Patent Publication Number: US-4318365-A

Title: Device for lifting animals

Description:
This invention relates to a device for lifting cattle, horses or other weighty animals, comprising a rigid yoke to which two spaced-apart gripping members are connected, said gripping members being movable towards and away from each other by means of a suitably screwable adjustment mechanism to enable gripping of the animal, preferably on the hip bone projections thereof, and means for connecting the device to arbitrary lifting means, such as a hook. Lifting devices of this type are previously known i.e. by the U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,909,153, 2,942,575, 3,085,553 and 3,827,406. 
     A frequent phenomenon among large animals such as cattle and horses is that they remain lying in conjunction with calving, foaling etc. Also diseased conditions of different kinds may render the animals incapable of rising. In order to make it possible for a veterenary to make a diagnosis, it is then necessary to get the animal into a standing position. Besides the animal may catch bedsores if it is not helped up. 
     It has proved that a cow will rise on the fore legs by a reflex if the posterior portion thereof is lifted by means of a lifting device of the type referred to above. This is of course the manner in which a cow normally rises. An alternative possibility has also been to lift the animal under the belly thereof, but then another reflex leads to effect that the animal readily lies down again. 
     Though the lifting devices previously known by the above mentioned patent specifications per se have made possible a lifting of the animal in the manner indicated, the same have been associated with the disadvantage that the two gripping members of the device on one hand have come to fit against the hip bone projections with highly unequal pressures at the beginning of the lifting of the animal from a lying position and on the other they have been refractory during the lifting procedure from the lying to the standing position. This has often brought about that the animal remains disinclined for assisting in rising itself. 
     The present invention aims at eliminating the above mentioned disadvantages and for this purpose it concerns an animal lifting device which is characterized in that the gripping members are disposed on arms which are hingedly connected on one hand to the yoke by means of first hinges and on the other to the adjustment mechanism by means of second hinges being spaced apart from the first hinges and the adjustment mechanism is arranged to move the two second hinges towards and away from each other so as to provide said movements of the gripping members towards and away from each other by pivoting the arms in relation to the first hinges. 
     By the hinge-connection between the yoke, the adjustment mechanism and the gripping members realized in accordance with the invention, the device becomes flexibly adapted to the movements of the cow or the animal during the lifting procedure, a fact which has proved to stimulate the animal to assist in rising itself. 
    
    
     With reference to the enclosed drawings, a closer description of an embodiment of the device of the invention will follow hereinafter. In the drawings: 
     FIG. 1 is a front view of the device according to the invention: 
     FIG. 2 is a side view of the same device; 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the device clamped to a cow in a half-recumbent position; and 
     FIG. 4 is a partial view illustrating the same device and animal with the animal shown in standing position. 
    
    
     The device illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises a rigid yoke 1, two gripping members 2, 3 and an adjustment mechanism, which in this case is realized as a rod 5 provided with threads 4, said rod having a crank 6 by means of which it is manually rotatable. 
     The gripping members 2, 3 are disposed on arms 7 and 8 respectively which are hingedly or pivotably connected on one hand to the yoke 1 by first hinges 9, 10 and on the other to the adjustment mechanism or the rod 5 by second hinges 11, 12 which are spaced apart from the first hinges, as viewed in the longitudinal direction of the arms. The threaded portion 4 of the rod 5 is engaged in a correspondingly threaded portion of the hinge 11, while the hinge 12 is axially immovably connected to the rod, when rotating the rod 5 in one direction or the other, the two hinges 11, 12 will either be moved towards or away from each other and hence the gripping members will be moved away from and towards each other respectively due to the fact that the arms 7, 8 are pivoted in relation to the first hinges 9, 10. 
     Connection means in the form of a ring 13 for connecting the device to arbitrary lifting means, such as a hook of a tackle, a chain or the like, is in this case attached to the yoke 1 approximately half-way between the ends thereof. From FIG. 1 it appears that the yoke is curved or bent so as to closely correspond to the shape of the animal. 
     As clearly appears from FIG. 2, each arm 7, 8 presents two substantially parallel elements 14, 15 interconnected by means of a circular element 16 forming a gripping member. This circular gripping member or element may advantageously be covered with a soft material, such as a rubber hose 17, in order to protect the animal from injuries. Between the two parallel elements 14, 15, a sleeve 18 is provided rotatably mounted on a bolt, said sleeve being connected to the yoke 1 and forming said first hinge of each arm. A shaft 19 is rotatably mounted at the top between the two elements 14, 15, said shaft being connected to the rod 5 and forming said second hinge. Concerning the hinge 11 in particular, the shaft 19 has a threaded through hole in which the threaded portion 4 of the rod 5 is engaged. The corresponding shaft of the hinge 12 has a simple through hole in which the rod is freely rotatable, the hinge being axially immovable in relation to the rod in any suitable manner, e.g. by means of collars (not shown). 
     In the embodiment shown, the yoke 1 is located in such a way in relation to the rod 5 that the first hinges 9, 10 are between the gripping members 2, 3 and the second hinges 11, 12. 
     When an animal is to be lifted, the gripping members 2, 3 are--by means of the crank 6--moved away from each other the distance necessary for passing the device over the hip bone projections of the animal. Then the grippping members are--by actuating the crank in the opposite direction of rotation--moved so far towards each other that a firm grip of the animal is provided, whereupon the lifting hook 20 is connected to the ring 13 as illustrated in FIG. 3. Now the animal can readily be rised from the lying position illustrated in FIG. 3 to the standing position illustrated in FIG. 4. 
     By the hinged four-point connection between the yoke, rod and arms associated with the gripping members, the device according to the invention is given an adaptability in rising the animal making it possible to rise the animal substantially vertically from a lying to a standing position. In doing so the pressure from the device is distributed approximately equally onto the two hip bone projections. Another advantage of the device according to the invention is that it requires a comparatively limited space above the animal due to the curved shape of the yoke. This is important in confined rooms, wherein also the lifting apparatus, to which the device is attached, has to be housed.