Claims
- 1. An animal containment pen comprising a front panel, two side panels, and a rear panel, the front panel comprising a substantially planar panel body defined by a plurality of upright frame posts and a plurality of transverse frame rails lying in a common vertical plane including a first end post adjacent a first end of the panel body, a second end post adjacent a second end of the panel body opposed to the first end, a top rail and a bottom rail interconnecting said end posts and an intermediate post connected to said top rail and said bottom rail, a headgate section mounted on said first end post and on said intermediate post and defining a headgate opening in the panel body adjacent said first end of the panel body, a hinged squeeze panel mounted on the panel body for pivotal movement about a vertical axis defined by the panel body at one side of the head gate section remote from said first end post so as to squeeze one side of an animal confined with its head in the head gate opening, the head gate section comprising a first vertical neck engaging member mounted on said first end post, a second neck engaging member mounted on said intermediate post, the neck engaging members being movable from a closed position in which the neck of the animal is confined to an open position in which the distance between the first and second neck engaging members is increased to allow entry and exit of the head of the animal from the headgate section, a first of said side panels adjacent said first end post being arranged to contact an opposed side of the animal when squeezed by said squeeze panel, said first side panel including a planar substantially imperforate panel surface extending from a bottom rail at the ground to a top rail spaced from the ground and from a rear end vertical post to a front end vertical post for contacting the adjacent side of the animal arranged for preventing passage therethrough of a leg of the animal, one rectangular portion of the panel surface being openable to allow access to a portion of the animal through said panel surface while preventing the escape of the animal, the rectangular portion extending from said rear end post of said first side panel to an upright intermediate the rear end post and the front end post of said first side panel and extending from the bottom rail of said first side panel at the ground to an intermediate rail below said top rail and a portion of said squeeze panel aligned with said rectangular portion being open to allow access to a portion of the animal through said squeeze panel while preventing the escape of the animal.
- 2. The pen according to claim 1 wherein the rectangular portion comprises a pair of drop board members each of which is elongate and extends in a horizontal direction with one being arranged above the other and coupled to the other for hinged movement about a common line longitudinal of the boards.
- 3. The pen according to claim 1 including latch means for latching said squeeze panel at a required position of squeezing, said latch means being responsive to movement of the squeeze panel to the required location to latch said squeeze side panel at the required location.
- 4. The pen according to claim 3 wherein the latch means comprises an elongate member extending between the squeeze panel and said first side panel.
- 5. The pen according to claim 3 wherein the latch means comprises an elongate rod member mounted on the squeeze panel and movable therewith into engagement with a receiving means mounted on the first side panel.
- 6. The pen according to claim 3 wherein said latch means operates automatically to latch said squeeze panel at the required location and includes means for releasing the latch means.
- 7. The pen according to claim 1 wherein said squeeze panel is mounted such that movement thereof from an open position toward a squeezing position causes movement of the headgate from the open position to the closed position thereof and is separate from said headgate such that the headgate can remain in the closed position while the squeeze side panel is moved back to the open position.
- 8. The pen according to claim 7 wherein the head gate section includes a pair of doors pivotally mounted on the front panel and movable from the open position in which the doors are inclined from the front panel toward the rear panel, the squeeze panel being mounted such that movement thereof causes an end member thereof to engage one of the headgate doors to directly move the headgate door into the closed position thereof.
- 9. The pen according to claim 8 wherein said one headgate door is mounted for pivotal movement on said one intermediate post about a vertical longitudinal axis of said one intermediate post and wherein said squeeze panel is mounted for pivotal movement about the same longitudinal axis of said one intermediate post.
- 10. An animal containment pen comprising a front panel, two side panels, and a rear panel, the front panel comprising a substantially planar panel body defined by a plurality of upright frame posts and a plurality of transverse frame rails lying in a common vertical plane including a first end post adjacent one end of the panel, a second end post adjacent a second end of the panel opposed to the first end, a top rail and a bottom rail interconnecting said end posts and an intermediate post connected to said top rail and said bottom rail, a headgate section mounted on said first end post and said intermediate post and defining a headgate opening in the panel body adjacent said first end of the panel body, a hinged squeeze panel mounted on the panel body for pivotal movement about a vertical axis defined by the panel body at one side of the head gate section remote from said first end post so as to squeeze one side of an animal confined with its head in the head gate opening, the head gate section comprising a first vertical neck engaging member mounted on said first end post, a second neck engaging member mounted on said intermediate post, the neck engaging members being movable from a closed position in which the neck of the animal is confined to an open position in which the distance between the first and second neck engaging members is increased to allow entry and exit of the head of the animal from the headgate section, a first one of said side panels adjacent said first end post being arranged to contact an opposed side of the animal when squeezed by said squeeze panel, and latch means for latching said squeeze panel at a required position of squeezing, said latch means being responsive to movement of the squeeze panel to the required location to latch said squeeze panel at the required location, said latch means comprising an elongate pole mounted on said squeeze panel and arranged to extend between said squeeze panel and said firs side panel, said elongate pole having first latch means, and said latch means further comprising receiving means mounted on said first side panel for receiving said pole and having second latch means thereon for engaging said first latch means in a latching action, said receiving means having a width greater than that of the pole to receive the pole when misaligned, the pole including release means at the end thereof adjacent the squeeze panel for manual actuation of said first latch means to release said latching means to allow the elongate pole to be removed from the receiving means.
- 11. The pen according to claim 10 wherein the first latch means comprises a plurality of latch teeth on the pole projecting radially outwardly to one side of the pole, and wherein said release means comprises means for rotating the pole about the longitudinal axis thereof to angularly move the latch teeth from a latching position in engagement with the second latch means to a release position free from said second latch means.
- 12. An animal containment pen comprising a front panel, two side panels, and a rear panel, the front panel comprising a substantially planar panel body defined by a plurality of upright frame posts and a plurality of transverse frame rails lying in a common vertical plane including a first end post adjacent one end of the panel, a second end post adjacent a second end of the panel opposed to the first end, a top rail and a bottom rail interconnecting said end posts and an intermediate post connected to said top rail and said bottom rail, a headgate section mounted on said first end post and said intermediate post and defining a headgate opening in the panel body adjacent said first end of the panel body, a hinged squeeze panel mounted on said intermediate post of the panel body for pivotal movement about a vertical axis defined by said intermediate post at one side of the head gate section remote from said first end post so as to squeeze one side of an animal confined with its head in the head gate opening, the head gate section comprising a first neck engaging gate member mounted on said first end post for pivotal movement about a vertical axis of said first end post, a second neck engaging gate member mounted on said intermediate post for pivotal movement about a vertical axis of said intermediate post, the neck engaging gate members being pivotably movable from a neck engaging position in which the neck of the animal is confined to a receiving position in which the distance between the first and second neck engaging gate members is increased to allow entry of the head of the animal into the headgate section, means connecting the first and second neck engaging gate members for movement commonly from said receiving position to said neck engaging position, said squeeze panel being separate from said neck engaging gate members such that the neck engaging gate members can remain in the neck engaging position while the squeeze panel is moved away from a squeezing position of squeezing said animal toward an open position and said squeeze panel including a portion thereof arranged for abutting said second neck engaging gate member such that movement thereof from said open position toward said squeezing position causes movement of the second neck engaging gate member from the receiving position to the neck engaging position thereof.
- 13. An animal containment pen comprising two side panels and a rear panel, the front panel comprising a substantially planar panel body defined by a plurality of upright frame posts and a plurality of transverse frame rails lying in a common vertical plane including a first vertical end post adjacent one end of the panel; a second vertical end post adjacent a second end of the panel opposed to the first and; an intermediate vertical post between said first and second end posts and coplanar therewith; a top horizontal rail connected directly to top ends of the first, second and intermediate vertical posts, and a bottom horizontal rail connected directly to the bottom of the first, second and intermediate vertical posts; a head gate section mounted on said first end post and said intermediate post and defining a head gate opening in the panel body adjacent said first end of the panel body; separate in the panel body between two of said posts separate from said head gate section through which an operator can pass; a gate mounted on the panel body and movable from an open position allowing passage of the operator through said separate opening to a closed position closing said separate opening; and a hinged squeeze panel mounted on the panel body for pivotal movement about a vertical axis defined by the panel body at one side of the head gate section remote from said one end so as to squeeze one side of an animal confined with its head in the head gate opening; the head gate section comprising said first end post; a first neck engaging gate member; first collar means mounted on said first end post for rotation about a vertical axis of the post and connected to said first gate member, such that, in a closed position of the head gate section, the first gate member lies in the vertical plane of the panel body and can rotate about said axis to an open position out of said vertical plane; said one intermediate post; a second vertical neck engaging gate member; second collar means mounted on the intermediate post for rotation about a vertical axis of the intermediate post and connected to said second gate member for mounting the second gate member on said intermediate post, such that, in a closed position of the head gate, the second gate member lies in the vertical plane of the panel body and can rotate about said axis to an open position out of said vertical plane.
Parent Case Info
This application is a continuation in part of application Ser. No. 466,964 filed Jan. 18, 1990 now abandoned. Reference is also made to copending application Ser. No. 626,454 filed simultaneously with this application on Dec. 12, 1990 which makes claim to and describes features shown herein.
US Referenced Citations (8)
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Date |
Country |
224271 |
Jun 1958 |
AUX |
2385326 |
Dec 1978 |
FRX |
Non-Patent Literature Citations (1)
Entry |
W-W Livestock Equipment, Nanton, Alberta Canada. |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
466964 |
Jan 1990 |
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