Animal holder
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to a device for holding animals during manipulations carried out on the body of the animal and, more particularly, to a device permitting an easy, simple and safe operation during the castration of piglets. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     For supporting bodies of living animals during surgical operations or other manipulations on the body of the animal, there has been known essentially three possibilities: 
     First, a second person holds the animal by its hind legs, which procedure is not only expensive with respect to the expenditure of labour and inconvenient (heavy), but also unsafe, especially in case the second or aiding person legs the animal go, e.g. after having been frightened. 
     Second, in a castration device for piglets described in British Patent No. 1,239,569 the animal, being in a hanging position, is held simultaneously by the hind legs and the trunk. This position, however, involves pain for the animal and a not very quiet state of the testicular area, since there is a considerably large distance between the two fixing points located at the hind legs and the trunk, so that the animal may carry out unexpected jerks with that portion of its body extending between the fixing points, which would, of course, hinder the operating person in his work. Moreover, the construction of this device is rather complicated. A simpler construction has been known from British Patent No. 1,267,202, in which the piglet is fixed in a hanging position by its hind legs only; thus, however, it will hang by far less quietly. 
     Third, from U.S. Pat. No. 2,781,740 there has been known a castration device for piglets, in which the animal is strapped in a supine position. This position, however, the intestines exert a pressure on the testicular area, which renders the operative working more difficult (danger of perforation); in addition, the strapping of the piglets is time- and labour- consuming. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide a device permitting a precise and safe operation on the abdomen of animals. A further object of the invention resides in that the operation shall be carried out in an ideal position of the animals without causing unnecessary pain. A still further object of the invention is to provide a device by which the operation can be carried out without much expenditure of work. These and further objects of the invention will be apparent from the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a front view of the holding device; 
     FIG. 2 is a plan view of the actual holding portion of the device as shown in FIG. 1; and 
     FIG. 3 is a front view of a preferred embodiment of the locking mechanism of the holding portion. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     In accordance with the invention there is provided a holding device for animals hanging with their heads down which device comprises a fastening mechanism for the abdomen of the animal and is characterized in that the fastening mechanism consists of a pair of tongs-like members arranged on a stand and embracing the abdomen of the animal immediately before its hind legs with two holding clamps (1,2), one of which is lockable and turnable round a vertical axis. 
     The device according to the invention permits the castration of piglets in a vertical hanging position (with their heads down). This has the advantage that the pressure of the intestines is shifted forward and pressure on the abdomen is thus relieved. In this way the testicles can be removed without any danger of the intestines being perforated or becoming injured. Additionally, the holding of the piglets before their hind legs tends to keep the piglet quiet and allows a precise and safe operation. 
     The following is a more detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the device according to the invention. 
     As illustrated in FIG. 1, the device according to the invention consists of a vertically arranged stand 3 having legs 4, the stand bearing at its upper end the real holding mechanism which is arranged horizontally. This holding mechanism consists of two holding clamps 1 and 2, arranged in the form of a pair of tongs and bent according to the shape of the animal body; one of the clamps 1 is turnable around a vertical axis, whereas the other clamp 2 is fixed and firmly connected with the stand 3. The turnable clamp 1 is further connected to a locking lever 6 which is capable of being released in a manner known per se in the prior art by push button 7 from the fixed engagement with a disc segment 5 which is horizontally arranged and fixed on the stand 3. The locking lever 6 can be locked again the when unlocked permits turning of clamp 1 around the vertical axis. The locking lever 6 includes a tooth means which is adapted to engage the teeth of the disc 5 when in the locking mode. 
     As shown in FIG. 2, the locking of the turnable clamp 1 can be brought about by engaging the locking lever 6 with a notch of the notched disc segment 5. In a particularly preferred embodiment of the device according to the invention, however, an infinitely variable adjustment of the opening of the clamps can be achieved. For this purpose, the disc segment 5 is tapered in a wedge-like manner towards lever 6. The wedge-shaped portion of disc 5 jammingly engages a correspondingly slanted fork 8 connected to locking lever 6 as shown in FIG. 3. 
     Thus, the holding device according to the invention can be infinitely or finitely adjustable according to the various sizes of different animals and according to the embodiment of the invention employed.