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US 6,681,718 B1Granted
Animal feeding device
OwnerScott Alan Mcllarkyinventor
Life of this patent
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OwnerScott Alan Mcllarkyinventor
Estimating the term…
An animal feeding device (25) is disclosed comprising a hopper (34) for storing a volume of flowable animal food particulate and having a discharge aperture (38). A directing structure (47) is arranged substantially inside of the hopper (34) to create a void or urging area (62) around the discharge aperture (38) into which the food particulate is inhibited from freely flowing. An urging member (63, 64, 65, 66, or 67) is adapted to movably engage and urge food adjacent the urging area (62), into the urging area (62), and into the discharge aperture (38) wherein gravity urges the food to exit the hopper (34) and travel through a conveying structure (40) to a receptacle (46) from which an animal may feed. The inventive device for, and method of, dispensing the food to an animal provides superior resistance to bridging, pinched, jammed, or crushed of the food and, therefore, provides trustworthy economical operation.
A device for dispensing food particulate to at least one animal comprising a hopper for storing said food particulate, said hopper including a discharge aperture, an urging area arranged substantially within said hopper and arranged substantially around said discharge aperture, an area of repose arranged adjacent said urging area, a directing means disposed substantially within said hopper for directing said food particulate within said hopper away from said urging area and into said area of repose wherein gravitational flow or flushing of said food particulate onto said urging area is inhibited, an urging means for urging said food particulate from said area of repose into said discharge aperture whereby said food particulate is discharged from said hopper, means for making discharged food particulate accessible, whereby said discharged food particulate is available to said at least one animal for consumption.
A device for dispensing flowable animal food to at least one animal comprising a first means for holding a volume of said flowable animal food, said first means comprising at least one discharge passage whereby said flowable animal food can exit said first means, a second means for creating a void substantially adjacent said at least one discharge passage and within said volume of said flowable animal food, at least one urging member, a third means for supporting said at least one urging member, a fourth means for receiving said flowable food particulate and from which said at least one animal can feed, a fifth means operatively coupled to said at least one urging member for imparting movement to said at least one urging member, whereby said at least one urging member urges said flowable animal food into said void and into said outlet passage, and whereby said flowable animal food is discharged from said first means and is received by said fourth means for consumption therefrom by said at least one animal.
A method of dispensing flowable food particulate for animals to at least one animal comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.