FEEDING FENCE

Abstract: The present invention relates to a feeding fence for use in a stall such as a cow stall, which is displaceable over the stall floor and comprises a frame (3, 4, 11) and displacing means which are coupled to the frame for displacing the frame and which comprise at least one rotatable element (13), at least one shaft (5) for driving which is connected to the rotatable element, and a drive member (9) connected to the stall floor and for engaging by the rotatable element (13). The drive member herein comprises an elongate flexible element (9) and blocking means (8) are arranged to block displacement of the frame. A feeding fence according to the present invention therefore comprises very reliable and comparatively inexpensive displacing means which can, if desired, be driven manually.

Description: FEEDING FENCE The present invention relates to a feeding fence for use in a stall such as a cow stall, which is displaceable over the stall floor and comprises : - a frame; and - displacing means which are coupled to the frame for displacing the frame and which comprise at least one rotatable element, at least one shaft for driving con¬ nected to the rotatable element, and a drive member connected to the stall floor and for engaging by the rotatable element. Such a feeding fence is slidable in stepwise manner at regular intervals in the direction of fodder deposited in a width in front of the feeding fence. The animals can therefore consume a quantity of fodder which corresponds with the distance through which the feeding fence is shifted and with their reach. Once the fodder within reach of the animals has been consumed the feeding fence has to be pushed forward again. The above described sequence is repeated until an end position is reached, whereafter the feeding fence is re-placed into the start¬ ing position thereof by means of the displacing means and a new width of fodder is placed on the stall floor in front of the feeding fence. Such a feeding fence is known wherein the rotatable element is for instance designed as toothed wheel which engages a drive member designed as gear rack. Use is further made for instance of motors to drive the shaft for driving. A drawback of a feeding fence according to the above described prior art is that the gear rack must take a curved form in order to ensure that no parts of the rack extend on the side where the animals are placed and must be connected pivotally to the stall floor in order to prevent injury to the animals. The rack and the toothed wheel consequently have to be designed very precisely, for instance using costly laser techniques. Another drawback of a known feeding fence is that heavy-duty motors must be used to drive the shaft for driving to which the rotatable element designed as toothed wheel is connected. This a consequence of the fact that the feeding fence usually takes a very heavy form and is manufactured for instance from metal, so that displacement thereof requires high power. Such a motor further often also serves as brake and must be able to withstand the forces exerted on the fence by often very heavy animals reaching through the feeding fence toward the fodder. A motor which is used must therefore be very reliable. As a result of the desired high power and a desired high degree of operational reliability of the employed motor, the costs of a feeding fence according to this known art are very high. The present invention has for its object to obviate at least one of the above described and other drawbacks and provides to this end a feeding fence which is distin¬ guished in that the drive member comprises an elongate flexible element and that blocking means are arranged to block displacement of the frame. A feeding fence according to the present invention therefore comprises very reliable and comparatively inexpensive displacing means which can, if desired, be driven manually. In a preferred embodiment the blocking means are designed such that they engage a part of the displacing means and the frame. Since the displacing means comprise only parts which have to move relative to the frame in order to effect displacement of the feeding fence, effective blocking of the displacement is ensured by fixation of one of these parts in relation to the frame. In another preferred embodiment the feeding fence according to the present invention is distinguished by a handle for driving of the shaft. As a result hereof very reliable and simple opera¬ tion of the displacing means is effected and the high costs associated with the motors are avoided. The present invention is further elucidated with reference to the figure description hereinbelow of a number of embodiments thereof. In the drawing: fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a feeding fence according to the present invention; fig. 2 is a perspective view of a detail of an alternative embodiment of the blocking means; fig. 3 is a perspective view of a detail of a second alternative embodiment of the blocking means; and fig. 4 is a partly cut away perspective view of a third alternative embodiment of the blocking means. The feeding fence 1 shown in fig. 1 comprises: a frame designed as fence 3, slide 4 and front plate 11; a drive shaft 5; a drive member designed as cables 9; a rotatable element designed as drums 13. The feeding fence 1 is slidable over a stall floor 2 under the influence of the weight of animals reaching for food through fence 3. Arranged on stall floor 2 are fixing feet 12 to which are fastened cables 9. Cables 9 are also trained round the drums 13 and are fixed thereto so that the displacement distance of feeding fence 1 is limited to the length of the cables 9 to be unwound from drums 13. A ratchet wheel 7 is mounted on one of the drums 13, wherein the blocking means are designed as a ratchet 8 fixed to the frame for blocking the ratchet wheel 7, and therefore the drum 13, in order to prevent undesired unwinding of cables 9, wherein the cables 9 under tension effectively prevent displacement. By placing ratchet 8 in the situation thereof which releases ratchet wheel 7, a desired length of the cables 9 can be unwound from drums 13, whereafter under the influence of the animals reaching for fodder through fence 3 the feeding fence 1 is shifted in the direction of the fodder until cables 9 are once again placed under tension. After reaching the extreme position of the feeding fence, which extreme position corresponds with the full length of cables 9, or the situation wherein all the fodder has been consumed by the animals, feeding fence 1 can be shifted back to the starting position thereof by re-winding the cables 9 on the drums 13 using a handle 6 for driving the drive shaft 5. In this manner the feeding fence 1 is pulled back to the starting situation thereof on the cables 9 fastened to the fixing feet 12. In order to prevent the possibility of feeding fence 1 coming to lie out of line on the stall floor 2, both drums are coupled by means of drive shaft 5. Blocking of the drums 13 is hereby also effected using only the ratchet 8 engaging on ratchet wheel 7. In order to pre- vent an askew position of the feeding fence 1 on stall floor 2 a guide designed as guide rod 10 is further arranged on the fixing foot 12, wherein guide rod 10 extends in a hollow tube 21 of fence 3. In one embodiment (not shown) the feeding fence further comprises a mat, for instance of rubber, one side of which is fastened to the frame and an oppositely located side is fixed to the stall floor. The front side of the feeding fence rests with the slide on the stall floor and the rear side of the feeding fence supports on the guide rod so that the mat can roll up and unroll freely during respectively rearward and forward displace¬ ment of the feeding fence. Such a mat is herein arranged to collect excreta of the animals so that this cannot become mixed in with the fresh fodder to be deposited in front of the feeding fence after rearward displacement of the feeding fence to the starting position thereof. In an alternative embodiment the drums 13 can be driven separately by means of handles without a drive shaft connecting the drums, wherein the drums are each provided with a ratchet wheel and a blocking ratchet is arranged at each ratchet wheel . Fig. 2 shows an alternative embodiment wherein movement of substantially the drum 13, and therefore unwinding of cable 9, is prevented in that a pin 14 is placed in the direction of arrow A through a passage 15 in drive shaft 5 and in a recess 16 in a beam of the fence 3. Unwinding of cable 9 can therefore take place in stepwise manner, wherein the minimal length of cable 9 for unwinding corresponds with a half-turn of handle 6. In order to obtain smaller minimum lengths of cable 9 for unwinding more passages 15 can, if desired, be arranged in drive shaft 5. In the embodiment shown in fig. 3 further unwinding of cable 9 from drum 13 is prevented in that the pin 14 is placed in the direction indicated with arrow B through a passage 17 in handle 6 and into a recess 18 in the fence 3. The minimal length of cable 9 for unwinding from drum 13 herein corresponds with a full turn of handle 6. In order to realize a smaller length of cable 9 for unwinding from drum 13, one or more additional recesses 18 can be arranged in fence 3. In the embodiment shown in fig. 4 forward sliding of feeding fence 1 over stall floor 2 after a preadjusted position has been reached is also prevented by means of the pin 1 . The beam of fence 3 in which the guide rod 10 ex¬ tends is designed here as C-shaped profile 21. An elon¬ gate recess 19 is arranged in the profile 21. A plurality of passages 20 is also arranged in guide rod 10. Recess 19 extends over a plurality of passages 20. When the rear edge of recess 19, as seen in the direction of forward sliding of feeding fence 1, lies under the influence of the weight of the animals against the pin 14 which is placed through one of the holes 20 in guide rod 10, further movement of feeding fence 1 is prevented. When this situation has been reached and in this situation there is no longer any fodder lying within the reach of the animals in the stall, the pin 14 can be moved forward one or more of the holes 20 located inside recess 19 and can be placed therein so that the feeding fence can then be shifted forward again over a distance corresponding therewith under the influence of the weight of the ani¬ mals. A blocking of a part of the displacing means as shown in fig. 2 and in fig. 3 is herein no longer neces¬ sary and the drums 13 shown therein or other embodiment of the rotatable element may move freely. The displacing means serve in this case only to re-place feeding fence 1 in the starting situation. In another embodiment (not shown) of a feeding fence according to the present invention the handle 6 is cou¬ pled to drive shaft 5 by means of a transmission, for instance mutually engaging toothed wheels, or by means of a chain trained round the toothed wheels, wherein a toothed wheel is fixed to the drive shaft and another toothed wheel to the handle. *****

Claims: CLAIMS 1. Feeding fence for use in a stall such as a cow stall, which is displaceable over the stall floor and comprises : - a frame; and - displacing means which are coupled to the frame for displacing the frame and which comprise at least one rotatable element, at least one shaft for driving which is connected to the rotatable element, and a drive member connected to the stall floor and for engaging by the rotatable element, characterized in that the drive member comprises an elongate flexible element and that blocking means are arranged to block displacement of the frame. 2. Feeding fence as claimed in claim 1, character¬ ized in that the blocking means are designed such that they engage on a part of the displacing means and the frame. 3. Feeding fence as claimed in claim 2, character¬ ized in that a ratchet wheel is connected to the shaft, wherein the blocking means comprise a ratchet co-acting therewith. 4. Feeding fence as claimed in claim 2, character¬ ized in that a worm wheel is connected to the shaft, wherein the blocking means comprise a worm co-acting therewith. 5. Feeding fence as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, characterized by a handle for driving of the shaft. 6. Feeding fence as claimed in claims 2 and 5, characterized in that the handle comprises engaging means for engagement thereof by the blocking means. 7. Feeding fence as claimed in claim 2, character¬ ized in that the shaft comprises engaging means for engagement thereof by the blocking means. 8. Feeding fence as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, characterized in that the displacing means com¬ prise at least one guide engaging on the frame. 9. Feeding fence as claimed in claims 2 and 8, characterized in that the guide comprises engaging means for engagement thereof by the blocking means. 10. Feeding fence as claimed in any of the claims 6, 7 or 9, characterized in that the engaging means comprise a passage and the blocking means a pin and in the frame an opening is arranged at a position corresponding with the passage, wherein the pin can be placed through the passage into an opening in the frame. *****

Inventors: WEELINK JOHANNES MARTINUS WILL, WEELINK, JOHANNES, MARTINUS, WILLIBRORDUS
Applicants: WEELINK JOHANNES M W, WEELINK, JOHANNES, MARTINUS, WILLIBRORDUS
Application year: 1997
Main classification: A01K1
IPC codes: A01K1