AU2019261817A1

AU2019261817A1 - Animal enclosure

Info

Publication number: AU2019261817A1
Application number: AU2019261817A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Chandru Ganeson; Douglas St Quintin; Oleksandr Viriitin
Original assignee: Mccallum Made Pty Ltd
Current assignee: Mccallum Made Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2019-04-03
Filing date: 2019-11-08
Publication date: 2020-10-22

Abstract

P1614AUAU ABSTRACT A module 1 for defining at least substantially-half of an animal enclosure. The enclosure has an opening 9 at least partly defined by one or more portions 3a of the module; and closable, by level ground, for enclosing at least one animal. The 5 one or more portions of the module are arranged to receive, a top of another module identical to the module, for space efficient stacking. 1/2 la 1a 1b b 5,5a 5e -5f 9 FIGURE 1 3c 3 3 b 3gSI 30ai 3ai 3f 3d 3e 3,3a 3g 9 FIGURE 2

Description

1/2

la 5,5a 1a 1b b

5e -5f 9

FIGURE 1

3c 3 3b

3gSI

ai 3f 3d 3e 3,3a 3ai 3g 9 FIGURE 2

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ANIMAL ENCLOSURE FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Various aspects of the invention relate to animal enclosures and components therefor, and to various related methods and apparatus.

The invention will be described with reference to a chicken coop by way of example only. Various other examples may relate to other animals.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

Chicken coops are bulky and as such transporting an assembled chicken coop is expensive. Accordingly, it is conventional to sell chicken coops in the form of flatpacks for the end user to assemble. Typically, the flat packs comprise panels with bolt holes about their peripheries. To assemble the chicken coop, the bolt holes of adjacent panels are brought into register and secured by nut and bolt assemblies.

Many users have a surprising degree of difficulty with these assembly steps. Frequently panels are reversed such that the bolt holes cannot be brought into register and/or nuts, bolts and brackets (etc) are lost.

The invention seeks to provide improvements in and for the enclosure of animals, or at least to provide an alternative for those concerned with such enclosures.

SUMMARY

One aspect of the invention provides a module for defining at least substantially half (or preferably substantially all) of an animal enclosure;

the enclosure having an opening

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at least partly defined by one or more portions of the module; and

closable, by level ground, for enclosing at least one animal; and

the one or more portions of the module being arranged to receive, a top of another module identical to the module, for space efficient stacking.

2 Preferably the animal enclosure is for enclosing a ground area of at least 1.5m

. Optionally the module comprises one or more bearing portions arranged to be supported, by respective support portions of the other module, at a respective bearing interfaces to define a stacking pitch; the respective bearing interfaces being substantially within 300 of horizontal.

Preferably the module comprises

a horizontal base-rail portion;

structure set back from the horizontal base-rail portion; and

stops projecting from the structure;

the horizontal base-rail portion being arranged to sit on the stops of the other module.

The stops may be mounting points to which handles are attachable. A top of the animal enclosure may be rectangular.

Preferably the module is strong enough to be stacked 10 high. The module may be at least predominantly metallic.

Preferably the animal is a chicken.

Another aspect of the invention provides a set comprising

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the module; and

a partition for partitioning an interior of the animal enclosure.

Preferably the partition is to separate an enclosed portion of the animal enclosure from an open portion of the animal enclosure.

Another aspect of the invention provides a method of distribution comprising

stacking modules to form a stack;

transporting the stack to form a transported stack; and

separating the modules of the transported stack to form separated modules.

Preferably the transporting the stack is transporting the stack by road. The method may further comprise transporting one of the separated modules to form a transported module. The transporting one of the separated modules may be transporting by road.

Another aspect of the invention provides an animal enclosure comprising

a wall arrangement; and

a base

open to receive, a top of another enclosure identical to the enclosure, for space-efficient stacking; and

closable, by level ground, for enclosing at least one animal.

Another aspect of the invention provides a method comprising utilising, to enclose at least one animal, at least one of

the module;

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the set;

one of the separated modules;

the transported module; and

the animal enclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a chicken coop;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a pair of frames

Figure 3 is a perspective view of another chicken coop; and

Figure 4 is a perspective view of another chicken coop.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The chicken coop 1 predominantly consists of a skeletal frame 3 and, supported by the frame 3, cladding 5. Preferably the cladding is welded to the frame.

The frame 3 predominantly consists of tubular aluminium or steel although other materials such as non-metallic materials are possible. The frame 3 comprises a horizontal rectangular base frame 3a and transverse ribs 3b. In this case there are three transverse ribs 3b spaced along the length of the base 3a. The ribs 3b mutually connect the sides of the base 3a. Each rib 3b comprises a horizonal top run, a pair of upwardly convergent sides bracketing the horizontal top run, and rounded corners between the sides and the top. The ribs 3b substantially define the trapezoidal, or more preferably isosceles-trapezoidal, profile of the coop 1.

In this example each rib 3b is substantially planar. The endmost two of the three ribs 3b are upwardly convergent.

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A horizontal top rail 3c runs along each side of the frame 3, mutually connecting the ribs 3b. The frame 3 further includes a strut 3d running obliquely downwards from the top rail 3c to one side of the rectangular frame 3a. The strut 3d together with the top rail 3c, frame 3a and an endmost rib 3b define a doorway 3e closed by door 5e of the cladding 5. A further doorway 3f is defined between the other endmost rib 3b and the intermediate rib 3b. The doorway 3f is closed by door 5f of the cladding 5. Each of the doors is preferably equipped with a latch and is preferably latched shut for transport.

The cladding 5 comprises mesh (or other open cladding material) defining at least a half of an open portion 1a. The enclosure 1 further comprises an enclosed portion 1b. The cladding 5 comprises impermeable cladding 5b about the enclosed portion 1b. The impermeable material may take the form of steel sheet.

A partition may be added to partition the enclosed portion 1b from the open portion 1a. Figure 3 illustrates an enclosure 1'to which a partition 7 has been added to separate the open portion 1a' from the enclosed portion 1b' to shelter the chickens from rain. The partition 7 incorporates a doorway 7a mutually connecting the portions 1a', 1b'. Preferably each of the open and closed portions 1a', 1b' has a respective door 5e, 5f by which it is externally accessible.

The coop 1 is downwardly open. The rectangular frame 3b is a peripheral frame framing a rectangular opening 9. When the coop 1 is placed on level ground, the opening 9 is closed to define a closed animal-holding volume.

In this example, both doors 5e, 5f are impermeable, although doors formed of open cladding (e.g. steel mesh) are also possible. Indeed, some variants of the coop 1 may not have doors. Whilst one or more doors are preferred, it would not be entirely impractical to simply lift the enclosure to allow animals in and out.

The coop 1 is stackable for space-efficient arrangement. The downwardly open configuration in combination with the upwardly convergent shape allows the coop 1 to fit over the top of another identical coop, and to receive the top of that

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identical coop, to form a dense stack in which each of the coops is nested within the upwardly adjacent coops.

The coop 1 is equipped with formations complementary to formations of adjacent coops within the stack to produce interfaces in the form of solid abutments to define the stacking pitch without the adjacent coops sticking to each other and/or damaging each other.

In this example, the complementary formations are part of the frame 3. Figure 2 illustrates a frame 30 stacked on top of the frame 3.

The rectangular base frame 3a has a horizontal end rail 3ai whilst the frame 30 likewise has a horizontal end rail 30ai. One of the ribs 3b is set a short distance back from the rail 3ai and carries a pair of stops 3g projecting to overlie the rail 3ai. The stops 3g are thereby positioned to support the rail 30ai of the upwardly adjacent module 30.

The stops 3g may make the form of horizontal cylinders, in which case the respective interface between each of the stops 3g and the planar underside of the rail 3ai would take the form of a line of contact running horizontally along the cylinders. This horizontal abutment produces a solid definite stop without the potential for sticking and or damage if the inclined walls of adjacent coops were allowed to rest upon each other.

In this example, the stops 3g are internally threaded to facilitate the addition of handles to the coop 1. Alternatively, the stops might be used as convenient mounting points for other accessories such as wheels.

Preferably the complementary formations are arranged to define a stacking pitch SP complementary to the height of the coop 1 whereby a stack of ten coops 1 is not more than 3 metres high, or more preferably not more than 2 metres high.

Preferably the coop 1 is configured to enclose a floor area of at least 2 square metres to suit three or more chickens although of course a larger coop 1 to suit a

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larger number of chickens or to suit larger animals are possible and conversely a smaller coop 1 to suit smaller animals is also possible. Preferably the coop 1 is configured to sit within a horizontal packaging envelope of 1,150 mm x 2,350 mm to sit within two conventional pallet spaces.

Advantageously a set of coops 1 can be efficiently fabricated in a factory and then stacked to form a space-efficient stack for transport. The stack might be lifted onto a transport vehicle, e.g. a road vehicle such as a truck. The lifting might be with the aid of a forklift or a crane.

The stacks can then be transported to retailers where individual modules can be removed from the stack and passed on to a purchaser to be transported to the purchaser's premises. For this purpose, a purchaser may well use their own utility vehicle (or pickups as they are known in North America), trailer or other road vehicle.

Accessories, potentially packaged in an accessory pack, such as internal partitions and handles may be connected to, to travel with, their respective coop 1 throughout this process. By way of example, the handles and a partition akin to the partition 7 may be attached with adhesive tape to the top of the enclosed portion 1b.

Using this method results in a chicken coop in situ without the end purchaser having to perform the potentially problematic assembly associated with a flatpack kit. In its preferred variant, the coop 1 has a substantially fixed form, e.g. there are no panels to fold out to construct the coop 1.

The coop 1 is but one example of the concept. Whilst the coop 1 consists of a single module, other options are possible. By way of example, a coop might be formed of two (potentially mutually identical) modules, each of which define substantially-half of the coop 1 whereby two such modules can be brought together with suitable fasteners to form a complete enclosure. Likewise, other variants of the concept may comprise a module defining most of the chicken coop

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but leaving some assembly to the purchaser. By way of example one of the aforementioned half-coop modules might be capped by a simple planar sheet added by a consumer to provide a smaller enclosure without the additional inventory costs associated with providing a dedicated module.

Figure 4 illustrates an alternate chicken coop 100 in which the doors are hinged along their top edges. Preferably the doors are latchable.

The invention is not limited to the various examples described herein. Rather, the invention is defined by the claims.

The term 'comprises' and its grammatical variants has a meaning that is determined by the context in which it appears. Accordingly, the term should not be interpreted exhaustively unless the context dictates so.

Claims

P1614AUAU 9 CLAIMS

1. A module for defining at least substantially-half of an animal enclosure;

the enclosure having an opening

at least partly defined by one or more portions of the module; and

closable, by level ground, for enclosing at least one animal; and

2. The module of claim 1 shaped to define substantially all of the animal enclosure.

3. The module of claim 1 or 2 wherein the animal enclosure is an animal 2 enclosure for enclosing a ground area of at least 1.5m .

4. The module of claim 1, 2 or 3 comprising one or more bearing portions arranged to be supported, by respective support portions of the other module, at a respective bearing interfaces to define a stacking pitch;

the respective bearing interfaces being substantially within 300 of horizontal.

5. The module of any one of claims 1 to 4 comprising

a horizontal base-rail portion;

structure set back from the horizontal base-rail portion; and

stops projecting from the structure;

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6. The module of claim 5 wherein the stops are mounting points to which handles are attachable.

7. The module of any one of claim 1 to 6 wherein a top of the animal enclosure is rectangular.

8. The module of any one of claims 1 to 7 being strong enough to be stacked 10 high.

9. The module of any one of claims 1 to 8 being at least predominantly metallic.

10. The module of any one of claims 1 to 9 wherein the animal is a chicken.

11. A set comprising

the module of any one of claims 1 to 10; and

a partition for partitioning an interior of the animal enclosure.

12. The set of claim 11 wherein the partition is to separate an enclosed portion of the animal enclosure from an open portion of the animal enclosure.

13. A method of distribution comprising

stacking modules to form a stack;

transporting the stack to form a transported stack; and

separating the modules of the transported stack to form separated modules;

each of the modules being at least one of

in accordance with any one of claims 1 to 10; and

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a module of the set of claim 11 or 12.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the transporting the stack is transporting the stack by road.

15. The method of claim 13 or 14 further comprising transporting one of the separated modules to form a transported module.

16. The method of claim 15 further comprising within the transporting one of the separated modules is transporting by road.

17. An animal enclosure comprising

a wall arrangement; and

a base

closable, by level ground, for enclosing at least one animal.

18. The animal enclosure of claim 17 dimensioned to enclose a ground area 2 of at least 1.5m .

19. The animal enclosure of claim 17 or 18 wherein the animal is a chicken.

20. A method comprising utilising, to enclose at least one animal, at least one of

the module of any one of claims 1 to 10;

the set of claim 11 or 12;

one of the separated modules of claim 13 or 14;

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the transported module of claim 15 or 16; and

the animal enclosure of claim 17, 18 or 19.

21. The method of claim 20 being a method of enclosing at least one chicken.