly below the spray nozzle 58. When the conveyor system 30 is activated, liquid jets emerge laterally and upwards from the openings 60 on the spray nozzle 58, which are used for thorough cleaning of a feeding bucket 64 that has been put over the end section. At the same time, the outside of the feeding bucket 64 can be cleaned, for example by hand using a brush.

LIST OF REFERENCE CHARACTERS

(12) 10 chassis 12 rear wheel 14 front wheel 16 handlebar 18 storage tank 20 tank wall 22 tank bottom 24 outlet 26 conduit 28 inlet 30 conveyor system 32 exit 34 hose 36 dosage arm 38 grip 40 front end 42 receptacle 44 middle section 46 coupling 48 U-shaped section 50 locking lever 52 first bracket 54 base 56 second bracket/end section 58 spray nozzle 60 opening 62 upper rim 64 feeding bucket 66 teat 68 fill level