Abstract:
A pet watering system which includes a refillable reservoir for holding water. A base is provided that holds the reservoir and receives water therefrom. Secured to the front of the base is a bowl which receives water from the base. A pump circulates water between the base and the bowl. A well is associated with the base, into which water is received from the base before being circulated into the bowl.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE  
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of the filing date of provisional application serial No. 60/420,962, filed Oct. 24, 2002. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    It is believed, by observation, that household pets, namely dogs and cats, have a preference for drinking running water. This is possibly due to some instinctual understanding that running water is more likely to be fresher and cleaner than standing water and, thus, potable. As a consequence, pet watering systems have been developed which provide for the circulation of water in a free-falling stream. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,842,437 and 5,799,609, as well as the “Discussion of Prior Art” contained therein, which describes a variety of different types of pet watering systems.  
           [0003]    By way of the present invention, an improved pet watering system is provided that is simple to use, less likely to result in spillage, is adaptable to permit the volume of water associated with the system to be varied (thus accommodating differing needs of pets of various sizes and the duration of time over which the pet owner may be away), and aerates the water circulated therethrough.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0004]    These objects, as well as others that will become apparent upon reference to the following detailed description and accompanying specification, are provided by a pet watering system which includes a refillable reservoir for holding water. A base is provided that holds the reservoir and receives water therefrom. Secured to the front of the base is a bowl which receives water from the base. A pump circulates water between the base and the bowl. A well is associated with the base, into which water is received from the base before being circulated into the bowl.  
           [0005]    In another aspect of the invention, the bowl includes an inclined ledge, the upper end of the ledge being adjacent the lip or upper end of the well and extending downwardly therefrom into the bowl. Thus, water flowing out of -the well is carried downwardly on the inclined ledge into the bowl. The flowing water also serves to entrain contaminants the pet may bring to the water bowl after eating. Preferably, the pet waterer includes two inclined ledges which extend in opposite directions from the well along the interior wall of the bowl. In order to insure that the water flows down the ledges, rather than directly to the interior of the bowl, the ledges include a recessed channel to help direct water.  
           [0006]    In other aspects of the invention, the pump includes an air intake that aerates the water pumped thereby, and the reservoir is removable from the base and includes a opposed handled that facilitate removal, refilling, and replacing the reservoir.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0007]    [0007]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an automatic pet waterer according to the present invention.  
         [0008]    [0008]FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the automatic pet waterer, with certain components omitted for clarity.  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the automatic pet waterer according to the present invention with portions broken away to show detail.  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the filter cartridge used in the embodiment of FIG. 3, with a portion broken away to show detail. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0011]    Turning to FIG. 1, there is seen a perspective view of an automatic pet watering system, generally designated  10 , embodying the present invention. The pet waterer  10  includes a refillable reservoir or bottle  12  that nests in base member  14 , with the base member  14  having a bowl  16  attached thereto from which the pet drinks the water circulated by the watering system  10 .  
         [0012]    The bottle  12  may be of different volumes, depending upon the amount of water it is contemplated that the pet will consume until refilling of the bottle  12  by the pet owner. The bottle  12  includes two handles  18 ,  20  at its opposite ends, and a neck  22  having an opening through which water enters the bottle  12  during refilling or exits the bottle  12  when it is seated on the base  14 . To this end, neck  22  includes an external screw thread for removably receiving a threaded cap that is removed for refilling the bottle  12  and then reattached to the bottle. The cap includes an integral check valve  24  that is spring biased to its closed position so that water is prevented from exiting the bottle  12  until it is properly seated on the base  14 . To this end, the bottom wall of the base  14  includes a post  26  that, when the bottle  12  is properly seated on the base  14 , unseats the check valve  24  to allow water to flow out of the bottle  12  and into the base  14 .  
         [0013]    The handle  18 , which attaches to the bottle neck  22 , facilitates holding the bottle while it is being refilled. Handle  20  facilitates holding the bottle  12  when it is inverted so that it can be either seated on or removed from the base  14 . As illustrated, the handle  20  is made separately from the barrel portion of the bottle  12  of a stronger plastic and is secured to the bottle  12  by, e.g., screw threads (as shown), glue, ultrasonic welding, etc. Alternatively the handle  20  can be molded with the bottle.  
         [0014]    The water is circulated from the interior of the base  14  to the bowl  16  by means of an electric, continuously-operating pump  28  mounted to the bottom wall of the base  14 . The wiring to connect the pump  28  to a power supply (see the D.C. converter  30  in FIG. 1) connects to a boss  31  secured to the side wall of the base  14 . Alternatively, the pump  28  could be powered by a 110 V AC motor, thus not requiring a DC converter. Water is drawn through a pump water intake. A pre-filter may be provided for the pump water intake. The pre-filter may simply be in the form of a screen-like barrier supported by the base in front of the pump intake. The pre-filter could be either disposable or reusable. The bottom wall of the base  14  is sloped to direct the water toward the pump intake. The water is first circulated out of the pump  28  through a tubing  32 , connecting the pump out flow to a replaceable box filter  34 . In keeping with another aspect of the invention, the pump  28  also includes an air intake to aerate the water pumped therethrough.  
         [0015]    The filtered water flows from the filter  34  through a generally U-shaped channel  36  coextensive with the side wall of the base that has a slight slope so that the water flows downwardly from the filter output toward the bowl  16  that forms part of the base  14 . The channel  36  terminates at the front of the waterer  10  adjacent the bowl  16  and permits the water to drop down into a well structure  38  on the interior of the base  14  before it flows into the bowl  16 . The well  38  reduces the velocity of the circulating water and, consequently, reduces the likelihood of splashing as the water is introduced into the bowl  16 .  
         [0016]    The bowl  16  is preferably manufactured separately from the base  14  and includes one or more threaded posts  40  which facilitate attachment to the base  14  by a complimentary nut  42 . In keeping with the invention, the interior of the bowl  16  is configured to allow the water to flow out of the well  38 , away from the base  14 , and into the central open area of the bowl  16 . The water then flows back towards—and into—the base  14 , where it is directed through the pre-filter to the pump intake and recirculated by the pump  28 . The circulation path is generally shown in FIG. 2 by the arrows  44 .  
         [0017]    In keeping with another aspect of the invention, the bowl  16  is formed with an interior ledge  46  that slopes downwardly from the well  38  toward the opposite side of the bowl  16 . The water flows out of well  38  and down the ledge  46 , over the inner edge of the ledge  46 , and into the center of the bowl  16 . Preferably, each interior ledge has a central recess or channel  47  formed therein to ensure that the circulated water flows down the ledge before emptying into the bowl.  
         [0018]    As best seen in FIG. 2, the bottom  48  of the bowl  16  is sloped downwardly toward the base  14  so that the water in the bowl is directed to a fluid passageway  50  interconnecting the base  14  and the bowl  16 . The fluid passageway  50  directs the water to the pump inlet for recirculation through watering system. The height of the passageway  50  is such that a portion of the passageway extends above the water level, thus permitting any particulates floating on the surface of the water in the bowl  16  to be circulated to the interior of the base  14  and removed by the pre-filter for the pump intake. Access to the well  38  from the exterior of the base  14  by the pets that will use the watering system  10  is deterred by a hinged cover  51  secured to the base  14 .  
         [0019]    In the preferred embodiment of the waterer  10 , the filter  34  comprises a replaceable multi-stage filter cartridge  52 , best seen in FIGS. 3 and 4. The filter cartridge  52  includes a cylindrical housing  54  and eight filter layers comprising, from top to bottom, a mesh filter (not shown), a small ceramic ball filter element  56 , and second mesh filter  58 , an activated carbon filter element  60 , a third mesh filter  62 , a stone filter element  64 , a fourth mesh filter  66 , and a large ceramic ball filter element  68 .  
         [0020]    Each of the mesh filters preferably comprise a 1 mm square stainless steel or plastic/nylon mesh for trapping solids, although other mesh sizes may be appropriate. The ceramic ball filter element  56  consists of small ceramic balls for filtering out heavy metals from the water. This layer  56  constitutes the primary filter, which enables the water to become more bioactive and, hence, precipitate dissolved solids when passing through the activated carbon layer  60 . In the preferred embodiment, the ceramic balls comprise, by wt. %: SiO 2  58.67; CaO 22.92; A 1   2 O 3  9.85; Na 2 O 2.76; K 2 O 2.67; Fe 2 O 3  1.37; sintered iron 0.84; ZnO 0.28; and TiO 2  0.18.  
         [0021]    The activated carbon filter element  60  comprises activated carbon with silver ions to enable the reduction of chlorine and to remove any odors. The activated carbon also enables the precipitation of dissolved solids.  
         [0022]    The stone filter element  64  traps the precipitated solids so that the water is clean when exiting this filter element.  
         [0023]    The large ceramic ball filter element  68  is a secondary layer to further make the water more bioactive after having passed through the activated carbon layer  60  and stone filter  64 . The increased bioactivity, along with the air pumped into the water by the air intake on the pump, increases the oxygen content of the water, thus making it better tasting and healthier. This filter layer also reduces the formation of algae and keeps the water fresh. The composition of the large ceramic balls is preferably the same as that of the small ceramic balls.  
         [0024]    Thus, an improved pet waterer has been provided that meets all the objects of the present invention. While the invention has been described in terms of certain preferred embodiments, there is no intent to limit it to the same. Instead, the scope of the invention is to be defined by the following claims.