FR2783134A1 - Access control for animal feeding point, has rectangle formed by horizontal and vertical bars, with lever arm pivoting to occupy closed vertical position or angled open position, with locking element carried by upper horizontal bar - Google Patents

Abstract

The access control barrier consists of two horizontal bars (1, 2) connected, in the same plane, by vertical bars (3, 4). Each pair of vertical bars and the horizontal bars forms a vertical rectangle, which corresponds to a place for an animal head, and is completed by a lever arm (5), mobile between a no access vertical position and an angled position, which allows access. The arm pivots around a central axis (6), carried on an elbow bar (7) and is locked in the central position by a locking element (25), carried by the control beam (8).

Description

The present invention relates to comadis, and particularly to

  improvements to the headlamps in terms of ways to maximize

  the dimensions of the openings provided for the passage of the animals' heads.

  A cornadis has two horizontal bars in the same vertical plane, which are connected by vertical struts. Each pair of spacer and the two horizontal bars form a vertical rectangle that corresponds to a place for the head of an animal. The comadis generally comprises a plurality of places, each place is completed by a lever arm which can normally take two switchable positions, a vertical or closing position which shares the place practically in two, and an oblique opening position, the lever arm pivoting about an axis mounted substantially at half height

  at the corner of a fixed bent bar mounted on a vertical spacer.

  The comadis is completed by a horizontal control bar, placed near the upper or lower horizontal bar of the headlamp, which carries by

  places a locking member and which can be switched to the unlocking position.

  Feeders of this type are known and widespread, they give, overall, satisfaction. As examples of improvements to conventional comadis, however, mention will be made for information of those described in the patents

  French FR-A-2,332,703 and FR-A-2,535,162.

  However, we have questioned the limitation in opening the arm allowing the

  head passage of the animal in known models of cornadis.

  Thus one often uses an arm inserted in the same vertical plane as the frame of the comadis, surmounted by a pawl which abuts against the locking member of the

  control bar, which member is constituted by a single stop.

  It can be seen that the arm positioned in the same vertical plane as the frame of the ledge causes limitation in opening of the arm which abuts in its support part; this opening limitation may also be due to the fact that the ratchet locking system of the arm comes into contact with the control bar or the frame of the head. There have also been some accidents in the known headstands, some animals having strangled without being able to clear them quickly. The French patent FR-A-2,332,703 proposes, for this purpose, to mount each simple vertical bar movable, that is to say not connected to the bent bar, so that it can be moved closer to or away from the arm at will. lever, means being provided to wedge in all

suitable positions.

  The object of the present invention is to increase the speed and amplitude of the opening of the movable lever arm, to facilitate the passage of the head of the animal in the upper part of the place of cornadis, as well as in its lower part, and so

  reduce the risk of strangulation of an animal that has fallen, for example.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved comadis in which the locking member is transformed to give it more efficiency, while

being simple.

  According to a feature of the invention, the lever arm blocking the animal is placed in front of the vertical plane of the head, this lever arm is generally

  placed in the same vertical plane as the base of the cornadis.

  According to another characteristic of the invention, the comadis comprises a control bar whose locking member in place consists of a "U" shaped rocker> of a defined length, in its central part this rocker comprises

  a notch of sufficient size to receive the upper part of the lever arm.

  The rocker is held on the control bar by its ends; to use this rocker, the control bar must be at the top and

the front of the comadis.

  This rocker must slide vertically on the control bar.

  Said invention is based on the angular opening amplitude of a lever arm, pivotally mounted on an axis centered at best and in front of a comadis panel, the locking of the lever arm in the locking position being achieved by a rocker

  in the form of a "U" mounted on a control bar.

  The pivoting animal blocking lever arm is actuated by the animal itself.

  even when he passes his head in the upper part, this passage is favored by the

  causes the locking lever arm to automatically move to an inclined position.

  As the animal has passed the head through this location, it drops to eat in the trough on the ground, at the moment the animal lowers the head he operates in spite of himself the arm lever pivoting lock, at the moment when the lever arm comes to stand in an upright position, it is blocked by the rocker that raises during the passage of the arm, when the arm passes in front of the notch of the rocker, the latter

  goes down and locks the lever arm.

  To release the lever arm and therefore the animal, it is necessary to turn the control bar,

  and the rocker is rotated, which allows to unlock the lever arm.

  In this invention, it is the amplitude of the opening of the arm which is essential, to obtain this large opening the pivoting lever arm is placed in front of

  the vertical plane of the cornadis, on an axis centered at best on the frame.

  It is thus possible to rotate the lever arm 360.

  For the said invention, it is necessary to limit the rotation of the pivoting arm to a defined angle according to the desired passage for the head of the animal; for this purpose, a stop system is used which stops the lever arm at the desired opening angle; the system

stop can be adjustable.

  The opening angle of the lever arm must be limited at the top,

  1 5 but also in its lower part: so we use two stops.

  For a good use of the comadis, it is desirable that the lever arm always returns to the open position in its upper position, this for

  allow the animal to be able to pass the head.

  When the lever arm is locked by the locking system, it is released by pivoting the control bar; he then returns to his opening position of the

upper part of the comadis.

  When the animal that has been able to fall leaves the head by the lower part of the

  comadis, the arm must also return to the open position in its upper part.

  To allow the return of the lever arm in the open position in its upper part, a bow is placed on one side of the lever arm, which, by its weight, rotates the lever arm in the opening direction of the part

  superior of the passage of head in the comadis.

  The hoop is also used as a safety device for animals: it allows by its shape to limit the passage of the head of small animals that

  could be blocked by the lever arm in its lower part.

  FIG.1 is an elevational view of a place of ledges: according to the invention, the lever arm being in the open position, regardless of the active or inactive state of the locking member. FIG.2 is an elevational view of the comadis place of FIG.1, the arm

  being in a closed and locked position.

  FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the head of FIG. 1, the arm

  lever being in another open position, when the locking member is inactive.

  FIG.4 is a partial view of the locking means of the lever arm. FIG. 5 is an end view of the head pointing out the position of the arm

  lever in front of the vertical plane of the headlamp.

  FIG. 6 is a partial view of the lever arm in position before the setting

  locking with the rocker in motion.

  FIG. 7 is an end and sectional view of the control bar,

  having the "U" shaped rocker.

  FIGS. 8 and 9 are partial views of an arm locking system

lever by leaf springs.

  In FIG. 1, it is possible to recognize a seat of the rigging device according to the invention, comprising two horizontal bars 1 and 2 interconnected by vertical spacers 3 and 4, a movable lever arm 5 pivotally mounted about a horizontal axis. 6 worn at the corner

  of a bent bar 7 which is in this case secured to a vertical spacer 3.

  The lever arm 5 is at the front of the axis 6 and passes in front of the bar 2 for its part

  lower, and in front of the bar I for its upper part.

  A bar or control rod 8 is placed horizontally in front of the bar 1, this control bar is pivotally mounted on itself by means of pivots 9 and

in solidarity with the bar 1.

  The control bar 8 can be rotated manually,

  electrically, hydraulically, etc ...

  It appears that this control bar 8 is in the same plane

  vertical that lever arm 5, we can also see it in more detail in FIG.S.

  The control bar 8 can be of different shapes or sections, so

  that she can turn on herself.

  In the present invention, it is desirable that the control bar 8 is in front of the upper horizontal bar 1; but according to the ease of implementation

  place of the cornadis, it can be also in front of the horizontal bar 2.

  According to the invention provided, it can be seen mainly FIG. 5 that the lever arm pivoting on an axis 6 is in front of the vertical plane of the two-way head

horizontal bars 1 and 2.

  One of the characteristics of the visible invention FIG. 1 - 2 and 3 is to be able to limit in rotation the lever arm 5 in angular opening: in its upper part at an angle H (FIG. 1) via a stop 12 secured to the bar bent 7, s. and in its lower part at an angle J (FIG. 3) via a stop 11

integral with the bent bar 7.

  These stops 11 and 12 can be adjustable to allow a variation of the opening angles H and J.

  Because these opening angles are of primary interest for this invention.

  The operation of this place of comadis is as follows: - In the initial position the comadis is open, as shown in FIG.1 when an animal (cattle, sheep, goat, etc ...) passes the head between the movable lever arm 5 and the spacer 4 it

  lowers the head and tilts the movable lever arm 5 in a vertical position.

  - When the lever arm 5 arrives in its vertical position (FIG.2, FIG.4, FIG.6 or FIG.8), it comes to bear in its upper part (23 - FIG.6) on an organ blocking device 25 called rocker. The lever arm 5 then comes in front of the notch; at this moment, the rocker 25 goes down again to lock the lever arm 5 in rotation:

  The animal can not leave its place.

  To release the animal, turn the control rod a quarter of a turn or

  a half-turn (see FIG. 3), according to the selected rotation control system.

  When the rod 8 is turned, the rocker 25 which is integral with the latter releases the lever arm 5 of the notch; at this moment, the lever arm 5 can come back

  in position (FIG. 1) to release the animal.

  In position FIG. 3, it is found that the animal can take its head down from the

  control, eliminating the risk of strangulation.

  In FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, there is also diagrammatically represented a hoop 24 which conventionally constitutes an obstruction means preventing the animals from passing the head in the free spaces between the bent bar 7 and the lever arm 5; this arch

  24 can have different shapes depending on the dimensions of the cornadis.

  As seen in FIG.2, the lever arm 5 passes in front of the lower bar 2 and upper 1 when locked: in this position, the animal is locked in its place. This to say that at this moment, the animal seeks to release and therefore produces a tensile force on the lever arm 5, in this invention where the lever arm is in front of the bars 1 and 2, we can see that the the tensile force due to the animal comes to support the lever arm 5 in its upper and lower parts on the bars 1 and 2, and give additional resistance to the entire visible system FIG.5, with

  two possible points of contact (E and F).

  1o As shown more precisely in FIG. 6, at the instant when the lever arm 5 rotates in the direction B, the rocker 25 is pushed upwards in a

  direction A to let the lever arm 5.

  It should be noted that in the said invention, one can indifferently block the arm

  lever 5, depending on whether it comes from the direction B (FIG. 6) or the direction C (FIG. 6).

  It is desirable for the lever arm to return to position (FIG.I) after each

  departure of an animal, whether it has left the top or the bottom of its place of cornadis.

  To ensure the return of the lever arm 5 in position (FIG. 1), use is made without any maneuver to achieve the weight of the arch 24 which is on the left side of the lever arm 5 in front view to drive in rotation in the direction D of FIG.

  lever arm 5 on the axis 6 which then resumes the bdnne position.

  In the said invention where the lever arm 5 is in front of the vertical plane of the headlamp according to the horizontal bars 1 and 2 (FIG. 5), it is possible to use different

  Lever 5 locking systems in vertical position.

  One of these visible systems FIG.1-2-3-4-6 and 7, is composed of a rocker in

  form of "U" (Rep.25 - FIG.7) of defined length.

  In its central part, the rocker 25 comprises a notch of sufficient size to allow the reception of the upper end 23 of the lever arm 5

vertical position.

  This "U" -shaped rocker 25 (FIGS. 4 and 6) is mounted on a control bar 8 held at its two ends by pins 26 and 27. The rocker 25 can, thanks to vertical lights, move up and down guided by

  the axes 26 and 27 integral with the control bar 8.

  The principle is as follows: at the moment when the animal passes its head in the passage of the cornadis, it comes to eat in the trough by lowering the head, and thus operates

  despite him the lever arm 5 in rotation.

  The end 23 of the lever arm 5 comes into contact with the rocker 25 and lifts it on one side (FIG. 6). When the lever arm 5 arrives in a vertical position, the rocker 25 descends by its weight when the notch coincides with the upper part 23 of the arm

lever 5.

  To release the animal, turn the control bar 8.

  Other locking systems of the lever arm 5 can be used in this invention: it can be seen in FIGS. 8 and 9 a system with two springs 14 and 13 integral with a control bar 8: the springs 13 and 14 are placed face to face on the control bar 8, with a defined interval (Rep.20); this interval depends

  of the dimension of the lever arm 5 in its upper part 23.

  The operation of this comadis place is as follows: at the moment when the lever arm 5 arrives in its vertical position (FIG. 9), it bears in its upper part 23 on the spring 14 which compresses and lets the lever arm pass 5 which abuts in its upper part 23 on the spring 13 which is opposite the spring 14. At this moment, the end 23 of the lever arm 5 releases the spring 14 which

  down, and lock the lever arm 5 in the vertical position.

  To release the animal, turn the control bar. At this moment,

  springs 13 and 14 release the lever arm 5.

Claims (3)

- CLAIMS   1 / cradle comprising two horizontal bars (1-2) in the same vertical plane, connected by vertical struts (3-4), each pair of struts and the two horizontal bars forming a vertical rectangle which corresponds to a place for the the head of an animal, each place being completed by a lever arm (5) which can normally take I0 two switchable positions: a vertical or closing position which shares the place practically in two,   and an oblique or opening position.   The lever arm (5) pivots about an axis (6) mounted substantially at midpoint at the corner 1 of a fixed bent bar (7), itself mounted between the lower bar (2) and the bar   upper (1) on a spacer (3).   The comadis is completed by a horizontal bar or rod (8) which is close to the upper bar (1) or the lower bar (2) according to use. This bar or control rod (8) carries in place a locking member which can be switched to the unlocking position, the upper part of each lever arm (5) coming to face the locking member (25) to lock the lever arm (5) vertical position.   > Characterized in that the lever arm (5) is in front, and no longer in the usual vertical plane of the comadis, this lever arm (5) can thus pivot with greater ease, also allowing to have a maximum head passage for animals, that   this is in the lower or upper part of the head.   The passage of the animal's head can be limited or increased by means of   stops (11) and (12) which can be adjustable.   2 / cradle according to claim 1 /> characterized in that the locking means of the lever arm (5) mounted on a control bar (8) is a rocker with a notch o is housed the   upper part (23) of the lever arm (5) to lock it in rotation.   3 / Comadis according to claim 11 => Characterized in that said locking means may be leaf springs (13) and (14) mounted face to face on a control bar (8), spaced from a   locking interval (20) between their two heights.   The lever arm (5) rotated by the animal is pressed on the spring (14) and abut against the spring (13). At this moment, the spring (14) comes to lock the arm (5)   in its upper part (23) lowering.