Therefore I claim:
1. An automated foot bath system for animals consisting of cows or other animals, said system comprising:
a) a foot bath structure having a front wall, a rear wall, two side walls and a floor, said foot bath structure defining a liquid containing region comprising a front containing area and a rear containing area, said foot bath structure being arranged to permit the animals to walk over the floor and through a foot bath liquid in the liquid containing region,
b) a water inlet section arranged to supply water to said liquid containing region water, and to supply at least a portion of said water so as to be directed into said front water containing area and as high velocity jet flow to be able to cause a flow pattern in said liquid containing region of eddy current flow or turbulent flow, or a combination of eddy current flow and turbulent flow, with said high velocity jet flow being capable of moving waste material in said liquid containing region,
c) a discharge section which is at the rear containing region and which has a closed configuration to contain liquid in said liquid containing region and an open configuration to discharge liquid from said liquid containing area,
d) a chemical supply section to provide a quantity of a chemical component as an ingredient of a foot bath liquid for the liquid containing region,
e) a control section arranged to
i) cause said water inlet section to operate in a time frame to supply water to said water to liquid containing region to cause said high velocity jet flow pattern to move waste material in said liquid containing area and to provide water as a constituent for foot bath water in said liquid,
ii) to cause said discharge section to selectively move between the closed and open configuration to contain liquid or permit an outflow of liquid in the liquid containing region, and
iii) to cause said chemical supply section to provide said quantity of said chemical component for said foot bath liquid.
2. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein said control section is arranged to operate in a cycle of operation through at least an agitation phase where said water inlet section supplies water as said high velocity jet flow to move waste material in said liquid containing region, and for at least part of the time that the high velocity jet flow is taking place, the discharge section is caused to be in its open configuration to enable liquid in the liquid containing region with waste material carried therein to be discharged from the liquid containing region.
3. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein there is in said cycle a draining phase where the flow of high velocity liquid jet flow is at least reduced or stopped by the control section, and a drainage phase takes place where said outlet section is in its open configuration to enable remaining liquid in the liquid containing region to be discharged from the liquid containing region.
4. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein said control section operates so that said draining phase is followed by a flushing phase where the outlet section is in its open configuration, and the water inlet section is discharging water as said high velocity jet flow to cause further removal of waste material in the liquid containing region.
5. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein said cycle is arranged so that with foot bath liquid being already contained in said liquid containing region, and with said contained foot bath liquid being in condition to be removed from said liquid containing region, said agitation phase is initiated by said control section by causing the foot bath structure to discharge the water as said high velocity jet flow, and also to cause said discharge section to be in its open configuration, so that waste material in said liquid containing region is agitated to move waste material in the liquid containing region in a circulating pattern and break down at least some of said waste material in smaller particle size, with there being a net downstream flow from said inlet section to said discharge section.
6. The system as recited in claim 2, wherein the cycle further comprises a draining phase when the outlet section is in the open configuration and a fill and chemical injection phase in which subsequent to the agitation phase, and draining phase, said water inlet section discharges water into said liquid containing region and the quantity of the chemical component is injected as a chemical liquid into the water that is provided for the liquid containing region.
7. The system as recited in claim 6, wherein the water inlet section discharges at least a portion of the water into the liquid containing area as a high velocity jet flow and quantity of chemical liquid is injected to be mixed with the water in the liquid containing area in the flow pattern of the water.
8. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein said water inlet section is provided with at least first and second water inlet openings spaced laterally from one another to direct water as said high velocity jet flow into said liquid containing region.
9. The system as recited in claim 8, wherein said foot bath structure is arranged with the liquid containing region having a front to rear longitudinal axis and a transverse axis, and said liquid containing region has a length dimension along said longitudinal axis greater than a width along said transverse axis, said two inlet openings of the water section being positioned at the front wall of the foot bath structure, facing generally in a rearward direction toward the rear wall, and being spaced laterally from one another on opposite sides of said longitudinal center axis, so that the two inlet openings cause water streams to travel on opposite sides of said longitudinal axis and have a return flow path in an eddy current flow in a forward direction at a location closer to the longitudinal center axis.
10. The system as recited in claim 9, wherein said water inlet section has a third liquid inlet which is positioned between said first and second liquid inlets and nearer to said longitudinal center axis, said third inlet opening directs a third flow of water in a generally longitudinally aligned direction.
11. The system as recited in claim 10, wherein said third inlet opening has a generally laterally aligned slotlike configuration arranged to discharge water in a laterally expanding pattern toward flow streams generate d by said first and second high velocity jet flows from said first and second inlet openings.
12. The system as recited in claim 8, wherein there are at least two additional inlet openings of said water inlet section which discharge water in a high velocity jet flow mode into the liquid containing region.
13. The system as recited in claim 9, wherein first and second inlet openings are located in, or adjacent to, said front wall of the foot bath structure, and said front wall has a transverse width dimension, said first and second inlet openings each being spaced from the longitudinal center axis, at least a quarter of a distance between the longitudinal center axis of said liquid containing region and an adjacent outer end portion of said front wall.
14. The system as recited in claim 13, wherein said first and second inlet openings are spaced from said longitudinal center axis at least approximately half the distance from the longitudinal center axis to the adjacent outer edge of the front wall.
15. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein said high velocity jet flow has a velocity of at least two feet per second.
16. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein said velocity is at least as great about four feet per second.
17. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein said control system comprises a clock component having operative connections to at least three components or combination of components that in turn provide timing for activation of the water inlet section, the discharge section and the chemical supply section to cause said water inlet section, said discharge section and said chemical supply section to operate in proper timed sequence.
18. The system as recited in claim 17, wherein said component or components control operation of said water inlet section to cause said water inlet section operate to discharge water in said high velocity flow mode during said agitating phase, and to cause said discharge section to be in its open configuration during the agitation phase, to cause the water inlet section to reduce or stop water flow in the high velocity jet flow mode during at least part of a draining phase where the discharge section is in its open configuration, and to return to operating in the high velocity flow mode for a flushing phase with the discharge section being in its open configuration.
19. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein said control section comprises a micro-computer to control operation of said water inlet section to cause said water inlet section operate to discharge water in said high velocity flow mode during said agitating phase, and to cause said discharge section to be in its open configuration during the agitation phase, to cause the water inlet section to reduce or stop water flow in the high velocity jet flow mode during at least part of a draining phase where the discharge section is in its open configuration, and to return to operating in the high velocity flow mode for a flushing phase with the discharge section being in its open configuration.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method of releasing a microelectromechanical structure comprising a silicon oxide layer sandwiched between two silicon-containing layers, a first, substrate layer and a second, overlying layer to be released from the silicon oxide layer comprising, in sequence,
a) isotropically etching a partial opening in the silicon oxide layer using a gaseous aqueous hydrogen fluoride etchant; and
b) adding a polar drying agent to replace moisture remaining in the partial opening, and dissolve away residues remaining therein.
2. A method according to claim 1 wherein steps a) and b) are repeated.
3. A method according to claim 1 wherein steps a) and b) are cycled until complete release of the structure is achieved.
4. A method according to claim 1 wherein the initial isotropic etch is continued for a time period that only partially removes the silicon oxide layer such that the second layer cannot touch the substrate layer and adhere to it.
5. A method according to claim 1 wherein from about 1 to 10% by weight of HF in water is added.
6. A method according to claim 1 wherein the drying agent is methanol.
7. A method according to claim 1 wherein the drying agent is acetic acid.
8. A method of forming a microelectromechanical feature comprising
a) isotropically etching a silicon oxide layer between two silicon-containing layers with gaseous aqueous hydrogen fluoride for a time period that provides an opening in the silicon oxide layer, but that does not allow the overlying silicon layer to collapse onto and adhere to the underlying silicon-containing layer; and
b) adding a quantity of a drying agent so as to substitute the drying agent for water remaining in the opening and to dissolve residues remaining in the opening; and
c) repeating steps a) and b) until complete release of the feature to be made is achieved.