Animal feeder, feeder mount, feeder monitor, and feeder monitoring network
First Claim
1. An animal feeder, comprising:
- a hopper for storing pieces of food, a bottom portion of the hopper having a first opening which is accessible by an animal, the first opening large enough for the animal to gnaw the food through the first opening, the hopper having a receiving surface adjacent to the first opening, the receiving surface positioned to receive fallen gnawed food; and
a mounting bracket on which the hopper is seated, the mounting bracket being attachable to a container in which the animal is housed.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An animal feeder has a hopper for storing pieces of food. The bottom of the hopper has an opening accessible by an animal. The opening is smaller than a piece of food, but large enough for the animal to gnaw the food through the opening. The hopper has a surface adjacent the opening, to receive fallen gnawed food and hold the fallen gnawed food in a position accessible by the animal for eating. The hopper engages a mounting bracket. The bracket has a lip which partially covers the receiving surface of the hopper to physically limit the animal from leaning on the hopper and to prevent the hopper from tipping back so far that it falls off the conical mount. A conical mount transmits a downward force from the conical bottom surface to a sensor, but does not transmit an upward force or moment to the sensor.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. An animal feeder, comprising:
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a hopper for storing pieces of food, a bottom portion of the hopper having a first opening which is accessible by an animal, the first opening large enough for the animal to gnaw the food through the first opening, the hopper having a receiving surface adjacent to the first opening, the receiving surface positioned to receive fallen gnawed food; and
a mounting bracket on which the hopper is seated, the mounting bracket being attachable to a container in which the animal is housed. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. An animal feeder, comprising:
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a hopper for storing pieces of food, the hopper having a first opening, through which the pieces of food pass for consumption by the animal;
a bottom mounting surface attached to the hopper; and
a mount, on which the bottom mounting surface is removably seated, wherein the mount allows freedom of movement and freedom of rotation by the hopper within a set of predetermined limits, and the bottom mounting surface returns to a centered position after a movement or rotation, by operation of gravity. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8)
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9. An animal feeder, comprising:
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a hopper for storing pieces of food, the hopper having a first opening, through which the pieces of food pass for consumption by the animal;
a mount, on which the hopper is removably seated, the mount transmitting a downward force from the hopper to a measuring device, wherein the mount does not transmit an upward force or moment from the hopper to the measuring device. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11)
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12. A system for controlling feeding of a plurality of animals, comprising:
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a plurality of animal feeders, each feeder having a respective gate, the gate having an open position and a closed position, such that a respective animal can access food from a respective feeder when the gate of that feeder is open, and the respective animal cannot access food from a respective feeder when the gate of that feeder is closed;
a processor for determining an amount of food removed from each respective feeder by the respective animal that has access to that feeder;
a plurality of actuators for opening and closing each gate in response to control signals;
the processor having means for receiving a signal indicating that one of a plurality of operating modes is selected, wherein the processor controls the plurality of actuators based on the signal to control
1) a common amount of food provided to each animal or
2) a common length of time each animal has access to food, or
3) a common amount of food provided to each animal and a common length of time each animal has access to food.
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13. An animal monitoring system comprising:
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a plurality of cage controllers, each cage controller having a respective processor and a storage device coupled to the processor, each cage controller receiving and storing sensor data from a sensor that collects sensor data from a respective animal specimen, each cage controller calculating statistics from the sensor data; and
a local host computer to which each of the plurality of cage controllers is coupled, the local host computer being capable of issuing commands to each of the cage controllers. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An animal feeder, comprising:
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a hopper for storing pieces of food, a portion of the hopper having a first opening, the first opening large enough for an animal to gnaw the food through the first opening, the hopper having a receiving surface adjacent to the first opening, the receiving surface positioned to receive fallen gnawed food; and
a mounting bracket on which the hopper is seated, the mounting bracket being attachable to a container in which the animal is housed.
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20. An animal feeder, comprising:
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a hopper for storing food, the hopper having a first opening, through which pieces of the food pass;
a mounting surface attached to the hopper; and
a mount, on which the mounting surface is removably seated, wherein the mount allows freedom of movement within a set of predetermined limits, and the mounting surface returns to a centered position after a movement, by operation of gravity.
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21. A system for controlling feeding, comprising:
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a plurality of animal feeders, each feeder having a respective access means, the access means having an open position and a closed position, such that food from a respective feeder can be accessed when the access means of that feeder is open, and the food cannot be accessed from a respective feeder when the access means of that feeder is closed;
a processor for determining an amount of food removed from each respective feeder;
a plurality of actuators for opening and closing each access means in response to control signals;
the processor having means for receiving a signal indicating that one of a plurality of operating modes is selected, wherein the processor controls the plurality of actuators based on the signal to control
1) an amount of food provided to each animal or
2) a length of time each access means is open, or
3) an amount of food provided and a length of time each access means is open.
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Specification