US896268A - Feed-box. - Google Patents

Description

UNrTED sTATEs PATENT oFFroE.

FRANCIS M. BENNETT, OF ORANGE, CALIFORNIA.

FEED-BOX.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS M. BEN- NETT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Orange, in the county of Orange and State of California, have invented a new and useful Feed-Box, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to feed boxes, and the main object of the invention is to prevent waste of feed by preventing the feed from passing to the feed box only just as fast as it is taken by the stock.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for indicating the amount of feed in the box.

Another object of the invention is to prevent stock from eating too fast and not chewing their food properly, thus injuring their digestion, by preventing the stock from obtaining food from the feed box only so fast as they are able to take it up and masticate it.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention, and referring thereto Figure 1 is a sectional view through a stall provided with the feed box, the latter being shown in vertical section and supplied with feed. Fig. 2 is a front elevation'of the feed box enlarged, a portion of the box being in section on line Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section on line no3-no3 Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a section on lline o4-r Fig. 2.

The feed box comprises a substantially semi-cylindrical hopper 1 having a flaring upper edge 2, the back wall 3 of the hopper being extended above the up er edge to form -an extension 4 which afforc s a means of searea as shown in Fig. 4. The lower end of the spout S is supported in a partition 9 which extends transversely of a box 10. The hopper 1 is provided with a series of small perforations 11 by means of which the height of feed within the ho per may be determined without having to ook through the top of the hopper, which would be inconvenient as the top of the hopper is rather high.

When the feed is placed in the feed box it Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 28, 1908.

Patented Aug. 18, 1908.

serial No. 423,964.

slides down and flows out of the bottom of the spout 8 into the box 10 about as shown in Fig. 1. The angle of the' spout 8 is a very important feature, as if the spout 8 has too steep a pitch the feed progresses too fast through the spout and the stock will thus eat too fast, while if the spout does not have suflicient pitch the feed will not run out fast enough, and I have found by experiment that substantially the pitch of 45 shown in Fig. 1 is the most satisfactory. The contracted portion of the spout restricts the entrance of feed from the hopper into the spout, while below the contracted portion the spout is somewhat larger so that the flow of feed through the spout below the con tractedportion will be easy and the spout will not choke and clog. The stock have access to the feed only at the mouth of the spout, and the wall 9 prevents injury to the v stock which might be caused if the mouth of the spout were unprotected.

When the spout is contracted as described and arranged substantially at the angle shown, the feed will travel through the spout only so fast as the stock eats the feed away from the mouth, and the stock can not eat faster than the rate of flow of the feed through the spout, which rate of flow is determined by the construction of the spout and its inclination, as described.

What I claim is 1. A feed box comprising a hopper, an inclined spout at the lower end of the hopper,'

a box at the lower end of the spout, and a transverse wall in said box supporting the lower end of said spout.

2. A feed box comprising a substantially semi-cylindrical hopper having a contracted lower end, an inclined spout at the lower end of the contracted portion, the back Wall of the hopper being extended above the hopper to form means for attachment, a box at the lower end of the spout, and a transverse Wall in said box into which the spout extends and through which the spout dis-

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