AUTOMATIC FISH FEEDER

DISPOSITIF AUTOMATIQUE POUR L'ALIMENTATION DES POISSONS

English Abstract

A B S T R A C T

This invention consists of an automatic fish feed-
ing device which is controlled and operated electrically and
which can be set to go on and off at predetermined times, thus
eliminating personal attention when such attention is not avail-
able. The feeding mechanism consists of a hopper which con-
tains the fish food, and a conveyor screw at the bottom of the
hopper for carrying the food to, and discharging it into an
aquarium to which the device is attached. The "ON" and "OFF"
timing can be controlled by means of a standard household timer
or by any one of a number of more sophisticated time control
devices at present on the market, and the R.P.M. of the con-
veyor determines the quantity of food delivered to the aquarium,
during a predetermined period of rotation.

Claims

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclu-
sive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:-

1. A time controlled, non-clogging, screw conveyor feed-
ing device for household aquariums comprising a hopper for con-
taining fish food therein, consisting of an open top rectangular
container having downwardly converging walls which terminate at
the bottom of the container into a U-shaped trough; a screw con-
veyor located within said U-shaped trough and extending a short
distance beyond the trough at its discharge end; in combination
with a speed reducer electric motor attached to the drive end of
said screw conveyor, end located outside of said hopper, for pro-
viding rotation to said screw conveyor; a standard electric
timer for starting and stopping said motor at predetermined in-
tervals; a rectangular base plate which supports said device,
and which is just short of the discharge end of the conveyor, so
as not to obstruct the flow of the fish food discharged from the
conveyor into the aquarium, said base having on the underside
thereof a U-shaped channel, running crosswise to the conveyor,
by means Or which the base can be attached to the rim of the
aquarium, and a knee brace swivelably attached to the underside
of said base to provide it with additional support; and a remo-
vable cover for the top of said container.

Description

~a~ sv

S P E C I F I C A T I 0 N

This invention con~ists of a device for automatically
feeding fish in an aquarium.
Aquariums containing gold fish and a huge variety of
multi-colored tropical fish, are used extensively at the present
time in stores and offices, private homes, and apartment~, ror
decorative purposes. In apartments, where animal pets are
u~ually prohibited, fish of various sizes and description often
are kept as pets.
~he proper feeding Or aquarium kept fish i8 an important
factor in 80 far as the health, appearance, and the life span
of the fish are concerned. When fish are cared for and fed
manually by a person, the problem of feeding the fish often
arises when manual ~eeding cannot be done because of the person's
absence.
It is therefore the primary object o~ thi~ invention
to provide a failproof method for feeding aquarium ~ish auto- -
matically at predetermined regular intervals and with the re-
quired quantity of food at each feeding.
Thi~ is accomplished in the invention by the use of -
an electrically operated type conveyor which di~charges a pre-
determined quantity of food into the aquarium, to which thi~
device i8 attached, at rsgular intervals. --
In describing the invention reference will be made
to the attached draw~ngs in which,- -
Figure 1, is a plan of the invention with the hopper
cover removed, - -
Pigure 2, is an elevation of the invention showing
the hopper covered, and ~ -~
Pigure 3, is a schematic diagram of one method of ~- -
wiring the device.
In the drawings, the devi¢e is shown consisting o~ -
a base plate 1 to uhi¢h 1~ a~tached and centrally located a
'~
-1- ~ ,.. .

. , ." " , ; , .. . , ,: . , , , , , , ~ , ,

- ~o~

food hopper 2 having downwardly converging walls which termin- '
ate at their bottoms into an enclosed U-shaped trough ~.
Located within the U-shaped trough is a screw type
conveyor 4 which extends beyond the trough 3 at its discharge -
end, and has an exit at the opposite end for the passage there-
through of the shaft 5 o,~ the conveyor 4.
The shaft 5 is connected to a motorized speed reducer
6 by means of which the conveyor 4 is rotated at a low speed.
The hopper 2 is supported by a bracket 11 by means o~ which it
is attached to the base plate 1. The motor speed reducer 6
is held and supported by means of a bracket 13 which is attached
to said base plate. ' ''
In Figure 2, the food hopper is shown covered with
a cover 12 ~hich may be required in some location where the "~
food may be subject to contamination.
Figure 2 also demonstrates a suggested method for , ''-
removably and rapidly attaching the device to an aquarium.
The under~ide of the base plate 1 is provided with a rectan- ,
eular, inverted channel 7 which fits snugly over the usual
20 aquarium rim 8. To further support,the device, a knee brace 9 ''
is attached to the underside of the said base plate so that it
can swivel on the point of attachment. After the channel 7 has
been placed on the rim 8, the knee brace 9 is rotated and -
braced against the wall 10 of the aquarium.
Tho ~otor-reducer 6 is started and stopped by means
of an electrical timer 15~ the length Or time that the motor 6
i8 in rotatlon being dependant upon the number of rotations re-
quired by the screw conveyor 4 in order to discharge the required '
quantity Or food per feeding. The conveyor 4 i8 made to extend ~'
30 beyond the base plate 1 80 that food discharged ~rom the hopper ~,
2 can fall ~reo and unobstructed into the water of the aquarium.
In Figure 3 i8 ~hown a suggested electrical circuit
14, for u~e with an ordinary household timer 15, to activate

--2--

- . , ,, . : ,,

~ o~ o
and stop the rotation of the conveyor 4 at predetermined regular
intervals, in conjunction with a contact 16 and a relay 17.
It is obvious that the device can be made in a variety
Or sizes depending upon the æize of the aquarium. The timer
will of course be set for the number of feedings in 24 hourss
and since the quantity of food delivered to the aquarium per
single feeding depends upon the number of rotation of the con-
veyor, the R.P.M. of the conveyor is determined by the quantity
of food required.
There are many ways of controlling the timing of the
above described device, such as mechanically, electrically,
snd electronically. It is therefore not intended to limit the
scope of this invention by the above description, the main
feature Or the invention being the time controlled delivery o~
food to aquariums by means of a screw conveyor.
It can also be pointed out that a similar device Or
con~iderably larger dimensions can be used in feeding fish in
man made bodies of water used in breeding fish for commercial
purposes .




. . . .
~, ~ . ,.
' '

. .

' -:

.j~ .., -. . . .- -


-3- ~


.. . . . .. . ..... . .. . . .. .. . ..... .. . .