Poultry cage
AssigneeKoechner MFG. CO., INC.
InventorsMark William Koechner, Clay Austin Blake
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A cage and corresponding method for loading, transporting, and unloading poultry utilize a substantially vertical track attached to a leg or a sidewall to provide stability for a door of the cage throughout the door's entire range of motion. The cage is stackable and together with like cages can form an assembly of cages. The assembled stack of cages allows for several cages to share common components. Thus, the weight of the load during transport is reduced and more livestock can be transported. Shared components can include a roof and even a latching mechanism which prevents the door of each cage from coming open during transport.
Claims16
A stackable cage for holding and transporting livestock comprising:
- a floor;
- a sidewall extending perpendicularly from the floor in an upward direction until the sidewall meets a slide rod substantially parallel with the floor;
- a substantially vertical track;
- and
- a door comprising:
- towards a top of the door, a substantially horizontal rod slidable along the slide rod;
- and
- towards a bottom of the door, an attachment to the substantially vertical track to allow the door to ride along the substantially vertical track as the door is moved from a closed position to an open position.
An assembly of stackable cages having multiple floors comprising:
- at least two stackable cages, each stackable cage comprising:
- a floor;
- a sidewall extending perpendicularly from the floor in an upward direction until the sidewall meets a slide rod substantially parallel with the floor;
- a substantially vertical track;
- and
- a door comprising:
- towards a top of the door, a substantially horizontal rod slidable along the slide rod;
- and
- towards a bottom of the door, an attachment to the substantially vertical track to allow the door to ride along the substantially vertical track as the door is moved from a closed position to an open position;
- wherein at least one of the at least two stackable cages is not on a top floor of the multiple floors and does not include a roof;
- and
- further wherein only stackable cages on the top floor include a roof.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.