Animal husbandry – Confining or housing – Birdhouse
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-17
2001-11-13
Poon, Peter M. (Department: 3643)
Animal husbandry
Confining or housing
Birdhouse
C119S431000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06314912
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to birdhouse constructions and, more particularly, is concerned with a window-mounted bird observatory assembly and method of constructing the assembly.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many people enjoy observing birds. Nesting boxes or birdhouses are structures which people build and mount at suitable locations where they desire birds to live. A birdhouse generally provides a substantially enclosed space for a bird to nest and hatch her eggs and raise baby birds. Birdhouses are a common way for people to attract birds to live near them and to observe birds. Many birdhouses, however, do not permit people to conveniently view the birds when they are inside the birdhouse. As a result, some birdhouses have been developed over the years which do allow birds inside them to be seen from outside.
Representative examples of the prior art birdhouses and the like which enable people to more easily observe birds nested inside them are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,503 to Lundquist, U.S. Pat. No. 5,016,571 to Totaro, U.S. Pat. No. 5,170,747 to Strangio, U.S. Pat. No. 5,493,997 to Ritchey and U.S. Pat. No. 5,551,657 to Liethen. The Lundquist, Strangio, Ritchey and Liethen patents employ either suction cups, adhesive tape, glue or mateable hook and loop fastening material to mount a birdhouse or a structure for mounting a birdhouse or the like to a window pane. The Totaro, Strangio and Ritchey patents provide a one-way viewing window which allows a person on an opposite side of the window pane to look into the birdhouse without being noticed by the birds inside. The Strangio and Ritchey patents also provide an opaque cover for covering the one-way viewing window. The Strangio and Ritchey patents employ either adhesive tape, glue or mateable hook and loop fastening material to mount the one-way viewing window to the window pane opposite from the birdhouse and to mount the opaque cover to the one-way viewing window.
Problems exist, however, with the above-mentioned prior art means for mounting birdhouses and the like to window panes. Suction cups are susceptible to failure because sunlight can damage the material comprising the cups and cold temperatures can affect the resiliency of the material. Mateable hook and loop fastening material is expensive and tends to be thick in cross-section and thereby increases a distance between the window pane and the birdhouse and must be precisely aligned for maximum holding strength. Adhesive tape and glue alone are generally not reliable.
Consequently, a need remains for an assembly which provides a solution to the aforementioned problems in the prior art without introducing any new problems in place thereof.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a bird observatory assembly designed to satisfy the aforementioned need. The bird observatory assembly of the present invention is window-mountable by employing a magnetic mounting system. The magnetic mounting system includes complementary first and second magnetic elements. The first magnetic elements are mounted to a mounting frame of the assembly. The second magnetic elements are mounted to an exterior surface of a window pane such that the first and second magnetic elements are alignable with and magnetically attract one another and retain the mounting frame and an enclosure of the assembly on the exterior surface of the window pane. The first and second magnetic elements are not susceptible to failure due to sunlight damage nor does cold temperatures adversely affect the resiliency of the system. The first and second magnetic elements are relatively inexpensive and need not be precisely aligned for maximum holding strength.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a bird observatory assembly which comprises: (a) an enclosure formed by a plurality of panels being interconnected to one another so as to define an interior cavity for one or more birds to nest within the enclosure, the enclosure having opposite inner and outer ends with the inner end defining an opening communicating with the interior cavity, the plurality of panels including one panel defining an aperture communicating with the interior cavity so as to permit birds to enter and exit the interior cavity via the aperture; (b) a mounting frame having a surface positionable adjacent to an exterior surface of a window pane, the mounting frame mounted to the enclosure at the inner end thereof and defining a viewing portal in communication with the opening defined at the inner end of the enclosure; and (c) means for magnetically mounting the mounting frame at the surface thereof to the exterior surface of the window pane to thereby retain the mounting frame and the enclosure on the exterior surface of the window pane such that birds within the interior cavity of the enclosure can be seen through the window pane via the viewing portal of the mounting frame and the opening of the enclosure. More particularly, the plurality of panels includes another panel which partially closes the inner end of the enclosure in defining the opening at the inner end thereof. The magnetic mounting means includes at least a pair of complementary first and second magnetic elements. The first magnetic element is mounted to the surface of the mounting frame. The second magnetic element is mounted to the exterior surface of the window pane such that the first and second magnetic elements are alignable with and magnetically attract one another and retain the mounting frame and the enclosure on the exterior surface of the window pane.
The present invention is also directed to a bird observatory assembly which comprises: (a) an enclosure formed by a plurality of panels being interconnected to one another so as to define an interior cavity for one or more birds to nest within the enclosure; (b) a plurality of perforated concentric panel segments of varying diameters defined in one panel of the plurality of panels and being selectively removable so as to define an aperture in the one panel communicating with the interior cavity and having a selected diameter size permitting birds of selected sizes to enter and exit the interior cavity of the enclosure; and (c) means for mounting the enclosure to a support structure.
The present invention is further directed to a method for constructing a bird observatory, comprising the steps of: (a) providing a mounting frame defining a viewing portal and having opposite front and rear surfaces; (b) mounting a first panel to the front surface of the mounting frame such that the viewing portal is partially covered, the first panel having a plurality of angularly displaced peripheral edges; (c) mounting additional panels to the mounting frame and first panel and to one another using the peripheral edges of the first panel as guides so as to thereby form an enclosure mounted to the mounting frame and defining an interior cavity within the enclosure for one or more birds to nest within the enclosure and an opening in an inner end of the enclosure adjacent to and communicating with the interior cavity of the enclosure and the viewing portal of the mounting frame; (d) forming an aperture in one of the additional panels of the enclosure in communication with the interior cavity of the enclosure for permitting birds to enter and exit the interior cavity; and (e) mounting the mounting frame at the rear surface thereof to a support structure to retain the mounting frame and the enclosure on the support structure such that birds within the interior cavity of the enclosure can be seen through the viewing portal of the mounting frame and the opening at the inner end of the enclosure. More particularly, the mounting of the mounting frame includes providing complementary magnetic elements on the rear surface of the mounting frame and exterior surface of a window pane to thereby retain the mounting frame and the enclosure on the exterior surface of the window pane such that birds within the interior cavity of the enclosure can be seen thro
Flanagan John K.
Flanagan John R.
Flanagan & Flanagan
Nguyen Son T.
Poon Peter M.
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