CN111512985B

CN111512985B - Feeding device

Info

Publication number: CN111512985B
Application number: CN201910105553.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 陈建岳
Original assignee: Chicony Electronics Co Ltd
Current assignee: Chicony Electronics Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-02-01
Filing date: 2019-02-01
Publication date: 2022-06-07
Anticipated expiration: 2039-02-01
Also published as: CN111512985A

Abstract

The invention discloses a feeding device which is arranged in a sensing space, wherein the sensing space is provided with a target object. The feeding device comprises a fixed part, at least one target sensing unit, a rotating part, a driving module and a control unit. The fixing member includes at least one lens disposed on a sidewall of the fixing member. The lens focuses an infrared radiation distribution of the sensing space to the target sensing unit, and the target sensing unit generates a position signal corresponding to the target object. The rotating part is arranged on one side of the fixed part and comprises a discharge channel. The driving module is connected to the rotating member. The control unit is coupled to the target sensing unit and the driving module. The control unit receives the position signal from the target sensing unit and controls the driving module to drive the rotating piece according to the position signal so that the discharging channel faces the target object.

Description

Feeding device

Technical Field

The invention relates to a feeding device, in particular to a feeding device for pets.

Background

Generally, the pet is fed by pouring the feed directly into a feed tray or other alternative receptacle for consumption by the pet. Because the feeder can not feed when going out, an automatic feeding device (feeding device) appears on the market, the feeder can directly pour the feed into a feed storage tank (containing tank), and the feeding device of the type can provide feed with a meal amount in a preset (meal) time.

In addition to daily two or three meal feeding, a pet is more often rewarded with food or treats when a owner interacts with the pet. In this regard, automatic feeding devices that provide feed in a catapult manner are becoming more prevalent, thereby providing more interaction with the pet. However, the automatic feeding device of this type (ejection type) still requires the remote control of the automatic feeding device from the remote end of the owner to project the feed at a proper time, and cannot detect the position of the pet and project the feed automatically. Further, since the direction and angle of the ejected feed are fixed, there is a possibility that the pet will not notice the ejected feed, and thus improvement is required.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above, the present invention provides a feeding device, which solves the problem that the known automatic feeding device cannot detect the position of the pet and automatically projects the feed by disposing elements such as a lens, a target sensing unit, a rotating member, and a driving module.

To achieve the above objective, the present invention provides a feeding device disposed in a sensing space, wherein the sensing space has a target. The feeding device comprises a fixed part, at least one target sensing unit, a rotating part, a driving module and a control unit. The fixing member includes at least one lens. The lens is arranged on one side wall of the fixing piece. The target sensing unit is arranged in the fixed piece and corresponds to the lens. The lens focuses an infrared radiation distribution of the sensing space to the target sensing unit. The target sensing unit generates a position signal corresponding to the target object according to the infrared radiation distribution. The rotating part is arranged on one side of the fixed part and comprises a discharge channel. The driving module is arranged in the fixing part and connected to the rotating part. The control unit is coupled to the target sensing unit and the driving module. The control unit receives the position signal from the target sensing unit and controls the driving module to drive the rotating piece according to the position signal so that the discharging channel faces the target object.

In some embodiments, the lens is a Fresnel lens and the target sensing unit is a pyroelectric target sensing unit.

In some embodiments, the fixing member includes two lenses symmetrically disposed on the sidewall.

In some embodiments, the feeding device comprises four target sensing units, wherein two target sensing units correspond to one of the lenses.

In some embodiments, the driving module includes a shaft and a driving unit, and the driving unit is connected to the shaft. The rotating shaft is connected to the rotating piece, and the control unit is coupled to the driving unit.

In some embodiments, the rotating member further includes a fixed pad fixed to an end of the rotating shaft after the rotating shaft passes through the groove.

In some embodiments, the feed inlet is located within the holding tank.

In some embodiments, the rotating member includes a receiving channel located inside the rotating member, and the discharge channel is in communication with the receiving channel.

In some embodiments, the tapping channel is arranged obliquely to the rotating member.

In some embodiments, the discharge channel has a feeding port and a discharge port, and the height of the discharge port is higher than that of the feeding port.

In summary, the feeding device of the present invention includes a fixing element, a target sensing unit, a rotating element, a driving module and a control unit, wherein the lens is disposed on a sidewall of the fixing element, and the target sensing unit corresponds to the lens. The position of the pet is detected through the arrangement of the lens and the target sensing unit, and a position signal is generated. The control unit can control the driving module to drive the rotating piece according to the position signal, so that the discharging channel faces to a target object (pet), and the function of projecting the material (feed) to the target object is achieved. Therefore, the feeding device of the invention can detect the position of the target object (pet) and then control the discharging channel to face the target object. In addition to automatically projecting the material to the target object without remote control by the user (owner), the material can be projected to the target object precisely.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings needed to be used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below, it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments described in the present application, and for those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained according to the drawings without any creative effort.

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view of the feeding device shown in fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an exploded view of the feeding device shown in fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a block schematic diagram of the feeding device shown in fig. 1.

Description of reference numerals:

a feeding device 1;

a fixing member 10;

a side wall 11;

an accommodating space 12;

lenses

13, 13a, 13 b;

target sensing units

20, 20a, 20b, 20 d;

a rotating member 30;

a discharge channel 31;

a feeding port 311;

a discharge port 312;

a material containing groove 32;

a recess 33;

a fixing pad 34;

a drive module 40;

a rotating shaft 41;

a drive unit 42;

a control unit 50;

an image capturing module 60.

Detailed Description

In order to make the technical content of the present invention more comprehensible, preferred embodiments are described below.

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention, fig. 2 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view of the feeding device shown in fig. 1, and fig. 3 is an exploded schematic view of the feeding device shown in fig. 1, with reference to fig. 1, fig. 2, and fig. 3. First, the feeding device 1 of the present embodiment is used for projecting a material to a target. Specifically, the feeding device 1 can be applied to an ejection type automatic feeding device for projecting the feed to the pet to be fed. In this embodiment, the feed or pet treat is referred to as a piece, and the pet to be fed is referred to as a target. In other embodiments, the material may also be a toy for pets. The user (owner) can place the feeding device 1 in a living room or a pet game room, and the space where the feeding device 1 is placed is referred to as a sensing space. When the sensing space has the target object (pet), the feeding device 1 of the embodiment may start to operate to project the material toward the target object.

The feeding device 1 includes a fixing member 10, at least one target sensing unit 20, a rotating member 30, a driving module 40 and a control unit 50. The fixing member 10 of the present embodiment is cylindrical and has a sidewall 11 and a receiving space 12. The fixing member 10 includes at least one lens 13 disposed on the sidewall 11 of the fixing member 10. One surface of the lens 13 faces the accommodating space 12; and the opposite surface is for incidence of infrared radiation from the sensing volume. The target sensing unit 20 is disposed in the accommodating space 12 of the fixing member 10, and the target sensing unit 20 is disposed corresponding to the lens 13.

The lens 13 is used to focus the infrared radiation distribution of the sensing space to the target sensing unit 20, i.e. the lens 13 can refract or reflect the infrared radiation onto the corresponding target sensing unit 20. In particular, a warm-blooded animal (pet for example) will itself emit radiation, for example, radiation having a peak wavelength of about 10 microns (μm) at 37 degrees celsius, which is in the infrared wavelength range (between 0.75 and 1,000 microns). Preferably, the lens 13 may have Fresnel lens (Fresnel lens) light-gathering lines, which can limit the wavelength peak of the incident light to about 10 μm, and the surface of the lens 13 has a plurality of concentric lines, so as to increase the range of the lens 13 for sensing the distribution of the infrared radiation.

The object sensing unit 20 corresponds to the lens 13 to receive the infrared radiation distribution focused by the lens 13. Preferably, the object sensing unit 20 may be a pyroelectric infrared sensor (PIR sensor). The housing of the pyroelectric type infrared sensor has a band pass filter (band pass filter) which blocks most of the infrared rays of wavelength and passes infrared rays having a peak wavelength of about 10 μm to sense infrared radiation close to the body temperature of the pet.

In this embodiment, the fixing member 10 has a curved sidewall 11. The fixture 10 includes two curved lenses 13 (for example,

lenses

13a and 13b), and the arc angles of the two

lenses

13a and 13b are 180 degrees, respectively. The two

lenses

13a and 13b are symmetrically disposed on the sidewall 11. The two

lenses

13a, 13b are located on the front and rear sides of the fixture 10, respectively, from the perspective of fig. 2. In the present embodiment, the feeding device 1 includes four target sensing units 20 (e.g., infrared

target sensing units

20a, 20b, 20c, 20d), wherein two infrared

target sensing units

20a, 20b correspond to one lens 13, e.g., the lens 13a located at the front side, and the other two

target sensing units

20c, 20d correspond to the other lens 13b (located at the rear side).

In addition, the target sensing unit 20 can generate a position signal corresponding to the target (pet) according to the infrared radiation distribution. Taking the perspective of fig. 3 as an example, assuming that the target (pet) is located at the right position of the rear side of the feeding device 1, the target sensing unit 20c located at the rear side and facing to the right side can sense the infrared radiation distribution with larger energy, and the position signal generated thereby includes the right information of the target at the rear side. The two

lenses

13a, 13b and the four

target sensing units

20a, 20b, 20c, 20d on the front and rear sides of the fixing member 10 are used to detect the infrared radiation distribution in each direction in the sensing space, and the effect of detecting the target (pet) in 360 degrees is achieved.

In another embodiment not shown in the drawings, the feeding device 1 may include only two target sensing units 20, wherein one target sensing unit 20 corresponds to one of the lenses 13, such as the lens 13a located at the front side, and the other target sensing unit 20 corresponds to the other lens 13b (located at the rear side). Thereby, the at least one lens 13 and the corresponding at least one object sensing unit 20 can realize 180 degree field sensing. Assuming that the target (pet) is located at the rear side of the feeding device 1, the infrared target sensing unit 20 located at the rear side can sense the infrared radiation distribution with larger energy, and the position signal generated thereby includes the information of the target at the rear side. The two

lenses

13a and 13b on the front and back sides of the fixing member 10 and the two target sensing units 20 are used to detect the infrared radiation distribution in each direction in the sensing space, and achieve the effect of detecting the target (pet) in 360 degrees.

Then, the control unit 50 may receive the position signal from the target sensing unit 20 and control the rotating member 30 to project the material (feed) to the target object (pet). The following description will be made of the structures and connections of the rotor 30, the driving module 40, and the control unit 50, and further description will be made of the operational relationships thereof.

The rotating member 30 is located on one side of the fixed member 10, and the rotating member 30 is located on the upper side of the fixed member 10 in the perspective view of fig. 1 and 2. The user (owner) can place the fixed member 10 of the feeding device 1 on a fixed object such as a table or the ground, and the rotating member 30 is located on the upper side of the fixed member 10. In the present embodiment, the rotating member 30 includes a discharging channel 31 and a receiving channel 32. The receiving groove 32 is located inside the rotation member 30, that is, the inner space of the rotation member 30 serves as the receiving groove 32, and the user can put the material (feed) into the receiving groove 32.

The discharge passage 31 is communicated with the material receiving groove 32. Specifically, the discharging channel 31 has a feeding port 311 and a discharging port 312, the feeding port 311 is communicated with the material accommodating groove 32, so that the material can enter the discharging channel 31 from the feeding port 311. In this embodiment, the discharging channel 31 is located in the accommodating groove 32, the feeding port 311 is located in the accommodating groove 32, and the discharging port 312 is located on the side wall of the rotating member 30, so that the rotating member 30 can have a flat appearance, and an outward protruding structure cannot be generated due to the arrangement of the discharging channel 31. Of course, the present invention is not limited to the position of the discharging channel 31, and in other embodiments, the discharging channel 31 may also be disposed outside the material containing groove 32. For example, the discharging channel 31 may protrude from the side wall of the rotating member 30, and the feeding port 311 is located on the side wall of the rotating member 30, so that the feeding port 311 is communicated with the material accommodating slot 32.

In addition, an ejection mechanism (not shown) may be disposed in the material receiving slot 32, and the ejection mechanism is disposed close to the material inlet 311. The ejection mechanism (e.g. a push rod) can push the material in the discharging channel 31 out of the feeding device 1 from the feeding hole 311, so as to achieve the effect of providing the material (feed) in an ejection manner. It should be noted that, persons skilled in the art can refer to known ejection type automatic feeding devices to implement the ejection mechanism, and detailed structures of the ejection mechanism are not described herein. Preferably, the discharging channel 31 is tiltably disposed on the rotating member 30. As shown in FIG. 2, the height of the discharging port 312 is higher than that of the feeding port 311, so that the discharging channel 31 is inclined. Because the design that discharging channel 31 slope set up, when making the material piece pushed out, can upwards launch the mode and leave feeder 1 to the simulation user loses actions such as fodder, toy, and then can reach the interactive effect with pet taste.

The driving module 40 is disposed in the fixed member 10, and the driving module 40 is connected to the rotating member 30, such that the driving module 40 can drive the rotating member 30 to rotate relative to the fixed member 10. In the present embodiment, the driving module 40 includes a rotating shaft 41 and a driving unit 42, and the driving unit 42 is connected to the rotating shaft 41. The driving unit 42 may be a motor, and the driving unit 42 provides power for rotating the rotating shaft 41. Also, the rotating shaft 41 is connected to the rotating member 30, and preferably, the bottom of the rotating member 30 has a groove 33, and the rotating shaft 41 is connected to the groove 33. Preferably, the rotating member 30 further has a fixing gasket 34, and after the rotating shaft 41 passes through the groove 33 and enters the receiving groove 32, one end of the rotating shaft 41 is fixed in the receiving groove 32 by the fixing gasket 34, so as to achieve the fixing and sealing effects. When the driving unit 42 is operated, the rotating shaft 41 is driven to rotate the rotating member 30 relative to the fixing member 10.

In the present embodiment, the two lenses 13(13a, 13b) are located in the radial direction of the rotating shaft 41 and are disposed on opposite sides of the rotating shaft 41; the object sensing units 20(20a, 20b, 20c, 20d) are also located in the radial direction of the rotation axis 41 and are disposed on the opposite sides of the rotation axis 41 in cooperation with the corresponding lenses 13(13a, 13b), so as to realize sensing of 360 degrees of field. Specifically, the sensing of the front 180-degree field of view is achieved by the lens 13a and the

object sensing units

20a, 20b, and the sensing of the rear 180-degree field of view is achieved by the lens 13b and the

object sensing units

20c, 20 d. Also, the rotating shaft 41 is perpendicular to the rotating member 30, and the rotating member 30 is located on the top surface of the fixed member 10. Therefore, the rotating member 30 can rotate on the top surface of the fixed member 10 for 360 degrees with the extending direction of the rotating shaft 41 as the axis. The discharging port 312 is disposed at one side with respect to the rotation axis of the rotation member 30, and the rotation member 30 is rotated by the rotation shaft 41 to change the orientation of the discharging channel 31 to the position of each orientation within the 360 degree field of view.

Fig. 4 is a block diagram of the feeding device shown in fig. 1, please refer to fig. 3 and fig. 4. In the present embodiment, the control unit 50 is coupled to the driving unit 42 of the driving module 40. The control unit 50 is coupled to the target sensing units 20, and the control unit 50 is coupled to each of the

target sensing units

20a, 20b, 20c, and 20d respectively, so that the control unit 50 can receive the position signal from the target sensing unit 20. Continuing with the example where the object is located on the right side of the rear side of the feeding device 1, the control unit 50 may receive a position signal from the object sensing unit 20c, which includes information that the object is located on the right side of the rear side. Then, the control unit 50 can control the driving unit 42 to operate according to the position signal, and the rotating member 30 is driven by the rotating shaft 41 to rotate to a position (such as the rear side is close to the right) where the discharging channel 31 faces the target object. In short, the control unit 50 can control the driving module 40 to drive the rotating member 30 to make the discharging channel 31 face the target object.

The control unit 50 of this embodiment is also coupled to the ejection mechanism, and when the discharging channel 31 is rotated to a position facing the target object, the control unit 50 controls the ejection mechanism to operate, so as to project the material in the discharging channel 31 toward the target object. It should be noted that, the present embodiment does not limit the installation position of the control unit 50, and can be installed inside the fixing member 10. In other embodiments, the rotating member 30 may be disposed even outside the feeding device 1, and the invention is not limited thereto. The control unit 50 only needs to be coupled to the target sensing unit 20, the driving module 40, and the ejection mechanism to complete the above-mentioned operations.

Preferably, the feeding device 1 of the present embodiment further includes an image capturing module 60 having a wireless transmission module for communicating with other electronic devices (such as a computer, or a mobile phone) held by the user (owner). Preferably, the image capturing module 60 is located above the discharging channel 31 for capturing an image of an environment around the feeding device 1, and if a pet (target object) is nearby, the image of the pet can be captured. The image is transmitted to the electronic device of the user through the wireless transmission module, and the user observes the activity situation of the pet from a far end. Furthermore, the feeding device 1 may further have other components capable of assisting interaction, such as a speaker, a radio, etc., and the present invention is not limited thereto.

In summary, the feeding device of the present invention includes a fixing element, a target sensing unit, a rotating element, a driving module and a control unit, wherein the lens is disposed on a sidewall of the fixing element, and the target sensing unit corresponds to the lens. The position of the pet is detected through the arrangement of the lens and the target sensing unit, and a position signal is generated. The control unit can control the driving module to drive the rotating part according to the position signal, so that the discharging channel faces to a target object (pet), and the function of projecting the material (feed) to the target object is achieved. Therefore, the feeding device of the invention can detect the position of the target object (pet) and then control the discharging channel to face the target object. In addition to automatically projecting the material to the target object without remote control by the user (owner), the material can be projected to the target object precisely.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned embodiments are merely examples for convenience of description, and the scope of the claims of the present invention should be determined by the appended claims rather than by the limitation of the above-mentioned embodiments.

Claims

1. A feeding device disposed in a sensing space, the sensing space having a target, the feeding device comprising:

the fixing piece comprises two lenses, the two lenses are symmetrically arranged on one side wall of the fixing piece, and the two lenses are curved;

two target sensing units, two of which are arranged in the fixing piece, wherein one of the target sensing units corresponds to one of the lenses, the other one of the target sensing units corresponds to the other one of the lenses, the two lenses focus an infrared radiation distribution of the sensing space to the two target sensing units, and the two target sensing units generate a position signal corresponding to the target according to the infrared radiation distribution;

the rotating piece is positioned on one side of the fixed piece and comprises a discharge channel;

the driving module is arranged in the fixed part and is connected with the rotating part; and

the control unit is coupled to the target sensing unit and the driving module, receives the position signal from the target sensing unit, and controls the driving module to drive the rotating piece according to the position signal, so that the discharging channel faces the target object.

2. The feeding device as set forth in claim 1, wherein the lens is a fresnel lens and the object sensing unit is a pyroelectric-type object sensing unit.

3. The feeding device as set forth in claim 1, wherein the arc angles of the two lenses are respectively 180 degrees.

4. The feeding device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the driving module includes a rotating shaft, and the two lenses are located in a radial direction of the rotating shaft and disposed at opposite sides of the rotating shaft; the two target sensing units are located in the radial direction of the rotating shaft and are matched with the corresponding lenses to be arranged on two opposite sides of the rotating shaft.

5. The feeding device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the driving module includes a shaft and a driving unit, the driving unit is connected to the shaft, the shaft is connected to the rotating member, and the control unit is coupled to the driving unit.

6. The feeding device as set forth in claim 5, wherein the rotating member has a recess in a bottom thereof, and the shaft is connected to the recess.

7. The feeding device as set forth in claim 6, wherein the rotatable member includes a fixed washer, the fixed washer being fixed to an end of the rotatable shaft after the rotatable shaft passes through the recess.

8. The feeding device as set forth in claim 1, wherein the rotatable member includes a receiving channel located within the rotatable member, and the discharge passage communicates with the receiving channel.

9. The feeding device as claimed in claim 8, wherein the discharging channel is obliquely disposed on the rotating member, and the discharging channel has a feeding opening and a discharging opening, and the discharging opening is higher than the feeding opening.

10. A feeding device disposed in a sensing space, the sensing space having an object, the feeding device comprising:

four target sensing units, four of which are arranged in the fixing member, wherein two of the target sensing units correspond to one of the lenses, the other two of the target sensing units correspond to the other lens, the two lenses focus an infrared radiation distribution of the sensing space to the four target sensing units, and the four target sensing units generate a position signal corresponding to the target object according to the infrared radiation distribution;

the rotating part is positioned on one side of the fixed part and comprises a discharge channel;