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US 10,499,611 B2Granted
Adjustable crowding alley
OwnerMichael Cokerinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An adjustable crowding alley used to route livestock or other animals towards a destination. The adjustable crowding alley includes an adjustable panel that allows the width of the alleyway to vary according to the width of the animals being routed through the adjustable crowding alley. The adjustable crowding alley includes one or more backup blockers that allow animals to move forward through the adjustable crowding alley, but restrict backwards movement of the animals within the adjustable crowding alley after passing each backup blocker.
Claims20
An adjustable crowding alley for guiding an animal from an entrance to an exit of the crowding alley, the crowding alley comprising:
- a stationary panel spanning the length of the crowding alley;
- a frame having a rail assembly with two or more rails, each rail being substantially perpendicular to the stationary panel;
- an adjustable panel substantially parallel to the stationary panel and spanning the length of the crowding alley, thereby defining an alleyway having a width W, the adjustable panel hanging from the rail assembly of the frame, wherein the width W increases or decreases as the adjustable panel moves along the two or more rails;
- a backup blocker movably coupled to the adjustable panel, the backup blocker comprising:
- a pivot assembly coupled to the adjustable panel, the pivot assembly capable of rotating around a pivot axis, the backup blocker being operable to rotate around the pivot axis between a protruding position and a collapsed position;
- a first face and a second face coupled at a protruding edge portion, the protruding edge portion protruding into the alleyway from a front side of the adjustable panel by at least 12 cm when the backup blocker is in the protruding position;
- and
- a spring assembly biased to hold the backup blocker in the protruding position and biased to resist movement of the backup blocker around the pivot axis into the collapsed position, wherein forces applied normal to the first face rotate the backup blocker around the pivot axis but forces applied normal to the second face do not rotate the backup blocker around the pivot axis;
- a control assembly operable to control the movement of the adjustable panel along the two or more rails;
- and
- a gate pivotally coupled to the stationary panel proximate the exit of the crowding alley, the gate being substantially parallel to the stationary panel in a closed position and the gate opening into the alleyway towards the adjustable panel in an open position.
8 more elements
An adjustable crowding alley for guiding an animal from an entrance to an exit of the crowding alley, the crowding alley comprising:
- a stationary panel spanning the length of the crowding alley;
- an adjustable panel positioned opposite to the stationary panel and spanning a length Ltotal from the entrance to the exit of the crowding alley, thereby defining an alleyway having a width W, the adjustable panel hanging from a rail assembly having two or more rails, wherein the width W increases or decreases as the adjustable panel moves along the two or more rails;
- and
- a plurality of backup blockers movably coupled to the adjustable panel, each of the backup blockers comprising:
- a pivot assembly coupled to the adjustable panel, the pivot assembly capable of rotating around a pivot axis, the backup blocker being operable to rotate around the pivot axis between a protruding position and a collapsed position;
- a first face and a second face coupled at a protruding edge portion, the protruding edge portion protruding into the alleyway from a front side of the adjustable panel by at least 12 cm when the backup blocker is in the protruding position;
- and
- a spring assembly biased to hold the backup blocker in the protruding position and biased to resist movement of the backup blocker around the pivot axis into the collapsed position, wherein forces applied normal to the first face rotate the backup blocker around the pivot axis but forces applied normal to the second face do not rotate the backup blocker around the pivot axis;
- wherein the distance between adjacent protruding edge portions of each of the plurality of backup blockers is a first length L1.
6 more elements
An adjustable crowding alley for guiding an animal from an entrance to an exit of the crowding alley, the crowding alley comprising:
- an adjustable panel spanning a length Ltotal from the entrance to the exit of the crowding alley, the adjustable panel being capable of being positioned substantially parallel to a stationary panel and thereby defining an alleyway having a width W, the adjustable panel hanging from a rail assembly having two or more rails, wherein the width W increases or decreases as the adjustable panel moves along the two or more rails;
- and
- a plurality of backup blockers movably coupled to the adjustable panel, each of the backup blockers comprising:
- a pivot assembly coupled to the adjustable panel, the pivot assembly capable of rotating around a pivot axis, the backup blocker being operable to rotate around the pivot axis between a protruding position and a collapsed position;
- a first face and a second face coupled at a protruding edge portion, the protruding edge portion protruding into the alleyway from a front side of the adjustable panel by at least 12 cm when the backup blocker is in the protruding position;
- and
- a spring assembly biased to hold the backup blocker in the protruding position and biased to resist movement of the backup blocker around the pivot axis into the collapsed position, wherein forces applied normal to the first face rotate the backup blocker around the pivot axis but forces applied normal to the second face do not rotate the backup blocker around the pivot axis;
- wherein the distance between adjacent protruding edge portions of each of the plurality of backup blockers is a first length L1 measuring at least 100 cm.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.