Animal feeder

An animal feeder of the type in which a feed hopper discharges feed downwardly onto a shelf which intercepts the feed so that it does not drop directly to a trough under the hopper and shelf but requires action by the animal to brush the feed off the shelf. In conjunction with the above, a water supply line runs closely beneath the shelf and has at least one fitting or nipple directed laterally outwardly over the trough from which nipple the animal may drink directly. The nipple is of the type minimizing discharge of water directly into the trough. The shelf is so fashioned as to substantially prevent the animal from eating feed directly from the shelf.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is well known in the feeding of animals, especially hogs, to provide a 
feeding hopper having downwardly converging sides terminating at a feed 
opening through which feed descends by gravity to a shelf spaced below the 
opening and so fashioned that the feed is intercepted by the shelf and 
lies on the shelf at an angle of repose and thus does not fall directly to 
a trough beneath the shelf. In some prior feeders, animal-actuated means 
is used to move the feed from the shelf to the trough. In other feeders, 
reliance is placed on the animal to sweep the feed off the shelf with its 
snout. In still other feeders, the animal is able to eat dry feed directly 
from the shelf and has the further choice of eating wet feed from the 
trough by means of animal-actuated watering means that discharge directly 
into the trough. 
There are several schools of thought as to how hogs should be fed, 
considering weight gain, elapsed time, etc., with respect to marketing the 
best animals. According to the present invention, the feeding system is 
designed to enable the hogs to eat dry feed and to obtain drinking water 
from means enabling the animal to drink directly from a nipple or fitting 
so arranged that the water does not discharge directly into the feed in 
the trough. The arrangement is such that the hogs do not eat directly rom 
the shelf beneath the hopper but rather must brush or sweep the feed off 
to the trough. This avoids wetting of the feed on the shelf and thus 
eliminates clogging of the hopper discharge by caked feed. Further, it can 
be shown that an animal will not eat as much if he has to go elsewhere for 
water, as to a location remote from the feeder It is important that the 
animal obtain clean drinking water, rather than water mixed with feed 
obtained from the trough. Also, while the animal searched elsewhere for 
water, he loses feed which drops from his mouth. 
A further feature of the invention is to design the shelf so as to prevent 
the animal from closing his jaws on the shelf, thereby preventing direct 
feeding from the shelf. A still further feature is the provision of means 
for regulating the size of the feed opening and thus the amount of 
discharge to the shelf. Still further, the water fittings are arranged at 
angles convenient to animals so as to facilitate direct drinking from the 
nipples. 
Further features and advantages will appear as a preferred embodiment of 
the invention is disclosed in the ensuing description and accompanying 
drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION 
The feeder is essentially a box-like structure 10 made up of a hopper 12 
disposed over a trough 14 and secured to the trough by a pair of end walls 
16. The hopper is elongated and, in the present case, provides three 
feeding areas at each side. The hopper has opposed downwardly converging 
side walls 18 that terminate at a bottom feed discharge opening 20 (FIG. 
2). The side walls are braced to the sides 22 of the trough by a plurality 
of divider rods 24 which also function to keep the hogs'heads concentrated 
in their respective feeding zones or areas so that they do not interfere 
with their neighbors. In a typical arrangement, by way of example and not 
limitation, the structure may be on the order of 34 inches long, 36 inches 
high and having a width of 26 inches. The trough has the same length as 
the hopper and its sides 22 rise to a height of about five to six inches. 
A platform or shelf 26 is spaced below the bottom of the hopper in such 
position as to intercept the flow of feed via the feed opening 20 so that 
the feed does not run immediately to the trough but accumulates on the 
shelf, at each side of the longitudinal centerline of the structure, at 
angles of repose as known in the art so that the feeding from the hopper 
to the shelf becomes automatic as feed is removed from the reposed 
accumulations on the shelf. In the present case, removal of such feed is 
caused by the animal using his snout to sweep or brush the feed off so 
that the feed drops into the trough, the lateral width of the shelf being 
less than that of the trough. According to the present invention, the 
shelf is relatively narrow, its lateral width being such that the hog 
cannot eat directly from the shelf, a result accentuated by the provision 
at each terminal or outer end portion of the shelf of a depending flange 
28 of such vertical dimension as to prevent the hog from closing his jaws 
in chewing fashion. The bottom edge of each flange is rolled as at 30 to 
prevent injury to the hog's mouth. The lateral dimension of the shelf at 
each side of the feed opening 20 is relatively narrow, for example, about 
one to one and one-half inches and each flange depends about the same 
amount. Further, the angle between each lateral shelf portion and the 
adjacent sloping side wall 18 of the hopper is about sixty to seventy-five 
degrees, providing a "tight corner" that further limits the hog's activity 
in this area to brushing the feed off and into the trough 
The shelf of course runs the length of the hopper and is provided centrally 
with an upstanding divider 32 so shaped as to direct feed oppositely onto 
the shelf in symmetrical fashion in those instances when feed control 
shutters 34 are set equally at opposite sides of the feed opening 20. Each 
shutter is slidable upwardly and downwardly along its side wall away from 
and toward the shelf, being carried by suitable guides 36 and operated by 
vertical rods 38. Each rod extends threadably through a cross bar 40 
spanning the top of the hopper and is equipped with a handle 42 for 
enabling easy turning of the rod. The shutters may be independently 
adjusted for varying the opposite feed outlets to opposite sides of the 
shelf divider 32 and, of course, either shutter may be closed completely. 
This accommodates different feeding habits of the animal and also enables 
feeding of different-sized hogs at opposite sides of the trough, 
especially considering the central divider 43 in the trough. Also, shutter 
adjustment can compensate for feed of different particulates. 
The feeder is provided with means for furnishing drinking water to the 
hogs. In this case, a supply means or line 44 is fixedly arranged beneath 
the shelf, preferably being accommodated by the upwardly divergent shelf 
divider 32. The line is fed by a supply pipe 46 that may be connected to 
any water source (not shown). The line 44 is provided with a plurality of 
fittings or nipples 48, here six in number, for example. These are 
arranged in oppositely directed pairs, each nipple projecting laterally 
outwardly so as to be convenient to the animals. In a practicable 
arrangement the angle is in range of about horizontal to thirty-five to 
forty degrees below the horizontal. Each nipple further has an outer 
terminal end portion opening at 50 and being disposed substantially 
directly below or in vertical alignment with the proximate outer end of 
the shelf. The nipple is tubular and the opening 50 is afforded by cutting 
the nipple off at an angle so that the opening faces upwardly as will as 
outwardly and the bottom of the nipple serves as a shield preventing 
direct discharge of water to the trough. Each nipple has an actuator 52 
which the hog actuates via his mouth to operate a valve (not shown) so as 
to furnish clean drinking water directly to the hog rather than having the 
water mixed with feed and thereby avoiding the "swimming pool" effect of 
water in the trough. At elevated temperatures, the trough water becomes 
hot and unpalatable. Another advantage of desired water supply to the 
animal is that waste (elimination from the animal) is minimized and does 
not overload the sewage pit. 
As will be seen from the foregoing, a simple design has been provided to 
furnish adequate feed and drinking water to the animals with only 
incidental mixing of feed and water, especially on the shelf, since, if 
the hogs cannot eat directly from the shelf, they are very much less 
likely to slaver on the shelf, all of which substantially avoid caking and 
clogging at the feed opening. Features and advantages other than those 
pointed out will have become apparent to those versed in the art, as will 
many modifications in the preferred embodiment of the invention, all 
without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.