Title: Limited feeder for farm animals

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Claims: I claim:

1. In a feeder, in combination:

a hopper having at least one outlet opening in the bottom thereof;

a guideway spaced below said hopper having at least first and second discharge openings in the bottom thereof longitudinally spaced in opposite directions from a location directly below said outlet opening; a distributor slide mounted for longitudinal movement on the bottom of said guideway in the space between the bottom of said hopper and the bottom of said guideway, and having at least first and second adjacent, longitudinally aligned topless and bottomless measuring compartments defined by longitudinal walls and transverse panel like partitions, said transverse partitions being supported on relatively thin lower edges to minimize the contact area with said guideway in which feed material may accumulate; and means for reversibly removing said slide longitudinally in said guideway between a first position, in which said first compartment is under said outlet opening and said second compartment is over said first discharge opening, and a second position, in which said first compartment is over said second discharge opening, and said second compartment is under said outlet opening, so that at the end of each movement of the slide one of the compartments is being filled from said hopper and the other compartment is emptying;

said outlet and discharge openings and said transverse partitions being so positioned mutually that at no time in the movement of said slide is there a free path from said outlet opening through either one of said measuring compartments; said measuring compartments being disposed completely out of register with their respective outlet and discharge openings during movement of said compartments through an intermediate position between said first and second positions of said slide.

2. The structure of claim 1 in which said guideway includes a wear plate, the bottom edges of said chambers directly engaging said wear plate to support said slide.

3. In a feeder, in combination: a hopper having a row of spaced outlet openings in the bottom thereof;

a guideway spaced below said hopper having sets of first and second discharge openings in the bottom thereof, the openings, in each set being spaced in opposite directions from a location directly below one of said outlet openings;

a distributor slide mounted for longitudinal movement on the bottom of said guideway in the space between the bottom of said hopper and the bottom of said guideway, and having longitudinally aligned sets of first and second adjacent, longitudinally aligned topless and bottomless measuring compartments defined by longitudinal walls and transverse panel like partitions, said transverse partitions being supported on relatively thin lower edges to minimize the contact area with said guideway in which feed material may accumulate;

and means for reversibly moving said slide longitudinally in said guideway between a first position, in which a first compartment is under each outlet opening and a second compartment is over each first discharge opening, and a second position, in which a first compartment is over each second discharge opening, so that at the end of each movement of the slide said first compartments are being filled from said hopper and said second compartments are emptying;

said outlet and discharge openings and said transverse partitions being so positioned mutually that at no time in the movement of said slide is there a free path from any outlet opening through any measuring compartment; said measuring compartments being disposed completely out of register with said outlet and said discharge openings during movement thereof through an intermediate position between said first and second positions of said slide.

4. The structure of claim 3 in which the tops of said compartments are larger than said outlet openings, and the discharge openings of each set are spaced by no less than the range of motion of said slide.

5. The structure of claim 4 in which each of said chambers is defined by a first vertical transverse partition and a second sloping transverse partition, the sloping partitions of adjacent chambers intersecting to define apices transverse to said slide.

Other info:

Inventors: Lynch, Delmar J. (Burbank, SD, US)

Application Number: 540133
Filing Date: 1975-01-10
Publication_date: 1976-06-15
Assignee:
Primary Class(es): 119/56.1 222/485
Other Classes:
US Patent Ref:

807484	Dec, 1905	Moss	119/56.
936051	Oct, 1909	Slichter	119/56.
1109009	Sep, 1914	O'Brien	119/56.
3434459	Mar, 1969	Green	119/56.
3800746	Apr, 1974	Stidham	119/56.

Other Refs: 935,813

Sep, 1963	UK

Primary Examiner: Eskovitz, J.N.
Assistant Examiner:
Attorney: Merchant, Gould, Smith, Edell, Welter & Schmidt