Abstract:
There is provided an animal squeeze having a drop floor and a cradle in which an animal is suspended. A mechanism for altering the positioning of the cradle relative to the drop floor is described. The cradle can be raised or lowered to accommodate animals of differing size. The cradle can also be tilted horizontally to improve access to portions of the animal.

Description:
FIELD 
     There is described an animal squeeze used to assist in treating animals. The animal squeeze may be used to treat deer and other animals. 
     BACKGROUND 
     U.S. Pat. No. 6,199,514, issued to Jubinville, entitled “Method of restraining an animal within an animal squeeze and an animal squeeze,” discloses an apparatus which was developed for handling deer but is capable of handling other animals. 
     SUMMARY 
     There is provided an animal squeeze having a drop floor and a cradle in which an animal is suspended. The animal squeeze has a mechanism for altering the positioning of the cradle relative to the drop floor. 
     A problem that may be encountered with animal squeezes is dealing with animals of differing size. Animals of different species differ in size. Even within the same species, animals vary widely in size. This problem may be addressed by altering the positioning of the cradle relative to the drop floor. The mechanism raises or lowers the cradle relative to the drop floor, to accommodate different species and sizes of animals. 
     Another problem that may be encountered is in servicing the hooves of the animal in the squeeze. This problem may be addressed by altering the positioning of the cradle relative to the drop floor. The mechanism tilts the cradle from a substantially vertical orientation used to capture the animal to a substantially horizontal orientation when necessary to care for the animal. 
     A further problem that may be encountered is in accessing parts of the animal that are inaccessible due to the cradle. This may be addressed by providing one side of the cradle with a built-in table capable of supporting the animal and a mechanism for moving an opposed side of the cradle to expose the table when the cradle is in the horizontal orientation. 
     When the cradle is placed in the horizontal orientation, there may be a table extension to enlarge a surface area of the table to better support the animal. 
     The mechanism to move the opposed side of the cradle and the mechanism to move the cradle itself may be based upon different technologies. Beneficial results have been obtained using fluid driven telescopically extendible actuators, typically hydraulic or air. The movement can also be accomplished with motor-driven screws or motor-driven gears. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       These and other features will become more apparent from the following description in which reference is made to the appended drawings, which are for the purpose of illustration only and are not intended to be in any way limiting, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is an end elevation view of an open end of the animal squeeze with the cradle in a vertical orientation and the drop floor raised. 
         FIG. 2  is an end elevation view of a closed end of the animal squeeze with the cradle in a vertical orientation and the drop floor raised. 
         FIG. 3  is an end elevation view of the open end of the animal squeeze with the cradle in a vertical orientation and the drop floor lowered. 
         FIG. 4  is an end elevation view of the open end of the animal squeeze with the cradle in a vertical and raised orientation and the drop floor lowered. 
         FIG. 5  is an end elevation view of the closed end of the animal squeeze with the cradle in a raised and tilted orientation. 
         FIG. 6  is an end elevation view of the open end of the animal squeeze with the cradle placed in a substantially horizontal orientation and the opposed side of the cradle moved out of the way to expose the built-in table with a table extension raised to better support an animal. 
         FIG. 7  is a detailed perspective view of the built-in table in the cradle of the animal squeeze. 
         FIG. 8  is a detailed perspective view of the built-in table in the cradle with a table extension raised to better support an animal. 
         FIG. 9  is a perspective view of the animal squeeze with the cradle placed in a substantially horizontal orientation and the opposed side of the cradle moved out of the way to expose the built-in table. 
         FIG. 10  is a side elevation view of the animal squeeze with the cradle placed in a substantially horizontal orientation and the opposed side of the cradle moved out of the way to expose the built-in table. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     An animal squeeze generally identified by reference numeral  10 , will now be described with reference to  FIG. 1  through  FIG. 10 . 
     Structure and Relationship of Parts: 
     Referring to  FIG. 1  through  FIG. 3 , animal squeeze  10  has a drop floor  12  and a cradle  14  in which an animal (not shown) is suspended. A mechanism in the form of one or more telescopically extendible hydraulic cylinders  16  (shown in  FIG. 9 ) is provided to raise or lower cradle  14  relative to drop floor  12 . As will hereinafter be described, this is done to accommodate different species and sizes of animals. 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , another mechanism, also in the form of one or more telescopically extendible hydraulic cylinders  18 , tilts cradle  14  from a substantially vertical orientation used to capture an animal as previously shown in  FIG. 1  through  FIG. 3 , to a substantially horizontal orientation shown in  FIG. 5 , when necessary to care for the animal. 
     Referring to  FIG. 9  and  FIG. 10 , should problems be encountered in accessing parts of the animal that are inaccessible due to cradle  14 , the animal can be sedated and portions of cradle  14  removed. When sedating the animal, it is preferred that drugs be avoided, although they may be used. A facemask can be used to administer a gas that will render the animal unconscious. When the facemask is removed, the animal will recover in less than a minute and, unlike drugs, there will be no residue left in the animal&#39;s blood stream. Cradle  14  has a built-in table  20  capable of supporting the animal and a mechanism, also in the form of one or more telescopically extendible hydraulic cylinders  21 , is provided for opening cradle  14  by moving opposed side  22  of cradle  14  to expose table  20  when cradle  14  is in the horizontal orientation. Springs or other devices (not shown) may be included to act as a counterweight for opening and closing cradle  14 . It will be appreciated that opposed side  22  is useful in restraining the animal until sufficiently sedated. It will also be appreciated that table  20  may be raised and lowered using the same mechanism that raises and lowers cradle  14 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 7  and  FIG. 8  a table extension  24  is provided to enlarge a surface area of table  20 . Table extension  24 , which is preferably retracted out of the way when cradle  14  was in the vertical orientation, can be moved to support the animal when cradle  14  is in the horizontal position. The position of table extension  24  is controlled by a hydraulic cylinder  25 . 
     It will be understood that, while hydraulic cylinders are shown as actuating the various components of animal squeeze  10 , these may be repositioned or replaced with any known actuation method, such as electric motors, mechanical gears, may be driven manually or by a power source, etc. 
     Operation: 
     A typical use sequence will now be described with reference to  FIG. 1  through  FIG. 8 . Referring to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , telescopically extendible hydraulic cylinders  16  are used to raise or lower cradle  14  relative to drop floor  12  to accommodate the size of the animal to be restrained. Referring to  FIG. 3 , the animal enters animal squeeze  10  and, when in a desired position, drop floor  12  is dropped. This results in the animal being suspended above drop floor  12  in cradle  14 . Referring to  FIG. 5 , hydraulic cylinders  18  are used to tilt cradle  14  from a substantially vertical orientation used to capture the animal previously shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , to a substantially horizontal orientation shown in  FIG. 5 , when necessary to care for the animal. Referring to  FIG. 6 , should problems be encountered in accessing parts of the animal that are inaccessible due to cradle  14 , the animal can be sedated and portions of cradle  14  removed. Hydraulic cylinders  21  are used to move opposed side  22  of cradle  14  to expose table  20 . Referring to  FIG. 7  and  FIG. 8 , table extension  24  is deployed to enlarge the surface area of table  20  to better support an animal. Referring to  FIG. 8 , the mechanism for moving table extension  24  is illustrated. Table  20  is raised or lowered to a comfortable working height for the user (e.g., a rancher). When work on the animal is completed, the operation is reversed. Referring to  FIG. 7  and  FIG. 8 , table extension  24  is placed back into its stored position in preparation for changing the orientation of cradle  14 . Referring to  FIG. 5 , hydraulic cylinders  21  are used to return opposed side  22  of cradle  14  to restrain the animal within cradle  14 . Hydraulic cylinders  18  are used to tilt cradle  14  from the horizontal orientation shown in  FIG. 5  back to vertical orientation shown in  FIG. 1  through  FIG. 4 . Upon recovery of the animal from sedation, which takes less than a minute when gas is used, the animal is released from animal squeeze  10 . 
     In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be one and only one of the elements. 
     The scope of the claims should not be limited by the embodiments set forth in the examples, but should be given the broadest interpretation consistent with the description as a whole.