U.S. patent application number 17/357487 was filed with the patent office on 2021-10-14 for animal pen with removable dividers.
This patent application is currently assigned to Poly Dome Ontario Inc.. The applicant listed for this patent is Poly Dome Ontario Inc.. Invention is credited to Darren VanBuuren, Burton Mark Wood.
Application Number | 20210315183 17/357487 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000005678700 |
Filed Date | 2021-10-14 |
United States Patent
Application |
20210315183 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
VanBuuren; Darren ; et
al. |
October 14, 2021 |
ANIMAL PEN WITH REMOVABLE DIVIDERS
Abstract
A modular animal pen system comprises front and rear panels and
opposed side panels extending between the front and rear panels to
form a primary enclosure. The front panel has adjacent doorway
apertures formed therein to receive respective selectively closable
gates, and a mullion is disposed between the doorway apertures. The
mullion has a first slot, and a second slot in the rear panel is in
registration with the first slot. The animal pen system further
comprises a removable divider panel whose longitudinal ends are
sized to fit removably within the respective slots so that the
divider panel can divide the primary enclosure into two secondary
enclosures. The side and divider panels may be formed by
interchangeable profile panels, and the front and rear panels may
be formed by interchangeable face panels connectable end-to-end to
form a junction slot therebetween sized to receive the longitudinal
ends of the profile panels.
Inventors: |
VanBuuren; Darren; (Grassie,
CA) ; Wood; Burton Mark; (Lindsay, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Poly Dome Ontario Inc. |
Grassie |
|
CA |
|
|
Assignee: |
Poly Dome Ontario Inc.
Grassie
CA
|
Family ID: |
1000005678700 |
Appl. No.: |
17/357487 |
Filed: |
June 24, 2021 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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|
16927306 |
Jul 13, 2020 |
11064675 |
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17357487 |
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15690924 |
Aug 30, 2017 |
10721905 |
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16927306 |
|
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62381424 |
Aug 30, 2016 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A01K 1/02 20130101; A01K
1/0011 20130101; A01K 1/0088 20130101; A01K 1/00 20130101; A01K
1/0209 20130101 |
International
Class: |
A01K 1/00 20060101
A01K001/00; A01K 1/02 20060101 A01K001/02 |
Claims
1. A modular animal pen system, comprising at least one module,
wherein each module comprises: at least one front panel; at least
one rear panel; two opposed side panels secured to and extending
between the at least one front panel and the at least one rear
panel to form a primary enclosure; the at least one front panel
having at least two adjacent doorway apertures formed therein, the
doorway apertures being adapted to receive respective selectively
closable gates; the at least one front panel having a first slot
disposed between the at least two doorway apertures; the at least
one rear panel having a second slot in registration with the first
slot; the animal pen system further comprising a removable divider
panel whose longitudinal ends are sized to fit removably within the
respective slots so that, when the divider panel is positioned with
its longitudinal ends within the respective slots, the divider
panel extends between the at least one front panel and the at least
one rear panel so as to divide the primary enclosure into two
secondary enclosures; the divider panel being formed by a profile
panel having a front longitudinal end comprising: a longitudinally
extending profile panel projection sized to fit removably within
the first slot; and a partition extension element extending
outwardly and upwardly from the front profile panel projection
beyond the at least one front panel.
2. The modular animal pen system of claim 1, wherein: the front
panel and the rear panel are formed by face panels of identical
construction so as to be interchangeable with one another.
3. The modular animal pen of claim 2, wherein: opposed longitudinal
ends of the face panels are interengageable with one another so
that face panels can be connected end-to-end; and when connected,
the longitudinal ends of two adjacent face panels form a junction
slot therebetween, the junction slot being adapted to removably
receive the longitudinal end of one of the profile panels.
4. The modular animal pen system of claim 3, wherein: the first
slots are closed at inferior ends of the at least one front panel
and have open ends at superior ends of the at least one front
panel.
5. The modular animal pen system of claim 4, wherein: the
longitudinal ends of the profile panels each further comprise at
least one shoulder disposed inwardly of the profile panel
projection; wherein the shoulders are positioned to cooperate to
longitudinally trap the profile panels between the front panel and
the rear panel when the profile panel projections are received in
the first and second slots.
6. The modular animal pen system of claim 1, wherein the side
panels and the divider panel are formed by profile panels of
identical construction so as to be interchangeable with one
another.
7. The modular animal pen of claim 6, wherein: the at least one
front panel and the at least one rear panel are of differing
construction; opposed longitudinal ends of the at least one rear
panel are interengageable with one another so that a plurality of
the rear panels can be connected end-to-end; when connected, the
longitudinal ends of two adjacent rear panels form a rear panel
junction slot therebetween, the rear panel junction slot being
adapted to removably receive the longitudinal end of one of the
profile panels; opposed longitudinal ends of the at least one front
panel are interengageable with one another so that a plurality of
the front panels can be connected end-to-end; when connected, the
longitudinal ends of two adjacent front panels form a front panel
junction slot therebetween, the front panel junction slot being
adapted to removably receive the longitudinal end of one of the
profile panels.
8. The modular animal pen system of claim 7, wherein: each of the
front panel junction slots is closed at an inferior end of the
front panel and open at superior ends of the front panels; and each
of the rear panel junction slot is closed at inferior ends of the
rear panels and open at superior ends of the rear panels.
9. The modular animal pen system of claim 8, wherein: the
longitudinal ends of the profile panels each further comprise: at
least one shoulder disposed inwardly of the profile panel
projection; wherein the shoulders are positioned to cooperate to
longitudinally trap the profile panels between the front panel and
the rear panel when the profile panel projections are received in
the first and second slots.
10. The modular animal pen system of claim 9, wherein: each at
least one front panel has a first retention element associated with
its first slot; each at least one rear panel has a second retention
element associated with its second slot; each of the first
retention element and the second retention element is movably
carried by the respective front panel and rear panel so as to be
movable between: a first position in which the retention element
obstructs the open end of the respective slot for vertically
trapping one of the profile panel projections in the respective
slot; and a second position in which the retention element leaves
the open end of the respective slot unobstructed.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is a continuation of and claims priority to
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/927,306 filed on Jul. 13, 2020,
entitled "ANIMAL PEN WITH REMOVABLE DIVIDERS," which is a
continuation of and claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser.
No. 15/690,924 filed on Aug. 30, 2017, entitled "ANIMAL PEN WITH
REMOVABLE DIVIDERS," which claims priority to and the benefit of
U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/381,424 filed on Aug. 30,
2016, entitled "ANIMAL PEN WITH REMOVABLE DIVIDERS," each of which
is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The present invention relates to animal pen systems.
BACKGROUND
[0003] When raising young animals such as calves, goats and the
like, after weaning the animals it is customary to begin with each
animal in a separate enclosure, and then place the animals together
in groups once they have reached a certain level of maturity (e.g.
a certain number of weeks of age).
SUMMARY
[0004] The present disclosure describes a modular pen system with
removable dividers which can be arranged in a plurality of
different configurations to selectively group animals together or
isolate them from one another.
[0005] In one aspect, a modular animal pen system comprises a front
panel, a rear panel and two opposed side panels secured to and
extending between the front panel and the rear panel to form a
primary enclosure. The front panel has at least two adjacent
doorway apertures formed therein; the doorway apertures being
adapted to receive respective selectively closable gates. The front
panel also has a mullion disposed between the at least two doorway
apertures. The mullion has a first slot formed therethrough, and
the rear panel has a second slot formed therethrough in
registration with the first slot. The animal pen system further
comprises a removable divider panel whose longitudinal ends are
sized to fit removably within the respective slots so that, when
the divider panel is positioned with its longitudinal ends within
the respective slots, the divider panel extends between the front
panel and the rear panel so as to divide the primary enclosure into
two secondary enclosures.
[0006] In one embodiment, the front panel and the rear panel are
formed by face panels of identical construction so as to be
interchangeable with one another whereby the first and second slots
are mullion slots, and the side panels and the divider panel are
formed by profile panels of identical construction so as to be
interchangeable with one another.
[0007] In one embodiment, opposed longitudinal ends of the face
panels are interengageable with one another so that face panels can
be connected end-to-end and, when connected, the longitudinal ends
of two adjacent face panels form a junction slot therebetween, with
the junction slot being adapted to removably receive the
longitudinal end of one of the profile panels.
[0008] The mullion slots may be closed at inferior ends of the
mullions and have open ends at superior ends of the mullions.
[0009] In some embodiments, the longitudinal ends of the profile
panels each comprise a longitudinally extending profile panel
projection sized to fit removably within the mullion slots and the
junction slots and at least one shoulder disposed inwardly of the
profile panel projection. The shoulders are positioned to cooperate
to longitudinally trap the profile panels between the front panel
and the rear panel when the profile panel projections are received
in the first and second slots.
[0010] In certain embodiments, each face panel has a retention
element associated with each mullion slot. The retention element is
movably carried by the respective face panel so as to be movable
between a first position and a second position. In the first
position the retention element obstructs the open end of the
respective mullion slot for vertically trapping one of the profile
panel projections in the respective mullion slot and in the second
position the retention element leaves the open end of the
respective mullion slot unobstructed.
[0011] In some embodiments, the front panel and the rear panel are
of differing construction, and opposed longitudinal ends of the
rear panel are interengageable with one another so that a plurality
of the rear panels can be connected end-to-end. When connected, the
longitudinal ends of two adjacent rear panels form a rear panel
junction slot therebetween. This rear panel junction slot is
adapted to removably receive the longitudinal end of one of the
profile panels. Similarly, opposed longitudinal ends of the front
panel are interengageable with one another so that a plurality of
the front panels can be connected end-to-end. When connected, the
longitudinal ends of two adjacent front panels form a front panel
junction slot therebetween. This front panel junction slot is
adapted to removably receive the longitudinal end of one of the
profile panels.
[0012] Optionally, the longitudinal ends of the front panels and
the longitudinal ends of the rear panels are interengageable with
one another so that the front panels and the rear panels can be
connected end-to-end with a junction slot therebetween.
[0013] In some embodiments, each of the first slots is closed at an
inferior end of the front panel and open at superior ends of the
front panels, and each of the second slots is closed at inferior
ends of the rear panels and open at superior ends of the rear
panels.
[0014] In some embodiments, the longitudinal ends of the profile
panels each comprise a longitudinally extending profile panel
projection sized to fit removably within the first slots, the
second slots and the junction slots, and at least one shoulder
disposed inwardly of the profile panel projection. The shoulders
are positioned to cooperate to longitudinally trap the profile
panels between the front panel and the rear panel when the profile
panel projections are received in the first and second slots.
[0015] In particular embodiments, each front panel has a first
retention element associated with its first slot and each rear
panel has a second retention element associated with its second
slot. The first retention element and the second retention element
are each movably carried by the respective front panel and rear
panel so as to be movable between a first position and a second
position. In the first position, the retention element obstructs
the open end of the respective slot to vertically trap one of the
profile panel projections in the respective slot, and in the second
position the retention element leaves the open end of the
respective slot unobstructed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] These and other features will become more apparent from the
following description in which reference is made to the appended
drawings wherein:
[0017] FIG. 1A is a top perspective view of a first exemplary
modular animal pen system according to an aspect of the disclosure,
showing installation and removal of a divider panel thereof;
[0018] FIG. 1B is a top perspective view of the animal pen system
of FIG. 1A, with the divider panel thereof installed;
[0019] FIG. 2A is a front elevation view of the animal pen system
of FIG. 1A;
[0020] FIG. 2B is a rear elevation view of the animal pen system of
FIG. 1A;
[0021] FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the animal pen system of FIG.
1A;
[0022] FIG. 4 is a side elevation view of the animal pen system of
FIG. 1A;
[0023] FIG. 5A is a front elevation view of an exemplary face panel
for the animal pen system of FIG. 1A;
[0024] FIG. 5B is a rear elevation view of the face panel of FIG.
5A;
[0025] FIG. 5C shows end-to-end interconnection of two instances of
the face panel of FIG. 5A;
[0026] FIG. 6A is a side elevation view of a first exemplary
profile panel for the animal pen system of FIG. 1A;
[0027] FIG. 6B is a side elevation view of a second exemplary
profile panel for the animal pen system of FIG. 1A;
[0028] FIG. 6C is a side elevation view of a third exemplary
profile panel for the animal pen system of FIG. 1A;
[0029] FIG. 7A is a top perspective view of an exemplary retention
element for the animal pen system of FIG. 1A;
[0030] FIG. 7B is a side elevation view of the retention element of
FIG. 7A;
[0031] FIG. 7C is a front elevation view of the retention element
of FIG. 7A;
[0032] FIG. 7D is a rear elevation view of the retention element of
FIG. 7A;
[0033] FIG. 8 shows an exemplary J-shaped rod;
[0034] FIG. 9 shows an exemplary feeding gate for the animal pen
system of FIG. 1A;
[0035] FIG. 10 shows an exemplary confinement gate for the animal
pen system of FIG. 1A;
[0036] FIG. 11 shows an exemplary hinge bracket for the animal pen
system of FIG. 1A;
[0037] FIG. 12A is a front elevation view of an exemplary alternate
rear panel for the animal pen system of FIG. 1A;
[0038] FIG. 12B is a rear elevation view of the alternate rear
panel of FIG. 12A;
[0039] FIG. 13A is a side elevation view of a fourth exemplary
profile panel for the animal pen system of FIG. 1A;
[0040] FIG. 13B is a side elevation view of a fifth exemplary
profile panel for the animal pen system of FIG. 1A;
[0041] FIG. 13C is a side elevation view of a sixth exemplary
profile panel for the animal pen system of FIG. 1A; and
[0042] FIG. 14 is a top perspective view of a module of a second
exemplary modular animal pen system according to an aspect of the
disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0043] Reference is first made to FIGS. 1A to 3, in which an
exemplary modular animal pen system is indicated generally by
reference 100. The animal pen system 100 is suitable for use with
young animals that have recently been weaned from their mothers,
although it may be used with older animals as well. The exemplary
animal pen system 100 may be used to house bovine calves; animal
pen systems according to the present disclosure may also be used
with other animals including pigs, sheep and goats, for
example.
[0044] The exemplary pen system 100 is modular, and each module 102
comprises a front panel 104A, a rear panel 104B and two opposed
side panels 108A secured to and extending between the front panel
104A and the rear panel 104B to form an open-topped primary
enclosure indicated generally by reference 110. The pen system 100
is intended primarily for indoor use and would rest on a generally
planar floor of concrete, cement or other suitable material and as
such the pen system 100 has an open bottom.
[0045] The exemplary embodiment of the pen system 100 shown in the
Figures comprises two modules 102 joined end-to-end and sharing a
common side panel 108A as will be described further below.
[0046] The front panel 104A and the rear panel 104B of each module
102 each have two adjacent open-topped doorway apertures 112A,
112B, respectively, formed therein, with a respective mullion 114A,
114B disposed between the doorway apertures 112A, 112B. The doorway
apertures 112A, 112B are adapted to receive respective selectively
closable gates 116, 118, for example by hinging the gates 116, 118
to hinge brackets 119 (FIG. 11) secured on the front panel 104A and
rear panel 104B, or by any other suitable technique. The front
panel 104A and the rear panel 104B and the gates 116, 118 may be
provided with suitable latching mechanisms. In the illustrated
embodiment, two types of gate are shown: a feeding gate 116 which
includes receptacles 120 for mounting buckets 122 for food and
water, and a confinement gate 118. The positions of the feeding
gate 116 and confinement gate 118 are interchangeable. FIGS. 9 and
10 show the feeding gate 116 and confinement gate 118,
respectively, in more detail and FIG. 11 shows an exemplary hinge
bracket 119. The receptacles 120 on the feeding gate 116 permit the
height at which the buckets 122 are mounted to be adjusted. In
particular, as shown in FIG. 9, the receptacles 120 comprise a
series of vertically spaced crossbars 121, each of which can
receive a bucket ring for supporting a bucket 122 (FIGS. 1A, 1B and
3), and the height of the bucket ring (and hence of the bucket 122)
can be adjusted by mounting the bucket ring on a selected one of
the crossbars 121. Other feeding options include bottle, milkbar,
nipple bucket or even robotic feeding systems. Optionally two
opposed feeding gates 116 may be used to double the feeding space
and/or to support a robotic feeding system on one of the feeding
gates 116 with food and water buckets 122 on the opposite feeding
gate 116; this arrangement helps to avoid contamination of the food
and water buckets 122 by the robotic feeding system.
[0047] The mullions 114A, 114B each have a vertically extending
mullion slot 124A, 124B formed therethrough, and the front panel
104A and the rear panel 104B of each module 102 are arranged such
that the mullion slots 124A, 124B are in registration with one
another. Thus, the front panel 104A has a first slot 124A formed
therethrough and the rear panel 104B has a second slot 124B formed
therethrough, with the second slot 124B in registration with the
first slot 124A.
[0048] Continuing to refer to FIGS. 1A to 3, each module 102 of the
animal pen system 100 further comprises a removable divider panel
108B whose longitudinal ends 142, 144 are sized to fit removably
within the mullion slots 124A, 124B. As can be seen in the Figures,
when the divider panel 108B is positioned with its longitudinal
ends 142, 144 within the mullion slots 124A, 124B, the divider
panel 108B extends between the front panel 104A and the rear panel
104B so as to divide the primary enclosure 110 of that module 102
into two secondary enclosures 110A and 110B. The removable divider
panel 108B allows for calves (or other young animals) to be housed
individually, i.e. with a divider panel 108B installed, or grouped,
i.e. with the divider panel 108B removed.
[0049] In the illustrated embodiment, the front panel 104A and the
rear panel 104B of each module 102 each have two adjacent doorway
apertures 112A, 112B and a single mullion 114A, 114B. In other
embodiments, the front panel and the rear panel may have three
doorway apertures and two mullions, four doorway apertures and
three mullions, and so on, with each mullion having a slot for a
divider panel.
[0050] Without promising any particular utility, where both the
front panel 104A and the rear panel 104B have doorway apertures
112A, 112B, this arrangement may provide increased flexibility for
adding bedding and feeding and may also facilitate improved
airflow. In addition, embodiments in which both the front panel
104A and the rear panel 104B have doorway apertures 112A, 112B
enable common components to be used. In the illustrated embodiment,
both the front panel 104A and the rear panel 104B are formed by
face panels 504 (FIGS. 5A and 5B) of identical construction so as
to be interchangeable with one another. Similarly, in the
illustrated embodiment the side panels 108A and the divider panels
108B are formed by profile panels 608 (FIGS. 6A to 6C) of identical
construction so as to be interchangeable with one another. Thus, in
one preferred embodiment, only two types of panel are used: face
panels 504, which form the front panels 104A and the rear panels
104B, and profile panels 608, which form the side panels 108A and
the divider panels 108B.
[0051] In a particularly preferred embodiment, as best seen in
FIGS. 1 to 3, the face panels 504, that is, the front panels 104A
and the rear panels 104B, can be connected end-to-end to join
multiple modules 102 together. Any arbitrary number of modules 102
can be joined together end-to-end to create a calf pen system of
any desired extent. When the face panels 504 are so joined,
junction slots 126A, 126B are formed between the adjacent front
panels 104A and the adjacent rear panels 104B, respectively; the
junction slots 126A, 126B are in registration with one another and
each junction slot 126A, 126B is adapted to removably receive one
of the longitudinal ends of one of the profile panels 608. Thus,
the individual modules 102 can be separated from one another by a
profile panel 608; alternatively the profile panel 608 may be
omitted or removed so as to combine the enclosures 110 of two or
more adjacent modules 102 into a single aggregate enclosure.
[0052] Reference is now made to FIGS. 5A and 5B, in which an
exemplary face panel 504 is shown in more detail. As noted above,
the face panel 504 can be used as either the front panel 104A or
the rear panel 104B, and as such has two adjacent doorway apertures
512 separated by a mullion 514 with a mullion slot 524 formed
therethrough. In the illustrated embodiment, the mullion slot 524
of each face panel 504 is closed at the inferior end 528 of the
mullion 524 and has an open end 530 at the superior end 532 of the
mullion 524. The face panel 504 includes a plurality of feet 534
for supporting the face panel 504 on a surface.
[0053] As described above, the face panels 504 can be connected
end-to-end to join multiple modules 102 together and to achieve
this, the opposed longitudinal ends 536, 538 of the face panels 504
are interengageable with one another. In the illustrated
embodiment, interengagement is achieved by way of complementary
fingers 540; FIG. 5C shows the longitudinal ends 536, 538 of the
face panels 504 interengaged with the junction slot 526 formed
between the opposed longitudinal ends 536, 538 of the adjacent face
panels 504. The complementary fingers 540 represent merely one
exemplary configuration by which the longitudinal ends 536, 538 of
the face panels 504 may be interengaged; other configurations are
also contemplated.
[0054] Reference is now made to FIGS. 6A to 6C, which show several
exemplary profile panels 608 of different lengths; by appropriately
selecting the length of the profile panels 608 the size of the
enclosures 110 can be adjusted to accommodate different types of
animals. FIG. 6A shows a 5' profile panel 608, FIG. 6B shows a 6'
profile panel 608 and FIG. 6C shows a 7' profile panel 608; these
lengths are merely exemplary and the profile panels 608 may be of
any suitable length. For example, and without limitation, a profile
panel may be shorter than those shown, e.g. 4' in length, or longer
than those shown, e.g. 8' in length. The profile panels shown in
FIGS. 6A to 6C differ from one another essentially only in their
length and thus like reference numerals are used to refer to like
features across FIGS. 6A to 6C.
[0055] As can be seen in FIGS. 6A to 6C, the opposed longitudinal
ends 642, 644 of the profile panels 608 each comprise a respective
longitudinally extending profile panel projection 646, 648 sized to
fit removably within the mullion slots 124A, 124B, 524 and the
junction slots 126A, 126B, 526 and a respective inferior shoulder
650, 652 disposed inwardly and inferiorly of the profile panel
projection 646, 648. The inferior shoulders 650, 652 are positioned
so as to cooperate to longitudinally trap the profile panels 608
between the front panel 104A and the rear panel 104B when the
profile panel projections 646, 648 are received in the mullion
slots 124A, 124B, 524 or the junction slots 126A, 126B, 526. More
particularly, in the illustrated embodiment the inferior shoulders
650, 652 will engage the inner surface of the inferior end 528 of
the mullion 524 or the inner surfaces of the lower fingers 540 to
resist longitudinal movement of the profile panel 608.
[0056] The profile panels 608 can be secured to the face panels 504
by, for example, a rod-and-aperture system. Vertically aligned
apertures 354 (FIG. 3) are formed through the fingers 540 and the
inferior end 528 of the mullion 524 on the face panels 504, and
vertically aligned apertures 356 (FIG. 3) are similarly formed
through the profile panel projections 646, 648 on the profile
panels 608, for example by drilling. When the profile panel
projections 646, 648 are received in the mullion slots 124A, 124B,
524 or the junction slots 126A, 126B, 526, the apertures 354, 356
are in registration with one another so that a rod, such as the
J-shaped rod 558 shown in FIG. 8, can be passed through the
apertures 354, 356 to fasten the profile panels 608 to the face
panels 504, or to fasten two face panels 504 together end-to-end
(with or without a profile panel 608).
[0057] As noted above, in the illustrated embodiment the mullion
slots 124A, 124B, 524 are closed at the inferior ends 528 of the
mullions 524 and have open ends 530 at the superior ends 532 of the
mullions 524. As best seen in FIGS. 1A to 3, in a preferred
embodiment, each face panel 104A, 104B has a retention element 760
associated with each mullion slot 124A, 124B. The retention element
760 is movably carried by the respective face panel 104A, 104B so
as to be movable between a first position, shown on the right side
of FIGS. 1A, 1B, 2A and 3 and on the left side of FIG. 2B, and a
second position, shown on the left side of FIGS. 1A, 1B, 2A and 3
and on the left side of FIG. 2B. In the first position, the
retention element 760 obstructs the open end 530 of the respective
mullion slot 124A, 124B and thereby vertically traps the respective
profile panel projection 646, 648 in the respective mullion slot
124A, 124B. In the second position, the retention element 760
leaves the open end 530 of the respective mullion slot 124A, 124B
unobstructed. In the illustrated embodiment, the retention element
760 is pivotally carried at a superior edge of the face panel 104A,
104B and rotates between the first position and the second
position.
[0058] FIGS. 7A to 7D show various views of the exemplary retention
element 760 which, as seen in FIG. 7B, has a generally inverted
J-shaped profile comprising a relatively shorter projection 762 and
a relatively longer projection 764 spaced apart by and depending
from a superior web 766 so as to straddle the width of the superior
edge of the face panel 104A, 104B, 504 when the retention element
760 is in the first position. As seen in FIG. 7A, apertures 768 are
formed through the superior web 770 of the retention element 760 to
accommodate the rod (e.g. the J-shaped rod 558 shown in FIG. 8). As
such, each face panel 104A, 104B may have two retention elements,
one associated with the mullion 124A, 124B and another at one end
of the face panel 104A, 104B to assist in connecting the modules
102 end-to-end, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3.
[0059] Referring again to FIGS. 6A to 6C, the opposed longitudinal
ends 642, 644 of the profile panels 608 each further comprise a
respective superior shoulder 672, 674 disposed inwardly and
superiorly of the profile panel projection 646, 648. When the
retention element 760 is in the first position, the superior
shoulders 672, 674 will engage the relatively shorter projections
762 of the retention elements 760 to resist longitudinal movement
of the profile panel 608 and thereby longitudinally trap the
profile panels 608 between the front panel 104A and the rear panel
104B when the profile panel projections 646, 648 are received in
the mullion slots 124A, 124B, 524 or the junction slots 126A, 126B,
526.
[0060] In the illustrated embodiment, the opposed longitudinal ends
642, 644 of the profile panels 608 each further comprise a
respective intermediate shoulder 676, 678 disposed inwardly and
superiorly of the profile panel projection 646, 648 and inferiorly
of the respective superior shoulder 672, 674. When the retention
element 760 is in the first position, the intermediate shoulders
676, 678 will extend beyond the relatively shorter projections 762
of the retention elements 760 and, when the profile panel 608 is
used as a side panel, the intermediate shoulders 676, 678 will
engage the fingers 540 of the face panels 504 to further resist
longitudinal movement of the profile panel 608.
[0061] Reference is now made specifically to FIGS. 1A and 1B, as
well as FIG. 4. As noted above, each module 102 of the animal pen
system 100 comprises a removable divider panel 108B (e.g. a profile
panel 608) whose longitudinal ends 142, 144 are sized to fit
removably within the mullion slots 124A, 124B to divide the primary
enclosure 110 of that module 102 into two 110A and 110B. The
removable divider panel 108B allows for calves (or other young
animals) to initially be housed individually, i.e. with a divider
panel 108B installed, as shown on the left side of FIG. 1B, or
grouped, i.e. with the divider panel 108B removed, as shown on the
right side of FIG. 1B.
[0062] To install a divider panel 108B, the J-shaped rods 558 are
removed and the retention elements 760 associated with the mullions
114A, 114B that will receive the divider panel 108B are moved to
the second position so as to leave the open end 530 of the
respective mullion slot 124A, 124B unobstructed. The divider panel
108B can then be slid longitudinally through one of the mullion
slots 124A, 124B until the profile panel projections 646, 648 are
positioned in the mullion slots 124A, 124B, and then slid
downwardly so that the inferior shoulders 650, 652 trap the divider
panel 108B between the front panel 104A and the rear panel 104B.
The retention elements 760 are then moved to the first position to
obstruct the open end 530 of the respective mullion slot 124A, 124B
and vertically trap the profile panel projections 646, 648 in the
respective mullion slot 124A, 124B. The J-shaped rods 558 can then
be reinserted through the apertures 768 in the retention element
into the vertically aligned apertures 354, 356. To remove a divider
panel 108B, the process is reversed. FIG. 4 and the left side of
FIG. 1A show how a divider panel 108B can be inserted or
withdrawn.
[0063] A similar process can be used to install or remove a side
panel 108A, except with the additional step of separating the
adjacent front panels 104A and rear panels 104B and disengaging the
complementary fingers 540. This permits the side panel 108A to be
slid into or out of position between the adjacent front panels 104A
and rear panels 104B. Once the side panel has been inserted or
removed, the adjacent front panels 104A and rear panels 104B are
moved back together and the complementary fingers 540 are
re-engaged; where a side panel 108A has been inserted its profile
panel projections 646, 648 will then be horizontally trapped in the
junction slot 126.
[0064] Animals (e.g. calves) can be housed individually by using
the side panels 108A and divider panels 108B to separate them and
then grouped as required by removing one or more side panels 108A
and/or divider panels 108B; one or more animals can also be
isolated (e.g. for health reasons) by re-installing one or more
side panels 108A and/or divider panels 108B. As noted above, any
arbitrary number of modules 102 can be joined together end-to-end
to create a calf pen system of any desired extent; by installing or
removing one or more side panels 108A and/or divider panels 108B,
the calf pen system can be subdivided into a variety of different
enclosure configurations.
[0065] In the above-described embodiment, only two types of panel
are used: face panels, which form both the front panels and the
rear panels, and profile panels, which form both the side panels
and the divider panels. In other embodiments, the front and rear
panels may be of differing design and construction.
[0066] For example, in some embodiments only the front panel may
have doorway apertures and the rear panel may simply be provided
with one or more slots for the divider panel(s), and may optionally
be provided with additional ventilation features. For example,
FIGS. 12A and 12B show an exemplary alternative rear panel 1204
incorporating a rotary vent, in which features corresponding to
those of the exemplary face panel 504 are indicated with identical
reference numerals, except with the prefix "12" instead of "5". The
alternative rear panel 1204 has a plurality of ventilation
apertures 1206 formed therethrough and on which a vent cover 1208
(FIG. 12A) having a plurality of vent cover apertures 1210 is
rotatably mounted. The vent cover 1208 is mounted on what will be
the exterior of the alternative rear panel 1206. By rotating the
vent cover 1208 relative to the alternative rear panel 1204, one or
more of the vent cover apertures 1210 can be moved into and out of
registration with one or more corresponding ventilation apertures
1206 in the alternative rear panel 1204 to provide a desired amount
of ventilation. The rear panels 1204 each include a slot 1224 that
is closed at the inferior end 1228 of the rear panel 1204 and has
an open end 1230 at the superior end 1232 of the rear panel 1204:
this slot 1224 is adapted to receive one of the profile panels 608
described above or one of the profile panels 1308 described below.
Similarly to the face panels 504, opposed longitudinal ends 1236,
1238 of the rear panels 1204 are interengageable with one another
so that the rear panels 1204 can be connected end-to-end and, when
connected, the longitudinal ends 1236, 1238 of two adjacent rear
panels form a rear panel junction slot (not shown) therebetween.
The rear panel junction slot is adapted to removably receive one of
the profile panels 608 described above or one of the profile panels
1308 described below. In embodiments that incorporate the rear
panels 1204, the face panels 504 may serve as front panels, and are
interengageable with one another end-to-end to form front panel
junction slots and can receive the profile panels 608 as described
above (or alternatively one of the profile panels 1308 described
below). The exemplary rear panels 1204 can also incorporate a
retention element such as the exemplary retention element 760
described above.
[0067] Where the front and rear panels are of differing
construction, it is only necessary that each type of panel be
interengeagable for end-to-end connection with panels of that type
so as to form a junction slot therebetween. Although preferable, it
is not necessary that front panels be interengageable with rear
panels.
[0068] In some cases, the animals contained in the pen system 100
may attempt to make contact with one another despite the profile
panels 608, for example by sticking their heads through the feeding
gates 116 and extending their heads past the front profile panel
projection 648. To inhibit this, the profile panels may be provided
with a partition extension element extending outwardly and upwardly
from the front profile panel projection. FIGS. 13A, 13B and 13C
show alternate embodiments of profile panels 1308 which each
include such a partition extension element. The alternate profile
panels 1308 shown in FIGS. 13A to 13C are generally similar to the
profile panels 608 shown in FIGS. 6A to 6C, with like reference
numerals denoting like features except with the prefix "13" instead
of "6". Thus, the longitudinal ends 1342, 1344 of the profile
panels 1308 each comprise a respective longitudinally extending
profile panel projection 1346, 1348, sized to fit removably within
the slots 524 in the face panels 504, within the slots 1224 in the
rear panels 1204, and within the junction slots (e.g. junction
slots 126A, 126B, 526 and the junction slots between interengaged
rear panels 1204). FIG. 13A shows a 5' profile panel 1308, FIG. 13B
shows a 6' profile panel 1308 and FIG. 13C shows a 7' profile panel
1308; these lengths are merely exemplary and the profile panels
1308 may be of any suitable length.
[0069] The alternate profile panels 1308 each include a partition
extension element 1380 extending outwardly and upwardly from the
front profile panel projection 1348. The interior edge 1382 of the
partition extension element 1380, i.e. the inner edge of the
portion of the partition extension element 1380 that extends beyond
the front panel projection 1348, is spaced from the front superior
shoulder 1374 and front intermediate shoulder 1378 so as to form a
recess 1384 which can receive the retention element 760. The
shoulders 1374, 1378 are positioned to cooperate to longitudinally
trap the profile panels 1308 between the front panel (e.g. face
panel 504) and the rear panel (e.g. face panel 504 or rear panel
1204) when the profile panel projections 1346, 1348 are received in
the slots 524, 1224, 126A, 126B, 526, etc. The alternate profile
panels 1308 can be secured to the face panels 504 and/or the rear
panels 1204 by, for example, the same rod-and-aperture system
described above, and can accommodate a retention element, for
example the same exemplary retention element 760 described
above.
[0070] FIG. 14 shows a module 1402 of another exemplary modular pen
system 1400. The module 1402 comprises a front panel formed by one
of the face panels 504, a rear panel 1204 with a rotary vent and
two opposed side panels formed by profile panels 1308 having
partition extension elements 1380, with a third profile panel 1308
serving as a divider panel. The profile panels 1308 are secured to
and extend between the front panel 504 and the rear panel 1204 to
form an open-topped primary enclosure indicated generally by
reference 1410. The doorway apertures 512 of the face panel 504
serving as the front panel receive respective feeding gates
116.
[0071] The pen systems 100, 1400 described herein are intended
primarily for indoor use and would rest on a generally planar floor
of concrete, cement or other suitable material and as such the pen
systems 100, 1400 have an open bottom.
[0072] The face panels 504, rear panels 1204 and profile panels
608, 1308 may be made, for example, by rotational molding.
[0073] Certain currently preferred embodiments have been described
by way of example. It will be apparent to persons skilled in the
art that a number of variations and modifications can be made
without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the
claims.
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