AU775196B2 - Improved animal handling device - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Applicant(s): ROBIN CHRISTOPHER FELTRIM FAGAN CAROL ANN FAGAN Invention Title: IMPROVED ANIMAL HANDLING DEVICE The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us: IMPROVED ANIMAL HANDLING DEVICE TECHNICAL FIELD This invention relates to an improved animal handling device.

BACKGROUND ART Reference throughout this specification shall be made to the use of the present invention for handling domesticated animals such as cattle, sheep and deer, although it should be appreciated that the present invention can be applied to other animals.

In particular, reference to the present invention shall be made to its use in animal directing devices such as sheep and cattle races and for the purpose for securing animals and applying a treatment thereto.

However, it should be seen that the description is given by way of example only and should not be seen as limiting the present invention.

It is often desirable to be able to hold animals so that treatment can be applied thereto, or various measurements taken of the animal such as its weight.

Using sheep as an example, it is common to bolus, drench, take blood, apply and read ear tags, check teeth and so forth.

00.00: S"Various devices are known which are used for the above purpose, however these •devices have a number of problems associated with them.

New Zealand Patent No. 209221 relates to an animal crush that has side plates which can be moved with respect to each other by pulling a flexible restraint, which can be used in the shearing or crutching of sheep.

The resultant action of the side plate movement holds the sheep in position in order that it can be administrated to.

One of the disadvantages of this construction is that some force is required to manually pull the restraint. Further, this process is not very efficient if used in a sheep race situation as the manual operation of the side plates takes some time.

Another problem is that the floor of this construction is a considerable distance above the ground and if used in a sheep race could impede the flow of animals therethrough.

Deer crushes are known such as those described in New Zealand Patent No. 196738.

These are generally operated manually, although in some embodiments other means are used.

Deer crushes however cannot be used in a race type situation as they work by having the legs of the animal dangling free below the crush and this would impede the flow of animals through the race, impairing the efficiency of its operation.

Sheep weigh-crates are known which have sides that move parallel with respect to each other.

However, their operation makes it difficult for the animals to be quickly held and released and sheep weigh-crates typically have end gates in addition to side panels which can hinder access to the animal within the crate as well as interrupt the passage S"of animals therethrough.

New Zealand Patent No. 248929 relates to an animal handling device which comprises a fixed wall and a pivotable wall, there is a ram connected to the pivotable wall and when activated it will swing the pivotable wall in contact with the animal thereby securing the animal in its present position.

Whilst this invention overcomes most of the drawbacks with the other animal handling systems currently available, it still relies on an operator to activate the ram to move the pivotable wall, this means that under normal operating conditions the animals are generally secured at random points throughout the animal handling device and some can even pass through without being secured.

In order for the animal handling device to be efficient it is necessary that all animals are secured, in turn, by the animal handling device and it is preferable that the animals are secured at roughly the same position within the animal handling device as this will remove the necessity for the operator to move to different positions with whatever equipment is necessary for the administration at hand.

It is an object of the present invention to address the above problems or at least to provide the public with a useful choice.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided an animal handling device, including: at least two side panels; at least one securing device for securing an animal between said side panels, and at least one power device; a sensor system comprising at least one electronic sensor located to sense when an animal is in a desired position between said side panels; characterised in that 9 S• on the triggering of one of said sensors the power device activates the securing device so as to secure an animal in said desired position between the said side panels.

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goo. 3 It should be understood that within this specification that the term "power devi&' shall refer to any means other than pure manual means by which a securing device can be moved, thus opening or closing the animal handling device.

1 In preferred embodiments of the present invention the securing device is one of the side panels moving with respect to the other side panel in order to hold the animal between the two side panels.

Examples of various types of power movement means, or power devices, include pneumatic or hydraulic rams, electric motors, engines or any other powered device.

The term "sensor system" should be understood to mean any system including at least one sensor, wherein the movement or position of an animal can be used to trigger the circuitry in order to activate or deactivate the power device.

It should be appreciated that the circuitry can be controlled by other means and not just by a sensor eg: a manual override assembly.

It should be understood that the present invention incorporates all of the advantages within New Zealand Patent No. 275165 plus the ability to have the sensor control activation system.

It should also be appreciated that the present invention is intended to cover other animal securing methods and assemblies such as b activating a gate to impede the animal's movement.

In preferred embodiments of the present invention there will be at least two sensors, either of which can be used to determine when the animal within the handling device is in the correct position.

In some preferred embodiment of the present invention the restrained animal is &too 4.

So 0: released automatically once the administrating to the animal has been completed.

This will be enacted by the equipment being used to administer to the animal, it will on completion of the task send an appropriate signal to the sensor system instructing the sensor system to release the animal.

In other preferred embodiments of the present invention the restrained animal is released when the operator manually triggers the sensor system instructing it that the animal is to be released.

It is preferred to use at least two sensors which are in different vertical positions in order to ensure that the animal is in the correct position whether its head is up or down as with only one sensor it is possible for the animal to have its head in a position where it will not always activate the sensor when the animal is in the correct possession.

The major advantage of the invention over the prior art is that the operator does not need to change position during their administrations to a number of animals, as the '."sensor system ensures that the animals are all held in very similar positions within the 15 animal handling device.

This not only ensures that the operation being undertaken is far less time consuming *C ~and therefore more efficient, it also greatly reduces the level of fatigue placed upon the operator by having to move backwards and forwards with their equipment to animals restrained within different areas of the animal handling device.

20 One other advantage with the present invention is there is far less likelihood of the equipment becoming damaged through being dropped, or accidental collision with other objects, as the amount of movement of the equipment is greatly reduced.

One further advantage of the present invention is due to the fact that the time taken for administrating to any particular animal is reduced, therefore the time taken to administer to a number of animals will also be further reduced, having the benefit that this will reduce the stress placed upon the animals as they will spend less time out of their normal environment.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of handling an animal, including, at least two side panels, and at least one securing device, and at least one power device, and at least one sensor system, characterised by the steps of a) allowing an animal to enter the device to a point where it triggers at least one sensor, and b) using the sensor system to trigger the power device in such a way that at least one power device operates at least one securing device in order to hold the animal in the desired position.

~It is envisaged that within preferred embodiments of the present invention the sensor .oo.oi system will incorporate infrared sensors.

This should not however be seen to be a limitation on the present invention in anyway, as in other embodiments other sensor types can be used -for example ultrasonic, LED's etc.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS Further aspects of the present invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic representation of a side view of one preferred embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 2 is a diagrammatical perspective view of one preferred embodiment of the present invention.

BEST MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION With reference to the Figures there is illustrated an improved animal handling device, generally indicated by arrow one.

Infrared sensors 2, are attached to the fixed side wall 3 of the animal handling device.

Each sensor 2, is located in such a position that the animal 4, will activate at least one sensor 2, whether its head is up or in a downward position.

oo The animal 4, progresses along the floor 5, of the animal handling device until its head activates at least one of the sensors 2.

Next the sensor control system (not illustrated) activates the power device 7, in order 15 that it moves the tilting side wall 6, into its closed position.

On completion of the administrations to the animal 4, a signal is sent to the sensor control system which will subsequently activate the power device 7, in order that it moves the tilting side wall 6, back into its open position.

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 of the appended claims.

It is to be understood that, if any prior art publication is referred to herein, such reference does not constitute an admission that the publication forms a part of the common general knowledge in the art, in Australia or any other country.

Claims (13)

1. An animal handling device, including: at least two side panels; at least one securing device for securing an animal between said side panels, and at least one power device; a sensor system comprising at least one electronic sensor located to sense when an animal is in a desired position between said side panels; characterised in that on the triggering of one of said sensors the power device activates the securing device so as to secure an animal in said desired position between the said side panels.

2. An animal handling device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the securing device is one of the side panels and said one side panel is moveable with respect to another side panel facing said one panel.

3. An animal handling device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the securing device comprises a gate, configured so that when activated, the gate will impede the animal's movement from between said side panels.

4. An animal handling device as claimed in any one of claim 1 to claim 3 wherein the sensor system comprises a plurality of electronic sensors, any one of which can be used to determine when the animal within the handling device is in said S. desired position.

5. An animal handling device as claimed in any previous claim wherein the secured animal is automatically released once a desired action has been completed in relation to that animal. 8 oo o•

6. An animal handling device as claimed in any of claim 1 to claim 4 wherein said sensors are located so that an operator of said device can manually trigger said sensors whereby said sensor system activates said power device to release an animal secured between said panels.

7. An animal handling device as claimed in any previous claim comprising at least two sensors located in different vertical positions in order to sense when the animal within the animal handling device is in said desired position, no matter which vertical orientation the animal's head is located in.

8. An animal handling device as claimed in any previous claim wherein the sensors used are infrared sensors.

9. A method of handling an animal including: providing at least two juxtaposed side panels; providing at least one securing device for securing an animal between said side panels; providing at least one power device; providing at least one sensor system containing at least one electronic sensor for sensing when an animal is in a desired position between said side panels; characterised by the steps of a) allowing an animal to enter the device to a point where said animal b) triggers at least one sensor, and b) using the sensor system to trigger the power device in such a way that at Soo least one power device operates at least one securing device in order to hold the animal in said desired position between said side panels.

A method of handling an animal as claimed in claim 9 wherein providing said securing device comprises arranging one side panel of the animal handling device 0 oooO oooo 9 0.0. 9 to be movable toward another of side panels in order to hold the animal in the desired position.

11. A method of handling an animal as claimed in claim 9 wherein providing said securing device comprises providing at least one gate that when activated is disposed to impede the animals' movement from between said side panels.

12. An animal handling device substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.

13. A method of handling an animal substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings. DATED this 19th day of May 2004. ROBIN CHRISTOPHER FELTRIM FAGAN and CAROL ANN FAGAN by their Patent Attorneys GRIFFITH HACK Fellows Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys of Australia o* w 1 g. o, S