AU595129B2

AU595129B2 - Animal head restraint

Info

Publication number: AU595129B2
Application number: AU20664/88A
Authority: AU
Inventors: James Philip Trevelyan; Andrew Michael Whitehead
Original assignee: University of Western Australia
Current assignee: WESTERN AUSTRALIA THE, University of
Priority date: 1987-08-11
Filing date: 1988-08-11
Publication date: 1990-03-22
Anticipated expiration: 2008-08-11
Also published as: AU2066488A; NZ225778A; ZA885870B

Description

COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA PATENTS ACT 1952 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION

(ORIGINAL)

Form FOR OFFICE USE Class Int. Class Application Number: Lodged:

I

0 0* o* Complete Specification-Lodged: Accepted: 5g5~i z~ te Published: Priority: S S e 6 C e *tc Related Art: 0 so eI 'i docurnclt ccnitains the amendments mads, under Sectiun 49 and is correct for printing o Name of Applicant: 0 0 TO BE COMPLETED BY APPLICANT THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA Nedlands, Western Australia 6009, Address of Applicant: Actual Inventor: JAMES PHILIP TREVELYAN ANDREW MICHAEL WHITEHEAD Address for Service: SANDERCOCK, SMITH BEADLE 207 Riversdale Road, Box 410) Hawthorn, Victoria, 3122 Complete Specification for the invention entitled: ANIMAL HEAD RESTRAINT The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me:we e oooo 0 0 0 0 0t 0000 o 0a *Q S 0000 0000 a 0 @000 0 0 e o 00 o*e 00o a oa i 0 0 4 S0 0 00 o a I u a 0 0 0 a 2 TITLE: ANIMAL HEAD RESTRAINT Field of the Invention: This invention relates to improvements in head restraints for animals, such as sheep, during processes, such as automated shearing processes, in which the head of the animal must be restrained against any substantial movement.

Background of the Invention: In our copending Australian Patent Application AU- A33725/84 and New Zealand Patent Application 221095 we describe a mechanism for restraining and manipulating a sheep during an automated shearing process. The mechanism includes a device for restraining the head of the sheep in which the lower jaw of the sheep was clamped between a bar inserted in the mouth of the sheep and lower jaw engaging means having fingers which extended within the lower jaw bone of the sheep. The device is the subject of copending Australian Patent Application AU-A33725/84 and New Zealand Patent Application 221095. While this device provides a degree of restraint of the head of the animal, it has been found that the restraint is not sufficiently rigid in that the head of the sheep is allowed to tilt and rotate to a certain extent when the animal struggles. While it will be appreciated that complete restraint of the head of the sheep is not practicable, a more effective restraint than the restraint provided by this device is required.

Summary of the Invention and Objects: It is an object of the present invention to provide a head restraint for an animal, and particularly for a sheep, 880808,!tbspe.027,uniwa2.spe, ij 1 f f 1 1 1 3 in which the head of the animal is more positi vely restrained.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided a head restraint for an animal comprising a support structure carrying means for engaging the upper and lower jaws of the animal, a pair of arms pivoted on said support structure and having free ends, said arms including lugs projecting from the free ends of said arms and positioned to engage predetermined cavities or depressions in the skul 1 structure of the animal, means for pivoting said arms so as to engage said skull cavities or depressions, whereby the head of the animal is firmly restrained by the combined action of said means engaging the upper and lower jaws of the animal arid the lugs engaging said skull cavities or t. c r depressions.

C Where the head restraint is adapted for use with a

C

sheep, the lugs on said arms engage depressions in the skull of the sheep between each eye socket and the adjacent ear.

a"o It has been found that these depressions may be engaged 00 0o o°2o° quite positively without distressing the sheep and the oo engagement serves to firmly anchor the position of the head o with respect to the arms. The means engaging the upper and lower jaws of the sheep prevent rotational movement of the 00 a* o0 head with respect to the points of engagement by the lugs and in this manner the head restraint effectively prevents movement of the head with respect to the support structure.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the arms also carry eye caps which are either independently L associated with the lugs or form part of the lug structure.

89 1 2 0 5 -,!pdspe.004,uniwa.spe, 1 I I 3(a) The eye caps are preferably positioned on the arms so that 0 CC C C C C C C C C 9 C 000 0 00 0 0 0 0 601 000 0 0 0 00 0 000000 .06 bo0 0 8 9 1 2 0 5 1pdspe -004, uniwa. spe 4- 1 the periphery of the cap engages the head of the sheep 2 surrounding each eye whereby the eyes of the sheep are 3 effectively covered. It will be appreciated that sheep 4 become quite docile when their eyes are covered and this assists in restraining the animal against movement during 6 the processes to be performed on the animal.

7 The means engaging the upper and lower jaws of the 8 animal may take any suitable form and in one embodiment a tEtO 9 C 9 pad is positioned on the support structure to engage the Ga 0 bridge of the snout of the sheep while a bar is pivotally

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oo 11 mounted on the support to engage the lower jaw of the animal ,oo 12 whereby the jaws are effectively clamped in a closed a e W 13 position. In one particularly preferred form, the pad is 14 rigidly secured to the support structure while the bar is C C ¢r 15 pivotally mounted on the support structure to be actuated 16 either by the means for closing the arms on the skull of the 17 sheep or by independent means, such as a biasing spring or 18 independent hydraulic means, which pivots the bar towards 19 the lower jaw of the sheep in opposition to the pad engaging 0 0 Oroo 20 the bridge of the snout.

21 Each eye cap is preferably shaped so that the wool on 22 the head of the sheep is accessible for shearing and the 23 edge of the eye cap may be padded or otherwise protected to 24 avoid injury to the animal.

Brief Description of the Drawings: 26 One presently preferred experimental form of the head 27 restraint embodying the invention will now be described with 28 reference to the accompanying drawings in which: 29 Figure 1 is a side elevation of the head restraint in 880808,!tbspe.027,uniwa2.spe, 5 position on a sheep's head; Figure 2 is a plan view of the restraint with parts removed for extra clarity, and Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional end elevation of the restraint.

Description of Preferred Embodiments: Referring to the drawings, the head restraint embodying the invention will be seen to comprise a top plate 1 having a pair of upstanding lugs 2, 3, by means of which the restraint may be manipulated by independent means (not shown), a bottom plate 4 having a pair of downwardly depending side plates 5 and 6 secured thereto, said top and it bottom plates being held together in spaced relationship by a spacer block 7 at one end of the plates and by bearings 8 l' at the other end, through which clamping bolts 9 pass.

S,.I A pair of shaped actuator arms 10, 11 are pivotally supported on the bearings 8 and carry adjustable extension arms 12, 13 to the three ends of which are adjustably 0000oooo oo 0 attached mounting lugs 14, 15 extending from eye caps 16, 17 0 06 having shaped securing lugs 18, 19 extending from their free 0o" ends. It will be appreciated that the adjustable nature of 0 00 o. the extension arms, 12, 13 and the adjustable securement of 0 the eye caps 16, 17 thereto is for experimental purposes and coo these components may be rigidly formed in any commercial embodiment of the invention.

As shown most clearly in Figure 4 of the drawings, each eye cap comprises a generally cup shaped member 20 to which the attachment lug 14 is welded. The shaped rod 21 defining S /A eshe securing lugs 18 and 19 is welded to the eT 0 891205 !pdspe.004,uniwa. spe, 6 periphery end of the cup 20 to define a rim which ensure that the cup 20 may properly seat on the head of the sheep surrounding the eye socket. The lugs 18 and 19 are shown with resilient material 18a and 19a, say of sponge rubber or the like. If desired, similar resilient covering material may be applied around the entire rim 21 of each cup 20 to protect against injury and to further exclude light from the eyes.

The opposite ends of the arms 10 and 11 are formed with shaped cam portions 22, 23 which are engaged by a cam follower 24 attached to the end of a plunger 25 mounted for movement within a bore formed in the spacer 7 and having an actuating knob 26 against which a compression spring 27 t ,c bears to bias the plunger 25 towards its operative position.

.1"rtc A tension spring 28 engages pins attached to the arms 10 and 11 and tends to bias the arms 10 and 11 apart. Thus, by pushing on the knob 26 against the action of the spring 27, the plunger 25 and follower 24 move inwardly of the cam 00ooo0 So< portions 22, 23 and the spring 28 moves the arms 10 and 11 o 0o 0°o200 to their open position in which the lugs 18 and 19 and the o o eye caps 16 and 17 are released from the sheep's head.

0 00 0on.e To restrain the sheep's head against rotary movement 0 0 with respect to the top and bottom plates 1 and 4, a snout 0 0 0 engaging pad 29 having a foam protective lining 30 is rigidly attached to the top plate 1 by a connecting plate 31. It will be appreciated that the pad 29, 30 will firmly engage the bridge of the nose of the sheep when the securing lugs 18 and 19 are engaged with the skull cavities behind the eye sockets to partly prevent rotary movement of the 891205 !pdspe.004,uniwa.spe 7 sheep's head with respect to the plates 1 and 4.

To further restrain rotary movement of the sheep's head, an open rectangular lower jaw clamping bar 32 is pivoted to the side plates 5 and 6 so that the bar 32 may engage under the lower jaw of the sheep in the manner shown in Figure 1 of the drawings. The bar 32 preferably carries a resilient roller of sponge rubber or the like to reduce the likelihood of injury. In the present embodiment, the necessary pivotal movement of the bar with respect to the plates 5 and 6 is achieved by means of tension springs 33 and 34 engaging lever arms 35 and 36 rigidly secured to the clamping bar 32 in the manner shown in the drawings. A pair of stops 37 extend from each of the side plates 5 and 6 to limit the extent of rotation of the lever arms 35 and 36 0009 in both directions.

0. In use, the clamp is applied to the head of a sheep by firmly pushing the release knob 26 to open the arms 10 and 11, at the same time gripping the lower jaw clamping bar 32 0000 °oo° to pivot it against the action of the springs 33, 34 to its °°2y opened position. When the sheep's head is in position, the plunger 25 is released gently to allow the eye covers 16 and oo 17 and the securing lugs 18 and 19 to engage the head of the sheep in the required position. The bar 32 is then released euo and engages the lower jaw of the sheep and the sheep's head is then firmly located and restrained by the securing lugs 18 and 19, the nose pad 29, 30 and the bar 32. The eye caps 16 and 17 cover the eyes of the sheep thereby pacifying the sheep and reducing the amount it struggles. To release the 4 i sheep's head, the knob 26 is pushed against the spring 27 891205 !pdspe. 004, uniwa. spe,

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8 1 thereby opening the arms 10 and 11 and releasing the 2 securing lugs 18 and 19 from the skull cavities. The sheep 3 may then withdraw its head from its position between the 4 nose pad 29, 30 and the lower jaw clamping bar 32.

While in the above described embodiment the lower jaw 6 clamping bar 32 is separately actuated against the action of 7 the spring 33, it will be appreciated that the actuation of 8 the bar 32 may be linked to the actuation of the plunger oop 9 so that depression of the plunger 25 also causes pivotal 0 o" 10 movement of the bar 32 against the action of the springs 33 004 e o 11 and 34. Similarly, while the securing lugs 18 and 19 are °oP 12 shown as being attached to the eye caps 16 and 17, the lugs 0 0 a 0 0 0 13 18 and 19 may form an integral part of the arms 10 and 11 14 with the eye caps 16 and 17 independently mounted on the t t C 15 arms 10 and 11 in any suitable manner. As mentioned above, 16 the extensions 12 and 13 are temporary experimental c cc c 17 extensions and will in any commercial embodiment form part 18 of the arms 10 and 11.

0o*oS 19 While the means for actuating the arms 10 and 11 as a o ooooo? 20 described above is presently preferred, any other suitable 21 means of causing the required pivotal movements of the arms 22 may be used.

23 The entire contents of the provisional specifications 24 lodged with Australian Patent Applications of which this is the complete specification are hereby imported into this 26 specification and form part of the disclosure of this 27 specification. The claims form part of the disclosure of 28 this specication.

880808,!tbspe.027,uniwa2au.cla,

Claims

1. A head restraint for an animal comprising a support structure carrying means for engaging the upper and lower jaws of the animal, a pair of arms pivoted on said support structure and having free ands, said arms including lugs projecting from the free ends of said arms and positioned to engage predetermined cavities or depressions in the skull structure of the animal, means for pivoting said arms so as to engage said skull cavities or depressions, whereby the head of the animal is firmly restrained by the combined action of said means engaging the upper and lower jaws of the animal and the lugs engaging said skull cavities or depressions.

2. The restraint of claim 1, for restraining the head of a 0 aCO sheep, wherein said lugs are shaped and positioned to engage depressions in the skull of the sheep between each eye socket and the adjacent ear.

3. The restraint of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein said arms carry caps which cover the eyes of the animal. oo0 0 4. The restraint of claim 3, wherein said caps are "2O generally dome-shaped and have a peripheral edge positioned to engage the head of the animal surrounding each eye o 00 eooo0 whereby the eyes are effectively covered. 0 0 0 5. The restraint of claim 4, wherein said cap edges are padded.

6. The restraint of claim 1, wherein said upper jaw engaging means comprises a pad member rigidly carried by said supportable structure.

7. The restraint of claim 6, wherein said lower jaw .S engaging means comprises a bar in use extending transversely 891205 !pdspe.004,uniwa.spe I 10 of the jaw and pivoted to the support structure, and means for biasing said bar towards a jaw engaging position.

8. The restraint of claim 1, wherein said means for pivoting said arms to a head engaging position comprise a cam follower engaging cam faces on said arms, said cam follower being biased to head engaging position and said arms being biased to a head disengaging position.

9. A head restraint for a sheep, comprising a support structure, upper and lower jaw engaging means mounted on said support structure, a pair of arms pivotally mounted on said support structure, each of said arms including a free 0a0) end from which a lug projects, said lug being positioned to 000e 0c engage depressions in the skull structure of the sheep o0, between the eye socket and the ears of the sheep when the 01 a jaw engaging means are engaged with the upper and lower jaws "o of the sheep, means for pivoting said arms to engage said skull depressions and for holding said arms with said lugs in engagement with said depressions, whereby the head of the 0000 S sheep is firmly restrained by the combined action of said a o upper and lower jaw engaging means and said lugs engaging 0 a said skull depressions. o 60o ooo 10. A head restraint substantially as hereinbefore S described with reference to the accompanying drawings. oo described with reference to the accompanying drawings. <1 0I 4 0 4 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 891205 !pdspe.004,uniwa.spe, DATED THIS 5th November 1989 SMITH SHELSTON BEADLE Fellows Institute of Patent Attorneys of Australia. Patent Attorneys for the Applicant THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA 4,. 04

44. *D 9 4 04- 891205 1 pdspe.OO4,uniwa.spe,