Abstract:
A rodent repelling bird feeder having an elongated vertical hanging support, a motor and a rotatable dish coupled to the motor. The motor is reciprocatively mounted in a motor sleeve so when a rodent of excessive weight alights upon the dish the motor is pushed against a resistive spring and a switch is closed, thereby engaging the motor which rotates the dish to dislodge the rodent therefrom.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    This invention relates to a squirrel repelling hanger for a bird feeder or the like and more particularly to a rodent repelling hanger for a bird feeder which prevents squirrels from feeding from the bird feeder.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art  
           [0004]    Several types of bird feeders have been designed for preventing unwanted animals such as squirrels from eating the bird food in the feeder. Little prior art exists on rodent repelling hangers where various types of plants, feeders and bird shelters may be hung therefrom. One type of bird feeder has weight-sensitive tiltable perches thereon so when a squirrel or large bird lands on the perch, the perch moves and dislodges the animal. This type of bird feeder is shown in Loken U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,765; Wessner U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,461; and Dehls U.S. Pat. No. 4,541,362.  
           [0005]    Another type of device uses a shocking system to send an electric impulse into the unwanted animal when that animal attempts to eat from the feeder. This type of device is shown in Fry U.S. Pat. No. 5,392,732 and Collins U.S. Pat. No. 5,471,951.  
           [0006]    Still another type of repelling device uses weight-sensitive devices to discourage the unwanted animal from feeding from the feeder. This device shuts off the food supply when a heavy animal or bird lands upon the perch. This type of device is taught in Drakos U.S. Pat. No. 5,720,238.  
           [0007]    Yet another type of repelling device to which the present invention pertains senses the excessive weight of a squirrel or unwanted bird and removes the unwanted animal at a predetermined point in time. This type of device is taught in Hibbard U.S. Pat. No. 5,297,503; Korb U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,056; and Banyas U.S. Pat. No. 6,119,627.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0008]    A squirrel repelling hanger for a bird feeder or the like for repelling unwanted animals such as squirrels is disclosed. The hanger assembly of the present invention is attached to a tree, deck or the like. The hanger assembly comprises an elongated rod, a repelling dish and a motor enclosure having a gearing mechanism which will rotate the repelling dish at such a time as an unwanted animal alights upon the dish.  
           [0009]    This invention has a calibrated resistance spring affixed between the motor sleeve and the motor housing so that if the unwanted animal alights on the dish, the dish will move so that a contact operates a switch to cause the motor and gearing mechanism to rotate the dish, with the centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the dish being sufficient to throw the animal from the dish, much to the amusement of all watching.  
           [0010]    It is therefore a principal object of the invention to provide a repelling hanger assembly so feeders, plants, etc., may be hung without being accessible to unwanted animals such as squirrels or the like.  
           [0011]    Yet another object of the invention is to provide a squirrel repelling bird feeder.  
           [0012]    Still another object of this invention is to provide an inexpensive practical means of protecting bird feeders from unwanted animals such as squirrels.  
           [0013]    Yet another object of this invention is to provide a rodent repelling bird feeder that is functional in various weather conditions.  
           [0014]    These and other objects will be obvious to those skilled in the art. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0015]    [0015]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the present invention;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 2A is a partial vertical elevational view of the operable parts of the invention partially in section showing the switch in an off position;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 2B is a partial vertical elevational view of the operable parts of the invention partially in section showing the switch in a closed on position indicating that the dish is rotating; and  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 3 is an elevational view showing the dish rotating and throwing the squirrel therefrom.  
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0019]    The squirrel repelling hanger assembly for a bird feeder of this invention is referred to generally by the reference numeral  10  for supporting the bird feeder  11  having food therein. The hanger assembly  10  generally comprises an elongated vertical rod  12 , a repelling dish  14  and a motor enclosure  16 . The vertical rod  12  has upper and lower ends  18  and  20 , respectively. The upper end  18  of the rod  12  has a hook means  19  for supporting the bird feeder  11  by way of the hanger  10 , on a tree, deck or the like. The hook means could be replaced by a strap, or any other supporting means known in the art. Similarly, lower end  20  has a supporting means in the form of a hook  21  for supporting the bird feeder  11 . The rod  12  has a screw, snap or other common connection  23  for dissembling the rod  12  to facilitate the removal of the motor enclosure  16  and the dish  14 . It should be noted that the connection  23  may be located anywhere on the rod  12  as long as the motor and dish may be removed.  
         [0020]    The dish  14  is positioned above the motor enclosure  16  and has an opening  22  located in the center thereof which allows the rod  12  to pass therethrough without being in contact therewith. The dish  14  slopes downwardly from the opening  22  to its periphery to allow water to run off the dish and away from the opening  22 . The dish  14  may be solid or have air passageways formed therein to minimize the bird feeder&#39;s movement from the wind. Preferably, the dish  14  is transparent. A tube  24  projects upwardly from opening  22  and embraces the rod  12 . Rod  12  has a weather guard  26  extending outwardly and downwardly over the tube  24 , thereby protecting the opening  22  from the weather.  
         [0021]    The main operative portion of the invention resides in the motor enclosure  16 . The motor enclosure  16  comprises a motor housing  28 , a motor sleeve  30  and a protective cover  32 . The motor housing  28  has an upper end  34 , a lower end  36  and an elongated bore  38  extending from upper end  34  to the lower end  36  of the motor housing  28 . The rod  12  extends through elongated bore  38  for reciprocative movement therewith. The motor housing  28  is operably connected to a hollow drive shaft  40  which is positioned around rod  12  and which is coupled to dish  14  for rotating the same. The motor housing  28  is telescopically engaged in the motor sleeve  30 , as seen in the drawings, and which comprises a side wall  42  and a base  44 . The rod  12  passes through the center of the base  44  and is rigidly connected thereto. The protective cover  32 , which allows reciprocation between the motor housing  28  and the motor sleeve  30 , is positioned over the housing  28  and sleeve  30  for protection from the weather. Within the motor housing  28  is a battery compartment for housing one or more suitable dry cell batteries which will drive a suitable D.C. electric motor turning a gear reduction unit. In another embodiment, the batteries may also be housed in the motor sleeve to maximize the space available in the motor housing. Furthermore, the motor need not be electrically driven. The motor may be driven by a wind-up spring driven motor or the like. The motor and gear reduction unit are not specifically detailed in the drawing, inasmuch as these types of units are quite common in the electrical and mechanical arts and it is believed that the same need not be specifically described. The motor and gear reduction units would be housed together proximal the upper end  34  of the motor housing  28 , all of which is in the same motor enclosure  16 .  
         [0022]    At the bottom of the motor sleeve  30 , there is a user-activated control on-off switch  46  comprising a contact switch button  48  which enables the user to turn the performance features of the hanger  10  on and off at will. The switch  46  is wired through suitable wiring  50  to a lever activated motor switch  52  which will energize the motor through suitable contacts  54  which will couple the motor and the batteries for energization. Similarly, if a wind-up spring motor is used the switch will be coupled to the wind-up spring motor for mechanically energizing the motor. The switch lever  56  is common in electrical and mechanical industries and may be purchased to have various operating resistance to fully activate the switch  52 . Even though the switch  52  is depicted in the motor housing, the switch may also be attached to the bottom of the lower end  36  of the motor housing. Furthermore, if the motor is electrically powered, electric contacts may be attached to the bottom of the lower end  36  and the upper surface of the base  44  to close and open the electric circuit.  
         [0023]    At the lower end  36  of the motor housing is a calibrated resistance spring  57  mounted around the rod  12  and positioned between the lower end  36  of the motor housing  28  and the cavity  60  of the sleeve base  44 . As seen in FIG. 2A, when the hanger system  10  is at a “rest” position, cavity  60  is at its maximum size because there is no weight on the dish  14 . Should the weight of the dish  14  be such to indicate the presence of an unwanted rodent or other pest, the overweight of the dish  14  then causes the motor housing  28  to move downwardly to compress resistance spring  57  to the position shown in  2 B. To energize the motor to rotate the dish  14 , the motor switch  52  is closed when the switch lever  56  moves upwardly due to the force of the switch contactor  62 , which is permanently and fixedly mounted to side wall  42  of the motor sleeve  30 . The switch contactor  62  projects through and within a longitudinally disposed guide slot which prevents the motor housing  28  from rotating with respect to the motor sleeve  30 . When the switch lever  56  is positioned at its uppermost position, the switch lever  56  closes switch  52  and energizes the motor. If the motor is electric, two conductive contacts secured to the bottom of second end  36  of the motor housing and the upper surface of the base  44  could be used to close the circuit. When the hanger system  10  is at its “rest” position, the conductive contacts would be at a maximum distance. If the spring resistance is overcome by an unwanted pest or rodent, the motor housing  28  moves downwardly and the conductive contacts are engaged to complete the circuit.  
         [0024]    In operation of the present invention, when a squirrel or the like alights upon the dish  14 , the weight of the squirrel thereon will cause the weight of the squirrel to be transferred to the dish  14  and the dish transfers the weight to the hollow drive shaft  40  which is vertically supported in the motor housing  28 . Since the weight of the squirrel is greater than the resistance of the spring, the motor housing moves downward with respect to the motor sleeve  30  thereby closing the switch  52  or the contacts previously described and energizing the motor which will rotate the hollow shaft  40  which is coupled to the dish  14  and causes the squirrel to be dislodged and propelled from the dish  14 . Once the squirrel has been dislodged from the dish  14 , the weight is reduced thereupon causing the resistance spring  57  to push the motor housing  28  back into the rest position which will open the circuit and de-energize the motor.  
         [0025]    Thus it can be seen that the invention accomplishes at least all of its stated objectives.