IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR REGULATING THE SUPPLY OF FOOD TO CATTLE, SHEEP, AND OTHER ANIMALS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Peter Love, of Northampton, in the County of
Northampton, General Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS
FOR REGULATING THE SUPPLY OF FOOD TO CATTLE, SHEEP, AND OTHER
ANIMALS."
Sealed the 24th April 1868, and dated the 25th October 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Peter Love at the Office:
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 25th October,
1867.
I, PETER LOVE, of Northampton, in the County of Northampton, General
Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR REGULATING THE SUPPLY OF FOOD TO CATTLE, SHEEP, AND OTHER
ANIMALS." to be as follows:-
The chief object of this Invention is to provide a self-regulating supply of
food to the feeding troughs used on stock and other farms, so that the waste of..
food at present experienced may be avoided: The apparatus admits of various.

page_text: modifications in respect of its form, and it may either be stationary or mounted
on wheels like a carriage for facility of transport. Ths simplest form of the
apparatus is a conical hopper supported in and made fast to a circular
frame. This circular frame is conveniently made of say three hollow cast-iron
pillars standing up from a base frame and braced together by rings, on the
upper one of which the conical hopper rests. A conical cap forms a cover to
the hopper and its lip is a gutter to collect the rain and lead it off down the
hollow pillars to the ground. Below the hopper is placed a circular trough.
This trough is forined with a central conical projection which enters the lower
end of the hopper and is intended to leave only a narrow aunular space for the
escape of the food therefrom into the trough. The trough is connected by a
ball-and-socket joint with a suitably supported central screwed shaft which
passes through the ball that is screwed to receive it. The shaft on being
turned will therefore raise or lower the ball and with it the trough, as may be
desired to regulate the size of the annular space for the discharge of the food
from the hopper. The trough is made free to rock on the adjustable ball and
it may be assisted in maintaining a horizontal position by means of coiled
springs placed beneath it. The fixed frame is fitted with vertical and horizontal
bars which will serve to keep apart the animals while feeding. The apparatus,
.although regulated for the proper delivery of the food to the trough, will
sometimes get clogged and at portions of the circumference of the hopper the
food will cease to discharge into the trough. When this occurs the pressure
of the nose of the sheep or other animal against the trough in its attempts to
get at the food will cause the trough to tip, and thus the space for the discharge
of the food into the trough will for the moment be increased sufficiently to
allow the arrested mass that blocks the feed to escape into the trough. The
trough will then resume its horizontal position. A door is to be made in the
When constructing the
cover of the hopper for the insertion of the food.
apparatus on a larger scale I make it oblong with rounded ends, and the
middle or raised part of the trough I provide with an axle which is supported
in bearings carried by pendent screw rods. These rods pass through lugs
carried by the main frame and are held in place by adjustable nuts. The
trough is weighted in the middle to increase its tendency to maintain a
horizontal position, but it will be free as in the first described arrangement to
tip on one side to facilitate the discharge of the food into the trough. In order
that the apparatus may at pleasure be converted into a hay crib the sides of the
hopper are fitted with a grid which is closed by hinged shutters that open
inwards. When the shutters are opened and secured in that position, hay

page_text: fed into the elongated hopper through a door in the roof may be drawn out
through the grid by the cattle or sheep as from an ordinary hay crib.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Peter Love in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 25th
April 1868.
.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PETER
Love, of Northampton, in the County of Northampton, General Agent, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me
the said Peter Love, Her special licence that I, the said Peter Love,
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Peter
Love, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, usė, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR REGU-
LATING THE SUPPLY OF FOOD TO CATTLE, SHEEP, AND OTHER ANIMALS,"
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Peter Love, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their
hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent,
upon the
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Peter Love, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had. to the Drawing hereunto annexed and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
The chief object of this Invention is to provide a self-regulating supply of
food to the feeding troughs used on stock and other farms, and in such a'
manner that the waste of food at present experienced may be avoided.

page_text: The apparatus admits of various modifications in respect of its form, and it
may either be stationary or mounted on wheels like a carriage for facility of
transport.
In Sheet I. of the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 represents in elevation,
Fig. 2 in plan view, and Fig. 3 in vertical section the simplest form of the
apparatus, which consists of a conical hopper (supported in and made fast to
a circular frame) for containing the food and partially closed at bottom by a
circular trough which is pendent from a central rod and is free to swing thereon.
A, A, is the circular frame composed of three hollow cast-iron pillars which
stand up from a base frame A* and are braced together by metal rings. On
the upper of these rings rests the conical hopper B which is constructed by
preference of galvanized sheet iron and is made fast to the frame by radial
coupling rods a, a. A conical cap B* forms a cover to the hopper and the lip
of the cover serves as a gutter to collect any rain which may fall upon it and
discharge it down the hollow pillars and through spouts at their foot to the
ground. Below the hopper is suspended the circular trough C also formed
by preference of galvanized sheet iron; this trough C has a central conical
projection C which enters the lower end of the hopper B and is intended to
leave only a narrow annular space for the escape of the food therefrom into
the trough. The trough is connected by a ball-and-socket joint with a
central screwed vertical shaft D which passes through the cover B* and
through the base frame A* and is made fast thereto by nuts fitted to its
screwed ends. The shaft is further supported by a shoulder of the shaft resting
in a seat formed for it in the cast-iron tripod E. The shaft D above this
seat is screwed to receive an adjustable socket b6 which carries the ball c for the
trough to rest on. Secured to the upper end of the conical projection of the
trough is a socket piece d fitted to and resting upon the ball. It will now be
understood that on the socket 6 being turned the ball and with it the trough
will be raised and lowered, as may be desired, to regulate the size of the
annular space for the discharge of the food from the hopper. The trough is
made free to rock on the adjustable ball and it is assisted in maintaining a
horizontal position by means of coiled springs e, e, placed beneath it. The
frame A is fitted with vertical bars f which serve to keep apart the animals
while feeding and prevent them from treading on the food. A door is made
in the conical cap or cover B* to provide access to the interior of the trough
for the purpose of. filling the same. The apparatus, although regulated for
the proper delivery of the food to the trough, will sometimes get clogged, and
at portions of the circumference of the hopper the food will cease to discharge

page_text: into the trough. When this occurs the pressure against the trough of the
noses of the sheep or other animals feeding in their attempts to get at the
food will cause the trough to tip, and thus the space for the discharge of the
food from the hopper into the trough will for the moment be increased
sufficiently to allow the arrested mass that blocks the feed to escape into the
trough. When this is effected the trough will again resume its horizontal
position.
When constructing the apparatus on a large scale I make it oblong with
rounded ends as shewn in Sheet II., where Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the
apparatus, one end being represented in section; Fig. 5 is a plan view of the
same, and Fig. 6 is a vertical transverse section taken in the line 1, 2, of
Fig. 4. In this arrangement the oblong frame A, A, is made chiefly of
timber and is mounted upon running wheels instead of a base frame as in
Sheet I., but a stationary or base frame may be used if thought desirable.
The oblong hopper B is made with flat inclined sides formed partly of
galvanized sheet iron and partly of boards or shutters. The ends of the
hopper are rounded, the incline being preserved. The middle or raised part
of the oblong trough C is provided with a longitudinal axle c which is
supported in bearings carried by pendent screw rods c. These rods pass
through lugs carried by plates & made fast by screw bolts and nuts to the
wood frame, and by means of adjusting nuts these pendent rods will hold the
trough suspended at any required elevation with respect to the hopper to
adapt the rate of discharge of the food into the trough to the requirements of
the animals feeding. To increase the tendency of the trough to maintain a
horizontal position, pressure springs are used as in the first described
arrangement, their strength being such as to leave the trough free to tip on
one side to facilitate the discharge of the food into the trough. In order
that the apparatus may at pleasure be converted into a hay crib the sides of
the hopper B are fitted with a grid formed of vertical bars f; this grid is
closed by hinged shutters f', f, that open inwards as shewn by dots at
Fig. 6. When the shutters are opened and secured in that position by hooks
or buttons, hay fed into the elongated hopper through a door in the roof may
be drawn out through the grid by the cattle or sheep as from an ordinary hay.
crib, the space between the vertical bars of the framing being sufficient to
enable the animals to reach the grid with ease.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "Improved Apparatus
for Regulating the Supply of Food to Cattle and other Animals," and
explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it be understood

page_text: that under the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim, the means above
described for affording a regulated supply of food to the troughs used in
feeding sheep and cattle.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter Love, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-second day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
PETER LOVE.
(L.S.)