Minnow bucket with water aerating means

Claim 1

A minnow bucket with water aerating means, said bucket including peripherally continuous upstanding side wall portions, rigid upper and lower vertically spaced closure walls extending and sealingly secured across the lower end portions of said side wall portions and defining an upwardly opening water receptacle above said upper closure wall and a closed air-tight chamber between said closure walls, an upstanding tubular valve body supported from and opening through one side marginal portion of said upper closure wall, a valve element shiftably supported centrally within said valve body for movement between lower and upper open and closed limit positions, respectively, a support member threadedly engaged with the upper end of said body and including an abutment portion engageable with said valve element upon downward threading of said support member on said body to variably downwardly displace said element away from its closed limit position toward its open limit position for variably controlling the venting of air from said airtight chamber through said tubular valve body into said receptacle and aerating the water therein, means operative to introduce air under pressure into said chamber, a stationary partial top wall secured over one side portion of the upper end of said bucket in vertical registry with said valve body, said support member being carried by the lower end of a substantially vertical operating rod whose upper end is rotatably received through said partial top wall, and a further top wall portion hingedly supported from said partial top wall swingable into and out of position, in coaction with said partial top wall, to substantially fully close the upper end of said bucket, said upper and lower closure walls being of upright and inverted conical shape, respectively, said support member comprising a downwardly opening internally threaded cap closed at its upper end, the lower end of said operating rod being secured downwardly through the closed upper end of said cap and including a lower terminal end projecting down into the interior of said cap and comprising said abutment portion, said cap including a lateral vent opening formed in one side thereof above said tubular valve body and below the closed upper end of said cap.