CA1067980A

CA1067980A - Foaling alarm

Info

Publication number: CA1067980A
Application number: CA257,156A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Leonard T. Skeggs
Original assignee: Locust Farms Inc
Current assignee: Locust Farms Inc
Priority date: 1975-07-25
Filing date: 1976-07-16
Publication date: 1979-12-11

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A foaling alarm adapted to be positioned around the withers and belly of a mare just behind the forearms and having, in the region of the withers, an RF transmitter, and a position sensing switch which energizes the transmitter when the mare lies down on her side in foaling position. The transmitter, when thus energized, actuates a remote receiver which, in turn, actuates an audio and/or visual alarm for summoning aid by the mare's attendent or owner.

Description

~o~79~

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Those who are involved in the breeding, propagation and production of horses generally agree tha-t it is wise and the best practice for someone -to be in attendance when a mare gives birth to her foalO Although a mare may give bir-th with-out assistance, it occasionally happens that assistance will be quite helpful. Sometimes there may be more serious problems where an attendant can actually save the life of the mare or the foal by being present during the delivery of the foal. As is well known, a foal may die simply because the sack did no-t break and this is a very simple operation if someone is presen-t at the time to break the sack.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to predict precisely when a mare will foal and, although certain signs can be watched for, it often happens that someone must simply observe the mare continuously for hours or days at a tlme.
In delivering her foal, a mare will lie completely over on her side with her iegs stretched out horizontally.
SUMMARY OF I~E INVENTION
The foaling alarm herein comprises a detachable de-vice which a few days before the anticipated foaling -time is :
secured over the~withers and around the sides and under the forepart of the belly behind the front legs, said device having position sensing means to detect when the mare is in foaling ~ : .
position as a~foresa~id, said positlon sensing means being opera-tive~to energize a transmitter means to transmit a signal for 30 ~receipt by ~a receiver means which, in turn, sets off an alarm :: ~ : : , ~ : .

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~ystem 50 that th~ mare owner or attendant i~ imm~diately made aware ~hat the mare is abQUt to deliver her foal.
It i~ a principal ~bject o~ this invention to provide a foaling alarm as aforesaid in which the upper portion of the device ~mbraces tha withers to prevent circumferential slipping of the device around the mare'~ body so that the po3ition sen~-ing mean~ will be in a predetermined location to sen~e when the mare lie~ down in foaling po~ition on ei~her side with her leg~
stretched out horizontally.
It is another object o~ this invention to provide a ~oaling alarm which, when secured on ~he mare'~ body as ~fore-said, does no~ in~erfere with normal ac~ivities of the mare such as walking, eating, and sleeping.
O~her object~ and advantage will app2ar in the en-suing description. ~ :
BRIEF D~SCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
; Fig. 1 is a side elevation view of a foaling alarm secured on a mare arou~d the wither~ and ~orepart o~ the belly y~
behind the front legs;
Fig. 2 i~ a perspec~ive ~iew o~ enlarged scale of ~he upper portion of the foaling alarm as viewed upwardly from the rear of Fig. 1; ~:
Fig. 3 is a ~hematic wixing diagram of the foaling alarm;
: Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of the recaiver ~nd alarm circuitry;
Fig. 5 is a side elevation view of anothi~r embodime~t of thia i~vention showing in a~sociation therewith primary and ::
remot~ ~eceiver~;
Fig. 6 is a ~ra~mentary e~larged cross-~ection view .', . ..

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taken substantially along ~he line 6-6, Fig. 5;
Fig. 7 is a view of the t~ansmitter p~rtion of the foaling alarm as viewed along line 7-7, Fig. 6; and `~ Fig. 8 is a perspec~.ive view showing how the trans-mitter may be readily inserted into or removed from a pocket in the alanm device.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF
THE P REFE RRE D EMBODIMENTS
As best shown i~ Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the foaling alarm 10 device 1 has a relatively wide and padded girth portion 2 under the forepart o~ the belly of the mare just behind the front legs with elastic straps 3 adjustably buckled to leather straps 4 which are secured to the upper Portion S of the device 1. The upper portion 5 may be made of wood, such as hard maple, or --of suitable thermoplastic material and comprises arcuate sec-~ tions 6 and 7 which are hinged together by the pin 8 and which g are provided with relatively thick sponge-like pads 9 for com-ort and which define therebetween a recess 10 embra ing the ~ withers of the mare thus to retain the alarm 1 against circum-it 20 ~erential slipping from the position shown in Fig. 1.

3 ` The upper portion 5 of the alarm 1 has recess s or pockets 11, 12, 13 and 14 therein in which are ~ecured respect-ively an electric power source such as batteries 15, a first ~ position sensing switch 16, a second position sensing switch 17, 3 and an RF transmitter 18, said recesses being close~ as by re~
1:
movable cover plates 19, 20, 21 and 22. The cover plate 19 for ~, ~ the batt~ry recess 1} may be provided with a manual switch 23 which, when in "OFF" position, wil~ conserve the batteries 15 when the alarm 1 is not m use regardless of the stored position 30 ~ thereo~ The position 6ensing swi ches 16 and 17 preferably 6~ 30 comprise mercury switches which are normally open and which are arranged so that one or the othe~r of them will close the ele~tric circuit to the kransmitter 18 when the mare lie~ down on either ~ide with her legs stretcbed out horizontally in foaling po~ition. Each mercury switch 16 and 17 is herein ar-ranged ~Q close its contacts upon 3S to 40 tilting from verti~
: cal a~ ~he mare goes down to foaling po8it~0n. Extending acros~
tha section~ 6 and 7 is a flexible conduik 24 ar~und t~e con-; ductors whioh operatively interconnect the batterie~ 15/ switGhes 23, I6 and 17, 3nd transmitter 18.
By way o~ example, the tranæmitter 18 i8 preferably - transistorized o~ well known fo~m such as Ace Wee 1 Si~gle Chan-nel Tone Transmittsr (Aoe Radio C~ntrol, Higgen~ville, Mi~ouri - 64037) which, when the switch 23 i~ closed and when ei~her o *ha mercuxy switches 16 or 17 i~ closed will emit a signal o~ ::
; predete~mined ~r~quency.
Referring to Fig. 4, there will be provided in ~he ~:
~table pre~erably outside the maxe ' ~ stall, a receiver 25 which is tu~ed to the frequerlcy o~ the sigrlal emi~ed hy ~e trans-2û mitter 18 and whi~::h pre~erably is tran3istorized and energized as by a 3 volt dry cell or other ~ource of elactric power.
~en the reaeiver 25 receives a ~ignal frsm the ~ran3mi~ter 18, :;
it will actua~e a relay 26 to clo3e an alann relay 27 and when -~he contacts of ~he la~t-anentioned ralay 2 7 are closed, a circui~
will ba e~tabllshed rom an eleatri~ power solsrce 28 th~ugh ~ransformers 2g to energize alarm sig~al mean~ 30 which for ¢on~
veni~nce have been illustrated as alarm bells, one o~ which may . .
be in~kalled in the ~table a~d the others may be installed a~
in the kitchen and bedroom of th~3 mare's owner.
Ra~errixlg n~w to ~he embodin~ent of the invention : ' ' ' :
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illustrated in Figs. 5-8, the foaling alann device 31 i~ gen-erally similar to that illustrated in Figs. 1 4 in tha1~- it comprise~ a padded girth portion 32 under the ~oreparS of the belly of the mare just behind the f~nt legs, and a padded upper portion 33 which has a withers e~r2lcing recess 34 and downwardly diverging arms 35 which engage the mare ' s back adjacent the withers, said girth and upper portions 32 and 33 being provided :
with ~lexible ~3traps 36 which are acljustably buc:kled togethsr as sho~m.
Both the girth and upper portion~ 32 and 33 are padded with plastic ibrou~ material as shown ~ewed or otherwise secured to fabric strips 37 to render the same machine washable and line or ~u~le dried.
The upper portioll 33 is reeal~orced by a flexible plas-tic tr~e 38 between the fabric strips 37 and 39 sc~ that it will have a normal shape as shown in Fig. 6 but with su~ficie~t flex-ibility to adjustably fit the mare ' ~ back.
one of the diverging arm~ 35 has ~ewed thereto a fabric pocket 40 i~ which the transmitter and po i~ion sensing uu~it 41 20 housed within a plastic case is adap~ed to be positioned as sh~
i~ FigO 6. The pocket 40 i~ cdosed by a ~lap 42 having ~uitable fastening mean~ su~h as a Velcro strip 43 cooperating with a Velcro strip 44 s~wed to the fabric strip 39. To prevent acci-deDtal oper~ing of the ~lap 42, the pocket 40 has ~ecured thereto a ~lex~le strap 45 includirlg an elastic portion 46 and provided wi~h coc>p~arating snap fa~teners 4 7 an~ 4 8 . When it is desired to . .
remove u~it 41 from pooket 40 the strap 45 is op~ned and tha 1ap 42 i5 opened as ~hown in Fig. 8 whereby 'che unit 41 may be re-mo~ed ~or servici3lg or replacem~nt or removed ~or laundering o~ .
30 the upper portion 33 o~ ~he devicQ 31, When the uni~ 41 i~

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~'; '' 7~30 inserted into pocket 40 the flap 42 and strap 45 are closed as shown in Fiys. 6 and 7.
The transmitter and position sensing unit 41 is self-contained and includes an on/o~f switch 49, a battery 50, the transistorized transmittex circuitry, and the position sensing mercury switches 51 and 52 ret.ained in clips 53 which are secured in desired rotary positions by screws 54.
When the alarm device 31 is positioned on the mare as - shown in Fig. 5, both switches 51 and 52 will be in open position and i~ the mare lies down to ~oaling position with the cent~r line of the device 31 èxtending 30 upwardly from horizontal, either .~ switch 51 or 52 will be closed depending upon whether the mare lays down on her left side or on her right side as viewed in Fig.
6. In ~his case, the primary receiver 55 has an antenna 56 and when the transmitter and posi~ion sensing unit 41 emits a signal of predetermined frequency to which the receiver 5~ is tuned, by the closing of one or the other of ~he mercu~y switches 51 or 52 the signal received by the primary receiver 55 will close the cir-cuit of ~he buzzer 57 to signal the mare's owner or attendant that the mare is in ~oaling position. One or more remote receivers 58 may be connected in parallel by low voltage wiring 59 (e.g.

i ~ .
24v.) with t-he primary receiver 55 to energize the remote buzzers 57. Each receiver 55 and 58 is adapted to be plugged into a 120 v~lt supply source and each is e~uipped with an on/off switch 60 and a pilot light 61 which will be lit when the switch 60 i~ on ; It is to be understood that, in lieu o.r in addition to alarm bells 30 or buzzers 57 as herein shown, other forms of alaxm signal devices:may be employed such as lights or a speaker system.
In a more elaborate system, the receiver 25 or 55 may energize i : 30 a closed cirFuit TV system to provide both audio and visual signals ~ ,.
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in the stable and in the owner's home in the kitchen, bedroom and el~ewhere therein.
In any case, th~ per~on attending the mare may continue with his normal life of eating, wor:~ing, sleeping, etc. with as-surance that he will be warned when the maxe is abou~ to ~oal.
Although the position ~ensing means herein is illustrated- a~ two separate mercury switches 16 and 17 or 51 and 52, it i~ eviden that the two ~ets of contacts may ble embodied a~ in a curved or V-shaped merc~ry switch with ~e pool of mercury being dispo~ed normally at the bottom or vertex o~ the glas~ enclosure with con tacts at the upper ends which are closed according to which side the mare lays down on when foaling. The position sensing switch means 16 and 17 or 51 and 52 obviously may be of the mechanical -~ type which is normally open ~ut which clo~es the transmitter circuit ~or emitting an RF ~ignal or actuating the receiver 25 or 55.
~ Accordingly, it can be een that the present foaling ; alarm is of simple ~onstruction and economical:to manu~acture and may be positioned on a mare shortly before ~he expected time o~ ~oaling thereby to pro~ride the owner or at~endant a warning .~ signal that ~he mare is about to deliver her ~oal. Mbreo~rer, the ~oaling alarm herein is po~itionad so as not to interfere :
:
wi~ normal activities of the mare and does not in any way inter~
fere wi~h the oaling operationO The ~oaling alarm onae po i-tioned on the mare as shown in Fig3. 1 and S will be retained by ~ :
~he witl~ers flt~inLg in th2 rece~s 10 or 34 between the dswnwaraly ', ~ diverging anns ~ and 7 or 35; 35 against circumferential displace-men~ and moreo~7er, the sponge-like pads 9 or ~ibrou,3 pads adju~t :~
themæelves to com~ortably engage the mare's back. .
With furkher re~erence to the location o the receiv~r ~7~ ; :~

~: ~ .,, 1~167~

25 or 55, it is preferably located near the mare's stall but, preferably, outside a wall thereof ~nd, of course, depending on the strength o~ the signal from the transmitter 18 or 41, the receiver 25 or 55 could be located a considerable distance from the mare's stall.
On rare occasions, an act:i~e mare ma~ cause momentary ting-a-lings or buzzings of the ala:nm means 30 or 57 but thi8 pxesents no problem be~ause in the foaling position o~ the mare, ~he alarm signal is continuous. Although the present invention is herein illustrated and described as a foaling alanm, it may be used on a horse who has colic or who it i5 feared may ~et colic to provide a signal to the horse owner when the horse is : going down to roll thereby to summon aid to prevent death of th~ horse ~rom a ~wisted gut.
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Claims

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclu-sive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A foaling alarm for signalling the foaling of a mare comprising a device adapted to encircle a mare's body and including an upper portion having a recess to embrace the withers to prevent circumferential displacement of said device, and a flexible girth means connected to said upper portion to engage under the forepart of the belly behind the front legs;
transmitter means and position sensing switch means carried by said upper portion; said transmitter means, when energized, being operative to emit a signal of predetermined frequency;
said position sensing switch means being operative to energize said transmitter means only when the mare is in foaling position on her side; and remote receiver and alarm signal system means;
said receiver means being tuned to said transmitter signal and operative in response thereto to actuate said alarm signal sys-tem to provide an alarm signal for summoning aid to facilitate the birth of the foal.

2. The foaling alarm of claim 1 wherein flexible strap and buckle means adjustably interconnect said girth means to said upper portion.

3. The foaling alarm of claim 1 wherein said posi-tion sensing switch means is operative to energize said trans-mitter means regardless of which side the mare lies down on.

4. The foaling alarm of claim 3 wherein said position sensing switch means comprises mercury switch means.

5. The foaling alarm of claim 1 wherein said upper portion has openable pocket means for insertion or removal of said transmitter means and position sensing switch means.

6. The foaling alarm of claim 1 wherein said trans-mitter means is battery powered via a circuit which is closed by said position sensing switch means when the mare is in foal-ing position.

7. The foaling alarm of claim 6 wherein said trans-mitter means has a manually-operated switch means associated therewith to conserve said battery power during periods of non-use and storage of said device irrespective of the stored posi-tion thereof.

8. The foaling alarm of claim 1 wherein said upper portion has downwardly extending strap means to which said girth means is adjustably secured.

9. The foaling alarm of claim 1 wherein said upper portion has downwardly diverging portions to engage the mare's back adjacent the withers; and wherein one of said downwardly diverging portions has pocket means for receiving and retaining therein a unit containing said transmitter means and said posi-tion sensing switch means.

10. The foaling alarm of claim 9 wherein said trans-mitter means is powered by a battery in said unit via an elec-trical circuit which is closed by said position sensing switch means when the mare is in foaling position.

11. The foaling alarm of claim 10 wherein said unit has a manually operated switch means to conserve said battery during periods or non-use and storage of said device irrespective of the stored position thereof.

12. The foaling alarm of claim 9 wherein said pocket means has a flap which, in conjunction with releasable fastening means, retains said unit in said pocket means or permits inser-tion and withdrawal of said unit into and from said pocket means.

13. The foaling alarm of claim 9 wherein said position sensing switch means comprises two mercury switches and means for angularly adjusting said switches in said unit so that one or the other of said switches energizes said transmitter means depending on which side the mare lies down.

14. The foaling alarm of claim 9 wherein said upper portion, including said pocket means, is of flexible fabric with reinforcement in said recess and downwardly diverging portions and with padding material on the bottom sides of said recess and downwardly diverging portions.

15. The foaling alarm of claim 14 wherein said upper portion has downwardly extending straps for connection with straps of said girth means.

16. The foaling alarm of claim 1 wherein said upper portion comprises hinged together sections which define such recess therebetween.

17. The foaling alarm of claim 16 wherein said sections extend in opposite directions from said recess to engage the mare's back.

18. The alarm system of claim 16 wherein said trans-mitter means comprises battery means and signal emitting means;
and wherein said sections have compartments therein in which said battery means and said signal emitting means are respect-ively disposed with removable cover plates over said compartments.

19. The foaling alarm of claim 18 wherein flexible conduit means extends across said sections having conductors therein operatively connecting said battery means and position sensing means to said signal emitting means.

20. The foaling alarm of claim 18 wherein one section has manually operated switch means to conserve said battery means during periods of non-use and storage of said device irrespective of the stored position thereof.

21. The foaling alarm of claim 16 wherein each section has flexible strap means extending along the respective opposite sides of the mare's body; and wherein said girth means is adjust-ably secured to said strap means.