Abstract:
A pen is provided for the exterior of an animal shelter house or calf hutch, and is mounted onto an adjustable universal frame that fits on the exterior of the animal shelter house and is secured to the house. The frame is adjustable in width using cross members that overlap and are secured together in an adjusted position. The frame provides vertically extending guides that form a track for receiving side walls of the pen so that the pen can be slid longitudinally of the animal shelter house from an extended position which provides an exercise area pen to a retracted position wherein a forward panel of the pen will close the door or opening in the end of the animal shelter house. The end wall of the pen supports a suitable holder for feeding buckets for the calf or young animal.

Description:
The present application is based on and claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/373,035, filed Apr. 15, 2002, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to an exterior pen and a supporting frame that can be used with animal shelters commonly known as “calf hutches” which permits adding a small pen for animal exercise without substantial modification to the calf hutch itself. The improvement includes a unique pail holder for holding pails for milk and feed for a calf, that will move with the pen and when the calf is to be contained in the hutch, the pails will be positioned inside the open door of the hutch. 
     In the prior art, various animal shelters have been advanced, including U.S. Pat. No. 5,218,925, which shows an animal shelter that has a pen enclosure on the exterior. The pen enclosure slides along guides along the side of the animal shelter, between an extended position where it provides an exercise area, and a closed position where the young animal or calf is contained within the shelter. This arrangement works well, and it has been found that retro fitting existing shelters with pens is desirable. Using a universal frame for holding the pen on a number of different types of houses is also desirable. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a pen for use with small animal shelters, or calf hutches, that includes an exterior frame that can be mounted directly to the animal shelter, either with a specifically designed shelter or for a retro fit of an existing shelter, that provides a retainer support and sliding guide for a wire mesh three panel pen formed in a normal manner and of suitable size for providing an exercise area for a calf or other small animal. 
     The frame mounts over the animal shelter or house on the exterior, and it is secured to the housing walls. The frame has upright guides along the sides and top cross member that permit adjusting the width, and the frame can also be adjustable in height, if desired. The guides on each side of the shelter provide guide slots for the side panels or walls of the relatively rigid wire mesh pen. The retracted position of the pen positions an end pen panel to cover the open door of the animal shelter. When retracted, the sliding side walls of the pen are supported on suitable support stirrups mounted on each side at the rear of the hutch. 
     The end panel of the pen also can support a door panel, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,218,925, if desired, or as shown herein, a support for feed and milk pails are mounted on the mesh end wall of the wire mesh pen. The frame will provide for secure, readily usable supports whether the pen is extended or is retracted to keep the animal inside the shelter or house. 
     The pen is readily adapted to various types of animal shelters including ones which have a sloping front, merely by adjusting the supports for the pen accordingly. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a typical animal shelter having a pen and supporting frame made according to the present invention and installed thereon; 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the pen extended from the animal shelter; 
     FIG. 3 is a rear perspective view of the animal shelter showing the details of the frame and a support stirrup, and showing a side wall released from the mounting frame; 
     FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of the house, illustrating the frame and a support stirrup at the rear; 
     FIG. 5 is a schematic front view of the housing and frame; 
     FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary top view of the overlapping adjustable sections of the cross members of the frame; 
     FIG. 7 is a fragmentary side view of the cross member of FIG. 6, taken on line  7 — 7  in FIG. 6; 
     FIG. 8 is a side view of the pail holder bail mounted onto a front panel of the pen; and 
     FIG. 9 is a schematic perspective view of the pen removed from the frame and forming an independent enclosure, and showing the pail holder of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     FIG. 1 shows a typical animal shelter house or calf hutch  10  that is a generally molded plastic housing, that has side walls  12 , a top or roof  14 , and a calf door opening  16  at one end. The opposite end of the shelter house or calf hutch  10  is closed in a conventional manner, and as shown in FIG. 3, the rear wall or opposite end  18  is provided with a vent  19  in a normal manner. The vent  19  can be placed at any desired location. 
     FIG. 1 illustrates a wire mesh pen  20  that is supported on a frame  22  made according to the present invention that is secured to the shelter house  10 . The pen  20 , as seen, can be made of standard, relatively large opening wire mesh, that is relatively rigid, and is commercially available. As shown, the openings  24  in the wire mesh are larger near the top than the openings  26  in the wire mesh near the bottom. This helps control situations where small animals may try to stick their head through the openings. The smaller openings prevent that. 
     The pen  20  includes first and second side walls  28 , joined to an end wall  30 . The side walls  28  are spaced apart a desired distance, depending on the width of the animal shelter house  10 . To support the pen  20  on the animal shelter, the frame  22  that is shown includes first and second upright frame guide and retainer sections  30  and  32  on the sides of the house. These upright frame guide sections are identical, except one is right hand and one is left hand, and each of them includes a pair of upright posts  34  that are held together with a lower pipe cross member  36 , that extends laterally and has a flange  38  on one end. The flange on each guide section extends vertically, as shown, and is secured with a suitable fastener or bolt  40  to the respective side wall  12  of the animal shelter house  10 . 
     The outer upright posts  34  of each of the frame guides  30  and  32  are bent to form upper cross members that tie the posts on each side together so that they are spaced apart to provide a guide slot  44  on each side of the animal shelter house  10 . 
     The top bent over members are secured to suitable top frame cross members  46  and  48  for supporting the respective frame guide members  30  and  32 . The guide member is sufficiently high so the cross members  46  and  48  are raised up to a sufficient height to clear the top or roof  14  of the animal shelter house  10 . The cross members  46  and  48  overlap at the center portions of the shelter house  10 , and are slidable relative to each other, and as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, these cross members  46  and  48  are formed as spaced apart rails or straps that define a center slot  60 . 
     The cross members  46  and  48  overlap, as shown in FIG. 7, and are bolted together with a suitable fastener  62 . As shown, a carriage bolt can be used as fastener  62 , and the square shank of the carriage bolt head will fit into the slot  60  and a washer  61  on the top cross member will permit clamping the fastener  62  to tightly clamp the two cross members  46  and  48  together in a lateral or width adjusted position to accommodate the different widths of calf hutches or shelter houses  10  with which the support frame assembly  22  is used. 
     Additionally, a stirrup or support  64  is provided on each of the house side walls  12  toward the rear wall, and spaced from the frames  30  and  32  a desired amount so that the stirrups will provide a support for the side panels  28  of the pen when the pen is retracted to its dotted position shown in FIG.  4 . 
     It can be seen that the pen  20  can easily be formed to the desired size, by having a continuous mesh panel that is bent at suitable positions to provide a proper width end wall  29 , and then the side walls  28  can slide into the slots  44  of the upright frame side guides  30  and  32 . The side walls  28  are supported relative to the frame  22  in slots  44  and held from separating by the upright frame side guides  30  and  32 . 
     In the extended position of the pen  20 , it can be seen that an adequate area is provided to the exterior of the door opening  16  for a calf exercise area. The pen  20  can be retracted by lifting the end wall  29  and moving it along the ground while supported on the cross members  36  of the upright frame side guides  30  and  32  which support the lower edges of the side walls  28  of the pen  20 . When retracted side walls are supported on stirrups  64 . The stirrups  64  and the cross member  36  are raised up from the ground and can be made of pipe so they provide a rounded upper surface for ease of sliding. The pen  20  will slope downwardly when extended and with the end wall  29  resting on the ground, as shown in FIG.  1 . The stirrup  64  can be adjusted in height so that the top of the end wall  29  will tilt rearwardly if the front wall of the calf hutch or shelter house  10  is sloped rearwardly. By adjusting the stirrups in the proper position as indicated in dotted lines in FIG. 4, the amount of the rearward tilt of the end wall  29  can be adjusted. 
     Another feature of the overall system is that the end wall  29  which can be used for supporting a pail holding frame  70 , is made so it will hold two pails. The frame  70  has a pair of formed straps  72  that are bent so that they have hooks  74  at the top end thereof, and they are joined together with a pair of cross members  76  (FIGS. 8 and 9) to form the frame  70 . The straps  72  are also formed so that the hooks  74  can go over a cross wire or rod  78  of the end wall  29  of the pen, and the lower ends  82  of the strap  72  are bent as at  80  so that these lower ends  82  will pass through an opening in the end wall  29  and be positioned on the exterior of the end wall  29 , as shown in FIG. 1, so that they are securely held in place. For holding a pail  90 , a pail loop  84  is mounted in a sleeve  86  on the frame  70 . The pail loop  84  can be raised and lowered about a horizontal axis. A pail  90  can be dropped in one pail loop  84 , and will be held in place as shown in FIG.  1 . Two side by side pails  90  are accommodated. 
     In order to make sure that the animals will not tip the pails out of the loops, or work them out of the loop with their noses, a type of a latch or pail retainer indicated at  94  is included. A sleeve  96  mounts a flat bottom U-shaped latch member  98 , with one leg  100  at the exterior of the pen wall  29  and the other leg  102  positioned so that it will drop into the inside of a pail  90  when the pail is held in position in loop  84 . The interior leg of the U-shaped member  98  can be pivoted out of the way for installing the pail, and it can be slid in fore and aft direction in sleeve  96 , as indicated by the double arrow  104  to slide it out of the way for inserting the pail, but then moved back into position and then dropped down so that the leg  102  is inside the pail to prevent the pail from being pushed up and out of the pail loop. One of the legs  100  or  102  is secured to the base that slides in sleeve  96 , after placing the base through the sleeve. 
     A safety chain indicated at  110  (FIG. 2) can also be provided between one or both of the side walls or frames  32  and  34  and have a snap or fastener that would snap onto one of the vertical rods or wires of the mesh side walls. The safety chain prevents a calf from pushing the pen forwardly sufficiently far to disengage the side walls from the vertical frame members. 
     It thus can be seen that the pen support adapts itself easily to a variety of individual animal shelters, and the flanges  38  can be easily bolted into place on the shelter side walls. The frame cross members are also easily adjusted and fastened in place. The frame cross members can be bolted to the roof  14  of the calf hutch with an anchor bolt shown at  112 , that can be adjustably threaded to pass through an opening in the roof. The anchor bolt is held in place with washers and nuts on the top and bottom surfaces of the roof, and then passed up into the slot in the cross members and locked in place in a suitable manner. This will stabilize the frame  22  in fore and aft direction, and hold it securely vertically as well. 
     The door opening  16  of the animal shelter house can be closed by attaching a panel of rigid plastic sheet plywood  120  (shown fragmentally in FIGS. 1) on the end wall  29 , for example, with hooks  122  of the pen. When the pen is retracted, the panel will cover the door opening  16 . The panel will shield a calf in the animal shelter from wind and cold. 
     It should be noted that the attachment between the upright frame members  30  and  32 , and the cross members can be made in any desired manner, and the cross members can be secured directly to the tops of the rods or pipes that form the upright frames if desired. The frame and pen are easily made, and are easily adapted to a wide range of animal shelter sizes and shapes. 
     In FIG. 3, one side wall of the pen is folded out from the shelter and thus makes it easy to get a calf into the pen and shelter. A transport trailer, or vehicle can be placed at or backed to the opening and the calf is guided in easily. Also, the supports for the pen permit the pen and shelter to be lifted as a unit with a fork lift or tine equipped loader for cleaning or disinfecting the shelter, or for moving it to another location. 
     FIG. 9 shows how the pen can be used to form a separate enclosure, apart from the calf hutch, or shelter to hold a calf while the shelter is cleaned. The side members can be moved so the free ends are adjacent and held together with clips  126 , or just wired or snapped together. The mesh pen thus has wide versatility. 
     In FIG. 4, a support block  130  is shown to support the front end of the pen. This raises the top of the pen to make it more difficult for a calf to jump out, and also keeps the entire bottom wire from freezing down in winter. The block  130  can be a selected length of 2×4 lumber and can extend along the front edge or can be short lengths at the front corners of the pen. 
     Also, large washers or reinforcing plates are used under the head of bolts that pass through the walls of the animal shelter to reduce the likelihood of damage to the walls. 
     Although the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, workers skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.