ANIMAL TYING DEVICE AND ANIMAL TRAILER PROVIDED WITH SUCH A DEVICE

Abstract: An animal tying device and a trailer provided with such a device have a tying bar (13) in front of the animal. According to the invention, the tying device and the animal trailer also comprise a withers bar (15), which is arranged above the tying bar and movable to a position just above the withers of an animal tied thereto, thereby reducing the animal's possibility of jumping over the tying bar.

Description: ANIMAL TYING DEVICE AND ANIMAL TRAILER PROVIDED WITH SUCH A DEVICE The present invention relates to an animal tying device and an animal trailer provided with such a device. When tying animals, a tying bar in front of the animal is normally used. Such bars are used above all in animal trailers. The tying bar can be fixedly arranged, but is frequently vertically adjustable for adaptation to the height of the animal's withers. Transports in animal trailers often endanger the animals' as well as the keepers' safety. The dangers may be caused by the animals being unaccustomed to being transported or for different reasons experiencing uneasiness in transport, which makes them jumpy. Statistics presented by the insurance companies indicate that a common reason for injury is that the transported animals jump over the tying bar so that they straddle this. This may cause serious injuries to the animal, and it even happens that an animal breaks its neck. An animal which straddles a tying bar is uptight, and this involves a risk to the keeper when releasing the animal and when unloading the animal from the trailer. These risks have been noticed, and several proposals for improving the tying devices and the animal traders have been made. Such a proposal is to be found in SE-C- 502,166, according to which the tying bar is releasable by means of a release mechanism which has an operating handle on the outside of the trailer. When operating the release mechanism, the bar is turned down so that the animal can again stand on the floor of the trailer. This prior-art device does not reduce the risk that the animal will jump over the tying bar, but increases the possibility of coping with a difficult situation if an animal should straddle the bar with his forelegs. US-A-4 , 355 , 594 discloses a further release device which is used to operate a bar positioned behind the animal in an animal trailer. WO-9625303 also discloses an animal trailer which at its front end has a releasable tying bar which in this case is vertically adjustable for adaptation to the height of the transported animal's withers. All these known proposals certainly increase the possibility of taking care of an animal which has jumped or slid over the tying bar. The present invention intends to improve prior-art tying devices and animal trailers to further decrease the risks of tied animals and also the keepers being injured. A special object is to eliminate or, in any case, consi- derably reduce the risk of a tied animal being injured by jumping over the tying bar. This and other objects of the invention are achieved by a tying device and an animal trailer as defined in independent claims 1 and 6. The dependent claims define particularly preferred embodiments of the invention. The present invention is based on the knowledge that it is better to take measures to prevent the tied animals from jumping over the tying bar than to take measures to facilitate the release of the animals if they should have jumped over the bar. To this end, the tying device and the animal trailer according to the invention have been supplemented with one more bar, a so-called withers bar, which is arranged above the tying bar and is movable to a position just above the withers of an animal tied there- to, thereby decreasing the animal's possibility of jumping over the tying bar. According to the invention, a device is provided, which prevents the animal from jumping over the tying bar. Moreover, the animal is prevented from backing off or throwing itself backwards in unloading before the withers bar has been raised. The new tying device consti- tutes an important safety item and contributes to preventing animal and personal injuries and damage to materials . The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a rear view of parts of an animal trailer and a tying device according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a front view of a withers bar in a lower position, included in the trailer and the device, respectively, Fig. 3 illustrates the withers bar in a raised position, Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view on a larger scale approximately along line IV- IV in Fig. 2, and Fig. 5 is a front view, partly in vertical section, of the tying device. Fig. 1 is a rear view of about half an animal trailer 10, the rear door 11 being open. The transport space of the trailer is in this case designed for the transport of two animals. In the usual way, there is at the front end of the trailer a door 12 for the keeper to be able to tie a loaded animal to the tying bar 13 of the trailer. The tying bar can be pivotable and designed in prior-art manner, for instance, according to that disclosed in SE-C-502,166 or WO-9625303. In the trailer there is also a rear bar 14 which is pivotable to be put behind the animal to prevent it from backing off. This rear bar can be designed in different ways, for instance, according to that stated in US-A-4 , 355 , 594. According to the invention, this prior-art tying device and trailer have been supplemented with a withers bar 15, which is vertically displaceable along essentially vertical guide means 16. The guide means can advantageously be arranged about 0.7 behind the tying bar 13. The withers bar is lockable at different levels along the guide means. In the example illustrated, the withers bar has an upper crossbar 17 and a lower withers arch 18. The withers arch is advantageously upholstered with, for instance, a coating 19 made of cellular rubber. The withers arch 18 can advantageously be detachably mounted on the crossbar 17. With a view to guiding the withers bar along the guide means 16, these are formed with a longitudinal slot 20, through which an end portion of the crossbar extends to support runners 21 which roll on the inside of the guide means . In the example shown, one guide means 16 is bent to connect to the inner profile of the animal trailer. To permit raising of the withers bar in a case, where the guide means are not parallel along their entire vertical extent, the crossbar 17 is telescopic and has a sleeve part 22 and a piston part 23. If it is considered necessary, the piston part 23 can be outwardly loaded by means of a spring assembly 24. For the raising and lowering of the withers bar 15 there is in the example shown a hoisting cable 25 which extends round a suitable number of deflection rollers 26 up to an operating handle 27 at the front end of the trailer. This operating handle can be guided in a schema- tically illustrated guide means 28 and lockable at different levels along the same. For the locking of the withers bar 16 at different levels, use is made of an expander locking device 29 in the example shown. This device has an eccentric plate 30 which is rotatably mounted on the crossbar 17 of the withers bar. In this case the eccentric plate 30 is triangular, and the hoisting cable 25 is fixed to one corner thereof. A locking bar 31 is pivotally attached to each of the other two corners and extends along the crossbar 17 and terminates in a locking pin 32. For the guiding of the locking bars 31, guide lugs 33 can be fixed to the crossbar 17. To receive the locking pins there are a series of locking pin holes 34 formed in the side wall of the guide means 16, so that the withers bar 16 can be locked at a suitable level with regard to the height of the transported animal's withers.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. An animal tying device with a tying bar (13) which is positioned in front of the animal and to which the animal is intended to be tied, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that it comprises a withers bar (15) which is arranged above the tying bar (13) and is movable to a position just above the withers of an animal tied thereto, thereby reducing the animal's possibility of jumping over the tying bar. 2. A device as claimed in claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the withers bar (15) is vertically displaceable along guide means (16) arranged at the ends thereof and is lockable against the guide means in the set vertical position. 3. A device as claimed in claim 1 or 2 , c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the withers bar (15) comprises an upper crossbar (17) and a lower withers arch (18) which preferably is upholstered. 4. A device as claimed in claim 2 or 3, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the withers bar (15) has an expander locking device (29) , which is operable with the aid of operating means (25-27) which are positioned in a place which is within reach of the keeper. 5. A device as claimed in any one of claims 1-4, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the withers bar (15) is telescopic and spring-loaded outwards. 6. An animal trailer with a tying bar (13) posi- tioned in a front part of the transport space of the trailer, c ha r a c t e r i s e d in that it has a withers bar (15) , which is arranged above the tying bar (13) and is movable to a position just above the withers of an animal tied thereto, thereby reducing the animal's possibility of jumping over the tying bar. 7 7. A trailer as claimed in claim 6, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the withers bar (15) is vertically displaceable along guide means (16) , which are fixed to the trailer, and that the withers bar is lockable against the guide means in the set vertical position. 8. A trailer as claimed in claim 6 or 7, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the withers bar (15) comprises an upper crossbar (17) and a lower withers arch (18) which preferably is upholstered. 9. A trailer as claimed in claim 7 or 8, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the withers bar (15) has an expander locking device (29) , which is operable with the aid of operating means (24-28) which are positioned in a place in the trailer which is within reach of the keeper. 10. A trailer as claimed in any one of claims 6-9, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the withers bar (15) is telescopic and spring-loaded outwards.

Inventors: FRANSSON MIKAEL, FRANSSON, MIKAEL
Applicants: FRANSSON MIKAEL, FRANSSON, MIKAEL
Application year: 1999
Main classification: B60P3
IPC codes: A01K1, B60P3