Mobile Elevated Platform for Livestock Confinement Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
The maintenance of elevated poultry cages in confinement facilities is inefficient and labor-intensive, as existing methods such as ladder use and stilt walking are time-consuming and physically demanding, making it difficult to inspect, clean, and tend to animals at higher vertical heights.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle with a support frame, base, and drive unit that includes an elevated platform, allowing operators to access and move along elevated poultry cages, equipped with a steering column and wheels for efficient navigation within the facility, reducing physical strain and increasing productivity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If the vertical height of elevated poultry cages is increased to maximize livestock density, then livestock density per square foot increases, but the physical labor and time required to tend to animals at higher elevations increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a mobile elevated platform as an intermediary device between the ground and the elevated livestock cages. This platform can be positioned at different heights to match the cage elevation, providing a stable working surface for operators to access animals without climbing ladders or walking on stilts. The platform includes safety railings, tool storage, and can support multiple operators, thereby mediating the physical access problem created by high cage placement.
Solution Approach 2:
The platform is designed to be mobile rather than fixed, capable of being moved along the facility aisles and adjusted to different positions. This dynamic characteristic allows the platform to adapt to different cage locations and heights, providing flexible access to elevated animals throughout the facility without requiring fixed infrastructure at each cage location.
2Ease of operation
If traditional methods such as ladders and stilts are used to access elevated cages, then some level of access is achieved, but the time consumption and physical exhaustion increase dramatically
Solution Approach 1:
The mobile platform serves as a superior intermediary compared to ladders or stilts. Unlike ladders that require repeated climbing and positioning, or stilts that demand significant physical skill and endurance, the platform provides a stable, ground-level-like working surface that can be moved to each cage location. This eliminates the time-consuming repetitive climbing or walking motions while reducing physical exhaustion through proper ergonomics and safety features.
Solution Approach 2:
The platform is equipped with self-contained features including tool storage compartments, waste collection containers, and integrated safety railings. Operators can perform maintenance tasks without repeatedly returning to ground level to retrieve tools or dispose of waste, allowing continuous work at cage level and significantly reducing task completion time.
3Reliability
If operators work from ground level to access elevated cages, then safety is improved, but the ability to efficiently inspect and clean all cages is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The platform provides a safe intermediate working level that eliminates the need for operators to climb to cage height while still enabling close inspection and maintenance work. The platform's height can be adjusted or selected to match the operational needs of different cage levels, providing both safety through fall protection railings and productivity through close access to animals and cage components.
Solution Approach 2:
The mobile nature of the platform allows it to be dynamically positioned at the exact location and height needed for each maintenance task. This dynamic positioning capability enables operators to work safely at optimal heights for different activities (inspection, cleaning, feeding) while maintaining close proximity to the animals for efficient task completion.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of tending to livestock within a livestock confinement facility includes a vehicle having a support frame, a drive unit, and an elevated platform. The support frame extends vertically upward from a base and has a lower portion and an upper portion with the drive unit being operatively attached to the base. The elevated platform is affixed to the upper portion of the support frame and configured to support an operator thereon while moving along the livestock confinement facility. The method includes supporting the operator on the elevated platform within the livestock confinement facility. The method further includes moving the vehicle along a floor of the livestock confinement facility in order to move the operator along the livestock confinement facility from atop the elevated platform such that the operator tends to livestock from atop the elevated platform.