1. Technical Field
The present disclosure is directed to a support system for suspending a bird feeder and, in particular, to a support system that prevents the feeder from bouncing off the hanger when the support system or bird feeder are impacted.
2. Related Art
Many types of suspension systems are available for suspending bird feeders, floral arrangements, and other decorative items. The hooks or hangers are supported in a variety of ways. For example, hooks can be supported on a pole that can be inserted into the ground. Pole hangers are simply inserted into the ground, and are desirable because they can be easily moved between locations by removing them from the ground and repositioning the pole in a different location. Others types of support systems may be adapted for mounting onto other support structures such as, for example, deck rails. Still other types of support systems may be mounted directly to an exterior wall. One popular style is known as a “shepherd's hook,” which can be pole-, deck- or wall-mounted. Shepherd's hooks include an open loop at the hanging end of the hanger, into which a suspension means such as the bail wire of a bird feeder can be received.
Although easy to use, shepherd's style hooks may be problematic for suspending bird feeders, because when a squirrel or other animal attempts to access the seed in a bird feeder suspended from such a hook, the movement of the squirrel onto or off of the bird feeder causes the bird feeder to bounce. When the bird feeder bounces, the bail wire is frequently dislodged from the open loop of the hook, causing the bird feeder to fall to the ground. This is a serious nuisance problem for bird enthusiasts not only because they must replace the bird feeder, but also because it allows the squirrels to eat the seed, sometimes damaging the bird feeder to do so if the seed is not easily accessible.
In addition, when deck-mounted, the position of the bird feeder is often fixed in a vertical direction, and the position of the arm is typically limited to one or two positions.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,564,703 to Nichols discloses a holder with a clamp at the bottom of a pole with one fixed arm and a second adjustable arm that allows the width of the support arm to which the clamp is attached to be varied. However, Nichols does not allow the vertical position of the clamp to be varied.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,003,535 to Haskins discloses a fishpole holder. The fishpole holder includes a clamp with two folding arms that receive the pole, the opposite ends of which can be adjusted to varying widths of the support onto which the pole is attached. The devices move along the pole so the height of the pole can be varied within the holder and the width of the support can be varied as well.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,526,333 to Nakama et al. discloses a quick release clothing system having a hanger made from a wire with two closed loops at opposing ends. The closed loops would prevent a hanger such as a bird feeder from becoming dislodged when the pole is mounted.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,276,651 to Dolan discloses a mounting device for a flag pole that is adjustable so that the weight and thickness of the reel onto which it is attached can be varied and also so that the vertical height of the pole can be adjusted as well.
There remains a need in the art for a support system for a bird feeder that does not become dislodged when impacted that is adjustable in a vertical direction and rotatable to any position about an axis.