Patent ID: 7598463

Claim:
Apparatus for sorting livestock comprising: a base frame; a weigh scale mounted on the base frame; the weigh scale including two side walls, a rear opening and a front opening arranged with the openings closed to confine the animal within the weigh scale; an operating device including a control unit for actuating movement of gates so as to allow entry of an animal through the rear opening onto the weigh scale and to allow release of the animal when weighed through the front opening; a platform within the weigh scale on which the animal when confined stands with the platform being connected to a weighing device for detecting the weight of the animal when standing on the platform; a sorter unit mounted so as to project forwardly from the front opening in an operating position thereof for guiding the animal after weighing when the animal emerges from the front opening; the sorter unit including at least one sorter gate arranged for guiding the animal into a selected one of a plurality of different directions, an actuating device for moving said at least one sorter gate, and a mounting assembly for carrying the sorter unit and the at least one sorter gate so as to be carried with the weigh scale on the base frame; and ground wheels for carrying the base frame with the weigh scale and the sorter unit carried thereon during transportation to different locations for sorting animals at a selected location; the sorter unit being mounted so as to be movable from the operating position to a retracted transport position; the sorter unit being arranged such that in the retracted transport position a total length of the weigh scale and the sorter unit is reduced relative to a total length thereof in the operating position for maneuvering the weigh scale and the sorter unit during transportation; the sorter unit being arranged such that in the retracted transport position the sorter unit is attached to the weigh scale for transportation therewith.