Title of Invention

FEED BOX TO SUPPLY FEED TO POULTRY BREEDING.

Abstract A FEEDBOX FOR BREEDING POULTRY IS DESCRIBED, OF THE TYPE COMPRISISNG AT LEAST ONE MAIN PROTECTION GRATE MOUNTED ON A FEED STORAGE TUB AND WITH DIVIDING PLATES AND OPENINGS TO ALLOW THE POULTRY ACCESS TO THE FEED. BESIDES, THE FEEDBOX COMPRISES AN AUXILIARY GRATE SLIDINGLY OR ROTATIONALLY JOINED TO THE MAIN PTOTECTION GRATE, THE AUXILIARY GRATE BEING EQUIPPED WITH A PLURALITY OF PERIPHERAL TIPS AND ARRANGED SO THAT THE TIPS DO NOT INTERFERE WITH SAID OPENINGS OF THE MAIN PROTECTION GRATE N AT LEAST A FIRST RELATIVE POSITION OF THE AUXILIARY GRATE WITH RESPECST TO THE MAIN GRATE AND, VICE VERSA, AT LEAST PARTIALLY OBSTRUCT ONE OR MORE OF THE OPENINGS IN AT LEAST A SECOND RELATIVE POSITION OF THE AUXILIARY GRATE WITH RESPECST TO THE MAIN GRATE.
Full Text FEED BOX TO SUPPLY FEED TO POULTRY BREEDING
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention concerns a feedbox to supply feed to poultry breeding in general.
BACKGROUND ART
In general, feedboxes are connected to a main feeding tube within which the feed is
continously supplied by a auger screw. At each point where a feedbox is to be set, the
main tubular duct comprises a discharge port which opens downwards. The lower part of
each feedbox comprises a feed storage tub, which must be accessible to the animals
regardless of their size throughout the whole of their growth stage.
For this reason, feedboxes are therefore equipped with means to adjust the amount of
feed that is kept in the storage tub. This is necessary to adapt the amount of feed made
available according to the growth stage of the animals present in a particular installation.
However, in contrast to this main requirement is the need to avoid feed waste as much
as possible, a factor that can considerably influence the costs connected with large scale
breeding. The feedboxes of the known type do not generally envisage adjustment
systems of the feed level able to effectively prevent feed waste. In fact, such feedboxes
have fixed mesh feed protection grates that often prevent the chicks, especially when
very young, from completely entering the feedbox and unnecessarily dispersing the feed
and soiling it with excrement and dirt. Therefore, use of these feedboxes, during the
growth of poultry, requires variation in the configuration of the protection grate depending
on the size reached by the poultry. When the poultry is at the chick stage, a protection
cage with particularly reduced openings will be needed, whereas
larger openings will be used for adult poultry.
However, it would be expedient that such feedboxes, for economic
reasons, entirely accompany the life cycle of poultry from the chick
stage to that of adults. For this purpose, it therefore becomes
necessary to use a feedbox with a protection grate in which
accessibility to the feed can be regulated depending on the size of
the poultry.
In addition, the known type of feedboxes have feed adjustment
systems which are complex and difficult to use, above all because the
locking into position of the shutter that regulates feed flow requires
manual handling of the shutter, which is typically found inside the
feedbox.
Moreover, it is expedient to underline that as soon as the chicks are
put into breeding sheds they tend to occupy only certain areas of the
available space and take feed from a only few feedboxes. Only with
time and an increase in poultry size, by now almost adults, will they
move around all the shed space making use of all the feedboxes
present therein. In order to provide for effective plant management
that avoids feed waste it is necessary to be able to supply the
individual feedboxes separately according to the behavioural factors
and/or factors connected to the growth of the poultry.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
The task of the present invention is to propose a feedbox to supply
feed to breeding poultry which can be used effectively throughout
the life cycle of the poultry and that solves the drawbacks of the
known technique.
Within the scope of this task, an object of the present invention is to
produce a feedbox for poultry That is easy to manufacture and
effectively prevents the entry of chicks inside the feed container.
An object of the present invention is to propose a feedbox of the type
specified above that allows a simple and precise adjustment of the
feed level in the storage tub of the same feedbox.
Another object of the present invention is to propose a feedbox that
eliminates feed waste.
Another object of the present invention is to propose a feedbox that
allows individual adjustment of the feeding tubes in a simple and
precise way.
Furthermore, a feedbox that can be produced with particularly
contained costs, which can be particularly simple to use and easy to
remove if and when necessary.
These objects are achieved by the present invention, that concerns a
feedbox to feed breeding poultry, of the type connected to a main
feed auger screw and comprising: at least one gravity feeding tube
joined to the main feed auger screw by means of a pipe fitting
device, the feeding tube having one or more ports for the passage of
feed; at least one storage tub for the feed coming from the feeding
tube; means to adjust the feed level; at least one main protection
grate mounted on the storage tub and provided with dividing plates
and openings to allow the poultry access to the feed, characterised in
that it comprises at least one sliding auxiliary grate or rotationally
joined to the main protection grate, the auxiliary grate comprising a
plurality of peripheral tips and arranged so that the tips do not
interfere with the openings of the main protection grate in at least one
initial relative position of the auxiliary grate with respect to the main
grate and, vice versa, obstruct at least partially one or more of the
openings in at least one second relative position of the auxiliary grate
with respect to the main grate.
This allows the accomplishment of a feedbox for breeding poultry able
to be effectively used throughout the life cycle of the poultry since it
prevents, in an optimum way, the possible entry of both chicks and
adults inside the same feedbox.
According to a particular aspect of the present invention, the auxiliary
grate is rotationally mounted above the storage tub, and in particular
on the main grate, and the tips partially extend towards the storage
tub.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the number of
tips of the auxiliary grate is the same as the dividing plates of the main
protection grate and the dividing plates are angularly equidistant
from each other, as well as the tips of the auxiliary grate are angularly
equidistant.
According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, the means
for adjusting the feed level comprise at least one adjustment assembly
to continuously vary the distance between the free edge of the main
protection grate and the upper edge of the tub.
This allows the free edge of the main grate to be always kept at the
most suitable height to avoid the feed overflowing from the feedbox.
and prevent the poultry dispersing the feed unnecessarily.
According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, the
adjustment assembly comprises one or more slots and one or more
corresponding pins engaged in the slots to vary the distance between
the free edge of the main protection grate and the upper edge of the
storage tub.
According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, the slots
have a profile comprising a plurality of appropriately distanced seats
able to engage the pins to prevent the undesired rotation of the main
protection grate with respect to the tub.
According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, the means
to adjust the feed level comprise at least one shutter sliding on the
gravity feeding tube to intercept the feed passage ports and friction
means to hold the shutter in position.
According to an advantageous aspect of the present invention, the
shutter is connected to at least one wire on which the friction means
act.
The provision of friction means to hold the shutter in position
considerably simplifies the manual handiing of the shutter itself to
accurately set the desired feed level in the storage tub.
According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, the pipe
fitting device comprises a member to adjust the feed flow to the
gravity feeding tube of the feedbox.
According to another preferred aspect, the member to adjust the
feed flow comprises a shutter sliding in a guide along at least one
portion of the side surface of the pipe fitting device and means to
adjust the position of this shutter with respect to the gravity feeding
tube.
A sliding shutter in a guide along the side surface of the pipe fitting
device, produced in this way, allows the individual adjustment of the
feeding tubes in a simple and precise way.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
Additional features and advantages of the present invention will
become clearer from the description which follows, made simply as
an explanatory, non-limiting example, with reference to the enclosed
drawings, in which:
- Figure 1 is a partial perspective view of the feedbox, according to
the invention, in which the tips of the auxiliary grate partially obstruct
the openings of the main grate;
- Figure 2 is a cutaway side view of the feedbox, according to the
invention, at the connection between the main grate and auxiliary grate;
- Figure 3 is a perspective view of an auxiliary grate according to the present
Invention;
- Figure 4 is an elevation view of a feed box. according to an embodiment of the
present invention;
- Figure 5 is a view of some parts of the feed box shown in Figure 4;
- Figure 6 is a view of a pipe fitting device, with separated members, for a feed
box according to the present invention;
- Figure 7 is a perspective view of a half-shell of the pipe fitting device in Figure 6
with the shutter inserted in a relevant guide;
- Figure 8 is an enlarged view of the shutter in Figure 7;
- Figures 9A and 9B are cutaway views of a detail of the feedbox in Figure 4;
- Figures 10A-10F are outline views that show possible embodiments for the
adjustment means of the grate edge;
- Figures 11A and 11B are outline plan views, from the lower part of a grate and
from the top of a tub respectively, of the feedbox according to the invention.
MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
The feedbox 1 comprises, see Figure 4, a gravity feeding tube 2 connected to a
main feed auger screw (not shown) by means of a pipe fitting device 3. The
feeding tube 2 has a pair of ports 21 (Figure 5) that allow the passage of feed
from the feeding tube 2 to a storage tub 4.
A main protection grate 5 is located above the storage tub 4
designed to prevent the poultry from gaining access to the interior
of the storage tub. The main protection grate 5 is mounted on the
storage tub 4 and has a free edge 51 that overlaps the upper edge 41
(Figures 6A and 6B) of ihe tub 4.
In particular, the main protection grate 5 surrounds the feeding tube 2
and consists of mutually alternated dividing plates 85 and openings
86. The openings 86, defined by the dividing plates 85, are only large
enough to allow an adult bird to insert its head within the feedbox to
reach the feed in the storage tub 4.
The feedbox also has an auxiliary grate 84 (Figure 3) rotationally
connected to the same main grate 5 and with mutually equidistant
tips 87. The auxiliary grate 84 is shaped in a such way that the tips 87
can be completely superimposed by the dividing plates 85 of the
main grate 5, in an initial relative position between main grate 5 and
auxiliary grate 84, and they can partially obstruct the openings 86 of
the main grate 5, in a second relative position between main grate 5
and auxiliary grate 84 (shown in Figure 1).
In the embodiment shown in Figure 1, the auxiliary grate 84 is located
at the upper portion of the main grate 5, around the feeding tube 5,
and the tips 87 partially extend towards the upper edge 51 of the tub
4, so as to reduce the height of the feed access openings 86, when
the tips 87 are set at the latter.
Thus, when the poultry are at the beginning of their growth, i.e. at the
chick stage, it is necessary to rotate the auxiliary grate 84 with respect
to the main grate 5, or vice versa, the main grate 5 with respect to the
auxiliary grate 84, to make the feed access openings 86 partially
obstructed by the tips 87, in a such way to prohibit chicks access
inside the same feedbox. On the contrary, when the poultry are
adults, it is sufficient to rotate the auxiliary grate 84 again, or the main
grate 5, so as to set the tips 87 at the dividing plates 85 and therefore
free the access openings 86 to allow the poultry to feed.
The form and arrangement of the tips 87 are designed so that the end
of the latter is set from the edge 51 of storage tub 4 at a lesser
distance than average chick height and, in particular, at a distance of
between 3.5 and 4cm, to discourage the chicks from jumping on the
edge 51 of the storage tub and entering inside the feedbox. There is
an equal number of dividing plates 85 and tips 87 and both the tips 87
and the dividing plates 85 are mutually equidistant.
Besides, it is preferable to set the auxiliary grate 84 internally with
respect to the main grate 5, thus preventing the tips, especially when
superimposed by the dividing plates 85 and thus harder to distinguish
from the latter, from sticking out dangerously for the poultry.
Moreover, to aid the relative rotation between main grate 5 and
auxiliary grate 84, when the latter is internally mounted with respect to
the main grate 5, the dividing plates 85 of the same main grate 5 have
a slot 82 inside (Figure 2) within which are arranged the tips 87 of the
grate 84 without any mutual interference.
In particular, the main grate 5 has a groove on the inner surface of its
upper closing portion that joins with a shaped projection of the
auxiliary grate 84 in a sliding connection 89 along the entire perimeter
of the same main grate 5 to allow the rotation of the auxiliary grate 84
with respect to the main grate 5, that is instead fixed to the storage
tub 4. Thus the connection 89 only allows the sliding of the projection
of the auxiliary grate 84 along the circular way defined by the groove
made on the main grate 5, preventing any other relative movement
between main grate 5 and auxiliary grate 84.
According to the present invention, in feedboxes where there is a
rotating connection between main grate 5 and auxiliary grate 84, an
external control system 81 (Figure 1) can also be provided, as shown in
Figure 1, for the rotation of the auxiliary grate 84 with respect to the
main grate 5, consisting of a slot made on the main grate 5 and a pin
integral with the auxiliary grate 84 sliding inside the slot to allow
rotation of the auxiliary grate 84 with respect to the main fixed grate.
Figure 4 and the detailed views of Figures 9A and 9B instead show the
assembly that allows the continuous variation of the distance between
the free edge 51 of the main protection grate 5 and the upper edge
of the tub 4.
According to the invention, this adjustment assembly comprises one or
more slots 52 made in a side band 53 of the main grate 5 that surround
the side wall 43 of the tub 4. From the side wall 43 of tub 4, at each
inclined slot 52, pins 42 protrude which fit into in the respective slots 52.
The variation of the distance between the free edge 51 of the main
grate 5 and the upper edge 41 of the tub 4 can be easily carried out
by manually turning the main grate 5 with respect to the tub 4.
Tabs 45 (Figure 4), protruding under tub 4, are preferably provided to
help the mutual rotation between the main grate 5 and the tub 4. In
the position shown in Figure 9A, the distance between the free edge
51 of the main grate 5 and the upper edge 41 of the tub 4 is
maximum, i.e. a suitable position to allow the feeding of adult poultry.
In the position shown in Figure 9B, the two edges 41 and 51 are instead
in such a position to allow smaller poultry to reach the feed present on
the edge 51 without feed being wasted.
According to an advantageous aspect of the present invention, the
slots 52 have a plurality of appropriately equidistant seats 55 able to
engage the pins 42 to determine a series of discrete adjustment
positions and simultaneously prevent any undesired rotation of the
protection grate 5 with respect to the tub 4.
Some slot embodiments according to the invention are shown in
Figures 10A-10F. The embodiments shown in Figures 10A-10D have slots
with a substantially inclined tendency, the embodiment in Figure TOE
has a form with only some inclined sections, while the embodiment in
Figure 10F has a substantially straight progression with vertical slots that
terminate at different heights in correspondence of different seats 55.
For adjustment of the feed level, feedbox 1 also has a shutter 6 sliding
on the feeding tube 2 to intercept the feed passage ports so as to
allow the adjustment of the feed volume inside the tub 4. To aid the
sliding of the shutter 6 on the feeding tube 2 without the chance of
rotation of one part with respect to the other, there are some hollow
guide surfaces 63 (Figure 5) that engage in corresponding protruding
ribs 23 on the feeding tube 2. The protruding ribs 23 give the duct 2
extra rigidity at the portion comprising the ports 21.
The shutter 6 is fastened to a wire 61 on which friction means 7
preferably act to hoid it in position once the desired adjustment has
been carried out. The wire 61 is thus used to carry out the manual
adjustment of the height of shutter 6. The free wire end 61 can be fixed
for convenience to any hooking part (not shown), if necessary, on the
feedbox 1 or on the main feed auger screw.
As better shown in Figures 5 and 6, the friction means 7 comprise an
elastic member, namely a helical spring 71 that pushes the wire 61
against a friction surface 72 supplied with a button 73. The helical
spring 71 is mounted on a pin 31 which sticks out from the pipe fitting
device 3, with the button 73 fixed to the free end of the pin 31 in a
known way, for instance by heat sealing, friction welding, glueing,
fixed joint, threading or similar. Alternatively, the button 73 can also be
produced in a single piece with the pin 31.
Near the button 73, the pin 31 has a transversal hole 32 crossed by the
wire 61, so that the spring 71 pushes the wire 61 against the friction
surface 72 offered by button 73.
As can be seen in Figure 6, the pipe fitting device 3 that connects the
main feed auger serew and the feeding tube 2 is a three-way pipe
fitting device consisting of a pair of distinct half-shells 35 and 36
separated according to a vertical plane and hinged together, and
that creates a hole 109 for the passage of the feed into said gravity
feeding tube 2. To adjust the feed supply to the feeding tube 2, a
shutter 106 is envisaged that slides in a guide 108 on the side surface
of the pipe fitting device.
The shutter 106, sliding within the guide 108 made on an internal side
surface of the pipe fitting device, opens or closes the hole 109 of the
feeding tube 2 to allow, according to feedbox operation needs, the
passage of the feed from the main auger screw to the feeding tube 2.
In a preferred embodiment, shown in Figure 8, the shutter 106 is a
curved plate able to form a cylindrical part 100 with a slit 110 of
appropriate size on its side surface that allows, when placed over the
hole 109 of the feeding tube, the passage of the feed to the feeding
tube 2.
In addition, the shutter 106 has means to adjust its position inside the
guide with respect to the hole 109 of the feeding tube 2. In particular,
such adjustment means consist of a tab 120 integral with the
cylindrical part 110 and protruding from its side surface to engage, in
a sliding way, a slot 130 that crosses the guide 108 on the side surface
of the pipe fitting device 3.
Moving the tab 120 inside slot 130 of the pipe fitting device 3 varies the
position of the slit 110 of the cylindrical part 100 with respect to the
port of feeding tube 2, thus making the passage of the feed possible
inside the feeding tube 2 or its total or partial interception.
According to a preferred aspect of the invention, the cylindrical part
100 forming the shutter is a flexible curved sheet that forms a closable
and/or openable ring-shaped band. This latter feature of the
cylindrical part assists its removal from the pipe fitting device 3 should if
prove necessary to replace it in case of damage or when it is
necessary to clean inside the device 3.
Besides, to avoid the mutual overlapping of the end of the ring-
shaped band, during shutter movement inside the relevant guide 108,
locking means are preferably present i.e. two protruding parts i.e.
projections (not shown) that lock such ends by contrast. Turning again
to Figures 4 and 6, the pipe fitting device 3 that joins the main feed
auger screw and the feeding tube 2 is a three-way pipe fitting device
consisting of a pair of separate half-shells 35 and 36 separated
according to a vertical plane and hinged together. In fact, half-shell
35 comprises a hinge pin 37 able to be snap inserted into a
corresponding hole 38 on the half-shell 36.
In the embodiment described herein, the pin 31 of the friction means 7
is shown integral with the half-shell 35 for reasons of clarity, but is
appropriate to emphasize that the same pin 31 is preferably made
integral with the half-shell 36, so as to simplify the shape of the two
half-shells.
The pipe fitting device 3 thus formed allows to assist assembly
operations and removal of the feedbox 1 with respect to the feed
auger screw.
The connection between the pipe fitting device 3 and the feeding
tube can, for instance, be formed by means of a bayonet joint using a
protruding pin 39 that engages a groove 29 (Figure 5) of shape and
size suitable to produce this type of joint. A possible locking pin 1 1
(Figure 4) can be inserted in the through hole 34 of pipe fitting device
3 (Figure 6) and in the through hole 24 (Figure 5) of the feeding tube 2
to prevent the undesired release of the feedbox 1 from the pipe fitting
device 3.
When one wishes to remove the feedbox 1 from the pipe fitting device
3, the locking pin 11 can be taken off and put in a hole 33, made in
corresponding positions on both the half-shells 35 and 36, so as to
prevent the undesired opening of the half-shells hinged together when
the feeding tube 2 is removed from the pipe fitting device 3.
Figures 10A-10F show some of the possible embodiments of the height
adjustment means of the free edge. Moreover, it is expedient to
underline that, alternatively with respect to the embodiment shown in
Figure 4, the slots 52 can also be made in the tub 4, with the pins 42
protruding inwards from the protection grate 5.
Figures 11A and 11B show an embodiment example of the auxiliary
means that produce a releasable snap locking of the main grate 5
with respect to the tub 4. The main grate 5 (plan view from below in

Figure 11A) comprises at least a protruding portion 57 designed to
engage in a plurality of recesses 47 on the tub 4 (plan view from
above Figure 11B).
The embodiment shown in Figures 11A and 1 1 B have a pair of portions
57 that stick out towards the inside of the side band 53 of the main
grate 5 in diametrically opposite positions, and two corresponding
series of recesses located on the side wall 43 of the tub 4.
However, it is appropriate to point out that the figures only represent
an embodiment example, but the reverse arrangement can also be
adopted, i.e. with the recesses 47 made on the grate 5 and the
protruding portions 57 made on the tub 4, as can also be varied the
plurality of recesses and projections without leading away from the
scope of the present invention.
WE CLAIM:
1. A feedbox to supply feed to poultry breeding, of the type connected to a
main feed auger screw and comprising: at least one gravity feeding tube
connected to said main feed auger screw by means of a pipe fitting device, said
feeding tube having one or more feed passage ports; at least one storage tub for
the feed coming from said feeding tube; means to adjust the feed level; at least
one main protection grate mounted on said storage tub and provided with
dividing plates and openings to allow the poultry access to the feed, the free edge
of said main grate overlapping the upper edge of said tub, characterised by at
least one auxiliary grate slidingly or rotationally joined to the main protection
grate, said auxiliary grate having a plurality of peripheral tips arranged so that the
tips do not interfere with the openings of the main protection grate in at least one
first relative position of the auxiliary grate with respect to the main grate and, vice
versa, obstruct at least partially one or more of said openings in at least one
second relative position of the auxiliary grate with respect to the main grate.
2. A feedbox as claimed in claim 1, wherein said auxiliary grate is rotationally
mounted with respect to said main grate.
3. A feedbox as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein said auxiliary grate is
mounted above the feed storage tub and internally with respect to said main
grate, and the tips partially extend towards said feed storage tub.
4. A feedbox as claimed in claim 3, wherein the dividing plates of said main
grate have internal seats for removably housing the tips of said auxiliary grate.
5. A feedbox as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein said plurality
of tips comprises a number of tips equal to the number of dividing plates of said
main grate.
6. A feed box as claimed in claim 5, wherein said dividing plates are angularly
equidistant from each other, and the tips are also angularly equidistant from each
other.
7. A feed box as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein said tips
partially obstruct all the openings of said grate extending in a such way that the
free end of each of the tips is set at a height between 3 and 5 cm with respect to
the edge of the feedbox.
8. A feedbox as claimed in claim 1, wherein said means to adjust the feed
level comprises at least one adjustment assembly to continuously vary the
distance between the free edge of said main protection grate and the upper edge
of said tub.
9. A feedbox as claimed in claim 8, wherein said adjustment assembly
comprises one or more slots and one or more corresponding pins engaged in
said slots to vary the distance between the free edge of said main protection
grate and the upper edge of said tub.
10. A feedbox as claimed in claim 9, wherein said slots have a profile with a
plurality of appropriately distanced seats adapted to receive said pins to prevent
the undesired rotation of said main protection grate with respect to said tub.
11. A feedbox as claimed in claim 9 or 10, wherein said slots are located in a
side band of said main grate, said side band being located below the free edge of
said main grate and surrounding the side wall of said tub on which said pins are
fixed.
12. A feedbox as claimed in claim 9 or 10, wherein said slots are located on
the side wall of said tub and said pins are fixed on a side band of said main grate,
said side band being located below the free edge of said main grate and
surrounding the side wall of said tub.
13. A feedbox as claimed in claim 1, wherein said means to adjust the feed
level comprise at least one shutter sliding on said feeding tube to intercept said
feed passage ports and friction means to hold said shutter in position.
14. A feed box as claimed in claim 13, wherein said shutter is connected to at
least one wire on which said friction means act.
15. A feed box as claimed in claim 14, wherein said friction means comprise at
least one elastic member able to push said wire against a friction surface.
16. A feedbox as claimed in claim 1, wherein said pipe fitting device to join the
main feed auger screw to said feeding tube of the feed box is a three-way pipe
fitting device consisting of a pair of distinct half-shells separated along a vertical
plane and hinged together.
17. A feed box as claimed in claim 16, wherein said pipe fitting device
comprises a member to adjust the feed flow to the feeding tube of the feed box.
18. A feed box as claimed in claim 17, wherein said member to adjust the feed
flow comprises a shutter sliding in a guide along at least one portion of the side
surface of said pipe fitting device and means to adjust the position of said shutter
with respect to the gravity feeding tube.
19. A feed box as claimed in claim 18, wherein said shutter is slidable in a
guide provided along an internal side surface of said pipe fitting device.
20. A feed box as claimed in claim 18 or 19, wherein said shutter is a tubular
part with a slit for the passage of the feed.
A feedbox to supply feed to poultry breeding, comprising: at least one
gravity feeding tube (2) connected to a main feed auger screw by a pipe fitting
device (3), and having one or more feed passage ports (21); at least one storage
tub (4) for the feed coming from the feeding tube; means (52, 42) to adjust the
feed level; at least one main protection grate (5) mounted on the storage tub and
provided with dividing plates (85) and openings (86) to allow access to the
poultry, the free edge (51) of the main grate overlapping the upper edge (41) of
the tub, is characterised by at least one auxiliary grate (84) slidingly or rotationally
joined to the main protection grate, and having peripheral tips (87) which do not
obstruct the openings of the main protection grate in at least one first relative
position of the auxiliary grate with respect to the main grate and, in a second
position, obstruct at least partially one or more of the openings.

Documents:

IN-PCT-2002-1005-KOL-CORRESPONDENCE 1.1.pdf

IN-PCT-2002-1005-KOL-CORRESPONDENCE.pdf

IN-PCT-2002-1005-KOL-FORM 27 1.1.pdf

IN-PCT-2002-1005-KOL-FORM 27.pdf

IN-PCT-2002-1005-KOL-FORM-27.pdf

in-pct-2002-1005-kol-granted-abstract.pdf

in-pct-2002-1005-kol-granted-assignment.pdf

in-pct-2002-1005-kol-granted-claims.pdf

in-pct-2002-1005-kol-granted-correspondence.pdf

in-pct-2002-1005-kol-granted-description (complete).pdf

in-pct-2002-1005-kol-granted-drawings.pdf

in-pct-2002-1005-kol-granted-form 1.pdf

in-pct-2002-1005-kol-granted-form 3.pdf

in-pct-2002-1005-kol-granted-gpa.pdf

in-pct-2002-1005-kol-granted-letter patent.pdf

in-pct-2002-1005-kol-granted-reply to examination report.pdf

in-pct-2002-1005-kol-granted-specification.pdf


Patent Number 219001
Indian Patent Application Number IN/PCT/2002/1005/KOL
PG Journal Number 16/2008
Publication Date 18-Apr-2008
Grant Date 16-Apr-2008
Date of Filing 05-Aug-2002
Name of Patentee CORTI ZOOTECNICI S.R.L.
Applicant Address VIA ALESSANDRO VOLTA, 4, I-21020, MONVALLE (VA)
Inventors:
# Inventor's Name Inventor's Address
1 CORTI ESTERINO VIA VIDOLETTI, 63, I-21030, CUVEGLIO
2 TANCREDI PAOLO VIA LIZZANA, 48, I-25050 OME (BRESCIA)
PCT International Classification Number A61K 39/012
PCT International Application Number PCT/IT01/00046
PCT International Filing date 2001-01-31
PCT Conventions:
# PCT Application Number Date of Convention Priority Country
1 MI2000A000153 2000-02-02 Italy