ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 19 -- United States Patent no. 12,329,131, issued on June 17, was assigned to Backyard Nature Products LLC (Chilton, Wis.).
"Squirrel-proof bird feeder" was invented by Ralph Beckman (Providence, R.I.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A bird feeder and method of feeding wild birds are disclosed herein which thwarts squirrels, rodents, and other pests from accessing the bird feed. The bird feeder comprises a shutter mechanism which slides down a seed container to block access to the bird feed in an implementation. The shutter mechanism secures to the bottom of the seed container to maximize the containment volume of the feeder and to make cleaning the feeder easier. The shut...