GB2229076A - Animal feeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

An animal feeding device, particularly for domestic pets such as cats, comprises a bowl 5 for animal food and means 10 capable of supporting an animal food container at a position higher than the base of the inner surface of the bowl in order that when the container is in that position, animal food can be dispensed from the container into the base of the bowl. This enables the bowl to be automatically re-charged when an animal feeds from the bowl, thereby ensuring an adequate supply of food that has not been unduly exposed to the atmosphere. <IMAGE>

Description

ANIMAL FEEDING DEVICE The present invention relates to an animal feeding device and in particular to a food dispenser assembly for domestic animals.

Animal food is sold in a variety of forms and in various containers. In the case of petfood the food may be wet, such as canned wet petfood, semi-moist or dry, such as dried morsels or biscuit-like particles of petfood which may be sold in packets or boxes. For example, dried petfood in the form of morsels or particles is commonly sold in tall rectangular boxes.

Animal feeding devices such as bowls for holding animal food, such as petfood from which the animal can eat are generally of simple form, having a flat base and raised edges, and may be of any shape, but are commonly circular or rectangular. In the case of animal food comprising dried petfood, a bowl is usually filled by the pet owner first opening a container, such as a box or packet, commonly at a corner, and then tilting the box until the particles of petfood fall into the bowl.

When sufficient petfood has been delivered the container is righted so that no more particles of petfood fall out. Using this method, it is necessary for the pet owner to hold the container while the bowl is being filled, and to re-fill the bowl after the pet has eaten the petfood in the bowl. The need to re-fill the bowl may be a nuisance to pet owners, particularly if they wish to leave the pet unattended for more than the usual period between pet meal times.

Another difficulty encountered in the distribution of foods to animals is estimating the correct quantity to pour into the bowl. If an insufficient quantity is dispensed, the animal may not have enough, whereas, if an excessive quantity is poured, the excess food which the animal does not take risks contamination and deterioration by prolonged contact with air. This latter situation particularly arises when it is desired to leave the animal sufficient food for several meals, for example because of a prolonged absence.

The present invention seeks to overcome or alleviate at least some of the above problems by providing an animal feeding device which can be filled without the pet owner holding the container throughout filling and which can be refilled in the absence of the pet owner.

The device also allows the controlled distribution of food to the animal in proportion to its consumption by only letting flow out of the package containing the food a quantity which will automatically be renewed each time the animal comes to eat.

According to the present invention there is provided an animal feeding device comprising a bowl for animal'food and means capable of supporting an animal food container at a position higher than the base of the inner surface of the bowl. in order that when the container is in the said.position, animal food can be dispensed from the container into the base of the bowl.

The bowl can be of any convenient shape suitable for containing animal food. In order that the animal food may be replaced as animal food in the bowl is eaten, it is preferable that the bowl is so configured that an animal may eat from the bowl while the animal food container is supported. This may be achieved by the wall of the bowl having an opening through which the pet may have access to the food. The opening is preferably formed by the upper edge of the wall of the bowl being at a substantially lower level at the opening than at the remainder of the wall.

The inner surface of the walls of the bowl are preferably shaped so that the animal food container may fit neatly into the bowl, and be supported stably by the walls.

The means by which the bowl may support an animal food container at a position higher than the base of the inner surface of the bowl may be provided by a protuberance which extends from the inner surface of the wall and/or the base of the bowl. The protuberance may extend from the wall, for example from a position in the wall opposing the opening in the wall, when provided.

The animal is generally a domestic animal, such as a pet. The device is particularly suitable for use with cats, since cats do not have a tendency to over-eat.

Rabbits are another example of animals which may conveniently be fed by means of the invention.

While the feeding device may be used for wet, dry or semi-moist animal food, the device is particularly suitable for use with dry animal food. For example the device may be used for biscuit-like particles of animal food which is commonly sold in boxes.

The animal food container can be of any convenient shape and form, but in the case of dry animal food is conveniently a box or packet. The container used may be opened irreversibly, or partially or wholly reversibly.

Where the container is opened partially or wholly reversibly, it may have a lid or a flap which can partially or wholly close off the opening in the container. For example, a flap from a container may be pulled back to open the container.

In the circumstances where the opened container has a lid or a flap for wholly or partially closing the opening, the protuberance is preferably positioned so that when the bowl is in use, the protuberance may hold the container in the open position for example by holding a flap open. Conversely, the arrangement may also be such that a flap can be held in the closed position when the container is in position. This latter arrangement may be useful for keeping the contents of the container fresh when the container and device are not being used for a period of time.

The lower surface of the opening in the wall may be at a lower level than the upper surface of the protuberance.

The inner surface of the base of the bowl is preferably shaped so that when in use animal food can accumulate near to the opening so that it is easily accessible to the pet. This may be achieved by the inner surface of the base sloping downward from each of the walls of the bowl in such a way that the lowest point of the base is nearer to the wall having the opening than the wall opposing the wall having the opening. The footprint of the base of the bowl is preferably of larger area than the top of the bowl, improving the stability of the bowl.

The bowl may be composed of any hygienic solid substance, but is preferably of light-weight material, such as plastics material. For ease of manufacture, the bowl may be made of moulded plastics material, preferably stamp-moulded plastics material.

In particular embodiments, the invention relates to a food dispenser assembly for domestic animals, characterised in that it comprises: - a downwardly open removable pack containing the food to be issued, and, - interacting with this pack, a bowl comprising: an upwardly open receiving zone equippedwith means for the retention of the removable pack and collecting the food flowing off through the orifice in this pack, an upwardly open feeding zone shaped in the form of a trough so that the domestic animal can take from it the food located there, this feeding zone extending as a whole to a level below that of the receiving zone, and a slope which connects the receiving zone to the feeding zone and the shape of which is selected, in view of the structure and consistency of the food, so as:: * on the one hand, to allow a free flow, as a result of gravity, of the food contained in the pack towards the receiving zone when the quantity of food located in the feeding zone is less than a given reference quantity, and * on the other hand, to retain the food in the pack as a result of accumulation in the receiving zone when the quantity of food in the feeding zone has reached the said given reference quantity.

According to a certain number of advantageous characteristics: - The slope is formed from a portion of a cylinder of horizontal generatrix such that the directrix of the portion of the cylinder forming the slope is an arc of a curve having its concavity facing upwards at all points. This arc of a curve is for preference inscribed entirely within a right-angled triangle, the hypotenuse of which is the chord of the arc of a curve and one of the sides of which is vertical and of a length equal to the difference in level between the receiving zone and the feeding zone, the ratio between the length of the hypotenuse and that of the vertical size then advantageously being between 2.0 and 3.5, for preference between 2.5 and 3.0.

- The bottom of the receiving zone is formed by the upper region of the slope, the orifice in the pack placed on the bowl opening out directly towards this upper region of the slope.

- The feeding zone is delimited in the front part by a vertical rim, whose height is between 45% and 65% of the difference in level between the receiving zone and the feeding zone; this rim for preference consists of an essential semi-cylindrical surface of a diameter equal to the width of the slope in the transverse direction.

- The bottom of the feeding zone is formed by the lower region of the slope.

- The portion of the cylinder forming the slope is delimited laterally by two vertical walls, parallel and perpendicular to the generatrix of the portion of the cylinder.

Certain embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: FIGURE 1 shows a perspective view of a first embodiment of an animal feeding device in accordance with the invention; FIGURE 2 shows a front view of the device of Figure 1; FIGURE 3 shows a plan view of the device of Figure 1; FIGURE 4 shows a perspective view of the device of Figure 1 in use; FIGURE 5 shows a general perspective view of an assembly which constitutes a second embodiment of the invention, with a removable package in place on a distribution bowl; FIGURE 6 shows a section, along the line VI-VI of Figure 7, of the distribution bowl of the assembly of Figure 5; FIGURE 7 shows a front view of the distribution bowl of the assembly of Figure 5; and FIGURE 8 shows a back view of the distribution bowl of the assembly of Figure 5.

Referring first to Figures 1 to 4, a first embodiment of a device in accordance with the invention is generally in the form of a bowl 1 comprising a base 2 and four walls, a front wall 3, a back wall 4 and two side walls 5 and 6. The walls each have an inner surface 7, an outer surface 8 and an upper surface 9.

A protuberance 10 extends from the back wall 4 and inner surface of the base 2. The front wall 3 has an opening 12 through which a pet can have access to the contents of the bowl 1. The inner surface of the base 2 slopes to a trough 11 below the opening 12 in the front wall 3. The base of the bowl 1 has a lip 13 for added stability.

Figure 4 shows the bowl when in use. A container in the form of a box 14 fits between the walls of the bowl but is supported by the protuberance above the base of the bowl 1. To place the box in this position the box is opened at one or both top corners and the bowl is placed over the top of the box. The bowl 1 and the box 14 are inverted together and placed on a surface.

Dried food 15 in the box 14 spills out into the bowl 1 and falls into the trough 11 of the base 2 of the bowl 1 until the level of petfood 15 in the bowl 1 reaches an equilibrium level.

As the pet eats from the bowl 1, the bowl 1 re-fills with petfood to the equilibrium level until the box 14 is empty. When the box 14 is empty it can be removed from the bowl 1.

Alternatively, if it is desired to remove the box 14 prior to the emptying of the bowl 1 this can be done and if desired, the openings in the box 14 can be wholly or partially closed.

Referring now to Figures 5 to 8, Figure 5 shows, in a general manner, an assembly constituting a second embodiment of the invention, which comprises a distribution bowl 102 and a package 101 interlocked with the bowl 102. The distribution bowl 102 is for example constructed as a monobloc moulding in a rigid or semi-rigid plastics material. The package 101 is a package of convention type, for example a carton containing foodstuffs.

To enable fitting to the distribution bowl, the dimensions of length and width of the package are chosen such as to cooperate with a recess 103 formed in an upper portion of the bowl in such a way as to enable insertion in the recess, for preference with a slight force fit to prevent accidental total separation of the bowl and the package. This characteristic incidentally permits the public to be made loyal to a mark or quality of the particular product, as the dimensions of the package can be specific so as to enable the fitting to a receptacle of a bowl already in the possession of a purchaser of the food.

In other respects, the carton is devised in a manner to enable it to be opened at the base (or at the top before being turned over). The base is of such a sort that an openable side can be totally or almost totally pulled back; in other words, once opened the package 1 is a parallelepipedal container of five sides, the missing side being the lower face.

The contents of the package can take various forms, since they are able to flow out freely by gravity; for example, they can comprise food pellets of the type known as "semi-moist", that is to say whose degree of moisture is in the order of 45%.

The zone 104 of the bowl situated below the housing 103 facing the opening of the package 101 receives the foodstuffs falling by gravity out of the package. The foodstuffs are discharged into a food zone 105, situated at a lower level. The animal may come to take freely, in the food zone 105, the foodstuffs which have thus been distributed.

The transition between the receiving zone 104 and the food zone 105 is constructed in the form of a slope 106, whose profile is chosen, as will be explained here below, in a manner which assures a progressive distribution of the foodstuffs from the inside of the package to the food zone.

More precisely, the slope 106 is such that: - on the one hand, if the food zone 105 is empty or insufficiently full of foodstuff, it enables the free distribution by gravity of foodstuff contained in the package, and - on the other hand, if conversely the quantity of foodstuffs in the food zone has reached a level considered sufficient, it prevents the foodstuffs contained in the package continuing to be dispensed and spilling over out of the bowl as the food zone is full.

This function can in particular be achieved with a slope formed, as illustrated in the figures, of one portion of a cylinder whose generatrix is horizontal and whose directrix is an arc of a curve having its concavity facing upwards at all points. More precisely, it has been found that the progressive profile illustrated in Figure 6 (this profile being a straight section through the portion of the cylinder forming the slope 106) advantageously gives this result. The profile 106 is entirely inscribed within a right-angled triangle ABC, whose hypotenuse AB is the chord 107 of the arc of the curve forming the directrix of the portion of the cylinder and one of whose sides BC is vertical. Advantageously, the ratio c/a between the length of the two sides AB and BC is between 2.0 and 3.5, for preference between 2.5 and 3.0, the example in the figure corresponding to a ratio c/a of 2.7.

As far as the arc of the curve 106 inscribed within the triangle ABC is concerned, reference is made to the drawing of Figure 6. The profile such as is illustrated forms part of the teaching of the present invention (the particular advantageous profile, determined by experience, cannot be described by a mathematical law).

To allow the accumulation of foodstuffs in the 'food zone 105, provision is made for a vertical holding rim 108. The height d of this rim is for preference between 45 and 65% of the length of the vertical side BC of the right-angled triangle ABC (in the example shown in Figure 6, the ratio d/a is 568). The retaining rim 108 has for preference, as can be seen particularly in the plan view in Figure 8, a semi-cylindrical shape of diameter equal to the interior width 1 of the bowl. The rim 108 connects integrally with two parallel vertical walls 109, delimiting the interior volume of the bowl.

Claims (25)

1. An animal feeding device comprising a bowl for animal food and means capable of supporting an animal food container at a position higher than the base of the inner surface of the bowl in order that when the container is in the said position, animal food can be dispensed from the container into the base of the bowl.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the wall of the bowl has an opening through which the pet may have access to the animal food, the opening being formed by the upper edge of the wall of the bowl being at a substantially lower level at the opening than at the remainder of the wall.

3. A device as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the support means are provided by a protuberance which extends from the inner surface of the wall and/or the base of the bowl.

4. A device as claimed in claim 3, which is adapted to cooperate with a container having an opening wholly or partially closable by a flap, wherein the protuberance is positioned so that when the bowl is in use, the protuberance is capable of holding the container in such a way as to keep the flap either open or closed.

5. A device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the inner surface of the base of the bowl is shaped so that when in use food can accumulate near to the opening so that it is easily accessible to the animal.

6. A device as claimed in claims 2 and 5, wherein the inner surface of the base slopes downward from each of the walls of the bowl in such a way that the lowest point of the base is nearer to the wall having the opening than the wall opposing the wall having the opening.

7. A device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6, whetein the footprint of the base of the bowl is of larger area than the top of the bowl.

8. A device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the bowl is made of moulded plastics material.

9. A food dispenser assembly for domestic animals, characterised in that it comprises: - a downwardly open removable pack containing the food to be issued, and, - interacting with this pack, a bowl comprising: an upwardly open receiving zone equipped with means for the retention of the removable pack and collecting the food flowing off through the orifice in this pack, an upwardly open feeding zone shaped in the form of a trough so that the domestic animal can take from it the food located there, this feeding zone extending as a whole to a level below that of the receiving zone, and a slope which connects the receiving zone to the feeding zone and the shape of which is selected, in view of the structure and consistency of the food, so as:: * on the one hand, to allow a free flow, as a result of gravity, of the food contained in the pack towards the receiving zone when the quantity of food located in the feeding zone is less than a given reference quantity, and * on the other hand, to retain the food in the pack as a result of accumulation in the receiving zone when the quantity of food in the feeding zone has reached the said given reference quantity.

10. A dispenser assembly as claimed in claim 9, wherein the slope is formed from a portion of a cylinder of horizontal generatrix.

11. A dispenser assembly as claimed in claim 9 or 10, wherein the directrix of the portion of a cylinder forming the slope is an arc of a curve having its concavity facing upwards at all points.

12. A dispenser assembly as claimed in claim 11, wherein the arc of a curve is inscribed entirely within a right-angled triangle (ABC), the hypotenuse (AB) of which is the chord of the arc of a curve and one of the sides (BC) of which is vertical and of length (a) equal to the difference in level between the receiving zone and the feeding zone.

13. A dispenser assembly as claimed in claim 12, wherein the arc of a curve has essentially the profile shown in Figure 6 of the drawings.

14. A dispenser assembly as claimed in claim 12, wherein the ratio (c/a) between the length of the hypotenuse (AB) and that of the vertical side (BC) is between 2.0 and 3.5.

15. A dispenser assembly as claimed in claim 14, wherein the ratio (c/a) between the length of the hypotenuse (AB) and that of the vertical side (BC) is between 2.5 and 3.0.

16. A dispenser assembly as claimed in any one of claims 9 to 15, wherein the bottom of the receiving zone is formed by the upper region of the slope, and the orifice in the pack placed on the bowl opens out directly towards this upper region of the slope.

17. A dispenser assembly as claimed in any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein the feeding zone is delimited in the front part by a vertical rim.

18. A dispenser assembly as claimed in claim 17, wherein the height (d) of the rim is between 45% and 65% of the difference in level (a) between the receiving zone and the feeding zone.

19. A dispenser assembly as claimed in claim 17, wherein the rim consists of an essentially semi-cylindrical surface of a diameter equal to the width (1) of the slope in the transverse direction.

20. A dispenser assembly as claimed in any one of claims 9 to 19, wherein the bottom of the feeding zone is formed by the lower region of the slope.

21. A dispenser assembly as claimed in any one of claims 9 to 20, wherein the portion of a cylinder forming the slope is delimited laterally by two vertical walls.

22. A dispenser assembly as claimed in claim 21, wherein the two vertical walls are parallel and perpendicular to the generatrix of the portion of a cylinder.

23. A bowl for a dispenser assembly as claimed in any one of claims 9 to 22, characterised in that it comprises: an upwardly open receiving zone equipped with means for the retention of a downwardly open removable pack containing the food to be issued, this receiving zone collecting the food flowing off through the orifice in this pack, an upwardly open feeding zone shaped in the form of a trough, so that the domestic animal can take from it the food located there, this feeding zone extending as a whole to a level below that of the receiving zone, and a slope which connects the receiving zone to the feeding zone and the shape of which is selected, in view of the structure and consistency of the food, so as: : * on the one hand, to allow a free flow, as a result of gravity, of the food contained in the pack towards the receiving zone when the quantity of food located in the feeding zone is less than a given reference quantity, and * on the other hand, to retain the food in the pack as a result of accumulation in the receiving zone when the quantity of food in the feeding zone has reached the said given reference quantity.

24. An animal feeding device substantially as described herein with reference to Figures 1 to 4 of the accompanying drawings.

25. An animal feeding device substantially as described herein with reference to Figures 5 to 8 of the accompanying drawings.