Movable Bar Cattle Grid for Unobstructed Animal Passage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional cattle grids require additional space and inconvenience for pedestrians and horse riders due to the need for a separate gate to allow animal passage, disrupting the unobstructed view and requiring stopping to open and close the gate.
Innovation Solution
A cattle grid design with a first configuration of spaced bars and a second configuration where movable bars intermesh with fixed bars to create a continuous surface, allowing animal passage while maintaining a barrier, powered by a motor with remote control operation and manual backup, reducing the need for a separate gate.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a conventional cattle grid with a separate gate is used to allow animal passage, then animals can cross the grid, but additional space is required and the view along the road is obstructed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the gate function directly into the cattle grid structure by making the grid bars themselves movable. The entire grid assembly can be raised to horizontal position to allow animal passage, eliminating the need for a separate adjacent gate and reducing the required road width.
Solution Approach 2:
The cattle grid bars are designed to be movable between a lowered position (providing barrier function) and a raised horizontal position (allowing passage). This dynamic capability enables the same structure to serve dual purposes: barrier and passage way, without requiring additional space.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a separate gate is provided adjacent to the cattle grid to allow animal passage, then animals can cross, but pedestrians and horse riders must stop to open and close the gate
Solution Approach 1:
The gate function is merged into the cattle grid structure itself. The grid bars can be raised horizontally to create a passage, eliminating the need for separate gate operations. This allows riders to pass through without stopping, as the passage can be created by raising the entire grid assembly rather than operating a separate gate mechanism.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a separate gate is provided adjacent to the cattle grid, then animals can pass, but the visual impact is increased and the unobstructed view is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The passage function is integrated into the cattle grid structure itself rather than being provided by a separate adjacent gate. When the grid bars are raised horizontally, animals can pass through the grid structure without requiring a separate gate opening, thereby maintaining an unobstructed view along the road.
4Adaptability or versatility
If the cattle grid bars are raised to horizontal position to allow animal passage, then animals can cross, but the structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The cattle grid employs movable bars that can be raised and lowered between two positions: lowered to provide a barrier and raised horizontally to allow passage. This dynamic mechanism enables the grid to transform its configuration rather than requiring separate static structures for barrier and passage functions, thereby managing complexity through multi-position capability.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~6(a)
Figure 6(b)~6(c)
AI summary
A cattle grid comprising a first group of fixed bars (12) that are spaced apart with gaps therebetween and a second group of bars (20) that are movable between a lower position and an upper position. With the bars of the cattle grid in a first configuration, the second group of bars (20) are in the lower position, such that the upper portions of the bars of the second group (20) are lower than the upper portions of the bars of the first group (12), whereby gaps are defined between the bars of the first group to provide a barrier to the passage of animals. When the set of bars are in a second configuration, the second group of bars (20) are in the upper position such that the second group of bars (20) intermeshes with the first group of bars (12) so that the bars of the second group (20) occupy the gaps between the bars of the first group (12) to allow passage of animals across the bars.