AU2006202049B2 - Shearing platform - Google Patents

Description

S&FRef: 758093

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT Name and Address of Applicants: Australian Wool Innovation Limited, an Australian company, ACN 095 165 558, of Level 16-20 Barrack Street, Sydney, New South Wales, 2000, Australia Peak Hill Industries Pty Ltd, an Australian company, ACN 066 093 294, of 176 Caswell Street, Peak Hill, New South Wales, 2869, Australia Actual Inventor(s): Address for Service: Invention Title: William Byrne Spruson Ferguson St Martins Tower Level 31 Market Street Sydney NSW 2000 (CCN 3710000177) Shearing platform Associated Provisional Application Details: [33] Country:

AU

[31] Appl'n No(s): 2005902635 [32] Application Date: 23 May 2005 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us:- 5845c SHEARING PLATFORM Field of the Invention This invention relates to a shearing platform for supporting a sheep to be sheared at a raised elevation.

Background of the Invention Sheep shearing is known to be a physically demanding occupation.

Manipulation of sheep from a pen to a shearing station, and then handling the sheep during shearing requires a considerable amount of skill and places a great deal of stress on the back of the shearer. The traditional shearing technique, so called on-the-boards shearing, requires the sheep to be held between or constrained by the legs of the shearer, and the shearer bends over the sheep to conduct the actual shearing operation. Thus, the shearer has the twofold task of constraining the sheep, and shearing off the fleece, and both tasks are conducted with the shearer bent over, thus placing considerable strain on the back of the shearer. With sheep ranging in weight from about 15kg up to about 150kg the strength required to handle sheep effectively is considerable.

It is perhaps not surprising that many shearers' careers are cut short by back injuries, and insurance against such injuries tends to be costly. Indeed, occupational health and safety concerns in relation to traditional shearing techniques have resulted in many proposed improvements to the way in which sheep are shorn and handled during the shearing operation. These developments are wide and varied, and range from biological fleece removal techniques to automated shearing stations. To date, automated shearing stations have not proved to be successful, for a variety of reasons, in particular because proper shearing of sheep is a highly complex task. It is also, of course, important that sheep are not mistreated or injured during the shearing operation.

It is generally accepted that manual shearing of sheep will be the prevalent shearing technique for at least the foreseeable future. Thus, there is a demand for developing either shearing techniques or equipment which require less physical strength and dexterity from shearers, and place less strain on shearers' backs during the shearing operation. Elevating the sheep off the ground onto some form of shearing platform is considered to be an important factor in enabling the shearer to shear whilst standing erect.

However, with the sheep at an elevated position, the shearer is not able to hold and restrain the sheep with his legs whilst leaving his arms free to drive the shearing blows [R:\LIBLL]758093_specivI .doc:nyr -2through the fleece. Various restraining devices have been proposed, including electrical immobilisation devices, leg restraints, and other gripping devices. However, to date such devices and techniques have not proved to be particularly successful, and many are considered to fall short of appropriate animal welfare requirements. Also, at least some prior art devices and platforms still require considerable physical manipulation of the sheep by the shearer, thus to a large extent negating the advantage of raising the sheep to an elevated position during shearing.

Perhaps the biggest drawback of prior art devices intended to assist shearers is that they have tended to reduce throughput. Experienced shearers are able to shear 130 to 300 sheep per day, and a shearing assistance device which reduces throughput would, in effect, reduce the shearer's income. Accordingly, the shearing device should be relatively simple to employ, that is, should ensure the sheep to be shorn is rapidly positioned on and removed from the shearing location, and the shearing device assists rather than hinders the shearing operation.

It is also important that the fleece shorn from the sheep is removed as a single coat, and that the sheep is closely shorn during the shearing operation. It greatly reduces the value of the fleece if the sheep is badly shorn.

There thus remains a demand for a shearing platform that not only humanely holds and supports the sheep in an elevated position for shearing, but also handles and manipulates the sheep efficiently whilst being so held to allow the entire sheep to be shorn in a manner not entirely unlike traditional shearing techniques.

Object of the Invention It is the object of the present invention to overcome or substantially ameliorate at least one of the above disadvantages.

Summary of the Invention According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a shearing platform for supporting a sheep at an elevated position for shearing, said shearing platform comprising a pair of elongate support panels located in a side by side configuration, each of said panels having: a front end; a rear end; an outer longitudinal edge; [R:\LIB LL]75 8093_specivI .doc:nyr -3an inner longitudinal edge; and a pivot axis located parallel and adjacent to or collinear with said inner longitudinal edge, said panel being pivotable about said pivot axis in an arc between a generally horizontal position and an elevated position in which said outer longitudinal s edge is elevated above said inner longitudinal edge; wherein the respective said pivot axes of said panels are substantially parallel and each extend in a longitudinal direction.

Typically, each of said panels is defined, at least in part, by an endless driven belt, adapted to be driven in said longitudinal direction.

o The shearing platform generally further comprises: power means for pivoting said panels through the respective said arc and driving said belts; and control means for controlling pivoting of said panels and driving of said belts.

The power means may comprise one or more of electronic, hydraulic or pneumatic power devices.

Preferably, the respective said pivot axes of said panels lie in a common plane.

The pivot axes are typically mutually displaceable in said common plane.

The vertical position of said common plane is preferably adjustable to thereby provide means for adjusting the elevation at which the sheep is supported.

Typically, said common plane is substantially horizontal.

Preferably, the respective said inner longitudinal edges of said panels are spaced apart.

Typically, each said panel has a length, measured between said front end and said rear end, equal to or greater than three-quarters of the length of a sheep to be shorn, and in one form at least the length of the sheep.

Each said panel, when in said lowered position, may extend generally horizontally from said inner longitudinal edge to said outer longitudinal edge.

In a preferred form, each said panel, when in the lowered position has said outer longitudinal edge of said panel below said inner longitudinal edge.

Preferably, said panels are supported on an articulated frame. The articulated frame may be mounted on a wheeled chassis.

The panels are typically independently pivotable about their respective said pivot axes.

[R:\LIBLL] 7 50s93speciv .doc:nyr In a preferred form, the shearing platform further comprises means for loading a sheep onto said panels so as to lie on its back with its spine substantially parallel to each of said pivot axes.

The shearing platform also typically further comprises at least one set of leg restraints for restraining legs of a sheep supported, in use, on said platform, said leg restraints being adapted to, at least to some extent, move in conjunction with said panels.

The shearing platform preferably includes two said sets of leg restraints comprising a front set of leg restraints for retraining the front legs of the sheep and a rear set of leg restraints for restraining the rear legs of the sheep. The leg restraints are typically moveable forwards and backwards, in said longitudinal direction.

Brief Description of the Drawings A preferred form of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a shearing platform of the invention with the support belts in a sheep receiving position; Figure 2 shows a similar view to that of Figure 1, with the support belts horizontal; Figure 3 shows a similar view to that of Figure 1, with one of the support belts horizontal, and the other sloping downwardly; and Figure 4 shows an end view of the shearing platform.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments The form of the invention shown in the drawings is a relatively sophisticated shearing platform with a series of hydraulic piston cylinder assemblies and drive mechanisms for articulating the various components of the platform. However, it will be appreciated that the device need not have all of the power components described herein.

As shown in the drawings, the shearing platform 10 comprises a wheeled chassis 12 mounted on caster wheels 14 and including an articulated frame 16 on which a sheep to be shorn is to be supported. The upper region of the frame has two panels numbered 18 and 20, mounted thereto, the panels of this embodiment each being defined in part by an endless driven belt which provides a conveyance and positioning arrangement for moving a sheep into position on the shearing platform, as will be described in more detail below. In alternate forms to that depicted, the belts extend along only part of the length [R:\LIBLL]758093_speciv .doc:nyr of the panels 18, 20. As shown in Figure 1, the panels 18 and 20 are inclined relative to each other so as to define a v-shaped support surface therebetween with the inner longitudinal lower edges of the belts spaced apart to define a gap 22. The gap 22 between the belts 18 and 20 allows a sheep to be conveyed on the belt in an upright position onto its shearing position with the sheep's legs hanging below the platform prior to being inverted ready for shearing. The frame 16 is constructed in such a way that the gap 22 extends below the belt. The width of the gap 22 can be varied, as described below.

As mentioned above, the belts 18 and 20 in effect define a pair of support panels which are of rectangular configuration having a front end 24, a rear end 26, an outer longitudinal edge 28 and an inner longitudinal edge 30. Each of the panels 18, 20 will typically have a length equal to or greater than the length of a sheep to be shorn, but lengths slightly less than the length of a sheep (at least three-quarters of the length of the sheep) are also envisaged. The panels, are each able to be pivoted about a respective pivot axis 29 which is parallel and adjacent to (or collinear with) the inner longitudinal edges 30 of the panels so that the panels are able to pivot from the v-shaped support position shown in Figure 1 to a lowered generally horizontally extending position, as shown in Figure 2, and indeed beyond that position, to a further lowered downwardly inclined position, as shown by panel 20 in Figure 3. In this way the panels can be moved relative to each other in order to manipulate a sheep during a shearing operation. The pivot axes 29 lie in a common plane which will typically be horizontal, although it is envisaged that the pivot axis 29 (and thus the panels 18, 20) may be slightly elevated at one end.

When the panels are in the v-shaped support position, as shown in Figure 1, and a sheep located between the panels is lying on its back with its legs upwardly and its head located towards the front 24 of the panels, the belly, crutch and neck of the sheep may be shorn. Thereafter, by pivoting the panels 18 and 20 upwardly or downwardly, in a controlled sequence, the sheep can be rolled first one way and the other way, and thereby the sides and back of the sheep can be exposed for shearing, leaving the entire fleece as a one piece detached fleece on the shearing platform at the end of the shearing operation. It will be appreciated that by rolling the sheep first one way and then the other way, generally about a pivot axis coincident with the spine of the sheep, all surfaces to be shorn will be presented to a shearer standing to one side of the shearing platform.

[R:\LIBLL]758093_specivI .doc:nyr It will also be noted that a shearer can stand on either side of the platform, allowing for shearer preference, and in order to accommodate left and right handed shearers.

When the sheep is to be removed from the platform the panel on the side on which the sheep is to be removed will be pivoted to its lower most position, as shown by panel 20 in Figure 3, and the sheep will be rolled off that side of the platform.

To ensure the sheep is restrained on the platform during the shearing operation, the platform is provided with at least rear leg restraints 32, and preferably both rear leg restraints 32 and front leg restraints. Preferably the rear leg restraints are able to pivot or move in an arc, indicated by dotted lines 33, with the movement of the panels 18 and so as to hold the legs of the sheep and match the rolling action of the sheep during the shearing operation. The leg restraints can be used to splay the legs of the sheep, for example when the crutch of the sheep is being shorn (crutching). The leg restraints can also be moved together to one or other side of the platform, thereby moving in conjunction with the sheep's legs as it is rolled to one or other side. Thus, the leg restraints 32 are provided with a suitable power device 34 to enable them to tilt or splay in the required manner. The front leg restraints are coupled to the rear leg restraints 32 which in turn will tilt or move in conjunction with the panels, thereby ensuring that both the front and rear legs of the sheep are properly held during the entire shearing operation and the sheep is presented to the shearer in an orientation which facilitates shearing.

Proper holding and manipulation of the sheep's legs during the shearing operation is considered to be an important aspect of effective shearing. This is particularly so where the sheep is elevated and the shearer is not able to restrain the sheep by pressing a knee onto the side of the sheep. Thus, it is desirable that the leg restraints 32 can also be used, in conjunction with the endless belts, to properly expose the sheep belly and crutch for shearing. If the sheep's forelegs are held, once again, the restraints should be capable of holding the sheep's forelegs in such a way that the neck region is properly exposed or stretched for shearing. The capacity to move the restraints forwards and backwards in the longitudinal direction of the platform facilitates presenting difficult to reach surfaces of the sheep to the shearer. This allows the shearer to use clean long blows in shearing the belly, neck, and crutch region of the sheep.

Clearly, removing the sheep from the platform after the shearing operation has been completed is relatively straightforward, since the sheep is simply rolled off the platform by pivoting one or other of the panels to a downwardly inclined orientation, in [R\LIBLL]758093_speciv doc:nyr -7the manner shown in Figure 3 of the drawings. The sheep may be loaded onto the shearing platform in any of various manners. The sheep may be elevated and inverted by a separate loader mechanism and deliverd onto the platform from above in the inverted position ready for shearing. Alternatively, an upright sheep entering the front end 24 of the platform can be gripped between the two belts and moved along the length of the platform with the legs of the sheep hanging in the gap 22 between the belts, the head of the sheep being moved towards the rear end 26 of the platform. The sheep will then be inverted (by way of any of various means) to a position in which it lies on its back and in which the sheep's head is moved to the front end of the platform and the rear legs of the io sheep are held in the rear leg restraints 32. The sheep may alternatively be loaded from the end of the shearing platform in an already inverted position. The sheep may also be loaded onto the shearing platform from the side in an inverted position, or in an upright position and then subsequently inverted.

When the sheep is on its back the rear legs will be adjacent the rear leg restraints and will be clipped into position, and the forelegs will be adjacent the front leg restraints, and they too will be clipped into position. The shearing operation will then commence.

If the sheep is not correctly positioned at this stage the belts can be used to move the sheep forwards or backwards into the correct position, without requiring manual manipulation.

In addition, the leg restraints 32 and associated mechanism are able to be moved in the longitudinal direction of the platform, that is, towards the front end 24 of the platform. A powered drive mechanism 50 is provided for this purpose, so that, when used in conjunction with the leg restraints 32, and the belts, the sheep can be positioned and stretched, as required. Since the belts are aligned in a v-shaped configuration at this stage, the sheep will be supported and contained within this v-shape, allowing the shearer to secure the rear legs of the sheep in the leg restraints 32. Once properly restrained, the shearing operation can take place, in the manner described above with generally the belly and underside of the neck being shorn first, and then one side of the sheep, then the other side of the sheep shorn, leaving the fleece on the platform for removal in the manner described below.

It will be appreciated that the shearer, standing to one side of the shearing platform, will at all times be operating in a substantially upright or erect position. In addition, provided the sheep can be easily manipulated onto the shearing platform, once it is on the platform it will be able to be shorn without undue handling or physical [R\LIBLL758093_spec ivI.doc:nyr -8manipulation. Thus it is envisaged that throughput will not be significantly worse than on-the-boards type shearing.

The pivoting of the panels will, as mentioned above, be conducted using a suitable power or drive means. This can be either a series of piston and cylinder assemblies as indicated at 46 in the drawings, or alternatively some kind of shaft and drive chain and linkage mechanism could be used. Whatever power system is used, a control arrangement 48 will typically be used to allow the shearer to control the movement of the panels to thereby have the panels moving or rotating in a manner which suits the shearing of sheep. A typical control system would utilise a hand switch/button to move the panels and leg restraints through a pre-programmed series of sequential movements between positions suitable for standard sequential shearing steps. The control system may also incorporate speed controls to control longitudinal motion of the belts.

It is also preferable that the shearing platform is able to be raised or lowered to suit the height of the shearer.

After the sheep has been shorn, the fleece will remain on the platform. It is envisaged that the fleece will then be passed into the gap 22 between the panels, and from there it will be removed by some suitable conveyance device, such as a belt conveyor 38, for example. Alternatively, the fleece could be manually removed from below the panels although this will add to the manual labour component of the shearing operation.

To facilitate dropping the fleece down below the panels 18 and 20 into gap 22 the support frame 16 is able to pivot outwardly to a splayed configuration. The frame members 16 are pivotally mounted to the chassis 12 at pivot points 40, and a pivot piston and cylinder assembly 42 controls this pivoting or splaying operation. Clearly, by expanding the piston and cylinder assembly 42 the frame members and panels 18 and will be moved apart, increasing the width of the gap 22. Clearly, the width of the gap 22 can be controlled in this way for other purposes, such as conveying the sheep into position for shearing. When the sheep is being conveyed the gap will typically be reasonably wide, but during shearing whilst the sheep is being shorn on the two panels the gap will be relatively narrow, or closed.

Closing of the gap 22 by bringing the panels towards each other just prior to commencing shearing is advantageous for a further reason. It has been found that this narrowing of the gap causes a "nipping" of the fleece in the region of the sheep's back between the inner edges of the panel. This has the effect of pulling the belly skin of the sheep reasonably tight, thus making it smooth just prior to shearing. A smooth taut belly [R:\LIB LL]7s8093_speciv .doc:nyr is relatively easy to shear, and allows the shearer to use longer, cleaner shearing blows in this region, once again facilitating and speeding up the shearing operation.

Clearly, other variations may be made to the invention without departing from the scope of the invention. In particular, the form of the frame or other arrangement for supporting the panels can vary from that described herein.

It will be understood that the invention disclosed and defined in this specification extends to all alternative combinations of two or more of the individual features mentioned or evident from the text or drawings. All of these different combinations constitute various alternative aspects of the invention.

It will also be understood that the term "comprises" (or its grammatical variants) as used in this specification is equivalent to the term "includes" and should not be taken as excluding the presence of other elements or features.

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Claims (19)

1. A shearing platform for supporting a sheep at an elevated position for shearing, said shearing platform comprising a pair of elongate support panels located in a side by side configuration, each of said panels having: a front end; a rear end; an outer longitudinal edge; an inner longitudinal edge; and a pivot axis located parallel and adjacent to or collinear with said inner longitudinal edge, said panel being pivotable about said pivot axis in an arc between a lowered position and an elevated position in which said outer longitudinal edge is elevated above said inner longitudinal edge; wherein the respective said pivot axes of said panels are substantially parallel and each extend in a longitudinal direction.

2. The shearing platform of claim 1 wherein each of said panels is defined, at least in part, by an endless driven belt, adapted to be driven in said longitudinal direction.

3. The shearing platform of claim 2 further comprising: power means for pivoting said panels through the respective said arc and driving said belts; and control means for controlling pivoting of said panels and driving of said belts.

4. The shearing platform of any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the respective said pivot axes of said panels lie in a common plane.

The shearing platform of claim 4 wherein said pivot axes are mutually displaceable in said common plane.

6. The shearing platform of either of claims 4 and 5 wherein the vertical position of said common plane is adjustable. [R\LIBLL] 75s 93speciv I.doc:nyr -11-

7. The shearing platform of any one of claims 4 to 6 wherein said common plane is substantially horizontal.

8. The shearing platform of any one of claims 1 to 7 wherein the respective said inner longitudinal edges of said panels are spaced apart.

9. The shearing platform of any one of claims 1 to 8 wherein each said panel has a length, measured between said front end and said rear end, equal to or greater than three- quarters of the length of a sheep to be shorn.

The shearing platform of any one of claims 1 to 8 wherein each said panel has a length, measured between said front end and said rear end, equal to or greater than the length of a sheep to be shorn.

11. The shearing platform of any one of claims 1 to 10 wherein said panels are supported on an articulated frame.

12. The shearing platform of claim 11 wherein said articulated frame is mounted on a wheeled chassis.

13. The shearing platform of any one of claims 1 to 12 wherein each said panel, when in said lowered position, extends generally horizontally from said inner longitudinal edge to said outer longitudinal edge.

14. The shearing platform of any one of claims 1 to 12 wherein for each said panel, when in said lowered position, said outer longitudinal edge of said panel is below said inner longitudinal edge.

The shearing platform of any one of claims 1 to 14 wherein said panels are independently pivotable about their respective said pivot axes.

16. The shearing platform of any one of claims 1 to 15 further comprising means for loading a sheep onto said panels so as to lie on its back with its spine substantially parallel to each of said pivot axes. [R:\LIBLL]758093_speiv I.doc:nyr -12-

17. The shearing platform of any one of claims 1 to 16 further comprising at least one set of leg restraints for restraining legs of a sheep supported, in use, on said platform, said leg restraints being adapted to, at least to some extent, move in conjunction with said panels.

18. The shearing platform of claim 17 including two said sets of leg restraints comprising a front set of leg restraints for retraining the front legs of the sheep and a rear set of leg restraints for restraining the rear legs of the sheep.

19. The shearing platform of either of claims 17 and 18 wherein said leg restraints are moveable forwards and backwards, in said longitudinal direction. A shearing platform substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Dated 16 May 2006 AUSTRALIAN WOOL INNOVATION LIMITED PEAK HILL INDUSTRIES PTY LTD Patent Attorneys for the Applicant/Nominated Person SPRUSON FERGUSON [R:\LIB LL] 758093speciv .doc:nyr