Exit gate with cow push bar for milking parlor
AssigneeNorbco, Inc.
InventorJoseph R. Moreau
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A push bar serves to nudge or urge cows to leave a milking parlor and move to an exit alley. The push bar is mounted on extendible support members, which may have an inner tube and an outer tube, and which is mounted by a journal onto an overhead pivot. There is one air cylinder to rotate the assembly, and additional air cylinders to extend and retract the support members. A programmed controller ensures that the push tube travels in a generally straight, horizontal path to push the cows out, and then lifts the push tube so it is over the cows' heads on the return.
Claims10
An extendible and rotatable push bar assembly for gently urging cows out from a milking parlor after the end of a milking operation;
- comprising:
- a horizontal push bar;
- an overhead horizontal pivot member;
- a plurality of extender slide assemblies, each having an upper slide member with a journal member that is pivotally journaled on said overhead horizontal pivot member and a lower slide member movable in said upper slide member, and supporting a respective end of said horizontal push bar such that the horizontal push bar moves radially in respect to said overhead horizontal pivot member;
- and each said slide assembly including a linear actuator that extends the lower and upper slide members relative to one another for controllably extending the push bar radially outward in respect to said pivot member;
- and
- means independent of said linear actuator for controllably rotating the upper slide members about said pivot member to sweep the push bar controllably forward to urge the cows out of the milking parlor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.