Improvements in Houses for Poultry and the like.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 18th Oct., 1897
Complete Specification Left 18th Aug 1898 Accented 21th Sont
1000
Date of Application, 18th Oct., 1897
Complete Specification Left 18th Aug 1898 Accented 24th Sept 1000
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Houses for Poultry and the like.
We, STEPHEN WINGROVE, Manager to Spratt's Patent Limited, Henry Street,
Tooley Street, Bermondsey, in the County of London, GEORGE WILLIAM VINCENT,
Departmental Manager to Spratt's Patent Limited aforesaid, and HENRY
MITCHELL, of 146, Osborne Road, Forest Gate, in the County of Essex, Gentleman,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention has for its object to provide houses for poultry and the like with
devices whereby the doors which are adapted to be closed and locked overnight to
protect the poultry and the like against draughts and the intrusion of vermin or
foxes may be released or opened by the birds when these latter require to leave the
said structure,
Among the various ways of carrying out the invention the following has been
found to give very satisfactory results; this approved example is herein described
as a complete device or attachment which is easily applicable to an existing
poultry-house but we wish it understood that the said device may form an integral
part of the poultry-house.
Within a suitable frame adapted to be secured to the poultry-house outside of
the existing door-opening, is provided a sliding door having a glazed opening to
admit light to the interior of the house, and this door is attached by a cord or
equivalent to a weight which always tends to open or keep open the door.
At or near the bottom of the door we provide a hole for receiving a pin or bolt
which may for convenience be attached to the door by a chain; this pin or holt
when passed through the sliding door is adapted to engage with a pair of jaws
pivotted within the poultry-house, these jaws being held in engagement with the
said pin or bolt by suitable projections on a movable platform which is capable of
being depressed by the weight of the poultry or birds within the house.
The operation of the before-described apparatus may be described as follows:-
At night the door is closed and the pin or bolt is passed through it so that the
said bolt engages with the pivotted jaws after which the door cannot be opened
from the outside except by the removal of the bolt. In the morning the light
admitted through the glazed opening in the door, attracts the poultry to that part
of the house and the bird which first approaches the door, by its weight, depresses
the platform and releases the jaws from the bolt whereupon the door immediately
opens under the influence of the weight attached to it.
To prevent the poultry-food from being consumed by vermin, wild-birds or
the like or from becoming otherwise removed or damaged during the night we
provide the food trough with a lid which is weighted so that the said lid will
always tend to open or remain open, and on the door of the poultry house we
provide a rod so arranged that when the door is closed this rod will hold the lid of
the food-trough in its closed position and when the door opens the lid of the
food-trough opens simultaneously therewith. If desired the above named rod

page_text: may be formed in two parts pivotted together to admit of food-troughs of different
heights being employed at different times.
The before described apparatus may be modified in many ways, for example
instead of the before mentioned pin or bolt a lock operated by a detachable key
may be used, and various forms of catches may be devised to engage with the
locking pin or bolt, moreover a hinged door may be used instead of a sliding one.
Dated this 18th day of October 1897.
JOHNSONS & WILLCOX,
47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agents.
Improvements in Houses for Poultry and the like.
We, STEPHEN WINGROVE, Manager to Spratt's Patent Limited, 'Henry Street,
Tooley Street, Bermondsey, in the County of London, GEORGE WILLIAM VINCENT,
Departmental Manager to Spratt's Patent Limited aforesaid, and HENRY
MITCHELL, of 146, Osborne Road, Forest Gate, in the County of Essex, Gentleman,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to
be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
This invention has for its object to provide improvements in connection with
houses for poultry and the like having devices whereby the doors, which are
adapted to be closed and locked overnight to protect the poultry and the like
against draughts and the intrusion of foxes, or other vermin, may be released, or
opened by the birds when these latter require to leave the said houses.
In the accompanying drawings we have shewn the device in the form of an
attachment which can easily be applied to an existing poultry-house but the said
device may be made in one with the poultry-house if desired.
Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a portion of a device constructed according to
this invention.
Figs. 2 and 3 are vertical sections each taken on the line 2-3 of Fig. 1, Fig. 2
shewing the door closed and Fig. 3, shewing the door open.
Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2.
Figs. 5 and 6 are enlarged views shewing the device for fastening and releasing
the door, Fig. 5 representing the said device as engaging the door and Fig. 6
representing it as just after the door has been released, and
Figure 7 is an elevation of a modification of part of the device.
Like letters of reference indicate like parts throughout the several figures of
the drawings.
Within a suitable frame A adapted to be secured to the poultry-house B outside
of the existing door-opening b, is provided a sliding-door C having a glazed or
equivalent panel or opening e to admit light to the interior of the house, and
this door is attached by a cord or equivalent d to a weight D which always tends
to open, or keep open, the door.
At or near the bottom of the door C we provide a hole for receiving a pin or
bolt c¹ which may, for convenience, be attached to the door by a chain cas
shewn in the drawings; this pin or bolt, when passed through the sliding door C
is adapted to engage with a pair of jaws E pivotted within the poultry-house B,
these jaws, as shewn clearly in Fig. 5 being held in engagement with the said
pin or bolt by suitable projections f on a movable platform F which is capable of
being depressed by the weight of the poultry or birds within the house. In the

page_text: drawings the platform F is represented as pivotted at f¹ in a frame F¹ and pro-
vided with a counterweight which tends always to retain the platform in the
position in which it is shewn in Fig. 2, or to return it to such position after it has
been depressed, as shewn in Fig. 3, by the weight of a bird resting on, or walking
over, it. To the upper side of the pivotted platform F we prefer to hinge a
flap which extends over the jaws E to prevent these latter being clogged with
dirt or other obstructive matter, the said flap, like the end of the frame F being
slotted to allow of the free ascent and descent of the pin or bolt c. fare stops
secured in or to the frame F to prevent the platform from descending beyond the
limit necessary for allowing the jaws E to release the pin c¹.
The operation of the before-described apparatus may be described as follows:-
At night the door C is closed and the pin or bolt is passed through it so that
the said bolt engages with the pivotted jaws E as shewn in Figures 2, 4 and 5,
after which the door cannot be opened from the outside except by the removal
of the bolt. In the morning the light admitted through the glazed opening c
in the door C, attracts the poultry to that part of the house and the bird which
first approaches the door, by its weight, depresses the platform F and by lowering
the projections f in relation to the jaws E as shewn in Figure 6 allows the said
jaws to fall away from, and thereby release the bolt c' whereupon the door C, as
shewn in Figures 3 and 6, immediately opens under the influence of the weight D.
To prevent the poultry food from being consumed by vermin, wild birds or the
like or from becoming otherwise removed or damaged during the night, we pro-
vide the food trough G with a pivotted lid g which is weighted as at gl so that
the said lid will always tend to open or remain open as shewn in Figure 3, and
on the door C of the poultry house we provide a rod H so arranged that when
the door is closed, this rod will hold the lid of the food-trough in its closed
position as shewn in Figure 2, and when the door opens the lid of the food
trough opens simultaneously therewith as indicated in Figure 3. If desired, the
above named rod as shewn in the drawings may be formed in two parts pivotted
together at h to admit of food troughs of different heights being employed at
different times.
Instead of keeping the lid g of the food trough G closed by the apparatus last
described we may attain this result by employing the apparatus shewn in Figure 7
comprising a chain H¹ attached, at its lower end to the back part of the lid g,
and at its upper end to one arm i of a lever I pivotted to the frame A. The
other arm of the lever I projects into the path of a projection j on the door C
so that when the latter is in its closed position the lid g will also be closed and
when the said door is raised the weight g¹ on the lid g will cause the lid to
open, the lever I then assuming the position in which it is shewn in dotted lines
in Figure 7.
J is a ladder (shewn in dotted lines in Figure 3) for enabling the poultry or
birds to have ready access to and from the house B.
""
Although we have herein described this invention as applied to what is usually
known as a "poultry-house we wish it to be understood that we may apply it
to other structures for enclosing poultry and the like, the word "house" herein-
after employed in the claims being intended to include all such structures.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is:-
1. In a house for poultry and the like the combination with the door thereof,
of a pin or bolt adapted to be passed through it, pivotted jaws such
as E for engaging with the pin or bolt, and projections such as f for
engaging with the said jaws and capable of being moved by the weight of a bird
so as to release the jaws, substantially as herein before described with reference
to the accompanying drawings.
2. The combination with a house for poultry and the like having a door capable

page_text: of being released by the weight of a bird inside the house, of a device in operative
connection with the door, and a food-trough having a counter-weighted or
equivalent lid which is retained by the said device in its closed position when the
door is closed substantially as herein before described with reference to the accom-
panying drawings.
3. The combination and arrangement of parts constituting the house for poultry
and the like substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accom-
panying drawings.
Dated th: 1011 f
1000
JOHNSONS & WILLCOX,
47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agents.