JP7487935B2 - Automatic pet water dispenser - Google Patents

Description

This invention relates to an automatic water dispenser for pets housed in a pet housing device such as a pet cage.

Examples of automatic water dispensers for pets are disclosed in the following patent documents 1 and 2.

The water dispenser in Patent Document 1 includes a water tray, a holder that holds the water tray, a support for detachably supporting a water container (bottle) for replenishing water in the water tray, and a fixing means for clamping and fixing a pet fence between the holder and support. The bottle is supported by the support in an inverted position, and the tip (bottom end) of the bottle is provided with a valve mechanism that dispenses water when pressed against the water tray.

The water supply device in Patent Document 2 does not have a valve mechanism like Patent Document 1, but has a female threaded portion into which the male threaded mouth of the water supply bottle (bottle) can be screwed into the receiving device (water receiving tray), and a contact portion for forming a gap for water inflow between the bottom surface of the water receiving tray and the male threaded portion.

In all of these water dispensers, the bottle is placed in an upright position with the tip or male screw opening facing upwards, and water is then poured into the bottle, which is then turned upside down to an inverted position. In the case of the bottle in Patent Document 2, the bottle is turned upside down after a water tray is attached.

The water in the bottle then flows down from the tip or male screw mouth, and accumulates in the water tray up to the same height as the outlet at the bottom of the bottle.

Japanese Patent No. 5925087 Patent No. 6715804

However, when the bottle is turned upside down, the water inside may spill out. Even when a valve mechanism is provided as in Patent Document 1, water may leak due to a malfunction of the valve stem.

In addition, since the bottom of the bottle, which is located at the top when in use, is closed, water cannot be added to the bottle when it is in an upside-down position while in use.

Therefore, the main objective of this invention is to prevent unexpected water leakage and improve ease of use.

The means for achieving this is an automatic pet water dispenser that is fixed to a panel of the pet housing device and uses the principle of a siphon to collect a certain amount of liquid flowing down from the bottom of the bottle in a water tray, and is equipped with a bottle support part that supports the bottom end of the bottle and has a flow outlet at the bottom end, and the bottle support part is provided with a cock that opens and closes a flow path leading to the flow outlet.

In this configuration, when handling the bottle support part to which the bottle containing liquid is attached, or when liquid flow is not required, the cock is operated to close the flow path and prevent liquid from leaking out.

According to this invention, the flow path can be selectively opened and closed, eliminating unexpected water leakage and preventing floor soiling. Furthermore, the cock opens and closes the flow path, has a simple structure, and is easy to operate. This improves ease of use.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the automatic pet water dispenser in use, seen from the outside of the pet cage. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an automatic pet water dispenser in use, seen from inside a pet cage. FIG. FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the automatic pet water dispenser in a fixed state. FIG. FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the bottle support part raised by the height changing mechanism. FIG. A cross-sectional view of one side of the bottle in exploded view. FIG. 4 is a side view showing the separated state of the water tray and the bottle support part.

One embodiment of the invention is described below with reference to the drawings.

Figures 1 and 2 show perspective views of an automatic pet water dispenser 11 (hereinafter referred to as the "water dispenser") in use. Figure 1 is a perspective view of the water dispenser 11 as seen from the outside of a pet cage 12 serving as a pet housing device, and Figure 2 is a perspective view of the same as seen from the inside.

As shown in these figures, the water dispenser 11 comprises an attachment member 13 that is removably fixed to a panel 21 that separates the pet cage 12 from the outside world, a water tray 15 and a bottle support 17 that are removably attached to the attachment member 13, and a bottle 19 whose lower end is supported by the bottle support 17. This water dispenser 11 is fixed to the panel 21 of the pet cage 12, and uses the principle of a siphon to automatically collect a certain amount of liquid that flows down from the bottom of the bottle 19 in the water tray 15.

The panel 21 is made of a fence made of wire arranged vertically and horizontally, and the water dispenser 11 is structured to supply liquid from a bottle 19 provided on the outside of the panel 21 to the inside part of the panel 21 in the water tray 15 so that the pet can drink it. The liquid is supplied by storing a certain amount of liquid in the water tray 15, and when the pet drinks and the water level drops, the liquid is automatically replenished using the siphon principle.

The mounting member 13 is fixed by clamping the panel 21 from the inside to the outside, and has an outer member 31 located on the outside of the panel 21 and an inner member 32 located on the inside. As shown in FIG. 3, the outer member 31 has a vertically long plate-like portion 33 and a protruding portion 34 that protrudes outward in the opposite direction to the clamping surface 33a of the plate-like portion 33. The width of the plate-like portion 33 is formed to be wider than the distance between adjacent vertical lines 22 that make up the panel 21.

As shown in FIG. 4, an engagement portion 36 is formed on the upper part of the clamping surface 33a of the plate-shaped portion 33, in which numerous grooves 35 extending in the vertical direction are arranged in a circular shape. The size of the grooves 35 is such that a radial portion of the vertical line 22 constituting the panel 21 fits into the grooves 35. A female screw 37 is formed in the center of the circular engagement portion 36 formed by the numerous grooves 35.

Below the engagement portion 36, a protruding portion 38 is formed that protrudes from the clamping surface 33a. The protruding portion 38 has a rectangular shape when viewed from the front.

Below the protruding portion 38, a through-holding portion 39 is formed, which extends outward and penetrates the protruding portion 34. The through-holding portion 39 is a portion that holds the water tray 15, and the width of the through-holding portion 39 is narrower than the distance between the adjacent vertical lines 22 that make up the panel 21. In addition, the ceiling surface of the through-holding portion 39 is horizontal, but the bottom surface is a downwardly convex arc shape.

A protrusion 39a that is lower in height than the protrusion 38 is formed on the edge of the clamping surface 33a of the through-holding portion 39. The protrusion height of the protrusion 39a is the same as the protrusion height of the engagement portion 36 (see Figure 5).

The protrusion 34 provided on the opposite side to the clamping surface 33a holds the water tray 15 as well as the bottle support part 17, and the part above the upper end of the penetrating holding part 39 of the protrusion 34 is formed into a concave curved surface to match the cylindrical shape of the bottle support part 17.

The upper end of the protruding portion 34 has a semicircular fixed side ring 41 that is part of the holding portion that holds the bottle support portion 17. A semicircular opening/closing member 42 that is the other part of the holding portion is pivotally attached to one end of the fixed side ring 41, and a disengaging means 43 for engaging and disengaging the opening/closing member 42 from the other end of the fixed side ring 41 is formed. When the opening/closing member 42 is closed, it cooperates with the fixed side ring 41 to form a circular ring.

As shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 3, a protrusion 45 that protrudes radially inward is formed on a portion of the inner surface of the fixed side ring 41. The protrusion 45 is approximately an isosceles trapezoid in plan view and rectangular in front view, and the protruding tip surface (inner peripheral surface) 45a of the protrusion 45 is formed of an arc surface concentric with the fixed side ring 41.

The inner member 32 of the mounting member 13 is a disk-shaped member with the same or approximately the same diameter as the engagement portion 36, as shown in FIG. 2. The surface opposite the clamping surface 32a has a knob 46 for rotation operation, and a male screw 47 that screws into the female screw 37 of the outer member 31 protrudes from the center of the clamping surface 32a (see FIG. 5).

The water receiving tray 15 has a bowl-shaped water storage section 51 and a narrow channel-shaped water guide section 52 that extends in one direction from the water storage section 51 and is narrower than the water storage section 51. The water receiving tray 15 is entirely transparent, and the water storage section 51 and the water guide section 52 are integrated.

The water storage section 51 has a bottom plate 53 and a peripheral wall 54 that surrounds the entire circumference of the bottom plate 53 and extends upward in a gentle arc so that it widens as it goes up. The shape of the water storage section 51 in plan view is set as appropriate, but it can be, for example, as shown in Figure 5, a shape that is close to a circle in plan view (Figure 6(a)), or a shape that is close to an oval in plan view (Figure 6(b)) even if it has the same depth as the water storage section 51 in Figure 6(a). In this way, by providing a water receiving tray 15 with multiple types of water storage sections 51 with different sizes, i.e. different water storage capacities, it is possible to prepare for the growth of your pet and for changing the size when washing it.

Of the peripheral walls 54, the rear wall 54a located on the water guide section 52 side is formed higher than the front wall 54b on the opposite side to the rear wall 54a. Specifically, the portion from the front wall 54b to the middle of the side wall 54c, which is arc-shaped in plan view, is formed at the same height, and the height of the side wall 54c increases diagonally toward the rear wall 54a, continuing to the rear wall 54a.

A water level line 55 is formed on the inner surface of the peripheral wall 54 below the upper end of the front wall 54b, at the surface level of a certain amount of liquid that is automatically dispensed. This water level line 55 is formed by increasing the thickness of the part below it, as shown in an enlarged portion of Figure 5.

A thick portion 56 is formed on the upper edge of the portion of the water storage section 51 that is centered on the front wall 54b. Specifically, the upper edge from the front wall 54b to a position on the side wall 54c close to the rear wall 54a is formed to be thicker toward the outer periphery, as shown in an enlarged view of a portion of the portion in FIG. 5.

The water guide section 52 is formed in the left-right center of the rear wall 54a and is inserted into and held by the through-holding section 39 of the mounting member 13.

The width (thickness) of the water guide section 52 is set to be the same as or smaller than the thickness of the water supply pipe in an existing water dispenser, i.e., a water dispenser that has a water supply pipe that extends diagonally below the bottle and has a water stop ball at the bottom end of the water supply pipe that the pet uses its tongue to push up to drink water.

The height of the water guide section 52 is lower than the height of the rear wall 54a, and is at a height that fits into the through-holding section 39 of the mounting member 13 described above. It has a bottom plate 61 that is curved downwardly and convexly, side walls 62 that extend straight upward from both sides of the bottom plate 61, and a tip wall 63 that is semicircular in plan view and closes the tip. A pair of vertically extending grooves 62a are formed in the side walls 62 near the tip wall 63, which are recessed to thin the thickness of the side walls 62. The grooves 62a are formed in a position that overlaps with the center line of the bottle 19 when the panel 21 is made of a fence as described above, and when the water receiving tray 15 is correctly held in the through-holding section 39 of the mounting member 13.

The portion of the tip wall 63 closer to the pair of grooves 62a is the second fitting portion 62b, which is C-shaped in plan view. The second fitting portion 62b is formed in a position that overlaps with the center line of the bottle 19 when the panel 21 is thicker than the fence described above and when the water tray 15 is properly held in the through-holding portion 39 of the mounting member 13.

As mentioned above, the water guide section 52, which is lower than the height of the rear wall 54a, is formed below the upper end position of the rear wall 54a. Therefore, a notch 57 is formed at the upper end of the rear wall 54a. This notch 57 is the portion into which the protruding portion 38 of the mounting member 13 described above fits (see Figure 5).

A rib 58 is provided on the end of the side wall 62 of the water guide section 52 facing the water storage section 51, and extends toward the annular support rib 53a protruding from the underside of the bottom plate 53 of the water storage section 51.

The bottle support part 17, which is attached detachably to the mounting member 13 in the same way as the water tray 15, is composed of a cylindrical main body part 71 that extends vertically and a faucet 72 that is attached to the inside of the lower side of the main body part 71, as shown in Figures 3, 5, and 7.

A flow passage 73 extending vertically is formed inside the main body 71. The main body 71 has a large diameter section 74 at its upper end, which has a larger diameter than the section below it. A female thread 75 is formed on the inner circumferential surface of this large diameter section 74, and a gasket 76 is provided below the female thread 75 (see FIG. 5).

A faucet attachment part 77 for attaching a faucet 72 protrudes to the side from the lower part of the main body part 71. At the lower end of the main body part 71 below the faucet attachment part 77, a cylindrical outflow port 78 with a smaller diameter than the part above the faucet attachment part 77 is formed.

The tip (lower end) of the outlet 78 is forked, with a pair of notches 78a at opposing locations across the center of the outlet 78. The length of the outlet 78 is appropriately set to allow for water supply to the desired water level, taking into account its position relative to the water receiving tray 15. In other words, the height of the tip of the notches 78a when attached to the mounting member 13 is set to roughly correspond to the water level line 55 of the water receiving tray 15 mentioned above (see the imaginary line in Figure 5).

Regarding the position and diameter of the flow outlet 78, when the bottle support 17 is attached to the mounting member 13 holding the water receiving tray 15, the position of the flow outlet 78 corresponds to the groove 62a or the second fitting portion 62b in the water guide portion 52 of the water receiving tray 15. The thickness of the flow outlet 78 is large enough to fit between the grooves 62a and into the second fitting portion 62b.

In addition, a guide groove portion 82 is formed between the large diameter portion 74 and the cock mounting portion 77 on the outer circumferential surface of the main body portion 71, and constitutes part of the height changing mechanism 81 together with the convex portion 45 of the fixed side ring 41 of the mounting member 13 described above.

The height change mechanism 81 is a mechanism that raises the height of the bottle support part 17 relative to the mounting member 13 while maintaining the height from a height at which a certain amount of water is stored to a height at which the water guide part 52 of the water receiving tray 15 can be inserted and removed as shown in FIG. 8. The height change mechanism 81 is provided between the bottle support part 17 and the mounting member 13.

In other words, the guide groove 82 is a portion into which the protrusion 45 is movably fitted, and is configured to move relative to the protrusion 45, allowing the bottle support 17 to move up and down between a position where its outlet 78 enters the water guide section 52 of the water receiving tray 15 and a position where it emerges above the water guide section 52. The guide groove 82 is composed of two horizontal grooves 82a that extend horizontally along the outer periphery of the main body 71, and vertical grooves 82b that vertically connect the ends of these horizontal grooves 82a in the same direction.

The distance between the two horizontal grooves 82a corresponds to the desired vertical movement distance. The height of the upper horizontal groove 82a is set to a height at which the large diameter portion 74 rests on the holding portion, i.e., the fixed side ring 41 and the opening/closing member 42, as shown in FIG. 5, when the convex portion 45 is engaged. The height of the lower horizontal groove 82a is set to a height at which it does not interfere with the cock mounting portion 77, as shown in FIG. 8, when the convex portion 45 is engaged.

Furthermore, the longitudinal middle portion 82c of the two horizontal grooves 82a is shallower than the two ends to provide some degree of control over the rotational movement of the bottle support portion 17.

The cock 72 is configured to be able to open and close the flow path 73 by rotating 90 degrees, and is held in place by the cock mounting portion 77.

As shown in FIG. 9, the bottle 19, whose lower end is supported by the bottle support 17, has an openable opening 91 formed at its upper end and is provided with a lid 92 that seals the opening 91, and is composed of two members. That is, it is composed of a bottle body 93 that is open at both the top and bottom ends, and the lid 92.

The bottle body 93 is entirely transparent, and has a cylindrical outlet 94 at its lower end, the diameter of which is smaller than that of the upper portion. The outlet 94 has a male thread 95 which screws into the female thread 75 of the bottle support portion 17 described above. The lower end 94a of the outlet 94 is in pressure contact with the packing 76 built into the bottle support portion 17 (see FIG. 5).

The portion of the bottle body 93 above the outlet 94 is formed in a hemispherical shape, and the portion above that is formed in a cylindrical shape. The cylindrical portion is set to a large diameter so that a human hand can fit inside. Specifically, the diameter should be, for example, about 70 mm. The outer periphery of the bottle body 93 is provided with a scale 96 indicating the content volume.

A male thread 97 is formed on the outer peripheral surface surrounding the opening 91 at the top end of the bottle body 93. This male thread 97 is for making the lid body 92 removable.

The lid 92 has a female thread 98 on its inner surface that screws into the male thread 97 at the top of the bottle body 93, and a gasket 99 is built into the position where the upper edge 91a of the bottle body 93 abuts.

The water supply device 11 configured as described above is used as follows.

First, the mounting member 13 is separated into an outer member 31 and an inner member 32, which are then joined so as to sandwich the panel 21 from the inside and outside, and fixed at the desired height. At this time, the outer member 31 is positioned on the outside of the panel 21, and the inner member 32 is positioned on the inside.

Next, as shown in FIG. 10, the water receiving tray 15 is attached to the mounting member 13, and then the bottle support part 17 supporting the lower end of the bottle 19 is attached to the mounting member 13. If the panel 21 is a fence as shown in the figure, the groove 62a of the water receiving tray 15 fits into the outlet 78 of the bottle support part 17. If the panel 21 is thicker than the fence, the second fitting part 62b of the water receiving tray 15 fits into the outlet 78 of the bottle support part 17.

The water receiving tray 15 can be attached by inserting the water guide part 52 into the through-hole retaining part 39.

The bottle 19 may be filled with liquid or empty. This is because liquid can be supplied to the bottle 19 later. In this explanation, it is assumed that liquid has been supplied beforehand. Liquid can be supplied to the bottle 19 by opening the lid 92 and using the opening 91, or from the outlet 94 at the bottom. In either case, when attaching the bottle support 17 to the mounting member 13, the flow path 73 is closed with the cock 72.

The bottle support part 17 first opens the opening/closing member 42, which is part of the fixed part, and then holds it between the fixed side ring 41 and the opening/closing member 42.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 5, the protrusion 45 is fitted into the upper horizontal groove 82a of the guide groove 82 of the bottle support part 17.

When the cock 72 is rotated in this state to open the flow path 73, the liquid in the bottle 19 flows down through the outlet 78 and accumulates to a specified height in the water receiving tray 15.

Whenever the pet drinks water and the water level drops, the liquid automatically flows out of the bottle 19 and replenishes the water tray 15.

If there is no need to supply water to the water tray 15, close the faucet 72.

When the liquid in the bottle 19 runs out or is reduced and needs to be replenished, the cock 72 is closed, the lid 92 of the bottle 19 is removed, and the liquid is supplied through the opening 91.

If the cock 72 is closed, liquid will not accidentally leak even if the bottle 19 is removed together with the bottle support 17.

When removing the water tray 15 for cleaning or replacement while the bottle support 17 supporting the bottle 19 is still attached to the mounting member 13, close the cock 72 and then proceed as follows. That is, first rotate the bottle horizontally a specified angle so that the vertical groove 82b of the guide groove 82 is positioned on the convex portion 45 of the fixed side ring 41. After raising the bottle 19 in this state, rotate it horizontally in the opposite direction so that the convex portion 45 fits into the lower horizontal groove 82a. This keeps the outflow port 78 positioned above the water tray 15 as shown in Figure 8.

As described above, this water dispenser 11 is equipped with a cock 72 that selectively opens and closes the flow path 73 of the bottle support portion 17, so that the flow path 73 can be closed when attaching or detaching the bottle 19, when stopping automatic water supply, when attaching or detaching the water tray 15, or when adding liquid to the bottle 19. This makes it easy to perform these operations, and since closing the flow path 73 stops liquid from leaking, it is possible to prevent unexpected water leakage. As a result, the floor is not soiled by leaking liquid, and the operation of inverting the bottle 19 is simple, making it easy to handle.

Moreover, even when the bottle 19 contains liquid, you can still perform tasks that were not possible with previous automatic water dispensers, such as stopping the automatic water supply, attaching and detaching the water tray 15 alone, and adding liquid to the bottle 19. This also improves ease of use.

The ease of use can be seen in the following points:

In other words, the water dispenser 11 is equipped with an attachment member 13 that is fixed to the panel 21, and the attachment member 13 is the main component that holds the water receiving tray 15 and the bottle support portion 17 in a detachable manner. This allows the operation of the water receiving tray 15 side to be separated from the operation of the bottle 19 side. In addition, the bottle support portion 17 is equipped with a faucet 72, which improves ease of use while ensuring the automatic water supply function.

The diameter of the bottle body 93 is large enough to fit a hand inside, and both the top and bottom ends are open, so the bottle 19 can be easily cleaned, and every nook and cranny can be cleaned.

Furthermore, in regards to the water tray 15, the rear wall 54a is formed higher than other parts of the peripheral wall 54, which helps prevent liquid from splashing around when your pet drinks it.

In addition, the upper edge of the front wall 34b, which faces the pet, has a thick portion 56 at its center, which helps prevent pets from gnawing on it or causing other mischief.

In addition, the water guide section 52 of the water receiving tray 15 is inserted into and held in the through-holding section 39 of the mounting member 13, the notch section 57 fits into the protruding section 38 of the mounting member 16, and the recessed groove 62a or the second fitting section 62b fits into the outflow port 78 of the bottle support section 17. This provides a sturdy mounting state that will not waver even if your pet bites into the water receiving tray 15. This also prevents unexpected water splashing, ensuring a beautiful usage state.

As a result, the burden of cleaning can be reduced, which also improves ease of use.

In addition, the water receiving tray 15 has a water storage section 51 and is designed so that pets can drink the stored water, making it easy for pets to drink water even when they have difficulty drinking water from existing water dispensers that have a structure in which pets drink water by pushing up a water stop ball at the bottom end of the water supply pipe with their tongue. Moreover, the width (thickness) of the water conducting section 52 of the water receiving tray 15 is set to be the same as or smaller than the thickness of the water supply pipe of the existing water dispenser, so it can be used in place of the existing water dispenser.

The above configuration is one embodiment of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the above configuration, and other configurations may also be adopted.

For example, the female thread 75 of the bottle support portion 17 may be of a size that allows an existing plastic bottle to be attached. An existing plastic bottle can be used in place of the bottle 19 described above.

The holding portion that holds the bottle support portion 17 in the mounting member 13 does not have to be an annular structure that opens and closes, consisting of the fixed side ring 41 and the opening and closing member 42, as described above, but may have other structures, such as a C-shaped structure in plan view that is partially open and elastically deformable. If the holding portion is C-shaped in plan view, the height change mechanism can be composed of two grooves arranged above and below into which the holding portion fits.

The panel 21 of the pet containment device may also be made of a board rather than a fence.

Reference Signs List 11: Automatic pet water dispenser 12: Pet cage 13: Mounting member 15: Water tray 17: Bottle support portion 19: Bottle 21: Panel 39: Penetration holding portion 41: Fixed side ring 42: Opening/closing member 45: Convex portion 51: Water storage portion 52: Water guide portion 54a: Rear wall 54b: Front wall 56: Thick portion 72: Faucet 73: Flow path 78: Flow outlet 81: Height change mechanism 82: Guide groove portion 91: Opening 92: Lid body

Claims (4)

The automatic pet water dispenser is fixed to a panel of a pet housing device and uses the principle of a siphon to collect liquid flowing down from the bottom of a bottle in a water receiving tray up to a certain amount,
A bottle support part is provided to support a lower end of the bottle and to have a flow outlet at the lower end.
A cock for opening and closing a flow path leading to the outlet is provided on the bottle support portion ,
A mounting member is provided to clamp and fix the panel from the inside and outside,
The mounting member is formed with a holding portion for holding the bottle support portion,
The water receiving tray has a bowl-shaped water storage portion and a narrow water channel-shaped water guide portion extending in one direction from the water storage portion,
The mounting member is provided with a through-holding portion into which the water guide portion is inserted and held,
A height changing mechanism is provided between the bottle support part and the mounting member, which raises the height of the bottle support part relative to the mounting member while maintaining the height to a height at which the water guide part of the water receiving tray can be inserted and removed.
Automatic water dispenser for pets. 2. The automatic pet water dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the bottle has an openable and closable opening at the top thereof and a lid for sealing the opening. The rear wall of the water storage section located on the water conveying section side is formed higher than the front wall on the opposite side to the rear wall.
3. The automatic pet water dispenser according to claim 1 or 2 . 4. The automatic pet water dispenser according to claim 3 , wherein a thick portion is formed on an upper edge of the water storage portion at a portion centered on the front wall.

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