IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS OR APPLIANCES FOR FEEDING HORSES. CATTLE, SHEEP, AND OTHER ANIMALS."
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Griffiths, of Shrewsbury, in the County of
Salop, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS OR APPLIANCES
FOR FEEDING HORSES. CATTLE, SHEEP, AND OTHER ANIMALS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Griffiths at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 9th June 1880.
WILLIAM GRIFFITHS, of Shrewsbury, in the County of Salop.
"IMPROVEMENTS
IN MEANS OR APPLIANCES FOR FEEDING HORSES, CATTLE, SHEEP, AND OTHER
ANIMALS."
This Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of portablo
combined feeding trough and rack, of any convenient size, for feeding horses, cattle,
sheep, lambs, and other animals, and consists of a three, four, or more sided structure,
each side or section comprising a feeding trough and rack complete, and being so
divided or screened from the rest as to prevent the animal feeding thereat from
seeing or being interfered with by those feeding at the other sections of the
structure, each side or section accomodating, by preference, one animal only at a
time. The framework of the structure may be made of any suitable material, and
as light as is compatible with due strength and stability; it is mounted upon
wheels for the facility of moving the same from place to place, and is provided
with bolts for fixing it. A convenient waterproof roof or cover is also provided to
protect the food from the weather when used out of doors, which cover may, if
desired, be so far extended as to serve as a shed or covering to the animals.
Suitable gutters are provided along each side of the covering for intercepting and
carrying off at the angles any rain-water so that it shall not drip upon the animals
whilst feeding. The general form and arrangement of the said structure consists
of uprights, forming a base, combined with cross ties and lacings constituting the
several racks, which slope downwards on each side of the structure towards the
centre thereof, the said racks terminating below at the level of the top of a manger
or feeding trough, which fills up the lower part of each section of the structure
immediately under the rack. These troughs are so shaped or curved that the food
will naturally tend towards the centre thereof, thereby enabling the animal more
readily to get it all, any accumulation in the angles or corners of the manger or
trough being thus avoided.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Griffiths in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 2nd
December 1880.
IN
WILLIAM GRIFFITHS, of Shrewsbury, in the County of Salop.
"IMPROVEMENTS
MEANS OR APPLIANCES FOR FEEDING HORSES, CATTLE, SHEEP, AND OTher
ANIMALS."
My said Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of combined
feeding trough and rack (by preference made portable) of any convenient size, for
feeding horses, cattle, sheep, lambs, and other animals, and consists of a three, four,
or more sided structure, each side or section comprising a feeding trough and rack
complete, and being so divided or screened off from the other sides or sections as to
prevent the animal that may be feeding thereat from seeing or being interfered
with by another animal which may be feeding at another section of the structure,
each side or section accomodating, by preference, only one animal at a time. The
framework of the structure may be made of any suitable material, such as wrought
iron, and as light as is compatible with due strength and stability; it is by
preference mounted upon wheels for the facility of moving the same from place to
place, and is also by preference provided with a convenient roof or cover of corrugated
iron or other suitable material to protect the food from the weather when the
improved feeder is used out of doors, the said roof or cover being, if desired, so far
extended as to serve as a shed or covering to the animals, suitable gutters being
provided along each side of the covering or roof for intercepting and carrying off
rain water at the angles or corners so that it shall not drip onto the animals whilst
feeding. The general form and arrangement of my improved cattle feeder consists
of three or more uprights combined with diagonally disposed horizontal cross ties
extending from the several angles or uprights to the centre of the framing, and
with inclined bars sloping downwards from the top of the structure at each corner
or angle, and converging towards the centre so as to form, when combined with
suitably disposed bars or rods, a central rack "cratch or receptacle for hay or such
like fodder, easily accessible from every side of the structure, the said rack or
"cratch" terminating below at the level of the top of a manger or feeding trough,
which fills up the lower part of each section of the structure. These troughs, which
may be made of sheet metal or other suitable material, are by preference so shaped
that the food will naturally tend towards the centre thereof from the ends and
sides, thereby enabling the animal more readily to get it all, any accumulation of
food in angles or corners of the manger or trough being thus avoided.
"
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose shall refer to
the Figures on the explanatory Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the same
letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in both Figures.
Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved cattle feeding appliance complete,
and Figure 2 is a plan thereof, the left hand half showing a plan of the central
rack or receptacle for hay, the roof being supposed to be removed, whilst the other
or right hand half shows more clearly the feeding troughs and screens, and their
general arrangement and conformation.
a, a, are four uprights (one to each corner or angle of the structure, composed of
iron bars of any suitable section, wood, or other suitable material. These uprights
are held together at their upper ends by horizontal cross bars b, b, screwed or
rivetted thereto, similar bars c, c, being disposed near the lower portions of the
uprights, and similarly secured thereto in conjunction with horizontally disposed
converging bars d, d, uniting in the centre of the general structure."
inclined bars (one for each angle of the structure), which are secured at their upper
e, e, are

page_text: ends by screws, rivets, or otherwise, each to the upper end of one of the uprights a,
whilst the lower ends of the said bars e, e, meet together in the centre of the
framing formed by the horizontal converging bars or framing d, d. The central
inverted pyramidal space, which is bounded at the angles by the inclined bars e, e,
is partly enclosed on each side or face by an open grating formed by a series of thin
rods, wires, or lacings of metal or other suitable material f. f, disposed, as shown in
Figure 1, so as to form racks or "cratches," through which the hay or other like
fodder introduced into the central space can be drawn out by the animals, as
required, whilst feeding. On each side of the structure, and extending to the
centre thereof at the bottom of the rack or "cratch," there is provided a feeding
trough or manger g, curved from the front to the centre of the structure, and
having its ends h, h, sloping, as shown by my Drawings, so that the combination
of the transverse curve with the sloping or inclined ends shall ensure the collection
of the food in the middle of each trough, and facilitate access thereto by the animal
when feeding. i, i, are sheet metal or other screens extending from the four
uprights inwards towards the racks, and reaching from the upper edge of the end
of each trough to the top or nearly so of the uprights, as clearly shown in Figure 1
of my Drawings, in order to prevent the animal or animals at one trough from being
seen or interfered with by the animal or animals at the adjoining side or section.
k is an arched corrugated iron or other roof for protecting the hay and other food
from the weather, suitable gutters l, l, being provided for carrying off rain water
at the corners or angles of the structure, in lieu of allowing the same to drip onto
the animals whilst feeding. m, m, are running wheels mounted one at the foot of
each upright for facilitating the shifting of the feeder from one place to another.
A bolt or pin passing through a fixed lug, and attached by a chain or otherwise, as
shown at n, to one or more of the uprights may be employed for fixing or locking
the wheels m, and so preventing the apparatus from being accidentally shifted by
the cattle after it has been placed in position, or, if desired, a sliding bolt made to
enter some distance into the ground may be provided at the foot of each upright,
in order to increase the stability of the entire apparatus when in situ.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and original,
and therefor claim as the Invention secured to me by the hereinbefore in part
recited Letters Patent, is,-
First. The construction and arrangement of portable feeding appliance for cattle
and other animals, substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated by my
Drawings.
Secondly. In a portable feeding appliance for cattle and other animals, the
combination of a centrally disposed rack or "cratch" for containing hay and similar
fodder with feeding troughs, and vertical screens or partitions, combined or not
with a roof or covering, and with wheels or runners, substantially as and for the
purpose hereinbefore described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Griffiths, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Second day of December, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty.
WILLIAM GRIFFITHS. (L.S.)