GB2300928A

GB2300928A - Animal weighing cage supported on load cells

Info

Publication number: GB2300928A
Application number: GB9509351A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Howard Alistair Reese; John Glennie Douglas Ritchie
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1993-09-07
Filing date: 1995-05-09
Publication date: 1996-11-20
Anticipated expiration: 2015-05-09
Also published as: GB2300928B; GB9509351D0

Abstract

An elongate animal weighing cage 1 has a rear wall 2, a floor 3, and a front wall 4 hinged at its lower edge to the floor 3 and is attached to carrier brackets 10 through a pair of load responsive flexible components, eg. load-cells 15. The front wall 3 is turnable on its hinge 7 towards and away from the rear wall 2 so as to hold or release an animal standing on the floor 3. The carrier brackets have mounting portions, eg. clamps 11, for detachable engagement on a fixed support, eg. a fence rail. The load-cells 15 produce a change in electrical resistance with load and are connected to conventional apparatus which indicates the load held within the cage 1.

Description

ANIMAL WEIGHING APPARATUS The invention relates to apparatus for weighing farm animals. It has particular, but not exclusive, reference to apparatus for use in weighing ahollor farm animals such as sheep, goats, and young calves.

On farms where animals are raised for sale or slaughter, it is common practice for sample animals from a flock or herd to be weighed for assessment or budgetary purposes.

This may be done by the farmer for his own information, or by a visiting stock buyer or agent.

Certain equipment currently used for the above purpose has the disadvantage that it is not complete in itself, but requires the farmer or stock holder to provide supplementary equipment, such as crates or platforms, for holding or supporting animals while they are being weighed.

With some existing equipment, also, it is difficult to get an accurate weight of animals that are jumpy or skittish and move about while being weighed.

The present invention seek. to provide a self-contained animal weighing apparatus that can be taken to a farm and used there for holding and weighing animals, without requiring any special supplementary equipment to be provided at the farm.

The invention also seeks to provide an animal weighing apparatus that holds an animal while it ie being weighed.

in a way that reduces movement of the animal, and makes it earlier to get an accurate weight treading from the apparatus.

Additionally, in one embodiment, the invention seeks to provide an apparatus for neighing oollor farm animals (such as sheep and goats) that can be easily carried, set up and operated by one pereon, without additional assistance for that purpose.

Animal weighing apparatus, when constructed in accordance with the invention, consists essentially of an elongate cage adapted to receive an animal to be weighed and having rear wally a floor portion extending along and projecting forwardly from a lower edge part of the rear wall, and a front wall hingedly attached at a lower edge part thereof to a forward edge part of the floor portion so ae to be turnable towards and away from the rear wall; a pair of carrier brackets attached to the cage at opposite end portions of the cage and each having a mounting portion adapted for detachable engagement on a fixed support external to the apparatus so that the cage is supported thereby: and a pair of load-responsive flexible components through medium of which the brackets are attached as aforesaid to the the cage, in such a manner that the flexible. components are placed under a flexion that is variable in accordance with the load imposed on the brackets by the weight of the cage and any contents thereof.

When the cage is in use its load-responsive flexible components will be connected by conventional connection means to conventional load measuring and indicating apparatus responsive to the flexion of the said components so as to provide an indication of the weight of the cage and/or its contents.

The cage may be provided with a gate at one or each end, operable to control the passage of animals into and/or out of the cage during weighing operations.

A suitable and easily releasable catch or other retaining means (such as a nipping rope and cleat) may be provided for holding the front wall of the cage under a desired pressure against an animal within the cage so that the animal is held firmly between the front and rear walls of the cage while its weight is being taken.

The cage may be attached to the carrier brackets in a manner that enables adjustment of the height at which the cage is held by the brackets when they are engaged on the external support.

The load-responsive flexible components by way of which the cage is attached to the carrier brackets may each consist of a load-cell incorporating a Wheatstone bridge whereby resistance to an electrical current is varied in accordance with the degree of flexion imposed on the component by the load placed on it.

The load-measuring and indicating apparatus is, for preference, electronically operated, so as to provide a digital liquid crystal display of the weight of the load within the cage. It is of a conventional nature, and does not per se constitute a part of the invention.

The size of the apparatus will be determined by the size of the animals (or other loads) that it is designed to weigh. The portability allowed by the design of the apparatus will, however, be diminished by ite increasing size. and for that reason it is envisaged that the apparatus will most usually be designed for use in weighing smaller farm animals such as sheep, goats, and young calvss.

For preference, the front and rear walls of the cage (also its gate or gates, if provided) are at least in their upper parts of wire or metal mesh or openwork panel construction. This not only represents a saving in weight and improves portability of the apparatus, but reduces nervous tension and jumpiness of the animals by allowing them to see beyond the confines of the cage.

Also (and particularly in the caste of woolly sheep) it provides a good hold on the animal when it is held under pressure between the front and rear walls of the cage during weighing.

The apparatus provided by the invention is also suitable for use in weighing still loads. such as fleeces and certain crop samples.

Animal weighing apparatus constituting one exemplification of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of the apparatus in a closed and unmounted position, with two components partly cut away for clarity of illustration, and with an open position of one of those components shown in broken outline; Figure 2 is an end elevation of the apparatus as seen from the left-hand end of Figure 1; and Figure 3 is an elevation of a detail of certain components shown in Figure 2, looking in the direction of the arrow "A" in that figure.

As shown in the drawings, the animal weighing apparatus has an elongate animal-holding cage 1 comprising a rear wall 2, floor 3. and front wall 4.

The floor 3 and adjacent lower portions of the rear and front walls 2 and 4 are of patterndd or treaded metal plate (for necessary strength and rigidity and to facilitate the passage of animals through the cage), whilst the rest of each of the walls 2 and 4 is of openwork metal or wire mesh, held in each case within an angle-section metal frame to provide necessary rigidity and support.

In the case of the rear wall 2 its angle-section frame (5) extends around three sides of the wall (along its upper horizontal edge and two vertical edges), and at its lower ends the frame 5 also extends forwardly along the two horizontal end edges of the floor 3.

In the case of the front wall 4 its angle-section frame (6) also extends around three sides of the wall (namely, along it. upper horizontal edge and two end edge).

The front wall 4 is hinged along its lower edge to the forward edge of the floor 3, and is turnable around its hinge (7) towards and away from the rear wall 2. By turning it towards the rear wall 2 it can be brought to bear against an animal standing within the cage on the floor 3, so as to hold the animal firmly between the front and rear walls 4 and 2 while the animal's weight is being taken. The front wall 4 can be temporarily fastened in that position by means of nipping rope 8 attached to the upper edge of the rear wall 2 and releasably engaged in a cleat 9 attached to the opposed portion of the upper edge of the front wall 4.

The weighing apparatus includes a pair of carrier brackets 10 to which the cage 1 is attached (by means to be described) and which are disposed externally of the cage 1 at opposite end portions thereof.

Each carrier bracket 10 is provided at its upper end part with a rearwardly extending mounting portion in the form of a clamp 11 that is adapted for ongagoment over a fixed external support (not shown), and is removably securable thereto by a clamping screw and plate 12. so that the cage is then wholly supported by the external support, with its floor 3 above the level of the ground, and at a convenient height for the entry and exit of animals to and from the cage 1.

The external support (which does not form part of the apparatus provided by the invention) may conveniently be a top rail of a yard or fence, or the raised side-board or tail-board of the tray of a pick-up on which the apparatus has boon transported to the place where it is being used.

Each carrier bracket 10 has a vertical shank 13 that extends downwardly from ite clamp 11 and is provided at its lower end with a foot 14 that projects forwardly of the shank 13, below the floor 3 of the cage 1, and at the corresponding end portion thereof.

The shanks 13 of the carrier brackets 10 are conveniently of box-section metal tube or angle-section metal bar, and are conjoined at their upper and lower end portion. by a pair of horizontal rails (not apparent in the drawinga) of like material to that of the brackets 10, so ae to form in effect a carrier frame for the cage 1.

For reinforcement purposes, a horizontal gusset (not shown) may be provided between each foot 14 and the adjacent end portion of the lower of the two said horizontal rails conjoining the carrier brackets 10.

The cage 1 is attached to the carrier brackets 10 by way of a pair of load-cells 15 that operatively interconnect the cage 1 and the carrier brackets 10 below the floor of the cage, at opposite end portions thereof.

To that end, and as shown in Figure 2 of the drawings. the dead end of each load-cell 15 is secured to the upper surface of the foot 14 of the corresponding bracket 19 by a pair of bolts 16 passing vertically through the load-cell 15 and foot 14.

As is shown in Figures 2 and 3 of the drawings, the hanger end of each load-cell 15 projects forwardly of the front end of the foot 14 to which the load cell is secured.

The projecting hanger end is connected by a ball-jointed link member 17 to a pin 18 that extends between downwardly projecting lugs 19 of a yoke bracket 20 secured to the underside or the floor 3, at the corresponding end of the cage 1.

Each of the two vertical members of the frame 5 of the rear wall 2 of the cage 1 is enclosed on its rear face by a matching angle-section member, so as to provide in each case''an essentially box-section vertical member t21) that encloses and holds the corresponding vertical edge portion of the rear wall 2 of the cage 1.

As is shown in Figure 2 of the drawings each of the two vertical members 21 is attached by a relatively exhort tie 22 to the adjacent upper part of the shank 13 of the corresponding carrier bracket 10.

The ties 22 are of a high-tensile braided wire, and of a length that holds the cage 1 against more than a very limited outward or downward movement in relation to the carrier brackets 10, but permits the small downward movement of the cage under the weight of an animal that occurs during the weighing process, and is necessary for that process.

A pair of buffer pads 23 are secured one to each of the shank. 13 of the carrier brackets 10, across their front faces, to cushion the limited movement of the members 21 in relation to the brackets 10 that is permitted by the tie 22.

When a load is imposed on the hanger ends of the load cells 15 by the weight of an animal within the cage 1, the resultant flexion of the load cells 15, acting through a Wheatstone bridge conventionally incorporated in each load cell, produces a variation in electrical resistance.

That variation is utilised by battery-operated associated electronic measuring and recording apparatus (of conventional design) to display and record the weight of the imposed load.

To provide for the necessary electrical connection of the said apparatus to the load cells 15, leads from the load cells are taken up through the vertical members 21 of the frame 5 of the rear wall 2 of the cage 1, and along the back of the horizontal upper member of that frame, to a connection box and socket 28 (Figures 1 and 2) mounted at the central part of that horizontal upper member.

The front wall 4 of the cage 1 is designed to open to a horizontal position around the hinge 7, to facilitate cleaning of the floor 3 and of the cage interior in general.

The cleat 9 that engages the nipping rope 6 to hold the front wall 4 in a desired position is mounted on a lug 24 hinged at one end to the central part of the top rail of the frame 6 of the front wall 4. When the weighing apparatus is in use, the lug 24 is held by a stay 25 in a raieed horizontal position in which it extends forwardly from its hinged end, as shown in Figure 1 and 2 of the drawings.

The stay 25 is itself hinged at one end to a bracket 26 affixed to the upper front part of the wall 4, and its other end is releasably engageable with the free end of the lug 24. By disengaging the stay 25 from the lug 24, the stay 25 and lug 24 are released to hang down from their hinged ends and lie against the front face of the wall 4, for convenience in transport and storage of the apparatus.

To protect the forwardly projecting hanger ends of the load cells 15 from accidental damage during use or transport of the apparatus, a pair of downwardly extending metal guard pieces 27 - conveniently of oblong section metal tube - are welded at their upper end portions within the angles formed beneath the front corner portions of the floor 3 of the cage 1, at the junction of the horizontal lower parts of the frame 5 and a down-turned forward edge portion of the floor 3 that carries the hinge 7.

The guard pieces 27 project downwardly from the front corner portions of the floor 3 of the cage, and in front of the forward ends of the load cells 15.

Variation is possible in the manner in which the load-cell component are designed and mounted so as to provide the requisite flexible and load-responsive connection between the cage 1 and its supporting means.

BecauRo the load cells and the associated load and weight detecting, recording, and display equipement are of conventional construction. and do not in themselves form part ofthe-present invention, they are not described in detail here.

Claims

WE CLAIM:

1. Animal weighing apparatus consisting of an elongate cage adapted to receive an animal to be weighed and having rear wall, a floor portion extending along and projecting forwardly from a lower edge part of the rear wall, and a front wall hinged attached at a lower edge part thereof to a forward edge part of the floor portion so as to be turnable towards and away from the rear wall; a pair of carrier brackets attached to the cage at opposite end portions of the cage and each having a mounting portion adapted for detachable engagement on a fixed support external to the apparatus so that the cage is supported thereby: and a pair of load-responsive flexible components through medium of which the brackets are attached aa aforesaid to the cage, in such a manner that the flexible components are placed under a flexion that is variable in accordance with the load imposed on the brackets by the weight of the cage and any contents thereof.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, and wherein the cage is provided with a gate at one or each end, operable to control the passage of animals into or out of the cage during weighing operations.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, and including releasable retaining weans that are engageable to hold the front wall of the cage under pressure against an animal within the cage, and are disengageable to free the animal from such pressure.

4. Apparatus according to any one of the foregoing claims, and wherein the load-reeponslve flexible components each consist of a load-cell incorporating a Wheatston. bridge whereby resistance to an electrical current applied to the component is varied in accordance with the degree of flexion imposed on the component by a load placed on it.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4, and including electrical connection means whereby the load-cells are connectable to electronically operated load measuring and indicating apparatus operable to provide a digital liquid crystal display of the weight of a load within the cage.

6. Apparatus according to any one of the foregoing claims, and wherein at least upper parts of the front and rear walls of Or the cage are of openwork construction.

7. Apparatus according to any one of the foregoing claims. and wherein the mounting portion of each carrier bracket consists of a clamp that forms an upper end part of the carrier bracket; and further wherein each carrier bracket has a vertical shank that extends downwardly from its said clamp and is provided at its lower end with a foot that projects forwardly of the shank and below the floor of the cage at the corresponding end portion thereof.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7, and wherein the shanks of the carrier bracket. are conjoined at their upper and lower end portions by a pair of horizontal rails so as to form in effect a carrier frame for the cage.

9 Apparatus according to claim 6 or claim 7, when read with claim 4, and wherein the cage is attached to the carrier brackets by means of the load-cells; a dead end of each load-cell being secured to the foot of the corresponding bracket so that a hanger end of the load-cell projects forwardly of the foot: and the projecting end of each load-cell being connected to a pin extending between downwardly projecting lugs of a yoke bracket secured to the underside of the floor of the cage, at the corresponding end of the cage.

10. Apparatus according to any one of the foregoing claims 7 to 9, both inclusive, and wherein the upper side parts of the cage are tied to the upper portions of the shanks of the carrier brackets, by ties that permit only a limited outward or downward movement of the cage in relation to the carrier brackets, in conformity with that required by the weighing process.

11. Animal weighing apparatus having its parts constructed. arranged, and adapted to operate substantially as is hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.