IMPROVEMENTS IN TROUGHS FOR FEEDING ANIMALS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Webster, of 22, Bunhill Row, Finsbury, in
the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TROUGHS
FOR FEEDING ANIMALS."-Partly a communication.
Sealed the 4th November 1856, and dated the 10th September 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Webster at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
10th September 1856.
I, WILLIAM WEBSTER, of 22, Bunhill Row, Finsbury, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN TROUGHS FOR FEEDING ANIMALS," partly a communication from abroad,
to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of appa-
ratus connected with troughs for feeding animals, whereby greater cleanliness
in feeding, and economy of food is obtained. The improvements consist in the
employment of a guard or guards fitted over the feed trough, and so disposed
as to prevent the animal from putting his feet into the trough or basin, and
also from throwing the food out of the trough and wasting it, his head alone
having free access to the food. This guard may either be fixed to the ordinary
front of the pen, or it may be fixed to a hanging door which is suspended

page_text: from hinges above. By this latter arrangement the trough or basins may be
supplied with food by simply pushing back the hanging door, and thereby
exposing the trough or basin to be either filled with fresh food, or to be cleaned
out, as the case may be.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Webster in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
16th December 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
WEBSTER, of 22, Bunhill Row, Finsbury, in the County of Middlesex, send
greeting.
.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Webster, Her special license that I, the said William Webster, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Webster, my executors, administrators, or 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, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TROUGHS FOR
FEEDING ANIMALS," (partly a communication from abroad,) upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Webster, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Webster, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following state-
ment, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the letters
and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
The said Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of
apparatus connected with troughs for feeding animals, whereby greater clean-

page_text: liness in feeding, and economy of food are obtained. The improvements consist
in the employment of a guards or guards fitted over the feed trough, and so
disposed as to prevent the animal from putting his feet into the trough or
basin, and also from throwing the food out of the trough and wasting it, his
head alone having free access to the food; this guard may either be fixed to
the ordinary front of the pen, or it may be fixed to a hanging door which is
suspended from hinges above. By this latter arrangement the trough or basins
may be supplied with food from the outside of the pen by simply pushing the
hanging door in towards the pen, and thereby exposing the trough or basins to
be either filled with fresh food or to be cleaned out, as the case may be. A
sliding bar, or other suitable catch, may be made to hold the door back during
the operation of cleaning and filling the feeding basins.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the accompanying Drawing, which represents a perspective view of my
improved feeding trough in use.
A represents the actual feeding trough, which is fitted with a number of
basins B, B, each animal having a separate basin to feed out of, in place of
them all eating from one common trough. At the back of the trough are
fitted one, two, or more hanging doors C, C¹, which are hinged at D, D, to the
fixed horizontal rails E, E, being supported by the upright posts F, F. On
the inner sides of these doors is fitted a set of guards G, G, each arranged so
as to stand out at right angles, or nearly so, to the doors, and to project over
each of the feeding basins B. These guards may consist of three bars g, g,
screwed to the doors; the inner ends of these bars may be connected together
by the arched or curved bar g', (as shewn in the Drawing,) to which they may
be welded or otherwise attached. These guards are of such a size that they
will easily admit of the head of one animal being inserted in each, and are
placed at such a height above the feeding basins as to prevent the animals
putting their feet into the basins at the time they are feeding, whilst they also
prevent the animals from wasting their food by throwing or dashing it out of
the basins. When it is requisite to clean out the basins or supply them with
fresh food, one of the doors is pushed inwards, as shewn in the Drawing at C¹,
and is held in that position by the sliding bolt or bar H (carried by the door)
being let down so as to catch on to the front of the feeding trough; but any
other suitable mode of holding the door in an elevated position may be adopted.
The attendant may now easily clean out and refill the basins.
The hanging doors may obviously be composed of a grating, or railing only,
in place of boards, and the guards G may, of course, be greatly modified in

page_text: their construction and mode of attachment to the doors, without deviating from
the main feature of this Invention, which I consider to consist of the applica-
tion of a means of keeping the head of the animal whilst feeding in close
contiguity with the feeding basin; or, if thought desirable, each door, when
more than one are used, may be divided from its neighbour by a partition
piece, which may be affixed to the posts F, and may project out therefrom
the full breadth of the trough, for the purpose of preventing the animals
from protruding their snouts through the openings at the side of the doors
when they are pushed up inwards. In practise, however, these partitions will
not be found of much advantage. The guards may also be applied, if found
desirable, to a fixed boarding attached to the back of the trough, which trough
may itself be of any ordinary construction, or they may be attached to the
trough itself.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict myself to
the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to describe or
refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without deviating from
the principles or main features of the said Invention; but what I consider to
be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by
the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is, the application and use of
feeding troughs fitted with guards, and of the general construction herein-
before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Webster, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Seventh day of November, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-six.
WILLIAM WEBSTER. (L.S.)