JPS6234365B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a lattice floor conveyor system for holding and transporting small animals, particularly domestic poultry such as fat chickens, from a holding enclosure.

Egg-laying hens are usually housed in groups of fixed cages, but in the case of aviculture the animals are kept on an open lattice floor in a large enclosure. It is normal to do so. This bed is often spaced upwardly from the fixed bed or bed of the enclosure. A grid of floor openings allows excrement and other impurities to fall onto the stationary floor of the enclosure, from where they can be easily removed.

The problem with this floor system is that the birds are removed from the enclosure after they have gained weight. During the growth stage, or fattening stage, animals become extremely slow and especially reluctant to leave their enclosure under their own power.

The object of the invention is therefore to provide a floor device for carrying out the removal of fat chickens or broiler chickens from holding enclosures. To achieve this purpose, the floor is formed as a grid conveyor and can be moved wholly or partially in its horizontal plane. The grid floor, as a transport device, moves with the animal sitting or standing on it to the edge of the enclosure, where it is transferred for removal to a transverse conveyor running transversely in the direction of delivery of the floor. Ru. This horizontal conveyor then transports the animal away from the enclosure.

This bed transport movement spans the entire width of the enclosure so that all animals can be safely removed within a relatively short time. For safety, a capture grid can be placed at one end of the bed, transversely in the direction of transport, to prevent animals from leaving or escaping the moving bed.

The floor is preferably formed as an endless rotating conveyor element consisting of a number of adjacent belts moving together. Deflecting or reversing rollers are provided at both ends of the belt, one roller being driven by a motor. Each belt consists of individual members that together form a flexible grid, which engages the deflection rollers in a sprocket manner.

Alternatively, the floor may be made of individual plate-like floor elements connected to each other, which, during delivery transport, pass through slit-like openings in the end wall of the enclosure on the delivery side of the animal. It moves.

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a cross section of an enclosure for holding, for example, young rearing chickens. The upper floor 11 is arranged inside the enclosure above and away from the main or lower floor 10. Upper floor 1
1 forms the surface on which animals walk or stand. The system of pipes 12 for feeding the feeding device 13 is arranged above the floor 11, and the water supply device 14 is also arranged above the floor.

The entire floor 11 is formed as a conveyor for the animal, which can be moved in the plane of the floor over the entire width of the enclosure. For this purpose, the floor 11 is divided into individual belts 15a, 15b, 15c, etc. These belts can move synchronously in the direction of arrow 16 in FIG.

The transport movement of the belts 15a, 15b etc. is adapted to run towards a transverse conveyor 17 arranged at the edge of the enclosure. The animals are moved onto a transverse conveyor by means of a floor 11, which is lowered to some extent than the floor 11 for this purpose. The transverse conveyor is driven laterally in the delivery direction of arrow 16 by motor 18. The animal is removed through an opening 19 in the wall of the enclosure.

In the embodiments of FIGS. 2 to 6, the floor belt 1
5a, 15b, etc. are formed as flexible or deformable endless conveyor belts, which run around deflecting rollers at the ends. The deflecting roller 20 facing the transverse conveyor 17 also serves as a driving roller for the belts 15a, 15b, etc., and is driven by a motor 21 via a chain or belt.

The floor belt is attached to a height-adjustable telescoping support member 22, which supports the floor 1 of the enclosure.
It's listed on 0. A support 23 running in the direction of movement of the belt is located at the upper end of the support member 22. This support 23 consists of a continuous hollow box-shaped beam 24 as shown in FIG. On its upper and lower sides are arranged U-shaped guide rails 25, 26, the open sides of which face the associated floor belts 15a, 15b, etc. The upper side of the belt enters the upper guide rail 25 and rests on its lower flange 27. The upper flange 28 covers the gap between adjacent belts 15a, 15b, etc.

The belts 15a, 15b etc. consist of a longitudinal element 29 which is pivotably mounted on a crossbar 30 running transversely in the delivery direction. Element 29 is double T-shaped or I
It has a wide hollow end boss 31 which is interconnected by a narrow connecting member 32 extending in the direction of transport. A rectangular or square opening 33 is thus formed through which excrement and the like can pass. Elongate element 29 may be formed of plastic or some other suitable corrosion resistant material having sufficient tensile strength. For example, opening 33
can have a length of 25 mm and a width of 18 mm, and each crossbar 30 can have a diameter of about 10 mm.

The end of the crossbar 30 runs into the guide rail 25;
and has a roller 34. Alternatively, the ends of the cross bars may be provided with casters.

Since the longitudinal element 29 is rotatably mounted on the crossbar 30, the belts 15a, 15b etc. can be guided around suitably designed deflection rollers 20 which engage the belts in a gripping manner in a sprocketed manner. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a ridge 35 is formed around the circumference of the deflection roller 20 and fits within the aperture 33, and an axial groove 36 between the ridges is formed on the periphery of the deflection roller 20.
Receive 0. A circumferential groove 37 is also provided for accommodating the transverse member 32 of the longitudinal element 29.

The belts 15a, 15b, etc. are formed in a mesh shape so that only the upper side serves as the floor 11 for the animal. The lower side consists only of the return run cable 38, which closes to the guide rail 25 or 26
It is joined to the upper side of the belt by a simple connection with one or more crossbars 30. This "half belt"
The structure reduces material costs and allows floor 1
0 is substantially free during the transport movement and cleaning operations can be accomplished.

Alternatively, the belts 15a, 15b, etc. can be constructed so that the driving force is transmitted only through side members, such as chains connected to the crossbar 30. No strong tensile elements are required between the crossbars 30, and simple and inexpensive coverings such as perforated mats can be used.

In order to prevent animals from leaving the floor 11 at the opposite end of the transverse conveyor 17, a transverse transport device in the form of a catch grid 39 is provided above the floor. This catch grid moves with the floor almost up to the transverse conveyor 17.

7 and 8 show another embodiment. Here, individual substantially rigid plate-shaped floor elements 40 are arranged one after the other to form belts 15a, 15b, etc. Each floor element 40 includes a lattice 42, a perforated mat, etc., and a frame-shaped frame 4 surrounding the four peripheries thereof.
1, in which the grid 42, perforated mats, etc. are firmly attached to the frame 21.

The floor element 40 moves towards the transverse conveyor 17 for removing the animal from the enclosure. For this purpose, the floor elements 40 can be joined by a continuous drive cable 43. The cable runs around a drive roller 44 mounted on a common shaft 45, which
6.

The moving bed elements 40 successively pass through the slit-like openings 47 in the end wall 48 of the enclosure. The opening 47 has a vertical dimension to force the animal back in front of the inner wall 48 of the enclosure and retain it on the transverse conveyor 17. In this way, the floor elements 40 that leave the enclosure are successively transferred outwards and returned to their original positions after the enclosure has been emptied.

The floor element 40 is guided in adjacent U-shaped guide rails 49, 50 on casters 51 attached to the frame 41.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a simplified cross-sectional view of an enclosure constructed according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a floor portion according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion of the floor. 4 is a plan view of the floor section, FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the deflection section of the floor showing the deflection roller, FIG. 6 is a plan view of the deflection roller according to FIG. 5, and FIG. 7 is a plate-shaped floor element. FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the invention with
The figure is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the floor of the embodiment of FIG. 7. In the drawing, 11 is an upper floor, 13 is a feeding device, 14 is a water supply device, 15a, 15b, etc. are conveyor belts, 20 is a deflection roller, 25 is a guide rail, 29 is a tension element, 30 is a horizontal bar, and 31 is a bushing. , 32 is an I-shaped member, 34 is a roller member, 35 is a ridge, 36 is a depression, 39 is a catch grid, 40 is a floor element, 41 is a caster, and 47 is a slit.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In a housing enclosure for raising and fattening birds, which has a device for feeding and watering birds, and an upper floor that is spaced upward from a floor located below. , wherein the upper floor includes a conveyor assembly and a device for moving the conveyor assembly toward an output end of the enclosure. 2 The conveyor assembly is one of the conveyor assemblies.
2. A transverse conveyor according to claim 1, which is movable at its end towards a transverse conveyor running transversely to the direction of movement of this conveyor assembly, and wherein the animals carried by the conveyor assembly are transferred to the transverse conveyor. Containment enclosure. 3. The conveyor assembly is formed as an endless rotatable conveyor belt, the upper run of which
Claim 2 serving as a floor for animals
Containment enclosure described in section. 4. The containment enclosure of claim 3, wherein the deflection roller is drivingly engaged to the conveyor assembly at an end of the conveyor assembly near the transverse conveyor. 5. The containment enclosure of claim 4, wherein the conveyor assembly comprises a number of parallel adjacent conveyor belts. 6. The accommodation enclosure according to claim 5, wherein the conveyor belt comprises openings formed in a grid pattern. 7. Containment enclosure according to claim 6, wherein the conveyor belt consists of a number of individual tension elements defining an opening therebetween and pivotably mounted. 8. An accommodation according to claim 7, wherein each tensioning element consists of an I-shaped member with a bushing at its wide end, the bushing being pivotably mounted on a crossbar extending transversely in the direction of delivery. Surrounding body. 9 The lower running portion of the conveyor belt is
4. A containment enclosure as claimed in claim 3, comprising a book of spaced-apart lateral tension cables. 10. Receiving enclosure according to claim 9, wherein the conveyor belt is supported on its sides by roller members in guide rails extending in the direction of movement. 11. Containment enclosure according to claim 8, in which the crossbar is supported in the guide rail by roller members mounted at the ends thereof. 12. The containment enclosure of claim 10, wherein the guide rail is attached to a vertically adjustable support member. 13 A conveyor belt is guided around a rotating and driven deflection roller which
7. A containment enclosure as claimed in claim 6, comprising a sprocket-like ridge and a recess for engaging a conveyor belt. 14. The containment enclosure of claim 13, wherein the conveyor assembly includes a capture grid that extends transversely to the direction of movement and moves with the floor.