Livestock chute with a front operated squeeze control of improved operational range and compatibility with a rear-control headgate driveshaft

Abstract

A livestock squeeze chute features a forwardly-located squeeze control mechanism of non-interfering relationship to a rear-control headgate setup whose rear-control driveshaft is accommodated by a pass-through opening in the squeeze control mechanism. The squeeze can therefore be driven at a front end of the squeeze space for optimal holding performance, while still permitting operation of the headgate from behind the squeeze control using one or more rear-control operator handles on the rear-control driveshaft of the headgate setup. The squeeze control features an improved range of motion enabling optimal leverage, even with a relatively short squeeze control handle. The squeeze control handle is adjustable between numerous positions, including different storage positions for open and closed states of the squeeze, a standard inline operating position, an angularly offset operating position for greater leverage during closing, and a free-hanging position.

Description

[0001] LIVESTOCK CHUTE WITH A FRONT OPERATED SQUEEZE CONTROL OF IMPROVED OPERATIONAL RANGE AND COMPATIBILITY WITH A REARCONTROL HEADGATE DRIVESHAFT

[0002] FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0003] The present invention relates generally to livestock handling equipment, and more specifically to livestock squeeze chutes.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] In the field of livestock squeeze chutes, it is known to equip such chutes with a rear-driveable headgate at the front exit of the chute that can be driven from locations situated further back along the chute, via one or more headgate rear-control operator handles disposed on a rear-control driveshaft that runs longitudinally rearward from a headgate control linkage that resides at the front exit of the chute in operably connected relationship to the headgate likewise situated thereat. Some examples employ a singular rear-control handle operator that is slidable by the operator back and forth along the rear-control driveshaft to any selected vantagepoint therealong from which the operator may then operate the headgate linkage through manipulation of the rear-control operator handle, which is rotationally affixed to the rear-control driveshaft. Other designs employ two handles at different fixed locations along the rear-control driveshaft to enable selection between those handles for selective headgate control from two different predefined vantagepoints. In either case, operator lowering of a rearcontrol operator handle rotates the rear-control driveshaft in a direction acting to close the headgate, and operator lifting of the rear-control handle rotates the rear control driveshaft in an opposing direction acting to open the headgate.

[0006] Examples of such rear-driveable headgates can be seen in Applicant’s

[0007] Published U.S. Patent Application US2022 / 0272393, published September 1 , 2022, and Applicant’s pending U.S. Provisional U.S. provisional patent application No. 63 / 581 ,807, filed September 1 1 , 2023, each of which is incorporate herein by reference in its entirety to enable reproduction of such rear-driveable headgates, though such enablement is not necessary to implement the present invention, despite the relevance of the present application to such known headgate equipment. The present invention is also compatible with other known designs of rear-driveable headgate likewise employing a rear-control driveshaft, whether with a singular rear-control operator handle or a plurality thereof.

[0008] Many designs of manually driven squeeze control mechanisms are known in the art, among which a subset are of a type where the manual operator input for driving movement of the squeeze is downward swinging of a squeeze control operator handle, about a longitudinally oriented pivot axis, in a laterally oriented vertical plane at a location off to one side of the chute. Many of these require use of a separate handle or lever to release a locking pawl of the ratchet, and / or suffer from a short range of motion and need for an overly long operating handle to gain sufficient user leverage over the squeeze function.

[0009] In addition to these shortcomings, Applicant is also unaware of any equipment manufacturer to date that has been able to design and implement this style of squeeze control in a manner optimally compatible with a rear-driveable headgate, such that the squeeze control can be operated from a location proximate the front exit of the chute, while retaining rear-drive capability of the headgate. It is desirable to control the squeeze from near the front exit of the chute because it is at a frontmost region of the chute interior where it is desirable to exert the greatest holding force on the animal with as much rigidity as possible, as a large percentage of treatment procedures performed on livestock are done at the head and neck of the animal’s body, which inherently reside at this frontmost region of the chute interior when the animal is captured by the headgate of the front exit. Firm holding of the animal’s body just behind the neck at the front end of the squeeze is therefore especially important.

[0010] On known squeeze chutes with rear-driveable headgates, the conventional approach to implement the above style of ratcheted squeeze control has been to employ a rear-control driveshaft that spans a truncated partial length of the chute, and then to place the ratcheted squeeze control rearwardly behind that truncated rear-control driveshaft. This has the effect of reducing the longitudinal range over which the rear-driveable headgate can be driven, and only permits the operator to control the squeeze from a specifically rearward location quite distant from the front exit of the chute, which for at least the above mentioned reason, may be detrimental to optimal performance of the squeeze at the front end thereof, or may require additional mechanical componentry and complexity to ensure adequate distribution of squeeze force to the front end of the squeeze from the rearward location at which operator input is made to the operation of the squeeze.

[0011] Accordingly, there is a need for an improved squeeze control design of more optimal compatibility with rear-driveable headgates, in answer to which Applicant has developed the novel solution disclosed herein. In addition to addressing that particular shortcoming of the prior art, the novel design has also achieved improvement in relation to range of motion and user leverage, which advantages can be exploited on various equipment, regardless of whether such equipment also includes a rear- driveable headgate or not .

[0012] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0013] According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a livestock squeeze chute comprising: a structural framework having an exit at a front end of the structural framework and an entrance at a rear end of the structural framework that opposes said front end in a longitudinal direction; a pair of squeeze panels supported on the frame between the entrance and the exit in positions residing opposite one another in a lateral direction that lies transverse to said longitudinal direction, said squeeze panels residing respectively adjacent to opposing outer sides of the chute that are of opposing relation to one another in said lateral direction; a headgate installed at the exit in cooperative combination with a gate control linkage by which said headgate is openable and closeable; a rear-control driveshaft coupled to the gate control linkage, running longitudinally rearward therefrom in an elevated position along one of said opposing sides of the chute, and rotatable to drive operation of said gate control linkage; at least one rear-control operator handle installed on the rear-control driveshaft and user-operable to drive rotation of the rear-control driveshaft from a given location of said rear-control operator handle; and a squeeze control mechanism manually operable to control back and forth movement of at least one of the squeeze panels in: a closing direction moving toward the other squeeze panel and thereby reducing an effective interior width of the chute, and an opening direction moving away from said other squeeze panel and thereby increasing said effective interior width of the chute; wherein said squeeze control mechanism resides at a location residing within a longitudinal span of the rear-control driveshaft, and comprises a pass-through opening therein through which said rear-control driveshaft extends.

[0014] According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a livestock squeeze chute comprising: a structural framework having an exit at a front end of the structural framework and an entrance at a rear end of the structural framework that opposes said front end in a longitudinal direction; a pair of squeeze panels supported on the frame between the entrance and the exit in positions residing opposite one another in a lateral direction that lies transverse to said longitudinal direction, said squeeze panels residing respectively adjacent to opposing outer sides of the chute that are of opposing relation to one another in said lateral direction; and a squeeze control mechanism manually operable to control back and forth movement of at least one of the squeeze panels in: a closing direction moving toward the other squeeze panel and thereby reducing an effective interior width of the chute, and an opening direction moving away from said other squeeze panel and thereby increasing said effective interior width of the chute; wherein said squeeze control mechanism comprises: a hammer rotatably supported for pivotal movement about a longitudinal axis running longitudinally of the chute at an elevated location at one side thereof; drive links coupled between said hammer and said at least one of the squeeze panels to drive movement of said at least one of the squeeze panels through pivotal movement of the hammer; and a squeeze control operator handle though which the squeeze control mechanism is manually operated; further characterized by at least one of the following features:

[0015] (a) said drive links include a longer one of said drive links that spans across the interior space of the chute from an upper inside end of the hammer and connects to a far one of the squeeze panels furthest from the hammer, and a shorter one of said drive links that spans inwardly from a lower outside end of the hammer outside the interior space to a near one of the squeeze panels nearest to the hammer;

[0016] (b) an angular measure of at least 90-degrees is possessed by a pivotal range of motion at least one of (i) the hammer, (ii) the squeeze control operator handle, or (iii) an input link of the squeeze control mechanism, to which the squeeze control operator handle is coupled;

[0017] (c) a handle carrying part of said input link, in the fully closed state of the squeeze control mechanism, resides in a lower inside quadrant of a reference frame centered on an axis about which said input link is pivotable; and

[0018] (d) the squeeze control operator handle is coupled to said input link via a slide-and-turn coupling at which the squeeze control operator handle is selectively slidable and pivotable, relative to the input link, along and around orthogonally related slide and pivot axes, respectively, and through said slide-and-turn coupling is adjustable between at least three different positions of respectively different relation to said input link, among which at least two of said three different positions are self-sustained positions, each of which is both (i) self-sustaining in at least a subset of a plurality of attainable positions of the input link, and (ii) characterized by a respectively different angular orientation to said input link.

[0019] According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a user-input section of a control linkage of a livestock equipment, through which one or more functional animal-control components of said livestock equipment are manipulatable between different positions, said user-input section comprising: an input link by which one or more other components of the control linkage are driven to manipulate said one or more functional animal-control components; and an operator handle that is coupled to said input link via a slide-and-turn coupling at which the squeeze control operator handle is selectively slidable and pivotable, relative to the input link, along and around orthogonally related slide and pivot axes, respectively, and through said slide-and-turn coupling is adjustable between at least three different positions of respectively different relation to said input link, among which at least two of said three different positions are self-sustained positions, each of which is both (i) self-sustaining in at least a subset of a plurality of attainable positions of the input link, and (ii) characterized by a respectively different angular orientation to said input link.

[0020] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

[0022] Figure 1 is a rear left perspective view of a livestock squeeze chute featuring a novel ratchet-based squeeze control mechanism of the present invention.

[0023] Figure 2 is a front right perspective view of the livestock squeeze chute of Figure 1 .

[0024] Figure 3 is a front right perspective view showing the ratchet-based squeeze control mechanism in combination with a front headgate and associated gate control linkage of the livestock squeeze chute of Figures 1 and 2, with a rest of the chute omitted for illustrative purpose.

[0025] Figure 4 is a rear left perspective view of the ratchet-based squeeze control mechanism on the livestock chute of Figures 1 and 2, with the front headgate and associated gate control linkage omitted for illustrative purpose.

[0026] Figure 5 is an exploded front right perspective view of the ratchet-based squeeze control mechanism from the livestock squeeze chute of the preceding figures, shown in isolation from the rest of the chute.

[0027] Figure 5A is an exploded perspective view of a pawl assembly of the ratchet-based squeeze control mechanism of Figure 5.

[0028] Figure 6 is an assembled front right perspective view of the ratchet-based squeeze control mechanism of Figure 5, shown in a fully open state thereof corresponding to a fully opened condition of the squeeze.

[0029] Figure 6A is a front elevational view of the ratchet-based squeeze control mechanism of Figure 6, with a front hammer plate thereof omitted for illustrative purpose.

[0030] Figure 7 is another assembled front right perspective view of the ratchetbased squeeze control mechanism of Figure 5, but in a fully closed state thereof corresponding a fully closed condition of the squeeze.

[0031] Figure 7A is a front elevational view of the ratchet-based squeeze control mechanism of Figure 8, with the front hammer plate thereof omitted for illustrative purpose.

[0032] Figure 8 is another front elevational view of the ratchet-based squeeze control mechanism of Figure 6A, again shown in the fully open state thereof with the front hammer plate removed, but with a front plate of an input link also removed to reveal coupling details between said input link and an adjustable operator handle of the mechanism, shown in a standard operating position thereof.

[0033] Figure 9 is another front elevational view of the ratchet-based squeeze control mechanism of Figure 8, with the adjustable operator handle moved to a free- hanging position.

[0034] Figure 10 is another front elevational view of the ratchet-based squeeze control mechanism of Figure 9, with the adjustable operator handle moved to a leveraged operating position.

[0035] Figure 1 1 is another front elevational view of the ratchet-based squeeze control mechanism of Figure 10, this time in the fully closed state thereof, with the adjustable operating handle again in its leveraged operating position.

[0036] Figure 12 is another front elevational view of the ratchet-based squeeze control mechanism of Figure 10 in its fully opened state, but with the adjustable operator handle in a raised storage position.

[0037] Figure 13 is another front elevational view of the ratchet-based squeeze control mechanism of Figure 11 in its fully closed state, but with the adjustable operator handle in an inward storage position.

[0038] Figure 14 is an isolated plan view of a notched end fitting of the adjustable operator handle of the ratchet-based squeeze control mechanism.

[0039] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0040] Figures 1 and 2 show a livestock squeeze chute 10 according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention. A structural framework delimits an interior space of the chute, and also an entrance and exit thereto and therefrom. In addition to forming this skeletal structure of the chute, the framework also serves to support all of the functional components of the chute, in this case including an inventive manually driven squeeze control mechanism 50 that is the subject of the present invention, and typically also including the functional components of an admission gate at one end of the chute 10 and a headgate at the other end. The framework includes a pair of longitudinal floor beams 12A, 12B lying horizontally in a longitudinal direction of the chute at a ground-level floor assembly thereof, a pair of longitudinal header beams 14A, 14B lying horizontally in parallel relation to the floor beams 12A, 12B in elevated relation thereover at a top header of the chute, and four wall posts 16A, 16B, 16D, 16E each standing vertically upright from one of the floor beams 12A, 12B at an end or end-adjacent region thereof to perpendicularly interconnect same to the matching end or end region of one of the longitudinal header beams 14A, 14B.

[0041] The framework thus delimits an interior space of generally rectangular volume. The top header of the framework, to which the header beams 14A, 14B belong, also includes a set of two or more header cross-beams 18A, 18B that span horizontally and perpendicularly between the two header beams 14, 14B at spaced apart locations therealong to maintain a squareness of the header. At or near each end of the chute, the floor beams 12A, 12B are likewise perpendicularly and horizontally connected by cross-sills 20A, 20B of the floor assembly, the illustrated two of which are each situated at or closely adjacent a vertical plane occupied by a respective pair of the wall posts 16A, 16B, 16C, 16D, to maintain a squareness of the ground level floor assembly. At or near each end of the chute, the two respective wall posts 16A &16B or 16C & 16D frame two opposing upright sides of a respective rectangular opening through which entrance to, or exit from, the chute’s interior space is possible, thereby enabling traversal of an animal through said interior space from one opening to the other on a longitudinal pathway therebetween.

[0042] One of these framed openings is referred to herein as an entrance opening 22, through which animals are admitted into the interior space of the chute during use thereof, for example in controlled one-by-one fashion via a sliding admission gate 24 or other openable / closeable entrance gate installed at this entrance opening 22. The framed opening at the opposing second end chute is referred to herein as an exit opening 26 through which animals depart the interior space of the chute once having travelled therethrough on the longitudinal pathway from the opposing entrance opening 22. The first and second ends of the chute are thus also referred to as the rear entrance end 28 and the front entrance end 30 of the chute, respectively, in relation to the travel direction in which animals move therethrough, travelling forwardly from the rear entrance end 28 of the chute toward the opposing front exit end 30 thereof. In the illustrated example, with the sliding admission gate 24 at the rear entrance end 22 of the chute 10, the upright posts of the framework comprise not only the four aforementioned wall posts 16A-16D, but also an additional pair of gate posts 25A, 25B that span upright from the floor beams 12A, 12B to the header beams 14A, 14B at terminal rear ends of the floor beams 12A, 12B, at a short distance rearwardly past the rearmost pair of wall posts 16C, 16D. The short longitudinal gap between the rearmost wall posts 16C, 16D and the nearby gate posts 25A, 25B defines a pocket into and out of which the slidable admission gate 24 is slidable back and forth. In other embodiments, depending on the type of admission gate employed, the rearmost pair of wall posts 16C, 16D may instead be the rearmost upright posts of the chute’s structural framework. At each side of the chute, the rectangular area delimited between the respective floor beam 12A, 12B, respective header beam 14A, 14B and respective pair of wall posts 16A & 16C or 16B & 16D is referred to herein as a sidewall area of the chute, and the components 12A, 12B, 14A, 14B, 16A-16D delimiting this sidewall area are collectively referred to herein as a sidewall structure the chute 10.

[0043] Departure of an admitted animal from the chute 10 through the exit opening 26 at the front end 30 thereof is controlled via an openable / closeable headgate 32. As is known in the art, closure of this headgate 32 is performed while the animal attempts to pass through the exit opening 26 so that two movable gate panels of the headgate 32 abut against opposing sides of the animal’s body, at the neck thereof, to help hold the animal in a position in which their head resides outside the chute 10, while the trailing remainder of their body is still inside the chute 10. In the illustrated example, the headgate 32 is a curtain style headgate, with two gate panels 32A. 32B rollingly supported on an overhead track 33 running across the exit opening 26 at or below a front end of the header in perpendicular relation to the longitudinal beams 14A, 14B and in parallel relation to the header cross beams 18A, 18B. The gate panels 32A, 32B are rollable horizontally back and forth on the overhead track 33 of the headgate 32 in a lateral direction of perpendicularly transverse relation to the horizontally longitudinal direction already defined above with reference to the longitudinal floor and header beams 12A, 12B, 14A, 14B. That said, the type of headgate 32 employed at the exit opening 26 of the chute 10 may vary, without detraction from the novel squeeze-related aspects of the present invention.

[0044] Residing within the elevational range of the two sidewall areas delimited between the longitudinal floor and header beams 12A, 12B, 14A, 14B, are a pair of movable squeeze panels 34A, 34B, each lying longitudinally of the framework in adjacency to a respective one of the sidewall structures Right squeeze panel 34A resides closest to the right sidewall area of the chute, and left squeeze panel 34B resides closest to the left sidewall area of the chute. Each squeeze panel 34A, 34B is pivotally supported at its bottom end to permit pivoting of the squeeze panel 34A, 34B about a respective squeeze panel pivot axis running longitudinally of the chute at a low elevation proximate the floor assembly of the chute 10. An interior squeeze space 35 of the chute 10 that is delimited between the two squeeze panels 34A, 34B is thus adjustable in width by lateral tilting movement of the squeeze panels inwardly toward and outwardly away from one another about their respective squeeze panel pivot axes, thereby controlling an effective width of the chute’s interior. As is known in the art, tilting of the squeeze panels 34A, 34B in an opening direction away from one another widens the squeeze space 35 to enable initial admission of an animal to said squeeze space 35, while tilting of the squeeze panels in a closing direction toward one another constricts said squeeze space 35 after the animal has been admitted thereto. The two squeeze panels 34A, 34B, when closed together, thus push against the sides of the animal’s body, thereby cooperating with the closed headgate 32 to hold the animal stationary in a secured position with their body standing in the squeeze space 35 of the chute 10, their neck reaching outwardly through the exit 26 of the chute via a central opening of the headgate 32, and their head residing outside the chute 10 beyond the exit 26 thereof.

[0045] In the illustrated embodiment, the chute 10 is characterized as a “full squeeze” chute, in that that the two squeeze panels 34A, 34B span substantially full lengths of the sidewall areas of the chute from near the two front wall posts 16A, 16B at the gate-controlled exit 26 of the chute to near the two rear wall posts 16C, 16D at the gate-controlled entrance 22 of the chute, with exception of only comparatively small neck-access regions of the sidewall lengths that are left unoccupied by the squeeze panels 34A, 34B just behind the front entrance and headgate 32 to permit operator access to the neck of an animal when cooperatively held by the headgate 32 and squeeze panels 34A, 34B. In the illustrated example, each such neck access region 36A, 36B respectively disposed at one of the chute’s two sides is cladded over a lower elevational fraction thereof by a bottom cladding panel 37A, 37B, above which the neck access region is characterized by an uncladded upper access window 38A, 38B through which the animal’s neck is accessible, for example for needling or other useful purpose. A remainder of the squeeze space 35 situated behind these frontmost neckaccess regions 36A, 36B of the sidewall areas is selectively constrictable by inwardly tilted movement of the two squeeze panels 34A, 34B toward one another.

[0046] The headgate 32 is operated by way of a manually driven headgate control linkage 40 that is driveable from just outside a respective one of the chute’s sidewall structures using a rear-control operator handle 44 that is disposed on a rearcontrol driveshaft 46 that is coupled to the gate control linkage 40 and runs longitudinally rearward therefrom in an elevated position externally alongside said one of the sidewall structures of the chute. The rear-control operator handle 44 of the illustrated embodiment is slidably relocatable back and forth along the rear-control driveshaft 46 to any various user-selected positions therelong, at any of which the rearcontrol operator handle 44 is user-operable to drive rotation of the rear-control driveshaft 46 in either a closing direction driving closure of the headgate 32 to capture an animal therein, or an opening direction opening up the headgate 32 to release a captured animal therefrom. In the illustrated example, the gate control linkage 40 is a ratchet-style gate control linkage of the type described in Applicant’s aforementioned U.S. provisional patent application, though the inventive ratchet-based squeeze control that is the subject of the present application can alternatively be used with any variety of gate control linkage that incorporates a rear-control driveshaft 46 and an associated one or more rear-control operator handles 44 enabling operation of the headgate 32 from two or more locations alongside the chute.

[0047] The description of the livestock squeeze chute 10 thus far has been relatively conventional, for the purpose of setting the operating context for the inventive squeeze control mechanism 50 that is the subject of the present application, and to which attention is now turned to provide a detailed and enabling disclosure thereof. The novel squeeze control mechanism 50 uniquely enables the installation thereof at a location within the longitudinal span of the rear-control driveshaft 46 of the headgate control linkage 40, whereas the conventional design approach among squeeze chute’s having such rear-control headgate capability has been to place the squeeze control even further back on the chute, behind a rear end of the rear-control driveshaft 46 for the gate control linkage 40, as described in the background above. Two inherent drawbacks of this conventional approach is that a rear fraction of the longitudinal relocatability of rear-control operator handle must be sacrificed to accommodate the rearward placement of the squeeze control mechanism, and squeeze function can only be controlled from such rear location behind the rear-control driveshaft, at notable distance from the front end the squeeze space 35 where firm holding of the animal is of the utmost importance, as also described in the background above. The present invention enables operation of the squeeze, in both opening and closing fashion, from near the front of the chute 10, without detriment to the ability to open and close the headgate 32 from anywhere along the rear-control driveshaft 46, which can be employed in a full-length implementation spanning up to a full entire length of the chute 10.

[0048] The inventive squeeze control mechanism 50 is of a ratchet-based design in the illustrated embodiment, and features a stationary rack 52 mounted in a static position atop the same longitudinal header beam 14A alongside which the rear-control driveshaft 46 resides. The rear-control driveshaft 46 runs longitudinally parallel to this longitudinal header beam 14A a short distance laterally outward therefrom, and elevationally thereabove, from the gate control linkage 40 to a rear driveshaft support bracket 54 that is mounted to this same header beam 14A at or near the rear end 28 of the chute 10. The stationary rack 52 is embodied as a flat metal plate, and is thus also referred to herein as rack plate 52. The rack plate 52 has a convexly arcuate upper edge along which a set of ratchet teeth 56 are arranged in an arched array. The radial center point of the arcuate upper edge of the rack plate 52 and the arched array of ratchet teeth 56 embodied thereon is also the radial center of a circular pass-through hole 58 of the rack plate 52, and is also the radial center of an arcuate guide slot 60 that resides between the circular pass-through hole 58 and the toothed upper edge of the rack plate 52. The pass-through hole 58 of the rack plate forms part of a collective pass-through opening of the assembled squeeze control mechanism 50 through which the rear-control driveshaft 46 for the gate control linkage 40 spans longitudinally rearward in its connection between the gate control linkage 40 and the rear driveshaft support bracket 54. The pass-through hole 58 and the collective pass-through opening are generally centered on a same longitudinal axis L as the rear-control driveshaft 46 that passes longitudinally therethrough. The rack plate lies in a vertical plane that runs in the lateral direction of perpendicularly crosswise relation to the chute’s longitudinal direction.

[0049] The squeeze control mechanism 50 features a pivotably movable hammer 62 situated in close, but not immediate, adjacency to the rack plate 52, and whose pivotal motion is centered about the longitudinal axis L of the rear-control drive shaft 46, which in turn is coincident with the center point of the circular pass-through hole 58 in the rack plate 52, as mentioned above. The hammer 62 is a dual-plate hammer assembly of two-sided relation to the rack plate 52, being composed of a front hammer plate 62A situated on the front side of the rack plate 52 in a vertical plane parallel thereto, and a rear hammer plate 62B likewise situated on the opposing rear side of the rack plate 52 in another vertical plane parallel thereto. As illustrated, the two hammer plates 62A, 62B need not have matching shape to one another. Rear hammer plate 62B, adjacent to one end thereof, has a cylindrical pivot tube 64 affixed thereto in an orientation projecting perpendicularly forward from the plane of the rear hammer plate 62B in a position centered on the longitudinal axis L. This pivot tube 64 passes through the aligned pass-through hole 58 in the rack plate 52 and makes connection therethrough to the front hammer plate 62A on the opposing front side of the rack plate 52, for which connection the front hammer plate 62A has an aligned receiving hole 66 for the pivot tube 64. The pass-through hole 58 in the rack plate 52 serves as a pivot support on which the pivot tube 64 and the two hammer plates 62A, 62B can pivot about the longitudinal axis L. As used herein, the terms rotate / rotatable / rotational are interchangeable for pivot / pivotable / pivotal, and thus are not intended to denote facilitation of a full 360-degree “rotation” in the assembled state of the described componentry, where the degree of permitted rotation or pivotal movement of one or more components of the assembly may be constrained by one or more other components thereof.

[0050] The end of the rear hammer plate 62B occupied by pivot tube 64 is referred to as a mounted end 68 thereof, since it is this end by which the rear hammer plate 62B is pivotally mounted to the stationary rack plate 52, while an opposing end of the rear hammer plate 62B is referred to as a distal end 70 thereof. Being pivotally supported at its mounted end 68, the rear hammer plate 62B projects unidirectionally away from the longitudinal axis L. In contrast, the front hammer plate 62A radiates bidirectionally from both the longitudinal axis L and the receiving hole 66 centered thereon, and thus may be interpreted as having two arms, each radiating in a respective proximal or distal direction from the longitudinal axis, of which the distal direction is used to denote that in which the rear hammer plate 62B unidirectionally extends, and the proximal direction is used to denote a direction of opposing directionality to the distal direction, and not a proximity to the receiving hole 66 or center of the front hammer plate 62A. Distal arm 72 of front hammer plate 62A terminates at a distal end 74 thereof that aligns with the distal end 70 of the rear hammer plate 62B to enable bolted attachment of the two hammer plates 62A, 662B together near these aligned distal ends 70, 74 by fastening of an attachment bolt 76 through aligned fastening apertures 77near these aligned distal ends 70, 74 of the hammer plates.

[0051] The distal arm 72 of the front hammer plate 62A, at a location also radially outward from the longitudinal axis L, but distinct from the location of bolted attachment of the two hammer plates 62A, 62B by attachment bolt 76, features a coupling aperture 78A for pivotally pinned connection of one end of a distal drive link 80 of the squeeze control mechanism 50 by a pivot bolt 82A. Such pivot bolt 82A is oriented parallel to longitudinal axis L, and is best seen in Figures 3 and 4. Referring to Figure 1 , distal drive link 80 has its opposing end pivotally coupled to the far squeeze panel 34B at the opposing side of the squeeze chute 10 at or near a top front corner 83B of that squeeze panel 34B, at a pivot point whose pivot axis is again parallel to longitudinal axis L. The proximal arm 84 of the front hammer plate 62A similarly has another coupling aperture 78B therein, in this case near a terminal distal end 85 of the front hammer plate 62A, for pivotally pinned connection of one end of a proximal drive link 86 of the squeeze control mechanism 50 by another pivot bolt 82B. Such pivot bolt 82B is again oriented parallel to longitudinal axis L, and is best seen in Figures 3 and 4. With reference to Figure 2, proximal drive link 86 has its opposing end pivotally coupled to the near squeeze panel 34A on this side of the squeeze chute 10 at or near a top front corner 83A of this squeeze panel 34A, at another pivot point whose pivot axis is again parallel to longitudinal axis L. As a result of the pivotal coupling of the distal and proximal arms 72, 84 of the front hammer plate 62A to the far and near squeeze panels 34B, 34A by the distal and proximal drive links 80, 86, respectively, pivotal movement of the hammer 62 in opposing directions about the longitudinal axis L is operable to drive the squeeze panels 34A, 34B in the opening and closing directions.

[0052] A pair of matching and aligned pawl-pivot holes 88A, 88B in the hammer plates 62A, 62B accommodate receipt of a pivot pin 90 through the two hammer plates at a location whose radial distance from the longitudinal axis L is greater than that of the toothed arcuate edge of the rack plate 52, but is less than the radial distance from the longitudinal axis L to the coupling aperture 78A where the distal drive link 80 is connected. This pivot pin 90 thus passes through the two hammer plates 62A, 62B at a location radially beyond the toothed perimeter of the rack plate 52, and in doing so, also passes through a pawl carrier 92 that resides between the two hammer plates 62A, 62B. This pawl carrier 92 carries a pawl 94 for engaging the ratchet teeth 56 of the rack plate 52 to impart the anti-opening locking action to the squeeze panels 34A, 34B, which locking action is automatically imparted at all times other than during operator- actuated opening of the squeeze, which includes a pawl releasing action, as described in more detail below. The pawl carrier 92, like the hammer 62, is an assembly of dualplate construction, having a front carrier plate 92A on the front side of the rack plate 52, and a rear carrier plate 92B on the opposing rear side of the rack plate 52. Each carrier plate 92A, 92B resides in a respective vertical plane situated between the vertical plane of the rack plate 52 and the vertical plane of a respective one of the hammer plates 62A, 62B.

[0053] The two carrier plates 92A, 92B are of matching elongated shape and aligned relation to one another, and a majority length of their matching shape is embodied by an inner portion of the carrier 92 that radiates inwardly toward the toothed arcuate edge of the rack plate 52 from the pivot pin 90 on which the carrier 92 is pivotably supported on the hammer plates 62A, 62B. In the illustrated example, a shorter outer tail portion of each carrier plate 92A, 92B instead radiates outwardly in a diametrically opposing direction from the pivot pin 90. The pawl 94 is a solid piece of metal stock attached to the two carrier plates 92A, 92B in sandwiched relation between the inner portions thereof. In the illustrated embodiment, this attachment is achieved through a combination of welding, and mated receipt of portions of the pawl 94 in holes of the two carrier plates 92A, 92B, for example, with two protruding tips on each of the front and rear sides of the pawl 94 engaged in two matching holes in each of the front and rear carrier plates 92A, 92B. With reference to Figure 5A, the pawl 94 of the illustrated embodiment is an H-shaped steel block, with the four rectangular tips 94A of the H-shape engaged in four rectangular holes 96 of the carrier 92, of which there are two such rectangular holes in each of the two carrier plates 92A, 92B. The rectangular center cross-stem 90B of the H-shaped pawl 94 is sandwiched between the two carrier plates 92A, 92B. This rectangular center 90B of the H-shaped pawl 94 is the part of the pawl that engages with the rack plate 52, specifically at an inner working end 90C of the pawl 90 situated radially furthest from the pivot pin 90 of the pawl carrier 92. The pawl setup is a trailing pawl setup, where the working end 90C of the pawl that engages the rack plate 52 trails the pivot pin 90 of the pawl during the closure of the squeeze panels 34A, 34B. Each carrier plate 92A, 92B features a respective pivot hole 95A, 95B that aligns with the pivot holes 88A, 88B in the hammer plates 62A, 62B to receive the pivot pin 90.

[0054] In a fully closed state of the squeeze, with the two squeeze panels 34A, 34B at their closest achievable relationship to one another minimizing the openness of the internal squeeze space 35 of the chute 10 between the two squeeze panels 34A, 34B, the pawl 94 engages the arched array of ratchet teeth 56 near a laterally outermost terminus 56B thereof. In this state, and as best shown in Figure 7A, the pivot axis of pivot pin 90 resides at a lesser elevation than the contacting engagement between the pawl 94 and the ratchet teeth 56, so that the pawl 94 angles upwardly toward the rack plate 52. This way, absent a release action performed on the pawl 94 via an operator handle 98 of the squeeze control mechanism 50 (in a manner described further below), any attempted opening of the squeeze, which requires upward movement of the distal end 70, 74 of the hammer 62, serves only to force the pawl 94 more aggressively into locked relation to the rack plate 52, owing to the pawl’s inwardly inclined orientation at an upper inner quadrant of a coordinate reference frame centered on the pivot axis of the pivot pin 90. Rising of pivot pin 90 with upward movement of the distal end 70, 74 of the hammer 62 would correlate to laterally inward movement of the inner working end 94C of the pawl 94, which is blocked by the pawl’s engaged relation to the rack teeth 56.

[0055] In the fully closed state, but also throughout the operational range of the ratchet of the squeeze control mechanism 50, the pawl 94 is gravitationally biased into engagement with the ratchet teeth 56 of the rack plate 52, whereby reliability of the antiopening locking action is not dependent on, or at least not fully dependent on, a springbiasing of the pawl 94, where a spring failure could otherwise defeat the anti-opening locking action of the ratchet mechanism. That said, and as demonstrated by the illustrated example, a bias spring 100 may nonetheless be included to supplement the gravitational bias of the pawl 94 into engagement with the rack plate 52. In the illustrated example, this bias spring 100 is a tension spring that has one end hooked around a cross-pin 102 of the pawl carrier 92 near the outer tail end thereof, while the other end of the spring 100 is hooked around the attachment bolt 76 of the hammer 62 that spans perpendicularly between the hammer plates 62A, 62B near the distal outer end 70, 74 thereof, in the drawings, the spring is not illustrated in a stretched state hooked about this attachment bolt 76, owing to CAD modeling limitations under which the spring is instead shown in its collapsed state of insufficient length for such attachment to bolt 76. Since the spring-engaged cross-pin 102 of the pawl carrier 92 is situated across the pawl carrier pivot pin 90 from the pawl 94, the upward pulling of the outer tail portion of the pawl carrier 92 toward the distal outer end 70, 74 of the hammer 62 rocks the inner working end 94C of the pawl 94 downwardly, and thus into locking engagement with the ratchet teeth 56 of the rack plate 52, thus supplementing the gravitational bias of the pawl 94 downwardly about pivot pin 90 to further encourage engagement thereof with the ratchet teeth 56 .

[0056] Opening of the squeeze panels 34A, 34B through manual lifting of the operating handle 98 of the squeeze control mechanism 50 requires that the pawl 94 be lifted out of engagement with the ratchet teeth 56 of the rack plate 52. For such purpose, an input link 104 to which the operator handle 98 is coupled is arranged to perform the dual purpose function of both disengaging the pawl 94 from the rack plate 52, and driving rotation of the hammer 62 in an opening direction during operator lifting of the operator handle 98. The input link 104 is a dual plate link in the illustrated embodiment, being composed of identical front rear link plates 104A, 104B, each of which resides between the rack plate 52 and a respective one of the hammer plates 62A, 62B, in the same plane occupied by a respective one of the carrier plates 92A, 92B of the pawl carrier 92 of this embodiment. Each link plate 104A, 104B has a respective pivot hole 106 therein that aligns with the pass-through hole 58 of the rack plate 52, the pivot tube 64 of the rear hammer plate 62B, and the receiving hole 66 of the front hammer plate 62A. The pivot tube 64, in its axial reach through the pass- through hole 58 of the rack plate 52 into the receiving hole 66 of the front hammer plate 62A thus passes through the aligned pivot holes 106 of the two link plates 104A, 104B, with the functional result of the two link plates 104A, 104B being rotatably supported on the pivot tube 64 in a manner permitting pivoting of the link plates 104A, 104B relative thereto. Each link plate 104A, 104B, like the front hammer plate 62A, radiates bidirectionally outward from both the longitudinal axis L and the pivot hole 106 centered thereon, with a distal span 108 of the link plate 104A radiating in the same general direction in which the rear hammer plate 62B and the distal arm 72 of the front hammer plate 62A radiate outward from the longitudinal axis L and the pivot tube 64. A distal end of each link plate 104A, 104B is shaped as a protrusive contact finger 1 10 for making point-contact with a peripheral edge segment of the respective carrier plate 92A, 92B on the same side of the rack plate 52 as the given link plate 104A, 104B. This can be seen in Figure 7A, where the release finger 1 10 of link plate 104A can be seen to lift up against a bottom peripheral edge segment of carrier plate 92A when the operator handle 98 is pulled in an opening direction Do. The distal span 108 of each link plate 104A, 104B also features a release slot 1 1 1 therein that is situated at a same radial distance from the longitudinal axis L as the arcuate slot 60 in the rack plate 52. This release slot 1 1 1 spans a short distance of arcuately circumferential or tangential relationship to the longitudinal axis L, which spanned distance is notably lesser than the arcuately circumferential span of the slot 60 in the rack plate 52. The release slots 1 1 1 of the two link plates 104A, 104B are of matching and aligned relationship with one another, and the two hammer plates 62A, 62B are fastened together through the input link’s release slots 1 1 1 and the rack plate’s corresponding slot 60 by a coupling bolt 111 A.

[0057] The operator handle 98 is coupled to each link plate 104A, 104B at a proximal span thereof 1 12 that radiates away from longitudinal axis L in a notably divergent direction to the link plates distal span 108, for example at angle greater than 90-degrees but less than 180-degrees therefrom in a direction, around the longitudinal axis L, opposite of that in which the contact finger 1 10 points. In the fully closed state of the squeeze control mechanism 50 shown in Figure 7A, which corresponds to the fully closed condition of the squeeze panels 34A, 34B, the proximal span 112 of the input link 104 hangs downwardly from longitudinal axis L, while the contact fingers 110 of the input link 104 reside beneath the pawl carrier 92 at an upper outside quadrant of a coordinate reference frame centered on longitudinal axis L. Pulling of the operator handle 98 outwardly away from the sidewall structure of the chute 10 in the opening direction Do first lifts the contact fingers 1 10 of the input link 104 about the longitudinal axis L, thereby pushing up against the bottom peripheral edge segments of the carrier plates 92A, 92B, and thereby lifting the pawl 94 about the pivot pin 90 in a release direction DR disengaging the pawl 94 from the teeth 56 of the rack plate 52.

[0058] During this initial handle driven movement of the input link 104, no corresponding motion of the hammer 62 takes place, owing to an intentionally limited degree of permitted pivotal movement of the input link 104 relative to the hammer 62 about the longitudinal axis L, as enabled by the release slots 1 1 1 , which are referred as such since they permit the “release” of the pawl from its locking engagement with the rack plate 52 before the hammer 62 is actuated. The initial handle-driven movement of the input link 104 that lifts the pawl carrier 92 and thereby disengages the pawl 94 from the rack plate 52 in this unlocking fashion also pivots the input link 104 relative to the hammer 62 until the coupling pin 1 11 A reaches the end of each release slot 1 1 1 that points away from the contact fingers 1 10 of the respective link plate 104A, 104B, whereupon the hammer plates 62 (interconnected to one another through the release slots 1 11 by the coupling pin 11 1 A) will start to move synchronously with the operator handle 98 and input link 104, in the same opening direction Do, under continued handle movement. This synchronous movement of the hammer 62 draws the disengaged pawl 94 inwardly over the arched array of ratchet teeth 56 toward the laterally innermost terminus 56A thereof, while also moving the squeeze panels 34A, 34B in their opening directions away from one another, owing to the hammer’s actuation of the proximal and distal drive links 80, 86. More specifically, the operator actuated pivoting of the hammer 62 in the opening direction swings the distal end 70, 74 of the hammer 62 laterally inward in arching fashion over the longitudinal axis L, thereby pushing laterally inward on the distal drive link 80 to tilt the far squeeze panel 34B in its opening direction away from the near squeeze panel 34A, and synchronously swings the proximal end 85 of the hammer 62 laterally outward in arching fashion beneath the longitudinal axis L, thereby pulling laterally outward on the proximal drive link 86 to tilt the near squeeze panel 34A in its opening direction away from the far squeeze panel 34B.

[0059] In the fully open state of the squeeze control mechanism 50 shown in Figure 6A, which corresponds to the fully open condition of the squeeze panels 34A, 34B, the proximal span 112 of the input link 104 instead cantilevers laterally outward from longitudinal axis L. During closing of the squeeze panels 34A, 34B from this fully open condition, downward pulling of the operator handle 98 of the squeeze control mechanism 50 in a closing direction De drives rotation of the input link 104 around the pivot tube 64 and the longitudinal axis L in the same closing direction De. This moves the contact fingers 1 10 away from the pawl carrier 92 toward to ensure proper bias of the pawl 94 into engagement with the ratchet teeth 56 of the rack plate 52. Once contact of the coupling pin 1 1 1 A is made with the end of each release slots 1 1 1 that points in the same direction as the contact fingers 1 10, continued operator movement of the operator handle 98 in the closing direction De drives the hammer 62, in synchronicity with the input link 104, in the same closing direction De, thus swinging the distal end 70, 74 of the hammer 62 laterally outward in arching fashion over the longitudinal axis L, while swinging the proximal end 85 of the hammer 62 laterally inward in arching fashion beneath the longitudinal axis. This acts to close the squeeze panels 34A, 34B together via the drive links 80, 86, owing to laterally outward pulling of the distal drive link 80 by the outwardly swinging distal end 70, 74 of the hammer 62 and laterally inward pushing of the proximal link 86 by the inwardly swinging proximal end 85 of the hammer. During such movement, the pawl 94 is drawn outwardly over the arched array of ratchet teeth 56 in slipping fashion thereover toward the laterally outermost terminus 56B of the arched array, arrival at, or achieved proximity to which, denotes achievement of the the fully closed condition of the squeeze panels 34A, 34B.

[0060] The rear-control driveshaft 46 for operating the headgate control linkage 40, in its longitudinal span from the rear support bracket 54 to the headgate control linkage 40, passes through the pivot tube 64 of the rear hammer plate 62B, and thus also through the pivot support hole 58 of the rack plate 52, the pivot holes 106 of the input link 104 and the receiving hole 66 of the front hammer plate 66, owing to the receipt of the pivot tube 64 through these holes 58, 106, 66. The pivot tube 64 and these associated holes 58, 106, 66 thus collectively denote a pass-through opening of the squeeze control mechanism 50 by which the passage therethrough of the rearcontrol driveshaft 46 is accommodated, thereby permitting the squeeze control mechanism 50 to reside optimally at a front end of the squeeze space 35, without detriment to the ability to operate the headgate 32 from further back on the chute from the majority fraction of the rear-control driveshaft 46 that resides behind the novel squeeze control mechanism 50. The pivot tube 64 closes around the rear-control driveshaft 46, but is not dependent thereon for support, and ideally resides in contactless relation thereto. Instead, the pivot tube 64 is rotatably supported by the rack plate 52 inside the pivot support hole 58 thereof. The rack plate 52 thus rotatably supports the hammer 62 via its hollow cylindrical pivot tube 64, which in turn rotatably supports the handle-equipped input link 104 by which the squeeze mechanism is manually operated using the operator handle 98.

[0061] The rack plate 52 has a right-angle notch 1 14 at a lower inside corner of the plate for fitted embracement thereof with the top and outside edges of the header beam 14A to which the rack plate 52 is mounted. The arched array of ratchet teeth 56 starts at a laterally innermost terminus 56A at a longitudinally vertical reference plane just beyond the right-angle notch 14 and thus likewise just beyond the longitudinally vertical plane occupied by the sidewall structure of the chute, and arches over the longitudinal axis L, the rear-control driveshaft 46 and the pivot tube 64 to a laterally outermost terminus 56B of the arched array of ratchet teeth 56 that resides at another vertical reference plane situated across the longitudinal axis L from that of the laterally innermost terminus 56A. The angular measure of the arcuate span of the arched array of ratchet teeth from the laterally innermost terminus 56A to the laterally outermost terminus 56B, is preferably at least 90-degrees, and more preferably at least 100- degrees, for example between 105-degrees and 1 15-degrees, inclusive, in some embodiments, and measuring approximately 1 10-degrees in the illustrated embodiment.

[0062] Corresponding movement of the input link 104 and the hammer 62 through this angular range achieves a significant range of motion between the fully closed and fully open condition of the squeeze panels 34A, 34B. With reference to Figures 12 and 13 for example, it can seen how the proximal span 1 12 of the input link 104, in the fully open state of the mechanism 50 in Figure 12, resides in an upper half of a lower outside quadrant of a reference frame centered on the longitudinal axis L, and more particularly in an upper third of such quadrant between three o’clock and four o’clock positions therein, and in the illustrated instance, closer to a three o’clock position than four o’clock position. In movement to the fully closed state in Figure 13, the proximal span 1 12 of the input link 104 sweeps downwardly through this lower outside quadrant and past a six o’clock position into a lower inside quadrant, reaching approximately midway between a six o’clock and seven o’clock position in the fully closed state of the illustrated example. In this fully closed state of the squeeze control mechanism 50, the input link 104 reaches toward, though without reaching, the vertical plane of the sidewall structure of the chute 10.

[0063] Thus far, the description has focussed on the design, layout and interaction of squeeze control componentry necessary to understand how operator manipulation of the squeeze control operator handle 98 is translated into operation of the squeeze panels 34A, 34B, and during the opening stroke of the squeeze control mechanism, also translated into release of the pawl 94 from the arched array of ratchet teeth 56 on the ratchet plate 52 to permit such movement of the squeeze panels 34A, 34B in the opening direction, which movement is prohibited at all other times by biased engagement of the pawl 94 with the ratchet teeth 56 so that animal exertion of laterally outward force on the squeeze panels 34A, 34B cannot move the squeeze panels outward and release the holding action thereof against the animal in the squeeze space 35. While the novel design of such componentry to incorporate pass-through accommodation of the headgate’s rear-control driveshaft 46, so that the squeeze operation can be optimally controlled from at or near the front end the squeeze space 35, and thus within the longitudinal span of the headgate’s rear-control driveshaft 46, is particularly unique, the present invention also incorporates further novelty in the mechanical design and relationship between the squeeze control operator handle 98 and the input link 104 driven thereby, particularly to enable adjustment of the squeeze control operator handle 98 between a plurality of different self-sustained positions of different relative angulation to the input link 104, as is now described with reference to Figures 8 to 12.

[0064] The proximal span 1 12 of each link plate 104A, 104B of the input link 104, near a terminal end of the input link that is referred to as the proximal end 120 thereof to distinguish over the distal end at which the contact finger 1 10 resides, has two bolt holes 120A, 120B that align with those of the other link plate. The aligned bolt holes 120A of the two link plates 104A, 104B furthest from the proximal end 120 have a stop bolt 122 installed therein, and the aligned bolt holes 120B nearer to the proximal end 120 has a slide bolt 124 installed therein, of which these two bolts are named according to their purpose or function. Slide bolt 124 serves as both a pivot point between the input link 104 and the squeeze control operator handle 98, and a slidable coupling point cooperating with an elongated slot 126 in a notched end-fitting 128 of the squeeze control operator handle 98 to enable a limited range of sliding displacement of the squeeze control operator handle 98 relative to the input link 104 for reasons that will become apparent below.

[0065] The slide bolt penetrates perpendicularly through the slot 126, whereby the slide bolt denotes a pivot axis around which the squeeze control handle 98 is pivotable in a vertical working plane parallel to the plane of input link 104, and the slot 126 denotes a slide axis that is orthogonal to that pivot axis, and along which the squeeze control operator handle 98 is slidable back and forth in this same vertical working plane, in directions perpendicular to the pivot axis. A majority length of the squeeze control operator handle 98 of the illustrated embodiment is embodied by a round grip shaft 130 by which the operator grips the handle, and which in the illustrated embodiment is a straight cylindrical tube, lacking any bends therein. The notched endfitting 128 of the illustrated example is defined by a notched metal plate welded to one end of the grip shaft 130, which end has a suitable mounting geometry cut into the otherwise cylindrical wall of the grip shaft 130 for a mated fit of the grip shaft 130 to the notched end-fitting 128.

[0066] The notched end-fitting 128 has a rounded terminal end 132 that resides opposite of a mounted end 134 thereof at which it is affixed to the grip shaft 130. At a midpoint of this rounded terminal end 132 where the arc shape thereof would otherwise apex, is a central notch 134, which is one of three notches provided in a peripheral edge of the notched end-fitting 128, the other two notches 136A, 136B of which each reside at a respective end of the arcuate span of the rounded terminal end 132. The slot 126 of the notched end-fitting 128 is aligned with the central notch 134 on a handle axis H that is parallel to a central axis of the grip shaft’s cylindrical shape, and that embodies the aforementioned slide axis of the squeeze control operator handle 98. An end of the slot 126 nearest to the central notch 134 is referred to as an outer end of the slot 126, and the opposing end of the slot 126 nearest to the mounted end 134 of the notched end-fitting is accordingly referred to as an inner end thereof. The other two notches 136A, 136B are referred to as side notches, owing to their distribution on opposing sides of the handle axis H, and thus on opposing sides of the centered slot 126 and aligned central notch 134. The side notches 136A, 136B share a common shape of symmetric relation to one another across the handle axis H, which shape is partly characterized by a concavely rounded seat 138 residing in adjacent and recessed relation to the respective end of the arc shape of the rounded terminal end 132 of the notched end-fitting 128. The most recessed points of these rounded seats 138 of the two side notches 136A, 136B align roughly with the outer end of the slot 126. From these most recessed points of the rounded seats 138, the boundary of each side notch 136A, 136B then deviates from the curvature of the rounded seat 138, and angles more subtly outward to intersect with a respective flat segment 140 of the respective side of the end-fitting 128.

[0067] Figure 8 shows the squeeze control operator handle 98 in a standard operating position residing generally in-line with the proximal span 1 12 of the input link 104. In this standard operating position, the stop bolt 122 resides within the central notch 134 of the notched end-fitting 128 of the squeeze control operator handle 98, and the slide bolt 124 resides at the inner end of the slot 126 in the notched end-fitting 128. Figure 8 shows the squeeze control mechanism in the fully open state thereof, where the proximal span 1 12 of the input link 104 is in a roughly three-to-four o’clock position relative to the longitudinal axis L, meaning that the weight of the grip shaft 130 of the squeeze control operator handle 98 creates a moment force around the pivot point denoted by the slide bolt 124. Under the effect of this moment force, the grip shaft 130 would swing downwardly from this normal operating position, if not for the receipt of the stop bolt 122 in the central notch 134, which serves as a mechanical stop blocking such downward gravitational swinging of the squeeze control operator handle 98.

[0068] To prevent inadvertent slippage of the squeeze control operator handle 98 from this standard operating position into a free-hanging position unconstrained by the stop bolt 122 (as shown in Figure 10, and described in more detail below), the central notch 134 has a constricted throat 142 that joins a widened mouth 144 of the central notch 134 to a rounded seat 146, as best shown in the enlarged view of the endfitting 128 in Figure 14. The narrowest point of the constricted throat 142 only slightly exceeds the shaft diameter of the stop bolt 122. This way, the widened mouth 144 where the central notch 134 intersects the rounded terminal end 132 of the end-fitting 128 enables easily engagement of the stop bolt 122 into the central notch 134, but disengagement of the stop bolt 122 from the rounded seat 146 of the central notch 134 requires precise alignment between the constricted throat 142 of the central notch 134 and the shaft of the stop bolt 122. In the Figure 8 scenario, the gravitational moment of the squeeze control operator handle 98 induces misalignment between the stop bolt 122 and the constricted throat 142 of the central notch 134, which prevents the squeeze control operator handle 98 from gravitationally sliding out of its standard operating position. Exertion of operator-applied downforce FD on the squeeze control operator handle 98 to close the squeeze panels 34A, 34B likewise induces such misalignment between the stop bolt 122 and the constricted throat 142 of the central notch 134 to prevent slippage of the actuated squeeze control operator handle 98 out of its standard operating position. This standard operating position of the squeeze control operator handle 98 is thus a self-sustained position thereof.

[0069] To overcome this self-sustaining state of the standard operating position of Figure 8 and intentionally withdraw the squeeze control operator handle 98 therefrom, the operator instead applies a pulling force FPULL to the squeeze control operator handle 98 in an axial direction (referring to the handle axis H) pulling away from the input link 104 to withdraw the central notch 134 from around the shaft of the stop bolt 122, during which the stop bolt 122 will inherently self-align with the constricted throat 142 of the central notch 134 to enable extraction of the stop bolt 122 therefrom. With reference to Figure 9, once the stop bolt 122 and the central notch 134 have been disengaged from one another by such manual pulling of the squeeze control operator handle 98, the squeeze control operator handle 98 is then freely pivotable about the pivot point denoted by the slide bolt 124, which now resides at the outer end of the slot 126 in the notched end fitting 128 of the squeeze control operator handle 98. If after such disengagement of the stop bolt 122 from the central notch 134 the squeeze control operator handle 98 is released by the operator, the squeeze control operator handle 98 will reside in the free-hanging state shown in Figure 9, where the squeeze control operator handle 98 hangs gravitationally downward from the slide bolt 124 and is freely swingable in either direction about the slide bolt 124, as illustrated with a bidirectional swing arrow S.

[0070] Figure 10 shows another self-sustaining position into which the squeeze control operator handle 98 can be manipulated once released from any other self- sustaining position into a freely pivotable state like that of Figure 9. Figure 10 shows a scenario where, from any such freely pivotable state like that of Figure 9, the operator rotates the squeeze control operator handle 98 around the slide bolt 124 in a direction bringing side notch 136A to the same side of the slide bolt 124 as the stop bolt 122, and then pushes the squeeze control operator handle 98 axially toward the input link 104, as shown by pushing force arrow FPUSH of Figure 10, whereby the slide bolt 124 is relocated to the inner end of the slot 126, during which the stop bolt 122 will ride over the rounded terminal end 132 of the notched end-fitting 128 and into the side notch 136A thereof. This achieves a leveraged operating position of the squeeze control operator handle 98, as shown in Figure 10, in which the squeeze control operator handle 98 is more angularly offset from the proximal span 1 12 of the input link 104 than in the standard operating position of Figure 8, and is specifically offset therefrom in an offset direction that matches the opening direction Do of the squeeze control mechanism 50 (Figure 7A), and that is opposite to the closing direction De of the squeeze control mechanism 50 (Figure 6A).

[0071] This leveraged operating position of the squeeze control operator handle 98 in Figure 10 is also self-sustaining, in that the gravitational weight of the grip shaft 130 of the squeeze control operator handle 98 again creates a moment force around the pivot point denoted by the slide bolt 124. Under such gravitational moment force, the grip shaft 130 would swing downwardly from this position, if not for the receipt of the stop bolt 122 in the side notch 136A, which serves as a mechanical stop blocking such downward gravitational swinging of the squeeze control operator handle 98. In the fully open state of Figure 10, and other substantially open states near thereto, gravitationally induced sliding of the squeeze control operator handle 98 at the sliding interface between the slot 126 and the slide bolt 124 also does not occur, owing to the position of the slide bolt 124 at the inner end of the slot 126. In the fully closed state of Figure 11 , and other substantially closed states near thereto, the position of the slide bolt 124 doesn’t block gravitational sliding of the squeeze control operator handle 98, but such sliding is blocked by hooked engagement of the rounded seat 138 of the side notch 136A over the shaft of the stop bolt 122, thus maintaining the self-sustained character of this leveraged handle position. During operator performance of the closing cycle from the open state of Figure 10 to the closed state of Figure 1 1 , the operator applied force FD on the squeeze control operator handle 98 in the closing direction De maintains similar seated contact of the stop bolt 122 in the rounded seat 138 of the side notch 136A to block inadvertent sliding of the squeeze control operator handle 98 out of its leveraged operating position.

[0072] The leveraged operating position is referred to as such because it enables the operator to apply more leverage to the squeeze control operator handle 98 during a final stage of the closing stroke where the squeeze control mechanism approaches the fully closed state shown in Figure 1 1 , where the proximal span 1 12 of the input link 104 has passed a six o-clock position relative to the longitudinal axis L on which it pivots, meaning that ongoing movement in the closing direction De is now an upward swing, not a downward swing. The angular offset of the squeeze control operator handle 98 from the input link 104 in the leveraged operating position of Figure 1 1 gives it a more easily grippable and manipulatable orientation relative to the now-upward trajectory of the input link’s proximal span 1 12. In this position, the free end of the squeeze control operator handle 98 angles outwardly away from the sidewall area of the chute at this final stage of squeeze closure for better operator leverage than if the squeeze control operator handle 98 were instead left in the standard operating position more in-line with the proximal span 1 12 of the input link 104.

[0073] That said, repositioning of the handle from its standard operating position (Figure 8) to the leveraged operating position (Figures 10 & 1 1 ) is completely optional, and left to the operator’s discretion. Given that the leveraged operating position may place the squeeze control operator handle 98 too high in the fully open state of the squeeze mechanism (Figure 10), particularly for operators of shorter stature, an operator may choose to initially start the closing stroke of the squeeze control mechanism 50 with the squeeze control operator handle 98 in the standard operating position (Figure 8), and only after completion of a partial fraction of the closing stroke, then reposition the squeeze control operator handle 98 into the leveraged operating position (Figure 1 1 ) to finish the closing stroke in a manner achieving optimal leverage at the final stage thereof.

[0074] Figure 12 shows the squeeze control operator handle 98 in yet another self-sustaining position, this one being a raised storage position that is useful in the fully opened state of the squeeze control mechanism 50, or other substantially open states thereof that are close to fully open. This raised storage position places the squeeze control operator handle 98 in a more upright orientation than it would reside in either the normal operating position (Figure 8) or the leveraged operating position (Figure 10) in this fully opened state of the squeeze mechanism. This raised storage position of Figure 12 is achieved from the leveraged operating position of Figure 10 by rotating the squeeze control operator handle 98 even further around the slide bolt 124 in the offset direction matching the opening direction Do of the squeeze control mechanism 50, so that the stop bolt 122 rides up out of the side notch 136A occupied in the leveraged operating position, and onto the neighbouring unnotched flat segment 140 of the notched end-fitting 128. This raised storage position of the squeeze control operator handle 98 in Figure 12 is also self-sustaining, in that the gravitational weight of the grip shaft 130 of the squeeze control operator handle 98 again creates a moment force around the pivot point denoted by the slide bolt 124, under which gravitational moment force the grip shaft 130 would swing downwardly from this position, if not for the presence of the stop bolt 122 at the unnotched flat segment 140 of the notched endfitting 128, which mechanically blocks such downward gravitational swinging of the squeeze control operator handle 98. Axial lifting of the squeeze control operator handle 98 by the operator to relocate the slide bolt 124 to the outer end of the slot 126 is effective to release the squeeze control operator handle 98 from this raised and selfsustained storage position, and once again achieve the freely pivotable state from which any of the various handle positions can be achieved.

[0075] Finally, Figure 13 shows the squeeze control operator handle 98 in yet another self-sustaining position, this one being an inward storage position that is useful in the fully closed state of the squeeze control mechanism 50, or other substantially closed states that are close to such fully closed state. This inward storage position places the squeeze control operator handle 98 in a more laterally inward orientation than it would reside in either the normal operating position or the leveraged operating position (Figure 11 ) in this fully closed state of the squeeze mechanism. In the illustrated embodiment, this inward storage position is one in which the grip shaft 130 of the squeeze control operator handle 98 reaches laterally inward through the sidewall area of the chute, as accommodated by the inwardly tilted orientation of the near squeeze panel 34A in this fully closed condition of the squeeze. This inward storage position of the squeeze control operator handle 98 may be substantially parallel to the proximal drive link 86 in this fully closed state of the squeeze control mechanism 50.

[0076] This inward storage position can achieved from the leveraged operating position of Figure 1 1 by first tilting the squeeze control operator handle 98 slightly in the opening direction Do to free the stop bolt 122 from side notch 136A, then pulling the squeeze control operator handle 98 downward (i.e. apply pulling force FPULL) to relocate the slide bolt 124 to the outer end of the slot 126, then rotating the squeeze control operator handle 98 about the slide bolt 124 in the closing direction De by sufficient distance to swing the central notch 134 past the stop bolt 122 and bring the second side notch 136B to the same side of the slide bolt 124 as the stop bolt 122, and then finally pushing the squeeze control operator handle 98 back toward the input link 104 (i.e. apply pushing force FPUSH) to relocate the slide bolt 124 to the inner end of the slot, during which the stop bolt 122 rides over the rounded terminal end 132 and into the side notch 136B. The inward storage position can also be achieved in similar fashion from the standard operating position by pulling the squeeze control operator handle 98 downward (i.e. apply pulling force FPULL) to disengage the stop bolt 122 from the central notch 134 and simultaneously relocate the slide bolt 124 to the outer end of the slot 126, then rotating the squeeze control operator handle 98 about the slide bolt 124 in the closing direction De to bring the second side notch 136B to the same side of the slide bolt 124 as the stop bolt 122, then pushing the squeeze control operator handle 98 back toward the input link 104 (i.e. apply pushing force FPUSH) to relocate the slide bolt 124 to the inner end of the slot 126, during which the stop bolt 122 again rides over the rounded terminal end 132 and into the side notch 136B. The inward storage position is also self-sustaining, in that the gravitational weight of the grip shaft 130 of the squeeze control operator handle 98 again creates a moment force around the pivot point denoted by the slide bolt 124, under which gravitational moment force the grip shaft 130 would swing downwardly from this position, if not for the receipt of the stop bolt 122 in the side notch 136B, which serves as a mechanical stop blocking such downward gravitational swinging of the squeeze control operator handle 98. Meanwhile, gravitationally induced sliding of the squeeze control operator handle 98 is blocked by hooked engagement of the rounded seat 138 of the side notch 136B partially around the shaft of the stop bolt 122, achieving self- sustainment of this inward storage position of the squeeze control operator handle 98. From this position, operator tilting of the squeeze control operator handle 98 in the closing direction De is effective to release this hooked engagement, whereupon the squeeze control operator handle 98 can be slid out of the inward storage position by application of pull force FpuLLto once again achieve the freely pivotable state from which any of the various handle positions can be achieved through a combination of slide- and-turn movement steps. It will be appreciated that by using bolts as the mechanical stop and slide / pivot points of this slide-and-turn coupling between the squeeze control operator handle 98 and the input link 104, optional locking of the handle into any of its achievable positions can be accomplished by tightening of at least the slide bolt 124, and preferably in combination with accompanying tightening of the stop bolt 122 for optimal locking strength.

[0077] Whether owing to one or both of the uniquely significant range of motion of the novel squeeze control mechanism 50 and the repositionability of the squeeze control operating handle 98 into the more leveraged operating position, Applicant has found that the novel design disclosed herein enables use of a significantly shorter squeeze control operator handle 98 than those commonly used in the art, which reduced handle length preferably measures 36-inches or less, more preferably 30- inches or less, for example between 24-inches and 30-inches in some embodiments, and closer to 24-inches than 36-inches in some embodiments. In a prototyped example on which the drawings hereof are based, the handle length measured approximately 27-inches. The relative short handle length also contributes to ability to employ a purely straight handle design, with no need to bends or kinks therein to avoid interference with other componentry throughout the operational range of the squeeze control mechanism 50.

[0078] While the illustrated embodiment is a squeeze chute design in which both squeeze panels are moved toward and away from one another in the closing and opening strokes of the squeeze control mechanism, it will be appreciated that the novel squeeze control mechanism 50 may be modified to drive only one of the two squeeze panels in another style of squeeze chute where one squeeze panel is a stationary panel rather than a movable panel, toward and away from the which the opposing and movable squeeze panel is movable through operation of the squeeze control mechanism. It will also be appreciated that the novel slide-and-turn interface between the squeeze control operator handle and the input link for providing multiple self- sustaining handle positions of different respective predetermined angulations to the input link may be put to use in control of other manipulatable animal-holding, or otherwise animal-controlling, componentry of various livestock equipment, with similar benefit to such repositionability of the operator handle between different self-sustaining positions. While there are examples of other multi-position handles in the art, the notable quantity of positions, especially in the context of a squeeze control operator handle that swings in a laterally oriented vertical working plane, and the gravitationally self-sustained character of the self-sustained positions in a design preferably void of a spring or other biasing means to hold such positions, is believed to be particularly unique.

[0079] Since various modifications can be made in the invention as herein above described, and many apparently widely different embodiments of same made, it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying specification shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.

Claims

CLAIMS:1 . A livestock squeeze chute comprising: a structural framework having an exit at a front end of the structural framework and an entrance at a rear end of the structural framework that opposes said front end in a longitudinal direction; a pair of squeeze panels supported on the frame between the entrance and the exit in positions residing opposite one another in a lateral direction that lies transverse to said longitudinal direction, said first and second squeeze panels residing respectively adjacent to opposing outer sides of the chute that are of opposing relation to one another in said lateral direction; a headgate installed at the exit in cooperative combination with a gate control linkage by which said headgate is openable and closeable; a rear-control driveshaft coupled to the gate control linkage, running longitudinally rearward therefrom in an elevated position along one of said opposing sides of the chute, and rotatable to drive operation of said gate control linkage; at least one rear-control operator handle installed on the rear-control driveshaft and user-operable to drive rotation of the rear-control driveshaft at a given location of said rear-control operator handle; and a squeeze control mechanism manually operable to control back and forth movement of at least one of the squeeze panels in: a closing direction moving toward the other squeeze panel and thereby reducing an effective interior width of the chute, and an opening direction moving away from said other squeeze panel and thereby increasing said effective interior width of the chute; wherein said squeeze control mechanism resides at a location residing within a longitudinal span of the rear-control driveshaft, and comprises a pass-throughopening therein through which said rear-control driveshaft extends.

2. The livestock squeeze chute of claim 1 wherein said squeeze control mechanism comprises a toothed rack mounted to the structural framework, and said pass-through opening comprises a pass-through hole in said toothed rack.

3. The livestock squeeze chute of claim 2 wherein said pass-through hole in said toothed rack doubles as a pivot support for a rotatable component of said squeeze control mechanism.

4. The livestock squeeze chute of claim 3 wherein said rotatable component comprises a hollow interior.

5. The livestock squeeze chute of claim 2 wherein said rotatable component comprises a cylindrical pivot tube.

6. The livestock squeeze chute of any one of claims 3 to 5 wherein said squeeze control mechanism further comprises a hammer carried on said rotatable component in nearby adjacency to the toothed rack, a pawl carried on said hammer and arranged for biased engagement with ratchet teeth of the toothed rack in a locking position preventing opening of said at least one of the squeeze panels absent input of a release action to said pawl, and at least one drive link coupled between said hammer and said at least one of the squeeze panels to drive movement of said at least one of the squeeze panels through rotation of the hammer.

7. The livestock squeeze chute of claim 2 wherein said squeeze control mechanism further comprises a hammer rotatably supported in nearby adjacency to the toothed rack, a pawl carried on said hammer and arranged for biased engagement with ratchet teeth of the toothed rack in a locking position prevent opening of said at least one of the squeeze panels absent input of a release action to said pawl, and at least one drive link coupled between said hammer and said at least one of the squeezepanels to drive movement of said at least one of the squeeze panels through rotation of the hammer.

8. The livestock squeeze chute of claim 6 or 7 wherein the hammer is a two-sided hammer having two sides that reside on respective opposing sides of the stationary rack, and the pawl is pivotally supported on the hammer between the two sides thereof.

9. The livestock squeeze chute of claim 8 wherein the squeeze control mechanism further comprises a pawl release operable in the space between the pair of hammer plates to impart the release action to the pawl.

10. The livestock squeeze chute of any one of claims 6 to 9 wherein the pawl is biased at least gravitationally into engagement with the ratchet teeth of the toothed rack.1 1 . The livestock squeeze chute of any one of claims 6 to 10 wherein the hammer has an angular range of movement of at least 90-degrees.

12. The livestock squeeze chute of claim 1 1 wherein said angular range of movement is at least 100-degrees.

13. The livestock squeeze chute of claim 1 1 or 12 wherein said angular range of movement is at least 105-degrees.

14. The livestock squeeze chute of any one of claims 2 to 5 comprising a pawl biased into engagement with ratchet teeth of the toothed rack in a locking position preventing opening of said at least one of the squeeze panels absent input of a release action to said pawl15. The livestock squeeze chute of any one of claims 2 to 14 wherein said toothed rack has an arcuate array of ratchet teeth thereon, which array spans an arcuate measure of at least 90-degrees.

16. The livestock squeeze chute of claim 1 wherein said squeeze control mechanism comprises a toothed rack mounted to the structural framework, and a pawl arranged for biased engagement with ratchet teeth of the toothed rack in a locking position prevent opening of the squeeze panels absent input of a release action to said pawl, wherein said toothed rack has an arcuate array of ratchet teeth thereon, which array spans an arcuate measure of at least 90-degrees.

17. The livestock squeeze chute of claim 15 or 16 wherein said arcuate measure is at least 100-degrees.

18. The livestock squeeze chute of any one of claims 15 to 17 wherein said arcuate measure is at least 105-degrees.

19. The livestock squeeze chute of any one of claims 1 to 18 wherein the squeeze control mechanism comprises a squeeze control operator handle by which the squeeze control mechanism is manually operated, wherein said squeeze control operator handle has a handle length no greater than 36-inches.

20. The livestock squeeze chute of claim 19 wherein said handle length is no greater 30-inches.

21. The livestock squeeze chute of claim 19 or 20 wherein said handle length o is closer to 24-inches than to 36-inches.

22. The livestock chute of any one of claims 19 to 21 wherein said squeeze control mechanism comprises an input link to which said squeeze control operator handle is coupled at a handle-carrying span of said input link, and said handlecarrying span of said input link, in a fully closed state of the squeeze control mechanism, resides in a lower inside quadrant of a reference frame centered on an axis on which said input link is pivotable.

23. The livestock squeeze chute of any one of claims 1 to 18 wherein thesqueeze control mechanism comprises an input link and a squeeze control operator handle that is coupled to a handle-carrying span of said input link and by which the squeeze control mechanism is manually operable, and said handle-carrying span of said input link, in a fully closed state of the squeeze control mechanism, resides in a lower inside quadrant of a reference frame centered on a longitudinal axis of the rearcontrol driveshaft.

24. The livestock squeeze chute of claim 22 or 23 wherein said input link has an pivotal range of motion at least 90-degrees.

25. The livestock squeeze chute of claim 24 wherein said pivotal range of motion of the input link is at least 100-degrees.

26. The livestock squeeze chute of claim 25 wherein said pivotal range of motion of the input link is at least 105-degrees.

27. The livestock squeeze chute of any one of claims 22 to 26 wherein said squeeze control operator handle is coupled to said input link via a slide-and-turn coupling at which the squeeze control operator handle is selectively slidable and pivotable, relative to the input link, along and around orthogonally related slide and pivot axes, respectively, and through said slide-and-turn coupling is adjustable between at least three different positions of respectively different relation to the input link, among which at least two of said three different positions are self-sustained positions, each of which is both (i) self-sustaining in at least a subset of a plurality of attainable positions of the input link, and (ii) characterized by a respectively different angular orientation to said input link.

28. The livestock squeeze chute of any one of 1 to 18 comprising a squeeze control operator handle by which the squeeze control mechanism is manually operable, wherein said squeeze control operator handle, relative to an input link of thesqueeze control mechanism to which the squeeze control operator handle is coupled, is adjustable between at least three different positions of respectively different relation to the input link, among which at least two of said three different positions are selfsustained positions, each of which is both (i) self-sustaining in at least a subset of a plurality of attainable positions of the input link, and (ii) characterized by a respectively different angular orientation to said input link.

29. A livestock squeeze chute comprising: a structural framework having an exit at a front end of the structural framework and an entrance at a rear end of the structural framework that opposes said front end in a longitudinal direction; a pair of squeeze panels supported on the frame between the entrance and the exit in positions residing opposite one another in a lateral direction that lies transverse to said longitudinal direction, said squeeze panels residing respectively adjacent to opposing outer sides of the chute that are of opposing relation to one another in said lateral direction; and a squeeze control mechanism manually operable to control back and forth movement of at least one of the squeeze panels in: a closing direction moving toward the other one thereof and thereby reducing an effective interior width of the chute, and an opening direction moving away from said other one and thereby increasing said effective interior width of the chute; wherein said squeeze control mechanism comprises: a hammer rotatably supported for pivotal movement about a longitudinal axis running longitudinally of the chute at an elevated location at one side thereof; drive links coupled between said hammer and said at least one of the squeeze panels to drive movement of said at least one of the squeeze panels throughpivotal movement of the hammer about the longitudinal axis; and a squeeze control operator handle though which the squeeze control mechanism is manually operated; further characterized by at least one of the following features:(a) said drive links include a longer one of said drive links that spans across the interior space of the chute from an upper inside end of the hammer and connects to a far one of the squeeze panels furthest from the hammer, and a shorter one of said drive links that spans inwardly from a lower outside end of the hammer outside the interior space to a near one of the squeeze panels nearest to the hammer;(b) an angular measure of at least 90-degrees between fully open and fully closed states of the squeeze control mechanism is possessed by a pivotal range of motion at least one of (i) the hammer, (ii) the squeeze control operator handle, or (iii) an input link of the squeeze control mechanism, to which the squeeze control operator handle is coupled;(c) a handle-carrying part of said input link, in the fully closed state of the squeeze control mechanism, resides in a lower inside quadrant of a reference frame centered on an axis about which said input link is pivotable; and / or(d) the squeeze control operator handle is coupled to said input link via a slide-and-turn coupling at which the squeeze control operator handle is selectively slidable and pivotable, relative to the input link, along and around orthogonally related slide and pivot axes, respectively, and through said slide-and-turn coupling is adjustable between at least three different positions of respectively different relation to said input link, among which at least two of said three different positions are self-sustained positions, each of which is both (i) self-sustaining in at least a subset of a plurality of attainable positions of the input link, and (ii) characterized by a respectively differentangular orientation to said input link.

30. The livestock squeeze chute of claim 29 characterized by at least feature (a).31 . The livestock squeeze chute of claim 29 or 30 characterized by at least feature (b).

32. The livestock squeeze chute of claim 31 characterized by at least feature (b)(i).

33. The livestock squeeze chute of claim 21 or 32 characterized by at least feature (b)(ii).

34. The livestock squeeze chute of any one of claims 31 to 33 characterized by at least feature (b)(iii).

35. The livestock squeeze chute of any one of claims 31 to 34 wherein said angular measure is at least 100-degrees.

36. The livestock squeeze chute of any one of claims 31 to 35 wherein said angular measure is at least 105-degrees.

37. The livestock squeeze chute of any one of clams 29 to 36 characterized by at least feature (c).

38. The livestock squeeze chute of any one of clams 29 to 37 characterized by at least feature (d).

39. The livestock squeeze chute of any one of claims 27, 28 and 38 wherein the self-sustained positions comprise at least one of either: two distinct storage positions, or two distinct operating positions.

40. The livestock squeeze chute of claim 39 wherein the self-sustained positions include at least said two distinct storage positions.

41. The livestock squeeze chute of claim 39 or 40 wherein the self-sustained positions include at least said two distinct operating positions.

42. The livestock squeeze chute of any one of claims 27, 28, 38 and 39 to 41 wherein the self-sustained positions comprise at least three self-sustained positions.

43. The livestock squeeze chute of any one of claims 27, 28 and 38 to 42 wherein said at least three different positions, in addition to the self-sustained positions, include a free-hanging position of freely swingable character relative to the input link.

44. The livestock squeeze chute of any one of claims 27, 28 and 38 to 43 wherein said squeeze control operator handle comprises a notched end region at which said slide-and-turn coupling is embodied, and said notched end region of the squeeze control operator handle has at least two peripheral notches therein, each of which is engaged by a stop on the input link in a respective one of the self-sustained positions.

45. The livestock squeeze chute of claim 44 wherein the notched end region has a terminal end that is of rounded character between said at least two peripheral notches.

46. The livestock squeeze chute of claim 44 or 45 wherein said at least two peripheral notches comprise three peripheral notches.

47. The livestock squeeze chute of any one of claims 44 to 46 wherein said at least two peripheral notches includes at least one constricted notch having a mouth through which the stop enters and exits said constricted notch, a seat in which stop resides when engaged fully into the notch, and constricted throat that is situated between the mouth and the seat and is narrower than both thereof.

48. The livestock squeeze chute of any one of claims 44 to 47 wherein said at least two peripheral notches includes a central notch aligned on a lengthwise handle axis of the squeeze control operating handle, and at least one side notch offsetto one side of said lengthwise handle axis.

49. The livestock squeeze chute of claim 48 wherein said at least one side notch comprises two side notches on opposing sides of said lengthwise handle axis.

50. The livestock squeeze chute of any one of claims 44 to 47 wherein said at least two peripheral notches comprises two side notches respectively disposed on opposing peripheral sides of the notched end region of the squeeze control operator handle.

51. The livestock squeeze chute of any one of claims 29 to 50 wherein said squeeze control operator handle has a handle length no greater than 36-inches.

52. The livestock squeeze chute of claim 51 wherein said handle length of the squeeze control operator handle is no greater than 30-inches.

53. The livestock squeeze chute of claim 51 or 52 wherein said handle length of the squeeze control operator handle is closer to 24-inches than to 36-inches.

54. A user-input section of a control linkage of a livestock equipment, through which one or more functional animal-control components of said livestock equipment are manipulatable between different positions, said user-input section comprising: an input link by which one or more other components of the control linkage are driven to manipulate said one or more functional animal-control components; and an operator handle that is coupled to said input link via a slide-and-turn coupling at which the squeeze control operator handle is selectively slidable and pivotable, relative to the input link, along and around orthogonally related slide and pivot axes, respectively, and through said slide-and-turn coupling is adjustable between at least three different positions of respectively different relation to said input link, amongwhich at least two of said three different positions are self-sustained positions, each of which is both (i) self-sustaining in at least a subset of a plurality of attainable positions of the input link, and (ii) characterized by a respectively different angular orientation to said input link.

55. The user-input section of claim 54 wherein said at least three different positions comprises at least four different positions.

56. The user-input section of claim 54 or 55 wherein said self-sustained positions comprise at least three self-sustained positions.

57. The user-input section of any one of claims 54 to 56 wherein the selfsustained positions comprise two different operating positions.

58. The user-input section of any one of claims 55 to 57 wherein the selfsustained positions comprise two different storage positions.

59. The user-input section of any one of claims 54 to 58 wherein said at least three different positions, in addition to the self-sustained positions, includes a free- hanging position of freely swingable character relative to the input link.

60. The user-input section of any one of claims 54 to 59 wherein said squeeze control operator handle comprises a notched end region at which slide-and- turn coupling is embodied, and said notched end region of the squeeze control operator handle has at least two peripheral notches therein, each of which is engaged by a stop on the input link in a respective one of the self-sustained positions.

61. The user-input section of claim 60 wherein the notched end region has a terminal end that is of rounded character between said at least two peripheral notches.

62. The user-input section of claim 60 or 61 wherein said at least two peripheral notches comprise three peripheral notches.

63. The user-input section of any one of claims 60 to 62 wherein said at least two peripheral notches includes at least one constricted notch having a mouth through which the stop enters and exits said constricted notch, a seat in which stop resides when engaged fully into the notch, and constricted throat that is situated between the mouth and the seat and is narrower than both thereof.

64. The user-input section of any one of claims 57 to 60 wherein said at least two peripheral notches includes a central notch aligned on a lengthwise handle axis of the squeeze control operating handle, and at least one side notch offset to one side of said lengthwise handle axis.

65. The user-input section of claim 64 wherein said at least one side notch comprises two side notches on opposing sides of said lengthwise handle axis.

66. The user-input section of any one of claims 60 to 63 wherein said at least two notches comprises two side notches respectively disposed on opposing peripheral sides of the notched end region of the squeeze control operator handle.

67. The user-input section of any one of claims 54 to 66 wherein said squeeze control operator handle has a handle length no greater than 36-inches.

68. The user-input section of claim 67 wherein said handle length of the squeeze control operator handle is no greater than 30-inches.

69. The user-input section of claim 67 or 68 wherein said handle length of the squeeze control operator handle is closer to 24-inches than to 36-inches.

70. The user-input section of any one of claims 54 to 69 wherein said one or more functional animal-control components of the livestock equipment comprises one or more animal-holding components thereof.71 . The user-input section of claim 70 wherein said one or more animalholding components comprise of the livestock equipment comprises one or moresqueeze panels of a livestock squeeze chute.

72. The input section of any one of claims 54 to 71 wherein said at least three different positions comprises five different positions.

73. The input section of any one of claims 54 to 72 wherein the self- sustained positions comprise four self-sustained positions.

74. The input section of any one of claims 54 to 73 wherein the self- sustained positions are self-sustained in a springless manner.

75. The input section of any one of claims 54 to 74 wherein the self- sustained positions are gravitationally self-sustained.

76. The livestock squeeze chute of any one of claims 27, 28 and 38 to 50 wherein said at least three different positions comprises five different positions.

77. The livestock squeeze chute of any one of claims 27, 28, 38 to 50 and76 wherein the self-sustained positions comprise four self-sustained positions.

78. The livestock squeeze chute of any one of claims 27, 28, 38 to 50 and 76 to 77 wherein the self-sustained positions are self-sustained in a springless manner.

79. The livestock squeeze chute of any one of claims 27, 28, 38 to 50 and76 to 78 wherein the self-sustained positions are gravitationally self-sustained.

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