Poultry transport system

Claim 1

In a combined cage for transporting live poultry and a vehicle for transferring the same comprising, a cage having a pair of oppositely opposed side wall members, a pair of oppositely opposed end wall members, a pair of oppositely opposed upper and lower wall members, means for attaching said wall member pairs to one another to form a generally rectangular structure, a plurality of partition members extending from and between the said side and end wall members, and arranged parallel to said upper and lower wall members thereby dividing the volume enclosed by said pairs of wall members into a plurality of compartments, a dividing means arranged perpendicularly to said partition members, extending from and between said side wall members and upper and lower wall members, and being arranged intermediate between said end wall members to divide a plurality of compartments into approximate halves lengthwise, access means to each of said plural compartments and arranged in each of the end wall members of said structure, each access means including a door pivotally depending from said cage and adapted to pivot inwardly of its respective compartment to provide ingress into said compartment, the side edges of each door being disposed for contact with the inner edge of the adjacent end wall to prevent said door from pivoting and opening outwardly, a plurality of casters mounted to the lower wall member, each of said side wall members, upper and lower wall members, partition members, dividing means, and access doors comprising a skeleton structure covered with wire mesh, and the arrangement of the pivotal doors provided in each end wall member of a cage facilitating the compact side-by-side placement of a plurality of cages as during usage, said vehicle including a flat bed structure having at least one access opening thereto, an axle and wheel structure mounted to the underside of said flat bed structure, vehicle skeleton structure mounted upon said bed and delimiting an enclosed area capable of sustaining a plurality of said cages in both adjacent and tandem relationship, ramp means pivotally mounted to the back end of said flat bed structure and providing the instrumentality for loading and removal of said plurality of cages, said ramp means having a first and second position, said first position being designed for loading said vehicle, and said second position being designed such that said ramp becomes a back for the side vehicle skeleton structure for closing of the vehicle, said ramp means comprising first and second channel shaped track parts and support beams between said track parts, said track parts being spaced apart a distance by said support beams to accommodate the movement of the castered cage upon the ramp means, one end of each first and second track parts being hingedly mounted to the back end of said flat bed structure, the other end of said track parts being tabbed, corresponding tabs provided upon the back of the vehicle skeleton structure and being in alignment with the track tabs as when the tracks are pivoted into closure with the back of the said structure, and locking pins cooperating between the tabbed ends of the track parts and the aligned tabs of the vehicle skeleton structure to secure said pair of track parts into the position of function as the back for the flat bed structure for securely retaining the loaded cages upon the vehicle during its transit.