Abstract:
A device and method for creating an improved feeding bowl assembly by attaching a guard device to a pet feeding bowl. The guard device is a bowl shaped guard that is positioned on top of a traditional pet feeding bowl. The guard device prevents food or water from being splashed out of the feeding bowl by the pet. Furthermore, the guard has a diameter that is larger than that of the feeding bowl. As such, the guard device catches drippings from the animal that would not otherwise be caught by the feeding bowl.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    In general, the present invention relates to dog bowls and other such animal feeding bowls. More particularly, the present invention relates to the structure of dog bowls and the structure of attachments for use with dog bowls that help reduce the amount of food or water an animal splashes out of the bowl when feeding.  
           [0003]    2. Prior Art Statement  
           [0004]    The prior art is replete with different types of bowls and other containers that can be used to feed a pet dog or another animal that eats at floor level. As most any dog owner would testify, dogs do not exhibit many manners when they eat. Often when a dog eats food from a bowl placed on the floor, the dog&#39;s snout displaces food from the bowl and the food falls on the floor. When a dog drinks water from a bowl, the dog&#39;s snout is submersed in the water and becomes wet. When the dog lifts its head out of the bowl, the water from the wet snout drips onto the floor. Furthermore, when a dog is either drinking or eating from a bowl, it is not uncommon for the dog to move the bowl along the floor with its snout and tip the bowl, thereby spilling the contents of the bowl onto the floor.  
           [0005]    The prior art is replete with different types of specialized bowls and containers that are designed to reduce the amount of spillage that occurs from a dog bowl. One common type of prior art bowl is the weighted feeding bowl. Weighted feeding bowls are bowls that have enlarged, heavy bases. By increasing the size and weight of the base of the bowl, the center of gravity for the bowl is lowered. Therefore, it becomes harder for a dog to accidentally tip the bowl. Such prior art dog bowls are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 5,979,361 to Willinger, entitled Non-Skid Pet Bowl.  
           [0006]    Although bowls with weighted bases are harder to tip, they do not prevent a dog from displacing food or water out of the bowl with the dog&#39;s snout. To prevent dogs from displacing food out of a bowl or splashing water out of a bowl, bowls have been designed with covers that expose only a small portion of the contents of the bowl to the feeding animal. By exposing only a small portion of the food or water in a bowl, the feeding dog does not displace the food with its snout or submerse its snout in the exposed volume of water. Prior art bowls with lids that expose only a portion of the bowl are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 3,810,446 to Kightlinger, entitled Animal Food Bowl And Cover Therefore; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,436,056 to MacLeod, entitled Spill-Resistant Pet Animal Dish.  
           [0007]    A problem associated with such limited access bowls is that the feeding animal is not exposed to the full contents of the bowl at once. Consequently, the feeding animal may press its snout as far as possible into the bowl trying to reach food that is stuck in the protected areas of the bowl. This causes the feeding animal to press hard against the bowl, thereby greatly increasing the chances that the bowl will be moved and tipped over by the animal. Another disadvantage of limited access bowls is that food tends to get stuck in the inaccessible regions of the bowl. This food may rot, thereby making the bowl unsanitary to use, even by a dog.  
           [0008]    A need therefore exists in the art for a new device that will prevent a pet from spilling food or water out of a bowl without either weighting the bowl or restricting access to the contents of the bowl. This need is met by the present invention as described and claimed below.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0009]    The present invention is a device and method for creating an improved feeding bowl assembly by attaching a guard device to a pet feeding bowl. The guard device is a bowl shaped guard that is positioned on top of a traditional pet feeding bowl. The guard device prevents food or water from being splashed out of the feeding bowl by the pet. Furthermore, the guard has a diameter that is larger than that of the feeding bowl. As such, the guard device catches drippings from the animal that would not otherwise be caught by the feeding bowl.  
           [0010]    The guard device is either suspended over the pet feeding bowl or attached directly to the pet feeding bowl. When suspended over the feeding bowl, the guard device contains support elements that hold the guard device above the feeding bowl. When attached to the feeding bowl, the guard device contains a cylindrical section that passes into the feeding bowl and engages the feeding bowl with either an interference fit or a snap-together fit. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]    For a better understanding of the present invention, reference is made to the following descriptions of exemplary embodiments thereof, considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention guard device shown in conjunction with a dog bowl;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of a guard device shown in conjunction with a plurality of dog bowls; and  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of an alternate embodiment of a guard device positioned above a dog bowl.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0015]    Although the present invention guard device can be applied to many different types of feeding bowls and containers, the present invention guard device is especially well suited for use with a simple round dog feeding bowl. Accordingly, in the exemplary embodiments of the invention that are shown, the present invention guard device is shown with a traditional round dog bowl.  
         [0016]    Referring to FIG. 1, an exemplary embodiment of the present invention guard device  10  is shown with a conventional round dog feeding bowl  12 . The dog feeding bowl  12  is a bowl that has a circular open top of a first internal diameter D 1 . The top internal diameter D 1  of the dog feeding bowl  12  is typically between six inches and ten inches, if used to feed or water an average dog. Smaller diameter bowls are for smaller dogs and other smaller pets, such as cats. Many people utilize heavy ceramic or metal bowls to feed or water their pets. Still other people use old kitchen bowls. Any such bowl can be used in conjunction with the present invention guard device  10 .  
         [0017]    When a person feeds or give water to their pet, they typically fill the feeding bowl at least half full with food or water. Any food or water that is displaced from the feeding bowl by the pet spills over the edge of the bowl and falls to the floor. This dirties the floor, thereby requiring that the floor around the dog bowl be cleaned often. Furthermore, food or water often adheres to the hair of the pet on its snout. When the pet pauses from feeding or drinking and lifts its head from the feeding bowl, it is not uncommon for food or water to drip from the pet&#39;s snout and fall to the floor. This is particularly prevalent with larger dogs that have large jowls. These spots of food and water not only dirty or wet the floor, they present potential slipping hazards if inadvertently stepped upon.  
         [0018]    The present invention guard device  10  is a guard that attaches to the top of the dog bowl  12  and dramatically increases the area of that bowl. This increase in area prevents a dog from displacing food or water from the dog bowl  12  and catches drippings that may fall from the pet&#39;s snout or jowls.  
         [0019]    The guard device  10  is an annular structure having a circular bottom edge  14  of a first diameter D 2  and a circular top edge  16  of a larger second diameter D 3 . The guard device  10  is formed into two separate sections between the bottom edge  14  and the top edge  16 . The two sections include a bowl engagement section  18  and an expanding section  20 . The bowl engagement section  18  is a cylindrically shaped section. The exterior of the bowl engagement section  18  has the same external diameter D 2  as does the bottom edge  14  of the guard device  10 . This diameter D 2  is preferably selected to be only slightly smaller than the inside diameter D 1  of the dog bowl  12 . The bowl engagement section  18  has a vertical length of between  14  inch and three inches. Accordingly, when the guard device  10  is placed onto the dog bowl  12 , the bowl engagement section  18  passes into the dog bowl until either the bottom edge  14  of the guard device  10  contacts the bottom of the dog bowl  12  or the top edge of the dog bowl  12  contacts the expanding section  20  of the guard device  10 .  
         [0020]    Preferably, the vertical length of the engagement section of the guard device equals the depth of the dog bowl  12 . Likewise, the diameter D 2  of the exterior of the engagement section  18  of the guard device  10  matches the interior diameter of the dog bowl  12 . Although a mismatched guard device  10  and bowl  12  can be used, match sets are preferable. For this reason a guard device  10  can be sold in sets with a matching dog bowl  12 . If the dimensions of the engagement section  18  of the guard device  10  closely match the dimensions on the interior of the dog bowl  12 , the guard device  10  firmly engages the dog bowl  12  and is not easily knocked away from the dog bowl  12 . The closeness in dimensions creates a friction fit that serves to retain the guard device  10  in attachment with the dog bowl  12 .  
         [0021]    If matched sets are used, the dog bowl can be created with a rim of a certain standard thickness. The guard device  10  can be manufactured with a groove that accepts the rim of the dog bowl, thereby interconnecting the dog bowl and the guard device with a mechanical attachment.  
         [0022]    Once the guard device  10  is attached to the dog bowl  12 , the top edge  16  of the guard device  10  becomes the new open top to the combined bowl/guard assembly. This increases the area of the opening of the dog bowl  12  from between 25% to 300%. As an animal eats or drinks from the combined bowl/guard assembly, the presence of the guard device  10  prevents the dog from displacing food or water from the dog bowl  12  with its snout. Furthermore, as the dog pauses from eating or drinking and lifts its head from the bowl, drippings from the dog&#39;s snout and jowls will fall onto the guard device  10  and will flow back into the dog bowl  12 . As such, the guard device  10  greatly decreases the amount of food and water spillage that contacts the floor without restricting access of the dog bowl  12  to the dog.  
         [0023]    Referring to FIG. 2, an alternate embodiment of the present invention guard device  30  is shown. In this embodiment, the engagement section  32  of the guard device  30  is stepped in its configuration. The stepped configuration consists of a plurality of cylindrical sections  34 , wherein each successive cylindrical section  34  increases in diameter as they progress from the bottom edge  36  of the engagement section  32  toward the expanding section  38 . By providing a stepped engagement section  32 , the engagement section  32  is capable of engaging a plurality of different diameter bowls  12  with a friction fit. Consequently, the guard device  30  can engage a plurality of different diameter bowls  12  provided one of the cylindrical sections  34  on the stepped configuration has a diameter that corresponds to the diameter of one of the bowls  12 .  
         [0024]    Referring to FIG. 3, yet another embodiment of the present invention guard device  40  is provided. In this embodiment, it can be seen that the guard device  40  has a cylindrical engagement section  42  and a curved expanding section  44 , as does the embodiment previously shown in FIG. 1. However, in this embodiment, at least one support structure  46  extends downwardly from the bottom of the curved expanding section  44  and supports the guard device  40  on the ground. The support structure  46  can be one continuous wall that surrounds the engagement section  44  or can be a plurality or legs that are symmetrically disposed around the engagement section  42 .  
         [0025]    The support structure  46  supports the remainder of the guard device  40  a predetermined distance above the ground. A dog bowl  12  can be placed under the guard device  40  within the space defined by the support structure  46 . As such, the support structure  46  supports the remainder of the guard device  40  over the dog bowl  12 . This enables the guard device  40  to be used with a dog bowl  12 , even though the diameter of the dog bowl  12  is much larger than that of the bottom edge of the guard device  40 .  
         [0026]    It will be understood that the embodiments of the present invention device described and illustrated are merely exemplary and a person skilled in the art can make many variations to the shown embodiment. For example, in the embodiment of FIG. 3, it will be understood that the support structure  46  can be made as a structure that is part of the overall guard device, as shown, or it can be made as a separate detachable element. In all embodiments, the diameters, depth and slope of the expanding region of the guard device can be altered as desired. Lastly, the diameters and number of cylindrical sections  34  used in the embodiment of FIG. 2 can also be altered as desired. All such alternate embodiments and modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention as defined below in the claims.