AU2002302009B1

AU2002302009B1 - A Portable Animal Crush Assembly

Info

Publication number: AU2002302009B1
Application number: AU2002302009A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Oliver Liyou; Shawn Liyou
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2002-11-15
Filing date: 2002-11-15
Publication date: 2004-02-05
Anticipated expiration: 2022-11-15

Description

Name of Applicants: Actual Inventors: Address for Service: Invention Title:

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT Oliver Liyou and Shawn Liyou Oliver Liyou and Shawn Liyou CULLEN CO Patent Trade Mark Attorneys, 239 George Street Brisbane QId 4000 Australian A Portable Animal Crush Assembly The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it, known to us: 2 A PORTABLE ANIMAL CRUSH ASSEMBLY This invention relates to a portable crush assembly for an animal such as a cow or a horse. In particular, the invention concerns an assembly having a crush that is transportable by a vehicle of the assembly.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Prior to treating or operating on a large animal such as a horse or cow, it is usually necessary to first contain the animal and to immobilise the part of the animal requiring treatment. Usually, an animal is placed within a crush/stock prior to treatment.

In some instances an animal crush may not be available in the vicinity of the animal requiring treatment, and in other instances it may not be possible to move the animal requiring treatment to a crush. In such instances, it would be advantageous to have a crush that could be transported to the animal requiring treatment.

Although crushes for containing animals are known, a problem with some known crushes is that they are not readily transportable.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a portable crush assembly that overcomes the problem referred to above or provides the public with a useful or commercial choice.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided a portable crush assembly comprising a vehicle having a tray and an animal crush connectable or connected to the vehicle, wherein said crush is movable between a loaded position above the tray and an unloaded position adjacent the vehicle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The crush can be of any suitable construction, shape and size. Preferably, the crush is sized to contain a horse or a cow.

The crush can have a floor and can have sides extending above the floor for providing an enclosure for an animal. Preferably, the crush has four sides extending above the floor. The floor can be made of, for instance, plate steel, timber or fibreglass.

The floor can have a rubber surface for extra grip.

The crush can have at least one lockable gate enabling an animal to enter the enclosure. The gate can be of any suitable construction, shape and size. In one embodiment the gate has a frame, and in another embodiment the gate has a frame as well as a panel insert extending within the frame. The panel insert can be made of, for example, plywood or sheet metal.

Each side can have at least one gate or a pair of gates situated beside one another or above one another. Such gates can enable an operator to access different body parts of the contained animal. Preferably, the sides of the crush extending adjacent a front end and a rear end of the contained animal each have a pair of gates situated above one another, and the sides of the crush extending alongside the animal each have a pair of gates situated beside one another. More preferably, an upper gate of each said pair of gates has a frame, a lower gate of each said pair of gates has a frame as well as a panel insert extending within the frame, and each of the gates situated beside one another has a frame with a panel insert extending within the frame.

The gates with panel inserts discourage the contained animal from attempting to escape from the enclosure and injuring itself.

Preferably, a sprung latch bolt and catch arrangement facilitates quick locking of each gate, although the gates can be lockable in other ways.

The crush can have a framework for supporting the floor, an upright can extend from each corner of the framework, and said gates can be mounted between adjacent said uprights. A pair of said uprights at the front end can be interconnected by an arched portion above the contained animal, and a pair of said uprights at the rear end of the animal can be interconnected by a like arched portion.

The crush can have a head crush for restraining the head of an animal. Head crushes are well known in the art and generally have a V-shaped opening through which a neck of the animal can be extended. A head crush can be located at one or more sides of the crush. In one embodiment, the gates of the crush extending adjacent the animal's front end are detachable and replaceable by a head crush.

The crush can have tie hooks on one or more of the uprights. The crush can have an attachable cover for sheltering the contained animal from rays of the sun and/or wet weather. The cover can be made of shade cloth or a tarpaulin.

Preferably, the floor is hingedly connected to the framework and can be pivoted against a side of the crush to minimise wind resistance when transporting the crush from one location to another.

The crush can have one or more reinforcing crosspieces extending between the said pairs of uprights. A first crosspiece can extend between the pairs of uprights below the arched portions. A second crosspiece can extend between the arched portions of the upright pairs. For those sides of the crush lacking gates, one or more rails can extend between respective uprights.

The framework, uprights, crosspieces and gates can be made of any suitable material or materials. Preferably, the framework, uprights, crosspieces and gates are made of galvanised metal tubes welded together.

In some instances it may be desirable to place the head of the animal within a harness (head halter) in order to support for immobilise the animal's head. If so, the crush can further have an adjustable harness support. The adjustable harness support can be of any suitable construction. Preferably, the adjustable harness support includes a sleeve connected to the second crosspiece and a beam slidable within and adjustably lockable to the sleeve, wherein the beam is extendable above the front end of the contained animal and a harness can be attached to an extended end of the beam. The beam can be adjustably locked to the sleeve in any suitable way. For instance, a sprung latch bolt can be used.

Preferably, a first adjustable harness support is located above the front end of the contained animal and a second adjustable harness support is located above the rear end of the animal.

In one form of the invention the vehicle can be a motorcar or truck, such as a utility truck. In a preferred form of the invention the vehicle can be a trailer towable by a motorcar or truck.

The trailer can be of any suitable construction, shape and size, and can have any features of trailers that are known in the art. The trailer can have, for instance, mudguards, tail lights, tie rails, a tailgate, a single axle or a double axle, and brakes.

Preferably, the tray of the trailer has sidewalls extending therefrom except at a rear end of the trailer. The rear region of the trailer can serve as a workbench.

Preferably, the crush is pivotally connected to the trailer such that the trailer can be pivoted between the loaded and unloaded positions. The crush can be pivotally connected to the trailer in any suitable way. Preferably, the crush has a pair of Lshaped arms extending from the framework and an end of each arm is pivotally connected to a rear region of the trailer beneath the tray. The arms can be pivotally connected to brackets or yokes of the trailer with pins. So that the crush cannot pivot to the unloaded position during transport, the trailer can have a pair of sprung latch bolts for releasably locking each said L-shaped arm to a rear part (eg. tailgate) of the trailer.

The trailer can have a crosspiece supported by a pair of posts at a front end of the trailer for supporting the second crosspiece of the crush when the crush is in the loaded position. The second crosspiece can be releasably lockable to said supporting crosspiece by, say, a sprung latch bolt.

The crush can be moved between the loaded and unloaded positions in any suitable way known to persons skilled in the art. In one embodiment, a pulley, lever block, chain block, winch or hoist can be used to load and unload the crush. In another embodiment, the crush can be loaded and unloaded using a hydraulically, electrically or pneumatically powered machine. For instance, a hydraulic lifting cylinder, or a hydraulic or an electric winch can be used. Preferably, the crush assembly has an electric winch located at a front end of the trailer and a cable of the winch is attachable to the second crosspiece of the crush. The winch can be powered by a motorcar or truck towing the trailer.

The crush assembly can have a water tank mounted to the trailer and a pump for pumping water from the tank. The pump can be battery operated or powered by the motorcar or truck towing the trailer. One or more taps can be mounted to the trailer, and the taps can be connected to the water tank by way of pipes or hoses.

The crush assembly can further include a sink mounted to the tray of the trailer.

A tap of the sink can be connected to the water tank with a pipe or a hose. A hose can extend from a said tap to the crush.

The crush assembly can further include a pulley mounted to the first crosspiece, for raising legs of the contained animal. The cable of the winch can be used with the pulley.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a perspective view of part of a portable crush assembly according to an embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is an end elevation view of part of a crush of the crush assembly shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a side elevation view of part of the crush shown in Figure 2; Figure 4 is a side elevation view of part of a trailer of the crush assembly shown in Figure 1; Figure 5 is a rear end elevation view of part of the trailer shown in Figure 4; and Figure 6 is a partly detailed top plan view of part of the trailer shown in Figure 4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In all of the drawings, like reference numerals refer to like parts.

The figures show a portable crush assembly 1 for use with animals such as cattle and horses. The assembly 1 has a towable trailer 2 having a tray 52 (as seen in Figure 6) and a crush 3 pivotally connected to the trailer 2. The crush 3 is movable between a loaded position on the trailer 2 (as seen in Figure 1) and an unloaded position on a ground surface adjacent the trailer 2 (as seen Figure 2).

Details of the crush 3 are shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3. The crush 3 has a groundbearing tubular steel framework 5 and a tubular upright 7, 8, 9, 10 extending from each corner of the framework 5. An arched tubular portion 11 interconnects uprights 7 and 8, and an arched tubular portion 12 interconnects uprights 9 and Tie hooks 15 (shown in Figure 1 but omitted from Figures 2 and 3) extend from each upright 7, 8, 9, 10. As seen in Figure 1, a handle 25 extends along a part of upright 7.

A floor 6 of the crush 3 is supported above the ground surface by the framework The floor 6 is made of a metal plate having a rubber surface. Weighing equipment (not shown) may be placed on the floor 6 for weighing the contained animal.

A pair of gates 20, 21 extend between uprights 7 and 8 and are connected by hinges 22 to upright 8. Each gate 20, 21 has a spring-loaded latch bolt 23, 24 that is lockable to the handle 25. That is, each latch bolt 23, 24 can extend through an aperture (not shown) of the handle 25. Gate 20 has a tubular frame comprising two uprights and three crosspieces (not labeled). Gate 21 has a similar tubular frame to gate 20 but further has a steel panel insert 26 for the frame.

A pair of gates 30, 31 extend between uprights 9 and 10 and are connected by hinges (not shown) to upright 9. These gates 30, 31 are identical to, and operate in the same way, as gates 20 and 21.

A single gate 35 extends between uprights 8 and 10 and is connected by hinges 36 to upright 8. A spring-loaded latch bolt 37 of gate 35 is lockable to upright 12. That is, latch bolt 37 can extend through an aperture (not shown) of upright 12. Gate 35 has a tubular frame comprising two uprights and three crosspieces (not labeled) and a steel panel insert 38.

A single gate 36 identical to gate 35 extends between uprights 7 and 9. This gate 36 is hinged to upright 9 and operates in the same way as gate Gates 20, 21, 30, 31, 35 and 36 provide access to specific body parts of the contained animal. The gate panel inserts 26, 38 discourage the contained animal from attempting to escape from the crush 3 and from harming itself.

If necessary, gates 20 and 21 or gates 30 and 31 can be detached and replaced with head crushes (not shown) for restraining the head of an animal. Head crushes generally have a V-shaped opening through which a neck of the animal can be extended without constricting the windpipe of the animal.

The floor 6 is connected to a part of the framework 5 by hinges (not shown) and can be pivoted against gate 35 to minimise wind resistance caused by the floor 6 when towing the crush 3 from one location to another.

The crush has a first reinforcing tubular crosspiece 13 extending between uprights 7 and 9. A second tubular crosspiece 14 extends between arched portions 11 and 12. This is best seen in Figure 3.

.In some instances it is necessary to support or immobilise the head of an animal with a harness (head halter), such as when performing work on the head of the sedated animal, eg. eyelid and eye surgery, dental procedures, suturing of lacerations, flushing tear ducts, ear examinations. The crush 3 has an adjustable harness support 40 for supporting or restraining the head of the animal. As seen in Figure 3, harness support has a sleeve 41 connected to crosspiece 14 and a beam 42 slidable within the sleeve 41. The beam 42 is extendable above the head of the contained animal. A shackle 43 is attached to an end of the beam 42. A head halter (not shown) can be secured to the shackle 43. A sprung latch bolt 44 adjustably locks the beam 42 to the sleeve 41 by way of spaced openings 49 in the beam 42.

A second harness support 45, identical to the first harness support 40, is located at the other end of the crosspiece 14.

Details of the trailer 2 are partly shown in Figures 1, 4, 5 and 6. The trailer 2 has standard features of a box trailer, namely:- a tray 52, mudguards 50, tail lights 51, a tailgate 94, tie rails (not shown), and brakes (not shown). The tray 52 has sidewalls 53, 54 and 55 extending from the front and from the sides of the trailer 2.

Referring now to Figures 1 and 2, the crush 3 has a pair of L-shaped arms 60, 61 extending from the framework 5 and an end of each arm 60, 61 is pivotally connected to a bracket 90 (shown in Figure 4) of the trailer 2 with a locking pin (not shown) beneath the tray 52. The locking pins extend through apertures 80 of the arms 60, 61 and apertures 93 of the brackets A pair of sprung latch bolts (not shown) releasably lock each arm 60, 61 to the tailgate 94 of the trailer 2 when the crush 3 is in the loaded position so that the crush 3 cannot moved from the loaded position when being transported. An aperture 91 of arm through which the latch bolt extends is shown in Figure 2.

The crush 3 can be detached from the trailer 2 by removing the locking pins so that the crush 3 can be used as a stationary crush and so that the trailer 2 can be used for other purposes.

The trailer 2 has a crosspiece 63 supported by a pair of posts 64, 65 at a front end of the trailer 2 for supporting crosspiece 14 of the crush 3 when the crush 3 is in the loaded position. Crosspiece 63 is lockable to crosspiece 14 with a sprung latch bolt 81, as shown in Figure 4.

Referring now to Figure 1, an electric winch 4 is mounted at a front end of the trailer 2 and is used to move the crush 3 between the unloaded and loaded positions. A cable 66 of the winch 4 is connectable to the crosspiece 14 of the crush 3. The winch 4 is powered by a motorcar or truck towing the trailer 2.

As seen in Figure 1, a pulley wheel 67 is mounted to crosspiece 13 of the crush 3. The cable 66 of the winch 4 can be passed over the pulley wheel 67 and used to elevate part of the animal. This may be important for elevating an anaesthetised animal's hind legs, such as when a mare is having foaling difficulties.

Figure 1 shows that assembly 1 has a water tank 70 mounted to a front region of the trailer 2 and a pump 84 for pumping water from the tank 70. The pump 84 is battery operated. A tap 71 is mounted to sidewall 53 of the trailer 2 and connected to the water tank 70 with a pipe 72.

The assembly 1 has a sink 73 mounted to the tray 52 of the trailer 2. A tap 74 of the sink 73 is connected to the water tank 70 with a pipe (not shown). A hose 75 (only partly shown) extends from tap 74 to the crush 3 so that an animal can be, for instance, hosed clean or a wound of the animal irrigated. When a tap 71, 74 is opened, then the pump 84 automatically pumps water thereto.

Although not shown in the figures, the assembly 1 can further have equipment, storage containers or shelves mounted or built within the tray 52 of the trailer 2, or simply located within the tray 52.

In order to load the crush 3 onto the trailer 2, the cable 66 of winch 4 is connected to crosspiece 14 of the crush 3 and retracted onto a spool of the winch 4. As the cable 66 winds onto the spool of the winch 4, the crush 3 pivots from the unloaded position to the loaded position with its final position being as shown in Figure 1. A sprung latch bolt 81 (shown in Figure 4) is then used to lock crosspiece 14 to crosspiece 63 and sprung latch bolts are used to lock the L-shaped legs 60, 61 to the tailgate 94 of the trailer 2. The trailer 2 is hitched to a motorcar or truck and the assembly 1 is driven to a location of interest.

In order to unloaded the crush 3 from the trailer 2, cable 66 is slackened and the crush 3 is pivoted by hand to a point where the winch 4 can be used to safely lower the crush 3 to the ground surface.

An animal, such as a horse or cow, enters the crush 3 through gates 20 and 21 or gates 30 and 31, and after locking the respective gates, is contained by the crush 3.

The present invention not only provides an operator (eg. vet, equine dentist, stockman, stud owner, cattleman) with the ability to move a crush to a location of interest, but also provides the operator with a trailer for carrying equipment in a secure manner (eg. ultrasound, medicines, x-ray machine, calving gear, surgical gear, bandages, fluids, dental equipment). The invention also provides the operator with access to running water, a sink 73 and a workbench (ie. tray 52).

In this way, an operator can travel to an animal requiring treatment and have modern and safe facilities for restraining and treating the animal.

Whilst the above has been given by way of illustrative example of the invention, many modifications and variations may be made thereto by persons skilled in the art without departing from the broad scope and ambit of the invention as herein set forth.

Claims

1. A portable crush assembly comprising a vehicle having a tray and an animal crush connectable or connected to the vehicle, wherein said crush is movable between a loaded position above the tray and an unloaded position adjacent a rear end of the vehicle, and in the unloaded position there is sufficient clearance for a person to move between the rear end of the vehicle and the crush.

2. The portable crush assembly of claim 1, wherein said vehicle is a trailer and said assembly further includes a winch mounted to a front end of the trailer for moving the crush between the loaded position and the unloaded position.

3. The portable crush assembly of claim 2, wherein the tray has sidewalls extending therefrom except at a rear end of the trailer.

4. The portable crush assembly of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the crush has a floor and four sides extending above the floor.

The portable crush assembly of claim 4, wherein the sides of the crush extending adjacent a front end and a rear end of the contained animal each have a pair of lockable gates situated above one another.

6. The portable crush assembly of claim 5, wherein the sides of the crush extending alongside the contained animal each have a pair of lockable gates situated beside one another.

7. The portable crush assembly of claim 6, wherein an upper gate of each said pair of gates has a frame, a lower gate of each said pair of gates has a frame as well as a panel insert extending within the frame, and each of the gates situated beside one another has a frame with a panel insert extending within the frame.

8. The portable crush assembly of any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the crush has a framework for supporting the floor, an upright extends from each corner of the framework, and said gates are mounted between said adjacent uprights.

9. The portable crush assembly of claim 8, wherein the floor is hingedly connected to the framework and is pivotable to a position against a said side of the crush.

The portable crush assembly of claim 8 or claim 9, wherein the crush has a pair of L-shaped arms extending from the framework and an end of each arm is pivotally connected to a rear region of the trailer beneath the tray.

11. The portable crush assembly of claim 10, wherein the trailer has a pair of sprung Jatch bolts for releasably locking each said L-shaped arm to a tailgate of the trailer.

12. The portable crush assembly of any one of claims 8 to 11, wherein a pair of said uprights at the front end of the animal are interconnected by an arched portion above the contained animal, and a pair of said uprights at the rear end of the animal are interconnected by a like arched portion.

13. The portable crush assembly of claim 12, wherein the crush has a first crosspiece extending below the arched portions between the said pairs of uprights, and a second crosspiece extending between the arched portions of the upright pairs.

14. The portable crush assembly of claim 13, wherein the crush has an adjustable harness support having a sleeve connected to the second crosspiece and a beam slidable within and adjustably lockable to the sleeve, wherein the beam is extendable above the front end of the contained animal and a harness is attachable to an extended end of the beam.

The portable crush assembly of claim 14, wherein a first said adjustable harness support is located above the front end of the contained animal and a second adjustable harness support is located above the rear end of the animal.

16. The portable crush assembly of any one of claims 13 to 15, wherein the trailer has a crosspiece supported by a pair of posts at a front end of the trailer for supporting the second crosspiece of the crush when the crush is in the loaded position.

17. The portable crush assembly of claim 16, wherein the second crosspiece of the crush is releasably lockable to the crosspiece of the trailer.

18. The portable crush assembly of any one of claims 13 to 17, wherein a cable of said winch is attachable to the second crosspiece of the crush.

19. The portable crush assembly of any one of claims 5 to 18 further having a head crush.

20. The portable crush assembly of claim 19, wherein said gates of the crush extending adjacent the animal's front end are detachable and replaceable with a said head crush.

21. The portable crush assembly of any one of claims 13 to 20 further having a pulley mounted to the first crosspiece of the crush.

22. The portable crush assembly of any one of claims 3 to 21 further having a water tank mounted to a front region of the trailer and a pump for pumping water from the tank.

23. The portable crush assembly of claim 22, wherein the trailer has at least one tap I 12 mounted to a said sidewall of the tray and a pipe connects the tap to the water tank.

24. The portable crush assembly of claim 22 or claim 23 further having a sink mounted to the tray of the trailer and a tap of the sink is connected to the water tank by a pipe.

The portable crush assembly of claim 24 further comprising a hose extending from a said tap to the crush.

26. A portable crush assembly substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 to 6. DATED this 17th day of December 2003 Oliver Liyou and Shawn Liyou By their Patent Attorneys CULLEN CO.