NZ272078A - Poultry feeding system; details regarding delivery of food material to a receptacle, use of tubular member of keyhole shape to deliver feed to trough - Google Patents

Description

272078 //% ^ *■ w * I o r^' •»V V '18 JUL 199 B PATENTS FORM 5 Number: 272078 PATENTS ACT 1953 Dated: May 5, 1995 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION POULTRY FEEDING SYSTEM I, DOUGLAS LLOYD EWING, of 83 Main Road, Hope, Nelson, New Zealand, a New 20 Zealand citizen, do hereby declare the invention for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement. z> 2 0 78 This invention relates to apparatus for automatically dispensing discrete material into an elongated receptacle.

Background to the Invention Known apparatus for the automatic feeding of poultry generally utilises a hopper to contain the feed with the hopper having an opening to give the animal access to the feed. New Zealand Patent Specification 209753 describes a typical form of apparatus in which a hopper that contains the feed has an opening for the feed which falls into a trough by gravity. New Zealand Patent Specification 109064 discloses 10 another form of apparatus where a hopper communicates with a feeding trough associated with a platform on which the animal can stand so the weight of the animal will open a door to the feeding trough. New Zealand Patent Specification 111248 describes a still further form of feeding apparatus in which a hopper for holding food communicates with a trough having a lid that will open under the weight of an animal 15 to give access to the food. Such hoppers are representative of automatic type feeding apparatus, but they all require the animal to physically approach the apparatus to enable the animal to obtain food from the apparatus.

The above types of apparatus are generally unsatisfactory for caged poultry 20 because the animals are constrained from movement beyond specific confines. To feed caged poultry, the cages are generally formed to allow the birds to poke their head through a mesh or the like so the birds can have limited access to a trough in which mash or other suitable feed has been placed. Particularly, in the case of battery type operations, the trough will extend along the front of the cage and so can be of 25 considerable length so a number of birds can feed simultaneously. Because of space constraints, access to the trough to manually refill the trough can l:\RMWWDOCS\WPSHARE\FNVV\C19987.003 2 27 2 0 78 difficulty is further exacerbated when the trough is positioned between two cage* 10 enable poultry to feed from either side of the trough.

It is necessary to regularly recharge the trough with feed and to ensure the 5 feed is more or less evenly distributed In the trough to enable ihe most efficient feeding possible. In the comparatively conllned space available, it las dlfficuii 10 do thl* manually and various forms of apparatus have been proposed to attend to tht* task. However the known apparatus suffer from disadvantage* either tn that they are too complicated or else are not sufficiently efficient in their operauon- in addition, it is desirable that the level of feed wiihin the fee-ding trough be maintained at an optimum level dependent upon the st« of the poultry and it tk apparnni that there to a need for apparatus which will fe**j rryw* <*r If** uniformly onto the feeding trough and will also enable (he level of feed within the 15 feeding trough to be controlled to within fairly well defined limits to ensure an adequate supply of feed.

Object of the Invention It is therefore an object of this •ivention to provide an apparatus which will 20 meet the above desiderata or at least provide the public with a useful choice.

Disclosure of the invention Accordingly, one form of the invention may be said to comprise bulk feeding apparatus adapted to deliver discrete material to an elongate receptacle said apparatus including: an elongated trough having a base and two side walls, i Jl MVVW X X ' S W i"'! !A X r. f W < I '-MS ~ Oft 1 3 a distribution pipe having a longitudinal slot and having a wall extending outwardly from said distribution pipe on either side of said slot to define in conjunction with the slot, a discharge opening from the distribution pipe, means to deliver discrete material to the interior of the distribution pipe; and means to support the distribution pipe above the said base of the trough, said means comprising stirrup members pivotally connected between the distribution pipe and the trough in a manner that longitudinal movement of the distribution pipe 10 in relation to the trough will result in an alteration of the height of the distribution pipe above the floor of the trough.

Preferably each stirrup member comprises two arms, with one end of a first arm of each stirrup member being pivoted to the first side wall of the base and one end 15 of a second arm of each stirrup member being pivoted to the second side wall of the base and wherein the second end of each arm of the stirrup is pivotally connected to the distribution pipe.

Preferably the pivotal connection of each arm of the stirrup to the 20 distribution pipe comprises a sleeve secured to the distribution pipe and a bolt which passes through the said arms of the stirrup and through the sleeve.

Preferably the apparatus includes means to convey the discrete material into I:\RMWWDOCS\WPSHARE\FNW\C 19987.003 4 27 2 0 78 Preferably the said slot and the said walls extend substantially the full length of the distribution pipe.

Preferably the said walls extend from the said slot in a divergent manner.

Brief Description of the drawings A preferred form of the invention will now be described with the aid of the accompanying drawings wherein: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of part of a feeding trough utilizing the feed delivery apparatus of the present invention; Fig. 2 is an end elevation, partly in section, showing the feed delivery apparatus in a raised position; Fig. 3 is a side view of a portion of the feed delivery apparatus shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an end elevation, partly in section, showing the feed delivery apparatus in a lowered position, and Fig. 5 is a side view of a portion of the feed delivery apparatus shown in Fig. 4.

Best method of carrying the invention into effect Referring to the drawings, the trough as depicted may comprise a base 1 and sides 2. The trough can be formed of a suitable material such as metallic sheet stock which has suitable surface treatment to resist corrosion. The sheet A I I:\RMWWDOCS\WPSHARE\FNW\C19987.003 t> H ^ _,o 27 2 0 78 folded to produce the base 1 and sides 2 in a known manner and, as indicated in the drawings, the sides 2 can include lips 3. Various formations and shapes of trough are contemplated and the particular shape and size of trough depicted in the drawings is for illustrative purposes only.

The dispensing mechanism comprises a distribution pipe 4 which may be essentially circular in cross section and which includes a longitudinal slot 4a positioned so that in use the slot is on the underside of the distribution pipe. Walls 5 are attached to the distribution pipe on either side of the slot 4a and extend 10 outwardly and downwardly for the full length of the slot. Preferably the walls 5 diverge outwardly so that in cross-section, particularly as indicated in Figs. 2 and 4, the distribution pipe 4 and the walls 5 will be essentially of a key hole shape. The distribution pipe 4 is maintained above the trough by means of stirrup members 10, the lower ends of which may be pivoted such as by bolts 11 to the sides 2 of the 15 trough. The upper ends of the stirrup members 10 can be pivoted to the distribution pipe 4 by means of a sleeve 12 secured to the member 4 and through which a bolt 13 is passed to attach the distribution pipe 4 to the stirrups 10 in a manner that the stirrup members can pivot in relation to the sleeve.

As shown in the drawings, the distribution pipe can be moved between a fully elevated position indicated in Figs. 2 and 3 to a lowered position indicated in Figs. 4 and 5 or to any intermediate position. As is also shown in Figs. 2 through 5, because of the slot 4a, any material within the distribution pipe 4 can be discharged through the slot 4a and through gap between the walls 5 to fall onto the trough.

In use, the trough with the distribution pipe is positioned along side the cages at the optimum distance which will allow the poultry within the cages^ !: I:\RMWWDOCS\WPSHARE\FNW\C19987.003 6 27 2 0 78 trough. Mash or other feed is loaded into the troughs by connecting a supply line such as the pipe 20 to one end of the distribution pipe and by utilising an internal conveying means such as a screw conveyor, an endless cable or other similar device so that by an appropriate rotatory or longitudinal movement of the conveying means in the bore 5 of the distribution pipe, discrete material such as food can be distributed into the interior of the distribution pipe. One suitable known form of feeding mechanism is that sold under the Trade Mark CABLE-VEY which utilises a cable drive and which will advance the food through the distribution pipe.

As the food, which may for instance be in the form of mash, is loaded through the distribution pipe it will discharge through the slot 4a and between the walls 5 to fall onto the floor of the receptacle as indicated at 15 in Fig. 1.

It will be apparent that the height of the food deposited on the floor of the 15 trough will be dependent upon the height at which the distribution pipe 4 and the walls 5 are maintained above the base 1 of the trough. Thus the amount and height of the food deposited in the trough can be simply adjusted by a longitudinal movement of the distribution pipe 4 which will cause it to pivot on the stirrups and such pivotal movement will be translated into a change in height of the distribution pipe above the 20 floor of the trough so that the height of the mash in the trough can be controlled. This ability to vary the height of the distribution pipe will enable the height of the mash to be kept at the optimum position dependent upon the size of the poultry. For instance the different requirements of older chickens who can reach further, means that the height of the pile of mash can be reduced to reduce spillage. 27 2 0 78 Because of its simple and reliable nature, it is possible to set up a multiplicity of the feeding apparatus so that multi tier systems of cages and feeding devices can be readily set up.

While in the foregoing description, reference has been particularly made to the use of the apparatus for the feeding of caged poultry, it is to be understood the apparatus can be used to dispense food and other discrete material to many other type of animals both caged and free, It will also be understood that various methods of conveying the discrete material to and into the interior of the distribution pipe with discrete material can be utilised and various other forms of conveying means that will be suitable for the purpose can be utilised.

While the previous description relates to particular preferred forms of the invention, various modifications and Improvements can be made to the concept as will be apparent to those skilled in the art and all such modifications and improvements are intended to be within the scope of the present invention.

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Claims (7)

27 2 0 78

1. Bulk feeding apparatus adapted to deliver discrete material to an elongate receptacle said apparatus including: 5 an elongated trough having a base and two side walls, a distribution pipe having a longitudinal slot and having a wall extending outwardly from said distribution pipe on either side of said slot to define in 10 conjunction with the slot, a discharge opening from the distribution pipe, means to deliver discrete material to the interior of the distribution pipe; and means to support the distribution pipe above the said base of the trough, 15 said means comprising stirrup members pivotally connected between the distribution pipe and the trough in a manner that longitudinal movement of the distribution pipe in relation to the trough will result in an alteration of the height of the distribution pipe above the floor of the trough.

WHAT I CLAIM IS: 20 2. The bulk feeding apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein each stirrup member comprises two arms, with one end of a first arm of each stirrup member being pivoted to the first side wall of the base and one end of a second arm of each stirrup member being pivoted to the second side wall of the base and wherein the second end of each arm of the stirrup is pivotally connected to the distribution pipe. 25

3. The bulk feeding apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the pivotal 27 2 0 7 8 secured to the distribution pipe and a bolt which passes through the said arms of the stirrup and through the sleeve.

4. The bulk feeding apparatus as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, including means 5 to convey the discrete material into and through the said distribution pipe and to distribute the discrete material substantially through the interior of the said distribution pipe.

5. The bulk feeding apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, 10 wherein the said slot and the said walls extend substantially the full length of the distribution pipe.

6. The bulk feeding apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the said walls extend from the said slot in a divergent manner. 15

7. The bulk feeding apparatus substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. end of claims