Holder for bird food packed in portion containers

A holder for bird food packed in portion containers with a reception portion extending horizontally when in use and having an opening forming a receptacle for the portion container. The reception portion is provided with a gripping portion connected thereto, a first notch located between the reception portion and the gripping portion and extending at right angles to the extension thereof and an end flange fixed to the plate at right angles adjacent to the notch. At its end remote from the plate the holder is provided with a second notch oriented vertically with respect to the first notch when in use. Alternatively, the reception portion is provided with a flange fixed in downwardly projecting manner and at right angles to the reception portion, a flexible locking plate fixed to the flange and extending away from the reception portion in the longitudinal direction. The locking plate slopes upwards over and beyond the upper edge of the reception portion and close to its highest point has a first, transversely directed notch and a web fixed at right angles to the flange and extending away from the reception portion in the longitudinal direction. The locking plate is also provided, on its lower edge, with second notches oriented vertically with the first notch during use.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a holder for bird food packed in small 
portion containers. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Portions of bird food are regularly poured from a storage pack into a small 
container, cup or receptacle and placed in the bird cage. The receptacle 
is refilled when appropriate. For hygienic reasons it is necessary to 
regularly clean the container, but this task is often neglected. 
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION 
The object of the present invention is to provide a means to ensure the 
supply of bird food in a hygienic manner. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
According to the invention this problem is solved by providing a reception 
portion extending horizontally in use with an opening forming a receptacle 
for receiving a food retaining container. A gripping portion connected to 
the reception portion has a first notch located between the reception 
portion and the gripping portion and running at right angles to the 
extension thereof. An end flange is also provided fixed at right angles to 
a plate adjacent to the notch and is provided at its plate-remote end with 
a second notch oriented vertically with the first notch during use. 
Preferably the opening in the reception portion is oval. 
According to a preferred embodiment the gripping or handle portion is 
shaped like an oval bisected along its secondary axis. 
It is also proposed that the gripping portion be provided with a gripping 
or handle recess open towards the end or front flange with that recess 
being shaped like an oval bisected along its secondary axis. 
In a preferred embodiment the end flange is provided with a nose forming 
the second notch and by a flange passing round the reception portion with 
the flange inclined with a height increasing towards the end flange. 
In an alternative embodiment of the invention the reception portion extends 
horizontally in use with an opening forming a receptacle for the food 
portion container and a downwardly projecting flange fixed at right angles 
to the reception portion. A flexible locking plate fixed to the flange and 
extending away from the latter in the longitudinal direction of the 
reception portion is provided and slopes upwards over and beyond the upper 
edge of the reception portion and has on or near to its highest point a 
first, transversely directed notch. Also provided is a web fixed at right 
angles to the flange and extending in the longitudinal direction of the 
reception portion away from the latter. The web is provided at its lower 
edge with second notches oriented vertically with the first notch in use. 
The inventive arrangement of at least one notch on a flexible locking plate 
necessary for the mounting support between the cross struts of a bird cage 
ensures, as a result of the holder-side resiliency of this element, a 
reliable firm seating of the holder between the cross struts of a bird 
cage and makes it possible to use the holder according to the invention 
even in the case of a different spacing between the same. 
Preferably the web is constructed in the form of an oval bisected along its 
secondary axis and which extends over and beyond the locking plate end 
remote from the reception portion, which is fixed with both ends at right 
angles to the flange and has two correspondingly oriented second notches. 
This construction ensures a particularly simple and reliable handling of 
the inventive holder. 
The invention also provides a locking plate with a gripping portion 
following onto the first notch and which is preferably semicircular, the 
base side of said semicircle engaging on the first notch and is grooved on 
its top surface. The unitary construction of the web, in the form of a 
bisected oval, and the locking plate with a correspondingly constructed 
gripping portion, makes it particularly simple and reliable to handle the 
holder according to the invention. The underside of the web is preferably 
held by one or two fingers of the hand, while the thumb exerts pressure on 
the gripping portion, so as to press the locking plate down prior to 
insertion and thereby pretensioning the same, so that the latter with a 
corresponding resiliency locks with its first notch in the upper cross 
strut of the bird cage. 
In a preferred embodiment the locking plate is provided with reinforcing 
webs on its top and/or bottom. This effectively precludes an easy 
dislodging of the locking plate. 
According to another embodiment of the invention, in the vicinity of the 
gripping portion, the web is constructed with a decreasing height in the 
direction away from the reception portion. This ensures that the gripping 
portion of the locking plate may be pressed down far enough so as not to 
be impeded by the web. 
According to the invention a flange passing round the reception portion is 
provided and, preferably, at its end remote from the locking plate, is 
bevelled with a decreasing height in the direction away from the latter. 
This flange stabilizes the holder and its bevel at the end remote from the 
locking plate and facilitates the insertion of the holder between the 
cross struts of the bird cage. 
Finally, for all embodiments of the invention the opening to receive the 
food portion containers is provided with inwardly directed projections, at 
least in portions thereof. In a complementary construction thereto the 
portion containers, insertable in the holder, are provided with a 
corresponding step, so that after overcoming a pressure point on inserting 
the portion container a firm locking thereof in the opening of the 
reception portion is obtained. This ensures the firm seating of the 
containers particularly when the bird is removing food.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
According to a first embodiment of the proposed holder for bird food packed 
in small portion containers, a reception portion 10 is provided extending 
horizontally in use and to which is connected a gripping portion 18. The 
reception portion 10 has an opening 14 for receiving the portion container 
12 (FIGS. 3 and 4). An upwardly open, first notch 20 is provided between 
the reception portion 10 and the gripping portion 18 at right angles to 
the extension thereof. On the edge of notch 20, directed towards the 
reception portion 10, is provided an end or front flange 22 extending at 
right angles thereto. A second notch 24 oriented vertically with the first 
notch 20 during use is provided on the end of flange 22 remote from the 
reception portion 10. 
The opening 14 in reception portion 10 has an oval construction and 
corresponds to the external shape of the cup of the portion container 12 
shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. The edge surrounding the opening -4 serves as a 
support for the outwardly projecting flange of the portion container 12. 
A gripping portion 18 is shaped like an oval bisected along its secondary 
axis and is provided with a gripping recess 26 open towards the end flange 
22, which is also shaped like an oval bisected along its secondary axis. 
FIGS. 2 and 4 particularly show that the end flange 22 is provided with a 
nose 28 forming a second notch 24. As shown in FIG. 2 the reception 
portion has an all-round flange 30 having a sloping construction with an 
increasing height towards the end flange 22. 
On first using the holder, the bird owner will break off a food portion 
container 12 from a strand (FIG. 5) of food portion containers. He will 
then insert the holder between two horizontally directed struts of the 
bird cage until the two transversely directed struts lock in the two 
notches 20 and 24. The sloping construction of the all-round flange 30 
facilitates the necessary slight widening of the struts of the bird cage. 
Then (optionally also prior to inserting the holder), the portion 
container is inserted in opening 14 and a foil covering over the food in 
the container is removed. 
When the bird has emptied the portion container, a further portion 
container is broken off from the strand (FIG. 5) and, after removing the 
empty portion container from the holder, is inserted in the latter. It is 
possible to release the holder from its fastening struts, but this is not 
normally necessary, because the bird owner can reach into the cage. 
The alternative embodiment of the holder of the present invention shown in 
FIG. 7 comprises a reception portion 50 extending horizontally in use and 
having an oval opening 54. Portions of the opening 54 ar provided with 
inwardly directed projections 55, whose function will be described 
hereinafter. A flange 60 is fixed at right angles and in downwardly 
projecting manner to one end of the reception portion 50. A flexible 
locking plate 70 is fixed to its lower end and, in the longitudinal 
direction of the reception portion, extends away from the same sloping 
upwards over and beyond the upper edge of the reception portion 50. Just 
below its highest point the locking plate 70 is provided with a first 
transversely directed notch 72 and with a gripping portion 74, which is 
substantially semicircular with a grooved top. The gripping portion 74, in 
the represented embodiment, forms an obtuse angle with the remainder of 
the locking plate 70, so that it is directed substantially horizontally. 
A web 62 in the form of a bisected oval is also fixed to flange 60 and 
extends longitudinally away from the reception portion 50. Web 62 
initially has the same height as flange 60, but its height is then 
decreased and it extends over and beyond the end of the gripping portion 
74 of the locking plate 70. In use, the web 62 has notches 64 on its lower 
edge oriented vertically with the first notch 72. 
On inserting this embodiment of the holder of the present invention between 
the cross struts of a bird cage, the gripping portion 74 of locking plate 
70 and web 62 are gripped, the lower edge of the web 62 preferably resting 
on the index finger of the user and the gripping portion 74 is actuated by 
the thumb. After the reception portion 50 has been placed between the 
cross struts of the bird cage, this operation being facilitated by the 
front portion of the flange 56 passing round the reception portion 50 
being bevelled, the gripping portion 74 and, therefore, the complete 
locking plate 70 with the transversely directed notch 72 is pressed 
downwards until the notches 64 on the lower edge of web 62 have engaged in 
the cross strut. When the holder of this embodiment is in the horizontal 
position, the notch 72 in the locking plate 70, in the case of a slow 
release of the gripping portion 74, engages in the corresponding, upper 
cross strut. As a result of the resiliency of the pretensioned locking 
plate 70, the holder according to the invention is held firmly and 
securely between the bird cage cross struts. 
Prior to inserting the holder according to the invention between the cross 
struts of a bird cage, as described hereinbefore, the bird owner will 
first break a portion container 12 off a corresponding supply strand (FIG. 
5) at the breaking edge 84 provided for this purpose. He will then insert 
the portion container 12 in the opening 54 of the reception portion 50. 
The step 82 below the upper edge of container 12 comes to rest on the 
inwardly directed projections 55 of the opening 54. After overcoming an 
initial pressure point, the portion container 12 is firmly fixed in the 
opening 54 of the reception portion 50. This also ensures that the portion 
container 12 cannot be dislodged from the holder by the bird. The 
projection 55 can also obviously be provided in the opening 14 of the 
first embodiment. 
FIGS. 9 and 10 show the holder of the present invention with a 
correspondingly inserted portion container 12 where step 82 is readily 
seen. As has also been stated hereinbefore, the foil covering the portion 
container is then removed and the holder with the inserted and opened 
portion container is inserted between the cross struts of the bird cage. 
When the bird has emptied the portion container 12, in order to simplify 
handling, the complete holder can be unlocked again by simply pressing 
down the gripping portion 74 of the locking plate 70 and ca be drawn out 
between the cross struts of the bird cage. After removing the empty 
portion container 12 a new one can be inserted, after which the holder is 
reinserted in the same manner. It is obviously possible, as stated 
hereinbefore, to replace the portion containers without releasing the 
holder from the bird cage cross struts. 
The holder of the present invention makes it possible to supply the bird 
with food in a hygienic manner. As the empty container is replaced, there 
is no risk of prolonged contamination with the danger of bacterial 
infection. 
The inventive features disclosed in the description, drawings and claims 
can be essential to the realization of the invention in its various 
embodiments, both alone and in random combination.