Abstract:
An elevator-type mechanism which raises and lowers an animal into desired vertical position to facilitate treatment of injuries, treatment of illnesses, grooming, and the like of the animal.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
   This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/456,651, filed Mar. 21, 2003, hereby incorporated herein by reference. 

   FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates to an animal raising and lowering system and more particularly to an elevator-type mechanism to raise and lower an animal into respective upper level, ground level, and lower level positions. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Grooming of animals, especially large quadrupeds, often results in a handler of the animal being subjected to undesirable bending and reaching positions resulting in fatigue and pain. Such is also the case when attempting to treat injuries or illnesses of animals. In addition, shoeing of horses can be difficult for a farrier due to the size and weight of the horse, and the bent over position required during the hoof trimming and shoeing process. Additionally, injury to the farrier can result when an animal is resistant to being shod. 
   A solution to these ergonomic problems may be to elevate the animal to facilitate working on the legs; or lowering the animal to facilitate working on the upper body and head. However, the lifting and lowering of large animals is difficult without causing injury or discomfort. Various systems utilizing hip clamps or a hoist and sling arrangement are available. Such arrangements often require bulky machinery and may result in injury or discomfort to the animals being treated. 
   The use of slings can be satisfactory in some instances. However, slings have fallen out of favor because of the length of time required for setup, and the degree of difficulty in the setup and the balancing of the animal on the sling. 
   Devices to aid horse shoeing are well known in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 124,452 to Shimer, U.S. Pat. No. 286,389 to Coffey, U.S. Pat. No. 457,345 to Fox, and U.S. Pat. No. 1,330,807 to Ilieff disclose devices for immobilizing a horse&#39;s leg while raising the hoof to a limited degree whereby a horseshoe may be attached to the hoof. These devices are individually complex and are not disclosed to be used with other types of devices. Such structures are also inherently unstable and may result in an injury to the animal or the farrier. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 388,569 to Martin and U.S. Pat. No. 1,318,202 to Garnier disclose additional structures for immobilizing a horse. U.S. Pat. No. 4,762,089 to McNulty discloses a device to tether a horse within a grooming stall, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,035,204 to Knoss discloses a head restraint device for a livestock chute. Neither patent discloses a device enabling the restraining and shoeing of horse in a safe, quick, and easy manner. 
   It would be desirable to produce a system for raising and lowering an animal which minimizes injury and discomfort to the animal and facilitates a grooming, shoeing, and treatment of the animal. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   Consistent and consonant with the present invention, a system for raising and lowering an animal which minimizes injury and discomfort to the animal and facilitates a grooming, shoeing, and treatment of the animal, has surprisingly been discovered. 
   The system for raising and lowering an animal comprises: a platform for supporting an animal and movable to an upper level, an intermediate level, and a lower level; a vertically movable structure mounted for supporting the platform to selectably cause the platform to move to the upper level, the intermediate level, and the lower level; and a rail structure supported by the platform to restrain the animal. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The above, as well as other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be understood from the detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
       FIG. 1  is an elevational view of an animal raising and lowering system showing a supported animal at an intermediate level or ground level; 
       FIG. 2  is an elevational view similar to  FIG. 1  showing the supported animal at a lower level or below ground level; 
       FIG. 3  is an elevational view similar to  FIGS. 1 and 2  showing the supported animal at an upper level or above ground level; 
       FIG. 4  is a fragmentary top plan view of the system illustrated in  FIGS. 1 ,  2 , and  3  showing the animal supporting platform is illustrated without the presence of the supported animal; 
       FIG. 5  is a fragmentary elevational view of the system illustrated in  FIGS. 1–4  showing a shoeing plate; and 
       FIG. 6  is a fragmentary perspective view showing the shoeing plate illustrated in  FIG. 5 . 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   Referring now to  FIG. 1 , there is shown an animal raising and lowering system generally indicated by reference numeral  10  for selectively raising and lowering animals to various heights in accordance with the present invention. The raising and lowering system  10  includes a platform  12  capable of supporting an animal  14 . The platform  12  is supported and stabilized by an elevator or vertically movable structure  16 . A scissors lift mechanism  18  is provided in the embodiment shown. However, it is understood that other vertically movable structures or elevators can be used. In the preferred embodiment, the scissors lift mechanism  18  is a double scissors mechanism for increased stability, however, other scissors lifts may be used. The vertically movable structure  16  also includes at least one hydraulic cylinder  20 , which is controlled by an electrically energized hydraulic power system including an electric motor  22  and control box  24 , to cause the platform  12  to move upwardly and downwardly. Other conventional control and actuation systems can be used as desired such as a pneumatic system, for example. As illustrated, the raising and lowering system  10  is housed in a cavity or a pit  26  formed in the ground  28 . Other configurations may be used above ground including ramps or other ingress and egress devices (not shown), for example, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. The platform  12  may be formed with a trap door or other access port (not shown) to facilitate entry into the pit  26  for maintenance or other purposes. 
   A rail structure  30  is formed on and supported by the platform  12 . Uprights  32  support horizontally disposed rails or side rails  34  and rail extensions  36 . Adjustable tool brackets  38  are provided on the uprights  32 . A spring-loaded locking pin  40  cooperates with vertically arranged spaced apart locking holes  42  to provide a locking mechanism to effect selective vertical positions for the brackets  38 . However, other conventional locking mechanisms can be used such as clamp type, for example.  FIGS. 1 ,  2 , and  3 , show the platform  12  in respective intermediate, lower, and upper levels. 
   Referring to  FIG. 4 , the raising and lowering system  10  is shown without the presence of an animal  14 . A pair of spaced apart end rails  34 , a first side rail  35 , and a second side rail  37  cooperate to form a generally rectangular area of confinement. The end rails  34  are hingedly mounted to the side rail  35  or the side rail  37  to swing through the radius R and out of the way to permit ingress and egress of an animal  14 . A first extensible rail  44  having spaced apart opposing ends and containing holes  39  along its length is provided. The ends of the rail  44  terminate in brackets  41  that include locking pins  46 . The rail  44  includes a first member  43  which is received inside the hollow interior of a second member  45 . The length of the rail  44  can be adjusted by inserting the locking pin  47  which may be inserted into an aligned hole  39  of the first member  43  to attach the first member  43  to the second member  45 . The length of the rail  44  can be adjusted by inserting the locking pin  47  into an alternate hole  39 . The rail  44  is attached to the end rails  34  by aligning and inserting the locking pins  46  into hole  48  of the end rails  34 . The locking pins  36  can be inserted into different holes  48  along the length of the end rails  34 . Other conventional locking mechanisms can be used such as clamp type, for example. A second extensible rail  44 ′ having a structure substantially identical to the first extensible rail  44  is provided. The first end of the rail  44 ′ is attached to the first extensible rail  44  by aligning and inserting an associated locking pin  47 ′ into an aligned hole  39  of the first extensible rail  44 . The length of the second extensible rail  44 ′ can be altered to accommodate different positions of the first extensible rail  44  on the end rails  34  by inserting the locking pin  47 ′ into an alternate hole  39 ′. The second end of the rail  44 ′ is attached to the side rail  35  by aligning and inserting an associated locking pin  46 ′ into an aligned hole  48  of the side rail  35 . The locking pins  46 ′ can be aligned and inserted into different holes  39  and  48  along the length of the first extensible rail  44  and the side rail  34 . The extensible rails  44  and  44 ′ cooperate with the rails  34 ,  35 , and  37  to create a relatively rectangular area of confinement. Alternate positioning of either or both of the extensible rails  44  and  44 ′ changes the area of confinement. It is understood that was has been disclosed is the preferred embodiment of the invention. Alternate components may be used to form the rail structure described above without departing from the scope of the invention. Non-extensible rails may be used instead of extensible rails  44  and  44 ′, for example. In that instance, a non-extensible intermediate rail is substituted for extensible rail  44 , and a series of non-extensible rails is provided and one is selected and substituted for extensible rail  44 ′. The non-extensible rails each have a different length, and one is selected depending on the position of the non-extensible intermediate rail along the end rails  34 . 
     FIGS. 5 and 6  illustrate a shoeing plate  50  removably attached to the bracket  38 . The shoeing plate  50  includes a hold down strap  52  disposed thereon. The shoeing plate  50  can be rotated outwardly about a vertical axis. 
   In operation, the raising and lowering system  10  is operated by suitable mechanisms disposed in the control box  24 . Typically, a first button (not shown) is depressed to energize the electric motor  22  of the associated hydraulic power system to cause the cylinders  20  to operate the scissors lift  18  and move the platform  12  from one horizontal position to another until a desired level is reached. A second button (not shown) may then be depressed to energize the hydraulic power system to cause the cylinder  20  to operate the scissors lift  18  and move the platform  12  to another horizontal position until another desired level is reached. 
   At the upper level or other desired position, a farrier can connect the shoeing plate  50  to the bracket  38  at a desired level. A leg  54  of the animal  14  can be rested on the shoeing plate  50  and held in place with the strap  52  as shown in  FIG. 5 . The animal  14  can also be restrained as desired using a lead rope (not shown) tied to the horizontally disposed rail  34  or the rail extension  36  and belly and back ropes (not shown) tied to the rails  34 , if necessary. Additionally, grooming and treatment of illness or injury can be conducted. In the lower position, grooming and treatment of illness or injury can be conducted. 
   Locking mechanisms (not shown) are provided as a safety feature should the hydraulic power system fail during operation. The locking mechanisms lock the hydraulic power system in place to militate against the platform  12  moving until appropriate repairs can be made. 
   In order to facilitate animals  14  of different sizes, the intermediate rails  44  are provided to enclose and contact the body of the animal  14 . For a larger animal  14  such as a draft horse, for example, the intermediate rails  44  can be moved to the position shown in  FIG. 4 . For a smaller animal  14  such as a pony, for example, the intermediate rails  44  can be adjusted to create a smaller inside area therebetween to more tightly and securely enclose the animal  14 , as indicated by the arrows. Additionally, a spacer platform (not shown) can be placed on the platform  12  to raise shorter animals  14  to a safer desired height with respect to the rail structure  30 . Height adjustable uprights  32  can also be used to facilitate safely handling the shorter animals  14 . 
   In one embodiment of the invention, the platform  12  may travel through a total of sixty (60) inches, or thirty (30) inches above ground level and thirty (30) inches below ground level. 
   From the foregoing description, one ordinarily skilled in the art can easily ascertain the essential characteristics of this invention and, without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, can make various changes and modifications to the invention to adapt it to various usages and conditions.