THIS INVENTION relates to a feed dispensing apparatus for animals and has particular application in feeding animals in the field without excessive manual involvement and overseeing of the feeding operation by operators of the apparatus.

Various forms of feeding devices are known for animals which can be used in an open field without replenishment of the feed contained therein over relatively long periods of time. However, such devices are not favoured in situa¬ tions where the animals in question are of particular value and importance to an owner, for example the feeding of prize equine and bovine stock. Moreover, feeding of these kinds of animals can be extremely labour intensive to ensure that adherence to meticulously planned feeding programmes is maintained and that the welfare of indivi¬ dual animals is generally catered for.

A common problem experienced in feeding animals with previously known feeding devices, is that overseeing of a feeding operation is necessary due to the inability of such devices to control the amount of feed provided to an animal. This is particularly important where high protein fodder in the form of particulate material such as grain is provided to an animal in addition to bulk fodder. In these cases, particular care is required to avoid animals feeding excessively on the high protein fodder without an adequate intake of bulk material which can often result in the ill health and sometimes death of an animal.

It is an object of the present invention to provide feed dispensing apparatus which enables the amount of particu¬ late fodder discharged from a hopper to a trough to be controlled.

It is a preferred object of the invention to provide a feed dispensing apparatus which controls the discharge fodder to an animal by automatic control means.

It is another preferred object of the invention to provide feed dispensing apparatus for animals which does not re¬ quire continous overseeing of the feeding operation.

It is another preferred object of the invention to provide a feed dispensing apparatus which can indicate the state of one or more variable conditions therewith to an opera¬ tor.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a feed dispensing apparatus for animals comprising a hopper for containing particulate fodder having a lower opening, a trough disposed near the lower opening of said hopper to receive fodder discharged from said hopper by gravity feed action, closure means interme¬ diate the hopper and trough, said closure means being movable between an open position allowing said discharge of fodder through said opening and a closed position obstructing said discharge, mechanical means driven by a source of motive power to move said closure means between said open and closed positions, and a control means to control the operation of said mechanical means in response to control signals provided by said control means; wherein the discharge of fodder through said opening may be selec¬ tively and automatically controlled by the operation of said control means.

Preferably the closure means consists of a door which is extendable to the closed position and retractable to the open position in a direction which is essentially coplanar with the general plane of the door.

Preferably, the mechanical means consists of a screw threaded spindle axially disposed within an outer sleeve integral with said door, an upper and lower bush respec¬ tively mounted relative to the hopper above and below said opening, said bushes adapted to retain the spindle at its opposite ends and provide for journaled rotation of the spindle ends therewith, an intermediate bush integrally mounted within said outer sleeve and having a central screw threaded hole in threaded engagement with said spindle, and linkage means connecting said spindle to the source of motive power, wherein said spindle can rotate in a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction causing the intermediate bush to travel in an axial direction there- along and hence effect extension or retraction of said door in said planar direction relative to said opening.

Preferably, the mechanical means includes a protective inner sleeve fixedly mounted relative to the hopper below said door and axially disposed within said outer sleeve, such that the spindle is axially disposed within said sleeves and relative axial movement between the inner and outer sleeves is provided during the extension or retrac¬ tion of said door, thereby shielding that portion of the spindle below said door from fodder passing through said opening.

Preferably, the control means consists of:

(i) a first timing means operable in response to an applied input signal, said first timing means genera¬ ting a first control signal after a first prescribed time has elapsed from the application of the input signal;

(ii) a second timing means actuated in response to the generation of said first control signal, said

second timing means generating a second control signal after a second prescribed time has elapsed from the generation of said first control signal;

wherein the generation of said first control signal effects operation of said source to provide opening of said closure means and the generation of said second control signal effects operation of said source to provide closing of said closure means.

Preferably, the first timing means can be set to operate cyclically, whereby the input signal can be automatically reapplied to said first timing means at the completion of a cycle of operation.

Preferably, the first timing means can be adapted to provide different durations of said first prescribed time within a cycle of operation.

Preferably, the control means includes switching means to provide an override control of the operation of said closure means, said switching means providing instantan¬ eous generation of appropriate output control signals to open or close the closure means upon effecting a change in the state of the switching means.

Preferably, the feed dispensing apparatus includes: a monitoring means to monitor the state of one or more variable conditions, such as the state of the closure means, the level of fodder within said hopper, the state of the supply to said source and to said control means, the state of the switching means or the like, and provide output signal in respect of the sensed condition; an encoding means to encode the output signals, and trans¬ mitting means to receive the encoded output signals and transmit the same to a remotely located receiving station;

a

whereby said receiving station is provided with receiving means, decoding means and indicating means to respectively receive, decode and display the transmitted signal in sensorially perceptible form to an operator conveying the state of said one or more variable conditions.

The invention will be better understood in the light of the following description of one specific embodiment thereof. The description is made with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:-

Fig. 1 is a sectional fragmentary end view of the feeding apparatus;

Fig. 2 is a detailed partial end view of the door lifting mechanism;

Fig. 3 is a detailed partial front view of the door lifting mechanism;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary front view of the feeding apparatus;

Fig. 5 is a front view of the control box of the control means;

Fig. 6 is a block diagram of the door control system; and

Fig. 7 is a block diagram of the alarm system.

The embodiment is directed towards a feed dispensing apparatus for animals as used in relation to a feeding apparatus which provides both particulate and bulk fodder to animals and particularly to valuable equine and/or bovine stock.

The feeding apparatus 11 generally consists of a housing having end walls 12, a covering lid 13 sides 14 and a base 15. The housing is mounted upon a supporting frame 16 which includes a number of pairs of legs 17 respectively mounted at the ends and the middle of the housing. The

feed dispensing apparatus is contained within the housing and generally comprises a central hopper 18 containing particulate fodder, a pair of lower openings 19 for the hopper, a pair of corresponding troughs 20 located either side of the hopper below the openings to which the open¬ ings lead, and a closure means 21 located between the hopper and the troughs. Located either side of the hopper 18 are side compartments 22, which are covered by a front mesh 23, to contain bulk material such as hay. A perspex window 24 is provided in an end wall 12 to enable visual inspection of the contents of the hopper.

The closure means is formed by a pair of slidable doors 24 which can be automatically operated by a mechanical .means in the form of a lifting mechanism 25 and a control means 26, the latter being housed within a control box 27.

Each door 24 is formed of rigid steel material and is of rectangular shape which substantially spans the length of the hopper to completely cover the opening 19. The bottom edge 28 of the door is precisely shaped to form a knife edge 28a capable of abutting with the corresponding por¬ tion of the base 15 to seal the bottom of the hopper 18, thereby preventing discharge of particulate material through the opening 19 when in the extended position. The ends of each of the doors are formed with an integral outer sleeve 29 which combines with the lifting mechanism 25 to allow extension and retraction of the door to res¬ pectively closed and opened positions in a direction essentially coplanar with the general plane of the door.

The lifting mechanism 25 generally consists of a screw threaded spindle 30, upper and lower bushes 31 and 32 respectively, an intermediate bush 33, linkage means 34 and an inner sleeve 35.

The screw threaded spindle 30 is axially disposed within the outer sleeve 29 with its opposing ends located within the upper and lower bushes 31, 32 to enable journaled rotation of the spindle ends therein. The intermediate bush 33 is provided with a stem and collar to enable it to be fixedly mounted within the outer sleeve 29. This bush is provided with a central screw threaded hole which threaded engages the spindle 30. Thus, the door 24 may be extended or retracted relative to the opening 19 by rotat¬ ing the spindle within the upper and lower bushes 31, thereby imparting an axial force to the bush causing it to travel along the spindle in a direction determined by the angular direction of the rotating spindle.

The linkage means 34 consists of an upper arm 36 conjoined to the lower arm 37. The upper arm 36 is fixedly connec¬ ted at one end to the lower terminal end of the spindle 30 below the lower bush 32, and extends substantially normal to the central axis of the spindle. The outer end of the arm 36 is provided with an elongate slot to enable posi¬ tive connection with a lower arm 37. The lower arm 37 is correspondingly configured and generally aligned with the upper arm 36. It is further coupled to the latter by means of a pin 38 mounted on its outer end, so that the pin is loosely albeit positively retained within the slot. The inner end of the lower arm 37 is directly connected to an output shaft driven by a source of motive power in the form of an electric motor 39, which is mounted on the inside of the housing beneath the base 15.

By loosely the retaining the pin 38 within the slot of the upper arm 36, flexibility is provided to facilitate mount¬ ing the motor, and importantly its output shaft, relative to the central axis of the spindle 30, thereby reducing the degree of precision that would otherwise be necessary in aligning the output shaft of the motor with the central axis of the spindle.

The inner sleeve 35 is co-axially disposed within the outer sleeve 29 and is mounted at its lower end directly to the base 15 to enable relative axial movement of the door in the outer sleeve 29 thereto, during the extension or retraction of the door. The inner sleeve 35 is of sufficient length to extend a substantial distance in the axial direction of the outer sleeve to provide suitable coverage of the spindle in the region of the lower edge 28 of the door during times when it is extended or retracted. Thus, suitable protection is afforded to the spindle from dust and fodder during discharge of the same through the opening 19.

The electric motor 39 is controlled to rotate in either direction in response to control signals generated by the control means 26.

Now describing the control means in further detail, with reference particularly to Fig. 6, the means generally consists of a first timing means 41, a second timing means 42, a switching means 43 and an interacting control, for convenience shown at 44. Both timing means are synchroni¬ zed for timing by a crystal clock 45, which produces a clocking signal at a prescribed frequency.

The first timing means 41 consists of two separate resett- able twenty four hour timers 46 and 47. The timers 46, 47 are independently operated and reset in response to an applied input signal. The input signal is derived from two sources, the first of which is hereinafter described and the second of which will be described later. The first source is either one of two push button switches 48, 49, which are respectively connected- to the timers 46 and 47, so that one timer is reset independently of the other timer, upon closure of the relevant switch. These swit¬ ches are mounted on the facia panel of the control box 27

so that they are easily accessable to an operator. The first timing means 41 is arranged such that a first con¬ trol signal is generated from the timers 46, 47 after a first prescribed time has elapsed from the application of the input signal derived from either of the sources.

In the present embodiment, the switches 48, 49 are further arranged to generate a first control signal immediately upon closure thereof, in addition to generating an input signal to the relevant timer.

The second timing means 42 consists of another timer 50 which has a variable timing interval that can be discre¬ tely set via a pair of single pole multi-throw swi.tches 51, 52. The period of time prescribed by the appropriate switch for the timer 50 accords with the second prescribed time commensurate with the desired period of time that a door is open. Although in the present embodiment only one switch 51 is provided on the facia panel of the control box 27 to provide setting of the opening time of the door, the second switch 52 may be provided to allow separate control of the doors located on each side of the feeding apparatus. The second timing means 42 is actuated in response to the generation of the first control signal produced by the first timing means and generates a second control signal after the second prescribed time has elap¬ sed.

The interacting control 44 is intended to co-ordinate the generation of the control signals with the intended closing or opening of the door, thereby providing an interface between the timing means and the electric motors. Since each door requires the use of two motors to effect its extension or retraction, the interacting con¬ trol is adapted to divide and condition the control sig¬ nals to effect the control of each of the motors. Fur-

thermore, provision is made for overriding the automatic control of the doors effected by the control means, by the provision of the switching means. 43. The switching means includes a single pole triple throw switch 53 which can override the automatic control of the closure means to enable instantaneous opening or closing of the doors by moving the switch 53 to the appropriate position as shown in Figs. 5 and 7. By moving the switch into the appro¬ priate position, the interacting control 44 is switched to produce the required control signal to effect opening or closing of the doors, and hence by-passes the automatic control.

The power supply 57 for the feed dispensing apparatus comprises a rechargable battery 58 and/or mains power. The battery is recharged by means of a solar panel 59 located on the covering lid 13. Circuit means (not shown) may be included to switch mains power in as the power supply in those instances when the battery does not have sufficient charge to operate the electric motors and the control means.

Describing the operation of the control means, the 24 hour timers have preset timing periods of 24 hours each, through which they time. Two timers are provided to enable more than one first control signal to be generated within a 24 hour period, which accords to the opening of the doors. Thus, an operator may push switch 48 in the morning, which produces an input signal to operate the first timer 46. Concurrently with this, a first control signal will be immediately generated to effect opening of the doors and actuation of the second timing means. The second timing means will eventually- time out and generate a second control signal effecting closing of the doors. During this time, the first timer 46 would be normally proceeding with its timing operation and generate another

first control signal after timing through its 24 hour period. If it is desired to open and close the doors of the feeding apparatus twice within a 24 hour period, for example once in the morning and once in the afternoon, the operator can push switch 49 in the afternoon, which pro¬ duces an input signal to operate the second timer 47 and immediately generate a first output control signal. The second timer will normally proceed with its 24 hour timing operation and generate another first control signal upon timing out. The immediate first output control signal will effect immediate opening of the doors and actuation of the second timer for later closing of the same.

The interacting control 44 is also adapted to provide cyclic operation of the control means, if the switching means is set for automatic operation. Thus, upon operat¬ ing either of the timers of the first timing means, after the respective first control signal is generated, the relevant timer is automatically reset by the interacting control to recommence timing without the necessity of closing the corresponding switch.

Thus one or two first control signals may be generated within a single 24 hour period, which immediately upon occurring actuate the second timing means 51. It should be noted, however, that this particular aspect of the embodiment can be easily changed to enable other methods of effecting cyclic operation of the control means. For example, the first timing means can be a multiple timer, or counter with a selectively adjustable decoding means to produce first control signals after prescribed time periods are timed through of variable duration. Addi¬ tionally, cyclic operation of the -control means can be effected in a number of different ways, without departing from the scope of the invention.

Concurrent with the actuation of the second timing means, the interacting control 44 produces an output control signal which is relayed to the motors to effect their operation in a direction which correlates with the retrac¬ tion of the door 24 to the open position. Thus, the motor 39 imparts rotating motion to the spindle 30 via the linkage 34 which in turn imposes an axial force to the bush in an upward direction thereby raising the door parallel to the axial direction of the spindle. After actuation of the second timing means 51, the timer will time through a second prescribed time period set according to the position of the switch 51. Subsequently, upon timing out this period, the timer generates the second control signal indicating the desired closure of the .door. This second control signal is conditioned by the interact¬ ing control 44 to produce an appropriate output control signal which is relayed to the motors to effect operation thereof in the reverse direction correlating to the exten¬ sion of the door. Moreover, the motors provide rotation to the spindle via the linkage, which subsequently imparts a downward force to the intermediate bush and concurrently lowers the door to extend it across the opening 19. If the switching means 43 is in the automatic mode, the first timing means 41, and moreover the timer producing the actuating first control signal, will be automatically re-operated by the generation of another input signal from the interacting control 44.

In a preferred arrangement the doors, lifting mechanism and motor may be relocated to provide axial movement of the doors at a greater included angle between the door and base than that shown in the drawings. This relocation effectively reduces compression of . the fodder proximate the bottom edge 28 of the door when it is brought into the closed position, thus relieving stress otherwise applied to the door and base by the fodder. In addition, by

positioning the door vertically, mounting of the motor and lifting mechanism is facilitated by allowing the motor in particular to be fitted to a horizontal mounting plate rather than an inclined mounting plate.

The feed dispensing apparatus is also provided with a monitoring and alarm system, which monitors the state of one or more variable conditions and provides output sig¬ nals indicative of the conditions to a remote location. In the present embodiment, the monitoring means utilises four sensors 54a, b, c, d which respectively sense:

(1) the state of operation of the door, that is, whether it is open or closed;

(2) the state of the power supply for the source of motive power and the control means;

(3) the level of fodder within the hopper; and

(4) the state of the switching means.

These sensors each generate output signals indicative of the sensed condition which are applied to an encoding means 56 to enable the signal to be selectively transmit¬ ted. The encoding means 56 provides a serially encoded signal, containing the necessary information to be trans¬ mitted, to a transmitting means 55. In the present em¬ bodiment the encoding means and the transmitting means are adapted to provide a radio frequency signal which is transmitted by an aerial 57 to a remotely located receiv¬ ing station (not shown). The receiving station has a receiving means to receive the transmitted signal and decoding means to decode the receive signal. The decoded signal is then applied to indicating means which displays a sensorially perceptible signal to an operator indicative

of the state of the monitored conditions. The system can be arranged such that information is only transmitted in response to an alarm condition being attained. That is where one of the sensed conditions attains a critical state requiring action on behalf of the operator.

The monitoring and alarm means is particularly useful in providing an organised system for feeding animals with a minimum, amount of labour and overseeing required on behalf of the operator. For example, a large number of animals may be fed by having a number of feed dispensing apparatus placed in various paddocks allowing control and accurate overseeing of the feeding program with specific animals from a remote location with little or no direct involvement by the operator. Moreover, manual involvement is only necessary to replenish hoppers which indicate a low level of product therein or recharging the power supply as indicated by the indicating means at the re¬ ceiving station.

It should be appreciated that the present invention is not limited to the scope of the particular embodiment herein described. Moreover, the specific arrangement of the control means and its method of operation can be varied to provide suitable control over the operation of the feed dispensing apparatus, without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, the monitoring and alarm means is not limited to the particular types of sensors herein described, but may include other types of sensors which sense other conditions of interest to an operator.