Animal husbandry – Feeding device – Hopper and trough
Reexamination Certificate
2002-09-11
2004-02-17
Abbott, Yvonne (Department: 3644)
Animal husbandry
Feeding device
Hopper and trough
C119S057800, C119S429000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06691641
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND
A poriton of the disclosure of this patent document contains material, which is subject to copyright proteciton. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patnet file or records, by its employees, assignees or authoryzed agents but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
This invention relates to animal feeders and particularly to a bird feeder for dispensing loose fill seed and having two independent seed compartments incorporating a ventilation system that is manufactured into chimney caps. The feeder will accommodate large birds like grouse and will dispense loose fill seed varying in composition and size at a controlled rate by the use of seed regulators. The present invention also relates to a feeder that is easily filled. By the virtue of its integrated parts, the feeder will accommodate expansion and contraction of wood parts along its central axis and is easily repaired if damaged. Furthermore the roof panels, where they join, are sealed with silicone, as are the chimneys where they attach to the roof. By placing chimney caps on the chimneys and water proofing the roof, the outside of the chimney and the chimney caps the roof becomes a waterproof structure therein keeping the seed and grain dry.
I have been feeding wild birds in the country now for approximately twelve years. The birds that I feed are those that inhabit woodlands with pastures, brush and numerous wetland areas one to two acres in size. A large majority of the birds that I feed are large in size such as quail, flickers, woodpeckers, young pheasants, red winged black birds and grouse, not to mention the smaller species. The process of this invention started with the grouse one winter when they decided to eat the young dormant buds from my fruit trees. Five grouse, in a short period of four weeks, ruined next years fruit crop from forty-five fruit trees by eating or breaking off the dormant buds.
I had built birdfeeders when I was a kid and I realized that if I provided feed for the grouse, they might prefer the feeder to the fruit trees. I went to all of the stores in my area, sixteen in all, hoping to find a feeder that would be large enough and durable enough to withstand constant and rugged use. All of the feeders I encountered were quite small and would not hold very much seed. I also noticed that they were constructed in a manner that would not hold up to severe climate changes and were often built of plastic and metal. Plastic and metal feeders would work, however, the perches were also constructed of the same material and were small in size. I knew that they would heat up in the summer and freeze in the winter according to the ambient temperature, thereby burning or freezing the feet of birds, rendering the feeder useless and causing unnecessary harm to the animals and birds. A natural wood perch would be the best way to handle this issue, and I could have adapted a perch to work.
I consequently asked a friend of mine, who had a lot of birdfeeders, which ones he liked and hoped he could help me. His feeders were primarily made of plastic and one was metal, and they had very severe problems that he showed me. The plastic feeders would break down in the sunlight and be virtually worthless in two years, and he could not find replacement parts. The metal feeder held a large volume of feed; however, the seed was continually rotting due to condensation build-up, and finally, after three years, rust had rendered the feeder non-functional. We both agreed that the type of birdfeeder I was looking for was not available.
I immediately built a large capacity feeder with a feeding platform that was covered by a roof. The original bird feeder was comprised of ¾-inch thick wood boards. The widths for the roof, chimney, side panel and ends varied. The seed platform was made from ⅝-inch exterior grade plywood. I used plywood for the seed platform due to its characteristics of not splitting or cupping and its ability to resist decomposition and blowing up by being made with exterior grade glue. The surfaces of the roof, chimney and chimney cap were coated with two applications of marine spar varnish wherein only the exposed, outside surfaces were varnished. The remainder of the bird feeder did not receive any protective coating or finish because it could possibly harm the birds by direct ingestion or contamination of the seed by contact. The feeder was placed on a wood pole six feet above the ground and positioned at the edge of my orchard.
Using cracked corn the following winter, I was able to attract the grouse to the feeder by placing corn and alfalfa pellets on a piece of plywood placed next to the seed platform of the feeder. In a few days they were actively using the feeder and staying out of the orchard. It was well worth it, as damage to my fruit trees from the grouse was reduced by over seventy-five percent.
That following summer, an inherent problem of large bird feeders became quite evident. I could not keep my chickens out of the feeder. They simply gobbled up all of the wild bird food and corn. Instead of building fences and all types of deterrents, I attempted to solve the problem by designing a bird feeder that was large enough for a ruffled grouse to perch on and feed, yet small enough that a chicken could not perch on the platform.
The seed platform was cut down in size and the side panels angled outward, hopefully to keep the chickens from feeding from the platform, yet still allowing them to pick up what seed was scattered or spilled. The next hurdle was to determine if the grouse would be able to use the seed platform or if it would be too small to accommodate their size. The grouse never returned that winter. However, I discovered that the bird feeder, through one summer, fall and winter was completely ruined by the elements and the birds themselves. I would put out suet cakes for the flickers and woodpeckers in the fall and winter and the woodpeckers pecked holes the size of quarters in the side panels of the seed bins. The wood on the roof and side panels was warped, split and cupped, and at the junction of the two horizontal side panels, the joint had separated and seed was spilling onto the platform. The chimney came apart and was detached from the roof. The plywood seed platform however was in good condition. I used exterior grade plywood due to its characteristics of not delaminating. It does not tend to split the way wood boards do and has the ability to securely anchor wood screws.
It was during this time that I started looking at the bird feeders on the market, and I quickly observed that most bird feeders could not physically facilitate the feeding of large wild birds. I also observed small seed bins with small or non-regulating seed access ports. Most of these seed bins, being made of plastic, were structurally flimsy, as plastic deteriorates in the sun. I continued to watch the designs in bird feeders as they came onto the market and did not see any other bird feeders like mine.
I decided that summer that I would redesign the original bird feeder and eliminate the problems associated with the weather, type of building material and the dispensing of variable sized seed. The new feeder varied from the original in that it was completely made from exterior grade ⅝-inch plywood, two wood blocks, glue and screws. The seed platform was enlarged sideways, the side panels were sloped more to the outside and the end panels were enlarged. The grouse had access to both the redesigned and original feeders. They were placed in close proximity to each other and contained the same type of seed. I believed that the grouse would go to the feeder that would best facilitate their feeding habits.
That following winter, the feeders were a host to a multitude of migrating birds, large and small. The grouse came back that winter, and as expected, preferred the feeders to the orchard. The platform of the new plywood feeder was large enough to
Abbott Yvonne
Perkins Coie LLP
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