IE20050485U1 - A feed dispenser - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT The present invention is concerned with a feed dispenser for use with farm animals or the like, in particular herds of cows, the dispenser comprising a hopper having a dispensing means at an outlet of the hopper for batch feeding material from the hopper, the dispenser further including by-pass means adjacent the dispenser and operable to permit the free flow of material from the hopper.

Description

A Feed Dispenser The present invention is concerned with a feed dispenser, in particular a feed dispenser for dispensing particulate feed for consumption by farm animals such as cattle or the like.

Prior art feed dispensing devices, such as that disclosed in the applicants earlier patent GB 2367476, comprise a feed hopper for housing particulate feed material, and a feed trough located beneath an opening in the base of the hopper, into which the feed may be dispensed for consumption by cattle or the like. The device further includes a feed dispensing component located in register with the opening in the base of the hopper, which feed dispensing component is operable to dispense feed, in batches, into the feed trough. This arrangement suffers from a number of drawbacks, in particular the requirement for the manual operation of the feed dispensing component in order to dispense feed. Furthermore, the prior art feed dispensing device provides no way of segregating animals while feeding from the device. It is therefore a common occurrence for smaller animals, for example calves or the like, to be pushed aside and thus excluded from feeding.

The present invention has therefore been devised with a view to overcoming the above-mentioned problems of the prior art.

The present invention therefore provides a feed dispenser comprising a hopper for storing feed; a dispensing mechanism in operative association with an outlet of the hopper, for batch feeding material from the hopper; and by-pass means located adjacent the dispensing mechanism, the by-pass means being operable to allow the continuous flow of material from the hopper.

Preferably, the by-pass means is displaceable between a closed position, preventing the flow of material from the hopper, and an open position permitting the flow of material from the hopper. open: to PUBLIC INSPECTION Preferably, the by-pass means is operable to vary the rate of flow of material therefrom.

Preferably, the by-pass means comprises a door hingedly mounted to the hopper.

Preferably, the feed dispenser further comprises a trough located, in use, beneath the hopper, into which trough material exiting the hopper is deposited.

Preferably, the trough is displaceable from beneath the hopper.

Preferably, the dispenser comprises a second trough displaceable from beneath the hopper.

Preferably, the by-pass means comprises a shutter displaceable towards and away from the trough, in order to vary the spacing between the shutter and the trough, and thereby vary the rate of flow of material from the by—pass means.

Preferably, the shutter is slidably mounted to the door.

Preferably, the feed dispenser comprises a barrier mounted thereto, the barrier being displaceable between a raised position permitting access to material dispensed from the hopper, and a lowered position providing selective access to material dispensed from the hopper.

Preferably, the barrier is shaped and dimensioned to define an enclosure adjacent to the hopper, from which enclosure material dispensed from the hopper may be accessed.

Preferably, when in the lowered position, the barrier prevents access, to dispensed material, to animals above a pre-determined height.

|Eo5o435 Preferably, the barrier is hingedly mounted to the feed dispenser.

Preferably, the barrier comprises a pair of side panels and a gate extending therebetween, the gate being displaceable, when the barrier is in the lowered position, in order to permit access to the enclosure defined by the barrier.

The present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which; Figure 1 illustrates an end View of a feed dispenser according to the present invention, in which a pair of by-pass means are in a closed position, and in which a pair of barriers are in a raised position; Figure 2 illustrates the feed dispenser of figure 1, in which the pair of barriers are in the lowered position; and Figure 3 illustrates an enlarged View of the pair of by-pass means in a closed position; and Figure 4 illustrates an enlarged View of the pair of by-pass means, in an open position.

Referring now to the accompanying drawing, there is illustrated a feed dispenser, gcncrally indicated as 10, for dispensing particulate feed (not shown), both in batch and continuous form. The dispenser 10 comprises a hopper 12 for storing and dispensing particulate feed (not shown) which will generally be loaded into the hopper 12 via a top 14 thereof. The hopper 12 is provided with a central opening 16 along the base of the hopper 12, in operative association with which is a fccd dispensing component 18, the configuration and operation of which is described in UK Patent GB2367476. The feed dispensing component 18 is , lEo5o4e5 provided with a handle 20 which, when turned, effects rotation of the feed dispensing component 18, which dispenses a discreet quantity of feed from within the hopper 12 into a trough 22 disposed therebeneath.

The trough 22 is divided into a first section 24 and a second section 26, which are essentially mirror images of each other, and which serve to allow cattle to feed from both sides of the dispenser 10. The dispenser 10 is also provided with a deflector 28 which may be hinged to the left or right, in order to channel the feed dispensed from the feed dispensing component 18 into one or other of the first section 24 and second section 26, again as described and illustrated in UK Patent GB2367476. However, as mentioned above, the drawback of the feed dispensing component 18 is that feed can only be dispensed from the hopper 12 in discreet quantities, by the manual operation of the feed dispensing component 18. Thus the farmer must be present at the dispenser 10 in order to feed the animals (not shown).

The dispenser 10 of the present invention therefore further comprises a pair of by- pass means 30, one located on either side of the feed dispensing component 18, adjacent thereto. While a pair of the by-pass means 30 are provided on the preferred embodiment of the dispenser 10, it will be appreciated from the following description of same that a single by-pass means 30 could be provided on one or other side of the feed dispensing component 18. As both by—pass means are identical, it will be sufficient to describe the configuration and operation of one of same.

Thus the by-pass means 30 comprises a door 32 hingedly mounted to the hopper 12, such as to be hingeable between a closed position, as illustrated in figure 1, in which the door 32 occludes a lateral aperture 33 in the hopper 12, and an open position, as illustrated in figure 2, exposing said lateral aperture 33. When the door 32 is in the closed position, feed cannot pass through the lateral aperture 33, and is therefore restricted to being dispensed via the feed dispensing component . Thus the dispenser 10 can still be utilised in the conventional batch dispensing fashion. When the door 32 is opened however, the lateral aperture 33 is exposed, thereby allowing the feed within the hopper 12 to pour continuously through said lateral aperture, into the respective first section 24 or second section located therebeneath.

It will however be appreciated that with the door 32 in the open position, the feed within the hopper 12 could pour unhindered therefrom, possibly overflowing from the respective first section 24 or second section 26, thereby wasting the feed. For this reason the door 32 is provided with a shutter 34 slideably mounted thereon, which shutter 34 can be slid towards and away from the respective first section 24 or second section 26, and locked in position by means of a wingnut 35, or any other suitable means, in order to vary the rate of flow of feed from the hopper 12, as will be described in detail hereinafter.

Thus with the door 32 in the open position, feed within the hopper 12 will flow through the lateral aperture 33 and downwardly into the first section 24 or the second section 26, from where the feed may be consumed. However, if the hopper 12 is relatively full, or the feed is of a tine consistency, the feed will tend to pour unhindered through the lateral aperture 33, filling the respective first section 24 or second section 26, and overflowing same. In such a situation, or if it is in any way desired to regulate the volume of feed which is disposed within the first section 24 or the second section 26 at any given time, the shutter 24 may be slid downwardly towards the floor of the first section 24 or second section 26, in order to create a restrictive gap between the shutter 34 and the floor of the trough 22. This gap will act as a restriction to the flow of feed from the hopper 12 into the trough 22, preventing same from filling the trough 22 and overflowing same.

When the shutter 34 is lowered, and the door 32 placed in the open position, the feed will pour from the hopper 12 through the lateral aperture 33, into the trough . A small amount of the feed will pass under the shutter 34, but once the level lEo5o4s5 lEo5o4s5 of feed within the trough 22 reaches the lower edge of the shutter 34, the feed will begin to pile up behind the shutter 34 and door 32, until the space defined between the pair of shutters 34 has been completely filled with feed. At this point no more feed will then flow from the hopper 12. However, as the feed is consumed from the trough 22, more feed will pour from behind the shutters 34 to fill the space created within the trough 22, thus allowing a continuous yet controlled flow of feed from the hopper 12. Varying the height at which the shutter 34 is disposed above the floor of the trough 22 will therefore vary the rate of flow of feed from the hopper 12 into the trough 22. It will therefore be appreciated that the dispenser 10 need not be manned, and can simply be filled with feed, placed at an appropriate feeding location, with the pair of doors 32 opened and the shutters 34 positioned appropriately to achieve a desired flow of feed from the hopper 12, to suit the feeding conditions present. If however feed is being dispensed from the hopper 12 solely by the feed dispensing component 18, both of the doors 32 should be in the closed position, with the shutters 34 fully retracted, as illustrated in figure 1.

In order to increase the feeding capacity of the dispenser 10, the trough 22 is preferably slidably mounted on a base 35 of the dispenser 10, the base 35 essentially mirroring the cross sectional shape of the trough 22, as can be seen from Figures 1 and 2. In this way the trough 22 can be slid outwardly from beneath the hopper 12, in order to allow the trough 22 to be accessed from a front end of the dispenser 10. Thus in use the trough 22 may be allowed to fill with feed as described above, and then slid outwardly on suitable runners or bearings (not shown) or the like, similar to a drawer, in order to allow animals to feed from the front end of the dispenser 10. Once the trough 22 is slid outwardly in this manner, the base 35 is then exposed to the central opening 16 of the hopper 12, and thus acts as a second trough into which feed may be dispensed, such as to still allow cattle to feed from either side of the dispenser 10. It will therefore be appreciated that to further increase the feeding capacity of the dispenser 10, an additional slidably mounted trough (not shown) could be provided stacked above lE05o485 and in face to face engagement with the trough 22, which when filled could be slid outwardly to a rear end of the dispenser 10, in order to allow cattle to feed from the rear of the dispenser 10. When two such slidably mounted troughs are employed, the first is allowed to fill with feed, and is then slid out from the rear end of the dispenser 10, thereby allowing the second trough 22 to then be filled with feed and slid out to the front end of the dispenser 10, wherein the base 35 can be filled with feed to facilitate feeding cattle from either side of the dispenser 10.

In this way the dispenser 10 is adapted to allow cattle to feed from almost the entire perimeter of the dispenser 10.

The dispenser 10 is also provided with a pair of barriers 36, one mounted adjacent either side of the hopper 12. Each barrier 36 comprises a pair of oppositely disposed, and generally parallel side panels 38, each secured to the dispenser 10 by a respective bracket 40, with a gate 42 extending between the pair of side panels 38. The side panels 38 are hingedly mounted to the respective bracket 40, with each gate 42 also being hingedly mounted to the respective pair of side panels 38. Thus each barrier 36 may be hingedly displaced between a raised position, as illustrated in Figure l, and a lowered position as illustrated in Figure 2. In the raised position, the barrier 36 permits access to the trough 22. while in the lowered position, the barrier 36 prevents access, of larger animals, to the trough 22. Each barrier 36, when in the lowered position, therefore defines an enclosure between the pair of side panels 38 and the gate 42, the enclosure allowing direct access to the trough 22, but only from within the enclosure. Thus each barrier 36 may be utilised to exclude one or more animals from feeding from the trough 22, in particular to allow smaller/weaker animals to feed.

The gate 42, which in the preferred embodiment illustrated, is a height adjustable bar, is displaceable upwardly, when the barrier 36 is in the lowered position, in order to create a space between a underside of the gate 42 and the ground. This space can be dimensioned to allow smaller animals such as calves or the like to pass beneath the gate 42, while preventing larger animals from doing so. Thus the lEo5o4e5 smaller animals can approach the barrier 32 and pass under the gate 42 into the enclosure defined by the barrier 36, in order to feed freely at the trough 22. It will therefore be appreciated that the barrier 36 on one side of the dispenser 10 could be configured to allow access to the trough 22 by smaller animals, while the barrier 36 on the opposed side of the dispenser 10 could be left in the raised position, in order to allow the larger animals in the herd to feed from the trough 22. Each barrier 36 is also preferably provided with a spring 44 connected between the respective bracket 40 and the side panel 38, the spring 44 serving to maintain the barrier 36 in the raised position. Additional securing means (not shown) may also be provided in order to securely retain the barriers 36 in the raised or the lowered position.

Thus the dispenser 10 of the present invention provides the ability to continuously dispense feed from the hopper 12, in addition to allowing the segregation of animals feeding at the dispenser 10.

Claims (5)

Claims:

1. A feed dispenser comprising a hopper for storing feed; a dispensing mechanism in operative association with an outlet of the hopper, for batch feeding material from the hopper; and by-pass means located adjacent the dispensing mechanism, the by-pass means being operable to allow the continuous flow of material from the hopper.

2. A feed dispenser according to claim 1 in which the by-pass means comprises a door hingedly mounted to the hopper and displaceable between a closed position, preventing the flow of material from the hopper, and an open position permitting the flow of material from the hopper.

3. A feed dispenser according to claim 2 further comprising a trough located, in use, beneath the hopper, into which trough material exiting the hopper is deposited; and the by-pass means comprising a shutter displaceable towards and away from the trough, in order to vary the spacing between the shutter and the trough, and thereby vary the rate of flow of material from the by-pass means.

4. A feed dispenser according to any preceding claim comprising a barrier mounted thereto, the barrier being displaceable between a raised position permitting access to material dispensed from the hopper, and a lowered position providing selective access to material dispensed from the hopper, the barrier being shaped and dimensioned, when in the lowered position, to define an enclosure adjacent to the hopper, from which enclosure material dispensed from the hopper may be accessed.

5. A feed dispenser according to claim 4 in which the barrier, when in the lowered position, prevents access to dispensed material to animals above a pre—dete1mined height.