US 6,805,078 B2Granted

Livestock weighing and sorting apparatus

AssigneeRaytec Limited

InventorsRaymond G. Zimmerman, Harry H. Sauder, Glen M. Zimmerman

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

A livestock weighing and sorting apparatus includes a frame, a weighing station supported by the frame and defining inlet and outlet openings and a passageway extending therebetween for permitting an animal to go through the weighing station and be weighed while therein, dual inlet gates mounted to the frame side-by-side one another adjacent to the inlet opening and movable toward and away from each other between opened and closed positions, a first actuator mechanism actuatable to move the dual inlet gates between the opened and closed positions, an outlet sort gate mounted to the frame adjacent to the outlet opening and movable between a centered closed position and either a first opened position or a second opened position, and a second actuator mechanism actuatable to move the outlet sort gate between the centered closed position and either the first or second opened positions.

Claims36

Dependent claims

A livestock weighing and sorting apparatus, comprising:

(a) a frame having opposite entry and exit ends;
(b) a weighing station supported by said frame and having an inlet opening and an outlet opening spaced apart from one another and disposed adjacent to said respective opposite entry and exit ends of said frame, said weighing station defining a passageway extending between said inlet and outlet openings and said entry and exit ends for permitting an animal to go through said passageway from said respective inlet opening and entry end to said respective outlet opening and exit end of said weighing station and frame and to be weighed as the animal is present in said weighing station;
(c) dual inlet gates mounted to said frame side-by-side one another and disposed at said entry end of said frame and adjacent to said inlet opening of said weighing station for undergoing pivotal movement toward and away from each other between opened and closed positions relative to said inlet opening of said weighing station and said entry end of said frame;
(d) a first actuator mechanism coupled between said frame and said dual inlet gates and being actuatable to move said dual inlet gates between said opened and closed positions to correspondingly permit and prevent entry of an animal from a livestock supply area through said entry end of said frame and said inlet opening of said weighing station into said passageway of said weighing station;
(e) an outlet sort gate mounted to said frame and disposed adjacent to said outlet opening of said weighing station for undergoing pivotal movement between closed and opened positions relative to said outlet opening of said weighing station and said exit end of said frame;
(f) a second actuator mechanism coupled between said frame and said outlet sort gate and being actuatable to move said outlet gate between said closed and opened positions to correspondingly prevent and permit exit of the animal through said outlet opening of said weighing station from said passageway thereof to exterior heavy and light livestock sort areas;
and
(g) means for controlling operation of said weighing station and actuation of said first and second actuator mechanisms and thereby opening and closing of said inlet gates and outlet sort gate in response to operation of said weighing station.

5 more elements

A livestock weighing and sorting apparatus, comprising:

(a) a frame having opposite entrance and exit ends;
(b) a weighing station supported by said frame and having an inlet opening and an outlet opening spaced apart from one another and disposed adjacent to said respective opposite entry and exit ends of said frame, said weighing station defining a passageway extending between said inlet and outlet openings and said entry and exit ends for permitting an animal to go through said passageway from said respective inlet opening and entry end to said respective outlet opening and exit end of said weighing station and frame and to be weighed as the animal is present in said weighing station;
(c) an inlet gate assembly mounted to said entry end of said frame and adjacent to said inlet opening of said weighing station for undergoing movement between opened and closed positions relative to said inlet opening of said weighing station;
(d) a first actuator mechanism coupled between said frame and said inlet gate assembly and being actuatable to move said inlet gate assembly between said opened and closed positions to correspondingly permit and prevent entry of the animal from a livestock supply area through said entry end of said frame and said inlet opening of said weighing station into said passageway thereof;
(e) an outlet sort gate mounted to said frame and disposed adjacent to said outlet opening of said weighing station for undergoing pivotal movement from a centered closed position to a first opened position or a second opened position relative to said outlet opening of said weighing station and said closed centered position, said outlet sort gate including a central panel portion having a pair of opposite ends, a pivot shaft disposed at one of said opposite ends for pivotal mounting of said outlet sort gate, and an end portion disposed at another of said opposite ends and extending in transverse relation to said central panel portion, said end portion being disposed across said outlet opening of said weighing station when said outlet sort gate is at said closed centered position, said outlet sort gate being pivotally moved and disposed to one side of said outlet opening when in said first opened position relative to said outlet opening, said outlet sort gate being pivotally moved and disposed to an opposite side of said outlet opening when in said second opened position relative to said outlet opening;
(f) a second actuator mechanism coupled between said frame and said outlet sort gate and being actuatable to move said outlet gate between said centered closed position and said first or second opened positions to correspondingly prevent and permit exit of the animal through said outlet opening of said weighing station from said passageway thereof to exterior heavy and light livestock sort areas;
and
(g) means for controlling operation of said weighing station and actuation of said first and second actuator mechanisms and thereby opening and closing of said inlet gate assembly and outlet sort gate in response to operation of said weighing station.

5 more elements

A livestock weighing and sorting apparatus, comprising:

(a) a frame having a lower framework, an upper framework and pairs of upright frame members spaced from one another and extending upright between and fixedly connected with opposite pairs corners of said lower and upper frameworks so as to form opposite entry and exit ends of said frame;
(b) a weighing station having an inlet opening and an outlet opening spaced apart from one another and disposed adjacent to said respective opposite entry and exit ends of said frame, said weighing station defining a passageway extending between said inlet and outlet openings and said entry and exit ends for permitting an animal to go through said passageway from said respective inlet opening and entry end to said respective outlet opening and exit end of said weighing station and frame and to be weighed as the animal is present in said weighing station, said weighing station including
(i) a cage having opposite ends, a top, a bottom platform and a pair of opposite lateral sides extending upright between said top and bottom and spaced apart from one another, said inlet and outlet openings being defined at said opposite ends of said cage and said passageway extending over said bottom platform for permitting the animal to be weighed as the animal is present on said bottom platform, and
(ii) a plurality of load cells, at least one load cell being mounted to said frame adjacent to said entry end and at least one load cell being mounted to said frame adjacent to said exit end, said cage adjacent to said opposite ends thereof being supported from said load cells;
(c) dual inlet gates respectively pivotally mounted to one of said pairs of upright frame members disposed at said entry end of said frame adjacent to said inlet opening of said cage for undergoing movement toward and away from each other between opened and closed positions relative to said inlet opening of said cage;
(d) a first actuator mechanism coupled between said frame and said dual inlet gates and being actuatable to move said dual inlet gates between said opened and closed positions to correspondingly permit and prevent entry of the animal from a livestock supply area through said entry end of said frame and said inlet opening of said cage into said passageway thereof;
(e) an outlet sort gate mounted to said frame and disposed adjacent to said outlet opening of said weighing station for undergoing pivotal movement from a centered closed position to a first opened position or a second opened position relative to said outlet opening of said weighing station and said closed centered position, said outlet sort gate including a central panel portion having a pair of opposite ends, a pivot shaft disposed at one of said opposite ends for pivotal mounting of said outlet sort gate, and an end portion disposed at another of said opposite ends and extending in transverse relation to said central panel portion, said end portion being disposed across said outlet opening of said weighing station when said outlet sort gate is at said closed centered position, said outlet sort gate being pivotally moved and disposed to one side of said outlet opening when in said first opened position relative to said outlet opening, said outlet sort gate being pivotally moved and disposed to an opposite side of said outlet opening when in said second opened position relative to said outlet opening;
(f) a second actuator mechanism coupled between said frame and said outlet sort gate and being actuatable to move said outlet gate between said centered closed position and said first or second opened positions to correspondingly prevent and permit exit of the animal through said outlet opening of said weighing station from said passageway thereof to exterior heavy and light livestock sort areas;
and
(g) means for controlling operation of said cage and actuation of said first and second actuator mechanisms and thereby opening and closing of said inlet gate and outlet sort gate in response to operation of said cage.

7 more elements

A method of automatically weighing and sorting livestock by weight by permitting an animal to pass through a livestock weighing and sorting apparatus that includes a weighing station having an inlet opening and an outlet opening defining a passageway extending therethrough and a weighing scales associated therewith, dual inlet gates disposed at said inlet opening and mounted for undergoing pivotal movement by a first actuator mechanism toward and away from each other between an open position wherein an animal may move forwardly through the inlet opening and into the passageway and a closed position relative to said inlet opening wherein an animal is prevented from moving rearwardly from the passageway once within the passageway, and an outlet sort gate disposed adjacent to said outlet opening and mounted for undergoing pivotal movement by a second actuator mechanism between a closed position wherein an animal within the passageway is prevented to exit the passageway through the exit opening and an open position relative to said outlet opening wherein an animal within the passageway is permitted to exit the passageway forwardly through the outlet opening, comprising the steps of:

(a) actuating said first actuator mechanism to pivotally move said dual inlet gates away from one another to an open position and actuating said second actuator mechanism to a closed position so as to permit an animal to pass through said inlet opening and into said passageway and to be prevented from exiting said passageway by moving further forwardly through said outlet opening;
(b) detecting the presence of an animal within said passageway;
(c) actuating said first actuator mechanism to pivotally move said dual inlet gates toward one another from an open to a closed position so as to trap an animal within said passageway between said closed inlet and outlet openings;
(d) ensuring said dual inlet doors have been moved by said first actuator mechanism to said closed position;
(e) performing the weighing process of the animal within said passageway by operation of the weighing scales for a predetermined time interval to calculate the weight of the animal and record the weight measurement;
(f) after the weight of the animal has been calculated and recorded, actuating said second actuator mechanism to pivotally move said outlet sort gate from said closed position to an open position so as to permit the weighed animal to exit said passageway through said outlet opening;
and
(g) repeating steps (a) through (f) above for weighing successive animals, one at a time.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.