WO2016142866A1

WO2016142866A1 - Automatic pet feeding system

Info

Publication number: WO2016142866A1
Application number: PCT/IB2016/051317
Authority: WO
Inventors: Man Pan WONG; Huan Zhao MO; Jiaxing Zhang
Original assignee: I Pet Interactive Technology (Hk) Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2015-03-09
Filing date: 2016-03-09
Publication date: 2016-09-15
Also published as: HK1200260A2

Abstract

A pet feeding system including a feeding device for giving food and/or water to a pet automatically and sending an order that the pet is in need of food and/or water to a server communicated with the feeding device for receiving and forwarding the order to a mobile terminal communicated with the server for receiving the order; after the mobile terminal received the order, it controls the feeding device to automatically release stored food and/or water to container containing food and/or water for feeding the pet, according to pre-set quantity of food and/or water for the pet. The system of invention can not only achieve remote control, but also can timely auto-feed the pet within pre-set time period. Meanwhile, quantity of food can be recorded by the system every time for analyzing the difference by the user, and the system is effective, convenient, and can increase fun of raising pet.

Description

A ΌΊΌΜΑ TIC PET FEEDING SYSTEM

Related Applications

[001] The present invention claims the benefit of priority from Hong Kong Short-term Patent Application No. 15102377.2 filed on 9 March 2015, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

Field

[002] The present disclosure relates to products for pet, and more particularly an automatic pet feeding system with timing and rationing functions.

Background

[003] Due to rising urban living standards, pet-raising has become a trendy lifestyle of urban people. However, urban people are busy in life, and almost cannot feed the pet and carry out health treatment during working hours. Thus, there is a need to invent a system for automatically feeding the pet in a timing manner, such that an appropriate amount of pet food could be fed automatically to the pet in spare time according to eating habits of the pet and feeding habits of the pet owner, so as to avoid the starving of the pet.

[004] To this end, those skilled in the art have attempted to solve the foregoing problems. For example, Chinese Patent Application No. 201310249134.2 discloses a pet monitoring system comprising a mobile terminal and a remote fixing and positioning monitoring terminal. The remote fixing and positioning monitoring terminal comprises a first control module, and a first power supply module, a first communication module and an automatic pet feeder connected respectively with the first control module. The pet monitoring system designed by the invention can realize remote control so as to feed the pet based on remote communication, while the invention also relates to a control method based on the pet monitoring system, such that a stable remote monitoring control is guaranteed and communication cost is effectively controlled for the remote communication control. Although the invention allows remote monitoring and automatic feeding, but it cannot control the amount of feed, or deliver the feed to the pet in a timing and rationing manner.

[005] Therefore, it is necessary to design a novel pet feeding system, which is based on the utilizing of a remote control to overcome the drawbacks of failing to control the consumption of feed of the pet in accordance with the weight of the pet to avoid obesity problem; and failing to deliver the feed to the pet in a timing or rationing manner on a daily basis. Disclosure

[006] One of the objects or technical problems to be solved by the present invention is to provide a novel pet feeding system, which is not only provided with remote control capabilities, but also able to control the consumption of feed of the pet in accordance with the weight of the pet to avoid obesity; and could deliver the feed to the pet in a timing or rationing manner on a daily basis.

[007] To achieve the above objects, the present invention adopts the following technical solutions:

[008] an automatic pet feeding system comprising a feeding device, a server and a mobile terminal, wherein

[009] the feeding device is adapted for automatic provision of food and/or water to a pet and transmission of an order that the pet is in need of food and/or water to the server;

[0010] the server communicates with the feeding device and receives the order transmitted by the feeding device and sends the order to the mobile terminal;

[0011] the mobile terminal communicates with the server and receives the order sent by the server; and when the order is received, the mobile terminal controls, according to a preset quantity of food and/or water for the pet, the feeding device to automatically release stored food and/or water to a container for feeding food and/or water to the pet.

[0012] In the automatic pet feeding system of the present invention, the feeding device might comprise a quantitative feeding unit arranged in the feeding device for quantitatively feeding the pet.

[0013] In the automatic pet feeding system of the present invention, the quantitative feeding unit might comprise a rotary equi-capacity indexing device for providing in a rotary manner an equal volume of feed to the pet during each feeding.

[0014] In the automatic pet feeding system of the present invention, the feeding device might comprise a sensing and monitoring unit to automatically sense a residual amount of food and/or water in the container for feeding food and/or water before each feeding, and to store and transmit sensing result or information to the server for record; and

[0015] the server deducts sensed residual amount from amount of food and/or water to be released to the pet.

[0016] In the automatic pet feeding system of the present invention, the server might send feedback to the mobile terminal to notify a user for further processing when received information on consumption of food and/or water of the pet is inconsistent with the pre-set quantity of food and/or water for the pet.

[0017] In the automatic pet feeding system of the present invention, the feeding device might further comprise a weighing unit for weighting the pet, which communicates with the server and sends a weighting information to the server for record.

[0018] In the automatic pet feeding system of the present invention, the server might has a preset quantity of consumption of food and/or water in match with a preset weighting information of the pet, and when the weighting information received by the server is inconsistent with the preset weighting information, the server pushes and/or sends an information of inconsistency to the mobile terminal to notify a user for further processing.

[0019] In the automatic pet feeding system of the present invention, the feeding device might comprise a timing unit by which a feeding time is preset, and the feeding system automatically feeds food and/or water to the pet when the feeding time is reached.

[0020] In the automatic pet feeding system of the present invention, it might further comprise a remainder monitoring unit, which communicates with the mobile terminal and monitors a remaining amount of feed in the automatic pet feeding system, and sends information on the remaining amount of feed to the mobile terminal.

[0021] In the automatic pet feeding system of the present invention, the remainder monitoring unit might be an infrared probe.

[0022] In the automatic pet feeding system of the present invention, the mobile terminal might notify and remind a user there is a need to purchase pet feed when received remaining amount of feed falls below a predetermined remaining amount of feed.

[0023] In the automatic pet feeding system of the present invention, the server might connect with an e-commerce platform for purchasing pet feed to allow an automatic purchase of pet feed from the e-commerce platform when the user communicates with the server via the mobile terminal

[0024] In the automatic pet feeding system of the present invention, it features not only remote monitor and control capabilities, but also a quantitative feeding unit arranged therein adapted for timing feeding the pet on a daily basis, and quantitatively feeding the pet within a preset time every day, such that it is convenient and efficient, and could avoid the wasting of pet food.

[0025] The automatic pet feeding system of the present invention could determine the quantity of every consumption of feed of the pet based on the weight of the pet, whereby avoiding obesity caused by overeating. Figures

[0026] The various embodiments and other features, advantages, and disclosures contained herein will become apparent and the present disclosure will be better understood by reference to the following description of various preferred embodiments of the present disclosure taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0027] Figure 1 is a schematic view of an automatic feeding system of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 2 is a schematic view of a feeding device of the automatic feeding system of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 3 is a structural schematic view of a quantitative feeding unit of a feeding device of the automatic feeding system of the present invention; and

[0030] Figure 4 is a structural schematic diagram of a rotary equi-capacity indexing device of a feeding device of the automatic feeding system of the present invention.

Description

[0031] Some preferred embodiments of the present invention are set forth below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, so as to illustrate in details the technical solutions of the present invention.

[0032] As shown in Figure 1 , the automatic pet feeding system of the present invention comprises a feeding device 100, a server 200 and a mobile terminal 300. The mobile terminal comprises a smart phone, a tablet PC, a notebook computer, and the like, or other electronic devices capable of realizing features of the present invention.

[0033] Wherein the feeding device 100 is adapted for automatic provision of food and/or water to a pet preferably based on at least one predetermined conditions of the pet, which means the provision of food and/or water will depend on specific condition or parameter of the pet, including a preset, stored, measured, and/or predicted value of pet's health, weight, consumption of food and/or water at the moment or during a predetermined period of time or during the last feeding time right before the present feeding process, and transmission of an order that the pet is in need of food and/or water to the server 200; the server 200 communicates with the feeding device 100 and receives the order transmitted by the feeding device 100 and sends the order to the mobile terminal 300; and the mobile terminal 300 communicates with the server 200 and receives the order sent by the server 200; and when the order is received, the mobile terminal 300 controls, according to the at least one predetermined conditions or parameters of the pet, the feeding device 100 to automatically release stored food and/or water to a container for feeding food and/or water to the pet, for consumption of the pet. The preset, stored, and/or measured value of pet's health, weight, consumption of food and/or water at the moment or during a predetermined period of time or during the last feeding time right before the present feeding process and other similar or relevant data could be measured, set or input, or modified either through embedded means as would be described in details below, or any external devices with desired capabilities well known in the art. Further, the input or modification of foregoing data could be carried out in a local or remote manner.

[0034] As shown in Figure 2, the feeding device 100 includes a quantitative feeding unit 110, provided in the feeding device for quantitatively feeding food and/or water to the pet. Preferably, in one embodiment as shown in Figure 3, the quantitative feeding unit 1 10 comprises a rotary indexing device 113 with a plurality of equi-capacity compartments / partitions / sections for providing in a rotary manner an equal volume of feed and/or water to the pet for its consumption during each feeding. It should be note that the quantitative feeding unit 1 10 is used to make sure that the amount of delivery of feed for one feeding process could be equal to the same for another feeding process. However, the amount of delivery of feed for each feeding process could be varied for reasons set forth hereinbefore, wherein the difference between various feeding will be always a multiplier of a specific value in association with the capacity of the compartment of the indexing device. Specifically, the feed in the rotary indexing device 1 13 will roll/flow to the food slot of the pet from the container 112 by the aid/action of the tank 11 1. As shown in Figure 4, there are pet food 115 contained on top of the rotary indexing device 1 13, and the rotary indexing device 113 is divided into a plurality of food grids/compartments 1 131 , and the food received in each of the food grids/compartments 1131 are of the same quantity/amount, which can ensure absolute equal amount division or equi-capacity division of food. The amount of delivered / released food 116 per delivery will be varied, depending on the angle of rotation of respective food grids 1131 or the indexing device 113.

[0035] According to the present disclosure, the amount of food and/or water accessible by the pet depends on the foregoing predetermined or recorded conditions or parameters of the pet, such as recent consumption of food/water, weight, health condition, or the like. The strict control over the supply of food and/or water might facilitate the control of pet's weight and health condition. For example, it might be possible to decrease the supply of water to force the pet to rely on the water in food for absorbing enough water. In this regard, specific amount of water, various types of nutrient, or even medical compositions could be added into the food to facilitate the control or adjust of the weight or health condition of the pet, if necessary.

[0036] Further, the feeding device 100 comprises a sensing and monitoring unit 112 mainly used to automatically sense a residual amount of food and/or water in the container for feeding food and/or water before each feeding of food and/or water, which is to acquire the remainder of last feed prior to the present feeding process. The sensing and monitoring unit 112 store and transmit the sensing result or information to the server 200 for record. Preferably, the server 200 sends feedback message to the mobile terminal to notify a user for further processing when received information on consumption of food and/or water of the pet is inconsistent with the pre-set quantity of food and/or water for the pet. Users might instruct the server 200 to deduct sensed residual amount from amount of food and/or water to be released to the pet, and then the server 200 will control a rotation angle of the rotary indexing device to release an appropriate amount of feed to the pet, whereby avoiding the wastage of feed.

[0037] In one embodiment, the automatic pet feeding system further comprises a weighing unit 130 for weighting the pet, which communicates with the server 200 and sends a weighting information to the server 200 for record and storage. The server 200 is provided with a preset quantity of consumption of food and/or water in match with a preset weighting information of the pet, which denotes the appropriate/respective daily quantity of consumption of feed for a pet with a specific weight. When the weighting information received by the server 200 is inconsistent with the preset weighting information, the server 200 might push and/or send a message/information of inconsistency to the mobile terminal 300 to notify a user for further processing instead of immediately instructing to feed the pet. For example, it might notify the user by playing music with user's phone, allowing the user to realize the information. After getting the information, the user might adjust the quantity of food and/or water in the server 200, and then carry out the automatic feeding process.

[0038] Further, the feeding device 100 of the automatic pet feeding system of the present invention comprises a timing unit 140 by which the user might preset a feeding time, e.g. 3 hours, and the feeding system automatically feeds food and/or water to the pet when the feeding time is reached (i.e. 3 hours later), whereby achieving the object of performing regular/timing feeding of the pet.

[0039] Further, the automatic pet feeding system of the present invention comprises a remainder monitoring unit 150, which communicates with the mobile terminal 300, and being mainly used for sensing a remaining amount of feed in the automatic pet feeding system, and sending information on the remaining amount of feed to the mobile terminal 300. Preferably, the remainder monitoring unit is an infrared probe or sensor. The mobile terminal 300 notifies and reminds the user the need to purchase pet feed when received remaining amount of feed falls below a predetermined value/level. The users might purchase the feed on his/her own, or purchase the feed through an e-commerce platform. Preferably, in the automatic pet feeding system of the present invention, the server 200 connects with an e- commerce platform for purchasing pet feed to allow an automatic purchase of pet feed from the e-commerce platform when the user communicates with the server 200 via the mobile terminal 300. The purchased feed could be received via home delivery service, whereby eliminating a lot of trouble for the user.

[0040] In addition, it should be noted that the feeding device 100 of the present invention could be controlled remotely and it could also be controlled locally by hand. That is to say, the feeding device 100 is provided with various buttons. When the user is at home, the pet could be fed in quantitative or timing manner by controlling the buttons on the device according to actual situations, so at to realize completely the manual operation/function. The feature of manual feeding is a well-known feature to those skilled in the art, and it will not be described in any details.

[0041] Referring to figure 3, the automatic pet feeding system of the present invention comprises a main body substantially in form of a cylinder or column in which at least one containing space is confined for storing pet food and/or water. The main body is coupled with a lower portion substantially in form of a funnel for facilitating delivery of food and/or water. The funnel-shaped lower portion of the feeding device has an inner wall which is smooth and inclined at an angle with respect to vertical axis of the main body, so as to prevent accumulation and clogging of food and/or water inside the lower/delivery portion. The output end of the lower portion has an opening with a dimension or size facilitating the dispensing or discharging of food and/or water and preventing pet's body or limb from entering into the lower portion of the output/delivery end of the feeding device.

[0042] In some embodiments, the rotation axis of the rotary indexing device aligns with the same of the shaft or its driving motor (not shown) and also being orthogonal to the input and/or output direction of the food and/or water. In addition, the rotary indexing device has a plurality of feed compartments and an anti-clogging member (not shown), which is rotated and driven with the rotary indexing device and preferably comprises a radially extending portion for stirring the food and also guiding the loosened food to the feed compartment. The anti-clogging member could also prevent excess food from blocking the entry or input end of the feed compartments and remove excess food therefrom. Preferably, the anti-clogging member is a flap or paddle made of silicon, which extends radially along the rotation axis of the rotary indexing device and also extends axially long the entire or partial axial length of the rotary indexing device.

[0043] The rotation angle of the indexing device and thus the total amount of feed per feeding process preferably depends on the preset and/or stored and/or measured data in relation to weight, and/or quantity of food and/or water for the pet. The rotation angle is a multiplier of a value equalling to 360 divided by the number of feed compartments on the indexing device. For example, in case there are 6 feed compartments, the rotation angle is a multiplier of 60, such as 60, 180, 540, 780, etc.

[0044] In summary, the automatic pet feeding system of the present invention features not only remote monitor and control functions/capabilities, but also a quantitative feeding unit arranged therein and adapted for timing feeding the pet on a daily basis, and for quantitatively feeding the pet at a preset time every day, such that it is convenient and efficient, and could avoid the wasting of pet food.

[0045] The automatic pet feeding system of the present invention could determine the quantity of every consumption of feed of the pet based on the weight of the pet, whereby avoiding obesity caused by overeating.

[0046] The specific embodiments described in details above have further illustrated the technical problem to be solved, technical solutions and advantageous effects of the present invention. It should be understood that the above are only some of the specific embodiments of the present invention without limiting the present invention, while any modification, equivalent replacement and improvement made within the essences and principles of the present invention shall all fall into the scope of the present invention.

[0047] Features set out in the claims hereto (jointly and severally where appropriate) are to form part of this disclosure and are incorporated herein by reference.

[0048] While various examples or embodiments have been described herein, it should be appreciated that they are for illustration and are not for scope restriction. It should be appreciated that portions or parts of the various example embodiments can be excerpted for combination and/or mix-and-match where appropriate to form other variants without loss of generality.

Claims

An automatic pet feeding system comprising a feeding device, a server and a mobile terminal, wherein

the feeding device is adapted for automatic provision of food and/or water to a pet in accordance with a predetermined status of the pet and transmission of an order that the pet is in need of food and/or water to the server;

the server communicates with the feeding device and receives the order transmitted by the feeding device and sends the order to the mobile terminal;

the mobile terminal communicates with the server and receives the order sent by the server; and when the order is received, the mobile terminal controls, according to a preset and/or stored and/or measured data in relation to weight and/or quantity of food and/or water for the pet, the feeding device to automatically release stored food and/or water to a container for feeding food and/or water to the pet.

An automatic pet feeding system of Claim 1 , wherein the feeding device comprises a quantitative feeding unit arranged in the feeding device for quantitatively feeding the pet.

An automatic pet feeding system of Claim 2, wherein the quantitative feeding unit comprises a rotary equi-capacity indexing device for providing in a rotary manner an equal volume of feed to the pet during each feeding; wherein a rotation angle of the indexing device preferably depends on the preset and/or stored and/or measured data in relation to weight, and/or quantity of food and/or water for the pet; and/or the indexing device comprises a plurality of compartments and the rotation angle is a multiplier of a value in association with respective capacity of the compartment.

An automatic pet feeding system of anyone of Claims 1-3, wherein the feeding device comprises a sensing and monitoring unit to automatically sense a residual amount of food and/or water in the container for feeding food and/or water before each feeding, and to store and transmit sensing result or information to the server for record; and wherein the server deducts sensed residual amount from amount of food and/or water to be released to the pet.

An automatic pet feeding system of Claim 4, wherein the server sends feedback to the mobile terminal to notify a user for further processing when received information on consumption of food and/or water of the pet is inconsistent with the pre-set quantity of food and/or water for the pet.

6. An automatic pet feeding system of anyone of Claims 1-5, wherein the feeding device further comprises a weighing unit for weighting the pet, which communicates with the server and sends a weighting information to the server for record.

7. An automatic pet feeding system of Claim 6, wherein the server has a preset quantity of consumption of food and/or water in match with a preset weighting information of the pet, and when the weighting information received by the server is inconsistent with the preset weighting information, the server pushes and/or sends an information of inconsistency to the mobile terminal to notify a user for further processing.

8. An automatic pet feeding system of anyone of Claims 1-7, wherein the feeding device comprises a timing unit by which a feeding time is preset, and the feeding system automatically feeds food and/or water to the pet when the feeding time is reached.

9. An automatic pet feeding system of anyone of Claims 1-8, further comprising a remainder monitoring unit, which communicates with the mobile terminal and monitors a remaining amount of feed in the automatic pet feeding system, and sends information on the remaining amount of feed to the mobile terminal.

10. An automatic pet feeding system of Claim 9, wherein the remainder monitoring unit is an infrared probe.

11. An automatic pet feeding system of Claim 9, wherein the mobile terminal notifies and reminds a user there is a need to purchase pet feed when received remaining amount of feed falls below a predetermined remaining amount of feed.

12. An automatic pet feeding system of anyone of Claims 1-11 , wherein the server connects with an e-commerce platform for purchasing pet feed to allow an automatic purchase of pet feed from the e-commerce platform when the user communicates with the server via the mobile terminal.