Patent ID: 9414568
Filing Date: 2016-08-16
CPC Classification: A01K

Claim Text:
1. A feeding apparatus configured to dispense food, comprising: a housing comprising a reservoir structured to have an amount of food situated therein and another vessel; a rotatable food delivery mechanism situated on the housing and configured to be in communication with the reservoir, the food delivery mechanism having a manual input element structured to dispense food from the reservoir into the another vessel when actuated; and a feedback mechanism situated on at least one of the housing and the food delivery mechanism configured to respond to a manual actuation of the food delivery mechanism to provide at least one of an acoustic indication and a tactile indication that is representative of the dispensing of a predetermined quantity of food by the food delivery mechanism, the feedback mechanism comprising a first structure situated on the food delivery mechanism and a second structure situated on the housing, the first and second structures being configured to engage one another upon rotation of the food delivery mechanism to generate the at least one of the acoustic indication and the tactile indication one of the first structure and the second structure comprising a protruding tab that is configured to be elastically deflected and elastically returned toward an undeflected free state upon rotation of the food delivery mechanism to generate the at least one of the acoustic indication and the tactile indication, the other of the first structure and the second structure further comprising a deflection element and an abutment element, the tab being deflected and engaged with the deflection element during a first portion of an actuation of the food delivery mechanism, the tab being elastically returned toward the undeflected free state and engaged with the abutment element to generate the at least one of the acoustic indication and the tactile indication during a second portion of the actuation of the food delivery mechanism, the deflection element comprising at least a first semi-annular compression element having an arcuate compression surface situated at a first distance from an axis of rotation of the food delivery mechanism, the abutment element comprising at least a first ledge surface situated on the at least first compression element and having an abutment surface extending a second distance from the axis of rotation of the food delivery mechanism, the second distance being greater than the first distance.