NZ504730A - Animal headstock gate with coacting vertical movement restraint bars - Google Patents

Abstract

An animal head restraint is disclosed, as shown in figures 1A and 1B, comprising a head-bail assembly (2) - (5), headlock arms (6) and an actuation device. The restraint is characterized in that when operated, the head-bail doors (5) and the headlock arms (6) move simultaneously to restrain an animal, and prevent it from moving both horizontally and vertically.

Description

Intellectual Property Office of N.Z. ; 14 NOV 2001 RECEIVED PATENTS FORM NO. 5 Fee No. 4: $250 00 PATENTS ACT 1953 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION After Provisional No: 504730 Dated. 24 May 2000 ANIMAL HEAD RESTRAINT I, Robm Christopher Feltnm Fagan, a New Zealand citizen, of RD 1, Mairoa Road, PIOPIO, 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: James & Wells Ref 17290/25 SH ANIMAL HEAD RESTRAINT Technical Field This invention relates to an animal head restraint.

Background Art Reference throughout this specification shall be made to the use of the present invention for handling domesticated animals such as cattle, sheep and deer, although it should be appreciated that the present invention can be applied to other animals.

In particular, reference of the present invention shall be made to its use in animal directing devices such as sheep and cattle races and for the purpose for securing animals and applying a treatment thereto. However, it should be seen that the description is given by way of example only and should not be seen as limited to this particular situation.

It is often desirable to be able to hold animals so that treatment can be applied thereto or various measurements taken of the animal. Using sheep as an example, it is common to bolus, drench, take blood, apply and read ear tags, check teeth and so forth.

Various devices are known which are used for the above purpose. However, these devices have a number of problems associated with them.

There are a number of items available that restrain the movement of animals so that particular operations can be carried out upon them. However, one particular drawback with all of these types of mechanism is that they only restrain the body of the animal allowing the head free movement.

This becomes a more significant problem when larger animals such as cattle or deer are restrained as the free movement of the head can provide a danger not only to the 2 James & Wells Ref 17290/25 SH operator but also to the animal.

A significant improvement over the previous mechanisms available was made with the introduction of the head-bail which generally has either one or two horizontally moving doors, or arms, which when activated by the operator close about the animal's neck thereby restricting the horizontal movement of its head.

It has been found that even with this improvement there is still the possibility of the animal either damaging itself or the operator due to the animal still being able to move its head in the vertical plane.

Further improvements have been achieved with the incorporation of devices which restrict the vertical movement of the animal's head, however these must be applied separately, after the animal's forward movement has been restrained by the horizontal closure of the head-bail doors about the neck of the animal.

Once the animal is secured by the head-bail the operator can attach a vertical movement restraint either manually or by powered means.

Whilst this is certainly a great improvement over any prior device it is not ideal as there will be a period of time when the animal's head is restricted horizontally but allows free movement vertically, during this time the animal can become startled or panicked and is capable of causing itself or an operator considerable injury before the vertical restraint can be applied.

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

Further aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the ensuing description which is given by way of example only. 3 James & Wells Rcf 17290/25 SH Disclosure of Invention According to one aspect to the present invention there is provided an animal head restraint including a door assembly, the operation of which can assist in the restraining of an animal's movement in the lateral direction and assist in the restraining of an 5 animal's head in the horizontal direction, characterised in that the assembly includes arms for restraining the vertical movement of the animal's head.

Reference throughout the specification should now be made to the door assembly as being a head-bail assembly.

Reference throughout the specification should also be made to the arms used with the present invention as being headlock arms.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided an animal head restraint substantially as described above, wherein the animal head restraint includes a head-bail assembly, headlock arms, and an actuation device, characterised in that the animal's head is restrained in it's vertical movement by the headlock arms, and when the actuation device is operated the headlock arms and the head-bail doors move from a withdrawn to an engaged position in order to restrain substantially simultaneously both the horizontal and vertical movement of the head of the animal secured within the head-bail It is understood by anyone skilled in the art that a head-bail assembly includes two horizontally sliding doors which move from their withdrawn position to an engaged position. 4 James & Wells Ref 17290/25 SH It is further understood that the withdrawn position is where the doors are wide enough for an animal to move freely between them and the engaged position is understood to be when the doors are in contact with, or extremely close to, the neck of the animal being restrained.

In preferred embodiments of the present invention the headlock arms are each secured to a head-bail door by a pivot point.

This ensures that the headlock arms can rotate with respect to the head-bail doors as the head-bail doors are either opened or closed.

Also in preferred embodiments of the present invention the portion of the headlock arms located outermost on the head-bail assembly, are secured within a guiding mechanism.

This guiding mechanism allows this section of the headlock arms to move in a vertical direction, thereby assisting the headlock arms to rotate vertically as the head-bail doors are moved from one position to another.

This should not be seen to be a limitation on the present invention in any way as in other embodiments of the present invention the headlock arms can be constructed in another manner.

It is envisaged that the actuation device used for the present invention will be the standard actuation lever used with current head-bail assemblies.

Once again this should not be seen to be a limitation on the present invention as a specific actuation system may be incorporated into some embodiments of the present invention. For example an electromechanical actuator may be used.

In some preferred embodiments of the present invention the headlock arms may have extensions fitted to them in such a manner that the extensions cover at least some of James & Wells Ref 17290/25 SH the gap between the head-bail doors.

This has the advantage that the animal will not be able to move a leg, horn, or antler between the doors as this could be a hazard for any operator in the vicinity of the animal.

It is envisaged that in some embodiments of the present invention both of the headlock arms will be on the same side of the head-bail doors, be that on the outside or the inside.

However, in some preferred embodiments of the present invention the headlock arms will be on opposing sides of the head-bail doors, with one arm on the outside and the 10 other arm on the inside.

It should be appreciated that in preferred embodiments of the present invention the headlock arms are configured in such a way that the lower headlock arm, which is raised during its operation to make contact with the underside of the animal's neck, does so at an angle to the neck in order to leave a void between the headlock arm and 15 one of the head-bail gates in order that the restrained animal will not choke if it struggles.

The present invention provides a method for securely restraining an animal characterised by the steps of a) loading an animal into a head-bail, and b) closing the head-bail doors either side of the animal's neck, thereby restraining the horizontal movement of the animal's head, and c) simultaneously securing the headlock arms above and below the neck of the animal in order to restrain the vertical movement of the animal's head whilst secured within the head-bail. 6 James & Wells Ref 17290/25 SH In preferred embodiments, the lower headlock arm contacts the underside of the animal's neck at an angle in order to leave a void between the headlock arm and one of the head-bail gates This has the advantage of ensuring the animal is restrained, but avoiding the risk of the animal choking if it struggles.

In other preferred embodiments, the headlock arms are fitted, or connected, to extensions in order that the extensions cover at least some of the gap between the head-bail doors in order to minimise the risk of the animal moving an article such as a leg, horn or antler between the doors.

It can be seen that the present invention has significant advantages over the current 10 head-bail assemblies.

The greatest advantage of the present invention is that it restricts the vertical movement of the animal's head during the normal operation of the head-bail doors. This not only ensures that the animal is held far more securely therefore minimising any risk of it injuring itself, it also ensures that the animal is far less likely to be able to 15 injure the operator.

A further advantage of the present invention is due to the fact of the animal's head has far greater restrictions on its movement, it will be far easier, and will take less time, to perform any necessary operation to, or assessment of, the animal's head.

Brief Description of Drawings Further aspects of the present invention will become apparent from the following description which is given by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which.

Figure la is a diagrammatical representation of a front view of one preferred embodiment of the present invention, with the doors in an engaged 25 position. 7 James & Wells Ref 17290/25 SH Figure lb is a diagrammatical representation of a front view of the same embodiment of the present invention with the doors in a withdrawn position.

Figure 2a is a diagrammatical representation of a side view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2b is a diagrammatical representation of a plan view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, with the door assembly top cap removed.

Best Modes for Carrying out the Invention With reference to the Figures there is illustrated an animal head restraint generally indicated by arrow one. The head restraint includes a door assembly base plate (2) and a door assembly top cap (3) between which two sets of guides (4) are fitted.

The head-bail doors (5) slide horizontally in a channel between the sets of guides (4). The headlock arms (6) each have one end secured within a guide rail (4) and are secured to the head-bail doors (5) via a pivot point (7).

When the head-bail doors (5) are moved from a withdrawn position as in Figure lb, to an engaged position as in Figure la the headlock arms rotate in opposing directions to one another i.e., one will move in a clockwise direction whilst the other will move in an anti-clockwise direction When the head-bail doors (5) are in an engaged position the headlock arms will be positioned above and below the animal's neck (8) in order to restrain the vertical movement of the animal's head.

Figure 2b is a plan view showing the head-bail gates (5) with the headlock arms (6) removed in order that the configuration of the guides (4) can be seen more clearly.

It should be noted that the actuation systems and the head-bail door mountings have 8 James & Wells Ref 17290/25 SH been omitted from the diagrams in order to improve the clarity.

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. 9 James & Wells Ref 17290/25 SH

Claims (12)

WHAT I CLAIM IS:

1. An animal head restraint including, a head-bail assembly, and headlock arms, and an actuation device, characterised in that the animal's head is restrained in its vertical movement by the headlock arms and when the actuation device is operated the headlock arms and the head-bail doors move from a withdrawn to an engaged position in order to restrain simultaneously both the horizontal and vertical movement of the head of the animal secured within the head-bail.

2. An animal head restraint as claimed in claim 1 wherein the actuation device can be a standard actuation lever used with current head-bail assemblies, or an electromechanical actuator.

3. An animal head restraint as claimed m any of the previous claims wherein the headlock arms are each secured to a head-bail door by a pivot point in order that the headlock arms can rotate with respect to the head-bail doors as the head-bail doors are either opened or closed.

4. An animal head restraint as claimed in any of the previous claims including, a head-bail assembly, and headlock arms, and 10 James & Wells ref. 17290/25 a guiding mechanism, characterised in that the guiding mechanism allows the section of the headlock arms located within the guiding mechanism to move in a vertical direction, thereby assisting the headlock arms to rotate vertically as the head-bail doors are moved from a withdrawn position to an engaged position.

An animal head restraint as claimed in any of the previous claims including a head-bail assembly, and headlock arms, characterised in that the headlock arms have extensions fitted or connected to them, in order that the extensions cover at least some of the gap between the head-bail doors when the head of an animal is secured between the head-bail doors.

An animal head restraint as claimed in any of the previous claims wherein the headlock arms are located on the same side of the head-bail doors, be that on the outside or the inside.

7. An animal head restraint as claimed in any of claims 1 to claim 5 wherein the headlock arms are located on opposing sides of the head-bail doors with one arm on the outside and the other on the inside.

8. An animal head restraint as claimed in any of the previous claims including, a head-bail assembly, and headlock arms, 11 James & Wells ref. 17290/25 characterised in that the lower headlock arm is raised during its operation to make contact with the underside of the animal's neck in such a way that the contact is at an angle to the neck in order to leave a void between the headlock arm and one of the head-bail gates in order that the restrained animal will not choke if it struggles.

9. A method for securely restraining an animal characterised by the steps of a) loading an animal into a head-bail, and b) closing the head-bail doors on either side of the animal's neck, thereby restraining the horizontal movement of the animal's head, and c) simultaneously securing the headlock arms above and below the neck of the animal in order to restrain the vertical movement of the animal's head whilst secured within the head-bail.

10. A method for securely restraining an animal as claimed in claim 9 wherein the lower headlock arm contacts the underside of the animal's neck at an angle in order to leave a void between the headlock arm and one of the head-bail gates so that the restrained animal will not choke if it struggles.

11. A method of restraining an animal as claimed in either claim 9 or claim 10 wherein the headlock arms are fitted, or connected to extensions in order that the extensions cover at least some of the gap between the head-bail doors in order to minimise the risk of the animal moving an article such as a leg, horn or antler between the doors.

12. An animal head restraint substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings. 12 James & Wells ref: 17290/25 A method of restraining an animal substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings. ROBIN CHRISTOPHER FELTRIM FAGAN by his Attorneys Intellectual Property Office of M.Z. 14 NOV 2001 RECEIVED 13 James & Wells ref- 17290/25