NZ243634A - Animal weighing crate or pen with infolding entrance door and multiple exits - Google Patents

Description

c~ '" Pi y) PATENTS FORM NO. 5 Fee No. 4: $260.00 PATENTS ACT 1953 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION— After Provisional No: 243634 Dated: 20 July 1992 JAW 8156/3 1 9 OCT 1993 RLCc-iV£D ANIMAL PEN I KIM DAVID HAMMOND, a New Zealand citizen of Waipiropiro Station, Horonui Road, RD 11, Hastings, New Zealand hereby declare the invention for which I/We pray that a patent may be granted to me/us, and the method by which it is to be performed to be particularly described in and by the following statement: 1 243634 ANIMAL PEN Technical Field This invention relates to an animal pen.

Background Art In particular, this invention relates to an animal pen suitable for weighing animals. Reference throughout this specification shall be made to the present invention as being a sheep weigh crate, however it should be appreciated that the present invention can be used with respect to animals other than sheep.

There are many sheep weigh crates known, however these have a number of problems associated with them.

Sheep weigh crates consist typically of a crate attached to some weighing means which has a single entrance/exit for the sheep. Usually the entrance/exit comprises out-swinging doors.

One of the problems with sheep weigh crates is their size. It would be particularly desirable if sheep weigh crates were of a size that could fit into a race so that sheep within the race can be readily guided through the crate. Unfortunately, the out-swinging doors on existing crates take up considerable room and preclude fitting the crates within the races.

Another problem with sheep weigh crates is that frightened or restless animals tend to crash out of the crate pushing open the doors. In an attempt to solve this problem, various locking mechanisms in the form of catches, latches and so forth have been employed. Unfortunately this not only adds to the cost of purchasing the sheep weigh crate, but also adds to the cost of maintenance as these locking mechanisms tend to break.

Another problem with currently known sheep weigh crates is that with a 5 single exit/entry, there is no means by which the sheep can be directed in various directions within the sheep races desired.

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

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will become 10 apparent from the following description which is given by way of example only. disclosure of invention According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided an animal pen for weighing animals characterised in that the pen has at 15 least one in-folding door.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the animal pen has multiple exits.

The construction of the animal pen may take many forms. In one embodiment, there is provided two pivot points on each of the entrance 20 and exit doors. As an example, there may be a pivot point at one fixed end of a door and a further pivot point in the middle of the door. This allows the two sections of the door pivotally connected to each other to fold inwards on themselves. 13634 Reference throughout the specification shall now be made to the doors as having only two sections with two pivot points, however, it should be appreciated that there may be other arrangements. As an example, the door may have a full concertina effect with many folding sections.

The means by which the sections of the door fold with respect to each other may not necessarily be a pivot point. For instance, there may be provided a flexible hinge in the form of a tape or some other means which enables one section of the door to move with respect to the other section.

To ensure smooth opening and closing of the doors, there may be provided guide means. For example, there may be provided a track or bearing race along which part of the door can slide. In one embodiment, there may be positioned a bearing race above the exit or entrance to the crate. Part of the door may bear against the bearing race so that in opening or closing of the door, the door is guided by the bearing race.

In some embodiments, there may be a bearing race at the bottom of the entry/exit in addition to, or instead of, a bearing race at the top of the exit/entry.

The bearing race or track may come in a variety of forms and in one embodiment may be two lengths of angle iron welded to form a 'U'-shape.

To allow ease of opening the doors, there may be included handles attached to the door. A preferred position for attaching handles (although not the only possible position) is at the free end of the door in the region where the door is connected to the bearing race. 43634 The present invention can be used with a variety of devices to be used with weighing means. In one embodiment, there may be provided an attachment means by which load bars can be attached. These load bars may come in a variety of forms perhaps being made of channel iron or 5 flat steel.

Attachment of the load bars to the crate may be made in any standard way. For example, the load bars may be bolted to the bottom of the crate. In other embodiments the load bars may be welded to the bottom of the crate. In these embodiments weighing of the animals may take place as 10 the animal stands in the crate.

The general construction of the crate may be from a variety of materials. In one embodiment, the main construction materials may be angle iron or box section steel for the frame and wood for the sides of the crate and the door panels. Other materials may of course be used.

For ease of transport, there may be in some embodiments wheels or some other motive means attached to the crate.

The crate may have a number of exits and in a preferred embodiment may be provided with an entry means and three exit means. For example, if the crate is substantially rectangular in configuration, the 20 entrance means may be at one end of the rectangle and the three exit means may be on each side of the rectangle at the other end of the rectangle. A lesser number of exit means may of course be present in some embodiments.

It can be seen that the present invention overcomes a number of the 25 problems associated with the prior art.

•* SO SEP <S9ri ;^ <*."0 \;cep lv One advantage is that by having in-folding doors, the crate can be made sufficiently small enough to fit into sheep races. Another advantage is that multiple exists enables the farmer to direct his/her sheep as desired, no matter what the configuration of the sheep race.

As the doors are in-folding, it is impossible for animals to crash their way out of the crate as this would only serve to hold the doors shut. As a consequence of this, no catches or latches are required and therefore there are less items which can break or require maintenance.

Brief Description of Drawings Further aspects of the present invention will become apparent from the ensuing description which is given by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1: is a diagrammatic side view of one embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 2: is a diagrammatic top view of one embodiment of the present invention. bkst Modes for Carrying out the Invention With respect to the drawings, there is illustrated a sheep weigh crate generally indicated by arrow 1 comprising a frame 2 and sides 3.

The frame 2 is comprised of a mixture of angle iron and box section steel. The sides 3 are made from plywood.

The sheep weigh crate 1 is substantially rectangular in shape. At one end of the sheep weigh crate is an entrance 4 across which is a door generally indicated by arrow -5. The door 5 is comprised of two partitions 6 and 7. Partition 7 is fixed by hinge 8 to the frame 2. Partition 6 is fixed to partition 7 by hinge 9.

At the free end of the partition 6 is a protrusion 10 (not clearly shown). The protrusion 10 fits into a bearing race 11 which fits under the top part of the frame 2. The bearing race is in this embodiment is two lengths of angle iron welded to form a 'U'-shape.

Also attached to the partition 6 is a handle 12.

To open the door 5, the handle 12 is grasped and pulled towards the hinge 8. The protrusion 10 slides along the bearing race 11 ensuring that the door 5 is opened evenly. When the door 5 is fully opened, the partition 6 is adjacent to the partition 7 which in turn is adjacent to the side 3 of the crate 1.

At the opposite end of the crate 1 to the entrance 4 are three exits, 4a, 4b and 4c. The doors 5a, 5b and 5c of these exits are configured in a similar manner to the door 5 of the entrance 4.

The exits 4a, 4b and 4c allow exit by the animals contained within the crate 1 in three directions.

Extending out from the sides of the crate 1 are load bars 13 and 14 which are essentially flat pieces of steel. Extending from the center of the crate are two wheels 15 and 16 which provide the motive means for the crate 1.

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 thereof as defined in the appended claims. 7

Claims (1)

1. 243634 WHAT I CLAIM IS: An animal pen for weighing animals including at least one weighing means, an infolding door and at least two exit doors, the arrangement in construction of the animal pen being such that the infolding door allows entry of animals into the pen, the weighing means configured to allow weighing of animal within the pen, and the exit doors configured to allow the animal a number of directions to exit the pen from. An animal pen as claimed in claim 1 wherein the pen has three exit doors. An animal pen as described in any of claims 1 of 2 wherein the weighing means is a load bar. An animal pen as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3 wherein the animal pen is substantially rectangular in construction. An animal pen as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein at least one door has two sections pivotally connected to each other which enables the door sections to fold inwards on one another. An animal pen as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5 where there is provide a guide means to guide the operation of the doors. An animal pen as claimed in claim 6 wherein the guide means is in the form of a bearing race. 1 8 243 An animal pen as substantially as herein described with reference to and is illustrated by the accompanying drawings. KIM DAVID HAMMOND by his attorneys (k*P1 JAMES & WELLS NEW ZEALAND