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US 4,055,148 AGranted
Animal holding clamp apparatus
AssigneeBrockman's Service Ltd.
InventorsArnold Brockman, Norbert Beaujot
Life of this patent
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AssigneeBrockman's Service Ltd.
InventorsArnold Brockman, Norbert Beaujot
Estimating the term…
A versatile animal-immobilizing chute or cage structure is an integral vise framework having open ends and no bottom, comprised as a fixed side wall unitary with a top wall, and a movable opposed side wall, the movable wall comprising five or six longitudinally spaced upright frame columns each slidable along a top wall member toward or away from a corresponding fixed member by individual linear hydraulic motors, to grip the sides of an animal body between the vise walls. The vise inner surfaces are comprised of cushion bodies having friction casings fitted over inflatable bags or bladders that may be distended by pneumatic pressure, mounted on swivelling plates to conform to animal surfaces engaged. Other bags or bladders are mounted on lower end plates in pairs to engage a leg of the standing animal between them by longitudinal distention, two pairs holding the forelegs and another two pairs the hind legs; moving upright frames fold outwardly to give access to a body area and are latchable in straight aligned position. The vise framework is inclinable by an offset floor-mounted linear motor joined with the rigid side wall and may be raised or lowered by a pair of end-mounted upright linear motors. Portable versions carrying their hydraulic and pneumatic power units may be lifted by a gantry crane or by a helicopter, or a field unit may be a mobile trailer unit, self-contained and adapted for dismounting. Animals are siezed when walking through the open vise; tranquilized or ill animals are loaded by slings actuated by folding of frame members with the rigid side wall laid flat.
Animal immobilizing clamp apparatus comprising an elongate open three-sided framework of inverted "U" cross-sectional form comprising a top-wall frame and opposed side-wall frames of length and height sufficient to confine the sides of an animal to be immobilized, said framework having open ends and bottom, one side-wall frame comprising a rigid planar structure integrally joined with said top-wall frame, the other side-wall frame comprising a series of columns spaced apart horizontally and extending downwardly from said top wall frame, a first plurality of cushioned plate elements mounted on the inner side of each column, and a second plurality of cushioned plate elements mounted on the inner side of said rigid side-wall frame, means mounting said columns in said top-wall frame for independent guided rectilinear movement of a column toward and away from said rigid side-wall frame, means for controllably moving each column to vary the spacings between opposed plate elements for clampedly engaging opposite sides of an animal and for releasing the animal, and means for connecting said apparatus is supported relation with a reference structure.
Animal immobilizing apparatus, comprising opposed elongate side-wall frames and a top-wall defining a three-sided animal-receiving framework having open ends and bottom, one side-wall frame comprising a rigid braced group of longitudinally spaced upright beam members having a height at least as high as the largest animal to be confined integrally joined with longitudinal bracing beam members, said top-wall frame comprising a plurality of transverse beam members, said upright beam members being integrally joined at their upper ends with the adjacent ends of corresponding transverse beam members, respectively, guide means carried by each transverse beam member, the other side-wall frame comprising an equal group of longitudinally-spaced upright cantilever beam members, each cantilever beam member carrying integral slide means mounted on a respective guide means for independent guided reciprocatory movement along said guide means toward and away from said rigid side-wall frame, animal clamping means comprising a plurality of plate elements mounted on the inner sides of said side-wall frames in closely adjacent spaced relation and distributed over substantially the entire inner areas thereof as at least two tiers having combined vertical span sufficient to cover the side of an animal, said plate elements each supporting a cushion body, powered motive means connected with said top-wall frame and with cantilever beam member for moving each cantilever beam member independently along associated guide means, control means for actuating said motive means for clampedly engaging the sides of an animal received between opposed tiers of cushion bodies and for disengaging from said animal, and means connecting said clamp apparatus for support by a reference structure.
Animal immobilizing clamp apparatus, comprising an elongate three-sided vise framework consisting of opposed spaced-apart side walls and a top wall, said framework being open at its ends and bottom, a plurality of yielding surfaces, along the inner sides of said opposed side walls, and means including inflatable pneumatic bladders for selectably displacing at least some of said yielding surfaces toward each other, said bladders having flexible walls carrying said surfaces, said walls being distensible toward the opposed side wall when inflated to grip the sides of an animal body therebetween, said universal swivel means being operable to swivel said surfaces into generally tangential engagement with the surfaces of the animal body and to support the weight of said body.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.