AU8717191A - Pet feeding dish with weighted base - Google Patents

Description

TITLE : PET FEEDING DISH WITH WEIGHTED BASE

There are many various types of moulded plastic, metal or concrete water troughs or feed dishes for small pets (such as cats, dogs, birds etc.) or for larger stock (such as sheep, cows, pigs, horses) however, most have problems usually of two types.

(1) They are, when empty, too light - and blow away, tip over, or are easily displaced by animals;

OR

(2) They are heavy and bulky to prevent tipping or blowing away, which makes them impractical or inefficient to relocate, package and transport.

The invention (the weighted base but portable animal, feed and water vessel) is designed to overcome both these problems .

The invention is a feed or water vessel (of any size or shape required) which has a cavity forming an integral part of it, to which ballast in the form of sand, gravel, soil or other such materials OR a liquid such as water can be added when in position and be removed to facilitate transporting or packaging.

SUBSTITUTESHEET There are two basic designs of the invention.

(A) A one-piece design (shown in cross section in Figure 1) of moulded plastic, fabricated or formed metal or similar construction (1) with at least one sealable opening (2) and mating lid (3) through which the required ballast (4) can be added and removed as required.

(B) A two (or more) piece design (Figures 2A, 2B and 3) of suitable materials (as indicated above) which has a main trough body (5 & 9) and a secondary piece (6 & 10) which can be fastened to it by a large screw thread, a lip and clip system (8) (as used on packaging eg. plastic ice cream container and lid) other container and lid fastening systems or by the use of matched flanges, screwed or clipped together, to achieve the seal quality required for the desired ballast (7 & 11) . The use of seals or gaskets may be required. The units may need to be temporarily inverted to add the ballast. The two-piece type would be so designed to allow stackable packing to reduce packaging, handling and transportation costs. (Fig 3) Shows the two components of both versions nested for packaging and transport, they can be further nested as indicated by arrows 13 and 15. Similar designs would be employed in different sizes, to suit the type and size of the animals to be fed or watered (ie. small for domestic pets or larger for horses, cattle etc. )

Fittings such as plumbing mountings, drain plugs, self feed controls, float protectors and mounts for fitting additive dispensers could be incorporated into the design giving a more compact, rigid, self contained feed or water vessel that stays in position as required (with ballast added) but can be easily moved or transported when desired (with no ballast) and stackably packed for "shipment" in the case of the two-piece design.

The invention is a simple but practical solution to common feeding and watering problems. Its design allows more efficient feeding and watering, requiring less monitoring resulting in less wastage of animal food and water. In the case of dogs the invention would also reduce the incidence of dogs chewing up their feed and water dishes . It will be obvious to persons reading this specification that numerous other variations and modifications are obvious to persons skilled in the art. Such variations and modification should, however, be considered to fall within the scope of the present invention as hereinbefore described and as hereinafter claimed.

Claims (7)

CLAIMSWhat I claim is:
1. (1) An animal feed and/or water vessel (dish or bowl) which has, as part of its design, a cavity to which ballast (weight material) in the form of sand, gravel or water or the like, can be added to give stability or removed to allow efficient transport and handling.
2. (2) An animal feed and/or water vessel as claimed in Claim (1), which is made from moulded or formed plastic, fabricated or formed metal or other suitable materials or combinations of any of these materials.
3. (3) One version of an Animal feed and/or water vessel as claimed in Claim 1 and 2 which is formed in one major piece having a cavity divided from the main feed or water containing section to which ballast can be added

   - said vessel would have at least one sealable opening with a mating lid through with ballast could be added or removed

   - said lid would normally be removably attached by means of a screw thread or press fit.
4. (4) Another version of an animal feed and/or water vessel as claimed in claims 1 and 2 being made from two major pieces, one being the vessel body, the other the detachable base, allowing the units to be nested (ie. stacked on top of each other) for efficient packing and handling, transporting and display

   - said base can be attached to said vessel body by suitable fastening means including, mating clip and lip; system, mating male and female screw threads, mating flanges clipped, screwed or bolted together, hence, forming a cavity to which ballast can be added as required and yet divided from the feed and water containing bowl .
5. (5) An animal feed and/or water vessel as described in all preceding claims being of any suitable size and shape to suit the application eg. a smaller version for domestic pets and a larger version for cattle and horses.
6. (6) An animal feed and or water vessel as claimed in all preceding claims, having the following major features:

   (a) It is very light weight in its unballasted form allowing simple efficient handling and relocation.

   (b) Once ballast is added it is relatively heavy and is less likely to be moved or tipped over by wind or by an animal or animals, even when the feed or water has been consumed.

   (c) One version as claimed in Claim 4 is so designed in two pieces as to allow stack nesting for efficient handling transport and storage.
7. (7) An animal feed and or water vessel as claimed in all preceding claims substantially described and illustrated in the accompanying text and drawings.

   SUBSTITUTESHEET