A poultry loading apparatus has an inclined conveyor having an upper end pivotally mounted at one end of a horizontal conveyor which is raised and lowered by power operated scissor linkages to position the horizontal conveyor at an elevation corresponding to cages being loaded with poultry. Belts on the inclined conveyor and on the horizontal conveyor are driven to move poultry up the inclined conveyor onto the horizontal conveyor and therealong where the poultry is manually removed and placed in the cages. The loading apparatus has operation control and cooperative mechanism to prevent excessive quantities of poultry being delivered to the unloading station of the structure. The poultry loading apparatus is mounted on a mobile frame and has a poultry retaining structure above the belt on the inclined conveyor and above the belt on the horizontal conveyor.
A multi-tiered compartment is disclosed wherein each tier includes a belt conveyor of unique design having minimal depth requirements. These belt conveyors can be operated in combination with external conveyors to effect embarkation and debarkation, and present little impedance to ventilation when the apparatus is fully loaded.
A turkey loader for transferring live birds of a flock to cages, e.g. on a van or truck for carrying same to market, comprises a conveyor belt mounted upon the elevatable member of a forklift vehicle and provided at one end with a raisable and lowerable gate through which the turkeys are admitted onto the conveyor belt. At the other end the structure is formed with a door which can be raised to permit egress of the turkeys as they enter their cages. The structure is further provided with a suspended platform upon which an operator can stand to insure proper movement of the turkeys into the respective cages and from which the operator can open and close the cage doors. The platform can be provided with hydraulic controls necessary to align the discharge end of the conveyor with the respective cages.
4112872 - Poultry cage system with poultry removal - Owned by U.S. Industries, Inc. (New York, NY) [*] Notice:The portion of the term of this patent subsequent to February 22, 1994 has been disclaimed.
A plurality of cages are arranged side-by-side on a frame in one or more horizontally spaced rows and if desired in spaced vertical tiers. The commonly facing sides of each spaced row include coverable access openings and poultry confined in the cages are removed through the openings onto a generally horizontally moving conveyor movable vertically adjacent the cage openings to each tier. Preferably, the conveyor is an endless belt type and each tier includes horizontally spaced rows vertically spaced above each other, the conveyor being movable vertically between the rows.
A turkey loading apparatus (10) includes a transport conveyor (30) and a loading conveyor (50). The loading conveyor (50) is positioned underneath the transport conveyor (30) and moves from a retracted position to an extended position. The transport conveyor has a first segment (32) pivotally connected to a second segment (33). As the loading apparatus (10) is raised and lowered, the first segment (32) pivots with respect to the second segment (33). In addition, the first segment (32) moves laterally.
