Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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This invention concerns equipment for feeding animals by dispensing
loose feed, especially for horses, comprising a supply hopper for the feed,
at the discharge opening of which a dosing device for measuring out a pre-
determined amount of feed is connected, from which the measured-out portion
of the feed is automatically dispensed at predetermined moments of time into
at least one feed trough or the like.
An animal-feed device is known, for example, from United States
Patent 3,962,997 in which the dosing device connected to the hopper has a
motor-driven feed screw which moves the loose feed flowing out of the hopper
either during various predetermined time periods directly into the feed
trough or into a dosing chamber which automatically flops over and empties
its contents into the feed trough after a certain degree of fullness is
reached.
The provision of a feed screw represents a disproportionately large
machinery expense, quite apart from the fact that a considerable series of
feedstuffs exist that are not directly usable with screw-type conveyors be-
cause with them the screw channels become stopped up or the feed screw becomes
damaged or jammed by hard particles.
The known animal-feed equipment shown i.n French Patent 2,287,850
operates without such a feed screw and provides a dosing chamber of adjustable
volume having a bottom closed by a flap, this chamber being laterally connect-
ed to the supply hopper. After the filling of a predetermined quantity of the
loose feed into the dosing chamber, the discharge opening of the supply hopper
is shut off by the fall of a sliding shutter which simultaneously sats free the
bottom flap of the dosing chamber, so that the measured out feed portion can
run out into the feed trough.
This device indeed has a relatively simple construction, but the
accurac~ of measuring out the feed portions with it is, however, relatively
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sm.lll ~ p.lrticll].lrly if the sul-ply hopper is not completely filled with feed.
According to the presellt invention there is provided an animal feed
apportiolling and dislensing device comprising: a feed supply hopper having a
discharge opening in a lower portion thereof; receiving and delivering means
subdivided into two separate portions for receiving feed from above, each portion
comprising an individual outlet channel for delivering feed received to an
animal-feeding container; a rotatable drum for measu-ring out feed portions,
mounted below said discharge opening of said hopper and above said receiving and
delivering means; said drum being a cylindrical drum mounted on a horizontal axis
and containing two separate dosing chambers, each of which is connected with a
respective one of two filling and emptying openings, said two filling and empty-
ing openings being offset from each other circumferentially on the surface of
said drum, such that in a first position of said drum one of said filling and
emptying openings is directed towards said hopper discharge opening, while the
other filling and emptying opening is directed towards one portion of said
receiving and delivering means, and, in a second position of said drum, said
one receiving and emptying opening is directed towards the other portion of
said receiving and delivering means, while said other filling and emptying
opening is directed towards said hopper opening, said drum having a wall portion
for temporarily closing off said hopper discharge opening when said drum is
rotated; and selectively controllable driving means coupled to said drum for
rotating said drum from each of said first and second positions of said drum to
the other, and control means for automatically operating said driving means at
predetermined moments of time.
The rotatable drum makes it possible to pick up from the hopper a
prescribed quantity of feed determined by the dosing chamber volume, the magnitude
of which is independent of the filling condition of the supply hopper if the
latter contains at least that quantity. Since the feed portion contained in the
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dosing chan1ber ancl thcreby measured out is dispensed out by a simple turning of
the dosing drum, wl1ile at the same ti111e a wall portion of the drum seals off the
discharge opening of the hopper, the feeding device of the invention has the
benefit of very simple construction that provides a reliable maintenance-free
operation even with feedstuffs that are difficult to handle.
There are cases in which it is desired either to serve an animal
alternately feed portions of different sizes or to serve two or more animals
from the same supply hopper, with, if necessary, feed portions of different
sizes.
Thus, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, each of the dosing
chambers has a device for changing its volume. It is thus possible to adjust
the volume of the chambers so as to apportion the amount of feed to the
particular animal to be fed in accordance with requirements and to do this
conveniently and at any value desired.
The arrangement for adjusting the volume of each chamber may consist
of a floor adjustable to the desired height. It is, furthermore, practical for
the dosing drum to be positioned in the casing enclosing it on all sides to which
the supply hopper is affixed and from the bottom of which the receiving and
delivering means lead downwards. The casing can have an outlet funnel forming
at least a part of its bottom, and to which the outlet channels are connected,
so that in the outlet region the necessity for supplementary individual seal
devices between the dosing drum and the casing is eliminated.
The drum can, furthermore, be sealed by brush strips against the hopper
discharge opening. It is also possible for this purpose to use elastic seal
strips or the like. For example, in the case of pellet-type feed, in order to
assure that no feed pellets or grains would jam between the outer drum wall and
the rim of the hopper discharge opening, it is advantageous if the drum in the
region of its filling and emptying opening is provided with a shearing edge
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cooperatillg with a sharp shearing edge or blade of the hopper in the region of
its discharge opening, so that any pellets or other particles of feed remaining
suspended at this location will be cut through.
The drive for the drum can comprise an electrical drive motor with
automatic return into the initial position, such as are economically available,
for example, in the form of windshield wiper motors.
For monitoring the operating conditions of the dosing device, it is
advantageous for the dosing drum to be made at least partly transparent. If
it should be mounted in a casing, the casing should accordingly have at least
one inspection window giving a view of a transparent part of the dosing drum.
The invention is further described by way of illustrative example
with reference to the annexed drawings in which:
Figure 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of an animal-feeding
installation having two animal-feed devices according to the invcntion;
Figure 2 is a diagrammatic side view in a vertical section of the
feeding device of the feed installation of Figure l;
Figure 3 is a vertical section of the dosing section of the feed
device of Figure 2; and
Figures 4 and 5 are vertical sections on the line IV - IV of Figure 3,
respectively showing two different orientations of the dosing drum.
The animal-feed installation shown in Figure 1 has two feed devices
1 controlled by a central control unit 2 that at predetermined points of time,
set by a time switch unit 3, sends out control pulses to the individual feed
devices 1 over condutors 4, in response to which the feed device dispenses the
predetermined feed portions.
Each feed device 1 has a boxlike supply container 5 with a hopper
bottom for holding feed 6 that is loose enough for release by gravity from the
hopper bottom 7 that terminates in the discharge opening 8. At the hopper
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opening 8 there is connected a dosing device 9 that in common with the supply
hopper 5 is enclosed in a casing ll having a removable front cover lla and
capable of being affixed to a wall or the like. The hopper 5 can be closed by
its hinged cover 10.
The front cover lla carries on its inner side a lock 42 that co-
operates with an extension plate 5b so that the cover lla can be locked. It
also carries upper and lower positioning strips llb and llc that respectively
grip over the top edge of the hopper 5 and over an angle strip 5a at the bottom
of the casing near the front. The apportioned amounts of feed dispensed by the
dosing device 9 run through outlet channels 12a and 12b to a feed trough 13.
The dosing device 9 has a cylindrical dosing drum 14 which as shown,
for example, in Figure 3, has a hub 15 affixed to the center of one drum face
by a flange and mounted to rotate with the shaft 16 of a drive motor 17 which
is mounted on a housing 19 enclosing the drum 14. The drum 14 is closed off
on its other face by a transparent synthetic plastic disk 20 that is removable
by means of a knob 22, for example, for adjustment of the portion size or for
cleaning of the inside of the drum 14, after removal of a likewise transparent
fixed part housing 21 that forms an observation window.
The dosing drum 14 contains two separate dosing chambers 25a and 25b,
each of which has its own filling and emptying opening 23a, 23b. The two
chambers are separated from each other by a partition 34. Each chamber 25a, 25b
is closed below by a floor piece 26 that is selectively adjustable in height.
The chambers 25a and 25b can respectively have different filling volumes set by
corresponding adjustment of the adjustable floor pieces 26. Their filling and
emptying openings 23a and 23b are offset from each other on the circumference of
the dosing drum 14 and the funnel 32 at the bottom of the casing 19 has a
partition 35 that separates from each other the feed collecting spaces corre-
sponding to two separate run-out channels 12a and 12b.
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For adjustmcnt of each bottom piece 26, there are provided two series
of holes 27 in each of the side walls 24 in which holding studs 28 for the
bottom yiece 26 can be inserted.
In the first position of the dosing drum, as represented in Figures 3
and 4, tlle filling and emptying opening 23b is connected and sealed to the
discharge opening 8 of the supply hopper 5. For this purpose, an elastic
circular seal strip 29 is provided on the housing 19 that slides on the periphery
of the dosing drum 14, while as shown in Figure 4 straight brush strips 30
affixed to the housing 19, together with a brush strip 31b set on the dosing
drum 14 adjacent the rim of the filling and emptying opening 23b, complete the
sealing of the gap between the peripheral surface of the dosing drum 14 and the
neighboring wall of the casing 19. A further brush strip 31a is located in the
neighborhood of the rim of the filling and emptying opening 23a.
In the first position of the dosing drum 14 illustrated in Figure 4,
the left dosing chamber 25b is connected with the supply hopper 5, so that the
dosing chamber 25b is completely filled with feed through the hopper discharge
opening 8 and the filling and emptying opening 23b of the drum. The feed enters
in the direction of the arrow shown in Figure 4. The amount of feed going into
the dosing chamber 25 is determined by the level of the bottom piece 26.
As the left dosing chamber 25b is filled, the right-hand dosing
chamber 25a is emptied through the run-out channel 12a, and the two feed
collecting spaces relating to the two run-out channels 12a and 12b are sealed
from each other by the brush strip 31a.
At a predetermined moment, the control unit 2 provides an electrical
pulse to the drive motor 17 which in response rotates the dosing drum 14 into
the second position illustrated in Figure 5, in which the feed contained in the
dosing chamber 25b goes into the left hand feed collecting space in discharge
funnel 32, then into the run-out channel 12b. At the same time, as is
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particularly to be seen :in rigure 5, the dosing chamber 25a is filled from the
supply hopper 5. In this positioll the brush strip 31b provides the seal against
the collecting space for the run-out channel 12a. As the drum is being rotated
from one position to the other, opening 8 is closed by a wall portion of the
dosing drum 14 together with the brus~l strip 30 and the sealing flap 29~ so that
no feed can come out of the feed hopper 5.
After the feed contained in the dosing chamber 25b has flowed out, and
when it is time to supply feed to run-out channel 12a, the drive motor 17 rotates
the dosing chamber 14 back into the position shown in Figure 4 in which chamber
25a is emptied and chamber 25b is again automatically filled with feed from the
supply hopper 5, so that it stands ready in position for the next feeding
command.
Each feeding device 1 can, morever, if desired, also be provided with
a supplementary control unit which permits giving commands to the drive motor
17 according to an individual program or by hand.
In order to prevent granular or pellet-like feed particles from
jamming between the rim of a filling and emptyi.ng opening 23a or 23b and the
corresponding rim of the hopper discharge opening 8 when the dosing drum 14 is
rotated, in each case an edge 40 of the filling and emptying opening 23a, 23b
is constituted as a sharp knife or cutti.ng edge that cooperates with an opposed
cutter 41 provided on the hopper bottom 7 or the casing 19 in such a way that
any feed particles sticking or somehow held will be cut through.
Although the invention has been described with reference to particular
embodiments, it will be understood that modifications and variations are
possible within the inventive concept and that features of one illustrated em-
bodiment may be applicable to or incorporated in other illustrated embodiments.
