Patent ID: 7370605

Claim:
A gravity flow granular animal feed storage and dispensing apparatus comprising: a feed storage and dispensing hopper including a depending bottom wall, a sidewall and a top wall; support structure for supporting said hopper at an elevation above ground level; at least one feed supply tube depending from said bottom wall of said hopper; at least one feed dispensing tube operably connected to said at least one feed supply tube, said feed dispensing tube extending substantially horizontally from said at least one feed supply tube, said feed dispensing tube having an open distal end disposed at an elevation above ground level; a feed dispensing baffle operably connected to said feed dispensing tube, wherein said feed dispensing baffle prevents the continuous flow of feed out of said open distal end of said feed dispensing tube but provides sufficient space to allow an animal's muzzle to protrude into the open distal end of said feed dispensing tube to gain access to feed disposed therein, and a static flow control baffle interposed said hopper and said feed dispensing baffle, respectively, wherein said flow control baffle is attached directly to an interior wall part of at least one said feed supply tube and said feed dispensing tube, respectively, and depending into a flow path formed by said at least one feed dispensing tube and said at least one feed supply tube whereby at least about 50% of the flow path is open, and wherein said flow control baffle permits the continuous flow of feed through said at least one feed supply tube to said feed dispensing tube, wherein said feed dispensing baffle and said static flow control baffle are arranged such that as feed is depleted through consumption, more feed will flow past the static flow control baffle but not sufficiently as to flow over feed dispensing baffle and onto the ground; wherein said at least one feed dispensing tube is scarfed at an acute angle with a vertical axis to form a shield against rain or snow contaminating feed disposed in said at least one feed dispensing tube and to permit access to said feed disposed therein, wherein the vertical axis is defined by an imaginary vertical line drawn from a point just above the open distal end of said at least one feed dispensing tube to a point just below the open distal end of said at least one feeding dispensing tube, the line touching the outermost portion of the open distal end, wherein the acute angle is measured between the open distal end of the at least one feed dispensing tube and the vertical axis.