Abstract: A feeding station for at least one animal, said feeding station comprising at least one supply hopper having a food product; a food dispensing unit having means for dispensing controlled portions of said food product; a weigh hopper for receiving said food product from said food dispensing unit; a hemi-circular disc-shaped feeding platform for receiving said food product from said weigh hopper; and a hemi-frustoconical sweeping member comprises at least one compartment to contain said food product on hemi-circular disc-shaped feeding platform; said hemi-frustoconical sweeping member rotatable on a top surface of said hemi-circular disc-shaped feeding platform to remove unconsumed food product off said feeding platform after a feeding event.

Abstract: A reduced-size apparatus for applying food coating that includes a belt assembly for conveying food products, having an input end and an output end, and a recycle assembly, capable of receiving excess coating from the output end of the belt assembly and conveying it to the input end, wherein the recycle assembly includes at least one of a base coating distribution passage and a top coating distribution passage for providing coating for application to a food product situated on the belt assembly.

Abstract: A corner assembly for a tube conveyor system comprises a housing defining a wheel receiving area and a flow path with ports at opposite ends of the flow path. A wheel rotatably received in the wheel receiving area comprises a rim having an upper surface and a lower surface; a pair of spaced apart channels formed in at least one of the upper and lower surfaces of the rim; and at least one flapper pivotally mounted to the wheel inside of the rim. The flapper is freely movable between a position in which it is aligned with a wall of one of the channels and a position in which it is aligned with a wall of the other of the channels. Thus, when the wheel rotates, the flapper will sweep any material in the wheel receiving area towards and through one of the channels and into the flow path.

Abstract: A corner assembly for a tube conveyor system comprises a housing defining a wheel receiving area and a flow path defining an angle and having ports at opposite ends of said flow path. A wheel is rotatably received in the wheel receiving area. The wheel comprises a rim having an upper surface and a lower surface; at least one pair of spaced apart channels formed in at least one of the upper and lower surfaces of the rim; and at least one flapper pivotally mounted to said wheel inside of said rim. The flapper is freely movable between a first position in which the flapper is aligned with a wall of one of the channels and a second position in which the flapper is aligned with a wall of the other of the channels. Thus, when the wheel rotates, the flapper will sweep any material in the wheel receiving area towards and through one of the channels and into the flow path.

Abstract: A bird feeder has telescopically aligned inner and outer cylindrical housings with opposed surfaces of complementary shape that are reverse tapered in a substantially vertical direction to enable guided vertical movement of the housings with respect to each other. The housings have openings in their side walls which are substantially in alignment when the outer housing is in an upper position and misaligned when the outer housing is in a lower position. A compression spring centrally located about the vertical axis of the feeder is confined within a lower portion of the feeder and biases the outer housing to its upper position. When the outer housing is moved to its lower position by the weight of a squirrel overcoming the biasing force of the compression spring, the housing openings are substantially misaligned such that no significant through opening exists, thereby preventing access to the birdseed.