Animated wild animal feeder

A wild animal feeder which combines animal feeding with a decorative, fanciful shape and, further, is also animated by activity of the feeding animals, composed generally of a pair of fancifully shaped sidewalls, a feeder component situated between each of the sidewalls, a base, a pair of legs connected with the base, and a pivot structure for providing selected pivoting movement of the sidewalls and feeder component with respect to the legs. The pivot structure cooperates with an actuator which provides pivoting of the feeder component and the sidewalls whenever an animal comes to feed. In this regard, the feeder component includes a feed holder, an access door to the feed holder, a feed dispenser located adjacent the generally forward end of the sidewalls, and a dispensing opening in the feed holder for passing feed from the feed holder to the feed dispenser whenever the feeder component is pivoted. The feed dispenser may be equipped with a dual feed dispensing structure in which fine grained feed falls through one or more apertures and fine or coarse grained feed is dispensed via a trough, thereby serving birds and small land dwelling animals simultaneously.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to wild animal feeders for birds and for 
small land dwelling animals, such as squirrels and the like. More 
particularly, the present invention relates to a wild animal feeder which 
supplies feed to the animals whenever an animal causes the feeder to 
pivot, the pivoting resulting in an animation of the feeder which enhances 
the enjoyment of the view of the feeding animals. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
It is well known in the art that wild animal feeders can effectively entice 
animals to feed thereat, either for purposes of entertainment, education, 
animal welfare, and any combination thereof. One ubiquitous example of a 
wild animal feeder is a "birdhouse", which is essentially a box on a pole 
having bird feed depsoited therein for feeding of birds who are drawn 
thereto. Wild animal feeders, whether intended to feed birds or small land 
dwelling animals, are essentially inanimate containers for feed. Their 
innate attraction is essentially purely one of shape and color, which is 
ordinarily eclipsed by the movement and beauty of the wild animals they 
attract. 
It is also well known in the prior art to provide fanciful lawn decorations 
which are structured to provide a pleasing ornamentation. An example of 
lawn decorations are wooden cut-outs of rabbits and other small wild 
animals; and another example are pin wheels which twirl in the wind on an 
axle supported on a vertical shaft that is anchored into the ground. 
While each of the foregoing devices provides a structure which well serves 
its intended purpose, none provide a hybrid structure which combines 
functionalities to serve a variety of purposes simultaneously. 
Accordingly, what remains needed in the art is a device which combines 
animal feeding with a decorative, fanciful shape and, further, is also 
animated by activity of the feeding animals. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention is a wild animal feeder which combines animal feeding 
with a decorative, fanciful shape and, further, is also animated by 
activity of the feeding animals. 
The wild animal feeder according to the present invention is composed 
generally of a pair of fancifully shaped sidewalls, a feeder component 
situated between each of the sidewalls, a base, a pair of legs connected 
with the base, and a pivot structure for providing selected pivoting 
movement of the sidewalls and feeder component with respect to the legs. 
Preferably the sidewalls have a fanciful shape and depiction thereon which 
is ornamentally pleasing, as for example the outline and appearance of an 
animal. The pivot structure cooperates with an actuator which provides 
pivoting of the feeder component and the sidewalls whenever an animal 
comes to feed. The feeder component includes a feed holder, an access door 
to the feed holder, a feed dispenser located adjacent the generally 
forward end of the sidewalls, and a dispensing opening in the feed holder 
for passing feed from the feed holder to the feed dispenser whenever the 
feeder component is pivoted. The feed dispenser may be equipped with a 
dual feed dispensing structure in which coarse and/or fine grained feed is 
dispensed by a trough and fine grained feed is dispensed through one or 
more apertures in the form of one or more slits, holes, or the like, 
thereby serving birds and small land dwelling animals simultaneously. 
In operation, a wild animal actuates the actuator, ordinarily by standing 
on it, which thereby causes the sidewalls and feeder component to pivot 
toward the animal. Feed is then gravity fed to the feed dispenser for 
consumption by the animal or any adjacent animals. Alternatively, 
actuation may be manual or mechanical. 
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a wild 
animal feeder which provides feeding of birds and small ground dwelling 
animals, in which feed is selectively dispensed to the animals on a per 
use basis. 
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a wild 
animal feeder which has a fanciful, ornamental shape and appearance. 
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a wild animal 
feeder which is animated each time feed is dispensed to the animals. 
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a wild animal 
feeder which has an easily replenished feeder component, the feeder 
component being structured to include a feed dispenser which dispenses 
feed to animals each time the feeder component is pivoted in response to 
an animal approaching the feeder component, or in response to manual or 
mechanical actuation. 
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a wild 
animal feeder which is animated each time feed is dispensed to the 
animals, wherein large and/or small grained feed is dispensed via a trough 
and fine grained feed is dispensed via one or more apertures in the form 
of slits, holes or the like. 
These, and additional objects, advantages, features and benefits of the 
present invention will become apparent from the following specification.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring now to the Drawing, FIGS. 1 and 2 show the wild animal feeder 10 
according to the present invention. In this regard, it will be seen that 
the animal feeder 10 is composed generally of a mutually aligned pair of 
fancifully shaped and ornamented sidewalls, a first sidewall 12a and a 
second sidewall 12b, a feeder component 14 situated between the sidewalls, 
a base 16, a pair of legs 18a, 18b connected with the base, a pivot 
structure 20 for providing selected pivoting movement of the sidewalls and 
feeder component with respect to the legs, and an actuator 22 for causing 
the pivoting of the sidewalls and feeder component when an animal 
approaches the feeder component in search of food, or when manually or 
otherwise mechanically actuated (see FIG. 6). 
As can be seen by reference to both FIGS. 1 and 2, the wild animal feeder 
10 may be selectively changed from being in a nondispensing mode of 
operation, as shown in FIG. 1, to a dispensing mode of operation, as shown 
in FIG. 2. In the nondispensing mode of operation, feed is contained and 
sheltered in a feed holder 24. In the dispensing mode of operation, feed 
is gravity fed through a dispensing opening 26 in the feed holder 24 to a 
feed dispenser 28 whereat the feed may be consumed by the animal. 
In order to bias the wild animal feeder 10 from the dispensing mode of 
operation to the nondispensing mode of operation, a biasing mechanism is 
provided. The preferred biasing mechanism is gravitational in nature, in 
which the center of gravity CG of the combination of the sidewalls 12a, 
12b and of the feeder component 14 is positioned rearwardly with respect 
to, and beneath, an axle 30 of the pivot structure 20 so as to provide a 
gravitational moment arm therebetween in which the sidewalls 12a, 12b and 
the feeder component 14 tend to naturally pivot by force of gravity into 
the orientation shown in FIG. 1 in which the wild life feeder 10 is in the 
nondispensing mode of operation. (Note in this regard that the center of 
gravity CG shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is shown schematically on sidewall 12a 
for the purpose of showing the relative separation between it and the axle 
30; the actual center of gravity would, of course, by located somewhere 
between the two sidewalls 12a, 12b.) When the actuator 22 is actuated, the 
sidewalls 12a, 12 b and the feeder component 14 pivot with respect to the 
axle 30 so that the center of gravity moves away from the base 16 and the 
feed dispenser 28 moves toward the base, as the wild animal feeder 10 goes 
from the nondispensing mode of operation to the dispensing mode of 
operation. The details of how this is accomplished are elaborated 
hereinbelow. 
The sidewalls 12a, 12b are preferably constructed of planar material, which 
may be, for example wood, metal or plastic. Preferably, the sidewalls 12a, 
12b are cut into a shape depicting a selected characterization C, such as 
an animal. Further, it is preferred that the sidewalls 12a, 12b be painted 
or otherwise decorated so as to enhance the appearance of the selected 
characterization C. The sidewalls 12a, 12b mutually have a generally 
forward end 12' and a generally rear end 12". 
Situated between the sidewalls and connected therewith is the feeder 
component 14. As can be seen also with respect to FIGS. 3 and 5, the 
feeder component 14 includes a feed holder 24, an access door 32 to the 
feed holder, a feed dispenser 28 located more-or-less adjacent the 
generally forward end 12' of the sidewalls 12a, 12b, and a dispensing 
opening 26 in the feed holder for passing feed 34 from the feed holder to 
the feed dispenser whenever the feeder component 14 is pivoted. 
Preferably, the feed holder 24 is situated between the generally forward 
and generally rear ends 12', 12" of the sidewalls 12a, 12b so that it is 
not readily viewable to a bystander who is looking at the wild animal 
feeder 10 from the side. 
The feed holder 24 is defined by the sidewalls 12a, 12b, a front wall 42 
having the dispensing opening 26, a rear wall 44, and a bottom 46. Each of 
the front and rear walls 42, 44 are connected to the sidewalls 12a, 12b, 
and the bottom may be attached to the sidewalls, the front and rear walls, 
or a combination thereof. Preferably, the feed dispenser 28 is in the form 
of a trough 38 which enables coarse and/or fine grained feed to be 
accessible to one or more animals for purposes of consumption. The feed 
dispenser 28 may be equipped with a dual feed dispensing structure, in 
which in addition to feed dispensing by the trough 38, fine grained feed 
34a is dispensed through one or more apertures in the form of either one 
or more bottom slits 36, a plurality of holes 40, or the like, any of 
which being in the bottom 46 or in the trough 38. With this structure, 
feed is dispensed simultaneously to both birds and small land dwelling 
animals, such as squirrels. 
As shown in FIG. 3, it is preferable to include an interior wall 48 within 
the feed holder 24 which is curved at its forward end adjacent the 
dispensing opening 26 so as to aid feed 34 to pass out of the feed holder 
through the dispensing opening and to the trough 38 of the feed dispenser 
28 when the wild animal feeder 10 is in the dispensing mode of operation; 
however, inclusion of an interior wall is not a requirement, as shown in 
FIG. 5. The access door 32 is preferably connected by a hinge 32a with one 
of the front and rear walls 42, 44 (the rear wall being preferred), and is 
releasably held by a snap latch mechanism 32b to the other of the front 
and rear walls or otherwise secured thereto (the latch mechanism shown in 
FIG. 5 being partly connected with the access door and partly connected to 
the front wall 42). Opening of the access door 32 permits a user to 
periodically replenish the feed 34, while the feed is kept reasonably 
sequestered from exposure to the elements, particularly rain and snow. 
The legs 18a, 18b are perpendicularly connected with the base 16. As 
further depicted in FIG. 6, preferably each leg 18a, 18b is connected to 
the base 16 by a rigid wire 50 passing through a hole 52 in the base, an 
end portion 50a of which being bent into a slot 54 in the base bottom 16b 
and then secured thereinto by one or more staples 56. Of course, other 
connection structures, such as glued in place wooden dowels instead of the 
rigid wires 50, will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, 
and such modifications are within the contemplation of the present 
invention. 
The rigid wires 50 may serve as the legs 18a, 18b, as shown in FIG. 4. In 
this case, the selected characterization C may or may not have character 
legs L which interact with the rigid wires 50. Indeed, the character legs 
L of the selected characterization C may be pivotally connected with 
respective sidewalls 12a, 12b (which may or may not include the axle 30), 
as shown in FIG. 4, or may be pivotally connected with the axle 30 so that 
they rock in a visually pleasing manner whenever the sidewalls 12a, 12b 
are pivoted. An example of characterization legs L of the selected 
characterization C serving as legs 18a, 18b which are, in turn, suitably 
interconnected with the rigid wires 50 is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. 
The pivot structure 20 is composed of the axle 30, preferably in the form 
of a wire that is rigid (structurally not unlike the rigid wires 50), 
which extends between and beyond the sidewalls 12a, 12b. The extending 
portion 30a thereof interconnects with the legs 18a, 18b. One form of 
interconnection is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in which the extending portion 
30a of the axle 30 passes through a hole in each of the legs 18a, 18b and 
is retained thereat by a press-fit washer 58 adjacent each leg 18a, 18b. 
In this regard, as mentioned hereinabove, it is important for proper 
functioning of the wild animal feeder 10 that biasing toward the 
orientation characteristic of the nondispensing mode of operation be 
provided. In this regard, since the axle 30 is located so that the center 
of gravity CG is positioned below (toward the base 16) and behind (toward 
the generally rear end 12" of the sidewalls) the axle when the wild animal 
feeder 10 is in the nondispensing mode of operation, as shown in FIG. 1, a 
gravitational moment arm is present which supplies the necessary biasing. 
A pivot structure 20 which is used in the event the legs 18a, 18b are in 
the form of rigid wires 50 is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. In this case, a 
mounting block 60 is employed adjacent each of the sidewalls 12a, 12b. 
Each mounting block 60 has a leg bore 60a into which an upper end 18' of 
the legs 18a, 18b is respectively received. A set screw 62 secures each 
upper end 18' into its respective leg bore 60a. An axle bore 60b in each 
mounting block 60 receives a respective extending portion 30a of the axle 
30, thereby providing a pivot point on which the sidewalls 12a, 12b and 
the associated feeder component 14 can pivot with respect to the base 16. 
The actuator 22 is preferred to be in the form of a platform 64 which is 
hingably connected at a forward end 64a thereof to the base 16 at a 
location distant from the legs 18a, 18b and is flexibly connected at a 
rear end thereof 64b to at least one of the sidewalls 12a, 12b and the 
feeder component 14. In this regard, a hinge 66 is constructed from two 
base blocks 68a, 68b, each connected with the base 16 on either side of 
the platform 64, and a hinge pin 70 which passes through the forward end 
64a of the platform 64 and passes into each of the two base blocks 68a, 
68b. Of course, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art 
to devise alternative hinges 66, such as a rope connecting the forward end 
of the platform to the base, and these are contemplated within the scope 
of the present invention. The rear end 64b of the platform 64 is aligned 
with the feed dispenser 28 and is connected to at least one of the 
sidewalls 12a, 12b and the feeder component by a string 72 or some other 
similarly functioning member. A spacer block 74 may or may not be placed 
between the platform 64 and the base 16 for purposes of regulating 
movement of the platform with respect to the base. As mentioned 
hereinabove, the location of the center of gravity CG with respect to the 
axle 30, causes the sidewalls 12a, 12b and the feeder component 14 to tend 
to pivot so that the center of gravity will be gravitationally biased 
toward becoming vertically aligned with the axle. The actuator 22 is 
structured so that the platform 64 and the string 72 keep the center of 
gravity both behind and below the axle (that is non-vertically aligned), 
as shown in FIG. 1, when the wild animal feeder is in the nondispensing 
mode of operation. 
As mentioned hereinabove, the feed dispenser having one or more apertures 
provides for fine grained feed 34a to be distributed onto the base 16. In 
this regard, side extensions 16' may be added to the base 16 so that the 
fine grained feed falls onto the base and not onto the ground. Connection 
of the side extensions 16' to the base 16 may be by any suitable 
structure, a releasable connection structure 76 being preferred. 
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a common operational mode for the base 16 is to 
simply rest it upon the ground. As shown in FIG. 6, another operational 
mode for the base is to connect it with a mounting structure 78 via a 
mounting bracket 80. The mounting structure may be a projection from a 
window sill or railing, a projection from a mast, or any other structure 
which supports the base 16 off the ground. 
In operation, the base is placed at a location in which the user can enjoy 
its operation in connection with wild animal feeding therefrom. The access 
door is opened and feed is placed into the feed holder. When a wild animal 
approaches the wild animal feeder because it sees or smells the feed, the 
animal will step upon the platform. The weight of the animal will then 
cause the pair sidewalls and feeder component to pivot on the axle, 
thereby dispensing feed to the trough and, if included, via the one or 
more apertures. The movement of the wild animal feeder combined with the 
movement of the wild animal thereat, will provide enormous enjoyment to 
any person viewing the scene. 
An alternative actuator 22' does not utilize the platform. Rather, the 
string 72 continues through a hole 16a in the base 16 and continues along 
a portion thereof 72' to a remote location where it is selectively pulled 
either manually or mechanically, the latter by any mechanism well known in 
the art to provide such a movement. 
As indicated hereinabove, the actuator includes structure for defining the 
orientation of the sidewalls 12a, 12b when the wild animal feeder 10 is in 
the nondispensing mode of operation. This may involve, for example, a 
specific length of the string 72, 72' in relation to its attachment 
locations, may involve a stop boss which interferingly engages with 
respect to a leg 18a, 18b and a respective sidewall 12a, 12b, or some 
other orientation defining structure within the ordinary ken of an 
artisan. 
The wild animal feeder can be provided not only in a completed form, but 
can also be provided in a kit form for assembly, with or without parts 
fabrication, by the user. 
To those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains, the above 
described preferred embodiment may be subject to change or modification. 
For instance, the biasing of the sidewalls and feeder component may be by 
a gravitational moment arm, a spring or other resilient mechanism well 
known in the art, or any combination thereof. Such change or modification 
can be carried out without departing from the scope of the invention, 
which is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.