Poultry feeder with two-way rotation.

Abstract

DEPCT6404 / 06 / 2564 A bidirectional rotating poultry feeder consisting of a plate and a feeding hopper. A circular flange with side ends and a hollow neck in the lower part, with a stopper at the end. As mentioned, the clamping device has two halves (upper and lower), the lower half of which includes an opening. For filling food into the center section of the slider, which includes a through-hole located next to the rear end. Of the item and the way it is firmly attached at the front end, the strip will be used to open it. And it blocks the passage of food through the feeding opening at the front of the upper half, forming a complete pathway. For securing the firmly fixed component that maintains the position of the feeder when rotating clockwise. Or counterclockwise. ----------------------------------------------------------- DEPCT64 A bidirectional rotating poultry feeder consisting of a plate, feeding hopper, and flange. A circle with hollow side ends and a neck at the bottom, with a stopper at the end of it; a clamp. The holder has two halves (top and bottom); the bottom half includes an opening for filling with food. The central part of the slider incorporates a through-hole located adjacent to the rear end of it and the mechanism. Securely fastened at the front end of the object, this strip is used to open and close the passage for food. Through the feeding opening at the front of the upper half, a mechanism is incorporated to securely fasten the fastening components. Maintain the position of the feeder when rotating clockwise or counterclockwise. -----------------------------------------------------------

Description

[0001] BIRD FEEDER WITH DOUBLE ROTATING DIRECTION

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present invention relates to a feeder for birds in poultry farms, specifically to a feeder mainly for small birds or in early stages of their growth, which has the ability to be coupled to an automatic feeding system and rotate both clockwise and counterclockwise to position itself above the birds' heads when not in use, and which can be thoroughly washed and disinfected both inside and out without having to disassemble it.

[0004] BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0005] As is well known in the state of the art, commercial poultry farming is the most important livestock activity worldwide, since it is responsible for the production of poultry for productive purposes in general. Poultry farming can be classified into two types: technologically advanced production facilities, dependent on various automated systems, and traditional or non-technologically advanced facilities that depend largely on manual equipment that requires human labor.

[0006] Technified poultry farms are the most widely used worldwide, accounting for 75% of commercial farms globally and producing over fifty billion birds annually for meat. These farms feature automation in all systems necessary for intensive production, such as feeding systems, coupled drinking systems, suspended feeder and drinker systems, air cooling systems, and heating systems, among others. In contrast, traditional or non-technified farms are rudimentary and conventional, using manual equipment such as hanging feeders and bell-type drinkers, manually operated heaters, and manual curtains, all of which depend entirely on constant human supervision for proper functioning.

[0007] In this regard, as is known in the state of the art, poultry production comprises between three and five stages. The production of poultry for meat generally ends between the fifth and ninth week of age, depending on the specific type of bird demanded by the market.The most important and critical stage of a bird's life is the initiation and growth stage (to which the present invention is focused), which comprises the first three weeks of life, the first two weeks being the most important and representing up to 35% of the bird's life, which is when the newborn birds leave the incubation room and arrive at the production room where they have to learn to eat and drink quickly and due to their bodily and immunological immaturity, it is required to provide both strict supervision in feeding as well as strict environmental and sanitary control, which, otherwise, would result in a great delay in development and an increase in mortality in the birds.

[0008] Therefore, the most important input in this industry is the feed for the bird, which represents 75% of the total production costs, being the most relevant factor to take care of and any action that is aimed at maximizing the use of the feed will result in greater productive efficiency increasing the economic benefit for the poultry producer.

[0009] In accordance with the above, the "floor feeding system" using trays, paper strips, or simply scattering feed on the floor, is the traditional way of feeding chickens in their first weeks of life. This method, which involves providing feed on the floor without any restrictions, presents numerous disadvantages and problems, such as a high risk of contamination and, consequently, widespread disease and high mortality, feed waste, low feed intake, low production efficiency, flock non-uniformity, and high production costs, impacting the efficiency of poultry producers. Consequently, the "floor feeding system" has been observed to be a significant factor in the transmission of serious infections to humans, thus gaining considerable attention as a public health issue.Although technologically advanced production facilities have automatic feeding systems using automatic feeders, these are not designed to properly feed birds during their first weeks of life. This leads to many of the problems mentioned above, such as feed contamination and low productivity. To improve the efficiency of automatic feeders, traditional floor feeding systems are interspersed. These systems consist of using plastic / cardboard trays, paper strip mats, or simply placing the feed directly on the floor to provide it to the birds. These traditional auxiliary feeding methods are only used during the first five days of life because feed waste increases proportionally with the age of the birds, as do the problems of feed contamination and the greater risk of cross-contamination between birds.

[0010] In accordance with the above, the state of the art includes automatic feeders that are generally round, although there are feeders of different shapes and sizes, oval, triangular, hexagonal, square and rectangular. A common problem with conventional feeders is that automatic feeders occupy a large space within the production area, so a lower number of birds per square meter can be placed, reducing productivity. In addition, some of these feeders have oval corners or edges, causing a great conflict for the birds when feeding, as they compete and fight for the same space to eat, so feed consumption is noticeably lower and therefore the production results are not satisfactory.

[0011] The state of the art includes various documents relating to automatic feeders, and among the components of these feeders, a very important part is the means of connection between the feeder and the feed supply tube to the feeder, the shape of the dish and the search for a better distribution of the feed and the birds in order to increase the productivity of the poultry production systems.

[0012] For example, there is document ES 238,056 entitled "Improved Dosing Hopper for Poultry Feeding," which is a utility model, where the configuration and method of feeding the product into the hopper differ completely from those used in the present invention. Also known is patent ES 2,117,148, entitled "Poultry Feeding Device." This device is circular in shape, and the product is also fed through an upper duct, but it does not use a choke system like the one described in the present invention.Patent ES 2,172,428, entitled "Feeder for free-range birds!" is of the type connectable to a horizontal tubular conduit (4), as in the present invention, which can be placed in two positions, the feeding position and the cleaning position, where in said patent Ί4B it is required that the horizontal feeding tube be raised, which implies that feeding is carried out at the same time in each feeder regardless of whether it is required in any particular one or not.

[0013] US patent 7,581,512 mentions the importance of the tray onto which the feed falls and presents tray designs (plates) indicating that the best arrangement is the one shown, consisting of an elongated oval shape or the shape of two intersecting circles (see summary). As expressed in this patent '512, and in the other documents, the configuration of the tray that receives the feed and that of the system for separating the birds at feeding time are important factors, and therefore, over time, the ideal shape that provides adequate distribution of feed from the horizontal tube has been sought.

[0014] Finally, there is US patent 9,713,320, which refers to a feeder with a rounded rectangular shape. While this partially solves the aforementioned problems, it also presents disadvantages or problems when used in technologically advanced production facilities. The feeder disclosed in this document can only rotate in one direction, which means that when the feeders are not in use and are placed on the animals' heads for storage or washing, the weight of the feeder causes the tube that distributes the feed to rotate, and the feed distribution openings become misaligned with the feed receiving opening, requiring rework to realign these openings.Furthermore, to achieve adequate washing of the hopper, it is necessary to disassemble the hopper from the plate, which consumes a lot of time and money. Similarly, above the head of the birds in the resting or washing position, the feeder hits the anti-perching cable that prevents the birds from climbing onto the feeding tubes, which causes said cable to have to be removed, which favors perching by the birds and therefore they can damage the feeding tubes.

[0015] Therefore, in the state of the art, there is no bird feeder that can be connected to a horizontal tubular feeding conduit and can rotate both clockwise and counterclockwise when it is above the birds' heads for resting, and which can be optimally washed without the need to detach the hopper and plate.

[0016] OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a bird feeder with a double direction of rotation which allows balancing the weight of the feeders in the feeding tube.

[0017] Another object of the present invention is to provide a bidirectional bird feeder that reduces setup time and rework.

[0018] A further object of the present invention is to provide a bidirectional bird feeder that can be placed in a resting or washing position in both directions without interfering with the anti-perching cable.

[0019] Another object of the present invention is to provide a bird feeder with a double direction of rotation that can be completely washed inside without having to disassemble it.

[0020] A further object of the present invention is to provide a bidirectional bird feeder in which the hopper and the plate are rigidly coupled and do not detach during pressure washing.

[0021] Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a bidirectional rotating bird feeder in which the central cone of the dish has elevations at the ends to allow for better distribution of the feed. Another object of the present invention is to provide a bidirectional rotating bird feeder in which the curved tab prevents feed accumulation by leaving a minimal space between it and the tube.

[0022] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0023] These and other objects are reached through a bidirectional bird feeder, which is formed by a substantially rectangular, rounded plate with an upper flange forming a coupling groove; a hopper having a plurality of lower fins with a pointed edge, configured to fit into the coupling groove, a plurality of side and top openings to allow internal washing, and a top orifice with side reinforcements; a circular flange having freely attachable side ends and a substantially square hollow throat at its lower end with projections or stops at its lower end, wherein said flange and throat are split into two parts to fit into said top orifice of said hopper and are held therein by said stops.and wherein said flange comprises in its lower part right and left reinforcing lugs having a semicircular cutout; and a substantially cylindrical clamp formed by two upper and lower half-lengths with a half-round shape, wherein each of said upper and lower half-lengths is divided into three sections, front, middle and rear, by peripheral flanges, wherein the lower half-length comprises a feeding hole in the middle section; and a curved T-shaped tongue sliding through said peripheral flanges and over a groove in the outer surface of said lower half-length, wherein said tongue-length comprises adjacent to its rear end a passage hole, and at its front end a tongue-length clamping means for better handling thereof, wherein said tongue-length has the function of opening and closing the passage of food through the feeding hole,The upper half comprises in its front section a retaining and coupling means for a securing element, wherein when the feeder is rotated, either clockwise or counterclockwise, to be placed in its resting or washing position at approximately 160° or 70°, depending on the direction in which it is rotated, the feeder is maintained and secured in said position by means of said securing element, by rotating the flange on the central section of the clamp, so that said retaining means coincides with the respective semicircular cutout of the right or left reinforcing lug of said flange according to the direction in which the feeder is rotated, and inserting said securing means through said retaining means and semicircular cutout,

[0024] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0025] Figure 1 is a perspective view of the double-direction rotating bird feeder of the present invention.

[0026] Figure 2 is a perspective view of the food receiving dish of the double-direction rotating bird feeder of the present invention.

[0027] Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the food receiving plate of Figure 1.

[0028] Figure 4 is a perspective view of the double-direction rotating bird feeder hopper of the present invention.

[0029] Figure 5 is a top view of the hopper in Figure 4.

[0030] Figure 5A is a cross-sectional view of the coupling of the hopper and plate of the bidirectional bird feeder of the present invention.

[0031] Figure 5B is a detailed view of the coupling of the hopper and plate of Figure 5A.

[0032] Figure 8 is a perspective view of the circular flange of the bidirectional bird feeder of the present invention.

[0033] Figure 7 is a front view of the flange of Figure 8.

[0034] Figure 8 is a series of perspective and exploded front views of the double-rotation bird feeder clamp of the present invention.

[0035] Figure 9 is a front view of the assembled clamp of the

[0036] Figure 8. Figure 10 is a perspective view of the clamp tongue.

[0037] Figure 11 is a perspective view of a second modality of the double-direction rotating bird feeder of the present invention.

[0038] Figure 12 is a cross-sectional view of the coupling of the hopper and plate of the second modality of the double-direction rotating bird feeder of the present invention.

[0039] Figure 13 is a detailed view of the coupling of the hopper and plate of Figure 12.

[0040] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0041] With reference to Figure 1, the bidirectional poultry feeder, generally numbered 1000, is shown. This feeder 1000 is comprised mainly of a feed receiving plate 1100, a hopper 1200, a positioning flange 1300, and a clamping bracket 1400. As shown in Figures 1 to 3, the feed receiving plate 1100 has a rounded rectangular shape or rounded corners and a substantially conical peripheral wall, integrally attached to a bottom wall. The plate 1100 comprises, at the upper end of its peripheral wall, a slightly curved peripheral flange 1110, which forms an internal coupling groove 1111.The plate also comprises within its interior a central longitudinal hump 1120 which comprises a depression 1121 in the center thereof with a flat surface, said depression 1121 has the function of distributing the food evenly throughout the plate, which falls onto it from the hopper 1200.

[0042] With reference to Figures 1, 4 and 5 to 5B, the configuration of hopper 1200 is shown, which has a substantially oval shape, said hopper 1200 comprises at its lower end a plurality of fins 1210 distributed uniformly along the entire periphery of said hopper, wherein said fins

[0043] 1210 have a substantially trapezoidal shape with a semicircular projection

[0044] 1211 on the underside and a rim 1212 at the tip or free end of each of them. This semicircular projection 1211 reduces feed waste due to head bobbing by the birds. As shown in Figures 5A and 5B, this rim 1212 has the function of inserting itself into the inner coupling groove 1111 of the plate and providing a firm and rigid coupling between the plate 1100 and the hopper 1200 so that they do not become detached during the washing of the feeder 1000 with pressurized water.

[0045] The hopper further comprises two inclined side walls 1220 extending from the top wall to substantially half the height of the peripheral wall. Each of these side walls 1220 comprises a plurality of openings or windows 1221 allowing access to the interior of the hopper, so that when the feeder 1000 is washed, the water jet can enter the hopper 1200 and trough 1100 to wash away the accumulated feed, thus preventing contamination of the feeder and the development of diseases in the animals. The hopper's top wall 1230 comprises a central opening surrounded by concave lateral reinforcing flanges 1233 and flat front and rear flanges 1234, and openings or windows 1232 located adjacent to the lateral ends of the top wall 1230, where these openings or windows 1232 have the same function as the windows 1221 in the side walls.

[0046] As shown in Figures 1, 6 and 7, the positioning flange 1300 is formed by an open circular section divided into two parts, a clamping part 1310, and a fixing part 1320, wherein said clamping parts 1310 and fixing parts 1320 comprise free side ends 1311, 1321 that are releasably coupled to each other by means of a screw and nut or the like.Similarly, the clamping parts 1310 and fixing parts 1320 of the flange 1300 comprise in their lower part a hollow throat of substantially square cross-section, which is also formed by two parts, left 1330 and right 1340, wherein the left part 1330 is integrally joined to the clamping part 1310 and the right part 1340 is integrally joined to the fixing part 1320, so that when the clamping parts 1310 and fixing parts 1320 of the flange are assembled, the right and left parts of the throat form a conduit for the passage of food to the hopper 1200.This throat is narrower in the section adjacent to the circular section and wider in its lower section, where the narrow section facilitates the introduction and coupling of the two parts 1330, 1340 of the throat within the central hole 1231. On the other hand, the wider section of the throat allows that once the left 1330 and right 1340 parts are coupled, it prevents the flange 1300 from becoming detached from the hopper 1200, so that the flange 1300 can be compressed or extended from the hopper 1200.

[0047] As shown in Figures 1 and 7, the left portion 1330 of the throat comprises notched male coupling elements 1331 that are inserted into female coupling elements 1341 of the right portion, such as cavities, by means of a press fit. Likewise, each of said right portion 1340 and left portion 1330 of the throat comprises a semicircular lateral projection or stop at its lower end 1332, 1342, which, together with the wider section of the throat, prevents the flange 1300 from disengaging from the hopper 1200, since when the throat is extended, they collide with the inner face of the semicircular lateral flanges 1233 of the central hole 1231 of the upper wall 1230 of the hopper 1200.

[0048] With reference again to Figures 6 and 7, it can be seen that the clamping part 1310 of the flange comprises upper and lower reinforcing lugs on its front and rear faces and a hinge 1315 that allows a greater opening capacity of the circular section of the flange 1300. Similarly, the fixing part 1320 of the flange comprises reinforcing lugs on its front and rear faces, where, as can be seen, the lower front lug of the clamping part 1310 and the front lug of the fixing part 1320 comprise a semicircular cutout 1313, 1323 configured to receive a securing element.

[0049] With reference now to Figures 1, 8, 9 and 10, the components of clamp 1400 are shown, wherein said clamp is formed by two semicircular or half-round halves, lower 1410 and upper 1420, wherein each of said halves 1410, 1420 is divided into three sections, front, middle and rear, by peripheral reinforcing flanges 1411 1421. The lower half 1410 comprises, at the left ends of the front and rear sections, T-shaped coupling elements 1412, and at the right ends of the front and rear sections, a bore 1413 with a housing for receiving a nut, pulley or the like. The lower half 1410 also comprises inside a pair of longitudinal grooves or channels 1414 separated at approximately 45°, to fit into tubes with seams or flanges in any direction and without having to turn the feeder 1000 over.The lower half further comprises in its central section a through hole 1415 for receiving food and a sliding tongue 1430, which slides through said peripheral flanges 1411 and over a groove 1416 located on the outer surface of said lower half below said peripheral flanges.

[0050] 1411. Each of said peripheral flanges 1411 comprises a guide flange 1471 on its inner face, wherein said guide flanges 1417 have the function of allowing the cylindrical section of the flange to slide over them. Said tongue 1430 is formed by a curved plate having at its rear end a through-hole 1431 that allows feed to pass into the flange 1300 and the hopper when said hole 1431 coincides with the central through-hole 1415, and a fastening means at its front end, which is formed by lateral tabs 1432 having holes for the insertion of the user's fingers and by a lower fin 1433, said fastening means allowing manipulation of the tongue to slide it and thus open or close the passage of feed from the feed tube to the inside of the feeder 1000.

[0051] The upper half 1420 of said clamp 1400 comprises reinforcing flanges 1421 that divide said upper half into said three sections, and these in turn comprise guide flanges 1422 which, like the guide flanges 1417, have the function of allowing the cylindrical section of the flange to slide over them. Said upper half further comprises, at the left ends of the front and rear sections, T-shaped coupling grooves 1423 which are configured to slidably engage with the T-shaped coupling elements.

[0052] 1412, likewise said upper half 1420 comprises at the right ends of the front and rear sections a bore 1424 which are configured to engage with the bores 1413 and secure the engagement of the upper 1420 and lower 1410 halves of said clamp by means of a nut and bolt or the like. Said upper half 1420 further comprises in its front section a means for retaining and engaging a fastening element 1425, which has two through holes, a lower retaining hole 14251 for the fastening element 1426, and an upper engagement hole 14252 for the fastening element 1426, wherein said fastening element 1426 refers to a bolt, stem, bushing, or the like.

[0053] In accordance with the above, when the feeder is rotated, either clockwise or counterclockwise, to be placed in its resting or washing position at approximately 160° or 70°, depending on the direction of rotation (i.e., 70° clockwise and 160° counterclockwise), the feeder is held and secured in this position by means of the securing element 1426, by rotating the circular section 1310 of the flange 1300 on the guide flanges 1417, 1422 of the central section. of the clamp, so that the upper coupling hole 14252 of said retaining means 1425 coincides with the respective semicircular cutout 1313, 1323 of the right or left reinforcing lug of said flange 1300 depending on the direction in which the feeder is rotated, and by inserting said securing element 1426 through the upper coupling hole 14252 and said respective semicircular cutout 1313, 1323.

[0054] With reference now to Figures 11 to 13, a second modality 2000 of the double-direction rotating bird feeder of the present invention is shown, wherein said feeder 2000 is configured in the same way as the feeder 1000 of the first modality by a food receiving plate 2100; a hopper 2200; a positioning flange 2300 and a clamping clamp 2400.

[0055] As shown in Figures 11 to 13, the feed receiving plate 2100 of the second embodiment, like plate 1100, has a rounded rectangular shape or has rounded corners and a substantially conical peripheral wall integrally attached to a bottom wall. This plate 1100 comprises, at the upper end of its peripheral wall, an outwardly curved peripheral flange 2110, which forms an external coupling groove 2111. This peripheral flange 2110 comprises, at one of its corners, two laterally extending interlocking projections 2112. The plate 2100 further comprises, internally, a central longitudinal hump 2120, which includes a depression 2121 in its center with a flat surface. This depression 2121 serves to distribute the feed evenly across the plate, as it falls onto it from the hopper 2200.

[0056] As shown in Figures 11 and 12, the configuration of the hopper 2200 is shown, which has a substantially oval shape, said hopper 2200 comprises at its lower end a plurality of trapezoidal fins 2210 distributed uniformly along the entire periphery of said hopper, joined at their free end by a grid 2240, wherein between each pair of fins there is a window 2241. Said grid 2240 has a substantially curved or concave shape with a coupling hook 2244 at its end which is configured to be fixedly coupled onto the peripheral flange 2110 as shown in Figure 13 so that when coupled they appear as a single element, since the flange 2110 covers the windows 2241.The grid comprises a release opening 2242 at one corner, which divides the respective window into two release sections 22421. This release opening 2242 allows the hopper to be released from the plate by pulling on one of the two release sections 22421, thereby quickly and easily detaching the plate and hopper without effort. Each of these release sections 22421 comprises, in alignment with the interlocking projections 2112, an insertion projection 2243, which engages with said interlocking projections 2112 to secure the hopper 2200 to the plate 2100.

[0057] The hopper 2200 further comprises two inclined side walls 2220 extending from the top wall to substantially half the height of the peripheral wall. Each of these side walls 2220 comprises a plurality of openings or windows 2221 allowing access to the interior of the hopper, so that when the feeder 2000 is washed, the water jet can enter the hopper 1200 and the trough 2100 to wash away the accumulated feed, thus preventing contamination of the feeder and the development of diseases in the animals. The hopper also includes a central opening in its upper wall 2230. surrounded by concave lateral reinforcing flanges 2233 and flat front and rear flanges 2234, and openings or windows 2232 located adjacent to the lateral ends of said upper wall 2230, wherein said openings or windows 2232 have the same function as the windows 2221 of the side walls.

[0058] The positioning flange 2300 and the clamping clamp 2400 of the second modality are exactly the same as the flange 1300 and the clamp 1400 of the first modality and therefore will not be described.

[0059] It will be evident to a person skilled in the art that the two-way rotation configuration of the feeders 1000 and 2000 of the present invention allows the feeders in an automated farm to be placed in a single position, and that the weight of the feeders can be distributed evenly when placed in their resting or washing position, since with this new configuration, only one feeder is rotated clockwise and the other counterclockwise, thus preventing the tube from slipping and the feed distribution holes of the tube from becoming misaligned with the central holes 1415 and 2415 of the clamps 1300 and 2300 of said feeders.

[0060] Similarly, the 160° or 70° position of the feeders in their washing position prevents them from colliding with or interfering with the anti-perching cable. In addition, the inclusion of edges on the fins and the inner coupling groove of the plate allows the hopper and plate to remain connected when washed with pressurized water.

[0061] Similarly, the new tab configuration allows it to be manipulated manually or with a suitable tool to reduce operating time.

[0062] Based on the foregoing, it will be evident to a person skilled in the art that the bidirectional poultry feeder described above is presented for illustrative purposes only, as a person skilled in the art may make numerous variations of it, provided it is designed in accordance with the principles of the present invention. Consequently, the present invention includes all the variations that a person skilled in the art may devise based on the concepts contained in this description, in accordance with the following claims.