WO1982001638A1

WO1982001638A1 - A neck binder for pigs or other animals

Info

Publication number: WO1982001638A1
Application number: PCT/DK1981/000102
Authority: WO
Inventors: Christian T Dahl
Original assignee: Christian T Dahl
Priority date: 1980-11-19
Filing date: 1981-11-19
Publication date: 1982-05-27
Also published as: GB2100570A; GB2100570B; NL8120436A

Abstract

An animal neck binder consists of two side rods (4, 6), which are topwise releasably interconnected by means of a neck lock (8) and bottomwise interconnected by a chain (10), which is also connected to a fixed anchoring point. The side bars are topwise provided with flat connector portions (12) which from below are insertable in open cross slots (34) at both ends of the neck lock (8). The neck lock (8) is provided with spring loaded snap lock pawls (32), which are engageable with round holes (14) in the connector portions (12) of the side rods above the cross slot (34), such that the side bars (4, 6) are individually pivotable relative the neck lock (8) about a longitudinal axis thereof. The binder hereby offers a large freedom of movement to the animal, because the side rods are not bound to be located in a common plane, i.e. they may follow the twistings as made initially by the animal for attempting to liberate itself from the binder, and at the same time the binder is secured against distortion by these twistings. The binder is produced entirely by bending up of prepunched sheet membersof stainless steel, whereby the binder is easy and cheap to produce as well as maintenance free, just as this material has proved to be well suited for contact against the neck skin of the animal.

Description

A neck binder for pigs or other animals.

The present invention relates to a neck binder of the type- defined in the introductory clause of claim 1.

In neck binders of this type as mainly used for the tethering of pigs the side rods normally consist of steel tubes bent to the required shape and at both ends being flattened and provided with a protruding eye portion in the shape of a flat wire eye member which is elongated in the transverse direction^' and is secured by welding to the flattened tube ends. In the assembled binder the upper- most, straight portion of the eye member is laid into a flat, profiled holding hook mounted on the holder part endwise protruding therefrom,- and this hook connection is locked by means of a locking pawl mounted on the holder part in a spring loaded manner so as to project through the eye member underneath the hook. The side rod will here¬ by be hinged to the holder part so as to be laterally pi¬ votal about the upper portion of the wire eye member, which is correspondingly rotatable in the said hook, whereby the side rods by lateral pivoting may adapt themselves to different neck thicknesses and on the single animal be locked together at their lower ends by means of a chain. The said locking pawl or pawls may be individually re¬ tracted by means of a grip for releasing the locking en¬ gagement with the side rod as desirable e.g. in an emergen- cy situation. On that background the holder part is normal¬ ly referred to as a "neck lock" or "occipital lock".

It is observed that jumpy pigs during their habitua- tion to being tethered by such a binder expose the binder to considerable stresses by powerful turning movements of the neck and shoulder portion, whereby the hook portions of the neck lock are often distorted. This may result in the neck lock thereafter being impossible or difficult to release from the side rods or that the rods are released incidentally, namely if the hook portion is distorted to such a degree that the action of the locking pawl becomes illusory. It is the purpose of the invention to provide a neck binder of the type referred to, which in a simple manner will be able to resist the applied stress without the lock releasing safety being compromized.

According to the invention this is achieved by the binder being designed as stated in the characterizing clause of claim 1. When hereby the binder is designed such that the side rods are fastened in a mutually pivotal manner even in the longitudinal direction of the animal, then the rods will be able to follow the distortion move- ments, to which they are exposed, withou transferring damaging distortion forces to the part or parts by which they are held, and the binder as a whole, therefore, will be able to resist the distorting influence without pre¬ senting any hindrance to the movements of the animal, i.e. additionally without causing damage to the animal during the habituation period thereof.

In a preferred embodiment as claimed -in claim 2 a simple design is achieved, in which the extra pivotability of the side rods is obtained by virtue of the eye portions of the rods being able to rotate .through a more or less wide angle about the locking pawls, i.e. without any in¬ herent movability of or in any of the single assembly components otherwise being provided for.

Besides, the preferred embodiment of the invention is particularly qualified in being made entirely of stain¬ less steel, which has proved extraordinary advantageous. Profiled side rods made of stainless metal sheet material seem to be fully lenient with the neck of the animals, and they eliminate the problems with respect to corrosion protection and coating which are normally encountered with the use of conventional rods of steel pipe material. Also the said neck lock is advantageously produceable in stain¬ less steel.

In the following the invention is described in more detail with reference to the drawing, in which:- Fig. 1 is a plan view, partly in section, of a neck binder according to the invention.

Fig. 2 is a side view of one of the side rods there¬ of.

Fig. 3 is a side view of the lower end of the other side rod of the binder.

Fig. 4 is a plan view, partly in section, of the neck lock or occipital lock of the binder.

Fig. 5 is an end view of the neck lock. Fig. 6 is a detailed view of a locking pawl of the neck lock, and

Fig. 7 is a view corresponding to Fig. 4 showing a modified design of the neck lock.

The animal binder shown in Fig. 1 consists of two side rods or bars 4 and 6, a neck lock or occipital lock 8 and a tethering chain 10, which additionally forms the lower part of the binder 2 as a whole. The side rod 4, which is also shown in Fig. 2, is shaped with a profilation which, as shwon in the various section pictures, is vary¬ ing successively throughout the length of the rod. Top- wise the side rod 4 is provided with a connector portion 12 shaped as a flat disc having a round connector eye 14. Bottomwise the side rod 4 is provided with a circular re¬ ceiver opening 16 for the chain 10. The free end of the chain 10 is fastened to the lower end portion of the side rod 6 by way of the outermost link 18 being inserted through an elongate hole 20 in the lower rod end, the chain link 18 being locked by means of a simple bolt 22. The side rod 6 is designed just as the rod 4 and is - likewise - made in one piece by drawing up of a prepunched sheet workpiece of stainless steel.

The side rods 4 and 6 are topwise mutually connected

_9^{: ?}JL ^'• ■" by means of the neck lock 8, which is described in more detail with reference to Figs. 4-6. It consists of an arched base portion 24 having an upwardly open cavity 26 formed by bending up of a prepunched sheet workpiece of stainless steel, the base portion 24 having an interior edge bead 28 formed by folding of an, edge portion of the workpiece. The edge bead 28 is provided with a central opening 30 for the introduction of locking pawls 32 (Fig. 6) , which are freely received in the cavity 26 of the base portion and are guided in the longitudinal direction by means of the edge bead 28 at both sides of the base portion 24. The base portion 24 is at both ends shaped with a cross slot 34, the limitation of which outwardly towards the end of the base portion is constituted by a narrow a- terial portion 36, which is pressed flat upwardly relative the base portion. Outside each of the locking pawls 32 the material portion 36 is provided with a bent up, central stop plate portion 38 serving to prevent incidental release of the locking pawls 32 as forced against the stop plate portions 38 by means of a spring 40. As apparent from Fig. 6 also the locking pawls 32 are produced by bending up of a prepunched sheet workpiece of stainless steel, and they have a half-circular body portion, the front end 41 of which constitutes the very locking pawl as cooperating with the side rods 4 and 6.

The locking pawl 32 is provided with ben up side wings 42, the outer edges 44 of which are operative as guide portions along the edge beads 28. Outside the side wings 42 the half-circular body portion is provided with a downwardly projecting abutment 46 for the end of the spring 40. The locking pawl 32 is rearwise provided with a finger grip 48 shaped with oblique lower edges 50, such that the locking pawl 32 by the introduction of the connector portion 12 of the side upwardly through the slot 34 is automatically pushed rearwardly, i.e. the pawl will show a snap lock operation as far as its en- gagement with the hole 14 in the connector portion 12 of the side rods is concerned. Likewise the neck lock 8 will be easy to release, because a retraction of the locking pawl 32 by means of the finger 48 against the said spring action will automatically cause .the side rod to be re¬ leased from the engagement.

The lower connector chain 10 is drawn through the opening 16 of the side rod 4 to a non-represented an¬ choring point. Between this anchoring point and the^' side rod 4 the chain 10 is assembled by means of a stop ring 52 (Fig. 1) serving as a simple spacer element for the distance between the side rods 4 and 6.

It will be appreciated that the side rods will be freely pivotal about their connections with the neck lock 8, both laterally for adaption to the neck thickness of the animal and longitudinally, whereby the eye portion 12 may carry out the required rotation about the nose por¬ tion 41 of the locking pawl.

Principally it would be sufficient if only one of the side rods were pivotal in the longitudinal direction relative the neck lock, as the two side rods would then still be mutually length pivotable. The invention com¬ prises this possibility as well, though it is hardly pre¬ ferable in practice, and besides it will be appreciated that the desired pivotability is achievable in a very simple manner. Fig. 7 illustrates an embodiment, in which there is provided at the right hand end of the neck lock as designated 53 a fully conventional fastening of a known side rod 54, the upper wire eye 56 of which is laid into a flat hook 58 and fixed in a laterally pivotal manner by means of a pawl 60. In the left hand end of the neck lock is shown an arrangement according to Fig. 4, but it should be noted that the same type of arrangement may be used at both ends of the neck lock. In the embodiment shown the neck lock is midways provided with a rotation link 62, the lock housing itself being in two parts and assembled by means of a rotary pin 64, which is also forming a guide for the pawl spring as correspondingly made in two parts. Even if the neck lock is used in connection with conventional side rods a mutual distortion influence on the side rods will not cause damage to the binder, because the two halves of the neck lock will just be mutually rotated.

Claims

C L A I M S :

1. A neck binder for pigs or other animals, comprising two opposed side rods, which are topwise interconnected by means of a transverse holding part,to the opposite ends of which the side bars are releasably hinged so as to be transversely pivotal, while at their lower ends the side rods are connected or connectable,-e.g. by means of a chain, both mutually and with a fixed anchoring point, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the side rods (4,6) are connected with the upper holding part (8) in such a manner that they are individually pronouncedly pivotable not only laterally but additionally in the forward and rearward direction.

- 2. A neck binder according to claim 1, in which the upper end of each side rod is provided with an eye portion coope- rating with a mounting opening and a displaceable locking pawl in the holding part, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that said eye portion (14) is designed with such a shape and size relative the locking pawl (32) and the mounting opening (34) that the side rod (4,6) is freely pivotal relative the holding part (8) in both the lateral and the longitudinal direction.

3. A neck binder according to claim 2, c h a r a c t e ¬ r i z e d in that the mounting opening is constituted by a transverse slot (34) in the lock housing underneath the locking pawl (32) .

4. A neck binder according to claim 1,2 or 3, c h a ¬ r a c t e r i z e d in that the side rods (4,6) and pre¬ ferably also the neck lock (8) are made as bent up pre¬ punched sheet members of stainless steel.