AU2013242853A1 - Livestock Feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

A grain feeder for livestock, the bin body of which has a feeding recess in both side walls, each covered by a rainproof inclined panel which can be fixed at different heights to suit different animals and adjusted to lie at various inclinations. A gable shaped feeding floor is supplied in two halves for freighting. A high tilting lid allows initial overfilling and reduces the filling height for staff. An optional pivoting tongue restrictor overlies each feeding gutter and a trapdoor in the gutter assists cleaning. Panel extensions extend the area of rain cover. Corner posts projecting from the base of the bin body allow stacking of the disassembled feeder. 203-10-1 ,C:\UsersShAeaeDocumets\SPFCIFICAT[ONSddgmancp.wpdE0

Description

1 TITLE OF INVENTION Livestock Feeder TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] This invention concerns feeds for livestock especially cows, calves and sheep. BACKGROUND [0002] A typical grain feeder is a sheet metal box on skids which is filled with cereal grains and feed pellets which add carbohydrates to the diet of heifers, sheep and the like. [0003] The feeder is top loaded and the grains descend by gravity through a restrictor to a feeding floor. Apertures in the sides walls of the feeder allow entry of the animals head to the edge of the feeding floor. The two edges of the feeding floor are necessarily open to the weather and to prevent rain wetting the grain and binding it into a hard mass, the side walls of the feeder are inclined in order to act like a pitched roof. [0004] Such shaping is not successful in excluding rain which falls in squally weather. [0005] The inclination of side walls renders the feeder suitable for animals up to a certain height. Thus feeders designed for sheep and goats cannot be accessed by cattle. The overhanging side walls are too close to the ground. [0006] Shipping cargo with projecting parts is always difficult in that space requirements dictate a large part of the costs. Consequently the volume and shape of a hollow article may impose charges on the importer which affect the feasibility of supply. Even road transport can involve costs which make sales prohibitive because rural businesses cannot afford charges made necessary by poor shape suitability. 2013-10-11,C:\Usersheae\ocuments\SPECIFCATIONS\brdgmanxap.wpd,l 2 SUMMARY OF INVENTION [0007] The apparatus aspect of the invention provides a grain feeder for livestock, having a feeding aperture in a wall of the feeder, a cover which pivots between a travel position alongside the wall and an extended position in which it acts as a rain deflector, and the cover is attachable to the wall at a desired height in order to allow access to livestock of different heights. [0008] The cover's pivot may be part of a bearer which is attachable horizontally to the wall at a variety of heights by fasteners. [0009] The cover may have a stay connected at its lower end and to the cover and at its upper end to the wall above the cover. The stay may be adjustable to vary the inclination of the cover. [0010] The cover may be a panel with a superimposed extension panel at each end for providing rain protection laterally beyond the ends of the aperture which the panels overlie. [0011] The extensions may be slidable and share the same pivot as the cover itself. [0012] Preferably both sides of the feeder have a feed aperture and a cover, The feed apertures may be linear slots which provide access to the feeder floor. This arrangement allows one cover to be fixed at a different height from the other so that two sorts of livestock can use the feeder. [0013] The pivot may be formed by a hook-shaped edge on the cover and a complementary hook shaped bearer edge which inter-engage to permit the cover to fold toward and away from the wall while allowing the extensions, each with a hook-shaped edge, to both slide and fold. The bearer may be screwed to a series of bores provided in the side walls at different heights. [0014] The hook-shaped wall edge is self-draining. [0015] The feeding floor is shaped like a gabled roof and is preferably made of a pair of detachable panels which, when separated, occupy less space in the package of disassembled 2013-10-1 1,C\Users\Shaiene\Documns\SPECIFICATIONSTidgnncapxApd,2 3 parts. This reduces the packing size. The overall size remains manageable. [0016] The feeder may have a lid mounted on a pair of radius arms which are pivoted to the end walls whereby the lid tilts clear of the mouth of the feeder to allow refilling. The lid may be shaped like an inverted tray whereby, when detached for freighting, it accommodates detachable parts and fittings of the feeder. The lid reduces feeder filling height while increasing the volume of the feeder. [0017] In a variant feeder a linear restrictor spans the exposed portion of food tray accessible to the animals in order to control sideways passage of the animals mouth during feeding. The restrictor is pivotally mounted above the feeder tray and rotates between a parked position clear of the tray and a working position overlying the exposed portion of the food tray. [00181 The exposed portion of the food tray contains a trapdoor which acts as an exit during cleaning. [0019] The feeder has a base from which upright corner posts extend outside the base perimeter allowing the one feeder to be stacked upon another. [0020] The posts are of sufficient height to allow the lid to be accommodated between successive feeders in the stack. Advantageous Effects of Invention [0021] 1. Increased rain protection. [0022] 2. Height adjustability for the rain covers to suit different stock. [0023] 3. Folding rain covers reduce freight volume. [0024] 4. Two part floor decreases volume allowing flat packing. 2013-10-11,C:\Users\SharleneDocunents\SPECIFICATIONS'bidgnucapN.wpd,3 4 [0025] 5. Filling height is reduced without reduction in feeder volume. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS [0026] One embodiment of the invention is now described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: [0027] Figure 1 is a perspective of the feeder with the lid closed. [0028] Figure 2 is a perspective of a fragment of the feeder showing the slide-out rain cover extension. [0029] Figure 3 is a close up of the hinge between the feeder wall and the rain cover. [0030] Figure 4 is a perspective of a fragment of the feeder showing the lid partly open, [00311 Figure 5 is a perspective of the halves of the feeding floor. [0032] Figure 6 is a side sectional view of the feeder showing the restrictor and trap door. [0033] Figure 7 is a perspective view of a fragment of a restrictor often fitted to sheep feeders. [0034] Figure 8 is a side view of three stacked feeder bases with a fourth about to be stacked. The middle feeder base is supporting a lid containing the parts needed to build a feeder box on the base. DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS [0035] The livestock feeder shown in attached to hold cereal grains and feed pellets for feeding sheep and is made of zinc plated steel sheet. 20]3-1-1 ,C:\Uses\Salee\DonsSPECFICATION$tdgnnap~wpd,4 5 [0036] Referring to the drawings, in Figure 1 the end walls 2 are joined to side walls 4 and a floor (not shown) enclosing a cuboid interior. Two pairs of horizontal skids 6, 8 extend from one end wall 2 to the other. The end walls are drilled to receive inwardly sloping delivery walls 10 which guide the descending grain to the gabled floor 12 (see Figure 6). [0037] Beneath side walls 4 is a rectangular recess 14 which extends from end wall to end wall giving access to the outer edges of the gabled floor 12 (Figure 6). Each side wall has a series of bores 16 adjacent each vertical edge for feeder assembly, the secondary purpose being to mount bearer 18 which ends in a hook formation 20, [0038] Rain cover panel 22 extends from end wall to end wall and its two ends each have a an upstanding drip flap 23 acting as a rain guide. Panel 22 has a complimentary hook formation 24 which engages hook 20 (Figure 3) and allows panel 22 to fold and lie alongside in order to partly cover the recess 14. Superimposed on panel 22 are two lateral extension panels 25. Both have a complimentary hook formation 26 which is a loose slide fit between hook 24 and hook 20. The lateral extension panels 25 are free to slide sideways and extend beyond the ends of cover 22 affording extra weather protection to the feeding floor. [0039] Cover 22 is connected to side wall 4 by adjustable semicircular stops 28 which allows various angles of inclination from horizontal to vertical. Wire 29 extends between spring loaded pins which engage the stops 28, [0040] Referring now to Figures 5 and 6, feeding floor 12 is shaped like a gable roof with gutters 30 which in use take grain overflow. The floor is assembled from LHI half 32 and a RH half 34 which screw together at the crest 36. The halves separate for freighting. Each half supports an L-section sheet metal upstand 35 spaced from the lower edge of the delivery wall 10 creating a gap into which the animals tongue is thrust during feeding. Both LH wall 10 and RH wall 10 have a gap (see Figure 6). While upstand 35 has slots for adjusting the width of the gap, wall 10 has an adjuster flap for controlling the depth of the gap. [0041] The tops of side panels 4 are bent inward to form ledges 38 (see Figure 4) with upturned 2013+10-1 ,C:\UsersiSharlene\Documens\SPEClHCAIONStddgnunzap spd, 6 stops 40. Rectangular lid 42 has ends 44 and sides 46 which form a deep inverted tray. The lid is supported on radius arms 48, 50 which cause the lid to pivot about axis pins 52 projecting from end walls 2. The lid tilts clear of the mouth of the feeder to allow refilling and rests on stops. If the grain level peaks above side walls 2, the retaining lid flattens the peak and rests on ledges 38. The lid thus increases the feeder volume without increasing its loading height. [0042] Referring now to Figures 6 and 7, the halves 32 of the floor are shownjoined together in their working position and directing grain into the gaps referred to above which extend from end wall 2 to end wall. Some livestock are problem feeders in that as they lift grains out with the tongue they displace grains sideways and it is advantageous if this practice is prevented by fitting a tongue restrictor 60. Such a restrictor is shown in Figure 7. A pair of mounting plates 62 are attached to the ends walls for each restrictor which pivots between a parked position against the sloping wall of gutter 30 and a restrictor position lying across the gap between the bottom of sloping wall 10 and upstand 35. [0043] The restrictor is a grid made of longitudinal rods 66 joined by separator bars 68 each spaced by the width of a sheep's tongue, typically 150mm. The L-section upstand 35 has slots 72 to permit adjustment of the gap width. The inclined wall 10 is static. The inverted L-section flap 74 is adjustable in height in order to change the depth of the gap between the floor and the wall 10. The flap is attached to slotted bracket 76 extending from the mounting plates 62. Brackets 78 have spring clips 80 for arresting the restrictor 60 in the working position. [0044] Uneaten grains, husks, water and rubbish may accumulate in the gutters. This may become wet and sticky and require removal. For this and other cleaning operations a trapdoor 70 in the gutter is provided at one end thereof. This lies in the inclined outer wall of the gutter and is hinged to be normally closed by gravity. [0045] It is to be understood that the word "comprising" as used throughout the specification is to be interpreted in its inclusive form, ie. use of the word "comprising" does not exclude the addition of other elements. 2013-10-1 1,C:\Users\Shadene\ocuments\SPECIHECATIONStddgencapxpd,6 7 [0046] It is to be understood that various modifications of and/or additions to the invention can be made without departing from the basic nature of the invention. These modifications and/or additions are therefore considered to fall within the scope of the invention. 2013-10-[IC:\Users\ShareneDocumtens\SPECWFICATIONStridgmacapWpd,7

Claims (13)

1. A grain feeder for livestock having a recess in the side wall of the feeder, a cover which pivots between a travel position alongside the wall and an extended position in which the cover acts as a rain deflector and the cover is attachable to the wall at a desired height in order to allow access to livestock of different heights.

2. A grain feeder as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the cover's pivot is part of a bearer which is attachable horizontally to the wall at a variety of heights by fasteners.

3. A grain feeder as claimed in Claim 1 or 2, wherein the cover has an arcuate stop at its pivot axis, the stop having a series of bores engageable by a pin extending from the feeder wall allowing adjustable inclination of the cover.

4. A grain feeder as claimed in Claim 3, wherein both ends of the cover have a stop and the pins are spring biassed to engage the bores and retractable by a common tie.

5. A grain feeder as claimed in any one of Claims 1-4, wherein the cover is a panel with a superimposed extension panel at each end for providing rain protection laterally beyond the ends of the recess which the panel or panels overlie.

6. A grain feeder as claimed in Claim 5, wherein the extensions are slidable and share the same pivot as the cover itself.

7. A grain feeder as claimed in any one of Claims 2-6, wherein the pivot is formed by hook-shaped edges on the cover and a complementary hook-shaped bearer edge which interengage to permit the cover to fold toward and away from the wall while allowing the extensions, each with a hook-shaped edge to both slide and fold in order to provide weather protection.

8. A grain feeder as claimed in any one of Claims 1-7, wherein the feeding floor is shaped 2013 -10-1 1,C:UserShadfen\Documnts\SPECIFICATIONSkbiidgmnxcap-pd,8 9 like a gable roof and is made of a pair of detachable panels which when separated occupy less space in the feeder interior.

9. A grain feeder as claimed in any one of Claims 1-8, wherein a linear restrictor spans the exposed portion of food tray accessible to the animals in order to control sideways passage of the animals mouth during feeding.

10. A grain feeder as claimed in Claim 9, wherein the restrictor is pivotally mounted above the feeder tray and rotates between a parked position clear of the tray and a working position overlying the exposed portion of the food tray.

11. A grain feeder as claimed in any one of Claims 1-10, wherein the exposed portion of the food tray contains a trapdoor which acts as an exit during cleaning.

12. A grain feeder as claimed in any one of Claims 1-11, wherein the feeder has a base from which upright corner posts extend outside the base perimeter allowing the one feeder to be stacked upon another in non-assembled form.

13. A grain feeder as claimed in Claim 12, wherein the posts are of sufficient height to allow the lid partly filled with feeder components to be accommodated between successive feeders in the stack.

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