Litter removal mechanism for poultry houses and the like

{
  "publication_number": "US3845516A",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "A",
  "title": "Litter removal mechanism for poultry houses and the like",
  "abstract": "A litter removal mechanism for poultry houses and the like comprising a tractor having a rear bumper and scraper guide mechanism supported by the frame work thereof and having a hydraulic lift mechanism incorporated therein. The scraper mechanism, including a pair of spaced scraper blades, is guided by the bumper and scraper guide mechanism and is raised and lowered by the hydraulic lift of the tractor. A blade adjusting mechanism is provided to adjust the lower most scraping height of the scraper. The scraper blade mechanism is articulated to reduce the effective width thereof upon moving the tractor in the reverse direction thereby providing sufficient clearance to facilitate ease of backing the tractor and scraper mechanism into a relatively narrow poultry house during use.",
  "claims": [
    "1. A litter removal mechanism for poultry houses and the like comprising: a vehicle mechanism provided with front and rear wheels, having a rear bumper assembly and having an implement lift; a support framework being movably retained by said bumper assembly and being operatively connected to said lift; a pair of scraper blades being pivotally supported one at either extremity of said support framework, said scraper blades being pivotally movable by ground resistance force applied to said scraper blades during scraping movement of said vehiclE mechanism from an operative laterally extended position of said blades where said blades are substantially co-extensive with said support framework, to a collapsed position by inertia developed upon movement of said vehicle in an opposing direction where said blades are disposed in angulated relation with said support framework and the effective width of the scraper blades and support framework assembly is reduced; an adjustment yoke being supported in immovable relation with said implement lift; jack screw means being threadedly received by said adjustment element and being connected to said support framework, said jack screw means being rotatable to impart vertical movement to said support framework relative to said implement lift.",
    "2. A litter removal mechanism as recited in claim 1: scraper guide means being carried by said bumper assembly of said vehicle mechanism; and said support framework being guided by said guide means during raising and lowering thereof.",
    "3. A litter removal mechanism as recited in claim 1: adjustment means for adjustable presetting the lowermost scraping position of said support framework, said scraping position being assumed upon movement of said implement lift to the lowermost position thereof.",
    "4. A litter removal mechanism as recited in claim 1: generally vertically oriented guide means being fixed to said bumper assembly; guide receiving means provided on said support framework receiving said guide means and maintaining alignment of said support framework during raising and lowering movement thereof; and said adjustment yoke being manipulatable for adjustably establishing the lowermost scraping position of said support framework, said scraping position being assumed upon movement of said implement lift to the lowermost position thereof.",
    "5. A litter removal mechanism as recited in claim 1: generally vertically oriented guide means being provided by said bumper assembly; and said support framework having guide receiving means for receiving said guide means and guiding said support framework as said support framework is moved generally vertically relative to said bumper assembly.",
    "6. A litter removal mechanism as recited in claim 5: a pair of spaced guide bars having one extremity thereof pivotally connected to said vehicle and the opposite extremity thereof fixed to said support framework, said guide bars maintaining generally horizontal positioning of said support framework as it moves up and down relative to said bumper assembly.",
    "7. A litter removal mechanism as recited in claim 1: said implement lift raising and lowering said support framework relative to the scraping position thereof; and means for mechanically supporting said support framework at said scraping position independently of said implement lift.",
    "8. A litter removal mechanism for poultry houses and the like, comprising: a vehicle mechanism provided with front and rear wheels, having a rear bumper assembly and having an implement lift having raised and lowered limits of travel; generally vertical guide means provided on said rear bumper assembly; a support framework being disposed in generally horizontal position; a pair of scraper blades each being pivotally connected to opposite extremities of said support framework and being movable by inertia about said pivotal connections to a collapsed position thereof to reduce the effective width of the scraper blades upon backing of said vehicle mechanism and being pivotally movable by scraping resistance to fully extend said scraper blades to the maximum effective width thereof upon forward movement of said vehicle mechanism; guide receiving means being defined by said support framework and receiving said guide means to guide said support framework during vertical movement relative to said bumper assembly; means connecting said support framework to said implement lift to allow said implement lift to raise and lower said scraPer blades relative to a scraping position thereof, said scraping position being assumed upon movement of said implement lift to the lowermost position thereof; means for mechanically supporting said support framework and said scraper blades at said scraping position independently of said implement lift; an adjustment yoke being provided on said support framework for adjusting the scraping position of said scraper blades and being supported in immovable relation with said implement lift; and jack screw means being threadedly received by said adjustment yoke and being connected to said support framework, said jack screw means being rotatable to impart vertical movement to said support framework relative to said implement lift, said scraping position being assumed upon movement of said implement lift to the lowermost position thereof.",
    "9. A litter removal mechanism as recited in claim 8: said implement lift including an implement lift arm; said means for mechanically supporting said scraper blades comprising at least one connecting element interconnecting said support framework with said implement lift arm; and stop means carried by said vehicle mechanism and being engaged by said implement lift arm at the lowermost position thereof, said stop means supporting said implement lift arm, said support framework and said scraper blades upon movement of said lift arm to the fully lowered position thereof.",
    "10. A litter removal mechanism as recited in claim 8: means for adjusting the width of said support framework to thereby adjust the spacing of said scraper blades.",
    "11. A litter removal mechanism as recited in claim 8: a pair of spaced guide bars being pivotally connected at one extremity thereof to said vehicle and being fixed at the opposite extremities thereof to said support framework, said guide bars maintaining generally horizontal positioning of said support framework and said scraper blades as said support framework is raised and lowered relative to said rear bumper assembly by said implement lift.",
    "12. A litter removal mechanism as recited in claim 8: said support framework having a pair of movably related frames, one being connected to said implement lift and defining said guide receiving means and the other of said frames carrying said scraper blades; and a vertical adjustment structure interconnecting said frames and being selectively movable to adjust the relative positioning of said frames and thereby to adjust the scraping position of said scraper blades.",
    "13. A litter removal mechanism as recited in claim 12: said vertical adjustment structure being an elongated threaded screw element being rotatably carried by one of said frames; and internally threaded means being provided on the other of said frames and threadedly receiving said threaded screw whereby rotation of said screw will impart relative vertical movement to said frames."
  ],
  "cpc": [
    "A01K 31/04"
  ],
  "assignees": [
    "STROUD J",
    "ABBOTT B"
  ],
  "filing_date": "1972-11-29",
  "publication_date": "1974-11-05",
  "grant_date": "1974-11-05",
  "priority_date": "1972-11-29",
  "application_number": "US-31021972-A",
  "family_id": "23201494",
  "citations": [
    "GB962945A",
    "US3548956A",
    "US3605167A",
    "US3680166A"
  ]
}