Abstract:
A totally enclosed remote feeder for periodically dispensing feed is shown. A rechargeable battery powers a compressor which fills a pressure tank to a predetermined pressure. A timer operates a solenoid at predetermined intervals to cause a blast of air from the pressure tank to flow out through upwardly angled discharged pipe. Feed from an internal hopper flows downward in the discharge pipe in a predetermined amount prior to being discharged by the blast of air.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Technical Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    This invention relates to an apparatus and method for feeding wildlife and aquatics and, more particularly, to an enclosed feeder that can be filled while standing on the ground, yet projects a quantity of feed a distance away from the feeder with a sudden burst of pressurized air. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Prior Art 
         [0004]    In many parts of the United States, hunting has become big business. On many ranches, more money is made off the hunting leases than is made off the raising of livestock. To attract hunters and to get a premium price for a lease, it is important that the hunters be able to kill the game they are hunting. 
         [0005]    The most common method of hunting white-tailed deer is the use of a feeder that periodically feeds the deer. A blind for the hunter is located a short distance away, but within line of sight with the feeder. Leading up to the hunting season, feed such as corn is put in a feeder that will automatically dispense the feed at a predetermined time, normally shortly after daybreak. By the time hunting season arrives, the deer is used to going to the feeder after daybreak to eat some dispensed feed (typically corn). 
         [0006]    When hunting season arrives, the hunter goes out to a deer blind that is within visible shooting distance of the deer feeder. The hunter will arrive before the scheduled dispensing of feed. If everything works according to plan, shortly after daybreak, the deer feeder will dispense feed, the deer will arrive and at daybreak, the hunter will have an opportunity to harvest the deer feeding next to the deer feeder. 
         [0007]    Following the above scenario, whoever is managing the deer lease will periodically fill the deer feeders. Many different types of deer feeders have been designed, built and installed on leases. One type of deer feeder is located up high in a tree or on a stand. These types of deer feeders have to be lowered, or have some way provided, so that a person can fill the deer feeder. This is a very cumbersome task and sometimes requires two people. 
         [0008]    Another problem that exists is that wild animals may get into or tip over the deer feeders. Wild or feral hogs are a problem in many parts of the country. The wild or feral hogs will root around and tip over the deer feeder, causing the feed to spill on the ground. Also, wild animals or rodents may get up inside of the deer feeder itself to eat the feed. 
         [0009]    Another problem that exists with the current deer feeders is the deer feeders do not dispense an accurate measured quantity of feed. The feed that is dispensed has a tendency to fall right below the deer feeder and not be projected some distance away from the deer feeder. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0010]    It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method and apparatus for feeding wildlife and aquatics. 
         [0011]    It is another object of the present invention to provide a feeder that can be filled by someone standing on the ground. 
         [0012]    It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a feeder that cannot be tipped over, spilled, or destroyed by surrounding wildlife. 
         [0013]    It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a feeder that will project feed a substantial distance away from the feeder. 
         [0014]    It is still another object of the present invention to provide a feeder that can periodically be filled by one person and has a timer for dispensing measured amounts of feed at predetermined times. 
         [0015]    The feeder is located relatively close to the ground with a top that can be removed and the feeder refilled by someone standing on the ground. A hopper inside of the feeder holds the feed until the feed is dispensed out of a discharge pipe upon receiving a blast of pressurized air. Upon receiving a blast of pressurized air, any feed contained in the discharge pipe is shot out of the end thereof. This causes the feed to be hurled a substantial distance away from the feeder. By angling the discharge pipe at an angle of between 30° and 45°, the maximum projection of the feed can be accomplished from a predetermined air blast. 
         [0016]    To make the system self-sustaining, solar panels are used to recharge batteries, which batteries operate a compressor that will fill a tank with pressurized air. With the proper operation of solenoid valves, periodic blasts of air can be dispensed from a discharge pipe. Meanwhile, if the discharge pipe is filled with feed, the feed will be blown out of the discharge pipe with the pressurized air. By the proper use of the timer and the setting of the feeder, predetermined amounts of feed can be dispensed at predetermined intervals by the feeder. By having the entire feeder enclosed, animals or rodents cannot get into the feeder and eat the non-dispensed feed. Also, by having the feeder totally enclosed, the likelihood that a wild animal will damage the feeder is greatly reduced. By the top of the feeder being approximately shoulder height, a single individual can dump feed into the top of the feeder. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0017]      FIG. 1  is a cut-away perspective view of the feeder. 
           [0018]      FIG. 2  is a top view of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0019]      FIG. 3  is a side view of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0020]      FIG. 4  is a top view of the inside of the feeder with the lid removed. 
           [0021]      FIG. 5  is a top view of the control portion of the feeder. 
           [0022]      FIG. 6  is an illustrative electrical schematic of the feeder. 
           [0023]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view of the feeder with various attachments being illustrated to disperse the feed. 
           [0024]      FIG. 8  is a partial sectional view of the discharge pipe of the feeder. 
           [0025]      FIG. 8A  is a bottom view of  FIG. 8  along lines  8   a - 8   a.    
           [0026]      FIG. 8B  is a cross-sectional view of  FIG. 8  along section lines  8   b - 8   b.    
           [0027]      FIG. 9A  is a top view the end of the discharge pipe of the feeder with an attachment thereon. 
           [0028]      FIG. 9B  is a cross-sectional view of  FIG. 9   a  along section lines  9   b - 9   b.    
           [0029]      FIG. 9C  is an end view of  FIG. 9   a.    
           [0030]      FIG. 10A  is a top view the end of the discharge pipe of the feeder with an attachment thereon. 
           [0031]      FIG. 10B  is a cross-sectional view of  FIG. 10A  along section lines  10 B- 10 B. 
           [0032]      FIG. 10C  is an end view of  FIG. 10A . 
           [0033]      FIG. 11  is an end view of the discharge pipe of the feeder with a different attachment thereon. 
           [0034]      FIG. 12  is a partial sectional view of the feeder illustrating an alternative way of filling the discharge pipe. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0035]    Referring to  FIGS. 1 ,  2  and  3  in combination, the feeder represented generally by reference numeral  20  is shown. The feeder  20  is approximately shoulder height and has a rectangular box shape  22 . The rectangular box shape  22  has a top  24  connected on one side by hinges  26 . The top  24  may be secured in a closed position by safety hasp  28 . 
         [0036]    The rectangular box shape  22  has a bottom  30  that can sit directly on the ground, but in the preferred embodiment has corner braces  32  extending out from each of the corners. The corner braces  32  may be angled out and welded on the upper ends thereof to the corners of the rectangular box shape  22 . Being angled out towards the bottom prevents the feeder  20  from being tipped over by animals. 
         [0037]    On the upper outside of the rectangular box shape  22  is a solar panel  34  that connects to the internal controls as will be subsequently described. 
         [0038]    By opening the lid  24  on the feeder  20  as shown in  FIG. 3 , an individual can fill an internal hopper with feed such as corn. The internal hopper  36  is shown in  FIG. 4 . The internal hopper  36  has a discharge opening  38  through which feed contained in the internal hopper  36  may flow. The discharge opening  38  connects to a T-joint  40  (see  FIG. 1 ). 
         [0039]    Referring to  FIG. 3 , a door  42  is provided in the bottom of the rectangular box shape  22 , which door  42  is mounted on hinges  44  and may be closed with a safety hasp  46 . Inside of the door  42  is the firing mechanism  48  of the feeder  20  (see  FIG. 1 ). The electrical schematic diagram of the firing mechanism  48  is shown in  FIG. 6 . 
         [0040]    Referring to  FIGS. 1 ,  5  and  6  in combination, a rechargeable battery  50  is mounted on the bottom  30  of the rectangular box shape  22 . The rechargeable battery  50  connects to a pressure switch  52  that measures the pressure inside of pressure tank  54 . Also, a pressure indicator  56  (see  FIG. 1 ) gives a visual indication as to the pressure inside of pressure tank  54 . 
         [0041]    If the pressure measured by the pressure switch  52  drops below a predetermined pressure, switches are closed by the pressure switch  52  and filling solenoid  58  is activated closing normally open contacts  60 , thereby connecting the compressor  62  to the battery  50 . The compressor  62  will draw air in through the filter  64  and discharge compressed air through compressed air line  66  to the pressure tank  54 . Once pressure inside a pressure tank  54  reaches the predetermined level, power to the filling solenoid  58  will be removed and normally open contacts  60  opened. 
         [0042]    After the pressure tank  54  has been filled, timer  68 , which connects to the rechargeable battery  50 , is set so that at a designated time, contacts will close connecting firing solenoid  70  to the rechargeable battery  50 . Upon connecting the firing solenoid  70  to the rechargeable battery  50 , the firing solenoid  70  operates solenoid valve  72 . Solenoid valve  72  is only activated for a fraction of a second before it closes again. During that fraction of a second, a blast of air leaves the pressure tank  54 , moves through tank elbow  74 , through solenoid valve  72  and discharge elbow  76 . Then, the blast of pressurized air moves through connecting tube  78 , flare  80  to T-joint  40 . Anything located in T-joint  40 , such as animal feed, is blasted out of discharge pipe  82  with the burst of pressurized air. The upper opening  84  in the T-joint  40  is connected to the discharge opening  38  of the internal hopper  36 . See  FIGS. 1 ,  4  and  5  in combination. 
         [0043]    To keep the rechargeable battery  50  charged, the solar panel  34  is connected to the rechargeable battery  50  (see  FIG. 6 ). The solar panel  34  includes the necessary components to generate electricity from sunlight to recharge rechargeable battery  50 . In case something shorts out in the electrical circuit shown in  FIG. 6 , a fuse  86  is included in the circuit. 
         [0044]    To control the direction in which the feed will be projected out of discharge pipe  82 , different attachments may be connected to the end of the discharge pipe  82 . Some alternative connections that may be connected to the end of the discharge pipe  82  are shown in  FIG. 7 , such as the side flare  88 , T-joint connection  90 , slight flare  92 , directional attachment  94  or large flair  96 . Each of these attachments will project the animal feed in a different pattern. 
         [0045]    To adjust the amount of feed being projected out of the discharge pipe  82 , the T-joint  40  may be modified as shown in  FIGS. 8 ,  8   a  and  8   b . A perforated plate  98  is located in the passage  100  of the T-joint  40 . The perforated plate  98  is attached to one end of half-cylinder  102  by any convenient means, such as welding. The blast of air can move through the perforations in the perforated plate  98 . The position of the perforated plate  98  and the half-cylinder  102  may be adjusted by removing the wing nut  104  and moving the screw  106 , which attaches to the half cylinder  102 , to one of the other holes  108  of the T-joint  40 . As shown in  FIG. 8   a , the screw  106  can move along the slot  110  until it would reach a new notch  112 . 
         [0046]    By moving the perforated plate  98  to the left as shown in  FIG. 8 , more feed will accumulate inside of the T-joint  40 . By moving the perforated plate  98  to the right, less feed will accumulate in the T-joint  40 . In this manner, the amount of feed being delivered can be regulated. 
         [0047]    One of the problems that has existed in the past is that animals and varmints would go inside of any opening to get to the feed contained inside of a deer feeder. To prevent that from occurring with the present invention, a hinge cover  114  is threadably connected to the end of discharge pipe  82  as shown in  FIGS. 10A ,  10 B, and  10 C. As seen in the top view of  FIG. 10A , the hinge cover  114  is connected to a hinge pin  116  via a cover retainer  118 . On the opposite end of the cover retainer  118  is a counterweight  117  that is just enough weight to retain hinge cover  114  to the closed position, but requiring very little internal pressure to open hinge cover  114 , similar to what may be on an exhaust pipe. The cover retainer  118  is connected to the hinged cover  114  by any convenient means such as welding. In the middle between the hinge cover  114  and the counterweight  117 , the cover retainer  118  is pivotally connected through hinge pin  116  to hinge bracket  120  on discharge pipe  82 . The hinge pin  116  is held in position by carter key  122 . 
         [0048]    By use of the hinge cover  114  with counterweight  117  as described in  FIGS. 10A through 10C , once the blast of air comes through the discharge pipe  82 , the hinge cover  114  will swing back out of the way for the blast of air and feed exiting the discharge pie  82 . Once the blast of air has passed, the counterweight  117  is just enough to cause hinge cover  114  to swing back into place to cover up the large flare  96  shown in  FIGS. 10A and 10B . 
         [0049]    If the discharge pipe has a directional attachment  94  attached thereto as shown in  FIG. 11 , the hinge cover  114  will have to connect to a hinge bracket  124  that is mounted on the end of directional attachment  94 . The hinged cover  114  will connect to the hinge bracket  124  via cover retainer  126 , which has a counterweight  117  on the opposite end thereof. 
         [0050]      FIGS. 9A through 9C  illustrate the use of an elliptical flare  128  connected to the end of the discharge pipe  82 . The elliptical cover  130  connects to the previously described hinge pin  116  via cover retainer  118 . Again, the hinge pin, which extends through cover retainer  118  and hinge bracket  120  is held into position by carter key  122 . By use of the elliptical flare  128  as shown in  FIGS. 9   a  through  9   c , the feed will be dispensed over a wider area. The counterweight  117  insures a minimum force is used to return elliptical cover  130  to the closed position after the blast of air and feed passes there through. 
         [0051]    Referring now to  FIG. 12 , an alternative way of controlling the amount of feed being projected out the discharge pipe  82  is shown. By having a removable restriction  132  between the internal hopper  136  and the T-joint  40 , the amount of feed  134  flowing into the T-joint  40  is controlled. Therefore, when a blast of air comes through the T-joint  40 , only the amount of feed  134  that is fed down into T-joint  40  will be propelled out of the end of the discharge pipe  82 . Proper sizing of the restriction  132 , will control how much feed  134  will be propelled out of discharge pipe  82  during each cycle. 
         [0052]    The restriction  132  may be dropped into the discharge opening  38  (see  FIG. 4 ) and held in position by the upper flange  136 . Once feed  134  is placed in the internal hopper  36 , the amount of feed  134  that will flow through the restriction  132  into T-joint  40  is controlled by the angle of repose of the feed  134 . The restriction  132  can be changed, which will change the amount of feed  134  flowing into the T-joint  40 , and being discharged during each blast of air.