GB2242601A

GB2242601A - Feeder for aquarium

Info

Publication number: GB2242601A
Application number: GB9007711A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Richard Young
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1990-04-05
Filing date: 1990-04-05
Publication date: 1991-10-09
Also published as: GB9007711D0

Abstract

A feeder for use with an aquarium comprises a feed container 11 located in grooves in a back plate 210 of a base 21, and a screw 24 supplying feed to an outlet 213 positioned over the aquarium, the screw being driven by a motor 22 controlled by a timer. <IMAGE>

Description

TITLE: A TIMING FEEDER This invention relates to a timing feeder for an aquarium.

The equipment usually considered necessary for the successful maintenance of tropical fish consists of a container, or tank, which has glass sides and a glass or slate bottom; a tank cover of glass or a metal hood, provided with a light source; an automatically controlled, submersible heating unit; and a low-pressure pump to pump air into the tank where, after passing through a porous filter, it is released in fine bubbles.

However, there is a need for an automatic feeder which may provide food for the fish at predetermined times, but none has been developed.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a timing feeder which may fulfill the demand.

It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a timing feeder which may automatically start and stop providing food to the fish in the aquarium.

Tt is another object of the present invention to provide a timing feeder which may provide the same amount of food to the fish at predetermined times.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a timing feeder which is simple in construction.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a timing feeder which is economic to produce.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a timing feeder which may save much time of the professional raiser.

Other objects and merits and a fuller understanding of the present invention will be obtained by those having ordinary skill in the art when the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a timing feeder for a an aquarium according to the present invention; FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the timing feeder; FIG. 3 is a working view of the timing feeder; and FIG. 4 is another working view of the timing feeder.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail as follows: The timing feeder for an aquarium according to the preferred embodiment mainly comprises a container 1, a feeding mechanism 2 and a timer 3. The container 1 has an elongated hollow body 11 with a cover 12 in which the former is transparent so as to illustrate the quantity of food stored in the container 1. The bottom of the body 11 is formed with two inclined surfaces 13 thereby rendering the food a tendency towards an outlet 14 at the bottom of the body 11. The outlet 14 is a semi-cyJindrical member mounted at the middle of the bottom of the body 1l.

The feeding mechanism 2 has a base 21 adapted to receive the body 11 and a rectangular back plate 210 with a groove 211 at bdth sides for engaging the container 1.

The base 21 is provided with a support 1 having an inclined surface extending to an outlet 213 through which the food stored in the container 1 may drop down to the aquarium. The support 212 divides the base 21 into two partitions one for receiving a motor 22. The motor 22 has an axle extending through the rectangular back plate 210 to connect a gear assembly 23. A feeding screw 24 is mounted on the support 212 and engaged with the gear assembly 23. The rectangular back plate 210 is provided with eight screws 214 in which four screws are used to engage the control device 3 and the other four to engage the cover of the gear assembly 23.

The timer 3 includes a rectangular case 31 with a recess 310 at the rear side for accomodating batteries 36.

On the top of the case 31 is mounted a panel 32 having a liquid crystal display 33 and a plurality of control buttons 34 which is electrically connected to the motor 22 thus controlling the power for driving the motor 22. The timer 3 can be set to turn on the motor 22 at predetermined times for a certain period.

As the timer 3 is actuated to turn on the motor 22 at predetermined times, the gear assembly 23 is driven and the feeding screw 24 goes forward to push the food to drop down into the aquarium.

t timi.ng feeder according to the present invention may be conveniently provided with a clip C at the rear side so that it can he mounted on the side glass of anaquarium.

Although the present invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure is made by way of example only and that numerous changes in the detail of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

Claims

I CLAIM:

1. A timing feeder for an aquarium comprising: a container having a hollow body for receiving food in which there is an outlet at the bottom thereof; a feeding mechanism having a base adapted to receive said hollow body and a back plate with a groove at both sides for engaging said container, said base being provided with a support having an inclined surface extending through the back plate to connect a gear assembly engaged with a feeding screw; and a timer having a case with a recess at the rear side for receiving batteries and a liquid crystal display panel thereon, said timer being electrically connected with a motor coupled to the gear assembly.