Turkey loader

A turkey loader for transferring live birds of a flock to cages, e.g. on a van or truck for carrying same to market, comprises a conveyor belt mounted upon the elevatable member of a forklift vehicle and provided at one end with a raisable and lowerable gate through which the turkeys are admitted onto the conveyor belt. At the other end the structure is formed with a door which can be raised to permit egress of the turkeys as they enter their cages. The structure is further provided with a suspended platform upon which an operator can stand to insure proper movement of the turkeys into the respective cages and from which the operator can open and close the cage doors. The platform can be provided with hydraulic controls necessary to align the discharge end of the conveyor with the respective cages.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a turkey loader and, more particularly, to 
an apparatus for transferring turkeys from an enclosure in which they are 
received as a flock, to individual cages, e.g. on a transport vehicle. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
In the husbandry of turkeys and other large birds, it is frequently 
necessary to transfer the birds to cages, e.g. for transport to market or 
simply to move the birds from one place to another. A typical vehicle for 
the transportation of turkeys comprises a multiplicity of cages stacked 
upon one another and disposed in rows along the back of a transporter or 
truck. The turkeys, generally raised in flocks, must be transferred in 
given number to each of the cages of the truck in succession. 
The transfer of turkeys is usually a cumbersome, tiring and difficult 
process. If the transfer is to be effected by hand, each individual bird 
must be caught and carried to the cage opening and pushed inside. This is 
a particularly onerous task since turkeys can be heavy and the procedure 
is exceedingly tiresome. 
As turkey-raising farms have increased in size, there has been considerable 
effort expended in improving the technique whereby turkeys are deposited 
in cages or other transportable enclosures for transfer to market or to a 
turkey processing station. In general such devices have comprised a 
conveyor belt which is tilted upwardly so that the upper end terminates at 
the cage while the other end terminates at an enclosure for the turkeys. 
Such a device has considerable advantages over hand loading but has not 
proved to be entirely satisfactory. 
For example, it is not always sufficiently mobile to allow transfer of 
turkeys, especially when the vehicle cannot be properly positioned with 
respect to the discharge end of the conveyor. 
Furthermore, long conveyors of the type which have been found necessary 
heretofore are exceedingly expensive and difficult to operate efficiently 
especially when large numbers of turkeys are to be transferred to 
different locations or to different vehicles. Finally, the conventional 
conveyors for the transfer of turkeys and other birds, raised upon a farm, 
are not economically feasible for small farms in which the loader is only 
used for a brief period during the year. 
For these reasons considerable effort has been expended to improve upon 
turkey-loading techniques even though the aforementioned conveyor has 
received wide-spread acceptance at least upon larger farms. 
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
It is the principal object of the present invention to provide an improved 
turkey loader in which the aforementioned disadvantages are obviated. 
Another object of this invention is to provide a turkey loading apparatus 
which is of simple and low cost construction, is far more versatile than 
existing turkey loaders in that the discharge of turkeys can be changed 
rapidly with respect to direction, and which possesses the necessary 
controllability and versatility to transfer large numbers of turkeys with 
a minimum of labor expenditure and at ease. 
Still a further object of this invention is to provide a turkey loader 
which can be used with birds of all sizes and constitutes a labor-saving 
device by comparison with earlier turkey-transferring techniques. 
Finally, it is an object of the invention to provide a turkey loading 
apparatus which will be highly effective for smaller farms as well as for 
large farming installations. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
These objects, and others which will become apparent hereinafter, are 
attained, in accordance with the present invention, in an apparatus for 
transferring birds of a flock from an enclosure to respective cages in a 
cage stack, e.g. upon a vehicle, which comprises an elevatable and 
lowerable horizontal conveyor belt and a support structure therefore, the 
support structure being mounted upon the vertically shiftable member of a 
forklift device. 
The present invention utilizes the fact that practically every farm, large 
and small, is equipped with a tractor having a forklift attachment for the 
handling of bales, turkey cages and the like. According to the invention, 
this tractor is provided with a structure which is formed with a conveyor 
belt having an entry end and an egress end. In principle, therefore, the 
use of a tilted conveyor, reaching from the enclosure to the cage, is 
eliminated. 
In accordance with this aspect of the invention, the conveyor is horizontal 
and is lowered to receive the turkeys at its entry end and is thereafter 
raised to align its egress end with a cage into which the turkeys are to 
be discharged. 
According to an important feature of the invention, the support structure 
for the conveyor is also provided with a depending platform on which the 
operator of the device can stand or be seated. This platform is provided 
adjacent the egress or discharge end and serves to support the operator 
and the control means for the device, namely, the means for hydraulically 
shifting the conveyor assembly horizontally and vertically to position the 
egress of discharge end in line with the opening to the cage. Since the 
cage is provided with a closable door, the operator can also be the one 
who opens and closes this door and hence is able to prepare the cage to 
receive the turkeys or prevent the escape of turkeys once they have been 
deposited in the case. 
According to still another feature of the invention, the entry end of the 
conveyor structure is provided with a swingable gate which can be raised, 
e.g. manually or automatically, when the conveyor is lowered to align it 
with a ramp or other guide system whereby the turkeys are guided onto the 
conveyor. Without materially increasing the cost of the system of the 
present invention, the ramp may be formed by a drivable conveyor of 
relatively short size and hence of much smaller cost than the relative 
long conveyors used heretofore for direct transfer of the birds from the 
enclosure to the cases. 
Still another feature of the invention resides in providing a swingable 
door member at the discharge or egress end of the conveyor, this door 
being operated by the individual controlling the unit and serving to 
retain the turkeys on the conveyor belt once the conveyor belt has stopped 
moving and all of the turkeys have been deposited thereon. 
Advantageously, this latter door structure forms a guide member inclined 
downwardly in the direction of discharge of the conveyor. Of course, it is 
possible to load and unload the turkeys from one end, thereby using only 
one swingable door, the other end of the structure being provided with a 
fixed door to prevent the turkeys from falling off this end of the 
conveyor. 
Advantagously, the conveyor is operated by a hydraulic motor, and the 
conveyor-carrying structure is mounted upon the forklift with freedom of 
horizontal movement transverse to the direction of displacement of the 
conveyor. Further means may be provided to control the vertical position 
of the conveyor, all of these latter means being hydraulically operated by 
control valves mounted upon the platform. 
The principal advantage of the present system is its considerable 
simplicity over conventional arrangements as further in the fact that only 
a single operator is required once the forklift is in position. By 
operating the controls on the platform, the operator can successively line 
up the discharge end of the conveyor with the openings communicating with 
the cages. 
The system also has the advantage that it obviates the need to lift 
relatively heavy cages containing birds and thus eliminates a significant 
disadvantage of conventional systems in which the birds are caught, 
introduced into cages and the cages are stacked upon a vehicle. Naturally 
the arrangement also eliminates any need for hand-catching, tieing or 
movement of the birds.

SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION 
In FIG. 1 of the drawing, we have shown a turkey loader according to the 
present invention which comprises a support 1 having a truss-like 
structure comprising a pair of struts 2, 3, on each side of the device, 
only one of the struts being illustrated in FIG. 1. 
The struts 2, 3 are anchored to a frame 4 having a pair of sockets 5, 6 
adapted to receive the fork members of a forklift truck. Pedestals 7, 8 
(two on each side of the device) serve to support the unit on the ground 
when the latter is lowered. Supports 7 and 8 can be vertically adjusted in 
the direction of the arrow A via setscrews 9 and 10. The support 1 is 
provided with a conveyor belt generally represented at 11 and having end 
rollers 12, 13, which may be driven by a hydraulic motor 14 illustrated in 
FIG. 6. 
The support 1 also carries a plurality of uprights 15 to which a pair of 
relatively low sidewalls 16 are anchored via brackets 17. The tubular 
uprights 15 also receive posts 18 which carry horizontal members 19 
forming a lateral gate along each side of the conveyor. 
At the discharge end 20 of the device, there is provided a door 21 which is 
formed with a hoop 22 receiving a pin 23 carried by rails 24 of the gate 
members 19 of the device. Separate pins can be confined to each of the 
opposite edges thereof. The door 21 is, moreover, articulated at 25 to a 
guide rod 26 which is pivotally mounted at 27 to the rails 24. 
Consequently when the door 21 is swung in the direction of arrow B, it can 
assume a vertical position as shown, for example, in broken lines in FIG. 
5. 
At the intake end of the conveyor, there is provided a further door 30 
which is formed with a pair of connecting rods 31, 32 hinged at 33 to the 
sidewalls 16. It should be noted that for all of the structure described 
with respect to FIG. 1, a similar structure exists on the opposite side of 
the device. 
Rod 32 is prolonged at 34 to form a system for automatically opening the 
door 30 by swinging it about the pivot 33 in the direction of arrow C. 
This is accomplished as has been illustrated in FIG. 5, by lowering the 
conveyor until the prolonged portion 34 of the rod engages the top of an 
intermediate conveyor 50. The latter will be described as to function and 
structure subsequently. 
The structure 1, (FIG. 1) also carries a platform 36 provided with two 
baskets 37, one on each side of the conveyor, of which only one has been 
illustrated in FIG. 3. The baskets are formed from pipe or rod 38 and can 
accomodate an operator. The basket 37 may be provided with a control valve 
arrangement such as has been diagrammatically illustrated at 40 in FIG. 3 
and is described in greater detail in connection with FIG. 6. 
The platform 36 and the basket 37 are located at the discharge end 20 of 
the turkey loading device. 
The rails 19 may be connected by transverse members 41 (see FIG. 2). 
In FIG. 4, we have shown the principle of operation of the system of the 
present invention. 
Assume that a flock of turkeys is to be loaded onto a vehicle 60 provided 
with individual cages 61, 62, 63, 64, 65 stacked in six tiers as best seen 
in FIG. 5, each of the cases having a door (not shown) on one side of the 
vehicle. 
The turkeys are directed along a runway 66 onto a conveyor platform 67 
which can be driven as represented at 68 from a further conveyor platform 
69. They then pass onto an upwardly inclined ramp 70 which may also be 
hydraulically driven, e.g. by a motor 71 (FIG. 6), controlled by the 
hydraulic system at the platform of the loader. The conveyor 70 is of 
conventional construction and may be provided with wheels 71 to allow it 
to be put into place with ease. The conveyor 11 is aligned with the 
inclined platform 70 and the door 34 is opened as the platform is lowered 
(see FIG. 5). The conveyor 11 is then driven in the direction of arrows D 
(FIG. 4), the door 21 being meanwhile closed. 
When the requisite number of turkeys for a particular cage or group of 
cages has been collected upon the conveyor 11, the further driving 
movement of the conveyor 11 is terminated and the conveyor is raised 
(arrow E in FIG. 5), e.g. by the conventional hydraulic cylinder of the 
forklift tractor, the hydraulic cylinder being represented at 75. 
The discharge edge 76 of the conveyor is aligned with the opening in the 
case, the door of which has been opened via an operator standing in one of 
the baskets on the platform. The operator then drives the conveyor 11 
again in the direction of arrow D to carry the turkeys into the cage. The 
operator can ensure that all the turkeys enter the cage in a uniform and 
convenient manner. 
In its open position, the door 21 is inclined downwardly and forwardly in 
the direction of arrow D (see FIG. 1) to cause the turkeys to pull their 
heads downwardly and thereby enter the generally short opening of the cage 
with ease. 
To facilitate alignment of the discharge edge of the conveyor with the cage 
opening, the entire conveyor assembly can be mounted on the support 
structure 1 so as to be horizontally shiftable (arrow F in FIG. 2), e.g. 
via a hydraulic cylinder 80. 
The control system has been diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 6 and 
comprises four valves 81, 82, 83 and 84, each connected to a hydraulic 
pump 85 and a reservoir 86, the latter forming part of the hydraulic 
system of the forklift tractor which is represented diagrammatically at 
100 in FIG. 4. The valve 81 is connected to the hydraulic motor 14 driving 
the conveyor 11. The valve 82 is connected to the hydraulic motor 72 for 
driving the ramp 70. The hydraulic valve 83 is connected to the 
double-acting cylinder 80 for horizontally shifting the conveyor in the 
direction of arrow E. The valve 84 is connected to the double-acting 
cylinder 75 which raises and lowers the carriage of the forklift. The 
forklift structure is represented diagrammatically at 101 and can be any 
conventional forklift arrangement. 
When loding on one side of the truck 60 is completed, the tractor, after 
the conveyor 11 has been loaded with turkeys, can simply drive around to 
the opposite side to discharge the turkeys. A repositioning of the truck 
and of the entire ramp arrangement is therefore unnecessary with the 
system of the present invention.