Abstract:
A birdhouse that has separate multi-unit, compartmentalized nesting chamber towers that can easily be removably mounted together. Having multiple units removably attached allows for easy cleaning and removal from the pole, and decreases the spread of disease. Also, having multiple ventilation areas within the nesting chambers of the birdhouse allows for greater air movement within the towers. The ventilation will help decrease the suffocation of young birds during the hot and humid months.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
     Not Applicable  
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY-SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT  
     Not Applicable  
     REFERENCE TO AN APPENDIX  
     Not Applicable  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     This invention relates generally to a birdhouse, and more specifically to a multi-compartment birdhouse.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0004]     It is well established that the purple martin prefers to nest in a birdhouse. In the Northeastern United States, the purple martin is very dependent on man-made birdhouses for nesting and reproduction. The purple martin is a very sociable bird making human interaction and care attractive. An effective destroyer of flying insects, one purple martin can consume up to 2,000 insects a day.  
         [0005]     To facilitate a healthy colony of purple martins, it is necessary for the “landlord” to have access to the birdhouse. The birdhouse should be checked periodically and used nests should be removed. It is also important to check the nests for mites or lice that could stunt reproduction of the purple martin. It has been found that lowering the birdhouse and maintaining it will not disturb the purple martin or its young. Additionally, intruder species such as European starlings and English house sparrows invade the purple martin nests and out-compete the purple martin for nesting compartments. A landlord must diligently deter these species from invading the purple martin house.  
         [0006]     Prior art birdhouses adapted for the purple martin are compartmentalized and have been placed upon a pole. However, most prior art houses are within a single housing. In this case, if one nest becomes infected with lice or a disease the entire colony can become infected. Cleaning may also be problematic with a single housing. It may be too time consuming, for the novice landlord, to clean each nesting compartment of the entire house at once. Furthermore, removing prior art birdhouses from a pole is very difficult, because the birdhouses can only be removed at the ends of the pole.  
         [0007]     Therefore, there is a need for a purple martin birdhouse that has separate compartments that allow for easy cleaning and that decrease the spread of disease. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides other related advantages.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0008]     The invention is a birdhouse having a first pair of towers and a second pair of towers, each tower having four sidewalls attached to a floor and a ceiling, wherein two of the sidewalls are the back sidewalls of the towers and another two of the sidewalls are the front sidewalls of the towers. The back sidewall of a first tower is mounted to the sidewall of a second tower and the back sidewall of a third tower is mounted to the sidewall of a fourth tower. The birdhouse further includes a top mount unit and a base mount unit for removably mounting the first pair of towers to the second pair of towers, forming a central passageway.  
         [0009]     The birdhouse pairs make removal from a pole easier since the two pairs can be separated, thereby making removal simple. The birdhouse halves are simply withdrawn from opposite sides of the pole. The bottom mount unit remains on the pole so that when the halves are reassembled, the bottom mount unit is re-attached to keep the tower pairs rigidly mounted together around the pole.  
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]      FIG. 1  is a view in perspective illustrating an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0011]      FIG. 2  is a view in perspective illustrating a preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0012]      FIG. 3  is a bottom view illustrating a base mount unit of the present invention.  
         [0013]      FIG. 4  is a top view illustrating a top mount unit of the present invention.  
         [0014]      FIG. 5  is a view in perspective of an alternative embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0015]      FIG. 6  is a view in perspective of an alternative embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0016]      FIG. 7  is a front view illustrating a front sidewall of the present invention.  
         [0017]      FIG. 8  is a cross-sectional side view illustrating one tower of the present invention.  
         [0018]      FIG. 9  is a top view illustrating an alternative embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0019]      FIG. 10  is a side view illustrating an alternative embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0020]      FIG. 11  is a view in perspective illustrating a pole used in the present invention.  
         [0021]      FIG. 12  is a view in cross-section of an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0022]      FIG. 13  is a bottom view illustrating an alternative base mount unit of the present invention.  
         [0023]      FIG. 14  is a view in perspective illustrating an alternative embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
       [0024]     In describing the preferred embodiment of the invention, which is illustrated in the drawings, specific terminology will be resorted to for the sake of clarity. However, it is not intended that the invention be limited to the specific terms so selected, and it is to be understood that each specific term includes all technical equivalents, which operate in a similar manner to accomplish a similar purpose. For example, the word connected or terms similar thereto are often used. They are not limited to direct connection, but include connection through other elements where such connection is recognized as being equivalent by those skilled in the art.  
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0025]     The preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . The preferred embodiment is a birdhouse having a first tower  10  that has four sidewalls  11 ,  14 ,  17  and  18  attached to a floor  19  and a ceiling  15  and a second tower  20  having four sidewalls  21 ,  24 ,  27  and  28  attached to a floor  29  (see  FIG. 13 ) and a ceiling  25 . The towers are preferably made of wood, such as cedar, redwood or other weather-resistant materials, such as metal, plastic or a composite, such as fiberglass.  
         [0026]     In the first tower  10  and the second tower  20 , the sidewalls  14  and  24  form the fronts of the respective towers and the sidewalls  18  and  28  form the backs of the respective towers. This is significant because the back  18  of the first tower  10  is connected to the sidewall  27  of the second tower  20  to form a tower pair  5 . The towers  10  and  20  of the tower pair  5  are connected together, such as by glue, screws, nails or any other manner that is suitable, and when viewed from the top the tower pair  5  has an L-shape. In the preferred embodiment, the back sidewall  18  of the first tower  10  is mounted to the sidewall  27  of the second tower  20  near the front sidewall  24 . Alternatively, the back sidewall  18  of the first tower  10  can be mounted to the sidewall  27  of the second tower  20  near the back sidewall  28 .  
         [0027]     The preferred embodiment further includes a second tower pair  6  that includes a third tower  30  that has four sidewalls  31 ,  34 ,  37  and  38  attached to a floor  39  and a ceiling  35  and a fourth tower  40  that has four sidewalls  41 ,  44 ,  47  and  48  attached to a floor  49  and a ceiling  45 , as shown in  FIG. 2 . In the towers  30  and  40 , the sidewalls  23  and  44  form the fronts of the respective towers and the sidewalls  38  and  48  form the backs of the respective towers. The towers  30  and  40  of the tower pair  6  are connected together, such as by glue, screws, nails or any other manner that is suitable, and when viewed from the top the tower pair  6  has an L-shape. In the preferred embodiment, the back sidewall  38  of the third tower  30  is mounted to the sidewall  47  of the fourth tower  40  near the front sidewall  44 . Alternatively, the back sidewall  38  of the third tower  30  can be mounted to the sidewall  47  of the fourth tower  40  near the back sidewall  48 . Thus, ultimately all four towers are connected together to form the birdhouse.  
         [0028]     The L-shaped configuration of the tower pairs  5  and  6  makes it possible to removably attach the second pair  6  of towers to the first pair  5  of towers, and thereby form a central passageway  50  for inserting a pole  130 , shown in  FIG. 2 . More accurately, the tower pairs  5  and  6  are assembled around the pole by mounting the pairs together with the pole in the central passageway  50 .  
         [0029]     The tower pairs  5  and  6  are preferably removably mounted to each other by at least one top mount unit  70  and at least one removably mounted base mount unit  60 , shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 .  FIG. 2  shows the first tower pair  5  and the second tower pair  6  connected as preferred. Of course, the tower pairs  5  and  6  could be mounted together by other mounting means, such as screws, clamps, plates, or latches, to name a few of the fasteners that the person of ordinary skill will recognize as being possible substitutions for the mounting units  60  and  70 . The top and base mount units  60  and  70  are preferred, however, because they can be made in various shapes to accommodate various pole shapes. Thus, one birdhouse can be securely mounted to a variety of pole types and shapes simply by varying the top and base mount units.  
         [0030]     In the preferred embodiment, the base mount unit  60 , shown in  FIG. 3 , is a planar metal plate having two base mount brackets  68   a  and  68   b  extending co-planar to the main body. The base mount unit  60  can alternatively be made of wood, composite or a variety of suitable, commonly used materials and can be divided into two or more separate pieces if desired.  
         [0031]     There is a central opening  62  in the base mount unit  60  to accommodate the pole  130 . Prior to pole  130  installation, the base mount unit  60  is placed along and around the pole  130 . The base mount unit  60  remains on the pole  130  after removal of the tower pairs  5  and  6 . The central opening  62  is shaped to accommodate the shape of the pole  130 , whether circular, rectangular or any other shape.  
         [0032]     As shown in  FIG. 3 , the base mount unit  60  is attached to the tower pair  5  by inserting the threaded end of a carriage bolt through the opening  66  in the bracket  68   b  and into a bore formed in the floor  19 . The base mount unit  60  is attached to the other tower pair  6  by inserting the threaded end of another carriage bolt through an opening  67  in the bracket  68   a  and into a bore formed in the floor  39 . The brackets  68   a  and  68   b  are diagonally opposed on the base mount unit  60 , which offers a strong connection and by mounting the base mount unit  60  to both towers  5  and  6 , the towers  5  and  6  are rigidly mounted together.  
         [0033]     An alternative-mounting configuration is illustrated in  FIG. 13 . Here, the base mount unit  90  is a plate having four openings  97 ,  98 ,  99  and  100  for mounting the base mount unit  90  to the tower floors  19 ,  29 ,  39  and  49 . The threaded ends of four carriage bolts are inserted into each of the openings  97 ,  98 ,  99  and  100  and into a bore formed in the floors  19 ,  29 ,  39  and  49 , respectively. This alternative-mounting configuration rigidly attaches the tower pairs  5  and  6 . This is only one example of alternative mounting configurations. Of course, the person of ordinary skill will recognize other, equivalent mounting configurations.  
         [0034]     The base mount unit  60  has a cable guide or slot  63  through which the pulley cable  134  extends and a second opening  64  through which the terminating the end  136  of the cable  134  extends. The terminating end  136  of the cable, shown in  FIG. 12 , seats against the underside of the base mount unit  60 . The terminating end  136  of the cable is terminated in a conventional manner using a wire rope thimble (not shown) and two wire rope clamps  138   a  and  138   b . From the terminating cable end  136 , the cable  134  extends upwardly, through the opening  64  and through the opening  75  in the top mount unit and over the pulley at the top of the pole  130 . The cable  134  proceeds down the opposite pole side through the slot  63  to a winch, which controls the height of the birdhouse. An equivalent suitable material used to hoist a heavy object, such as a rope, can replace the pulley cable  134 .  
         [0035]     The base mount unit  60  has an air vent opening  65   a  and preferably a second air vent opening  65   b . The openings  65   a  and  65   b  aid in the movement of air through the towers  10 ,  20 ,  30  and  40  as described below by permitting air to enter the towers.  
         [0036]     The top mount unit  70 , shown in  FIG. 4 , is two half steel plates  71  and  72 , each having two top mount brackets  78   a ,  78   b ,  79   a  and  79   b , respectively, used to mount the top mount unit  70  to the inner sidewalls of each of the towers  10 ,  20 ,  30  and  40  which define the central passageway  50 . Screws are inserted through the brackets  78   a ,  78   b ,  79   a  and  79   b  into the sidewalls of the towers for securing the top mount unit  70  to the sidewalls of the towers. However, a variety of other connecting means, such as glue, nails, rivets, etc., may be used to secure the top mount unit  70  to the inner sidewalls of the towers  10 ,  20 ,  30  and  40 .  
         [0037]     The top mount unit  70  has an opening  74  for inserting the pole  130 , which is preferably the same shape and size as, and is aligned coaxially with, the opening  62  in the base mount unit  60 . The top mount unit  70  may be made of any suitable material including wood or composite. The brackets  78   a ,  78   b ,  79   a  and  79   b  can be of any other suitable design. There is at least one opening  73  between two of the brackets  78   b  and  79   b  for the pulley cable  134  to extend through. The cable  134  extends from the winch  132 , shown in  FIG. 11 , up through the hole  73  and over the pulley (not shown) mounted on the top of the pole  130  in a conventional manner. Preferably, there is a second opening  75  between the brackets  78   a  and  79   a  in which the cable  134  extends from the pulley to the terminating end  136  of the cable  134 .  
         [0038]     In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 5 , the roofs  80 ,  81 ,  82  and  83  are attached at an angle having a slight pitch to allow rain, snow, or other debris to slide off. The roofs  80 ,  81 ,  82  and  83  are mounted to the to the top of each tower  10   20 ,  30  and  40  leaving a gap  87  between the front sidewall  14  and the inner sidewall of the roof. This gap  87  allows air to move through the tower. The gap  87  in the embodiment extends along the front sidewall of the tower a sufficient distance. However, the gap  87  can be a variety of distances and shapes. In this embodiment, it is preferred that the ceilings  15 ,  25 ,  35  and  45  not be installed.  
         [0039]     Alternatively, each of the towers  10 ,  20 ,  30  and  40  can have a ceiling  15 ,  25 ,  35  and  45 , respectively, each of which is a single panel. The ceilings  15 ,  25 ,  35  and  45 , shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , are used in conjunction with four roof coverings  85   a ,  85   b ,  86   a  and  86   b , which form a roof with a central aperture aligned with the central passageway  50 , shown in  FIG. 6 . The ceilings  15 ,  25 ,  35  and  45  each have a vent  16 ,  26 ,  36  and  46  for allowing air to escape from the tower. The roof coverings  85   a ,  85   b ,  86   a  and  86   b  are then attached over the ceilings  15 ,  25 ,  35  and  45  to create a uniform rooftop to shed precipitation. The roof coverings  85   a ,  85   b ,  86   a  and  86   b  are also slightly pitched to prevent snow and debris materials from collecting on top of the house.  
         [0040]     The front sidewall  14  has a hinge  9  on one side, and preferably two aligned hinges for permitting opening and closing of the sidewall  14 . A fastener  8  is located opposite the hinged side for locking the sidewall  14  in a closed position. The fastener  8  in the preferred embodiment is a lynch pin closure used for locking the sidewall  14  in place. However, the fastener  8  can be any suitable type of locking closure available.  
         [0041]     As shown in  FIG. 7 , the front sidewall  14  has one or more bird-sized openings  13  for the birds to enter each nesting chamber  89  (shown in  FIG. 8 ). The openings  13  may be circular, crescent-shaped, or any other geometrical shape that birds will enter. Below each opening  13 , a porch  12  can be attached perpendicular to the front sidewall  14 . The birds use the porch  12  as an area to take off and land before entering the nesting chambers  89 . The porch  12  is preferred, but is not necessary to the function of the birdhouse.  
         [0042]     The front sidewall  14  has at least one air vent opening  7  for each nesting chamber  89 . The air vent opening  7  is a small circular hole to allow for airflow throughout the tower. The vent opening  7  is angled to force the air to enter near the top of the nesting chamber  89  and to prevent rain from being driven into the opening. However, the vent opening  7  can be any suitable geometric shape or angle. The openings  13  can also serve as air vents, which would eliminate the need for additional openings.  
         [0043]      FIG. 8  provides a cross-sectional side view of the first tower  10 . The tower  10  is representative of the towers  10 ,  20 ,  30  and  40 , and is described herein in detail. The towers  20 ,  30  and  40  are substantially identical to the tower  10 . The tower  10  has nesting chambers  89  formed between the partitions  88   a ,  88   b ,  88   c  and  88   d  that are substantially parallel to the floor  19  and that extend between the sidewalls  14  and  18  (remaining sidewalls not shown). Preferably, there is a nesting chamber  89  between each of the partitions  88   a - 88   d . In the preferred embodiment, the floor  19  serves as the partition  88   d . There can be as many nesting chambers in each tower as are desired, from one or two to several.  
         [0044]     As shown in  FIG. 1 , a cut-out portion of sidewall  11  shows that at least one gap  84  is formed between each of the partitions  88   a - 88   d  and the sidewall  18 . The gap  84  on the partition  88   a  shown in  FIG. 1  is found on all partitions in the preferred embodiment. Preferably, the gaps  84  are formed by chamfered corners on the partitions near the back sidewall  18  to allow air to flow through the tower. By leaving these gaps  84  in the partitions  88   a - 88   d , air can enter from the bottom of each tower and from each air vent at the front of each tower, and exit through a gap at the top of the birdhouse as described below.  
         [0045]     In the preferred embodiment, a gap is formed at both back corners of each of the partitions  88   a - 88   d . However, the gap  84  can be positioned at any position between each of the partitions and the four sidewalls  11 ,  14 ,  17  and  18 . For example, there can be four chamfered corners, or a gap at only one side of each of the partitions, or a half moon cut out of the back portion of the partitions. All of the nesting chambers  89  can have substantially the same type of gap  84  or a variety of different gaps can be incorporated into the chambers.  
         [0046]     A nesting tray  110 , as shown in  FIGS. 9 and 10 , may be inserted into the nesting chamber  89  for easier removal of the nest for cleaning. The nesting tray  110  comprises two sides  118  and  120 , a floor  115  and a back  116 . The floor  115  of the tray  110  preferably has two chamfered corners  114   a  and  114   b  that align with chamfered corners of the partitions  88   a - 88   d  for air movement. The front of the tray  110  is open to allow the birds to enter the tray. The tray  110  slidably engages, for example, the partition  88   a  inside the tower chamber and rests thereupon. The floor  115  of the tray  110  has at least two vent holes  113  for additional air movement. The nesting tray  110  can be easily removed from the nesting chamber for cleaning, replacement of old nests and to check on the young birds. Typically the purple martin does not mind if the nesting tray  110  is removed for cleaning as long as the tray is replaced and the tower is re-aligned when returned to the top of the pole.  
         [0047]      FIG. 11  shows a pole  130  that the birdhouse is raised and lowered axially along by a conventional winch and pulley system. The cable  134  is connected to the base mount unit  60  as described above. A conventional hand winch  132  is connected to the pole  130  for the user to raise and lower the birdhouse. The pole  130  is typically made of steel, but can be made of wood, composite or any other suitable material. The pulley at the top of the pole  130  works with the winch  132  and cable  134  in a conventional manner to raise and lower the birdhouse.  
         [0048]     The birdhouse is easily lowered from its operable orientation by releasing the tension of the cable  134 . Once the house is lowered, the screws extending through the top mount brackets are removed. In addition, the carriage bolts are removed from the base mount brackets  68   a  and  68   b , leaving the unattached base mount unit  60  and top mount unit  70  on the pole  130 . The tower pairs  5  and  6  are separated and are removed from the pole. The birdhouse may be removed, for example, from the pole  130  for winter storage, cleaning, and maintenance. These steps are reversed for re-attaching the tower pairs  5  and  6  to the pole.  
         [0049]     An “expansion unit” structure that can be added to the preferred birdhouse or any other similar birdhouse is shown in  FIG. 12  attached to a two-chamber-per-tower birdhouse. The expansion unit allows a person with a one or two-chamber birdhouse to double, triple or otherwise multiply the number of chambers in his or her birdhouse by attaching a pair of tower pairs beneath the existing tower pairs. The expansion unit has a third tower pair  205  and fourth tower pair  206 , each tower of each tower pair having four sidewalls attached to floors  219 ,  229 ,  239  and  249  and ceilings  215 ,  225 ,  235  and  245 , respectively. The sidewalls  214 ,  224 ,  234  and  244  form the fronts of the respective towers and the sidewalls  218 ,  228 ,  238  and  248  form the backs of the respective towers.  
         [0050]     The back sidewall  218  of the fifth tower  210  is connected to the sidewall  227  of the sixth tower  220  to form the tower pair  205 . The towers of the tower pair  205  are connected, such as by glue, screws, nails or any other manner that is suitable, and when viewed from the top the tower pair  205  has an L-shape. The back sidewall  218  of the fifth tower  210  is mounted to the sidewall  227  of the sixth tower  220  near the front sidewall  224 . Additionally, the back sidewall  238  of the seventh tower  230  is connected to the sidewall  247  of the eighth tower  240  to form the tower pair  206 . The towers of the tower pair  206  are connected, such as by glue, screws, nails or any other manner that is suitable, and when viewed from the top the tower pair  6  has an L-shape. The back sidewall  238  of the seventh tower  230  is mounted to the sidewall  247  of the eighth tower  240  near the front sidewall  244 .  
         [0051]     The ceilings  215 ,  225 ,  235  and  245 , respectively, are flat to allow for mounting with a fastener  250  to the floors of towers  310 ,  320 ,  330  and  340 . A metal T-shaped strip  268  has one leg  267  that is placed between the ceiling  215  and the tower  310 , while the arms  269  are mounted to the sidewalls of the towers  310  and  210  for support. The base mount unit  260 , which is the load bearing point for the house, is removably mounted to the floors  219  and  239 , as described above for the base mount unit  60 . This alternative embodiment gives the landlord an expansion unit to add more nesting chambers to a birdhouse to increase his or her purple martin population. The chambers, air vents, doors and other structures of the expansion unit are designed to match the corresponding structures in the birdhouse.  
         [0052]     While certain preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed in detail, it is to be understood that various modifications may be adopted without departing from the spirit of the invention or scope of the following claims.