CA2122761C - Wind animated simulated bird - Google Patents

Abstract

A simulated bird has a flat body with a profile resembling that of a bird in flight. The body is mounted on a rotating post with a center of aerodynamic pressure spaced towards the tail of the simulated bird from the rotating support. Two wings are mounted on the bird with respective hinges on hinge axes that slope upwardly towards the head end of the bird body.
Wing supports associated with these wings act to support the wings in laterally projecting positions so that in a wind, the bird will rotate into the wind and the wings will flap to simulate the natural flying motion of a bird. The bird may be used as a weathervane or as a scarecrow in an appropriate environment. It may also be used simply as an ornamental simulated bird.

Description

WIND ANIMATED SIMULATED BIRD
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to simulated birds and more particularly to a wind animated simulated bird.
BACKGROUND
Various simulated bird designs have been proposed in the past. They range from very simple weather vanes with bird-shaped profiles to rather complexdevices with gearing mechanisms for animating the bird, especially the flapping of wings.
The present invention relates to a novel simulated bird construction that may be used as a weather vane, as a scarecrow or simply as an ornamental simulated bird.
SUMMARY
According to the present invention there is provided a wind animated simulated bird comprising:
a body having a profile representing a bird in flight, the body having head and tail ends;
body support means supporting the body for free rotation about an upright axis;
two wings, each having an outline shape representing a bird's wing, the wings being mirror symmetrical;
hinge means mounting the wings on opposite sides of the body with the wings sloping upwardly towards the head end of the body, the hinge means mounting each wing for pivotal movement with respect to the body about an axis sloping upwardly towards the head end of the body; and wing support means for supporting the wings in positions projecting laterally from the body, while allowing the wings to pivot up and down about the respective axes.
The body configuration will act as a weather vane, pivoting the body into the wind. The hinge orientation provides a positive angle of attack that tends to lift the wings so that they will float, giving an excellent simulation of a bird in flight.
The wing support means may be stops limiting the wing travel where the wings are light in weight. For heavier wings, a resilient support may be used to balance the wing weight.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate an exemplary embodiment of the present invention:
Figure 1 is a side view of a first embodiment of the simulated bird;
Figure 2 is a top view of the embodiment of Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a front view of the embodiment of Figure 1;
Figure 4 is a view along line 4-4 of Figure 1;
Figure 5 is a detail, partially in section of a rotary support post for the bird;
Figure 6 is a view like Figure 4 showing an alternative wing support for a light-weight wing;
Figure 7 is a plan view of a wing using the alternative wing support; and Figure 8 is a cross section along line 8-8 of Figure 7.

212~761 DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figures 1 through 4 illustrate a simulated bird 10 mounted for rotation on a post 12. A bird has a flat body 14 with an outline or profile simulating that of a bird in flight. Thebody has a head end 16 and a tail end 18.
The center of pressure 20 of the body is positioned towards the tail end of the body from the post 12. This ensures that a wind passing the body will tend to rotate the body into the wind.
The simulated bird has two wings 22 that project from the opposite sides of the body 14. Each wing is mounted on the body using a piano hinge 24 with one leaf 26 fastened on the body and a second leaf 28 fastened on the underside of the wing. The hinge is oriented so that the pivot axis 30 of the wing will slope upwardly towards the head end of the bird.
Each wing thus has a positive angle of attack with respect to a horizontal wind .
The wings are supported in neutral, laterally-extending positions by respective wing supports 32. Each wing support is an elastic band 34 that is connected to the top of the body 14 by an anchor 36 and to the top of the wing, outwardly from the hinge 24, by a second anchor 38. This elastic band balances the weight of the wing so that when the wind blows, the wing will be able to rise due to aerodynamic effects, independently of the wing support, and will be able to drop against the resiliency of the support. The wings thus essentially float on the wind passing the bird.
The rotary post 12 supporting the bird is illustrated in Figure 5.
This includes a tube 40 mounted rotatably on a rod 42. The rod has a sharpened bottom end 43 so that it can be inserted into the ground to support the bird. Three centering flanges 44 are secured to the rod 42 at spaced positions near the top of the rod. These fit rotatably into the tube 40. A
support flange 46, larger than the tube, is also secured to the rod 42, below the centering flanges 44. The tube may then be dropped onto the rod over the centering flanges 44 to rotate freely on the rod. The tube 40 has a pair of diametrically-opposed U-slots 48 that receive the flat bird body. Bolts 50 extending through the tube secure the body to the tube.
Figures 6, 7 and 8 illustrate an alternative wing arrangement. In this embodiment, the wings 52 are not flat panels as in the previously-described embodiment. Instead, the wings have downwardly sloping leading and trailing edges to provide an aerofoil shape. In this embodiment, the wings are made of a light-weight material so that a resilient support to balance the weight of the wing is unnecessary. Each wing 52 has two circular openings 54 along its root edge that engage over respective arcuate hoops 56 on the adjacent side of the simulated bird body. These hoops 56 are arcuate staples connected to the bird body. Like the hinges in the previously-described embodiment, they arrange the wings so that they will slope upwardly towards the head end. Along the inner edge of each of the wings 52 is a rectangular tab 58 that extends upwardly and outwardly. This is formed integrally with the wing itself. The tab will engage the body above the wing if the wing pivots upwardly to a sufficient extent. This limits the upward pivoting movement of the wing.
To limit the downward pivoting movement of the wing, the upper bolt fastening the bird body to the tube 40 of the post is replaced with a 21227~1 longer, extended bolt 60 that projects to opposite sides of the body to engage the wings as they descend and limit their downward pivoting movement.
With this arrangement, the wings will float between the stop positions defined by the tabs 58 and the ends of the extended bolt 60.
While certain embodiments of the simulated bird have been described in the foregoing, it is to be understood that other embodiments are possible within the scope of the invention and are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (11)

1. A wind animated simulated bird comprising:
a body having a profile representing a bird in flight, the body having head and tail ends;
body support means supporting the body for free rotation about an upright axis;
two wings, each having an outline shape representing a bird's wing, the wings being mirror symmetrical;
hinge means mounting the wings on opposite sides of the body with the wings sloping upwardly towards the head end of the body, the hinge means mounting each wing for pivotal movement with respect to the body about an axis sloping upwardly towards the head end of the body; and wing support means for supporting the wings in positions projecting laterally from the body, while allowing the wings to pivot up and down about therespective axes.

2. A simulated bird according to Claim 1 wherein the body has an aerodynamic center of pressure spaced towards the tail end of the body from the upright axis.

3. A simulated bird according to Claim 1 wherein the wing support means comprise resilient means joining the body and each wing.

4. A simulated bird according to Claim 2 wherein the resilient means comprise resilient tension means connected to the wings outwardly of the hinge means and to the body above the hinge means.

5. A simulated bird according to Claim 4 wherein the hinge means comprise a piano hinge.

6. A simulated bird according to any one of Claims 1 through 5 wherein each wing is substantially flat.

7. A simulated bird according to Claim 1 or 2 wherein the wing support means comprise stop means for limiting the pivotal movement of the wings on the hinges.

8. A simulated bird according to Claim 7 wherein the stop means comprise first stop means carried on the wing.

9. A simulated bird according to Claim 8 wherein the stop means further comprise second stop means mounted on the body.

10. A simulated bird according to any one of Claims 1, 2, 8 and 9 wherein the hinge means comprise two arcuate hoops on each side of the body, and two holes in each wing receiving therethrough the hoops on a respective side of the body.

11. A simulated bird according to any one of Claims 1, 2, 8 or 9 wherein each wing has downwardly-sloping leading and trailing edges.