Patent ID: 11937997
Assignee: NOVA-TECH ENGINEERING, LLC
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 16:
17. A system for delivering material through an open beak to a digestive tract of a bird positioned in a delivery location relative to the system, the system comprising:
a delivery tube extending between a delivery end and a supply end;
a beak splitter configured to separate an upper mandible of the bird positioned in the delivery location from a lower mandible of the bird to open a beak of the bird, wherein the beak splitter comprises an upper beak contact surface and a lower beak contact surface forming a wedge configured for insertion between the upper mandible and the lower mandible of the beak of the bird positioned in the delivery location, the beak splitter movable between a home position and an opening position;
a beak opening actuator operably connected to the beak splitter, wherein the beak opening actuator is configured to move the beak splitter between the opening position and the home position, wherein the upper beak contact surface is configured to contact the upper mandible of the beak of the bird in the delivery location before the lower beak contact surface contacts the lower mandible when the beak splitter is moving from the home position to the opening position to separate the upper mandible from the lower mandible to open the beak of the bird;
a delivery tube driver configured to move the delivery tube between a retracted position and a delivery position, wherein in the delivery position, the delivery end of the delivery tube is configured to be located in a digestive tract of the bird when the bird is positioned in the delivery location and the beak of the bird is open;
a material delivery device connected to the supply end of the delivery tube and a supply configured to contain material for delivery to the bird positioned in the delivery location, wherein the material delivery device is configured to deliver the material from the supply into the delivery tube through the supply end of the delivery tube; and
a control unit operably connected to the beak opening actuator and the delivery tube driver, wherein the control unit is configured to:
operate the delivery tube driver to move the delivery tube between the retracted position and the delivery position, and operate the beak opening actuator to move the beak splitter between the home position and the opening position.