NZ211652A - Shearing station with animal feed passage and elevated horizontal shearing bed - Google Patents

Description

211652 PATENTS FORM NO: 5 THE PATENTS ACT 1953 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION citizen of Ebbett Road, Ohuka, Wairoa, New Zealand hereby declare the invention for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me, and the method by which it is to be performed to be particularly described in and by the following statement: r-- •• <-ri 4 r>7eTr Cj.;,,.

~ ' I ; "i ' 1 i This invention concerns animal shearing apparatus.

Various proposals have already been made concerning apparatus which will enable a shearer to maintain an upright stance during shearing. Some apparatus includes complex frames, the purpose of which is to tilt a sheep on to its side and then on to its back during which part of the shearing is performed wherafter the sheep is then tipped on to the ground. Another apparatus is intended to hold the sheep in a variety of attitudes during the shearing operation but these earlier proposals do not take sufficient account of the difficulty in persuading the sheep to co-operate in the use of the apparatus. The usefulness of such apparatus and its cost effectiveness depends in part upon how much effort and labour is necessary to feed the sheep in an orderly manner to and from a shearing apparatus.

This invention provides a shearing station comprising (a) a horizontal shearing bed located at a convenient shearing height, (b) an elevated feed passage adjacent the bed adapted to deliver animals to be shorn to a transfer zone alongside the shearing bed and, (c) means to promote one way movement of the animals to be shorn along the feed passage toward the transfer zone and to position an animal in the transfer zone.

The transfer zone may be a section of the passage having a port in a side wall of the passage through which the animal is reachable by the shearer at the shearing bed. In order to minimise the effort necessary to pluck the sheep from the transfer zone of the passage on to the shearing bed the construction of the passage and the height of the passage above the shearing floor must be carefully designed, the aim being to pull the animal off its feet by a sideways tug transferring it to the shearing bed where it may be quickly fettered.

Accordingly the floor of the passage and the lower edge of the port which lies above the floor of the passage are best so positioned in relation to the height of the -2- x " -3 MAR *983 ;shearing bed that the ports lower edge corresponds with both the animals withers and the height of the shearing bed. It is advisable to keep the passage closed until such time as the shearer requires the next sheep. Thus there may be a closure flap for the port which acts as a bridge between the port and the shearing bed. The flap may be given a glossy finish to assist sliding the sheep on its side toward the shearing bed. ;The means to promote the one way feed of the animals through the passage may be a zigzag formation of the passage itself. There are various ways of doing this but I prefer to give the floor of the passage a zigzag surface, the changes in level corresponding to the length of the animal such that the animals are constrained to stand in preselected positions in the passage during the progression along the passage, one of which positions registers with the port. The changes in level may be conveniently provided by inserting a number of separate inclined ramps in the passage which discourage the animals from backing out of the passage once they are chased along it by the pressure of a backing gate, sheep dog or the like. The ramps therefore remain removable for passage cleaning. ;The passage may be of adjustable width for example the passage may have a pair of substantially parallel side walls the first of which contains the port through which the animal may be plucked, the second being tiltable toward and away from the first side wall in order to urge the animal towards the first wall. The exit passage from the shearing bed for the shorn animal may be located beneath the elevated feed passage. Alternatively the animals may leave the shearing floor in any other convenient direction. ;It will be seen that the feed passage is an essential feature of the invention which could be manufactured separately for assisting in the modification of existing wool sheds. The feed passage would possess the zig-zag formation described above, at least one transfer zone and a transfer port with an entrance end adapted to receive animals from a holding area. This could in turn be fabricated from moulded sections or sheet metal sections, ;-3- ;•w' LU ;Some farms have no building which could be readily adapted as a wool shed and another structural aspect of the invention comprises a mobile building having one or more shearing stations as described above. ;The mobile building may have upper and lower levels and entrance and exit ramps to take the animals to and from the stations. Alternatively the building may be modified to work on one level for the purpose of negotiating tunnels and bridges as it is towed from one location to another. ;In devising this sheep station I have tried to avoid the chore of picking up the wool from the shearing floor for transfer to the wool classer. Accordingly I prefer to site the station above ground level between an animal holding level and a shorn animal collecting level. Moreover, I prefer that the animal holding level is uppermost. In this way the shearing station level is intermediate allowing a wool chute to extend from the shearing bed and discharge towards the animal collecting level which is lowermost. The uppermost holding level may contain a backing gate for urging animals toward the passage entrance. The passage has a blind exit although it is helpful to arrange a space at the blind end of the passage to accommodate a dummy animal so that the leading sheep will see the rear end of a dummy sheep and be encouraged to enter the passage. ;The shearing bed itself may comprise a pair of parallel supports which define between them a valley into which the animals body tends to settle, fetters for the forelegs, fetters for the hindlegs and means for adjusting at least one of the fetters lengthwise of the bed in order to accommodate animals of different sizes. ;The fetters for one pair of legs for example, the hindlegs may comprise a pair of mutually spaced inverted U-shaped receptors each capable of receiving a leg, each receptor having a retainer arm and a tilting ejector arm linked for operation in unison by an operating handle whereby both legs are imprisonable in the receptors and releasable therefrom in unison. This fetter may be rotatable about an axis parallel to the shearing bed in order to invert the animal as shearing proceeds. The other fetter ;■ ;-4- ;\ i.' ;"3 MAR 1988 7/ ;. // ;V.. . ;211652 ;may comprise a pair of mutually spaced split rings which are opened and closed by a handle. In all but the smallest installations it will be; more economical to provide several stations side by side all being fed by a common passage in discharging their wool to a common table beneath. ;£ ;One embodiment of the invention specially adapted for sheep shearing is now described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: ;Figure 1; is a plan of three side by side shearing stations, ;Figure 2: is an end view of the plan shown in Figure 1 showing the various levels of operation, ;Figure 3: is a side view of the plan of Figure 1 again showing the various levels of operation, ;Figure 4: is a side view of the structure showing a sheep ready for transfer from the passage to the shearing bed, ;Figure 5: is a perspective view of the fetter tensioner, ;Figure 6: is an end view of the hindleg fetter in a closed position, the open position being shown in broken lines, ;Figure 7: is a diagram of the foreleg fetter. ;Figure 8: is a perspective diagram of a transportable form of the invention. ;Referring now to the drawings the shed and yard are modified as shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3. The shed has a pair of parallel walls 2, 4 the latter being the wall which supports an elevated race 6. Wall 2 supports a shearing floor 8, 1300mm above ground level 10. The wall 2 also supports the floor 12 of the holding pen 14, 2550mm above ground level. A ramp 16 allows sheep to walk up to the holding pen. ;-5- ;Sheep Jeave the shearing floor via ramp 18 to reach the counting out pens 20 at ground level. The ramps have been generally indicated in Figure 3 but variations in the position of the ramps are inevitable as the plan and structure of the woolshed dictate. Three side by side shearing stations 22 are situated on the shearing floor spaced equally along the race 6. The ground floor is partly occupied by table 24 which is supported on wall 2. The fleeces from the shearing stations fall down chutes 26 through fleece ports 28 on to the table 24 for attention by the wool classer. ;The race 6 has a floor 30 supported on brackets 32 extending from wall 2. Side wall 34 of the race consists of sections pivoted to the edge of floor 30 so that the race can be adjusted for width depending upon the bulk of the sheep to be sheared. Straps 36 pass over the top of the race toward the shearer. These permit adjustment in order to ensure that the sheep are urged against the wall 2 especially in the region of the ports 38 in the wall. ;The holding pen is somewhat higher than the shearing floor in order to raise the sheep to a convenient height for their removal from the passage. A gate 40, backing gate 42 and guide rail 44 permit the shearer to continuously push the sheep into the race. Although the race is simply a passage running parallel to the shearing stations, its construction is important if it is to work successfully. It serves all three stations and must ensure automatic sheep feed without the shearers' supervision. If startled or unwilling to proceed along the passage the sheep may try to back out of the passage. In order to prevent backing, a series of ramps 46 are fixed to the passage 4 between each port 38. These present a series of 240mm steps 48. The ramp presents a 100mm step 50 and slopes upwardly in the direction of the sheeps' progress towards the blind end 52 of the passage. The end of the passage houses a dummy sheep 54. Thus when the sheep are chased along the passage to the position shown, each shearer will have access to a sheep through the port 38 and as the sheep is returned from the passage the sheep which follow fill the empty places but cannot return. ;Referring now to Figures 3 and 4, each shearing station has a port 38 alongside the shearing bed 56. Port 38 is normally closed by a spring loaded trap 58 which when ;v jL i O i w opened, bridges the gap between the wall 2 and the bed 56. A wool chute gap 60 separates the shearing floor from wall 2. The shearing bed 56 has a pair of horizontal rollers 61 supported on a tubular frame 62. A fetter bracket 64 extending from the frame holds a pair of fetters 66 which due to the cranked mounting 68 offer a high position for restraining hindlegs when the sheep lies belly uppermost and a lower position shown in broken lines, to enable the sheep to be presented dorsally. The rollers and the fetters rotate to enable the sheep to be rolled by the shearer as the shearing proceeds. ;The front fetter assembly is constructed rather differently. A bracket 70 extending from the frame, mounts a lever 72 which tilts toward and away from the rollers and is retained in a particular position by a ratchet arm 74 and a pawl 76 on the lever 72. The lever 72 also has a pair of pulleys 78. The front fetter assembly 80 is linked by a rope 82 which passes around the pulleys and is fixed to the bed 10. This gives mechanical advantage when extending the forelegs and gives the requisite adjustability for length when dealing with sheep of different size. ;Referring now to Figure 6, and the leg fetters 66 consists of a steel U-frame 84 with a centre plate 86 which has shoulders 88 for a pair of cranked keepers 90. The keepers are urged closed by spring 92 in spring tube 94. ;A handle 96 actuates a rise and fall ejector 98 whose pins 100 lift the keepers over the shoulders as shown. Thus the act of raising the handle lifts lugs 102, causing the keepers to lift also. The keepers cause links 104 to tilt. The links have extensions 106 which also tilt to eject the legs from the frame 84. ;In Figure 7 a plate 108 mounts a pair of fetter eyes which are split and each made of a fixed segment 110 and a pivotable segment 112. A handle 114 is free to slide in plate 108 and allows segments 112 to open against the closing pressure of the hairpin springs 116. ;k ;^23MARW88 ;-7- ;O, ;J ;In use therefore a shearer can see the sheep in the initial part of the race 6 moving forward into the straight section. The sheep in the straight section cannot move forward past the sheep in front and a sheep cannot move backwards because of the backing rail at its rear. It has a sheep to the front and to the rear all of whom prefer to stand still when possible because of the steps 48 which divide the passage effectively into a series of pens each capable of accommodating only one sheep. The shearer opens the flap to reveal the sheep standing in a well. When the sheep is pulled out of the race sideways it rolls onto its side and drops into the shearing table valley. The flap springs shut again. The shearer pushes the hindlegs into the fetters and then applies the front fetters extending the lever as necessary to impose skin tension on the fleece. The belly wool is taken off in the usual manner and the rest of the sheep is shorn by slowly rolling the sheep towards the shearer who at all times can maintain an upright stance. When the front fetters are released the body of the sheep becomes rotatable and the fetters for the forelegs rotate as necessary. The shearer keeps the sheep on the shearing bed by depressing its head. When the back wool has all been removed the fetters on the hind legs are released. The sheep is tipped off the shearing bed onto the shearing floor where it finds the exit ramp. The fleece slides down the chute and the cycle is repeated. ;In an non-illustrated embodiment described in the provisional specification the passage had a flat floor with no ramps to prevent backing up. Instead the passage itself was zigzag in plan presenting a series to turns to the sheep which prevented the sheep jumping over each other. ;I found the advantages of the above embodiment to be that: ;1. Bending during shearing is reduced considerably, ;2. Sheep feed to the passage requires the minimum of human supervision, ;3. Division of the operation into holding shearing and counting out into different floor levels assists the flow of work. ;-8- ;r:|i ;3 MAR 1988 | ;Q ;'d 11 tj t) *T I have modified the invention into a transportable form which is intended for hire by stock and station agents or for purchase by a farmer who wishes to store the parts disassembled until shearing time.

Consequently the apparatus is constructed in modular sections which are separable for transport but easily bolted together on site. Referring now to Figure 8, the passage consists of sections 120 bolted end to end. Each section has a steel frame 122 clad with plywood panels having an entrance end 124 and an exit end 126, and a port 38 midway between. The floor of the passage has ramps (not shown) just as in Figure 3 which position the sheep directly opposite the trap 58 which is biased shut by a tension spring 12B. The farmer bolts together as many sections as there are shearers. The end most section has the compartment for displaying the dummy sheep. The shearing beds 56 are present as before but are cantilevered from the frame 122.

The holding pen is an assembly of upright barriers 130 which form three side by side races, each the width of one sheep. Two of the races have gates 132 whose limit of arcuate movement is shown in broken lines. The gates prevent sheep from the outer race moving counter-directionally along the remaining races and direct the sheep toward the connector race 134 which joins the pen to the passage.

The connector race has ramps 46 to prevent backing as in the shed installation. The backing gate of the shed installation is modified to allow control by the shearers who are separated from the waiting sheep only by one barrier 130. A pair of rails 136 is mounted on top of the two outer most barriers and a tilting gate 138 runs on carriages 140. The gate is raised by tilting handle 142 in order to allow more sheep into the races. Backing pressure is maintained by a line and a weight held by a pulley system (not shown).

I have found the advantages of this transportable embodiment to be: 1. the invention is workable on ground level for example in a large yard; 2. the parts are all small enough to be man handled and erected cheaply; 8 Jd 3. the control of the operation is still maintainable with minimum human supervision. '

Claims (26)

WHAT I CLAIM IS:

1. A shearing station comprising; (a) a horizontal shearing bed located at a convenient shearing height, (b) an elevated feed passage adjacent the bed adapted to deliver animals to be shorn to a transfer zone alongside the shearing bed and, (c) means to promote one way movement of the animals to be shorn along the feed passage toward the transfer zone and to position an animal in the transfer zone.

2. A shearing station as claimed in claim 1 wherein the transfer zone is a section of the passage having a port in a side wall of the passage through which the animal is reachable by the shearer at the shearing bed.

3. A shearing station as claimed in claim 2 wherein the floor of the passage and the lower edge of the port which lies above the floor of the passage are both so positioned in relation to the height of the shearing bed that the port's lower edge corresponds with both the animals withers and height of the shearing bed.

4. A shearing station as claimed in claim 2 or 3 wherein a closure flap for the port acts as a bridge between the port and the shearing bed.

5. A shearing station as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 4 wherein the means to promote one way feed is a zigzag formation of the passage itself.

6. A shearing station as claimed in claim 5 wherein the floor of the passage has a zigzag surface, the changes in level corresponding to the length of the animal such that the animal is constrained to stand in preselected / /■ -10- -3 MAR 1988 211652 positions in the passage during the progression along the passage, one of which positions registers with the port.

A shearing station as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein the passage is of adjustable width.

A shearing station as claimed in claim 7 wherein the passage has a pair of substantially parallel side walls the first of which contains a port, the second being tiltable toward and away from the first side wall in order to urge the animal toward the first wall.

A shearing station as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8 wherein the exit passage from the shearing bed for the shorn animal is located beneath the elevated feed passage.

A shearing station as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8 wherein the station is situated above ground level between an animal holding level and a shorn animal collecting level.

A shearing station as claimed in claim 10 wherein the animal holding level is uppermost.

A shearing station as claimed in claim 10 or 11 wherein a wool chute extends from the shearing bed and discharges toward the animal collecting level.

A shearing station as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 12 wherein the passage has a blind exit and an entrance which communicates with a holding pen containing a backing gate for urging animals toward the passage entrance. -11- 7

14. A shearing station as claimed in claim 13 wherein the blind end of the passage has a space for a dummy animal.

15. A shearing station as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 14 wherein the shearing bed comprises a pair of parallel supports which define between \^) them a valley into which the animals body tends to settle, fetters for the forelegs, fetters for the hindlegs and means for adjusting at least one of the fetters lengthwise of the bed in order to accommodate animals of different \ sizes. | i

16. A shearing station as claimed in claim 15 wherein at least one of the fetters \ is rotatable about an axis parallel to the shearing bed in order to invert the j animal as shearing proceeds. j }

17. A shearing station as claimed in claim 16 wherein the fetters for one pair of j legs comprise a pair of mutually spaced inverted U-shaped receptors each capable of receiving a leg, each receptor having a retainer arm and a tilting ejector arm linked for operation in unison by an operating handle whereby both legs are imprisonable in the receptors and releasable therefrom in unison.

18. A shearing station as claimed in any one of claims 15, 16 or 17 in which the fetters for the other pair of legs are a pair of mutually spaced split rings which are opened and closed by a handle. '

19. A shearing station as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 18 in combination with one or more like stations each being fed by a common passage with a j port for each station. [ ■

20. A shearing station substantially as herein described with reference to and as -12- , " 3 JAM 133$" Q O 21l<6b'd w !\ illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

21. A wool shed containing one or more shearing stations as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 20.

22. A shearing station as claimed in claim 1 wherein the feed passage is ! constructed from modular sections each with a transfer zone and a shearing bed alongside the transfer zone and means to promote one way movement along the section of animals to be shorn. ■.

23. A shearing station as claimed in claim 22 wherein a detachable section Df I the feed passage connects the end most modular section to a holding pen.

24. A shearing station as claimed in claim 23 wherein the detachable section of the feed passage has a zigzag formation to promote one way feed.

25. A shearing station as claimed in claim 23 or 24 wherein the pen is a knockdown pen made of sectional barriers.

26. A shearing station as claimed in any one of claims 23 , 24 or 25 wherein the | pen is divided into two or more parallel races and a suspended backing gate j is both movable along the races and tiltable between a backing position in ! which it projects into the races and an open position in which it swings clear of the races allowing animals to pass beneath. j j ASHLEY EDWARD JOHN ROSS ! By his Attorneys j J ! BARRY V. JAMES & ASSOCIATES -13- "8J4fc m?'