Animal Feeding Apparatus
Gravity flow animal feed dispensing apparatus includes feed supply tubes depending from a bottom wall of a feed storage hopper supported by a frame elevated above ground level. Feed dispensing tubes or a plate are connected to the feed supply tubes and flow control baffles and/or a flow control valve limit the dispensation of feed. A wildfowl embodiment of the apparatus includes an access control cage disposed about the feed dispensing member. The orientation of the feed supply tubes and dispensing tubes may be varied to provide access to feed by animals of various sizes and to provide for placement of the apparatus adjacent a confinement wall or fence.
This application is a divisional of application Ser. No. 11/160,611, filed Jun. 30, 2005, now pending, which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 09/920,231, filed Aug. 1, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,920,841. Each patent application identified above is incorporated here by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONVarious types of animal feeders have been developed for unattended feeding of domestic animals and animals in the wild. My prior application Ser. No. 09/920,231, discloses, for example, an animal feeding apparatus having improved construction and being adapted for gravity flow feeding of animals in the wild, including deer and other desirable game animals, for example. The apparatus described and claimed in my prior application is particularly advantageous in its simplicity and durability as, among other things, it relies on gravity flow to dispense feed to various types of animals.
However, there has been a continuing need for improvements in such feeding devices, including improvements in means for controlling the rate of flow of feed being dispensed, and access to the feeding apparatus by hoofed animals and fowl of different types and sizes, for example, so that such animals have better access to the feed. There has also been a need for improvements in feeding devices which will protect the feed from the elements and feeding devices which may be adapted for placement at the fence or barricade of an enclosed habitat, for example. These and other desiderata in the art of animal feeding apparatus have been met by the present invention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention provides improved animal feeding apparatus for use in substantially unattended feeding of domestic as well as wild animals, including game animals and various game birds, for example.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention an improved gravity flow feeding apparatus is provided wherein an arrangement of feed supply tubes and feed flow control devices is provided, wherein the feed is protected from moisture contamination and feed is not lost to spillage from the feeding apparatus. Still further, a feeding apparatus is provided which may be modified to feed animals of different sizes selectively or at the same time.
In accordance with one preferred embodiment of the invention, a feeding apparatus comprising a gravity flow hopper with plural circumferentially spaced, depending gravity flow, feed supply tubes is provided and wherein each tube includes feed flow control and feed containment means of an improved and unique configuration.
In accordance with another preferred embodiment of the invention, a gravity flow animal feeding apparatus is provided which includes feeding stations which are adapted for animals of different sizes so that young or undersized animals, for example, may have access to feed, at will, and while other and larger animals are also feeding. Improved flow control means for feed supply tubes or conduits of the apparatus is provided to adjust the feed flow rate for pelletized or granular feeds, such as shelled corn and manufactured feeds.
In accordance with still another preferred embodiment of the invention, an animal feeding apparatus is provided which is particularly adapted for placement in an enclosed habitat which may not be easily accessible or may be hazardous to humans entering the habitat.
Still further, a preferred embodiment of the invention is particularly adapted for feeding wildfowl of different types and sizes whereby a variety of fowl may feed simultaneously or at least be protected from predators while feeding.
Those skilled in the art will further appreciate the advantages and superior features of the invention mentioned above together with other important aspects upon reading the detailed description which follows in conjunction with the drawings.
In the description which follows like parts are marked throughout the specification and drawings with the same reference numerals, respectively. The drawings figures may not necessarily be to scale and certain elements may be shown in generalized or somewhat schematic form in the interest of clarity and conciseness.
Referring to
Referring further to
Referring further to
Referring further to
Each feed supply and dispensing tube assembly, comprising tubes 46 and 48, is provided with flow control means including a baffle 52, as shown in
Still further, each of the feed dispensing tubes 48 is provided with flow control means including a feed dispensing baffle 56,
The apparatus 20 may be fabricated of conventional corrosion resistant steel or plated or painted steel using conventional manufacturing techniques. Construction may comprise essentially welding of all components to each other for simplicity of fabrication and low maintenance. For apparatus 20 having six inch diameter feed supply and dispensing tubes 46 and 48, the overall length of tubes 46 and 48 is preferably about 31 inches and about 8 inches, respectively, and the height and diameter of hopper 22 is about 48 inches and about 44 inches. It is understood that feed supply and dispensing tubes 46 and 48 may vary in length and diameter. Similarly, it is understood that the height and diameter of hopper 22 may vary, depending on the desired capacity of the hopper. For example, in one embodiment of the present invention, feed hopper 22 has a height of about 24 inches and a diameter of about 44 inches. In another embodiment of the present invention, feed hopper 22 has a height of about 48 inches and a diameter of about 54 inches.
In certain applications of feeding apparatus, such as the apparatus 20, large animals may be present and have a muzzle sufficiently large as to prevent gaining access to the space 50 through the distal end 49 of the feeding tube assemblies illustrated in
Referring now to
Small or young animal feed dispensing assembly 70 is provided with plural circumferentially spaced feed dispensing tubes 74, see
As shown in
Flow control of feed through the interior space 72a of supply tube 72 is accomplished by a suitable flow control valve 80,
Referring now to
Accordingly, the apparatus 90 enjoys all of the benefits of the apparatus 20 or the apparatus 60, but is adapted for placement against a confinement fence so that a person gaining access to the hopper 22 for replenishment of feed therein is not required to go into the interior of a breeding pen or other habitat delimited by the confinement fence 93. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the number of tube assemblies 46, 48 may be varied and selectively positioned as desired in a feeding apparatus according to the present invention.
Referring now to
Referring still further to
Accordingly, in use, the apparatus 100 is advantageous for feeding selected types of wildfowl, such as quail and turkey, for example. Thanks to the configuration of the apparatus 100, quail, for example, may gain access to the space 130 by moving between the grid members 127 and 129 through the openings 133 defined thereby and may perch on the flanges 120 while feeding from the surface 117. At the same time, larger fowl, such as turkey, may gain access to feed on the surface 117 of feed dispensing plate 116 by extending their necks through the openings 132 which are close to the corners of the feed dispensing plate 116. In this way, various types of wildfowl may gain access to feed dispensed by the apparatus 100 without being driven off by each other and while enjoying some security from attack by predators, particularly for animals or fowl which can gain access to the space 130.
The fabrication of the apparatus 100 may be carried out using essentially the same practices as for fabricating the apparatus 20, the apparatus 60 and the apparatus 90. That is, conventional metal fabrication techniques and materials may be used to fabricate the apparatus 100 as well as the other embodiments of the invention described herein.
Although preferred embodiments of the invention have been described in detail, those skilled in the art will recognize that various substitutions and modifications may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the appended claims.
Claims
1. A gravity flow granular animal feed storage and dispensing apparatus comprising:
- a feed storage and dispensing hopper including a depending bottom wall, a sidewall and a top wall;
- support structure for supporting said hopper at an elevation above ground level;
- at least one vertical feed supply tube depending from said hopper for dispensing feed to a feed dispensing member operably connected to said at least one feed supply tube, and
- wherein said feed dispensing member comprises a generally horizontal plate connected to said vertical feed supply and flow control orifices formed in said feed supply tube for controlling flow of feed dispensed onto a surface of said feed dispensing plate.
2. The apparatus set forth in claim 1, wherein said horizontal plate is elevated above ground level.
3. The apparatus set forth in claim 1, wherein the horizontal plate includes upturned flange parts formed thereon for containing feed on said surface of said horizontal plate.
4. The apparatus set forth in claim 1, wherein the horizontal plate is located within the confines of the support structure.
5. The apparatus set forth in claim 1, wherein the horizontal plate is located beneath the hopper wherein the hopper forms a horizontal shield to protect feed dispensed onto a surface of the feed dispensing plate.
6. The apparatus set forth in claim 1 further comprising:
- an access control cage disposed about said feed dispensing member for limiting access thereto by selected sizes of animals permitted access to said apparatus, said cage including spaced apart openings of predetermined size, respectively, to allow access to an area delimited by said cage and to allow access to said feed dispensing member without access to said area.
7. The apparatus set forth in claim 6, wherein the spaced apart openings of predetermined size are of the same size.
8. The apparatus set forth in claim 6, wherein the spaced apart openings of predetermined size contain at least two different sizes of openings.
9. The apparatus set forth in claim 1 further comprising:
- an access control cage disposed about said feed dispensing member for limiting access thereto by selected sizes of animals permitted access to said apparatus, said cage including plural spaced apart openings of predetermined different sizes, respectively, to allow full access to an area delimited by said cage by animals of a first size and to allow access to said feed dispensing member without full access to said area by animals of a second and greater size.
10. The apparatus set forth in claim 6, wherein the access cage is spaced from the feed supply tube, the horizontal plate and within the confines of the support structure and extending between the hopper and ground level.
11. The apparatus set forth in claim 6, wherein the access cage includes vertical oriented wire members and horizontal wire members, wherein the vertical oriented wire members and horizontal wire members are arranged to form at least one first sized opening and at least one second sized opening, wherein the at least one second sized opening is larger than that of the at least one second sized opening.
12. The apparatus set forth in claim 9, wherein the at least second sized opening is located at a position on the access cage which is at or above the vertical position of the horizontal plate.
13. The apparatus set forth in claim 1, wherein the support structure includes a skid assembly, wherein the skid assembly includes spaced apart parallel skid members interconnected by transverse skid members.
14. The apparatus set forth in claim 13, wherein the skid assembly is connected to upstanding tubular support legs which are disposed in supportive relationship and connected to said hopper.
15. The apparatus set forth in claim 1, wherein the flow control orifices are located at the lowest vertical point of the feed supply tube, the upper surface of the horizontal plate forming the lower edge of said orifices.
16. The apparatus set forth in claim 1, wherein the flow control orifices are of a predetermined size to control the flow of feed out of the hopper and onto the surface of the horizontal plate.
17. The apparatus set forth in claim 1, wherein the flow of feed out of the hopper and onto the surface of the horizontal plate is controlled by gravity, wherein additional feed is dispensed as feed is consumed from the horizontal plate.
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 31, 2008
Publication Date: Jul 31, 2008
Inventor: Rick Meritt (Gilmer, TX)
Application Number: 12/059,780
International Classification: A01K 5/00 (20060101);