Abstract:
A deer scent emitter including a housing, a scent container in the housing, at least one first opening in the housing, at least one second opening in the scent container, a timer in the housing, and a linkage coupling the timer to the scent container for periodically effecting communication between the first and second openings.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
         [0001]    Not Applicable  
         STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT  
         [0002]    Not Applicable  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    The present invention relates to a deer scent emitter which can be programmed to emit a deer scent at the same time daily, and when it is not emitting the scent, it will keep the scent confined so that it is not wasted.  
           [0004]    By way of background, as is well known, hunters use deer scent to attract deer, and it is desirable to have this scent emitted without the hunter disturbing the scent emitting area. Also, it is desirable to have the scent emitted at regularly spaced time intervals, and when it is not being emitted, it should positively be prevented from being emitted.  
         BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    It is one object of the present invention to provide a deer scent emitter which can be programmed to expose scent to the atmosphere for the same period of time daily and which will positively prevent the scent from being emitted during other times. Other objects and attendant advantages of the present invention will readily be perceived hereafter.  
           [0006]    The present invention relates to a deer scent emitter comprising a housing, a scent container in said housing, at least one first opening in said housing, at least one second opening in said scent container, a timer motor in said housing, and a linkage coupling said timer motor to said scent container for periodically moving said container to effect communication between said first and second openings.  
           [0007]    The present invention also relates to a method of producing a deer scent comprising the steps of placing a supply of deer scent at a location to which deer are to be attracted, and alternately periodically exposing the deer scent to the atmosphere and preventing the deer scent from being exposed to the atmosphere.  
           [0008]    The various aspects of the present invention will be more fully understood when the following portions of the specification are read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein: 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING  
       [0009]    [0009]FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the scent emitter of the present invention;  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view taken substantially in the direction of arrows  2 - 2  of FIG. 1;  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken substantially along line  3 - 3  of FIG. 2;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 3A is a fragmentary enlarged cross sectional view taken substantially along line  3 A- 3 A of FIG. 1 and showing the joint between the housing and the cap;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the scent emitter with certain parts broken away;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 5 is a bottom plan view of the scent container;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the shaft which mounts the various gears;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the pinion which meshes with the gear on the scent container;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 7A is a bottom plan view of the pinion of FIG. 7  taken substantially in the direction of arrows  7 A- 7 A of FIG. 7;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the Geneva gear which is driven by the timer motor;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 9 is a side elevational view of the assembly containing the parts of FIGS.  6 - 8 ;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 10 is a fragmentary cross sectional view taken substantially along line  10 - 10  of FIG. 3;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 11 is a fragmentary cross sectional view taken substantially along line  11 - 11  of FIG. 3;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 12 is a fragmentary cross sectional view taken substantially along line  12 - 12  of FIG. 3;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 13 is a fragmentary cross sectional view taken substantially along line  13 - 13  of FIG. 3 and showing the relative positions of the housing and scent container in a scent emitting position;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 14 is a fragmentary cross sectional view taken substantially along line  13 - 13  of FIG. 3 and showing the relative positions of the housing and the scent container in a non-scent emitting position;  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 15 is a plan view of the housing taken substantially in the direction of arrows  15 - 15  of FIG. 4 and showing the housing shelf with the timer and the timer securing member in phantom thereon;  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 15A is a fragmentary perspective view of a post to which the timer-securing member is attached to lock the timer in position;  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 15B is a fragmentary perspective view of another post to which a portion of the timer securing member is attached;  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 16 is a bottom plan view of the housing taken in the direction of arrows  16 - 16  of FIG. 4 and showing the structure on the underside of the shelf;  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 17 is a perspective view of the finger which engages the Geneva gear;  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 18 is a bottom plan view of the finger which engages the Geneva gear taken substantially in the direction of arrows  18 - 18  off FIG. 17;  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 19 is a fragmentary enlarged cross sectional view of a portion of FIG. 3 showing the finger mounted on the wheel which is driven by the timer; and  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 20 is a fragmentary view of the finger supporting wheel taken substantially in the direction of arrows  20 - 20  of FIG. 19. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0033]    Summarizing briefly in advance, the deer scent emitter of the present invention automatically emits deer scent at the same time every day without requiring the hunter to be in the area, thereby conditioning a buck to visit this area during this time period. When the deer scent is not being emitted, it is totally confined within the deer scent emitter and therefore is not wasted. In addition, the deer scent emitter is conveniently refillable as required.  
         [0034]    Summarizing further in advance, the deer scent emitter  10  includes certain major component parts which achieve the foregoing ends. These major parts are a housing  11  which contains a timer  12  which periodically rotates a scent container in the form of basket  13  through a gear linkage  14  to cause openings  15  of container  13  to align with openings  17  of housing  11  to thereby permit the scent which is contained in porous pad  18  to pass through aligned openings  15  and  17  to thereby emit a scent. After a preset period has elapsed, the timer  12  causes the scent container to move to a position wherein the openings  15  and  17  are no longer aligned and thus the emission of the scent is positively terminated.  
         [0035]    In its more specific aspects, the scent emitter  10  includes a cylindrical housing  11  fabricated of molded polypropylene having a circular shelf  19  integrally molded therewith. The timer  12  sits on shelf  19 , and its shaft  20  protrudes through aperture  21  in shelf  19 . A nut  23 ′ is threaded onto timer shaft  20  to retain it in position on shelf  19 . Timer  12  includes a timer motor which is driven by a AA size battery  21 ″ received in a pocket  22 ′ (FIG. 4) of timer  12 . Timer  12  is a commercially obtainable unit which is manufactured by the Young Town Enterprises, Ltd. and is Model No. 12888SH.  
         [0036]    A linkage driven by timer  12  periodically moves scent container  13  in increments of a circular motion. A finger-supporting wheel  21  is keyed to timer shaft  20  with a press-fit and fingers  22  can be selectively installed at various positions along its periphery. In this respect, each finger  22  (FIGS.  17 - 19 ) includes a body  23  having pins  24  which are received in bores  25  in the underside of wheel  21 . Also each finger  22  has a curved rim  27  which is received in groove  29  of wheel  21 . The wheel  21  will make a complete rotation every twenty-four hours, and the pins  24  of each finger  22  are inserted in select bores  25  to cause the fingers to perform two functions, namely, to drive the gear linkage (1) to cause the scent container  13  to move to an open position and (2) to cause the scent container  13  to move to a closed position.  
         [0037]    The scent container  13  is rotatably mounted within housing  11  in the following manner by member  30  which is a combined timer securing member, scent container post, and gear engaging part (FIGS. 4, 11 and  12 ). Member  30  includes an elongated section  31  having apertures  32  at its opposite ends. The elongated portion  31  of member  30  bears downwardly on timer  12 , and its ends are mounted on the two opposite posts  33  having pins  34  which are received in apertures  32  of member  30 . Posts  33  are located adjacent the opposite sides of timer  12 . Thus, the portion  31  of member  30  holds timer  12  in position between spaced posts  33 . Member  30  includes a post  35  which extends upwardly from elongated portion  31 , and post  35  is received in hollow cylindrical central portion  37  of scent container  13  (FIG. 3). Thus post  35  mounts scent container  13  for rotation.  
         [0038]    Basket  13  is rotated in increments between its scent emitting position (FIG. 13) and its closed position (FIG. 14) in the following manner. Gear assembly  14  couples timer  12  to scent container  13  through wheel  21  and fingers  22 . In this respect, stem  39  (FIGS. 3, 6 and  9 ) is journaled in tube  40  which is formed integrally with shelf  19 . A Geneva gear  41  (FIGS. 3, 8,  9  and  10 ) is keyed to the bottom of stem  39 . A pinion  42  (FIGS. 3, 7,  7 A,  9  and  11 ) is keyed to the top of shaft  39 . Pinion  42  is in engagement with gear  43  which is molded integrally with the bottom side  44 ′ of scent container  13  (FIGS. 3 and 5).  
         [0039]    The scent container  13  is moved from its closed position of FIG. 14 to its open position  13  in the following manner. In this respect, housing  11  has sixteen openings  17  spaced 22.5° apart, and there are sixteen spaced closed sections  38  between openings  17 . There are also sixteen openings  15  in scent container  13  spaced 22.5° apart. There are also sixteen spaced closed sections  44  between openings  15 . Geneva gear  41  (FIGS. 3, 8 and  9 ) has eight teeth  45 . Thus, when a finger  22  engages Geneva gear  41 , it will rotate it 45° which, in turn, will rotate pinion  42  45°. Pinion  42  has twelve teeth  47  which mesh with gear  43  which has forty-eight teeth  49 . Thus, when Geneva gear  41  having eight teeth  45  rotates 45°, gear  42  will also rotate 45° and gear  43  will rotate one-fourth of 45°, namely, 11.25°. Since the openings  15  and  17  of scent container  13  and housing  11  are both 22.50° apart, the rotation of scent container  13  11.25° will cause the openings  15  and  17  of the scent container and housing, respectively, to become aligned. At this time the scent which is contained in porous disc  18  can be in communication with the atmosphere through the overlapping openings  15  and  17  of the scent container  13  and housing  11 , respectively.  
         [0040]    The openings  15  and  17  will remain in overlapping relationship until the second finger  22  engages Geneva gear  41  and thus moves Geneva gear  41  through 45° whereupon the pinion  42  will move gear  43  through 11.25° to thereby cause the portions  38  of housing  11  to overlie the openings  15  of scent container  13 , thereby closing off the scent containing pad  18  from the atmosphere. The scent containing pad  18  will remain closed off from the atmosphere until the Geneva gear  41  is again engaged by finger  22 , as described above to thereby repeat the opening and closing cycles between scent container  13  and housing  11 .  
         [0041]    The scent emitter  10  includes a cap  47  which is mounted on housing  11  as depicted in FIG. 3A. In this respect, cap  47  has an annular rim  49  which overlies the annular edge  50  of housing  11 . Additionally, cap  47  has an annular portion  51  which fits closely with the annular rim  52  of housing  11 . An annular bead  53  of rim  51  is received in an annular groove  54  of rim  52 . The bead-groove structure  53 - 54  is sufficient to hold cap  47  assembled on housing  11  but cap  47  can be removed by applying sufficient force thereto in the event it is necessary to replace scent holding pad  18 . However, normally scent can be replaced to porous pad  18  by injecting it through aligned openings  15 ,  17 . A loop portion  64  is formed integrally with cap  47 , and it has an opening  65  for receiving a string used to suspend the cap from an external member, such as a tree branch.  
         [0042]    Structure is provided for maintaining the scent container  13  in the position to which it was last placed. In this respect, member  30  (FIG. 12) includes an arm  60  which extends outwardly from portion  31  thereof. The outer end of arm  60  includes an aperture  61  (FIG. 11) which receives pin  62  (FIGS. 15 and 15B) at the outer end of post  63  extending upwardly from shelf  19 . A flexible finger  46  (FIG. 12) extends outwardly from arm  60 , and it sequentially engages each straight side  48  (FIG. 7A) of the octagonal part  46 ′ which is formed integrally with pinion  42 . Thus, flexible finger  46  will retain the gear assembly  14  in the position to which it was last moved but it will deflect to permit it to move 45° as required when the Geneva gear is moved 45° by a finger  22 .  
         [0043]    Structure is provided for preventing wheel  21  from cocking excessively when the fingers  22  are inserted into it. In this respect, three small posts  57  (FIGS. 3 and 16) are molded integrally with the underside of shelf  19  and they are spaced 120° apart. Thus, when pressure is applied to the underside of wheel  21 , posts  57  will tend to prevent it from deflecting excessively.  
         [0044]    The body  11  and the scent container  13  and cap  47  are fabricated of polypropylene. The remainder of the parts exclusive of the timer  12  are fabricated of the plastic known under the trademark DELRIN.  
         [0045]    While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed, it will be appreciated that it is not limited thereto but may be otherwise embodied within the scope of the following claims.