AU599683B2 - Tiltable cradle - Google Patents

Description

583 COMMONWCALTH OF PATLENTO ACT 1052-02 PLETE SPECIFI (OnIGINAL) FOR OFFICE~ USErorm Application Number,.

Lodged- Class Int, Class CODGED AT r Complote Specification Lodged: Accepted: Published: Prio' Ity.

Ir I 'ument contains the iu01,1dadmnts made und,.r iC.'fl 49 and is correct for prin tinig.

Reletad Art: Namre f Applicant., Add re~s of Applicant: Actual inventor: Address for Service: TO BE COMPLETED BY APPLICANT WILLIAM DAVID GOLDING-lANDYSI'.)E Bingfield, Meadows, State of South Australia, Commonwealth of Australia William David GOLDING-HANDYSIDE and Robert John SILSON care of R.K. MADDERN ASSOCIATES, 345 King William Street, Adelaide, South Australia, 5000.

Complete Specification for the Invention entitled: "TILTABLE CRADLE" The following statement Is a full description of this Invention, Including the best method of performing it known to me.

-2- This invention relates to a cradle which is useful for immobilising a sheep, goat or other similar animal when it is required to operate on or treat, the animal in some way. The invention however is not limited to the cradle but also extends to a method of handling an animal.

It is known that many dif[O~ont typos of tiltable oradlos have been produced in the past, and although some of these cradles have boon operable to eject the animal, there has usually bcon a requirement that the 0 06 animal should be lifted into the cradle. This is heavy 0 work, and can in some instances result in dislocation a 03 of elements of the spine of the operator, or muscular 0 problems, and the main object of this invention is to provide a tiltable cradle which not only facilitates release of an animal but also facilitates handling of the animal into the cradle.

In this invention, a tiltable cradle comprises a base which itself comprises an upstanding stem, a cradle a'2; tray having a floor and side wings, a hinge between the a upper end of the stem and the cradle tray floor hinging the cradle tray between generally upright and horizontal positions, and latch means co-operable between the base stem and the cradle to releasably retain the cradle tray 7 5 in said generally horizontal position.

0 CThe invention makes it relatively easy to control an animal by lifting the animal's forefeet from the ground, and limiting head movement by grasping the head or ears of the animal, and causing the animal to walk backwardly to the cradle before tilting the cradle so that the animal thereby lies between the wings of the cradle and th- floor of the cradle. Thus in an embodiment of the invention, a method of positioning an animal in a cradle as defined above is to lift at least one forefoot of the animal and grasp portion of the animal's head, move the animal rearwardly until its back is contiguous -3with the floor of the cradle, and tilt thi oradio so that the animal lio1 on its back and betwoon oido wingo of the cradle. Roloaso of the animal is simple in that the cradle latch only noodo to be released and the cradle roturnod to its gonorally vortical pooition, and this has the eoffot of throwing the animal onto the ground, hind logs first.

The cradle as above-defined can be an asseombly, and io oaoily carried, for example in the tray of a utility-typo vohiclo or truck. Howovor somotimoo thoro oo a is a need for the eradle to be quickly knocked down and reassembled, and in a further ombodiment of the invention, ej the base comprisoo two cross members, one cross member comprising a pair of limbs projocLing outwordly in opposite directions from a hollow tubular member, the oB« other cross member oxtending through the tubular member and having an aperturo which aligno with an aporture theorin, the stem having a thread in its base, and a bolt extendable through the aperture to throadably engage the 20 stem base thread, retaining the base members together, there being a withdrawable pin between a hinge wing on the o top of the stem and a comiplementary hinge wing on the underside of the floor of the cradle.

While the invention need not necessarily include '"25 the above-mentioned details, an embodiment is described 4 64 Shereunder in further detail with reference to and is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which: FIG. 1 illustrates moving an animal rearwardly to place its back contiguous with a cradle tray (when in its upright position), FIG. 2 illustrates the animal lying on its back on the cradle floor, the cradle tray being in its generally horizontal position, FIG. 3 is an end elevation of the cradle, FIG. 4 is a side elevation of FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a plan of FIG. 4, -4-a a FIG. 6 is an "exploded" view of the base and stem) FTG. 7 is a partly-sectioned view showing the latching mechanism, drawn to a larger scale than the other drawings. a4 and latch asstnbl~ In this embodiment a cradle 10 om rises a base 11 which has intersecting ground-.4 gagingmembers 12 and an upstanding st-em 13, the stem 13 being joined by a withdrawable pivot pin 14 of a hinge 15 the wings of which are respectively secured to the upper end of the stem 13 and to the floor 18 of a sheet metal cradle tray V 0 19 which also has side wings 20. The side wings 20 are connected at the lowerend of the cradle tray 19 by an end 0_1 5 wall 21, but the side wings 20 converge towards the upper end and terminate in a tray handle 22 which projects therefrom.

The construction of the base 11 is shown best in 00 FIG. 6. One of the ground-engaging members 12 comprises 0 0 two portions which extend outwardly from a central square tubular member 24, while the other member passes through 0 0 the square aperture thereof, the other member having an aperture extending therethrough which aligns with an aperture 25 in the tubular member 24, and a bolt 26 passes through those apertures and threadably engages a threaded On 00 0 aperture 27 in the bottom of the circular section stem 13 to retain all those said elements together as an assembly which however can be dismantled by removal of the single bolt 26.

The stem 13 however comprises not only the circular member shown in FIG. 5, but also an outer -w-a tubular member 30 which slides over the circular portion of the stem 13 so that the tray 19 is rotatable about a vertical axis, and it is this tubular member 30 to which hinge 15 is welded.

The hinge wing on the upper end of the tubular member ,l 30 functions as a striker plate for a spring loaded latch k t 32 slidablo in a housing 33 beneath the floor 18 o£ oradle tray 19, The latch 32 is roloasablo by withdrawing a tension rod 34 to which is uouplod a latch reloaoe handle (FIGS. 4 and 7) In use, a sheep, goat or other animal is lifteod onto its hind legs and controlled by graoping ono foreleg and portion of the head, and is walkod backwardly into the cradle when the cradle is in the position illustratod in FIG. 1. The cradle is then tilted about ito pivot pin 14, until the latch 32 engages under tho strikor plate 0 C' (hinge part), thereby retaining the cradle in its S generally horizontal position illustratod in PIGS. 2, 0 o= 3 and 4.

0 4 Since the shoulders of tho animal are between tho o01'5 converging portions of the side wings 20 of the cradle 0< member 19, the animal is substantially immobilised although the side wings diminish in height towards the o< head as shown particularly in FIGS. 1 and 4. However 0 0 o t the wider area near the rear eord of the animal enables o a %3 ~easy operation on the animal at that location.

a After the animal has been treated, or otherwise 0 o o operated on, the latch is removed by pulling the handle to release the latch 32 from its striker plate 31, and the handle 22 is lifted tilting the animal so that its hind legs again encounter the ground and the inertia a0 4 4 St of the remaining part of the body will reposition the animal on all fours.

Consideration of the invention will indicate that it provides a new and very useful method of handling sheep, goats and other animals, the device is inexpensive and simple and can be readily dismantled or reassembled, respectively for transport and use in the field.

Claims (9)

1. A tiltable animal-Immobilisation cradle comprising a base which itself comprises an upstanding stem, a cradle tray having a floor and side wings, a hinge between the upper end of the stem and the cradle tray floor hinging the cradle tray between substantially upright and horizontal positions, and latch means co-operable between the base stem and the cradle to releasably retain the cradle tray in said substantially horizontal position.

2. A tiltable cradle according to claim 1 wherein said base stem comprises an upper tubular portion and a lower portion, the upper portion having one wing of said hinge thereon. ,o on

3. A tiltable cradle according to claim 2 wherein a second S°o wing of said hinge is secured to the underside of said cradle S floor, and a withdrawable hinge pin joins said wings. 0 0 0 0o 0 °o

4. A tiltable cradle according to any preceding claim wherein Og said base also comprises ground-contacting members, and a bolt 0 ooo joining said ground-contacting members to the lower end of said stem. 0

5. A tiltable cradle according to claim 3 wherein said second 0ooo hinge wing comprises a striker plate, and wherein a housing 0 0 depends from said floor, said latch being slidable within said 0 0 housing and releasably engaging said striker plate when the 0 00 cradle tray is in its substantially horizontal position. 0o

6. A tiltable cradle according to claim 5 further comprising 0 OO a tension member extending from said latch and terminating in a latch release handle, and one end of said tray terminates in a tray handle adjacent said latch release handle.

7. A method of positioning an animal in a cradle which is in accordance with any one of claims 1 to 6, comprising lifting at least one forefoot of the animal and grasping the animal's ,4AiA head, moving the animal-- -7- roarwardly until its back is contiguous with the cradle tray floor (when in its gonerlly urigh position), and tilting the cradle tray to its gnQraRloy horizontal position with the animal then lying on its back on the cradle floor between the side wings.

8, A method of releasing an animal from a cradle tray which is in accordance with claim 6, comprising grasping both said handles, releasing said latch release handle, and tilt'ng said cradle to its .gaEn-aZuy upright position to eject the animal feet first from the cradle tray. f

9. A tiltable cradle substantially as hereinbefore S described with reference to and as illustrated in the 0 So, accompanying drawings. A method substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. 0 0 Dated this 30th day of July 1987. WILLIAM DAVID GOLDING-HANDYSIDE By his Patent Attorneys R K MADDERN ASSOCIATES 0 i Ir