| 摘要 |
A retractable ceiling assembly for a poultry house, characterized by a ceiling which can be selectively raised from a flat to a pitched configuration in order to accommodate high-profile equipment or materials in the poultry house for cleaning, maintenance or storage purposes. In a preferred embodiment the retractable ceiling assembly is characterized by at least one ceiling unit including multiple rafter units which span the width of the poultry house in parallel, spaced-apart relationship with respect to each other. Each of the rafter units includes a pair of cross members pivotally attached to each other at substantially the middle of the rafter unit. A flexible ceiling typically constructed of overlapping sheets of fabric material is mounted on the bottom surfaces of the rafter units. A typically manually-operated winch, mounted on the interior of the poultry house roof at substantially the center of the ceiling unit, is connected to each rafter unit at the pivoting midpoint thereof by means of cables. Operation of the winch causes the initially horizontal cross members of the respective rafter units to pivot upwardly with respect to each other and bend the initially flat ceiling at the pivoting centers of the rafter units. The resulting pitched configuration of the ceiling accommodates high profile equipment or materials in the poultry house when the poultry house is being cleaned, maintained or used for storage purposes. Reverse operation of the winch causes the cross members of the rafter units to pivot downwardly by gravity, thereby lowering the ceiling to the original, flat position, as desired.
|
