| Animal feeder -> Monitor Keywords |
|
|
 
Animal feederRelated Patent Categories: Animal Husbandry, Feeding Device, Hopper And TroughAnimal feeder description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070028844, Animal feeder. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
[0001] This application claims priority on U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60/700,818, filed Jul. 20, 2005, entitled "ANIMAL FEEDER". [0002] This invention relates to the art of feeding animals and, more particularly, to an animal feeder that can feed multiple animals simultaneously and can maintain a large supply of feed without the feed being adversely exposed to the environment and other animals. INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE [0003] The present invention relates to animal feeders and, more particularly, to an animal feeder that is adaptable to feed more than one animal and maintain a large supply of feed. United States published application No. US 2003/0005887 discloses an animal feeder having a container for maintaining the feed and multiple outlets for feeding the animals and is incorporated by reference herein as background information illustrating the same. Schultz U.S. Pat. No. 5,794,561 discloses an animal feeder including a large feed storage bin and a feed trough, and is also incorporated by reference herein as background information illustrating the same. Aldridge, III U.S. Pat. No. 5,699,753 discloses an animal feeder including a large feed storage bin and a feed trough, and is also incorporated by reference herein as background information illustrating the same. Mostun et al U.S. Pat. No. 6,199,509 discloses a gravity deer feeder with baffles, and is incorporated by reference herein as background information illustrating the same. Scheidler U.S. Pat. No. 4,315,483 discloses an animal feeder including a large feed storage bin and a feed dispenser, and is also incorporated by reference herein as background information illustrating the same. Becker Des. 245,714 discloses an animal feeder design, and is also incorporated by reference herein as background information illustrating the same. All of these patents are attached to this application and form a part of the specification of this application. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0004] The present invention is particularly applicable for use in connection with feeding deer and, therefore, will be describe with reference to deer. However, the invention of this application has broader application and can be used to feed a wide variety of animals both wild and domestic. [0005] Owners of animals, and those who raise animals, keep these animals in pens, corrals or cages and the like to contain the animals for extended periods of time. These animals need to be routinely fed to maintain the animals and promote the growth of the animals. These animals can be domestic animals or even wild animals and these animals can be used for a wide range of purposes. As can be appreciated, periodically feeding the animals can be time consuming and expensive if human intervention is needed each time the animals need to be fed. In this respect, animals are conventionally fed at selected intervals, such as morning and evening. As a result, the owners often employ someone to feed their animals and the expense of employing someone to feed the animals twice daily can be substantial. [0006] In addition, it is also desirous to leave the animals unattended in the fenced area for extended periods. As a result, the feeding of the animals is sometimes attempted by merely depositing, in an open container, a supply of feed which should adequately feed the animal during the period of absence. Such practice invites other animals to enter the fenced area and consume the feed. Further, the unattended feed is exposed to the elements and can become contaminated. [0007] It is of course well known that a feeding station can be used to feed multiple animals to allow the animals to be unattended for longer periods of time. The feeding station can have a feed bin or hopper to support a supply of animal feed and can also include multiple outlets or troughs so that more than one animal can feed at one time. Further, it is also known that gravity can be used in connection with a feed flow arrangement to move the feed from the feed hopper to the feed trough. [0008] However, prior art animal feeding devices have been found to be inefficient in controlling the flow of feed and inefficient in feeding many types of animals such as deer. The prior art devices also expose at least some of the feed to the environment. This exposed feed is typically the same feed that the animals are directly feeding from. Further, the prior devices do not employ efficient mechanisms to easily control when the animals can feed and mechanisms to allow the feeder to be easily moved. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0009] In accordance with the present invention, provided is an animal feeder that efficiently feeds animals and that can store quantities of feed over a long period of time and which can control the eating intervals of the animals. More particularly, provided is an animal feeder that includes a supply hopper for the animal feed and at least one feeding outlet that is shaped to receive the snout of the desire animal or animals to be fed. [0010] In this respect, an animal feeder according to the present invention includes a base for supporting the feeder on a ground surface and a support frame extending upwardly from the base. The feeder further includes a hopper supported by the frame wherein the hopper has a storage reservoir for storing a supply of feed with a feed entry opening. In addition, the hopper includes a feed chute below the reservoir having an upper region sealingly joined to the reservoir and a lower region below the upper region that is sealingly joined to a feeding chamber. The feeding chamber has a feed supporting surface wherein the feed supply can move from the reservoir into the feeding chamber and rest on the surface based on gravity alone. The hopper further including a horizontally extending elongated channel extending from the feeding chamber and the channel having an outer end and being enclosed except for a feeding opening at the outer end. In addition, the channel has a length such that the feeding chamber is spaced from the opening and the feed substantially remains within the hopper. [0011] In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, provided is an animal feeder having a hopper with a storage reservoir for storing a supply of feed and protecting the feed from the outdoors. The feeder further includes a plurality of feeding chambers in fluid communication with the storage reservoir each having an inner opening for receiving the feed from the reservoir based on a gravity flow alone and at least one feeding supporting surface positioned near the inner opening for receiving and stopping the gravity flow. Each chamber further including a support surface for supporting the feed within the feeding chamber and an enclosed elongated feeding channel extending outwardly away from the inner opening. This channel forms a portion of the supporting surface and has an outer opening spaced from the at least one supporting surface such that the gravity flow stops before the opening. Further, the channel has a length and a cross-sectional configuration configured to allow the snout of the animal of choice to enter the channel and reach the feed on the supporting surface. [0012] In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, provided is an animal feeder that further includes a trough that can be used as a spill tray to catch feed that inadvertently falls from the feeding outlet(s). [0013] In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, provided is an animal feeder that further includes a trough or spill tray that can be used to catch feed that inadvertently falls from the feeding outlet and which is selectively positionable relative to the outlet(s) to prevent an animal from feeding. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0014] The foregoing and more, will, in part, be obvious and, in part, be pointed out more fully hereinafter, in connection with a written description of preferred embodiments of the present invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which: [0015] FIG. 1 is a front side perspective view of an animal feeder in accordance with the present invention; [0016] FIG. 2 is a front view of the animal feeder shown in FIG. 1 which is in the feeding position; [0017] FIG. 3 is a back view of the animal feeder shown in FIG. 1 which is in the closed position; [0018] FIG. 4 is an end view of the animal feeder shown in FIG. 1; [0019] FIG. 5 is a top view, partially in section, of the animal feeder shown in FIG. 1 wherein one side is in the feeding position and one side is in the closed position; and, [0020] FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken along lines 6-6 in FIG. 5. Continue reading about Animal feeder... Full patent description for Animal feeder Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Animal feeder patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. Start now! - Receive info on patent apps like Animal feeder or other areas of interest. ### Previous Patent Application: Bird feeder accessory Next Patent Application: Cage dispenser for measuring food intake in laboratory rodents Industry Class: Animal husbandry ### FreshPatents.com Support Thank you for viewing the Animal feeder patent info. IP-related news and info Results in 0.16439 seconds Other interesting Feshpatents.com categories: Software: Finance , AI , Databases , Development , Document , Navigation , Error 174 |
 * Protect your Inventions * US Patent Office filing 
PATENT INFO |
|
