AU689153B2

AU689153B2 - Head restraining device

Info

Publication number: AU689153B2
Application number: AU80684/94A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Robin Christopher Feltrim Fagan
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1993-11-08
Filing date: 1994-11-04
Publication date: 1998-03-26
Anticipated expiration: 2014-11-04
Also published as: WO1995012972A1; AU8068494A

Description

HEAD RESTRAINING DEVICE

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to devices which restrain the heads of animals, and in particular animals such as cows, bulls, sheep and deer (amongst other animals). BACKGROUND ART

It is frequently useful for those who raise farm animals to have a method of restraining the heads of animals. For instance, the de-horning of cows and bulls is a routine and time consuming task for ^"cattle farmers. During this process, it is necessary to come in close proximity to the head of the animal to be de-horned, and to manually or otherwise remove the horns from the animal. Traditionally devices such as those discussed below for restricting the movement of the animal's head have been used in this process. As will be seen, these devices have significant disadvantages. These disadvantages are also discussed below.

There are many other processes other than de-horning in which the movement of an animal's head may need to be restricted. For example, the application of medical substances to an animal may be more effectively carried out if the head of the animal is restrained from movement. In addition, cosmetic or medical care of the animal's face may also be preferentially carried out while the movement of the animal's head is restrained. Accordingly there have been many inventions for restraining the movement of an animal's head. For example, New Zealand Patent No. 212351 relates to a head gate for an animal. In this gate, a jaw attached to a rotatable cam is provided. Upon pivotal motion of the cam, the jaw rotates towards a second jaw member, in such a way so that the two jaw members substantially define an enclosure in which the neck of an animal is preferably positioned. Upon completion of the cam rotation, the animal is prevented from moving either forwards or backwards in the gate, and the animal may then be treated.

Unfortunately this head gate has several significant disadvantages. For example, the framework upon which it is mounted is complex and expensive, and the arm members are mounted in such a way so that an animal is naturally reluctant to enter the open enclosure between the arm members. A device for restraining the movement of an animal whereby the animal is not immediately aware that it is entering a space in which it may consequently be restrained from movement would be a considerable advantage over this invention. Patent No. 204295 relates to a triggering mechanism for a head bail. This is a complex piece of machinery with many interconnected parts, in which two arms are provided to open and close in order to restrict the movement of an animal's head. This suffers from the disadvantage that the presence of an enclosure is immediately apparent to an animal nearing the vicinity of the head bail, and this acts as a significant deterrent to the animal to proceed to a position whereby the head bail may be used to enclose its head. Furthermore the complexity of the framework involved in the head bail in this patent involves significant maintenance and also requires manual operation. These are all significant disadvantages, and a head bail that overcomes these disadvantages would be a considerable advance over the state of the current art.

Various other head bails are disclosed in the patent literature, for example patent Nos. 174034/177789, 168881 and 124387 all disclose various types of head bails. All these head bails involve the process of trapping an animal's neck in between two arms to restrict the motion of its head. By including two arms in a head bail, the animal as discussed is immediately aware that it may be entering a device in which it may not subsequently be allowed to exit, and this acts as a significant deterrent in the animal nearing the device. This is of course a significant disadvantage for any device in which its use relies on the animal coming into close proximity with the device. Furthermore all of these head bails involve complex frameworks which adds unnecessarily to the cost of the devices, and are generally only operable manually.

A device that overcomes these problems would be a considerable advantage over the current state of the art in relation to head bails.

It is an object of the present invention to address the foregoing problems or at least to provide the public with a useful choice. Further aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the ensuing description which is given by way of example only.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a head restraining device for animals, the device including a movable arm and an activation device, the movable arm and activation device capable of being mounted on a substantially vertical surface, the head restraining device characterised in that upon operation of the activation device the arm may be moved in such a way so that the arm and vertical surface may restrain the movement of the animal's head. According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of restraining the head of an animal, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) positioning an animal near to a substantially vertical surface, and

(b) moving an arm in such a way that the head of the animal is restrained from moving by an enclosure or partial enclosure formed between the movable arm and the vertical surface.

According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a head restraining device for animals, the device including a movable arm and an activation device, the activation device being capable of powered operation in at least two ways, the head restraining device characterised in that upon operation of the activation device in a first way a pre-defined motion of the movable arm is initiated, and upon operation of the activation device in a second way, a second pre-defined motion of the movable arm is initiated.

According to a still further aspect of the present invention there is provided a head restraining device for animals, the device including a movable arm capable of pivotable motion about a pivot point, the head restraining device characterised in that the pivotable motion of the arm is restricted to a certain angular range, the position of the pivotable arm at either extreme value of the angular range being such that in at least one position movement of the animal's head is restrained. According to a yet still further aspect of the present invention there is provided a head restraining device for animals, the device including a movable arm and powered activation device, the activation device being capable of powered extension and retraction, the head restraining device characterised in that powered extension of the activation device causes pivotable motion of the movable arm in such a way as to restrain the movement of an animal' s head.

In this specification the word enclosure will refer to any object or surface or combination of objects and surfaces which together restrict or restrain the movement of an animal. In particular, enclosures do not need to be fully surrounded by a surface or object, and partially enclosing surfaces or objects will also be referred to in this specification as forming enclosures. To recognise this, the terms "enclosure" and "partial enclosure" will be used interchangeably in the present specification, both terms referring to a number of bodies or objects which restrict or restrain the movement of the animal. In preferred embodiments of the present invention a movable arm may be provided to assist in restraining the movement of an animal's head. This arm is preferably a long thin rod like object, which may be shaped in a curve which matches the contours of the side or neck of an animal. For simplicity, this movable arm will be referred to simply as an arm in the rest of the specification. In the remainder of the present specification, an arm shaped to resemble an extended "C" will be described, although other shaped arms may also be used in conjunction with the present invention.

In further preferred embodiments of the present invention, the arm may be composed of any strong material, for instance plastic, light metal, steel tubing, wood or any other similar material.

In still further preferred embodiments of the present invention the arm may be pivotably attached to a vertical surface. Preferably this attachment may allow movement of the arm over a substantial angular range. In particular, the arm may be pivoted to allow motion from one extreme position whereby movement of animals past or through the present invention is unhindered, to a second extreme position whereby movement of the animal's neck or head may be restrained by the arm (and possibly another surface).

Reference throughout this specification will now be made to the arm being attached to, and pivotable with a substantially vertical surface. However it should be appreciated that many other types of arms may also be used with the present invention. For example there may be included an arm which is of a similar shape to the arm described above, but is slidable in and out of two slots to restrict the motion of the cattle. In particular, the arm may be slid away from the vertical surface to allow an animal to proceed uninhibited by the device, and slid towards the vertical surface to enclose the neck of the animal to restrict movement of the said animal. Further embodiments of the arm are also envisaged.

In further embodiments of the present invention there may be provided an activation device which controls the movement of the arm. This device may be any means which allows motion of the arm, and in some embodiments may included powered operations. For example, some possible activation devices include ropes, air rams, electronic motors, hydraulic rams or any other similar devices.

In still further preferred embodiments of the present invention the activation device may be an air ram. This air ram may be operable to extend and retract a rod included in the ram. This motion will be referred to as "powered operation", and in the usual way in which air rams operate may be used to apply significant force to an object connected at the end of the ram. In still further preferred embodiments of the present invention, the arm may be attached to the rod at the end of the ram. Preferably there may also be provided a pivot point, allowing the arms to pivot with respect to the remainder of the head restraining device, which is distinct from the rod-ram attachment point. The arrangement and configuration of the attachment point and pivot point will be such that extension of the ram may move the arm in such a way that an enclosure (or partial enclosure) is formed in which movement of an animal's neck or head may be restrained. The arm may be locked into this position by pressure from the ram until the ram is retracted. In this way, any attempt to struggle by the animal to free itself will not have any effect on the position of the arm, and animals can be held securely in the enclosure defined by the arm and vertical surface.

In further preferred embodiments of the present invention the air ram may be connected also to the vertical surface. This allows the connection between the ram and the arm to be extremely simple, and operate in such a way that animals will not hesitate entering what they perceive to be an open space in the device (prior to lowering of the arm). This is a considerable advantage of the present invention, in that the attachment means described above and further illustrated in Figure 1 gives the appearance of an open cavity. Subsequently to an animal entering the cavity, the present device may be operated to enclose the head or neck of the animal very quickly and efficiently.

In still further preferred embodiments of the present invention the vertical surface discussed above may be part of a crate or animal run. Various other vertical surfaces, such as walls or posts, may also be incorporated in the present invention. In embodiments whereby the vertical surface is part of a crate or animal run, such as is illustrated in Figure 1, there may be provided an additional movable surface to further restrict the motion of the animal. For example, this movable surface may be moved to restrain the flanks of an animal, while the present invention may restrain movement of the head of the animal. Movement of this surface may be controlled by any means (e.g. air rams, ropes, chains, motors, etc.) but in preferred embodiments an air ram may be used to move the surface to such a position whereby it may restrain the movement of the animal. The above invention has several particular advantages over previous animal bails. For instance, there are only a few components included in the present invention, and operation and interconnection of these components is a relatively simple matter. This ensures that the present invention is simple to operate, and will not inhibit animals from nearing the invention due to an excessive number of complex parts. Furthermore the present invention may be configured to disguise its actual function of restraining animals, which gives animals increased confidence when nearing the present invention. In addition, by provision of an air ram as an activation device in the present invention, the present invention may be activated both powerfully and quietly. In particular, an air ram is a simple and lightweight device, and is unlikely to scare the animals with excessive noise during operation. In a further embodiment of the present invention the arm may include a further restraining barrier attached to it. For example, there may be a barrier of any sort attached to the arm and configured so that when the arm is lowered, the barrier blocks off all the crate or animal run which is not enclosed by the arm and vertical surface. This enables the farmer to leave the vicinity of the restraining device without fear of animals passing by the device, and is a considerable advantage when using the present invention.

In addition the retraining device described in the present specification may also be operated as a gate, and may be used to control the flow of animals along the crate or animal run in a similar way to that usually performed by gates.

In further preferred embodiments the barrier may be shaped so as to substantially block the crate or animal run that it is positioned in. In particular, it may be shaped in a complimentary way to the shape of the walls of the crate or animal run. However other shapes of the barrier may also be used in other embodiments of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Further aspects of the present invention will become apparent from the ensuing description which is given by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a front view of one embodiment of the present invention.

BEST MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

With regard to Figure 1 there is illustrated a head restraining device 1. Head restraining device 1 includes arm 2, air ram 3 and a substantially vertical surface 4. Arm 2 and air ram 3 are connected at attachment point 5. In addition, arm 2 includes a pivot point 6, around which the arm 2 may rotate.

In the embodiment illustrated, ram 3 is positioned below pivot point 6. This is shown by way of example only and the ram may be positioned above the pivot point or anywhere else suitable to operate the present invention. Air ram 3 is extendible and retractable, a process which lengthens and shortens rod 7. By retracting rod 7, arm 2 moves in the direction of arrow 8 until rod 7 is fully retracted and arm 2 is in the position indicated by dotted lines 9. This results in leaving a large space between arm 2 and vertical surface 4, which animals in general are not reluctant to enter into.

Vertical surface 4 may be part of any larger structure, and in Figure 1 an animal crate 10 is illustrated. Crate 10 includes a further activation means 11 attached to wall 12 of crate 10 which may pivot around pivot point 13. This pivoting motion of wall 12 may also serve to enclose or restrain the movement of an animal. In operation, an animal 14 enters crate 10 when arm 2 is in the raised position indicated by dotted lines 9. When the neck of animal 14 is in a suitable position, ram 3 is operated to lengthen rod 7, and arm 2 is lowered to reach the position indicated by the solid lines. In doing so, the neck of the animal 14 is enclosed between arm 2 and vertical surface 4, and movement of the head of animal 14 is restrained. In addition to restraining the movement of the animal 14 by arm 2, a barrier 15 is also attached to arm 2 to prevent movement of animals 14 along the gap between arm 2 and wall 12. Barrier 15 enables arm 2 to act as a gate, selectively allowing and preventing movement of animals past restraining device 1.

As an alternative to use of barrier 15, wall 12 may also be pivoted to press against the side of animal 14, also inhibiting its motion.

It should be seen that the above head restraining device 1 operates more simply and effectively than devices known in the prior art. In particular, there are many fewer moving parts in head restraining device 1 than prior head restraining devices, and this allows the entire device to operate extremely quietly and effectively. Aspects of the present invention have been described by way of example only and it should be appreciated that modifications and additions may be made thereto without departing from the scope thereof as defined in the appended claims as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

THE CLAIMS DEFINING THE INVENTION ARE:

1. A head restraining device for animals, the device including a movable arm and an activation device, the movable arm and activation device capable of being mounted on a substantially vertical surface, the head restraining device characterised in that upon operation of the activation device the arm may be moved in such a way so that the arm and vertical surface may restrain the movement of an animal's head.

2. A head restraining device as claimed in claim 1 whereby the arm and vertical surface interact to form an enclosure or partial enclosure which may restrain motion of the animal's head.

3. A head restraining device as claimed in either of claims 1 or 2 whereby the arm is pivotably attached to the vertical surface.

4. A head restraining device as claimed in any of the above claims whereby the activation device is a ram.

5. A head restraining device as claimed in any of the above claims whereby the activation device is an air ram.

6. A head restraining device as claimed in claim 4 or 5 whereby the arm is attached to one end of the ram.

7. A head restraining device as claimed in claim 6 whereby the attachment point of the ram is distinct from the pivot point of the arm.

8. A head restraining device as claimed in any of the above claims whereby the arm includes a restraining barrier.

9. A head restraining device for animals, the device including a movable arm and an activation device, the activation device being capable of powered operation in at least two ways, the head restraining device characterised in that upon operation of the activation device in a first way a pre-defined motion of the movable arm is initiated, and upon operation of the activation device in a second way, a second pre-defined motion of the movable arm is initiated.

10. A head restraining device as claimed in claim 9 whereby the movable arm and activation device are mounted on a substantially vertical surface.

11. A head restraining device as claimed in claim 9 or 10 whereby at least one of the pre¬ defined motions of the movable arm results in an enclosure or partial enclosure being formed which may restrain the movement of an animals head.

12. A head restraining device as claimed in claim 11 whereby the arm and vertical surface interact to form the enclosure or partial enclosure.

13. A head restraining device as claimed in any of claims 10 to 12 whereby the arm is pivotably attached to the vertical surface.

14. A head restraining device as claimed in claim 13 whereby at least one of the pre-defined motions of the arm includes rotation about a pivot point.

15. A head restraining device for animals, the device including a movable arm capable of pivotable motion about a pivot point, the head restraining device characterised in that the pivotable motion of the arm is restricted to a certain angular range, the position of the pivotable arm at either extreme value of the angular range being such that in at least one position movement of the animals head is restrained.

16. A head restraining device as claimed in claim 15 whereby the arm is connected to a substantially vertical surface.

17. A head restraining device as claimed in claim 16 whereby at least one position of the pivotable arm allows an enclosure or partial enclosure between the arm and the vertical surface to be formed, the enclosure or partial enclosure being able to restrain movement of the animal's head.

18. A head restraining device as claimed in any of claims 15 to 17 whereby motion of the arm is controlled by a powered activation device.

19. A head restraining device as claimed in claim 18 whereby the powered activation device is a ram.

20. A head restraining device as claimed in any of claims 15 to 19 whereby the arm includes a restraining barrier.

21. A head restraining device for animals, the device including a movable arm and powered activation device, the activation device being capable of powered extension and retraction, the head restraining device characterised in that powered extension of the activation device causes pivotable motion of the movable arm in such a way so as to restrain the movement of an animal's head.

22. A head restraining device as claimed in claim 21 whereby the arm is connected to a substantially vertical surface.

23. A head restraining device as claimed in claim 22 whereby movement of the arm allows an enclosure or partial enclosure to be formed between the arm and the vertical surface.

24. A head restraining device as claimed in any of claims 21 to 23 whereby the activation device is a ram.

25. A head restraining device as claimed in any of claims 21 to 24 whereby the arm includes a curved rod.

26. A method of restraining the head of an animal, the method comprising the steps of: a) positioning an animal near to a substantially vertical surface, and b) moving an arm in such a way so that the head of the animal is restrained from moving by an enclosure or partial enclosure formed between the arm and the vertical surface.

27. A method of restraining the head of an animal as claimed in claim 26 whereby the step of moving the arm includes the operation of a powered activation device.

28. A method of restraining the head of an animal as claimed in claim 27 whereby the arm moves automatically once the activation device is operated.

29. A head restraining device substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawing.

30. A method of restraining the head of an animal substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawing.