DK177738B1

DK177738B1 - Reuleaux triangular and compartmented free-choice supplementation feeder

Info

Publication number: DK177738B1
Application number: DK201200240A
Authority: DK
Inventors: Henning Lyngsø Foged
Original assignee: Henning Lyngsø Foged
Priority date: 2012-04-13
Filing date: 2012-04-13
Publication date: 2014-05-12
Also published as: DK201200240A; WO2013152769A4; GB201319556D0; WO2013152769A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a free-choice supplement feeder of compartmented and covered type to be used for grazing livestock, such as cattle. The free-choice supplement feeder consists of a compartmented trough and a cover. The novelty is related to the compartmented trough, whose outer edge forms a reuleaux triangle with rounded tips and a wall that extends perpendicularly away from the base and encloses the outer edge of the base, thus creating three longer sides and three rounded edges, and in that the three-piece partition wall is installed in the feeder, the opposite edges of the first edges abut in the middle of the longer sides. The special form and dimension of the three compartments offers the opportunity for a combined use of the feeder as support for buckets with free-choice supplements, such as molassed minerals, and the protection of such mineral supplements in buckets. The invention ensures that the mineral supplement feeder, compared to known mineral supplement feeders, has a high volume for free-choice supplements in relation to its square dimension, is able to support and cover commonly used buckets with molassed minerals, and can be stacked on rectangular formed pallets, such as 120 x 80 cm euro pallets, in a compact way, thus saving transport costs.

Description

DK 177738 B1 A compartmented feeder

The invention relates to a feeder of compartmented type to be used for grazing livestock, such as cattle. The free-choice supplement feeder consists of a trough and a cover. The cover is attached to the trough with a centre bolt. The form of the trough is reuleaux triangular inspired with rounded 5 corners, and it has three integrated compartments that are open to the top, intended for holding free-choice supplements, such as granulated mineral feedstuffs or feed blocks like lick stones. Reuleaux triangular inspired means, that the triangle form is with curved sides and rounded corners, not necessarily being reuleaux triangular in its geometrical definition. The special form and dimension of the three compartments offers the opportunity for a combined use of the feeder as 10 support for buckets with free-choice supplements, such as molassed minerals, and the protection of such mineral supplements in buckets. The cover is circular and flexible, and protects the free-choice supplements against contamination with urine, dung and precipitation, and against drying out and hardening of molassed minerals due to wind and sun.

Background art and citation of relevant documents 15 Comparable compartmented and covered supplement feeders for grazing livestock are known from the patents US2008/0127903 and USD347303.

The known feeders have circular troughs, whereby they with small diameters, for instance at 80 cm, have small volumes of the compartments, whether with two or three compartments, and a similar small capacity to hold supplements. Feeders like those referred to needs to have supporting walls 20 with angled sides, so that the livestock cannot get hold and tip them over, and they need additionally to have walls of between around 22 and 30 cm's height; so high that the livestock will not easily stand on them, and so low that even small livestock like lambs can eat from the feeders. The walls of the feeders, including the central pipe therefore typically takes up a width of at least 12-15 cm times three, and feeders with diameters of for instance 80 cm therefore typically only have 35 - 44 cm left 25 to serve as fodder trays, i.e. one of 17.5 - 22 cm on each side of the centre pipe. Feeders with large diameters, for instance over 80 cm, are costly to transport on regular rectangular formed 80 times 120 cm euro pallets, because they are wider than the pallets, who in such case only can support one stack. Transport costs makes up a considerable part of the final price for the livestock farm, who buy the feeders, because the feeders typically are transported four times before they reach the livestock 30 farm; from factory to warehouse, from warehouse to regional dealer, from regional dealer to local dealer, and from local dealer to the livestock farm.

2 DK 177738 B1

The known feeders are due to their circular form, whether with two or three compartmented troughs, not suited to support mineral buckets, typically cylindrical or inverted truncated cone shaped. Buckets used for molassed minerals typically have a diameter of 30 cm and being cylindrically formed. It is advantageous to provide support and cover to mineral buckets, which 5 content otherwise are contaminated with urine, dung and precipitation, which has an adverse effect on the intake of the supplements, and the sun and wind dries the surface and harden the molassed minerals, whereby it is difficult for the livestock to eat them, and they are easily turned around on the field by the livestock, whereby loose chunks of molassed minerals are wasted and the rest easily contaminated with soil and dirt. Supporting place for such buckets in the compartments of 10 cylindrically formed compartmented feeders would require a diameter of around 100 cm, and the shape of the compartments in such cylindrical feeders anyway allow the buckets to topple and slide sideways.

Disclosure of the invention

In accordance with the invention, this compartmented free-choice supplement feeder for grazing 15 livestock is in accordance with the above description characterised by having a compartmented trough with reuleaux triangular inspired form and rounded corners as disclosed in claim 1.

Advantageous effects of the invention

The invention ensures that the mineral supplement feeder, compared to known mineral supplement feeders, 1) has a high volume for free-choice supplements in relation to the square dimension of its 20 base, 2) is able to support and cover commonly used buckets with molassed minerals, and 3) can be stacked on rectangular formed pallets such as euro pallets in a compact way.

Description of at least one way of carrying out the invention by reference to the drawings FIG. 1 shows a side view of the feeder (1), with cover (2) and a base (3) from which the walls (5) 25 extend perpendicularly away from the base.

FIG. 2 shows an isometric view of the feeder, without cover, allowing seeing the three-piece partition wall (6), composed of a centre pipe (7), threaded at one end, and three plates, each with four edges and two surfaces, the plates being radically attached along their first edges (9) to the outer surface of the pipe (7), so that the angle between the plates' opposite surfaces is 120 degrees, so when the 3 DK 177738 B1 three-piece partition wall is installed in the feeder, the opposite edges of the first edges (9) abut in the middle of the longer sides.

FIG. 3 shows a view of the feeder from top, without cover, with indication of cross section A-A in FIG.

4, and the cylindrical diameter of a buckets (10), which would be up to 030 cm in case the widest 5 square dimension of the base (3) is 80 cm, and with outer walls (5) with a reuleaux triangular inspired form with rounded corners.

FIG. 4 shows cross section A-A from FIG. 3 of the free-choice compartmented feeder for grazing livestock, with a cover (2) attached to the compartmented trough with a centre bolt (8), screwed into the centre pipe (7), threaded at one end. It is seen the outer walls (5) are hollow, allowing stapling.

10 FIG. 5 shows how such feeders can be placed in two stacks on a conventional rectangular 120 x 80 cm euro pallet in case the widest square dimension of the base is 80 cm.

Technical problems to be solved

By constructing the mineral supplement feeder with a compartmented trough with reuleaux triangular inspired shape and rounded corners as seen in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, it is possible to have a 15 high volume of the three compartments in relation to the square dimension of the base of the feeder.

Another advantage of the reuleaux triangular shape inspired compartmented feeder with rounded corners is that it provides support for commonly used buckets with molassed minerals. Buckets used for molassed minerals typically have a diameter of 30 cm and are cylindrically formed, while other 20 may be inverted truncated cone shaped, and with the widest diameter of 30 cm - see FIG. 3. It is advantageous to provide support and cover to bucket with molassed minerals, which otherwise in use are contaminated with urine, dung, precipitation and dirt, which has an adverse effect on the intake of the supplements, and because the sun and wind otherwise dries the surface and makes it hard, whereby it is difficult for the livestock to eat them. Furthermore, supporting buckets with 25 molassed mineral supplements in the feeder avoids them from being turned around on the field, whereby loose chunks of molassed minerals are wasted.

Additionally, the form of the feeder also cater for being transported in a compact way, and it is for instance with a widest square dimension of the base of the feeder of 80 cm possible to transport the troughs on 120 x 80 cm standard euro pallets, and to place two stacks on each pallet, whereby the 30 pallets in the length will take up a place that is only about 28 cm longer than a standard euro pallet if the pallets are placed end by end - see FIG. 5.

4

Claims

A space-divided feed dispenser (1) intended to contain grazing minerals for grazing livestock, such as cattle, with a circular and flexible tire (2), characterized by comprising: a. A base (3) whose outer edges ( 4) forming a reuleaux triangle with rounded corners; b. a wall (5) extending perpendicularly from the bottom and enclosing the outer edge of the base, thus forming three longer sides and three rounded corners; c. a three-piece partition (6) comprising a pipe (7) with threaded ends at one end and three plates (6), each having four corners and two surfaces, the plates being radically fixed along their first corners (9) to it outer surface of the tube (7) such that the angle between the opposing surfaces of the plates is 120 degrees, so that when the three-parted partition is installed in the feeder, the opposite edges of the first edges (9) are located in the middle of the longer sides, and d. a tire (2), with a surface which can cover the outer edges of the base and which is secured to the feed machine with a bolt (8) that fits the thread of the tube (7).