Animal husbandry – Feeding device – Hopper and trough
Reexamination Certificate
2000-11-22
2003-04-01
Price, Thomas (Department: 3643)
Animal husbandry
Feeding device
Hopper and trough
Reexamination Certificate
active
06539892
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to guards for bird feeders to act as a deterrent to minimize the intrusion of unwanted animals, such as squirrels, from accessing and feeding from the bird feeder. In addition, the present invention relates to a structure for protecting the feed from weather, such as rain and snow. More specifically, the present invention relates to an easily installable guard for bird feeders to keep unwanted animals from accessing the bird feeder and to protect it from the weather.
Bird feeding has become a popular and fun hobby. One of the most practical and popular types of wild bird feeders is the tubular bird feeder. This common and popular style of feeder typically has a clear plastic tube between 2½ and 3 inches in diameter and between 10 and 18 inches in length. The tubular feeder includes a plastic or metal top cap and a plastic or metal base. A number of feed stations with perches, typically ranging from 2 to 8 depending on the size of the feeder, emanate outwardly from the tubular body of the feeder. A tubular bird feeder design is quite desirable because all birds can be easily seen when feeding due to the lack of a “blind spot.”
All bird feeders, even the tubular feeder discussed above, suffer from various problems. First, bird feed is susceptible to spoilage when exposed to weather, particularly rain and snow. If the bird feed gets wet, it becomes soggy and undesirable to feeding birds. Further, soggy bird feed is susceptible to clogging. Eventually, it will not dispense properly rending the feeder useless.
In the field of bird feeders, various problems arise concerning access to the feeder by unwanted animals, such as squirrels. There is an unavoidable problem associated with the installation of a bird feeder in that unwanted animals may attempt to gain access to the bird feeder to eat the feed therein. These animals have little trouble accessing the feed within the feeder, regardless of how it is hung.
To combat the affect of weather on the bird feeder and to combat the animal nuisance, various attempts have been made in the prior art to address these problems. For example, it is common to hang the feeder under a plastic dome and/or house the feeder within a wire mesh cage that has apertures small enough to allow bird access but to prevent access by larger animals, such as squirrels and pigeons. However, these prior art domes and wire mesh cages are typically custom built for the particular bird feeder design at hand and are difficult and cumbersome to install.
Therefore, there is a demand for a guard that helps protect a bird feeder from weather and invading animals. There is also a demand for a guard that may be easily retrofitted to preexisting bird feeders. It is also desirable for a bird feeder guard to be easily installable and removable without the need for any alteration to the preexisting bird feeder.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention preserves the advantages of prior art guards for bird feeders. In addition, it provides new advantages not found in currently available guards for bird feeders, and overcomes many disadvantages of such currently available guards.
The invention is generally directed to a novel and unique protective guard for bird feeders. The protective guard includes a substantially dome-shaped main body with a concave inner side, a convex outer side and an apex region. The main body includes a wire hanger receiving slot through the apex region of the main body. A circular wall downwardly extends from the concave inner side of the main body. The circular wall is located to surround the wire hanger receiving slot and is dimensioned to have a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of a top cap of a bird feeder. The guard may be readily placed over and installed on a bird feeder by inserting a wire hanger of the bird feeder through the wire hanger receiving slot with the concave inner side of the main body resting on the upper convex surface of the top cap of the bird feeder thereby retrofitting the protective guard thereto.
The guard of the present invention may be installed over the top of a feeder to provide weather protection and animal invasion protection. For installation, the wire hanger or bail wire of the feeder is routed through a unique slot in the guard so that the guard, preferably in a dome shape, sits on the top cap of the feeder. Also, the guard may be installed on the bottom of the feeder to provide a squirrel baffle when the feeder is mounted on a post. For this installation, a post with a male threaded end is routed through an enlarged portion or center hole of the slot in the guard and is threaded into a female threaded hole in the bottom of the base of the bird feeder. A threaded collar is preferably used to retain the guard in place below the base of the bird feeder.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a guard for a bird feeder that protects a bird feeder, such as one in a tubular configuration, against weather, such as rain and snow.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a guard for a bird feeder that protects the bird feeder from invasion from animals, such as squirrels and pigeons.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a guard for a bird feeder that may also be connected to the bottom of a bird feeder to provide a squirrel baffle when the feeder is mounted on a post.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a guard for a bird feeder that can be mounted either to the top or bottom of a feeder.
Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide a guard for a bird feeder that can be easily removed for quick access to the feeder for refilling.
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patent: 4188913 (1980-02-01), Earl et al.
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patent: 4896628 (1990-01-01), Kadunce
patent: 4996947 (1991-03-01), Petrides
patent: 5189984 (1993-03-01), Smith
patent: 5452682 (1995-09-01), Bescherer et al.
patent: 5634429 (1997-06-01), Loomis et al.
Aspects, Inc.
Barlow Josephs & Holmes, Ltd.
Price Thomas
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