Abstract:
An improved portable animal feeder which comprises a light-weight animal bowl feeder which may be folded so it is compact, low profile and portable. Attached to the bowl may be straps for securing the bowl to an animal&#39;s leash or collar. In other forms of the invention, a pouch may be provided that attaches to a leash or collar and provides storage for the animal bowl feeder.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to animal feeding devices, and more particularly to portable bowls for supplying food and drink to a pet.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    The use of animal feeding devices is known in the prior art. Existing feeding devices often are used to hold water, food or both so as to conveniently provide nourishment for an animal.  
           [0003]    While these devices generally fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, they do not provide for an animal feeding device that is conveniently compact, light-weight, and portable. Most animals, especially domestic animals such as dogs, travel away from their home several times a day. In this regard, a dog owner may take her dog for a walk in a park, by a lake or around a neighborhood. During the excursion, especially ones of long duration, the dog may require water and/or food. The present invention is easily taken along during these excursions so as to provide a light-weight, portable, collapsible, and compact feeding device that may attach to the pet&#39;s leash or collar. The present invention provides a portable animal bowl feeder.  
           [0004]    The principal object of the present invention is to provide an improved portable animal bowl feeder.  
           [0005]    Still another object of the present invention is to provide a novel portable animal bowl feeder that may fold into a compact size.  
           [0006]    Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel portable animal bowl feeder that may attach to an animal&#39;s leash or collar.  
           [0007]    Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a novel portable animal bowl feeder that when folded and attached to an animal&#39;s leash or collar, the folded bowl minimally projects outward from the leash or collar.  
           [0008]    A further object of the present invention is to provide a novel portable animal bowl feeder that may be an integral component of an animal&#39;s leash or collar.  
           [0009]    A further object of the present invention is to provide a novel portable animal bowl feeder that is light-weight.  
           [0010]    A further object of the present invention is to provide a novel portable animal bowl feeder which is simple in design and inexpensive to construct, and is durable and rugged in structure.  
           [0011]    Still further objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description and drawings of the invention.  
           [0012]    These and other objects are achieved by a portable animal bowl feeder of the present invention. In one form of the invention, a portable animal bowl feeder is provided which comprises a light-weight animal bowl feeder which may be folded so it is compact, low profile and portable. Attached to the bowl may be straps for securing the bowl to an animal&#39;s leash or collar. In other forms of the invention, a pouch may be provided that attaches to a leash or collar and provides storage for the portable animal bowl feeder. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0013]    [0013]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the portable animal bowl feeder of the present invention;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the portable animal bowl feeder of FIG. 1;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 3 is a side view of the portable animal bowl feeder of FIG. 1;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 4 is a top view of a the portable animal bowl feeder of FIG. 1 shown folded;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a the portable animal bowl feeder of FIG. 1 shown folded and attached to an animal&#39;s leash; and  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 6 is a top view of one embodiment of a pouch of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0019]    [0019]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the portable animal bowl feeder  10  constructed in accordance with the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, one embodiment of the invention may include a bowl  10  including one or more wall portions  15 , a bottom portion  20  and one or more straps  27 .  
         [0020]    One or more wall portions  15  may be provided, in one embodiment, to form a substantially square shaped bowl  10  as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and  3 . As shown in FIG. 1, wall portions  15  may have a top edge  20 A, a bottom edge  21 , a side edge  22 , an inner surface  13  and/or an outer surface  16 . Individual wall portions  15  may be formed from a single piece of material or from multiple pieces of material joined along their respective edges to form a wall portion  15 . In alternate embodiments, wall portions  15  may include one layer of material or may include a plurality of layers of material that are attached to one another.  
         [0021]    In one embodiment, one or more bottom portions  20  may be provided to form a substantially square shaped bowl  10  as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and  3 . As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, bottom portion  20  may have an outer bottom surface portion  23 , an inner surface portion  24  and/or one or more edges  25 . Individual bottom portions  20  may be formed from a single piece of material or from multiple pieces of material joined along their respective edges to form a bottom portion  20 . In alternate embodiments, bottom portion  20  may include one layer of material or may include a plurality of layers of material that are attached to one another.  
         [0022]    As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and  3 , one embodiment of the portable animal bowl feeder  10  may be substantially square in shape. In this embodiment, the bowl  10  may include four wall portions  15  and one bottom portion  20 . Wall portions  15  may include four individual and separate wall portions  15  that may be connected to each other at adjoining wall side edges  22  to form a single bowl  10  wall having a substantially square-shaped top edge  20 A perimeter and bottom edge  21  perimeter after the wall portions  15  are joined to each other. In another embodiment, wall portions  15  may be constructed from a single piece of material having two side edges  22 . When the two side edges  22  are joined together and the material is appropriately bent, configured and/or shaped, four wall portions  15  may be formed from one piece of material. In yet other embodiments, bowl  10  may be formed substantially as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and  3  by forming both wall portions  15  and bottom portions  20  from one piece of material. In this embodiment, after the material is cut to the appropriate shape and size, the appropriate edges may be sealably joined, as described herein, and a bowl  10  may be formed substantially in a square shape as shown in FIG. 1.  
         [0023]    In one embodiment as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and  3 , bottom portion  20  may be provided and sealably joined to bottom edges  21  of wall portions  15  so as to provide a bowl  10  shaped substantially as in FIG. 1. Bottom portion  20  may be joined to wall portions  15  in a variety of different ways, for example by, adhesive, heat treatment, stitching, mechanical fasteners or any other way that will provide a water-proof seal between bottom edge  25  and side edge  22 .  
         [0024]    In still yet other embodiments, a thin, foldable wire or other shape keeping device  30  may be provided to facilitate keeping the wall top edges  20 A in an open position as shown in FIG. 1. In this embodiment, the wire  30  may be positioned so that it extends substantially around the entire perimeter of wall top edges  20 A as shown in FIG. 1. In one embodiment, the wire  30  may be located either adjacent the inner surface  13  or outer surface  16 . Wire  30  may be attached to wall  15  in a variety of different ways, for example by, adhesive, heat treatment, stitching, mechanical fasteners or any other way that will provide for proper operation of bowl  10 . In still yet other embodiments, other shape keeping devices may be substituted for wire  30 , for example, bendable plastic strips, rubber strips or any other device that may maintain the shape of bowl  10  substantially as shown in FIG. 1 and provide for proper operation of bowl  10 .  
         [0025]    In yet other embodiments, one or more straps  27  as shown in FIGS.  1 - 5  may be provided for bowl  10 . As shown in FIGS.  1 - 5 , two straps  27  may be attached to the bottom outer surface portion  23 . The straps  27  may have a strap fastener  26  located on the end of the strap  27  as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 or located anywhere else on the strap  27 . The strap fasteners  26  may be hook and loop fasteners, mechanical fasteners, such as snaps for example, or any other device that will maintain the straps  27  in an attached as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The straps  27  may be attached to the bottom outer surface portion  23  in a variety of different ways, for example by, adhesive, heat treatment, stitching, mechanical fasteners and any other way that will provide for proper operation of bowl  10 . In still yet other embodiments, other devices may be substituted for straps  27 , for example, bendable plastic strips, rubber strips, string or any other device. The straps may be constructed of any bendable or foldable material such as, for example, cloth, plastic, or any other type of material that will provide for proper operation of bowl  10 . As shown in FIG. 5, the straps  27  may wrap around an animal leash  12  so as to provide for folded bowl  10  to be removable yet securely positioned anywhere along the length of leash  12 . The straps  27  may also be used to attach the bowl  10  to an animal&#39;s collar. In other embodiments, bowl  10  may attach directly to leash  12  (or a collar) without straps  27 . In this embodiment, fasteners may be provided and attached to bowl  10  and to leash  12 . For example, hook and loop fasteners may be used by attaching them to bowl  10  and to a portion of leash  12  whereby when bowl  10  is positioned adjacent the respective hook and loop fastener attached to leash  12 , bowl  10  will be maintained removable yet securely attached to leash  12 .  
         [0026]    Bowl  10 , in another embodiment, may have fold lines  18  along wall portions  15  and bottom portion  20  substantially as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and  3 . The fold lines  18  may facilitate the folding of bowl  10  along fold lines  18 . As shown in FIG. 1, in one embodiment, one or more wall portions may each have two fold lines  18  where each fold line  18  starts substantially from a lower corner of wall portion  15  and extends substantially along the wall portion  15  up towards substantially the center of the top edge  20 A of wall portion  15 . In one embodiment, the fold lines  18  may be constructed in a variety of different ways, for example, the lines  18  may be formed from weakened sections of the material that bowl  10  is made of, may be formed from creases that are created in the material by heat treatment or may be formed in any other way that will provide for proper operation of bowl  10 . As shown in FIG. 2, bottom portion  20  may also have one or more fold lines  18  along substantially the entire length and/or width of bottom portion  20 .  
         [0027]    In yet other embodiments of bowl  10 , bowl  10  may be formed in many different shapes. For example, bowl  10  top edge  20 A perimeter may form a shape that is substantially circular, triangular, octagonal, hexagonal, or any other shape that would provide for proper operation of bowl  10 . Bowl  10  may be of a variety of different dimensions such as, for example, 4″×4″×2″, 5″×5″×2.5″, 6″×6″×3″ or any other combinations of dimensions depending on the size of the animal that will use bowl  10 .  
         [0028]    In one embodiment, the material used to construct bowl  10  may be any material that is substantially thin and flexible. For example, the material may be any type of cloth, plastic, cardboard, or other material. The material may be made of different colors, designs and patterns. The material may be substantially water-proof or may be made water-proof by applying a coating to the material. For example, a water-proof spray coating that is safe for animals may be applied to the material. In yet other embodiments, a thin plastic liner may be positioned inside bowl  10  to provide a water-proof bowl  10 . Other types of water-proof liners may also be positioned inside of bowl  10 .  
         [0029]    Bowl  10  may also be provided with a pouch  40  as shown, in one embodiment, in FIG. 6. Pouch  40  may include an opening  42  and one or more straps  44  with strap attachments  46 . Pouch  40  may be made large enough to allow for bowl  10  to fit inside pouch  40  and be easily removed through opening  42 . Opening  42  may have a closure device such as, for example, a zipper or hook and loop fasteners that will prevent bowl  10  from falling out of pouch  40 . The material used to construct pouch  40  may be any material that is substantially thin and flexible. For example, the material may be any type of cloth, plastic or other material. The material may be made of different colors, designs and patterns. The material may be substantially water-proof or may be made water-proof by applying a coating to the material. For example, a water-proof spray coating that is safe for animals may be applied to the material. The straps  44  may have a strap attachment  46  located on the end of the strap  44  as shown in FIG. 6 or located anywhere else on the strap  44 . The strap attachments  46  may be hook and loop fasteners, mechanical fasteners, such as snaps for example, or any other device that will maintain the straps  44  attached to an animal leash or collar. The straps  44  may be attached to pouch  40  in a variety of different ways, for example, by adhesive, heat treatment, stitching, mechanical fasteners and any other way that will provide for strap  44  to be attached to pouch  40 . In still yet other embodiments, other devices may be substituted for straps  44 , for example, bendable plastic strips, rubber strips, string or any other device that may provide for the pouch  40  to removably attach to an animal&#39;s leash or collar. The straps may be constructed of any bendable or foldable material such as, for example, cloth, plastic, or any other type of material that will provide for pouch  40  to be attached to an animal&#39;s leash or collar. In other embodiments, pouch  40  may attach directly to leash  12  (or a collar) without straps  44 . In this embodiment, fasteners may be provided and attached to pouch  40  and to leash  12 . For example, hook and loop fasteners may be used by attaching them to pouch  40  and to a portion of leash  12  whereby when pouch  40  is positioned adjacent the respective hook and loop fastener attached to leash  12 , pouch  40  will be maintained removable yet securely attached to leash  12 . In one embodiment, pouch  40  may be an integral part of an animal&#39;s leash  12  whereby the leash and pouch are purchased as a single article. In yet other embodiments, pouch  40  may be an integral part of an animal&#39;s leash  12  whereby the leash, pouch  40  and bowl  10  are purchased as a single article.  
         [0030]    In use, when walking a pet, the bowl  10  may be removed from the pet&#39;s leash  12  (or collar) by removing straps  27  from leash  12  (or collar). The user may then unfold bowl  10  and put either food or water into bowl  10  so as to provide nourishment for the pet. After the pet is finished using bowl  10 , bowl  10  may be easily folded and secured on the pet&#39;s leash  12  (or collar).  
         [0031]    Specific embodiments of novel methods and apparatus for construction of novel portable animal bowl feeders according to the present invention have been described for the purpose of illustrating the manner in which the invention is made and used. It should be understood that the implementation of other variations and modifications of the invention and its various aspects will be apparent to one skilled in the art, and that the invention is not limited by the specific embodiments described. Therefore, it is contemplated to cover the present invention any and all modifications, variations, or equivalents that fall within the true spirit and scope of the basic underlying principles disclosed and claimed herein.