Patent Document

RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/893,967 filed Jun. 29, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,557,482, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to devices for discouraging the entry of birds into spaces where their presence is undesirable, and more particularly, to a rotating device for scaring birds away from an area in which their presence is undesirable and to methods of making this device. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     In coastal regions of the United States and other countries, marine craft, docks, aids to navigation and other marine structures suffer considerable damage and soilage from the droppings of sea gulls, tems, pelicans, cormorants and other birds. Similarly, communities near garbage dumps and land fills, which often attract large numbers of birds, may sustain similar soilage and damages, such as “white washed” rooftops. 
     Many devices, such as flags, plastic owls, snakes and other animals, noisemakers, deck sweepers and the like, have been tried in the past to deter birds from alighting on such structures. These prior art devices have had only limited success, at least in part because birds seem to become adapted to the presence of the device and then to ignore it. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A bird repeller made in accordance with the present invention repels birds through a combination of sound, vibration and/or visual effects, which annoy the birds enough to prevent them from landing within 10-15 feet of the repeller. Furthermore, the almost constant variations in these effects prevent the birds from getting so use to the repeller that they come to ignore it over a period of time. Prototype testing suggests th at one repeller would be effective to keep free of bird droppings an area of 300 square feet or more, and that, over an extended period of time, birds will stay as far away from the repller as they did on the first day of installation. It is believed that birds do not get accustomed to the sound, vibration and visual effects of the device because these effects are constantly changing with the rotational speed of the rotor member, which varies with the changes in the driving wind velocity. 
     The bird repeller comprises a revolving hollow rotor that has laterally projecting fins adjacent to vents in a barrel section of the rotor. The barrel section has a chamber surrounded by a wall made of a cuttable and deformable material. The fins ar e shaped by the way in which they are cut out of the barrel section, and then they are pivoted radially outward around a hinge portion and arranged to catch even the slightest breeze to create a wind turbine effect that spins the rotor on a vertical axis. As air currents of the wind pass across the fins and through the vents, they create a whirring sound that varies with the slightest change in the wind velocity. In addition to the whirring sound, a drum section of the rotor connects the barrel section to a neck of the rotor that rubs and beats against a vertical pole on which a head section of the rotor is rotatably mounted. This rubbing and beating causes the rotor to vibrate and generates a clacking noise having a constantly changing rhythm or reverberation cycle. Optionally, bells, clappers or other shakable noisemakers may be attached to an intermediate section of the pole, which also vibrates and shakes in response to the rubbing and beating action of the rotor neck against the pole. The resulting noise and vibratory sounds also change constantly with the velocity of the wind. Another option is to mount an electrical, solar powered sound device on the rotor body to provide the sound of a bird of prey or other bird predator. 
     In addition, the movement of the large projecting fins in the light of daytime is believed to cause a visual disturbance to the birds. This visual disturbance may be enhanced by the addition of holographic eyes or other designs on the fins, the designs being located preferably on the side of the fins in the direction of their rotation. The fin designs may also include a sparkling material capable of reflecting light in a flashing manner as the rotor rotates. The combination of the whirring and vibratory sounds with the visual effects of the spinning fins has the consequence of making birds sufficiently uneasy that they give a wide berth to the repeller. 
     Another advantage to the repeller of the invention is the simplicity of its construction and method of manufacture. The rotor, which is preferably made of plastic, is mounted on a cap adhered to the top of a head portion of the vertical mounting pole and is secured to the head cap by a stainless steel screw via a nylon spacer that serves as a rotor bearing. This rotary mounting connection allows the rotor to rotate freely around the head portion of the pole. A proximate end portion of the mounting pole is held stationery by securely fastening it to any support structure, such as by clamped metal bands, bolts, or by simply slipping the base of the pole into a fishing rod holder on a boat, dock or other support structure. 
     By way of example, the rotor may be fashioned from a large inverted plastic juice bottle by cutting through a barrel section of the bottle material along a cut line for forming three free edges of each fin and then bending the fin radially outward along the remaining proximate edge of the fin that forms a deformable hinge by which the fin remains attached to the barrel section at the angle to which it is bent. A vent corresponding to each fin is formed when the cutout for the fin is bent outward. The bottle from which the rotor may be made preferably has an upper tapered portion leading to the bottle neck, and this tapered portion forms an acoustic section of the rotor that enhances the vibratory sounds caused by the neck rubbing against the pole. In other words, the wall of the acoustic section resonates in response to vibrations caused by the rubbing action between the rotor neck and the pole. 
     The number and size of the fins and vents may vary widely, although 4 to 8 fins and vents are preferred, more preferably 6 or less for the rotor size described below. Although rectangular and oval-like fins and vents are shown in the drawings by way of example, these elements may have other shapes and the fins and vents on the same rotor may have different sizes and shapes. A preferred rotor size is between 8 and 12 inches long and between 4 and 6 inches in diameter at the barrel so that the rotor is compact and can be easily stored in a small space, such as a storage cabinet on a boat, when it is not deployed in its active position on the mounting pole. The neck opening, which slips over the mounting pole, is preferably between about 1.25 and about 1.5 inches in diameter where the adjacent diameter of the mounting pole is about 1 inch. This gives a clearance of about 0.125 to about 0.25 inch between the neck and opposite sides of the mounting pole, which provides a preferred frequency of bird repelling vibrations. Where the overall length of the rotor is about 12 inches, the preferred lengths of the head, barrel, acoustic section and neck are respectively about 0.5 inch, about 6.5 inches, about 3.75 inches and about 1.25 inches. For a barrel of about 6.5 inches long and about 5.0 inches in diameter, the fins and vents are preferably about 2.75 inches long and about 1.75 inches wide, and the optimum number of fins and vents is 6. 
     Although the preferred material of the rotor is plastic, other materials may be used, such as steel, aluminum and other metals. Instead of nylon, the bearing washer may be made of Teflon or stainless steel. The mounting pole may be made of hollow or solid plastic, wood or metal. The plastic may be PVC, the wood may be pine or oak, and the metal may be steel or aluminum. 
     The need for a bearing washer may be avoided by the rotary mounting structure employed in a second embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, a lag-bolt type structure passes through and is secured to the head section of the rotor, with the shaft of the bolt projecting into the rotor along its rotational axis. The distal end of the bolt shaft rests freely in and rotates within a socket formed by a small metal or plastic cup that is mounted on the cap secured to the head of the vertical mounting pole. This second embodiment of the invention may have greater rotational wobble than the first embodiment, and thereby may produce a more effective vibratory sound by the rubbing action between the neck of the rotor and the mounting pole. The rotary connection may also have a longer wear life than the mounting screw and washer bearing of the first embodiment. However, the first embodiment may be mounted either upright, as shown in the drawings, or upside down with the proximate end of the mounting pole secured to an overhead mounting structure, whereas the second embodiment can only be mounted in an upright position. 
     A third embodiment illustrates a method of making all of the embodiments, and emphasizes a fin structure that is lighter than the two embodiments described above. 
     The above features and benefits and the proven effectiveness of a prototype, combined with simplicity and low cost of making the device, make the bird repeller of the present invention significantly superior to any previously known repeller of the prior art. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The invention, both as to its structure and operation, may be further understood by reference to the detailed description below, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a prospective view illustrating installation of the invention on a dock to repel sea birds; 
     FIG. 2 is a plan view of the invention of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of the invention in elevation taken along lines  3 — 3  of FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines  4 — 4  of FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 5 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view in elevation of another embodiment of the invention; 
     FIG. 6 is an elevational view illustrating a method of making the repeller body of a third embodiment of the invention; 
     FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the repeller body taken along lines  7 — 7  of FIG. 6; 
     FIG. 8 is partial cross-sectional view in elevation of an optional modification of the third embodiment of the invention; and, 
     FIG. 9 is partial cross-sectional plan view taken along lines  9 — 9  of FIG.  8 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a bird repeller assembly, generally designated  10 , comprising a body  11 , rotationally mounted on a pole or standard  12  secured by a pair of metal or plastic bands  14 ,  14  to the piling  15  of a dock  16 . As may be seen best in FIGS. 2-4, body  11  comprises a barrel section  18  having a plurality of fins  20  each adjacent to a corresponding vent opening  22 . 
     Each fin  20  is attached to the barrel  18  by an elongated hinge segment  24  and preferably has a pressed out cup-like portion or indent  26  for enhancing the catching of a wind current or other air flow produced by the prevailing wind as represented by arrow W. The vents  22  are preferably formed by stamping or otherwise cutting out the fins  20  from the wall of barrel  18 . The wind provides an airflow over the fins  20  which causes the body  11  to rotate in the adirection of arrow R (FIG. 2) due to the concave curvature of the fin surface  27 , and the convex curvature of the fin surface  25 . This rotation is enhanced by the cupping action of the fin indent  26 , which projects from the convex fin surface  25  in the rotational direction R and has a concave surface  29  and a convex surface  31  (FIG.  4 ). 
     A head section  28  above barrel  18  is rotatably secured to the top or distal end of pole  12  by a screw  30  that passes through a bearing washer  32  and is threaded into a cap  34  adhered to the distal end of the pole. Below the barrel  18  is an acoustic section  36  formed integrally with a neck  38  having accordion-like convolutions  40 . The inner surface of the convolutions  40  form ridges  42  that rub and beat against the pole  12  as the rotor body  11  rotates relative thereto. This rubbing and beating action causes vibratory noise and clacking reverberations that are amplified by the acoustic section  36 . As an optional feature, one or more shakable noisemakers, such as a plurality of bells  39 , may be attached to the pole  12 , which vibrates and thereby shakes the noisemakers to produce additional bird repelling noise in response to the rubbing action of the rotor neck against the pole. 
     The wind currents, which produce rotation of the rotor by impacting against the fins, also pass over the fins and through the vents  22  thereby generating a whirring noise. In other words, wind currents pass through the upwind vent openings oriented toward the wind arrow W and into the inner chamber  44  of the rotor  11 , and then pass out of the chamber  44  through the downwind vent openings oriented away from the wind arrow W. This wind current air flow, in combination with rotation of the repeller body  11 , is believed to be the source of the whirring noise observed during prototype testing. In addition, the rubbing and beating action of the neck against the pole generates a clacking noise having a constantly changing rhythm or reverberation cycle. 
     Referring now to FIG. 5, there is shown a second embodiment of the invention wherein the same numeral part designations have been used to indicate structural elements identical with those shown in FIGS. 1-4. In the modified or second embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the rotary connection between the rotor body  11  and the top of the pole  12  is significantly different from that shown in FIG.  3 . 
     In the second embodiment, a lag-bolt, generally designated  50 , has a head  51  engaging the outer surface of head section  28 , and a threaded shaft  54  that passes through the head section  28  and is secured thereto by a pair of anchor arms  52 - 52 . The lag-bolt  50  is of conventional design wherein thc arms  52 - 52  are initially folded so as to pass through an aperture  53  in the center of the head section  28 , and then the arms  52 - 52  are expanded against the underside of the head section  28 , as shown in FIG. 5, by rotation of the lag-bolt shaft  54  in response to rotation of its head  51  by a screwdriver, wrench or other conventional tool. After the lag-bolt is secured in the position shown, the neck  40  of the rotor is slipped over the top of the mounting pole and the rotor is lowered until the distal end of the bolt shaft  54  rests within and against the bottom of a cup  58  secured to a pole cap  60 , such as by an adhesive  62  where the pole cap  60  is made of plastic, or by soldering or welding where the pole cap  60  is made of metal. As an alternative, the cup  58  and the pole cap  60  may be made of the same material and formed as a single-piece, integral structure. 
     When assembled as shown in FIG. 5, the distal end of lag-bolt shaft  24  rests on the bottom of cup  58  and the shaft rotates within the cup  58  and supports the rotor body  11  for rotation in response to the wind. The fins, vents, neck and remaining structure of the second embodiment function in the same manner as those of the first embodiment as described above. However, since the distal end of shaft  54  rests freely within the cup  58 , the second embodiment may be operated only in an upright position such as that shown in FIG. 5, whereas the first embodiment may be operated either in an upright position, such as shown in FIG. 1, or in an inverted position, such as where the opposite or proximate end of pole  12  is secured to an overhead structure, e.g., a roof beam of a dock shelter, porch roof or the like. 
     The bird disturbing visual effects provided by the spinning fins may be enhanced by placing designs, such as the holographic eyes  46  shown in FIG. 5, on one or both sides of one or more of the fins. The designs may include a light reflective material, such as sparkling particles  48 , that reflect light in a flashing manner during rotation of the rotor in the presence of light. The reflective material also may be used without a design, as shown in FIG. 2, on one or both sides of one or more of the fins. 
     Example of an Assembly Method 
     As shown in FIGS. 6-8, another embodiment of the bird repeller in the invention may be made from a one-half gallon round plastic container or bottle having a body  11 ′ with six (6) cup-like protrusions or bosses  77  projecting radially outward from its side, these projecting bosses or cup-like portions having been formed as an integral part of the body  11 ′ by molding, stamping, pressing out or the like. The body  11 ′ also includes a barrel section  18 ′, an acoustic section  36 ′, a neck section  38 ′, and a neck mouth opening  79  which is approximately 1 ¼ inch in diameter. The following additional supplies may be used in making this embodiment of the bird repeller: a #10, ¾ inch stainless steel Phillips head screw  30 ; a washer  32  having an aperture for receiving screw  30 ; a section of ¾ inch PVC pipe  12  preferably at least three feet in length; a PVC rounded end cap  34  for the ¾ inch PVC pipe  12 ; and decal stickers  45  depicting eycs  46  and glitter  48 . The following tools may be used to assemble the foregoing supplies: a sharp knife  65 , a drill (not shown), {fraction (3/16)} inch and {fraction (7/64)} inch drill bits (not shown), and a Phillips head screw driver (not shown). The embodiment of FIGS. 6-8 may then be made in accordance with the following steps: 
     1. Using the sharp knife  65 , cut shapes corresponding to the desired fins  20 ′ out of the bosses  77  at six (6) substantially equally spaced positions around the side wall of the container body  11 ′ by cutting along a cut line  67  that represents the base where the boss  77  transitions into the cylindrical wall of the barrel  18 ′ (this differs from the embodiments of FIGS. 1-5, wherein the fin  20  includes a small portion of the cylindrical barrel wall, and produces a lighter weight fin  20 ′). Before cutting, make marks  68  and  69  on the barrel wall and cut along line  67  from mark  68  to mark  69 , leaving thc fin  20 ′ attached to the barrel  18 ′ by a deformable hinge portion  24 ′. In FIG. 7, boss  89  is uncut, boss  91  is being cut by knife  65 , and boss  93  has been cut to form a shape corresponding to that of fin  20 ′. Then, bend each fin outward until it extends from the wall of barrel  18 ′ so that a tangent T to the hinge portion and to the distal inner edge of the fin makes an angle F in the range of about 20′ to about 90°, preferably about 30° to about 60°, more preferably about 40° to about 50°, most preferably about 45°, relative to a radial line L from the spin axis represented by the axis of screw  30  as shown in FIG.  7 . The tangent T touches the innermost surface of the hinge portion  24 ′ and the outermost inner edge of the fin at its distal end  33 ′. 
     2. Drill a hole in the top center of the bottom  72  of the bottle using the {fraction (3/16)} inch drill bit. 
     3. Drill a hole in the top center of the PVC cap  34  using the {fraction (7/64)}inch drill bit. 
     4. Insert a top portion of the ¾ inch PVC pole  12  through the mouth opening  79  of the bottle neck  38 ′ and push the top portion of the pole through one of the fin openings  22 ′. 
     5. Push the PVC cap  34  onto the projecting top end of the ¾ inch PVC pole  12  using hand pressure until it is tightly secured by a friction fit or by a PVC adhesive. 
     6. Retract the top portion of the pole back into the bottle and align the PVC cap hole with the hole in the bottom  72  of the bottle. 
     7. Secure the bottom  72  to the cap  34  with the #10, ¾ inch stainless steel Phillips head screw  30  passing through the aperture of washer  32 , being careful not to over tighten and making sure that each fin  20 ′ extends substantially along the tangent T as described in step 1. 
     8. Test the resulting bird repeller body  11 ′ by spinning it, and adjust the screw  30  as needed to make sure the body  11 ′ spins freely. 
     9. Optionally, stickers  45  with eyes  46  and/or glitter  48  may be secured to one or both sides of the fins  20 ′ on the body  11 ′. 
     10. A number of different methods may be used to attach the bottom of the pole to a dock piling  15  or other fixed structure so that the pole is fixed in a substantially vertical position. The attaching methods include the straps  14  shown in FIG. 1, or alternatively by first attaching to piling  15  with straps  14 , or with screws and/or nails, a section of 1 inch PVC pipe that will accept the bottom of the ¾ inch pole, in the same manner that a fishing rod holder supports the rod on a boat. 
     Referring now to FIGS. 8 and 9, on the exterior surface of the bottom wall of the inverted bottle, which is the top wall  72  of the head section  28 ′ of the repeller body  11 ′, there may optionally be mounted a housing  71  enclosing from the weather a noise device that mimics the sound of a bird of prey or other predator. This noise device may comprise a solar cell  73 , a rechargeable battery  74 , a sound chip  75 , and a speaker  76  that emits the sound of the predator to scare birds away form the area to be protected. Solar cell  73  is electrically connected to battery  74  by wires  84  and  85 , battery  74  is electrically connected to chip  75  by wires  80  and  81 , and chip  75  is electrically connected to speaker  76  by a wire  83 . Wire  83  passes through an aperture  87  in the top wall  72  because the speaker  76  is preferably mounted within the hollow chamber of body  11 ′ so that the sound emitted by the speaker passes freely (loudly and clearly) through the vents  22 ′. 
     While specific bird repeller assemblies and methods for their manufacture have been described and illustrated in detail, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many modifications and variations are possible without deviating from the broad scope of the present invention. For example, other types of rotary connections may be used to mount the head of the rotor on the distal end of the pole. In addition, the rotor and the pole may be made of a variety of materials, and the neck, acoustic section, barrel, head section, fins and vents may have a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Thus, the specific embodiment described herein is for the purpose of illustrating the present invention, and persons skilled in the art will recognize variations thereof that fall within the scope of this invention, which is limited only by the claims appended hereto, and the equivalence of the features described therein.

Technology Category: 1