Abstract:
An animal feeding dish having a main receptacle with a volume for holding food and a body tenaciously attached within, or formed integrally within, the volume of the main receptacle limits the feeding rate of a ravenous animal to prevent negative consequences of high rate devouring of food placed within the dish.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention generally relates to animal feeding dishes, troughs, or the like, hereinafter collectively referred to as dishes. The present invention relates specifically to feeding dishes which slow the rate of animal feeding.  
         [0003]     2. Discussion of Related Art  
         [0004]     Certain animals may be gluttonous or ravenous feeders to the extent that they may harm themselves. In domesticated animals this is a common problem for mammals such as horses and dogs. When the animal eats too much, or too fast, or both, there may occur unpleasant, unhealthy, or even life-threatening conditions, including vomiting, abdominal distress, colic, intestinal torsions, or the like.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005]     While one might use a smaller dish, or multiple small portions in a larger dish, to slow the feeding rate of an animal, one would soon tire of filling and refilling the dish while the animal looked on in frustration.  
         [0006]     The present invention provides a food dish with means for slowing the feeding rate of an animal while allowing a single filling of the receptacle area, or areas, of the dish. The means for limiting the feeding rate may generally be a body tenaciously attached to, or formed integrally with, and lying within the boundaries of the main receptacle area such that the animal cannot remove the body. In one embodiment, a post is centrally placed in the main receptacle area. The central post may serve other functions such as a handle extension, which handle may be made removable from the post. The post may additionally be made to be collapsible for ease of storage. The post may be removable from the main receptacle.  
         [0007]     The means for limiting the feeding rate might alternatively be a substantially wedge-shaped body lying within the volume of the main receptacle. In some embodiments the means for limiting the feeding rate may be a two-tiered series of volumes spaced in the vertical direction within a common volume of the main receptacle. In other embodiments the means for limiting the feeding rate may be a series of separate volumes in the horizontal direction within the boundaries of the main receptacle. In still other embodiments the means for limiting may be a series of separate volumes in both of the horizontal direction and in the vertical direction within the boundaries of the of the main receptacle.  
         [0008]     Desirably, the means for limiting the feeding rate is constructed and arranged such that no food particles are entrapped in inaccessible crannies within the dish such that a minimum of unnecessary frustration is encountered by the feeding animal while still slowing the tendency for ravenous feeding. The overall shape of the food dish may be such that it eliminates a source of frustration for the animal by having at least one flat side surface which will abut a wall to limit sliding motion of the food dish caused by the ravenous animal pushing against the food dish.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]     The aspects of this invention will be better understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein:  
         [0010]      FIG. 1  is a partial cross section elevation of the food dish showing the main receptacle cut away for clear viewing of the center post.  
         [0011]      FIG. 2  is an elevation similar to  FIG. 1 , but illustrating a telescoping center post which can be collapsed to facilitate storage of the food dish and showing the head of a ravenous animal within the restricted feeding area.  
         [0012]      FIGS. 3-5  are top views of alternative embodiments illustrating variously shaped main receptacles and center posts.  
         [0013]      FIG. 6  is a cross section elevation of a food dish showing a multi-level segmentation of the main receptacle in the vertical direction.  
         [0014]      FIG. 7  is a cross section elevation of a food dish showing a multi-level segmentation of the main receptacle in the vertical direction and further segmentation in the horizontal direction.  
         [0015]      FIG. 8  is a top view of another food dish embodiment showing a segmentation of the main receptacle by division of the feeding area into smaller discrete chambers and volumes.  
         [0016]      FIG. 9  is a top view of a rectangular food dish embodiment showing a restriction of the main receptacle by placement of a curved body therein.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0017]     Referencing  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , a partial cross section elevation of the food dish  11  shows a main receptacle  13  cut away for clear viewing of the center post  15  which restricts access by an animal  17  to the entire feeding area of the receptacle  13 . Particularly as seen in  FIG. 2 , showing the head of a ravenous animal  17  accessing the restricted feeding area through a top plane  19  of the receptacle  13 , the animal  17  may be limited in the amount it can open its jaws, or the amount of food available within a given area of the receptacle  13 , or both, thereby limiting the amount of food the animal  17  can continuously and uninterruptedly consume, thereby slowing the rate of consumption of food which may cause harm to the animal  17 .  
         [0018]     The center post  15  is shown as press fit into a recess below the bottom plane  21  of the receptacle  13  and, in  FIG. 1 , as having a removable handle  23  press fit into a recess  25  in the top of the post  15 . The center post  15  may otherwise be attached by various tenacious but disengagable means such as thread and screw, interlocking channel and post, or the like, or may be integrally formed as a part of the dish  11 . The post  15  may be hollow or solid and desirably has smooth walls and a close fit to the main receptacle  13  to discourage food entrapment therein which might frustrate the animal. The details of construction and attachment of the handle  23  may likewise be left to the sound discretion of the designer and need not be limited to the exemplary illustration.  
         [0019]     As seen in  FIG. 2 , the post  15  may be a telescoping and collapsible center post  29  comprising interlocking sections collectively  31 , of decreasing diameter as they extend upwardly from the receptacle  13 , and which can be collapsed downwardly towards a bottom plane  21  of the receptacle  13  to facilitate storage of the food dish  11 . While indicated in the sectional views as comprising a plastic material, it will be realized that the embodiments of the present invention may be formed from a variety of suitable materials.  
         [0020]      FIGS. 3-5  are top views of alternative embodiments illustrating that the present invention may have variously shaped main receptacles  13  and center posts  15 .  FIG. 3  illustrates a square shape dish  33  and center post  34  which efficaciously provides at least one flat side surface  35  which can abut a wall or the like (not shown) to limit sliding motion of the food dish  33  caused by the ravenous animal pushing against the food dish, thereby eliminating a source of frustration for the animal during feeding. With more than one flat side surface  35  it will be appreciated that a sliding motion of a feeding dish  11  may be restricted in two horizontal axes.  FIG. 4  illustrates a round feeding dish  37  and round center post  39 .  FIG. 5  shows an oval feeding dish  41  and oval center post  43 . The post  15  described as being centered or centrally located within the main receptacle  13 , can include posts which are not necessarily be concentric and which may be off center and still fulfill the intended function. Further, while the post  15  is illustrated as having a circumference shape matching the circumference shape of the main receptacle wall or walls, such an arrangement is not strictly necessary for the functioning of the invention.  
         [0021]     Referring to  FIG. 6 , a cross section elevation of another embodiment  45  of a feeding dish  11  according to the present invention shows a multi-level segmentation of the main receptacle  13  in the vertical direction indicated by arrow  47  as formed by short posts, walls, or other bodies,  48  extending upwardly from the bottom plane  21  of the receptacle  13  to a fraction, illustrated as approximately one-half, of the vertical dimension of the main receptacle  13 . A complementary boss or bosses  50  are formed on the dish side walls  52  to protrude into the main receptacle  13  at substantially the same height as the short walls  48 . Thus, the short walls  48  and bosses  50  form an upper segment  49  of the main receptacle  13  which is open in the horizontal direction, indicated by arrow  51 , while individual volumes, collectively  53 , at a second or lower level  55  adjacent the bottom plane  21  of the receptacle  13 , are formed into individual pockets, holes, or the like, and desirably may be formed as cylinders extending from the upper segment  49  toward the bottom plane  21 . Thus, an animal will be forced to extricate food from the individual volumes  53  one at a time, thereby slowing its rate of consumption.  
         [0022]      FIG. 7  is a cross section elevation of another embodiment  57  of a feeding dish  11  showing a multi-level segmentation of the main receptacle  13  in the vertical direction  47  and further segmentation in the horizontal direction  51 . Similar in functional principles to the embodiment  45  of  FIG. 6 , the embodiment  57  of  FIG. 7  will slow the feeding of the animal in two axes, vertical  47  and horizontal  51 , by utilizing bodies  59  formed by posts, walls, or other bodies, extending upwardly from the bottom plane  21  of the receptacle  13  to the full vertical dimension of the main receptacle  13 . A complementary boss or bosses  50  are formed on the bodies  59  and the dish side walls  52  to protrude into the main receptacle  13  at a substantial fraction of the vertical height of the receptacle thereby forming the lower level individual volumes  53 . It will be appreciated that the apparatus and methodologies of the various embodiments of the present invention may be suitably combined if desired.  
         [0023]      FIG. 8  is a top view of another embodiment  61  of a feeding dish  11  of the present invention showing a segmentation of the main receptacle  13  by division of the feeding area into smaller discrete chambers, collectively  63 , and volumes through the placement of shaped bodies  65  therein. While shown as four truncated wedges arranged cruciform in the main receptacle  13  and abutting a central post  15 , the shaped bodies  65  need not necessarily be either geometrically shaped or symmetrically arranged within the main receptacle  13 .  
         [0024]      FIG. 9  is a top view of another embodiment of a feeding dish  11  of the present invention showing a rectangular food dish  67  with flat side surfaces, collectively  68 . In this embodiment the main receptacle  13  has a restriction to slow the rate of eating caused by the placement of a body  69  having a curved, e.g., generally semi-elliptical, wall in the main receptacle  13 , whereby the animal must follow a curved path in the course of its eating.  
         [0025]     While in the foregoing specification this invention has been described in relation to certain preferred embodiments thereof, and many details have been set forth for purpose of illustration, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention is susceptible to additional embodiments and that certain of the details described herein can be varied considerably without departing from the basic principles of the invention.