GB1594447A

GB1594447A - Feed dispensing device

Info

Publication number: GB1594447A
Application number: GB13682/78A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Fisons Ltd
Current assignee: Fisons Ltd
Priority date: 1978-05-30
Filing date: 1978-05-30
Publication date: 1981-07-30

Description

(54) FEED DISPENSING DEVICE (71) We, FISONS LIMITED, a British Company, of Fison House, 9 Grosvenor Street, London WIX OAH, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, 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 fish farm and to a device for use therein, notably a device for dispensing pellets.

In feeding fish in a tank, it has been proposed in the past to discharge pellets at intervals from a hopper through a valved orifice.

However, the discharge is concentrated at one point in the tank. This leads to uneven feed consumption of feed by the fish. This is of particular detriment with fish where each fish adopts a specified territory in the tank and seldom leaves it. In order to reduce this uneven spread of food, it has been proposed to use several feeders serving the one tank.

We have now devised a form of food dispenser which reduces these problems.

Accordingly, from one aspect the invention provides a fish farm comprising a plurality of tanks, one or more of said tanks being provided with a device adapted to dispense particulate feed material into the tank characterised in that the device comprises an arm adapted to be rotated through 3600 in a generally horizontal plane about a transverse axis thereof and located beneath a storage vessel, the arm being adapted to receive particulate material from the storage vessel, whereby upon rotation of the arm particulate material is dispensed radially along the arm substantially throughout rotation of the arm, there being provided means for adjusting the rate of feed of particles to the arm and a means for actuating the device intermittently.

Preferably the device is located above the tank and is adapted to cast a circle of particles upon water drculating in the tank. It is also referred that means are provided for adjusting the rate of feed of particles to the arm of the device.

Preferably the arm is located at the basal outlet of the storage vessel and the particulate material is fed to the arm by gravity.

Whilst the dispensing device is of especial use in dispensing particulate (notably pelleted) fish food into a fish tank, e.g. a tank or raceway on a fish farm. The device of the invention provides a simple robust device which scatters the feed over a comparatively wide area, which area can be varied by simple adjustment of the device.

For convenience, the invention will now be described by way illustration only with respect to a feed dispenser on a fish farm which is shown diagrammatically in plan view in Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings.

Figure 2 shows in cross-section details of the device used in Figure 1.

The fish farm comprises a series of tanks 1 through which water is being circulated by means not shown. The tanks may be of any shape and size, but a particularly preferred form is an elongated tank with rounded ends having a central partition wall 2 extending longitudinally along part of the length of the tank to form an oval circuit 3 around the wall 2 for the water in the tank. Mounted upon the tank, e.g. on one side wall and the central wall 2 or upon the central wall 2, are one or more hoppers 4. Hopper 4 has a convergent outlet 5 which feeds into the dispensing device which dispenses feed onto the circuit 3 as shown dotted.

The device comprises a rotating arm or ejection member 10 driven by electric motor 11, which preferably rotates the member at a constant angular speed, to rotate about a substantially vertical axis passing substantially through its centre point. In Figure 2, the member 10 comprises a tubular member.

However, member 10 could take the form of a hollow box-like member or an L section member. The characteristic of member 10 is that it has a radially extending surface 12 against which the particles of food fed from hopper 4 bear as the member 10 rotates. Pre ferably, surface 12 carries, or is formed with, a recessed track along which the particles of food move radially. Conveniently this track takes the form of an angle or curve formed in surface 12. Thus, it is preferred to form surface 12 from curved member, e.g. from a tubular member, notably a cylindrical tube, so that the track is provided by the angle or curvature of the tube wall.

Member 10 is provided with an entry port 13 substantially upon its axis of rotation whereby particles from hopper 4 enter member 10. In order to minimise loss of particles between the hopper 4 and member 10 it is preferred to provide hopper 4 with a discharge tube 6 extending downward from outlet 5, the outlet of tube 6 preferably being within member 10. In this case tube 6 enters member 10 through port 13. If desired, port 13 is provided with an upwardly extending tube 14 co-axial with tube 6 to form a telescope sleeve joint as shown dotted in Figure 2.

It is preferred, notably where member 10 has a circular cross-section, to form a uniform width annular orifice around the periphery of tube 6. This can be done by forming member 10 with a flat base and/or by providing an insert member 15 within member 10 extending over at least the area of the outlet to tube 6. Insert member 15 can be a solid member, e.g. of semi-circular cross-section to fill the bottom half of member 10, or can be a plate-like member mounted within member 10 as shown dotted in Figure 2. Insert member 15 can provide a fiat surface over the area of the outlet of tube 6. However, member 15 could be in the form of a tapered plug substantially co-axial with tube 6, (shown hatched in Figure 2) the penetration of the plug into the tube 6 varying the width of the annular gap between the plug and tube wall. If desired, the base of member 10 or insert member 15 can be angled tangentially and/or radially to the plane of rotation of member 10 to assist movement of particles away from the axis of rotation of member 10.

Member 10 is mounted upon motor 11 by means of a suitable drive linkage 20. However, it will be appreciated that member 10 could merely be rotatably mounted upon a shaft which is driven by suitable means, e.g. gearing or chain or belt drive, from a motor located elsewhere. Preferably, the linkage 20 or the motor mounting is adjustable, e.g. by screw adjustment, so that the clearance between tube 6 and the base of member 10 or insert 15 can be varied. With the linkage 20 shown in Figure 2 the clamp screws 21 on sleeve 22 are loosened to permit longitudinal movement of shaft 23 relative to the motor shaft 24.

In use, member 10 is rotated at a given speed by motor 11. The angular speed of member 10 and the length of member 10 control the distance of throw of particles issuing from the open ends of member 10.

For general use a maximum throw of 2 to 3 metres about the axis of rotation will suffice.

Conveniently a motor speed of 50 to 500 rpm is used and the length of member 10 chosen accordingly. If desired the terminal portions of member 10 can be upturned as shown in Figure 2, e.g. by 10 to 400, to increase the trajectory of particles issuing from member 10. Particulate material in hopper 4 flows through outlet 5 and tube 6 onto the surface of member 10 or insert member 15. The bore of outlet 5 and tube 6 must be great enough to permit free flow of the particles. We prefer that the bore be from 2 to 5 times the largest dimension of the particles to be dispensed.

The rate of flow of particles from the hopper will be largely controlled by the gap between the end of tube 6 and the surface of member 10 or insert member 15. This gap must clearly be greater than the maximum dimension of the particles to be dispensed and preferably it is adjustable as described above to achieve the desired flow rate with a variety of particles.

Typically it will be desired to achieve a rate of flow of 0.05 to 1 kg/second through tube 6.

As the particles leave tube 6 they are carried along a helical path by the rear wall or surface 12 of member 10. With the circular crosssection member 10 shown in Figure 2, the particles follow the mid-line of the rear wall of the member due to its curvature. As indicated earlier, member 10 could merely have this rear wall. However, it is preferred to use a tubular member 10 to minimise premature escape of particles.

The above device can be readily fabricated from steel and/or plastics using conventional materials. It may be desired to render it weather resistant by enclosing it in suitable housing and providing suitable water seals between tube 6 and tube 14 or member 10.

The above device can be modified in a number of ways. For example member 10 could be rotated about an axis passing through one end thereof, rather than through its midpoint. In order to improve the spread of particles leaving the end of member 10 it may be desired to vary the speed of motor 10 during operation. Preferably this is done by operating the device intermittently, e.g. for a few seconds every few minutes. In this way the speed of the motor varies from zero to maximum revolutions and back to zero during the operating cycle. This achieves a comparatively uniform spread of particles over a circular area of the tank. Also, intermittent operation enables the desired rate of feeding of the fish to be achieved in those cases where continuous operation would dispense more food than the fish wish to eat. It may also be desired to provide a helical or screw like member within outlet 5 and/or tube 6 to minimise bridging of outlet 5 with particles.

For example member 10 could carry a coarse pitch helical member extending upwards through tube 6 and outlet 5 which rotates with member 10.

The invention also provides a dispensing device as described above with means adapted to actuate the device intermittently. Conveniently, this means comprises a timer adapted to control the feed of electric current to the motor 11.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:- 1. A fish farm comprising a plurality of tanks, one or more of said tanks being provided with a device adapted to dispense particulate feed material into the tank characterised in that the device comprises an arm adapted to be rotated through 3600 in a generally horizontal plane about a transverse axis thereof and located beneath a storage vessel, the arm being adapted to receive particulate material from the storage vessel, whereby upon rotation of the arm particulate material is dispensed radially along the arm substantially throughout rotation of the arm, there being provided means for adjusting the rate of feed of particles to the arm and a means for actuating the device intermittently.

2. A fish farm as claimed in claim 1 wherein the tank has a central partition wall extending along part of the length of the tank.

3. A fish farm as claimed in either of claims 1 or 2, wherein means are provided for adjusting the rate of feed of particles to the arm of the device.

4. A device for dispensing particulate material which device comprises an arm adapted to be rotated in a generally horizontal plane through 3600 about a transverse axis thereof and to receive particulate material from a storage vessel located above the arm whereby upon rotation of the arm particulate material is dipensed substantially throughout the rotation radially along the arm, there being provided means for adjusting the rate of feed of particles to the arm and a means for actuating the device intermittently.

5. A fish farm as claimed in any one of claim 1 to 3 or a device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the device is located at the basal outlet of the storage vessel and particulate material is to be fed to the arm of the device by gravity.

6. A fish farm or device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the arm of the device carries or is formed with a recessed track along which particles fed to the arm are adapted to move radially.

7. A fish farm or device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the arm of the device is provided by a tubular member.

8. A fish farm or device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the arm is to rotate about an axis passing substantially through its centre point.

9. A fish farm or device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the storage vessel outlet is provided with a tubular discharge member whose outlet is within the arm of the device.

10. A fish farm or device as claimed in claim 9, wherein means are provided in the arm for forming an annular orifice of substantially uniform width at the outlet of the discharge member.

11. A fish farm or devcie as claimed in claim 10, wherein the arm is provided with a substantially flat portion extending over at least the area of the outlet of the discharge member or with a tapered member located substantially co-axially with the outlet of the discharge member.

12. A fish farm or device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein means are provided for varying the angular speed of rotation of the arm.

13. A fish farm as claimed in claim 12, wherein the arm is rotated intermittently.

14. A fish farm as claimed in claim 13, or a device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the arm is to be rotated by an electric motor and a timer mechanism is provided to actuate the motor.

15. A fish farm according to claim 1, substantially as hereinbefore described.

16. A fish farm substantially as hereinbefore described with respect to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.

17. A device as claimed in claim 4 substantially as hereinbefore described.

18. A device substantially as hereinbefore described with respect to and as shown in the acompanying drawings.

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

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. The invention also provides a dispensing device as described above with means adapted to actuate the device intermittently. Conveniently, this means comprises a timer adapted to control the feed of electric current to the motor 11. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:-

1. A fish farm comprising a plurality of tanks, one or more of said tanks being provided with a device adapted to dispense particulate feed material into the tank characterised in that the device comprises an arm adapted to be rotated through 3600 in a generally horizontal plane about a transverse axis thereof and located beneath a storage vessel, the arm being adapted to receive particulate material from the storage vessel, whereby upon rotation of the arm particulate material is dispensed radially along the arm substantially throughout rotation of the arm, there being provided means for adjusting the rate of feed of particles to the arm and a means for actuating the device intermittently.

15. A fish farm according to claim 1, substantially as hereinbefore described.

17. A device as claimed in claim 4 substantially as hereinbefore described.