Curtain system for domestic animal shelter
OwnerLuke G. Senseniginventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Disclosed is a curtain system for a side of a shelter for domestic animals, wherein the side is open except for an animal restraining grid and the curtain system. The system includes an elongated tube horizontally mounted outside the grid. The tube carries a shaft about which an elongated curtain is wound. A horizontally extending end of the curtain protrudes through a slot of the tube. A drive raises and lowers the tube relative to the grid and winds and unwinds the curtain to raise and lower the curtain relative to the grid. The raising and lowering of the tube are independent of the winding and unwinding of the curtain. A fixed cable keeps the tube and curtain proximate the grid.
Claims20
A curtain system for a side of a shelter for domestic farm animals, wherein the side is generally open except for (a) a restraining grid for the animals, (b) the curtain system and (c) a facing arrangement that holds the grid, the curtain system comprising a tube having an elongated axis, the tube adapted to be horizontally mounted outside the restraining grid, the tube having an elongated slot extending in the same direction as the elongated axis of the tube, the tube carrying a shaft extending in the same direction as the elongated axis of the tube and about which an elongated curtain is wound, the tube carrying the shaft so the shaft is inside the tube, the curtain having a horizontally extending end protruding through the slot, a first drive directly connected to the tube for raising and lowering the tube relative to the open side of the shelter, a second drive directly connected to the shaft for winding and unwinding the curtain about the shaft so that the winding and unwinding of the curtain cause the curtain to be raised and lowered relative to the open side of the shelter, the first and second drives being such that the raising and lowering of the tube and the winding and unwinding of the curtain are independent of each other, a restraining structure for causing the tube and curtain to be between the restraining structure and the grid and proximate the grid, the tube being divided into plural elongated sections, the elongated sections of the tube being coupled together end to end, the shaft being divided into plural elongated sections, each of the elongated sections of the shaft having a length approximately equal to the length of a corresponding section of the tube in which a particular elongated section of the shaft is located, and a coupler connecting adjacent ends of the shafts of the elongated shaft sections to each other, the curtain including a continuous piece of fabric extending across a plurality of the couplers and wound on a plurality of the plural elongated sections of the shaft, the curtain end extending through aligned slots in a plurality of the elongated sections of the tube and the couplers.
In combination, a shelter for domestic farm animals, the shelter including a side that is generally open except for (a) a restraining grid for the animals, (b) a curtain system, and (c) a facing arrangement that holds the grid, the curtain system comprising a tube having an elongated axis, the tube being horizontally mounted outside the restraining grid, the tube having an elongated slot extending in the same direction as the elongated axis of the tube, the tube carrying a shaft extending in the same direction as the elongated axis of the tube and about which an elongated curtain is wound, the tube carrying the shaft so the shaft is inside the tube, the curtain having a horizontally extending end protruding through the slot, a first drive directly connected to the tube for raising and lowering the tube relative to the open side of the shelter, a second drive directly connected to the shaft for winding and unwinding the curtain about the shaft so that the winding and unwinding of the curtain cause the curtain to be raised and lowered relative to the open side of the shelter, the first and second drives being such that the raising and lowering of the tube and the winding and unwinding of the curtain are independent of each other, and a restraining structure for causing the tube and curtain to be between the restraining structure and the grid and proximate the grid, the open side having a substantial length, the tube being divided into plural elongated sections, together having lengths slightly greater than the substantial length of the open side, the elongated sections of the tube being coupled together end to end, the shaft being divided into plural elongated sections, each of the elongated sections of the shaft having a length approximately equal to the length of a corresponding section of the tube in which a particular elongated section of the shaft is located, and a coupler connecting adjacent ends of the shafts of the elongated shaft sections to each other, the curtain including a continuous piece of fabric extending across a plurality of the couplers and wound on a plurality of the plural elongated sections of the shaft and extending through the slots in a plurality of the elongated sections of the tube.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.