Abstract:
An animated wildfowl decoy in the shape of a turkey having two internal servo motors to provide a reciprocal vertical motion to the head and a fanning motion to the tail feathers. The decoy has an internal power supply and a radio frequency receiver to respond to inputs from a radio frequency transmitter. A further embodiment of the animated wildfowl decoy consists of a self contained, partially encapsulated turkey tail feather assembly adaptable for use with a variety of wildfowl decoys.

Description:
This application claims one or more inventions which were disclosed in Provisional Application No. 60/827,454, filed Sep. 29, 2006, entitled “Animated Wildfowl Decoy”. The benefit under 35 USC § 119(e) of the United States provisional application is hereby claimed, and the aforementioned application is hereby incorporated herein by reference. 

   FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The invention pertains to the field of wildfowl decoys used for hunting or game control. More particularly, the invention pertains to an electronically remotely controlled, multifunctional wildfowl decoy. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   The use of decoys to attract animals is well known to hunters of various types of animal species. With respect to wildfowl, such as wild turkeys, it has been determined that an animated decoy more readily attracts live fowl to a target zone than do immovable decoys. Numerous types of animated decoys have been developed over time. Some examples are shown by the following patent disclosures. 
   Some decoy designs have used and continue to use a cord attached to a moveable portion of the device which the hunter would pull to create motion from that portion of the decoy. Examples of such movements include the vertical or horizontal movement of the head, the “rocking” of the entire decoy to simulate a feeding motion, the horizontal rotation of the entire body and some movement of the tail region of the decoy. Such devices were found to be not too successful because the hunter would often have to be near the decoy to activate the cord and this motion would often alert the wildfowl before they could be properly targeted. 
   More complex decoys included the use of motors to actuate certain portions of the body. For example, GB 2 412 560, published May 10, 2005 discloses a wildfowl decoy mounted on a vertical shaft that is inserted into the ground. An external motor is used to impart vertical motion to the head region as well as a pivoting motion for the entire body. The problem with this device is that the external motor detracts from a realistic image of the decoy and is susceptible to the elements. 
   US Patent Publication 2004/0031185, published Feb. 19, 2004, discloses a turkey decoy mounted on frame having wheels to allow movement over the ground. Internal motors provide movements such as vertical head motion, the lifting and spreading of the tail section and rotation of the body about a vertical axis. The motion of the decoy is controlled by a remote RF transmitter. This device is very complex to build and is consequently susceptible to normal wear and tear. 
   The fanning of the feathers is a desired feature in animated turkey decoys. US Patent Publication 2004/0250461, published Dec. 16, 2004 discloses a turkey tail feather display mounted on a vertical post. The feathers are motivated to fan out by means of a cord pulled by the hunter. Although not part of the invention, it is suggested that a motionless turkey body decoy may be placed in front of the feather display in order to impart an added degree of realism. However, the body of the decoy is not connected to the tail feather section. This device has many of the drawbacks of some of the devices previously described hereinabove. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention is an animated wildfowl decoy. Specifically, the device is best suited as a turkey decoy because of the unique combination of mechanisms for both fanning the tail feathers and moving the head region. The entire decoy contains two electrically driven servo motors that are powered by an electrical generating source, such as an internally mounted battery. The body of the decoy is mounted on a vertical post that can be pushed into the ground for stabilization. 
   For the sake of simplicity and ease of manufacture and repair the servo motors are similar. The rear servo motor contains an arm that rotates with the shaft of the motor. The end of the arm remote from the shaft is hooked up to one end of a connecting rod. The other end of the connecting rod is attached to a ferrule that slides along the axis of a guide shaft that is positioned substantially perpendicular to the vertical post. The ferrule is connected to a plurality of rigid tail feather stays. Fabric connects the tail feather stays to each other and can be imprinted to resemble the feathers of a turkey. As the shaft of the servo motor rotates, the remote end of the arm moves in a circular pattern which causes the connecting rod to cycle between pushing and pulling the ferrule along the guide shaft. The tail feather stays are slidably engaged within a tail guide rack so that when the ferrule is pushed toward the tail, the stays are urged to move in a generally upright direction and fan out, or spread apart from each other. As the ferrule is pulled away from the tail section, the stays are pulled through the guide rack causing the tail section to fold together in a substantially horizontal direction. 
   The second servo motor is located in the neck region of the decoy to generate a substantially vertical movement of the head, simulating a feeding motion of the animal. The design and operation of the motor, including the rotating arm, the connecting rod, the guide shaft and the ferrule is the same as for the tail section, except that as few as one stay need be used to move the head up and down. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  shows a cut-away view of the animated wildfowl decoy of the present invention having the body of a wild turkey. 
       FIG. 2A  shows the activation mechanism for fanning the tail feathers in their retracted state. 
       FIG. 2B  shows the activation mechanism of  FIG. 2A  with the tail feathers fully fanned out. 
       FIG. 3A  shows a view of the tail feathers from the perspective of line  3 A- 3 A of  FIG. 2A . 
       FIG. 3B  shows a view of the tail feathers from the perspective of line  3 B- 3 B of  FIG. 2B . 
       FIG. 4A  shows a cut-away view of the head region and the activation mechanism for moving the head vertically with the head in a downward position. 
       FIG. 4B  shows a cut away view of the head region and the activation mechanism for moving the head vertically with the head in an upright position. 
       FIG. 5A  shows an encapsulated tail section. 
       FIG. 5B  shows the various components of the encapsulated tail section. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   Referring to  FIG. 1 , a cut-away of the animated wildfowl decoy  10  of the present invention is shown. The wildfowl decoy consists of the body of a turkey  12  having a head  14  connected to the body  12  by neck region  16 . At the other end of the body  12  is the tail section  18 , which may be provided as a separate element, as will be explained later. The body  12  is affixed to a mounting post  13  which can be forcibly inserted into the ground to enable the wildfowl decoy  10  to be securely placed anywhere the hunter desires. 
   Inside the body  12  are two servo motors, a servo motor in the neck region, designated as  24   a , and a servo motor to operate the tail section, designated as  24   b . Referring to  FIGS. 2A and 2B , the mechanism to operate the tail section  18  is shown. Power source  40  ( FIG. 1 ) provides the necessary energy to run the tail servo motor  24   b . When energized, the drive shaft  26   b  of tail servo motor  24   b  rotates about its axis. The end of the drive shaft  26   b  is secured to one end of an arm  28   b . The other end of arm  28   b  is pivotally secured to a first end of connecting rod  30   b . The second end of connecting rod  30   b  is connected to a ferrule  32   b , which is slibably mounted around guide shaft  34   b . Around the outer perimeter of ferrule  32   b  are attached one end of a plurality of tail feather stays  20 . The tail feather stays are loosely connected to each other by a flexible fabric  22 , which may be painted or otherwise printed to resemble the feathers of a live turkey. 
   When the servo motor  24   b  is turned on, the shaft  26   b  rotates so that the end of the arm  28   b  that is remote from the drive shaft  26   b  moves in a generally circular pattern. The circular motion of the remote end of the arm  28   b  causes the connecting rod  30   b  to move in a linear direction toward or away from the tail section  18 . When the connecting rod  30   b  is at the apex of its travel away from the tail section  18 , the ferrule  32   b  pulls the tail feather stays  20  through a tail guide rail  36  so that the tail section  18  appears to be folded and substantially horizontally positioned with respect to the body  12 . Please refer to  FIG. 3A  which shows this position from the perspective of looking down the axis of guide shaft  34   b  toward the tail section  18 . 
   As the shaft  26   b  continues to rotate, it will swing arm  28   b  so that connecting rod  30   b  begins to push ferrule  32   b  toward the tail region  18 . As this happens, the tail feather stays  20  are urged by the tail guide rail  36  to separate from each other and move toward a substantially vertical direction, which makes it look like the wildfowl decoy  10  is fanning its tail feathers in imitation of the normal motions of a male turkey (note  FIG. 2B ).  FIG. 3B  gives a view of the fully fanned out tail feathers looking down the axis of guide shaft  34   b.    
   The mechanism for providing a reciprocal vertical motion to the head is essentially the same as that which has just been described with respect to the tail region. Referring to  FIGS. 4A and 4B , a servo motor  24   a  has a rotating drive shaft  26   a  that is connected to one end of an arm  28   a . The remote end of arm  28   a  is pivotally secured to a first end of connecting rod  30   a . The second end of connecting rod  30   a  is secured to ferrule  32   a , which is slidably mounted around guide shaft  34   a . The outer perimeter of ferrule  32   a  is pivotally secured to a first end of at least one head control stay  38 . The second end of head control stay  38  is securely mounted to the inside surface of the body within either the head  14  or upper neck  16 . As the servo motor  24   a  is energized, the drive shaft  26   a  causes the remote end of arm  28   a  to move in a circular pattern. At the apex of the travel of arm  28   a  away from the head  14 , the connecting rod has pulled ferrule  32   a  to its most rearward position on guide shaft  34   a , which, in turn, pulls head control stay  38  so that the head  14  of the wildfowl decoy  10  is at its highest vertical position. As the drive shaft  26   a  continues to rotate, the arm  28   a  pushes the connecting rod  30   a  to urge the ferrule  32   a  toward its forward most position, which in turn, causes the head  14  to drop, the combined up and down motion imitates the feeding motion of a live turkey. 
   As noted previously, the animated wildfowl decoy of the invention is energized by an internal power source  40 , which may consist of a pack of disposable batteries or a rechargeable battery. The actions of the animated wildfowl decoy  10  are controlled by a remote radio frequency (RF) transmitter (not shown). An internal RF receiver  42  receives inputs from the remote RF transmitter and directs the power source  40  to energize one or both of the servo motors. The RF transmitter may direct the wildfowl decoy  10  to move only its head, only its tail feathers, or, both motions may be ordered by the RF transmitter, as desired by the hunter. The RF receiver may also be programmed so that, in response to specific RF transmitter inputs, a choreographed predetermined sequence of motions may be made. 
   A unique embodiment of this invention is shown in  FIGS. 5A  and B. It relates only to the tail feather section of the decoy. The tail feather section, as best shown in  FIGS. 2A  and B, is partially encapsulated by a hollow container  50 . Substantially all but the tail feathers  22  and tail feather stays  20  are encased through a hole in one end of the container  50 . A power cord  52  provides the electricity needed to run the servo motor  24   b . It connects the servo motor  24   b  to a battery source  40  (please refer to  FIG. 1 ) via a conventional electrical connector  54 .  FIG. 5B  shows the various individual elements of the encapsulated tail section. An encapsulated tail section has the ability to be adapted to fit most conventional turkey decoys. Of course, those turkey decoys must have an electrical power source that is capable of being adapted to provide electric power to run the tail section servo motor. The electrical fittings may have to be adapted to mate with the power source of the decoy to which the encapsulated tail section is being added. As for installing the encapsulated tail section, it is a relatively simple process, and might simply include making an appropriately sized incision in the posterior region of the decoy, inserting the encapsulated tail section and securing it to the body of the decoy by any one of many conventional means of attachment. 
   Accordingly, it is to be understood that the embodiments of the invention herein described are merely illustrative of the application of the principles of the invention. Reference herein to details of the illustrated embodiments is not intended to limit the scope of the claims, which themselves recite those features regarded as essential to the invention.