BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION : Field of the invention The invention relates to a shuttle vehicle, in particular for transporting chickens between a first position, and a second position which differs from the first position horizontally as well as vertically, comprising a frame provided with wheels for moving the shuttle vehicle horizontally, as well as a platform and a lifting mechanism for moving the platform vertically. The first position, for example, is the position behind a machine for catching chickens, while the second position, for example, is the position behind a loading floor of a transport vehicle for transporting chickens.

Prior art Such a shuttle vehicle is generally known and is used in various applications.

The known vehicle has a platform with a floor which is fixed. This known vehicle is not specifically suitable for transporting chickens when loading a transport vehicle. When using this known vehicle for transporting chickens, the first chickens are put onto the platform at the front by a catching machine. Additional chickens are also put onto the platform at the front, pushing the chickens that were there first to the back in a hard-handed manner.

Because of this, chickens can fall and be trampled on by other chickens or pressed up against each other. Furthermore, one can only roughly estimate whether the vehicle is full, as a result of which it can occur that there will be too many chickens per unit of surface area which is bad for their condition. When loading the chickens into a transport vehicle they have to be pushed by force into the vehicle because they will not go on their own. This is also detrimental to the chickens'well-being and consequently for the quality of their meat when they are slaughtered.

Summary of the invention

An objective of the invention is to provide a shuttle vehicle of the type described in the preamble which is better suited for transporting chickens than the known vehicle. To this end, the shuttle vehicle according to the invention is characterized in that the platform comprises a conveyer belt and there are measuring devices situated between the frame and the platform for measuring the weight of the load on the platform. Through the conveyor belt, the chickens are distributed automatically and evenly from a catching machine over the shuttle vehicle and when being loaded into a transport vehicle they are put automatically and evenly into the vehicle in a manner which is pleasant to them. In this way, the chickens do not become injured and experience little or no stress during the loading of a transport vehicle. This has a favourable effect on the quality of the chickens. In addition, the loading of a transport vehicle can be carried out rapidly as a result of which chickens can be transported in a way that is economically advantageous. By measuring the weight on the conveyor belt using a measuring device the weight per unit of surface area will be known as well as how many chickens have been put on a transport vehicle's floor. With this knowledge it is possible to prevent that too many chickens per unit of surface area will be transported as a result of which the transport of chickens can be improved further.

An embodiment of the shuttle vehicle according to the invention is characterized in that there are two hooks situated at the front of the shuttle vehicle for coupling the shuttle vehicle to a transport vehicle, which hooks are situated transversely to the shuttle vehicle at a distance from each other and are rigidly connected to each other by means of a shaft, and in which the shuttle vehicle comprises rotating devices for rotating the hooks. By hooking these hooks behind a beam on a transport vehicle and then rotating them until the front wheels of the shuttle vehicle come off the ground, alignment of the shuttle vehicle transversely with respect to a loading floor of the transport vehicle will be realized.

By doing this, the platform of the shuttle vehicle will be situated at the same angle transversely as the loading floor of the transport vehicle, which is advantageous when moving chickens from the platform onto the loading floor.

It is noted that the hooks can also be used to advantage on other shuttle vehicles without a conveyor belt. For this reason the possibility is expressly kept open to protect this embodiment in a separate patent application.

A further embodiment of the shuttle vehicle is characterized in that the frame is provided with two front wheels in line with each other and two rear wheels in line with

each other, which rear wheels can move vertically with respect to the frame. Because of this, both rear wheels will always remain in contact with the ground while the front wheels are being lifted up, even when the ground underneath the rear wheels is not level.

Both rear wheels are preferably bearing-mounted on an axle, which can rotate about a shaft connected to the frame and extending in the direction of travel.

In order to see that the platform under all conditions can come close to the loading floor of the shuttle vehicle horizontally, still a further embodiment of the shuttle vehicle is characterized in that the shuttle vehicle comprises moving devices for moving the platform horizontally with respect to the lifting mechanism.

The lifting mechanism preferably comprises a scissor construction with two arms which are connected to each other at the middle in such a way that they can rotate and in which an end of one of the arms is connected to the frame in such a way that it can rotate and an end of the other arm is connected to the platform in such a way that it can rotate and in which the other ends of the arms are coupled to the platform and the frame respectively in such a way that they can slide, and the moving devices for moving the platform with respect to the lifting mechanism is situated between the platform and the end of an arm which is connected to the platform in such a way that it can rotate.

Brief description of the drawings The invention will be elucidated more fully below on the basis of drawings in which an embodiment of the shuttle vehicle according to the invention is shown. In these drawings: Figure 1 is a side view of an embodiment of the shuttle vehicle according to the invention ; Figure 2 shows the shuttle vehicle in a first position cooperating with a catching machine ; Figure 3 shows the shuttle vehicle in a second position when loading a transport vehicle ; and Figure 4 is a schematic view from the rear of the position of the shuttle vehicle's wheels when cooperating with a transport vehicle.

Detailed description of the drawings In Figure 1 an embodiment of the shuttle vehicle 1 according to the invention is shown. The shuttle vehicle 1 has a frame 3 provided with wheels 5,7 and a driving device (not shown) for driving the wheels. Furthermore, the shuttle vehicle 1 has a platform 9 that is connected to the frame 3 by means of a lifting mechanism 11. The lifting mechanism 11 has two parallel scissor constructions, each with two arms 13,15, which are connected to each other at the middle in such a way that they can rotate. An end 17 of the arm 13 of each scissor construction is connected to the frame 3 in such a way that it can rotate and an end 19 of the other arm 15 of the scissor construction is connected to the platform 9 in such a way that it can rotate. The other ends 21 and 23 of the arms 13 and 15 respectively of the scissor constructions can slide in guides situated on the frame 3 and the platform 9 respectively.

The platform 9 has a conveyor belt 25 and an additional driving device 27 for driving the conveyor belt. There are measuring devices situated between the ends 19 and 21 of the arms 13 and 15 of both scissor constructions and the platform 9, for example pressure sensors (not visible in the figures) for measuring the weight of the chickens on the conveyor belt 25.

There are moving devices 29 situated between the platform 9 and the ends 19 of the arms 15 of the scissor constructions which are connected to the platform in such a way that they can rotate, for moving the platform 9 horizontally. These moving devices 29 have a piston-cylinder combination 31 one end of which is connected to a shaft 33 through the two ends 19 of the arms 15 and the other end is connected to a shaft 35 attached to the platform.

The platform 9 can move between a first position A, indicated by a broken line, and a second position B, indicated by a continuous line. In Figure 2, the shuttle vehicle 1 is shown in the first position cooperating with a catching machine 37. The catching machine is provided with revolving brushes 39 between which the chickens are caught. The brushes 39 push the chickens onto a conveyor belt 41 that takes them up to a further conveyor belt 43 which lies level with the conveyor belt 25 of the shuttle vehicle 1.

In Figure 3 the shuttle vehicle 1 is shown in the second position cooperating with a transport vehicle 45. There are two hooks 47 situated at the front of the shuttle

vehicle 1 (see Figure 1 also) which grip a beam 48 on the transport vehicle 45, see Figure 4 in which the position of the shuttle vehicle's wheels 5,7 with respect to the transport vehicle 45 is shown schematically. The hooks 47 are situated at a distance from each other transversely to the shuttle vehicle and are rigidly connected to each other by means of a shaft 49.

The shuttle vehicle 1 has rotating devices (not shown in the figures) for rotating the hooks 47. The hooks are rotated until the front wheels 5 come off the ground 51, see Figures 3 and 4. By doing this, the shuttle vehicle 1 will be parallel to the transport vehicle 45 transversely.

If the shuttle vehicle 1 is situated longitudinally at an angle with respect to the transport vehicle 45, see Figure 3, then the platform 9 will be situated at a distance d from a loading floor 53 of the transport vehicle 45. With the help of the moving devices 29 (see Figure 1) the platform 9 can be moved up against the loading floor 53 of the transport vehicle 45, see position C of the platform 9 indicated by a broken line.

In addition to longitudinally, the ground 51 underneath may not be level transversely as well, see Figure 4. In order to prevent one of the rear wheels 7 from lifting up, as a result of which the shuttle vehicle could overturn, the rear wheels can move vertically with respect to the frame. This is possible because the rear wheels 7 are bearing- mounted on an axle 55, which can rotate about a shaft 57 connected to the frame and extending in the direction of travel.

There is a control unit 59 on the frame, see Figure 1, for driving the shuttle vehicle and moving the platform and the conveyor belt.

Although in the above the invention is explained on the basis of the drawings, it should be noted that the invention is in no way limited to the embodiment shown in the drawings. The invention also extends to all embodiments deviating from the embodiment shown in the drawings within the context defined by the claims. Thus it is not necessary that the platform can be moved horizontally because in actuality the ground underneath in the longitudinal direction of the transport vehicle is usually sufficiently flat.