Animal food dish and water dispenser

An animal food dish and water dispenser which includes first and second cup shaped receptacles spaced apart in a base member having an upwardly projecting barrier separating the two receptacles and supporting an inverted water reservoir bottle centrally on the base member to supply water to one of the receptacles.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates generally to apparatus for supplying food and 
water to domestic pets or animals, and more specifically, it relates to a 
device having a food receptacle and a water receptacle with a reservoir 
for supplying water continuously to the water receptacle. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
In connection with the feeding domestic animals, it has been common to 
utilize combination food and water bowls. These articles typically include 
two closely spaced bowls or receptacles that are intended to receive the 
pet food and water. The advantage attributed to these combination bowls is 
that it is easier for the pet owner to handle the unitary article having 
both the water and the food receptacle rather than having to fill and 
transport two separate bowls from the preparation area to the location at 
which the pet consumes the food and water. There are many variations in 
the size and shape of such devices with such variations being at least 
partially attributable to the needs of the various types of domestic 
animals involved. Small cats have much different requirements than large 
dogs for example. 
There are a number of features which have been developed and used in such 
pet food and watering devices. Perhaps most significant of these is the 
use of reservoirs to supply a substantial volume of water continuously to 
the water receptacle. This feature allows the pet to be left alone and 
unattended for a longer period of time. Examples in the prior art of such 
reservoir equipped food and watering devices are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 
4,573,434 to Gardner, U.S. Pat. No. 3,730,141 to Manning et al, U.S. Pat. 
No. 4,840,143 to Simon, U.S. Pat. No. 3,720,184 to Pearce and U.S. Pat. 
No. D 296,371 to Lorenzana et al. All of these patents disclose devices 
using reservoirs, some being inverted bottles, to dispense water and, in 
some instances food to receptacles from which the animal may consume the 
food or water. The mouth of the reservoir is positioned at an appropriate 
level to provide a constant water or food level in the receptacle so that 
the animal may conveniently consume the receptacle contents with the 
reservoir continuing to supply until its contents are exhausted. 
In a number of the prior art patents noted above, the reservior comprises 
an inverted soft drink or soda bottle of the type readily available to the 
domestic pet owner. These bottles are one or two liter plastic bottles in 
which most commercially available soft drinks are sold. The plastic 
bottles are sufficiently rigid and have threaded necks so that they may be 
easily supported on the food and watering device by threadedly engaging 
the neck of the inverted bottle into a threaded recess in the device. 
Another useful feature common to some of the prior art food and watering 
devices involves the use of detachable or separable receptacles for the 
food containing portion of the device. This feature is attractive for 
several reasons. First, it allows the food container to be washed 
separately from the other portions which have much less tendency to 
require washing as they are not in contact with the food. Secondly, it is 
convenient to fill the food container separately from the waterer since it 
must usually be done more frequently. In addition, in some instances the 
separable inserts for the food receptacle are designed to be disposeable 
as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,800,845 to Budd. Other examples of separable 
dishes shown in prior art patents are the U.S. Pat. Nos. to Jones No. 
4,532,891 and Cosner No. 2,555,396. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The animal food dish and waterer of the present invention includes a pair 
of adjacent food and water receiving receptacles on an elongated base 
member with a reservoir for supplying water continuously to the water 
receptacle being mounted on the base member between the two receptacles. 
The base member is provided with a plateau portion which extends across 
between the two receptacles to form an elevated barrier to prevent or 
limit the commingling of the contents of the two receptacles. The 
reservoir itself being positioned between the two receptacles cooperates 
with the barrier to limit an animal's movement directly across between the 
two receptacles in such a way that it might transfer the food to the water 
receptacle or the water to the food receptacle. Thus, the elevated barrier 
and the reservoir comprising an inverted plastic bottle combine to force 
an animal using the device to take a relatively circuitous route rather 
than directly between the two receptacles in such a way that it would be 
likely to commingle the contents of the receptacles. 
The base member is formed with peripherally extending sidewalls which 
terminate in lower surface engaging edges disposed in a common horizontal 
plane. These lower edges are interrupted at either end of the base member 
by openings or notches which provide finger receiving openings to 
facilitate picking up the device from the floor or any horizontal surface. 
The sidewalls are connected at their upper edges by lip portions to the 
two spaced receptcales, the lip portions defining a common horizontal 
plane position below the top of the plateau portion. 
The top of the plateau portion is formed with an upwardly facing recess 
which is formed to receive the neck of an inverted plastic bottle having 
threads to threadedly engage and secure the neck of the plastic bottle to 
the base member. The device is designed to mount a standard plastic soft 
drink or soda bottle of the one or two liter size. Preferably the 
transverse barrier or plateau is on the order of three incles wide which 
is substantially equal to the diameter of the one liter soft drink bottle. 
However, it is also contemplated that the two liter bottle which is about 
four incles in diameter might also be employed if the added reservoir 
capacity was desired. The four inch diameter bottle would overhang the two 
receptacles but would not significantly interfere with an animal's access 
to the contents of the receptacles. An open channel is provided in the 
barrier to interconnect the bottle receiving recess to the water 
receptacle. With this arrangement the contents of the bottle flows from 
the mouth of the bottle into the recess, into the channel and into the 
water receptacle. With the bottle secured in the recess, the mouth of the 
bottle, which determines the level of the water is at a height above the 
bottom of the water receptacle to provide the desired depth of water for 
the animal to drink conveniently. 
The bottle receiving recess is centrally located between the lengthwise 
extending sidewalls and between the transversely extending end walls. This 
location of the recess places the reservoir bottle exactly at the center 
when viewed from above so that the mass of the bottle has the maximum 
stabilizing effect on the device. Since food and watering devices of the 
type with which this invention is concerned are typically formed of light 
plastic material, they have a tendency to tip or upset when used by a 
active animal. By positioning the mass of the reservoir bottle over the 
middle of the base member, the reservoir provides added stability to the 
device and reduces the tendency for it to be tipped or upset. The central 
positioning of the reservoir bottle makes it possible to transport the 
device with the filled bottle assembled to the device using the handles 
provided at both ends of the device. 
The food receptacle of the base member is provided with an insert having a 
lip, sidewalls and a bottom which conform in configuration to the walls of 
the receptacle. The insert is detachable or separable from the use 
position assembled to the base member so that it may be filled with food 
or washed separate from the device itself. A convenient finger notch is 
provided in the transverse sidewall of the base member to facilitate 
detaching the insert from its position in the base member. 
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an 
improved food dish and waterer for domestic animals which includes means 
for preventing the food and water from being mixed together by the animal 
using the device. 
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved food 
dish and water dispenser which includes food and water receptacles 
separated by a barrier including an elevated water reservoir. 
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved food 
dish and water dispenser which includes a water reservoir for supplying 
water continuously to a water receptacle and has the reservoir positioned 
centrally in such dish and dispenser to stalbalize the device and to 
prevent commingling of food and water dispensed. 
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved food 
dish and water dispenser in which the water reservoir is centrally located 
between handles at opposite ends so that the device may be transported in 
a level and stable condition even when the reservoir is filled. 
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will beome apparent as 
the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment is read in 
conjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate such preferred 
embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring now to the drawings, the animal food dish and water dispenser of 
the present invention is designated generally by reference numeral 12. The 
food dish and water dispenser 12 includes a base member 14 which is 
adapted to support a water reservoir 16 which is shown in broken lines in 
FIG. 1 only.. As will be explained in detail below, the reservoir 16 
preferably comprises a plastic soft drink bottle which is mounted in an 
inverted position on the base member 14 to supply water continuously over 
a period of time. 
The base member 14 includes a water receptacle 18 and a food receptacle 20 
positioned at opposite ends and separated by a plateau portion 22 which 
extends across the middle portion of the base member 14. Supporting the 
base member 14 are sidewalls 24 which slope outwardly and terminate at 
lower edges 24a. The lower edges 24a are disposed in a common horizontal 
plane and are adapted for engagement with a supporting surface. The 
sidewalls 24 include lengthwise extending walls 24b and transversely 
extending end walls 24c. As is evident from FIG. 2 the lengthwise walls 
24b and the end walls 24c are curved slightly but define a generally 
rectangular area in which the food and water receptacles 20 and 18 
respectively are positioned. The end walls 24c are formed with notches or 
interruptions 24d which extend upwardly from the edges 24a and terminate 
in handle portions 24e. When it is necessary to move the food dish and 
water dispenser 12 from one location to another, the notches 24d 
facilitate inserting the fingers beneath the handle portions 24e so that 
the dish and dispenser may be easily lifted from a horizontal surface. 
As indicated above, the food receptacle 20 and the water receptacle 18 are 
disposed on opposite sides of the plateau portion 22. The food receptacle 
20 is provided with a removable insert which conforms to the size and 
contour of a dish portion 28 which is integrally molded as a part of the 
base member. The dish portion 28 is of generally cup shaped configuration 
having a bottom 28a and upwardly extending walls 28b which terminate in a 
lip 28c which joins the dish portion 28 to the base member side walls 24. 
On the side of the dish portion 28 adjacent the plateau portion 22, the 
lip 28c is connected to the plateau portion across its transversely 
extending length. The insert 26 in its assembled position conforms to the 
contour of the dish portion 28, having a bottom wall 26a, an upwardly 
extending wall 26b and a peripheral lip 26c as is best shown in FIGS. 6 
and 8. As shown in FIG. 6, the end wall 24c is formed with a central 
cut-out 30 which allows one to insert a finger beneath the lip 26c in 
order to separate the insert 26 from the base member 14. The purpose of 
the insert 26 is to permit the filling of the food dish 20 at a location 
remote from the base member 14 such as at the kitchen counter close to the 
source of the food being dispensed into the dish and water dispenser 12. 
In view of the fact that the food normally requires replenishment more 
frequently than the water, the use of the separable insert dish simplifies 
the refilling process considerably. In addition, the separable dish 
permits the insert 26 to be easily washed without washing the entire 
device. The insert 26 is preferably formed of a rigid and durable plastic 
which may be washed in an automatic dishwasher. 
The water receptacle 18 is similar in configuration to the food receptacle 
20 but requires no insert because it need not be refilled frequently and 
seldom needs to be washed. The water receptacle includes a bottom 18a, 
upwardly extending walls 18b and a lip 18c which joins the water 
receptacle to the upper edges of the sidewall 24 on three sides. On the 
forth side, the wall 18b connects smoothly into the wall of the plateau 
portion 22. 
As indicated above the bottle or reservoir 16 comprises an inverted plastic 
bottle of the type conventionally used for soda or soft drinks sold 
commercially in one or two liter bottles. These bottles are readily 
available and need not be included as a part of the present invention as 
distributed commercially. Since the bottles are very bulky, the omission 
of the bottle from the dish and dispenser as sold permits the product to 
be sold in a much more compact package than would otherwise be required. 
To mount the bottle or reservoir 16, the plateau portion 22 of the base 
member 14 is formed with a centrally disposed recess 32 which includes a 
bottom 32a a cylindrical threaded wall 32b and a shallow circular 
depression 32c. The bottle 16 is inverted to an upended vertical position 
with the neck extending into the recess 32, and then the bottle is rotated 
to engage the threads on the bottle with the threads on the recess. When 
completly engaged with the threads in the recess, the mouth of the bottle 
16 is spaced above the bottom 32a of the recess thus permitting water in 
the bottle to discharge into the recess 32. With the bottle 16 assembled 
as described above, the conventional bottle includes a neck flange which 
engages in the circular depression 32c to stabilize the bottle mounting. A 
plurality of protuberances 32d are formed in the circular recess 32 to 
engage the neck flange on the bottle and prevent the bottle from becoming 
tightly engaged with the base member 14 so that it would be difficult to 
disassemble the bottle 16 for refilling. 
For the purpose of allowing the water in the recess 32 to flow outwardly 
into the water receptacle 18, the wall 18b and the plateau portion 22 are 
formed with an upwardly facing channel or passageway 34 which permits the 
water to flow generally horizontally to the right as shown in FIG. 6. 
Since the level of the water in the receptacle 18 is determined by the 
position of the mouth of the bottle 16 and the mouth is positioned above 
the bottom 32a of the recess 32, the recess is dimensioned so that the 
water level will preferably be about half way between the bottom 18a and 
the lip 18c. This depth is sufficient for an animal to drink comfortably 
while maintaining enough wall height above the water level to limit the 
spillage or splashing by the animal. 
One of the important advantages produced by the use of the reservoir bottle 
16 is that the water level may be maintained constant at an optimum level. 
In the conventional water receptacle that must be periodically refilled, 
the level varies from full at the outset to almost nothing as it becomes 
exhausted. Thus there is danger of spillage initially, and in the later 
stages, the water level will often be too shallow for the animal to drink 
comfortably. Because of the feature of being able to maintain a constant 
level during the entire period in which the one or two liters of water 
contained in the bottle are being consumed, the water receptacle may be 
designed to be much shallower. This aspect is very important in designing 
a food dish and water dispenser that would be suitable for small animals 
such as cats including kittens and the like. In a preferred embodiment 
designed specifically for such small animals, the sidewalls 24 were 
slightly less than one and a half inches in height and the depth of the 
receptacles was on the order of one and one quarter inches. Such an 
arrangement allows access to the food and water by very small animals. 
The recess 32 is located equidistant between the lengthwise extending 
sidewalls 24b and equidistant between the end walls 24c. As a consequence, 
the center of mass of the bottle 16 is located over the center of the base 
member 14. With such location of the mass of the bottle and its contents, 
the overall stability of the food dish and water dispenser in increased 
considerably over the stability it would have if the bottle were located 
elsewhere or not employed at all. The prior art devices including such 
food or water reservoirs had them located offset so as to adversely affect 
the stability. This lack of stability is particularly important when 
attempting to transport one of these devices when the reservoir bottle is 
filled. The offset position of the filled reservoir has a serious tendency 
to destabalize the device. However, by having the reservoir located midway 
between the handles 24e, the device of the present invention may be 
transported easily in a level and stable position. 
The other advantage resulting from the central location of the bottle is 
its use as a barrier between the two receptacles. The plateau portion 22 
forms a partial barrier since it extends above the level of the lips of 
the water and food receptacles and would be useful in preventing an animal 
from mixing or commingling the contents of the two receptacles. It is 
known that domestic animals often eat and drink in a fashion that causes 
the water and food contained in adjacent vessels to be mixed together in 
an undesireable manner. The placement of the water bottle 16 between the 
receptacles has the advantage of providing almost a complete barrier to 
the mixing of the contents of the two receptacles. In a preferred 
embodiment of the invention the average width of the receptacles was on 
the order of four inches while the diameter of the two liter plastic soft 
drink bottle is on the order of four inches. Accordingly, an animal moving 
between the two receptacles would have to move around the bottle and 
outside the confines of the sidewalls thereby substantially eliminating 
the possibility of an animal transferring water or food between the two 
receptacles. While the one liter bottle is only three inches in diameter, 
it also provides sufficient obstruction that food or water transfer 
between the two receptlacles is very unlikely. 
From the foregoing description of the preferred embodiment, it should be 
evident that the present invenion provides an improved food dish and water 
dispenser particularly suited for small domestic animals. The centrally 
disposed water reservoir produces increased stability and guarantees 
against mixing or commingling of the food and water contained in the 
device.