Abstract:
A moveable cart suitable for use on a hog farm, comprises a base, which has wheels mounted thereon, a see-through wall extending upwardly from the base at a location suitable for abutting engagement by the male hog head standing on the base, a mechanism associated with the see-through wall for forcibly biasing the male hog head on one lateral side direction of the cart, and at least one opening in the wall sized to permit a snout of a hog to at least partially extend therethrough. The cart can also take the form of a male hog cage having two sides, a front end and a rear end, and comprising a base for supporting a male hog having its head destined to be located at the front end of the cage, a peripheral wall upstanding from the base for preventing the male hog from leaving the cage, and a head positioning device for positioning the head of the male hog towards a selected one of the two sides.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to a moveable cart for use in transporting a male hog past rows of stationary sows, permitting snout to snout contact between the sows and the male hog. Such a “beauty contest”, by generating sexual arousal of the sows, increases the success rate during artificial insemination.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Prior Art  
           [0004]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,734 issued Nov. 21, 1995 to the Chinese Ying Kuon HO, discloses a moveable cart into which a pet can be kept by its keeper so as to be able to carry same in a safe fashion when going out.  
           [0005]    The present invention is an improvement over Canadian patent application No. 2,270,319 published Aug. 22, 1999 in the name of Robert Labrecque et al. In this patent application, the moveable cart comprises a base having wheel mounted thereon, one or more walls extending upwardly from the base, a panel made from an opaque material and attached to at least one of these upright walls for blocking visual access in at least one direction between the interior and exterior of the cart, and one or more openings in this upright wall(s) sized to permit a snout of a male hog to at least partially extend therethrough. This way, the male hog attention is focused toward the nearby row of sows.  
           [0006]    The wheel motor drive is below the base, thus undesirably creating a lump in the cubicle for the male hog.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0007]    It is therefore an aim of the present invention to provide a moveable cart suitable for use on a hog farm and having a mechanism for forcibly biasing the male hog head towards one lateral side of the cart.  
           [0008]    It is also an aim of the present invention to provide a male hog cage having a head positioning device for positioning the head of the male hog towards a selected one of at least one of the two sides of the cage.  
           [0009]    Therefore, in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a moveable cart suitable for use on a hog farm, the moveable cart comprising a base, said base having wheels mounted thereon; a see-through wall extending upwardly from said base at a location suitable for abutting engagement by the male hog head standing on said base; means associated with said at least one see-through wall for forcibly biasing the male hog head on one lateral side direction of the cart; and at least one opening in said at least one wall sized to permit a snout of a hog to at least partially extend therethrough  
           [0010]    Also in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a male hog cage having two sides, a front end and a rear end comprising:  
           [0011]    a base, for supporting a male hog, with the male hog head being destined to be located at the front end of said cage;  
           [0012]    a peripheral wall upstanding from said base, for preventing the male hog from leaving said cage; and  
           [0013]    a male hog head positioning device, for positioning the head of the male hog towards a selected one of said two sides. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0014]    Having thus generally described the nature of the invention, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, showing by way of illustration a preferred embodiment thereof, and in which:  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 1 is an isometric exploded view of the wheel base of the moveable cart according to the present invention;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the cubicle that is to fit over the wheel base shown in FIG. 1 for receiving the male hog therein;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 3 is a schematic top plan view of a pair of male hog carrying moveable carts moving along two rows of sows;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the male hog carrying moveable cart, moving about a narrow corner section of the sow farm;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 5A is a perspective view of the male hog head diverting panel system of the invention;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 5B is a top plan view of the panel system of FIG. 5A;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 5C is a plan view of the pivotable panel from the panel system of FIG. 5A;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the male hog cage according to the present invention;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 7 is a bottom plan view of the cage of FIG. 6;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 8 is a top plan view of the cage of FIG. 6;  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 9 is an enlarged perspective view of the front section of the cage of FIG. 6, with one door panel being removed to show the male hog head positioning panel located inside the cage front section;  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 10 is a schematic top plan view of the front portion of the cage of FIG. 6, suggesting in dotted lines the different positions of the inner head positioning panel;  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 11 is a schematic top plan view of the front portion of the cage of FIG. 6, suggesting different positions taken by the spring-loaded front doors;  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 12 is a schematic top plan view of the cage of FIG. 6, showing how it may be aligned with the static sow cages;  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 13 is a schematic top plan view of the cage of FIG. 6, showing how it may be moved around a corner in a corridor, and further suggesting in dotted lines how a hypothetical correspondingly sized rectangular cage would not be movable through a similar corner; and  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 14 is a top plan view of a third embodiment of a male hog cage according to the present invention. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0031]    As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the base  10  of moveable cart  11  includes a main rectangular panel  12  with a pair of semi-circular (or polygonal) panels  14 ,  16 , fitted at opposite ends thereof by securing pins  18  projecting from the end panels  14 ,  16 , and releasably frictionally engaging complementary bores  20  made into the rectangular panel  12 . A single axle  22  having a pair of opposite wheels fits beneath the central portion of main panel  12 , while a small swivel caster  24  is mounted under each end panel  14 ,  16 . A cubicle  26  is mounted over base  10  and is made from generally open lateral flat side walls  28 , arcuate generally open front and rear walls  30 ,  32 , and a ceiling  34 . A motor drive engine  36  is mounted over and supported by ceiling  34 . An endless chain  38  interconnects a drive sprocket  40  of top motor engine  36  to a wheel sprocket  42  of bottom wheel axle  22 , for autonomous drive of the cart  11  over the ground.  
         [0032]    As suggested in FIG. 4, the rounded or polygonal smooth shape of the front and rear arcuate upright walls  30 ,  32 , and front and rear end base panels  14 ,  16 , enables easier displacement of the moveable cart  11  with the male hog H thereon, around tight corners in between two rows of sows S.  
         [0033]    As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5A- 5 C, and according to an important feature of the invention, there is provided inside cubicle  26  adjacent the front end thereof  30 , an inclined perforated panel  44  made preferably from metallic wire netting or other see-through strong material capable of retaining the hog. Panel  44  is pivotally carried by a front upright pivot rod  46  which is pivotally carried into brackets  48  integral to the inner face of an intermediate section of front arcuate upright wall  30 . This pivotable panel  44  is pivotable between a first limit position, shown in full lines in FIG. 51B, and a second limit position, shown in dotted lines in FIG. 5B, these two panel limit positions being spread apart by about a quarter of a turn (i.e. about 90°). In each of these two limit positions, the pivotable panel  44  defines an acute angle, preferably about 45 degrees, relative to a vertical plane intersecting the longitudinal fore and aft axis of the cart  11 .  
         [0034]    In use, the wire panel  44  is inclined in its first leftwardly forwardly inclined limit position shown at the right hand side of FIG. 3, when the row of sows is located on the left of the cart; and alternately, when the row of sows is located on the right of the cart as shown on the left hand side of FIG. 3, the wire panel  44  is inclined in its second rightwardly forwardly inclined limit position. Since the front arcuate upright wall  30  is generally open, the head of male hog H is forced in oblique direction by abutting against the inclined panel  44 , while still being able to freely extend its snout through the open wall  30  to come in contact with the sows snouts of the adjacent row.  
         [0035]    FIGS.  6  to  8  show a movable male hog cage  120  according to the present invention. Cage  120  has a flat rigid flooring  122  having a generally ovoid shape, with rounded front and rear sections. A peripheral wall  124  stands in an upright position from flooring  122 , wall  124  having a pair of straight lateral sections  126 ,  128  made from metallic bars, a front section  130  and a rear section  132 . Lateral sections  126 ,  128  are linked to a top ceiling panel  134 . The wall rear section  132  is made of a pair of full pivotable door panels, which can be opened and closed to let a male hog into or out of cage  120 . A latch (not shown) prevents the doors from accidentally opening. The fact that the rear doors are made of full panels prevents hog excrements from being ejected out of the cage, which could contaminate the sow food lying on the ground.  
         [0036]    As shown in FIG. 7, cage  120  is supported on a set of six wheels, namely four idle wheels  136  and a pair of drive wheels  38  independently controlled by a motor  140 . An arcuate pivotable brake arm  142  is pivotally mounted to base  122 , the position of brake arm  142  being controlled by a hydraulic ram  144  which may pivot brake arm  142  so that either one or none or the two brake pads  146  provided at the opposite extremities of brake arm  142  engage the corresponding wheels  138 . That is to say, the braking mechanism of the present invention may be in an inoperative condition, in which none of the brake pads  146  engage the wheels  138 , or alternatively the braking mechanism may be in an operative condition, in which it is pivoted towards a selected wheel  138  which will be engaged by a corresponding brake pad  146 , to allow cage  120  to be steered around tight corners by thus blocking a single one of the two wheels  138 .  
         [0037]    A control panel  148  is fixedly installed on top of ceiling  134 . Control panel  148  may commands motor  140  and hydraulic ram  144 . Preferably, control panel  148  may be remotely controlled, for example by means of a remote control device (not shown).  
         [0038]    The front section  130  of cage  120 , shown more particularly in FIGS. 6, 8 and  9 , includes a pair of front pivotable doors  150 ,  152  made of a wire meshing that has openings therein which are preferably smaller than a male hog snout, to prevent the male hog from biting a person standing in close proximity to the front end of the cage  120 . Alternately, doors  150 ,  152  could be made from bars in a similar manner than side walls  126 ,  128 . Doors  150 ,  152  can be opened and closed to allow entrance or egress of the male hog from the cage. A latch (not shown) is provided to prevent doors  150 ,  152  from being accidentally opened.  
         [0039]    It can be seen that doors  150 ,  152  bulge outwardly at their central portion. This is desirable, as it will allow the male hog to get his head closer to the heads of the sows when the male hog is in the cage.  
         [0040]    [0040]FIGS. 6, 8,  9  and  10  show that a head positioning panel  154  is provided inside cage  120 , at the front section  130  thereof. Panel  154  is oriented in one of two positions  154   a ,  154   b  shown in FIG. 10, with position  154   a  being shown in full lines, while position  154   b  is shown in dotted lines. Panel  154  is made of spaced vertical bars extending inside a rectangular frame, although it could be made of a wire meshing such as the one seen on doors  150 ,  152 . Panel  154  engages a V-shaped guide track  156  that has three open ends. Guide track  156  prevents panel  154  from pivoting away from either one of its inner positions  154   a ,  154   b  when panel  154  is located within cage front section  130 . The panel top run slidably engages a pivotable track  159  that is pivotally connected at its first end  159   a  to a top plate  162  forming a front extension of ceiling  134 . A top pin  158  fixed to pivotable track  159  engages an arcuate slot  160  defined in top plate  162 , to allow pivotable track  159  to pivot between the corresponding panel positions  154   a ,  154   b.    
         [0041]    Panel  154  may thus close off a portion of the cage front section  130 , by being positioned in a selected one of the two positions  154   a ,  154   b  To change the position of panel  154 , as suggested in FIG. 10, the following steps are followed from the initial position  154   a.    
         [0042]    a) panel  154  is outwardly slid through the opened guide track  156 , through pivotable track  159  and between doors  150 ,  152  out of the cage front section  130 , from position  154   a  to position  154   c;    
         [0043]    b) panel  154  is pivoted to position  154   d , with pivotable track  159  being forced to pivot also since panel  154  still partly engages pivotable track  159 ; pivotable track  159  is consequently pivoted through its engagement with panel  154 , from a position corresponding to the panel position  154   a  to a position corresponding to panel position  154   b ; and  
         [0044]    c) panel  154  is slid back to position  154   b  between doors  150 ,  152 , through guide track  156  and through pivotable track  159 .  
         [0045]    Panel  154  may be moved back to position  154   a  by accomplishing the above steps, although in inverted directions and order.  
         [0046]    [0046]FIG. 11 shows that the front doors  150 ,  152  are installed on a spring-loaded pivotable mount, so as to be able to pivot inwardly of cage  120  towards inner limit positions  150   a ,  152   a . Thus, cage  120  is more easily maneuverable around tight corners, while still allowing the male hog to move his head closer to the sow&#39;s heads when necessary. Indeed, while the doors are continuously forced towards their outer limit positions  150 ,  152 , they may be forced inwardly against the bias of their springs  163   a ,  163   b  if they come into contact with outer elements, such as walls.  
         [0047]    [0047]FIG. 12 shows how the cage  120  is to be aligned with the static sow cages  164 .  
         [0048]    [0048]FIG. 13 shows that cage  120  may be moved around corners. Indeed, the rounded or ovoid configuration of cage  120  allows for an enhanced maneuverability of cage  120 , which would not be the case if the cage had a correspondingly sized rectangular configuration  120 ′.  
         [0049]    [0049]FIG. 14 shows an alternate embodiment of a cage  120   a , wherein it can be seen that the front and rear sections  130   a ,  132   a  thereof have a polygonal, although still generally rounded, configuration.  
         [0050]    In use, a male hog is to be inserted into the cage  120 , the latter then being circulated near the sow cages  164 , to facilitate artificial insemination of the sows, as known in the art. The pivotable panel  154  provided in the cage  120  of the present invention forces the male hog to orient his head towards one of the two sides of the cage  120 . Thus, for example, if the sow cages  164  are located on the right hand side of the male hog cage, then panel  154  will be positioned on the left-hand side of the front cage section  130 , so that the male hog head will be forced to remain on the right-hand side of the cage. Consequently, the male hog head will be positioned and oriented adjacent the sow heads, which is desirable to facilitate sow artificial insemination.  
         [0051]    According to the present invention, any physical means of forcing the male hog to orient his head towards one side of the cage or the other, is also considered to be included within the scope of the present invention. For example, chains may be used to pull on the male hog head, or other devices may be used either to apply pressure on the male hog head, or to obstruct one part of the front section  130  of the cage  120 , to force the male hog to orient his head on the other side.