METHODE POUR NOURRIR LES POISSONS

METHOD FOR FEEDING FISH

Abrégé anglais

There is disclosed a method for feeding fish which employs
a blower arrangement over a surface of water. The apparatus
employed to effect the projection of the feed includes a nozzle
and blower arrangement for generating a high speed stream into
which feed is introduced. The feed introduced into the air
stream is effectively carried by the air stream and discharged
through an air nozzle or discharge tube associated with the
blower. At this point of feed entry to the air stream, the
nozzle includes a venturi tube which creates a vacuum in the
nozzle assisting in the entry of feed into the air stream from
the auger tube, or other mechanism, delivering feed from a feed
bin. In order to further enhance the efficiency of the feeding,
the arrangement includes a venturi vent to permit the intake of
air in order to accelerate the feed being dispensed through the
nozzle. The method of projecting the feed is particularly
advantageous in that it can broadcast high moisture or low
moisture.

Revendications

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. A method of dispensing fish feed comprising:
providing a source of feed to be dispensed;
providing a blower means for creating an air stream, said
blower means including a discharge nozzle in fluid communication
with said air stream, said nozzle having inlet means for creating
a vacuum, said nozzle for projecting said feed;
drawing, by suction, said feed into said air stream; and
discharging said feed over an area for receiving said feed.
2. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the
discharging step includes uniformly discharging the feed over
said area.
3. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein said feed has
a high moisture content.
4. The method as defined in claim 1, further including the
step of accelerating said feed through said discharge nozzle by
the introduction of air into said nozzle.

Description

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METHOD FOR FEEDING FISH
The present invention is directed to fish farming and more
particularly, the present invention is directed to a method of
feeding different sizes, grades and consistency of feed to large
numbers of fish in an efficient fashion.
Generally speaking, in the fish farming industry, the
typical farmer has a vast area having several nurseries, all of
which must be attended to on a daily basis. Where a large number
of nurseries are included, feed distribution becomes a fairly
onerous task and further consumes a great deal of time.
Presently, high moisture content feed is distributed to the
various nurseries by shovelling the feed and essentially
"throwing" the feed over a small area of the nursery in order for
the fish to feed. This method is clearly inefficient and further
is limited in that the feed cannot effectively be uniformly
distributed over the nurseries, but rather concentrations of feed
in localized area. The chief difficulty with this method is that
some of the fish are fed to a greater degree than others. This
leads to inconsistencies in the nursery stock with respect to
fish size and health among other factors.
In view of the above-mentioned limitations, there is a need
for a method of feeding fish in a fish farming environment which
uniformly distributes feed over a relatively large area. The
present invention is directed to satisfying this need and
accordingly to one aspect of the present invention there is
provided a method of dispensing fish feed comprising: providing
a source of feed to be dispensed; providing a blower means for
creating a high pressure air stream, the blower means including
a discharge nozzle in fluid communication with the high pressure
air stream, the nozzle having inlet means for creating a vacuum,

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said nozzle for projecting the feed; drawing, by suction, the
feed into the air stream; and discharging the feed over an area
for receiving the feed.
Having thus generally described the invention, reference
will now be made to the accompanying drawings, illustrating
preferred embodiments and in which:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of the apparatus suitable for
effecting the method; and
Figure 2 is a side view illustrating the feed transportation
system and fan arrangement;
Referring now to the drawings, the apparatus 10 provides a
feed hopper 12, the bottom of which is open at 14. Opening 14
of hopper 12 communicates with an auger 16 surrounded by an auger
tube 17 and having a shaft 18 and flight 19. Auger 16 is
rotatably mounted at one end with an auger shaft mounting 20, the
latter additionally functioning to close off the end of auger
tube 17. The other end of the auger shaft 18 is a supported
member 22. The support member 22 includes a pulley 24.
Pulley 24 communicates with a second transmission pulley 26
and more specifically, a gear reducing pulley 26. Communication
between pulleys 24 and 26 is achieved by belt 28. The gear
reducing pulley 26 is rotatably mounted to a gear reducer 30,
well known to those skilled in the art and typically comprising
a pair of bevelled gears.
Motion is transmitted to the gear reducer via a drive shaft
32. Drive shaft 32 is mechanically driven by motor 34, which
motor may be battery powered, gas powered, etc. Motor 34

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includes a spindle 36 extending therefrom. Spindle 36 rotatably
mounts a fan blade 38 and additionally is connected to drive
shaft 32. In order to compensate for rotational inconsistencies
or stresses, drive shaft 32 may include universal joints 40 and
42.
Fan 38 is housed in blower housing 44 and includes a
generally tangentially oriented nozzle 46.
As is best illustrated in Figure 1, nozzle 46 and auger tube
17 are interfaced as opening 48, which opening permits feed
transported by auger flight 19 to be passed into nozzle 46 at
opening 48.
It has been found that when fan 38 is rotated via the motor
34, the air stream generated and the disposition of opening 48
relative to nozzle 46 results in a venturi being established.
The result is that the feed is drawn under suction into the air
stream passing through the nozzle 46.
In operation, once motor 34 is activated, the rotational
motion is transmitted via drive shaft 32 to gear reducer 30, gear
reducer pulley 26 and subsequently to auger pulley 24. The
result is that the auger is activated and subsequently transports
feed from within hopper 12 to the opening 48 of the inner face
of the nozzle 46 and auger tube 17. Once the feed is drawn,
under suction, into nozzle 46, the air stream passing
therethrough then projects the feed over a distance.
It will be clearly appreciated by those skilled in the art
that numerous modifications can be made to, for example, the
transmission of the arrangement 10 and the disposition of the
opening 48 which contributes to the venturi effect. In addition,

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the arrangement 10 may include various means for manipulating the
apparatus more conveniently, an example of which may include
wheels, a trailer hitch, a rotating platform in order to rotate
the apparatus about a vertical axis 360, etc.
Further still, the arrangement may include an adjustable
nozzle in order to vary the trajectory of the feed exiting
therefrom. Where the projection speed of the feed is to be
varied, this can be achieved by numerous means, the simplest
being a simple variation of the motor speed.
Although embodiments of the invention have been described
above, it is not limited thereto and it will be apparent to those
skilled in the art that numerous modifications form part of the
present invention insofar as they do not depart from the spirit,
nature and scope of the claimed and described invention.

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