Team Roping Apparatus
Patent Number: US 12324969 Grant Date: 2025-06-10 Filing Date: 2023-09-05
Overview
Filed on September 5, 2023 and granted on June 10, 2025, this patent protects a robust team-roping training assembly designed to reproduce the leftward arc of a live header while enabling a heeler to practice alone. Inventors based in Childress, TX developed an integrated system that combines a guided I-beam track, a roller-equipped trolley, a tether and a protective horn wrap to control a bovine’s path safely and predictably. The specification and claims emphasize practical safety and training fidelity: the horn wrap mitigates rope burns and horn damage, the tether can selectively decouple, and the trolley interacts with mechanical triggers and sensors to automate release and reset. Optional drive motor assemblies, cable spools and a controller give variable-speed, bi-directional control and automated braking tied to sensors, enabling repeatable, hands-off training runs and straightforward integration into existing livestock facilities. The firm’s drafting captures mechanical detail and system-level control elements that strengthen enforceability while anticipating practical deployment scenarios.
Key Features
- I-beam track with L-shaped curved portion to simulate header pull
- Roller-bearing trolley and tether with selective decoupling
- Protective horn wrap to reduce injury and rope burns
- Drive motor assemblies, cable spools, sensors and controller for automated operation
This invention advances livestock-training equipment by improving safety, repeatability, and realism for rodeo and agricultural training applications, with clear relevance to agricultural equipment manufacturers and rodeo training facilities.
Invention Details
Abstract: A team roping assembly for guiding a bovine along a path between a first end and a second end of a track. Wherein: the team roping assembly comprises the track, a trolley, a horn wrap and a tether. The trolley is coupled to the track. The tether selectively connecting the horn wrap to the trolley. The horn wrap is configured to selectively attach to a head of the bovine. Said trolley 109 is slidably coupled to the track. The tether comprises the first end and the second end. Wherein, the first end of the tether is coupled to the trolley and the second end of the tether is coupled to the horn wrap on the bovine. The horn wrap comprises a protective wraps that wraps around a set of horns of the bovine to prevent rope burns and are used to reduce the risk of a horn breaking when roped.
Summary of the Invention: A team roping assembly for guiding a bovine along a path between a first end and a second end of a track. Wherein: said team roping assembly comprises said track, a trolley, a horn wrap and a tether. Said trolley is coupled to said track. Said tether selectively connecting said horn wrap to said trolley. Said horn wrap is configured to selectively attach to a head of said bovine. Said trolley 109 is slidably coupled to said track. Said tether comprises said first end and said second end. Wherein, said first end of said tether is coupled to said trolley and said second end of said tether is coupled to said horn wrap on said bovine. Said horn wrap comprises a protective wraps that wraps around a set of horns of said bovine to prevent rope burns and are used to reduce the risk of a horn breaking when roped. Said tether is configured to selectively decouple said first end from said trolley or said second end from said horn wrap. Said team roping assembly is configured to decouple said tether from said bovine by releasing said first end or said second end when said trolley presses a portion of a mechanical trigger.
Said team roping assembly for guiding said bovine along said path between said first end and said second end of said track. Wherein: said team roping assembly comprises said track, said trolley, said horn wrap and said tether. Said trolley is coupled to said track. Said tether selectively connecting said horn wrap to said trolley. Said horn wrap is configured to selectively attach to a head of said bovine. Said trolley 109 is slidably coupled to said track. Said tether comprises said first end and said second end. Wherein, said first end of said tether is coupled to said trolley and said second end of said tether is coupled to said horn wrap on said bovine. Said horn wrap comprises a protective wraps that wraps around a set of horns of said bovine to prevent rope burns and are used to reduce the risk of a horn breaking when roped.
Patent Document
Related: Agriculture | Mechanical Engineering | Robotics & Automation | Livestock | Robotics | Sports And Recreation | Childress, Texas | Shannon Warren, Patent Attorney