Pet dish and disposable liner

The device is a Pet Dish for holding Disposable Liners. The dish is durable and washable, but the liner can be disposable, in a form that is conventionally available from a number of pre-existing supply sources. The dish is aesthetically pleasing. The dish and liners cooperate so that the liner inserted into the dish will not inadvertently be forced out by the eating pet, nor should the liner be allowed to spin within the dish. The dish and liners are also configured so that a stack of liners can be held conveniently within a single dish. The dish may resemble the face of a pet, such as a cat or dog.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to pet products and, more specifically, to a Pet Dish and Disposable Liner.

2. Description of Related Art

Pet food and water dishes are available in virtually all shapes and sizes, and typically present a common problem for the pet caretakers—they become soiled and are very undesirable to clean once in that condition.

Several inventions have sought to solve this problem using a variety of techniques. Birnie, U.S. Pat. No. 5,445,110 discloses a “Pet Feeding System with Disposable Inserts.” The Birnie device is a semi-spherical bowl having a stack of disposable bowl liners within it. The liners each have an adhesive tab to hold them in their place in the stack. Each liner further has a thumb notch to assist the caretaker in removing the soiled liner for disposal. Another device is the Jordan “Combined Pet Food Bowl and Disposable Liner,” U.S. Pat. No. D330,785. The Jordan device is a cylindrical bowl having a similarly-shaped liner; the liner has a protruding tab that presumably aids in the removal of the liner from the bowl. Another device is the Budd “Disposable Pet Food Dish,” U.S. Pat. No. 4,800,845. It is a bowl having a pair of rectangular bowls formed within it; each bowl has one or more dimples or “raised portions” in their walls to hold the liners in the bowls while in use to provide food and water to the pet. Koch, U.S. Pat. No. 4,428,325 is a “Feeding Bowl and Liner Therefor,” is a bowl/liner combination with horizontal and vertical recesses to retain the liner within the bowl and to aid the caregiver in pulling the liners out of the bowl. The Boehlert “Disposable Feeding Dish and Its Complementary Receptacle,” U.S. Pat. No. 3,698,594 is a cylindrical bowl having a liner, where the liner is adhered to the bowl with a temporary adhesive to prevent its pulling out while the pet is feeding. Brown “Disposable Insert Containing Pet Dish Apparatus”, U.S. Pat. No. 6,644,241 does disclose a dish and liner combination for pet feeding, however, it fails to disclose a retainer structure for holding the stack of liners from popping out. Rinally, the Bates “Dish or Plate,” U.S. Pat. No. 730,082 is simply a plate having disposable liners; there is no aesthetic value to the Bates device, and it will not work with standard disposable liners.

None of the numerous aforementioned attempts at solving the soiled food dish problem has truly provided a desirable solution. Notably lacking is a bowl/liner combination that has any aesthetic attractiveness. Furthermore, the only prior devices that included the capacity to hold a stack of liners required adhesive between each liner; making these approaches undesirable from the perspective of manufacturing, storage and shipping. Furthermore, to prevent spinning (a common problem with the basic bowl-and-liner design), these prior devices either require adhesive, or if they do have some other approach, this other approach is limited to a non-stacked liner arrangement and/or it is very difficult to overcome the anti-spin element so that the liner can be removed.

As discussed above, the instant disclosure is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 11/150,704 ('704). The invention of the '704 application sought to solve the aforementioned problems by providing a combination decorative pet dish that was configured to accept disposable liners within it. That device solved all of these prior art problems very well. Once issue that it did not adequately address, however, is the substantial cost involved to provide the custom-shaped liners described in that disclosure. This is the primary objective of the present invention, namely, to provide a pet dish and liner combination that is aesthetically pleasing, accepts readily-available liners, while also including anti-spin features, and further permitting a stack of liners to be held within the bowl without the need for supplemental adhesive or some sort of tool to remove the liners from the bowl.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In light of the aforementioned problems associated with the prior devices, it is an object of the present invention to provide a Pet Dish and Disposable Liner. The dish should be durable and washable, but the liner should be disposable, in a form that is conventionally available from a number of pre-existing supply sources. The dish should be aesthetically pleasing. The dish and liners should cooperate so that the liner inserted into the dish will not inadvertently be forced out by the eating pet, nor should the liner be allowed to spin within the dish. The dish and liners should also be configured so that a stack of liners can be held conveniently within a single dish. The dish would be particularly attractive if it resembled the face of a pet, such as a cat or dog.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the invention and sets forth the best modes contemplated by the inventors of carrying out their invention. Various modifications, however, will remain readily apparent to those skilled in the art, since the generic principles of the present invention have been defined herein specifically to provide a Pet Dish and Disposable Liner.

The present invention can best be understood by initial consideration ofFIG. 1.FIG. 1is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the pet dish10of the present invention. As discussed above, the dish10of the present invention has many of the general attributes of the invention that is the subject of the '704 application, with the added benefit of being design to accept conventional (usually circular) disposable liners.

The dish10defines a substantially hemispherical recessed portion12that is bounded by the interior wall14. The interior wall14extends up the sides of the recessed portion until it reaches the top wall16. The top wall16is a generally flat, peripheral “shelf” that surrounds the recessed portion12. The transition between the interior wall14and the top wall16is defined as the inner edge20.

The outer form of the dish10is defined by a side wall22. The side wall22may have a lower ridge (not numbered) where it reaches the bottom of the dish10. The ridge is provided to accept a non-skid ring or bottom cover thereon. The ring or cover (not shown) assists in preventing the pet from pushing the dish10around the floor during meals. The ring or cover is preferably a soft, pliable plastic or rubber material that could be snapped on or off of the bottom of the dish10, such as for cleaning or replacement.

At its upper bound, the side wall22transitions to an outer edge18, which then leads to the top wall16.

The dish10has one, two or more liner retaining elements24A,24B, much like the device of the '704 application. The first and second liner retaining elements24A,24B may be shaped to simulate the ears of a pet (somewhat triangularly-shaped, and defined by the recessed portions26). One unique aspect here, however, is a movable liner retaining element28. The movable liner retaining element28acts as a clasp for the liners that are inserted into the recessed portion12. As its name suggests, the movable liner retaining element28is designed to pivot up and away from the depicted first (or down) position. When in the second (or up) position, the movable liner retaining element28is out of the way for installation or removal of the disposable liners. When the movable liner retaining element28is in the first position, it will clamp the liners in place, which (along with the first and second liner retaining elements24A,24B) will prevent the liners from popping out of the dish10, and further will assist in the prevention of the liners spinning do to forces created by the eating pets' tongue. We will now turn toFIG. 2to briefly review the available liner design that will work with the dish10.

FIG. 2is a perspective view of a conventional bowl liner30suitable for use with the dish ofFIG. 1. The liner30has a food receptacle32formed by the top surface of the bowl portion34of the liner30. The periphery of the upper rim of the food receptacle32is an outer rim portion36. These liners30are available in a wide variety of sizes and shapes from several different manufacturing sources. They are design to “nest” together in a liner stack38, as shown. This nesting capability not only allows for the compact storage of the liners30, but also cooperates with the design of the dish of the present invention to provide the easy removal of soiled liners30, and their replacement with clean ones. The specific interaction between these elements is more clearly depicted inFIG. 3.

FIG. 3is an exploded perspective view of the dish ofFIG. 1and a stack of the liners ofFIG. 2. The dish10is shaped so that the outer rim portion36of the liners in the stack38will fit atop the top wall16, while the bowl portion (seeFIG. 2) of the liners in the stack38will fit into the recessed portion12. The outer rim portion36of the stack of liners will fit under the overhanging lip of the liner retaining elements (seeFIG. 1for specifics). To install or remove one or more liners, the movable liner retaining element28is simply flipped up into the second position depicted here so that the bottom side of the outer rim portions36of the liners in the stack38will be released.FIGS. 4A and 4Bdepict the structural specifics of the movable liner retaining element.

FIGS. 4A and 4Bare perspective and side views, respectively, of the movable liner retaining element28of the dish ofFIG. 1. The element28comprises two major structures, the clip element42and the cover element40. The depicted embodiment of the cover element40is a decorative simulation of a tongue or a heart-shape; other shapes and styles may be desired, which is why the cover element40preferably detachably attaches to the clip element42.

The clip element42is defined by a cantilevered section48which extends generally at a right angle to a first and second pivot legs44A,44B. The pivot legs44A,44B terminate adjacent to their distal ends in a opposing, inwardly-turned first and second pivot pins46A and46B. The movable liner retaining element28pivots (between a first and second position) around the pivot pins46A,46B.

The cantilevered section48has a second prong50B extending downwardly from its bottom surface. The prong50B (which may actually be two or more downwardly-extending protrusions) serves to clamp the outer rim portion(s) of the liner(s) firmly to the top wall of the dish, in order to stabilize the liner(s) and resist spinning or other movement. Now turning toFIG. 5, we can continue to explore the features of this novel and nonobvious invention.

FIG. 5is a partially exploded perspective view of the pet dish10ofFIG. 1. In this figure, the functionality of the movable liner retaining element is clearly depicted. The pivot pins46A,46B of the liner retaining element cooperate with first and second bores54A and54B formed in a hinge block52. The hinge block52is formed in the upper portion of the outer wall of the dish10.

As also shown here, the cover element40slides or otherwise attaches to the top of the clip element42so that, when assembled, it will appear as shown inFIGS. 1 and 3. Finally, we will turn toFIGS. 6 and 7to examiner additional specifics related to the structure of the two types of liner retaining elements.

FIG. 6is a partial cutaway side view of the dish ofFIG. 1depicting the first liner retaining element24A (which is essentially identical to the second liner retaining element). The liner retaining element24A comprises a body55extending upwardly and radially outward from the top wall16of the dish. As depicted, the body55may extend past the outer edge18and partially down the side wall22of the dish in order to provide additional strength and durability to the structure. The body55extends upward to terminate in a retaining lip56, which cantilevers over the top of the top wall16. The inner (radially-speaking) surface of the body55, referred to here as the retaining wall58, serves to center and stabilize the outer rim portions of the liner(s) when they are resting in the recessed portion of the dish. As shown here, there is enough vertical spacing between the bottom surface of the retaining lip56and the top surface of the top wall16to allow enough room for a stack of liners to fit therebetween.

The movable liner retaining element28depicted inFIG. 7is in the “first position,” as also shown inFIG. 1. In this position, the prong50is juxtaposed atop the top wall16. As should be appreciated, when in this position, a stack of liners would be clamped between the prong50and the top wall16. A functional feature of the present invention remains to be discussed; as shown inFIGS. 8A-8C.

FIG. 8Ais a cutaway side view of the clip element48of the dish of the present invention. This view provides additional detail regarding the mechanism by which the movable retaining element remains “locked down” atop the stack of liners inserted into the recessed portion of the dish. As shown in thisFIG. 8A, the inside-facing surface of the first pivot leg44A (i.e. the side facing the other pivot leg) has a first tab60A protruding inwardly therefrom.FIG. 8Bdepicts a front view of the clip element48so that the first tab60A on the first pivot leg44A, and the second tab60B on the second pivot leg44B can be clearly seen. It is noted that both of the two prongs50A and50B can also be seen in this front/end view of the clip element48.

As shown inFIG. 8C, the hinge block52has a pair of notches (the second notch62B shown here) on opposing sides of the block52. These notches (e.g.62B) are positioned and sized to cooperate with the aforementioned tabs60A,60B, such that when the movable liner retaining element (seeFIG. 1) is placed in its “down” position (i.e. rotated clockwise in thisFIG. 8C), the tabs60A,60B will engage their respective notches (e.g.62B), and the clip element48(and the entire movable liner retaining element) will be held in that down position. As mentioned above, when in the “down” position, the clip element48exerts clamping pressure atop the outer rim portion (seeFIG. 2) of the liner stack, so that the liner(s) do not pop up and out of the recessed portion of the dish.

Since the liner retaining elements (24A,24B—seeFIG. 1) do not hold down the liner(s) when they are resident within the recessed portion of the dish, the movable liner retaining element (28—seeFIG. 1) is the mechanism that clamps or releases the stack. To add or remove liner(s), simply flip up the movable liner retaining element and liners can easily be slipped in or out from under the liner retaining elements (24A,24B—seeFIG. 1). It is preferred that the tabs60A,60B be constructed from a somewhat pliant material so that they might be engaged and disengaged from the notches62A,62B without undue force being necessary.