GB1575717A

GB1575717A - Food distributor for aquaria

Info

Publication number: GB1575717A
Application number: GB33735/77A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1976-09-13
Filing date: 1977-08-11
Publication date: 1980-09-24
Also published as: NL7707490A; AU2831177A; IT1080989B; SE7710107L; DK406877A; ES461018A1; DE2735927C2; DE2735927A1

Description

(54) FOOD DISTRIBUTOR FOR AQUARIA (71) I, JEAN REINE, a French citizen, of 10, rue Henry Bordeaux, Annecy, Haute Savoie, France, do hereby declare the invention, for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: The present invention relates to a distributor for feeding predetermined quantities of a food material to an aquarium and, more particularly, to an automatic feeding device for fish and other creatures in an open aquarium tank.

An aquarium tank is usually open at the top and requires feeding of the creatures therein periodically or inteimittently at a predetermined rate, i.e. with substantially predetermined quantities of a comminuted food material at certain intervals.

It is known to provide an aquarium with a device designed to introduce predetermined quantities of a food material at controlled rates, i.e. at intervals which can be hourly, daily, or the like.

These distributors are of various types and generally have in common the fact that the food is delivered by gravity to the aquarium from an opening in a hopper or other container in which a quantity of the food is stored. In conventional devices, this discharge orifice is always at least partially open.

The water in an aquarium is generally maintained at a temperature of the order of 25 to 28"C and evaporates continuously, giving rise to a high concentration of water vapor above the tank. The water vapor tends to penetrate the feeder and cause clogging of the foodstuff therein and eventual blockage of the passages and outlets which is detrimental to the functioning of the device. In practice, moreover, a regular feeding dosage is not possible with such devices.

As a result, there are, as far as I am aware no food distributors for aquaria which can introduce predetermined quantities of food at controlled intervals in a completely satisfactory regulatable, reliable and accurate manner.

According to this invention there is provided a food distributor for an aquarium comprising a food container disposable above the aquarium and formed at a lower portion thereof with a distribution orifice; and a distributor member displaceable in the container for metering quantities of food from the container through the orifice, the distributor member comprising an obturator normally blocking the orifice, a plunger spaced from but connected to the obturator and means for adjusting the spacing between said obturator and the plunger, the distributor member being displaceable between a position in which the obturator blocks the orifice and food material collects between the obturator and the plunger and a position wherein the obturator is clear of the orifice and the plunger blocks the orifice.

When the plunger is displaced to thrust the obturator out of the orifice of the hopper, thereby unplugging the orifice, food material which has previously collected between the obturator and the plunger is carried out or permitted to pass from the orifice and fall into the aquarium tank. The plunger, in the operative condition of the member, is positioned to obstruct the orifice, thereby preventing moisture from penetrating into the interior of the hopper even when the distributor member is returned to its inoperative position, the obturator again completely blocks the orifice.

The feed orifice or discharge orifice is thus only open during the movement of the distributor member between its inoperative and its operative positions to displace a selectable but predetermined quantity of food through the orifice. The quantity which is displaced at each stroke of the distributor member is determined by the spacing of the obturator from the plunger. The means for adjusting the spacing between the obturator and the plunger may include a screw thread.

Except for the brief interval during which the distributor member is actually in motion, therefore, either the obturator or the plunger closes the orifice and the interior of the hopper is isolated from the effects of the evaporation of water from the aquarium.

The distributor member can be of various types. In one embodiment, for examplc, the lower part or bottom of the hopper is formed with a pair of aligned or registering lateral orifices which are provided in opposite walls of the hopper and in which a distributor member is guided. A plunger which is axially elongated and horizontally shiftable, i.e. shiftable laterally of the hop Cr. can be guided in one of these orifices while the other orifice forms the discharge orifice and is normally blocked by the obturator carried by the plunger via the stem mentioned previously.

l he obturator and the plunger can be mounted coaxia Ily on a common actuating rod. preferably a threaded rod. traversing the lower part of the hopper such that the volume determining the dosage of food per stroke is established by the spacing of the obturator and the plunger from one another.

The plunger may have a piston configuration and always closes the orifice opposite the discharge orifice but only temporarily closes the discharge orifice in one extreme position of the member, i.e. the operative position thereof.

In the other extreme position, namely the inoperative position. the obturator closes the discharge orifice. In other words the obturator closes the lateral discharge orifice while the apparatus is in a rest condition while the piston or plunger or the distributor member closes this orifice during the period of distribution, the plunger or piston serving to project the food material collected between the obturator and plunger out of the discharge orifice.

The displacement of the rod carrying these two elements, which thus constitute alternately effective valve members closing the discharge orifice, advantageously is effected by an electromagnet which in turn is controlled by a timer. To regulate the quantity of the food fed per stroke of the distributor, it is merely necessary to regulate the spacing of the two valve members along the rod carrying same. Any conventional spring means may be used to counter the effect of the electromagnet, which can be a conventional solenoid.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the hopper has a floor provided with the discharge orifice and disposed in a horizontal or substantially horizontal plane above the aquarium. In this case, the distributor member is vertically shiftable, i.e. is displaceable in a vertical plane or at any rate in a direction perpendicular to the floor of the hopper and carries a plunger and an obturator as previously described.

Here again the orifice is closed cxcept for the very brief interval during which the distributor member is in motion. lto guide the plunger during this motion, the hopper can be formed with a sleeve terminating above the floor of the hopper and vertically guiding the plunger or piston.

The invention will now be described by way of examplc, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure I is a perspective view, partly in diagrammatic form, of a first embodiment of a feed device for an aquarium according to the invention Figure 2 is a vertical section, drawn to an enlarged scalc, illustrating the closed position of the device of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 showing the distributing member in its operative position; and Figure 4 is an end view of the device.

In Figures 1 to 3 of the drawing, there has been shown a conventional aquarium 1 of rectangular parallelpipedal configuration which is covered by a glass plate 2 having an opening 3 along one side of the aquarium.

This opening can be exposed along one of the transverse walls of the tank. The opening 3 can be especially provided for the introduction of food into the vessel.

The distributor 4 is fixed by any conventional means onto the upper plate 2 of the aquarium and comprises a hopper 5 which has a discharge orifice 6 formed in its vertical wall disposed parallel to but immediately adjacent the opening 3. This orifice 6, which is advantageously of circular configuration, is normally closed by a valve element 7 of corresponding configuration.

This valve element 7 constitutes the obturator of the device and is rigid with one of the ends of a threaded rod 8 which is connected to the armature 9' of an electromagnet 9 thereby forming a solenoid therewith. On the same rod is threaded another valve member 10 in the form of an elongated cylindrical plunger or piston which traverses an orifice 12 formed in a vertical interior wall parallel to the wall carrying the orifice 6.

The plunger or piston 10 is positioned and dimensioned such that it closes the orifice 6 when the distributor member is in its operative extreme position as illustrated in Figure 3 while the obturator 7 closes the orifice 6 in the other extreme position of the distributor member shown in Figure 2. The orifice 12 is closed by the plunger 10 in both operative and both extreme positions.

Between the obturator 7 and the plunger 10, there is provided a space 13 serving as a dosing chamber in which the comminuted material can gather by gravitation. The size of this space can be adjusted by rotating the rod 8 with the obturator 7 while holding the plunger 10 against rotation.

The device illustrated in Figures 1-4 operates as follows: The sequence of operation is determined by a timer which has not been shown in the drawing and which energizes the electromagnet 9 with an appropriate voltage at the times during the day that feeding is required. Upon energization of the electromagnet, the armature of the electromagnet is displaced to the left, thereby carrying the rod 8 and the two valve elements 7 and 10 from their rest position illustrated in Figure 2 into the operative position illustrated in Figure 3. The orifice 6 is only briefly opened and is thereupon blocked by the plunger 10 which expels the quantity of food disposed in the chamber 13 through the orifice 6 and allows the expelled food to pass by gravity into the aquarium through the opening 3 as shown in Figure 3.

It is important to note that the operation of the electromagnet is very brief, i.e. only a single voltage pulse is necessary, the distributor member being returned to the inoperative position shown in Figure 2 by spring means 9a as soon as the pulse decays, thereby blocking the orifice 6 by the obturator 7.

WHAT I CLAIM IS: 1. A food distributor for an aquarium comprising a food container disposable above the aquarium and formed at a lower portion thereof with a distribution orifice; and a distributor member displaceable in the container for metering quantities of food from the container through the orifice, the distributor member comprising an obturator normally blocking the orifice, a plunger spaced from but connected to the obturator and means for adjusting the spacing between said obturator and the plunger, the distributor member being displaceable between a position in which the obturator blocks the orifice and food material collects between the obturator and the plunger and a position wherein the obturator is clear of the orifice and the plunger blocks the orifice.

2. A distributor according to Claim 1 wherein the container is a hopper having a pair of parallel lateral walls, one of which walls is formed with the distribution orifice, and the other of which walls is formed with a further orifice, the distributor member being horizontally slidable within said orifices.

3. A distributor according to Claim 1 wherein said container is a hopper formed with a substantially horizontal bottom wall provided with said distribution orifice and the distributor member is vertically displaceable in the container.

4. A distributor according to any preceding claim wherein the means for adjusting the spacing between the obturator and the plunger includes a screw thread.

5. A distributor according to Claim 4 wherein the obturator and the plunger are mounted on a common rod.

6. A distributor according to Claim 5 wherein the rod is threaded and the plunger is threadedly received on the rod.

7. A distributor according to any preceding claim wherein the container is provided with a cover, the distributor further comprising an electromagnet mounted on the cover for displacing the distributor member.

8. A distributor according to Claim 7 wherein the plunger is guided within the electromagnet.

9. A food distributor for an aquarium, substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. member shown in Figure 2. The orifice 12 is closed by the plunger 10 in both operative and both extreme positions. Between the obturator 7 and the plunger 10, there is provided a space 13 serving as a dosing chamber in which the comminuted material can gather by gravitation. The size of this space can be adjusted by rotating the rod 8 with the obturator 7 while holding the plunger 10 against rotation. The device illustrated in Figures 1-4 operates as follows: The sequence of operation is determined by a timer which has not been shown in the drawing and which energizes the electromagnet 9 with an appropriate voltage at the times during the day that feeding is required. Upon energization of the electromagnet, the armature of the electromagnet is displaced to the left, thereby carrying the rod 8 and the two valve elements 7 and 10 from their rest position illustrated in Figure 2 into the operative position illustrated in Figure 3. The orifice 6 is only briefly opened and is thereupon blocked by the plunger 10 which expels the quantity of food disposed in the chamber 13 through the orifice 6 and allows the expelled food to pass by gravity into the aquarium through the opening 3 as shown in Figure 3. It is important to note that the operation of the electromagnet is very brief, i.e. only a single voltage pulse is necessary, the distributor member being returned to the inoperative position shown in Figure 2 by spring means 9a as soon as the pulse decays, thereby blocking the orifice 6 by the obturator 7. WHAT I CLAIM IS:

1. A food distributor for an aquarium comprising a food container disposable above the aquarium and formed at a lower portion thereof with a distribution orifice; and a distributor member displaceable in the container for metering quantities of food from the container through the orifice, the distributor member comprising an obturator normally blocking the orifice, a plunger spaced from but connected to the obturator and means for adjusting the spacing between said obturator and the plunger, the distributor member being displaceable between a position in which the obturator blocks the orifice and food material collects between the obturator and the plunger and a position wherein the obturator is clear of the orifice and the plunger blocks the orifice.