Claims
- 1. A bird feeder comprising:
at least one canopy portion; a food reservoir coupled to the canopy portion; a perch portion coupled to the food reservoir; a rechargeable electrical power source; and a solar energy system conductively coupled to the rechargeable electrical power source for collecting solar energy, converting the solar energy into electrical energy, and recharging the rechargeable electrical power source with the converted electrical energy.
- 2. The bird feeder according to claim 1, wherein the solar energy system includes at least one solar collector disposed on the canopy portion.
- 3. The bird feeder according to claim 1, further comprising:
at least one lighting element conductively coupled to the rechargeable electrical power source.
- 4. The bird feeder according to claim 3, wherein the at least one lighting element is an LED.
- 5. The bird feeder according to claim 3, wherein the at least one lighting element is a cold cathode ray tube.
- 6. The bird feeder according to claim 3, wherein the at least one lighting element is a fluorescent light.
- 7. The bird feeder according to claim 1, further comprising:
one or more electrical devices conductively coupled to the rechargeable electrical power source, the one or more electrical devices being from the following group of electrical devices: a. microphone; b. radio receiver c. radio transmitter; d. camera; e. audio recording device; f. audio playback device; g. video recording device; h. video playback device; i. speaker; j. liqhtinq element; k. timing device; I. remote control; or m. motor.
- 8. The bird feeder according to claim 1, further comprising:
an electrical charging system coupled to the rechargeable electrical power source for recharging the rechargeable electrical power source, the electrical charging system being adapted to receive power from an AC power source.
- 9. The bird feeder according to claim 1, wherein the rechargeable electrical power source is disposed within the canopy portion.
- 10. The bird feeder according to claim 1, wherein the rechargeable electrical power source is disposed beneath the perch portion.
- 11. The bird feeder according to claim 1, wherein the at least one canopy portion comprises:
an upper canopy portion; and a lower canopy portion.
- 12. The bird feeder according to claim 1, further comprising:
a means for releasably connecting the at least one canopy portion, the food reservoir, and the perch portion together.
- 13. The bird feeder according to claim 1, wherein the food reservoir includes a decorative lattice.
- 14. The bird feeder according to claim 1, further comprising:
a food access port disposed in the canopy portion through which food may be added to the food reservoir without removing the canopy portion.
- 15. The bird feeder according to claim 1, further comprising:
an on/off switch for activating and deactivating the rechargeable electrical power source.
- 16. The bird feeder according to claim 1, further comprising:
a photoresistor conductively coupled to the rechargeable electrical power source for activating and deactivating the rechargeable electrical power source depending upon the amount of light hitting the photoresistor.
- 17. A bird feeder comprising:
an upper canopy; a lower canopy disposed below the upper canopy; a food reservoir disposed below the lower canopy; a perch disposed below the food reservoir; a lower portion disposed below the perch; a means for releasably connecting the upper canopy, the lower canopy, the food reservoir, the perch, and the lower portion together; a rechargeable electrical power source carried by the upper canopy for providing electrical power to the bird feeder; an electrical charging system conductively coupled to the rechargeable electrical power source for recharging the rechargeable electrical power source; and a solar energy system conductively coupled to the electrical charging system for collecting solar energy, converting the solar energy into electrical energy, and transferring the electrical energy to the electrical charging system.
- 18. The bird feeder according to claim 17, further comprising:
at least one lighting element conductively coupled to the rechargeable electrical power source.
- 19. The bird feeder according to claim 17, further comprising:
an alignment means coupled to the lower canopy for aligning the food reservoir.
- 20. The bird feeder according to claim 17, wherein the electrical charging system is adapted to receive power from an AC power source.
Parent Case Info
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/372,267, filed 11 Apr. 2003, titled “Solar Powered Bird Feeder.”
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60372267 |
Apr 2002 |
US |
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10411565 |
Apr 2003 |
US |
Child |
10847973 |
May 2004 |
US |