Abstract:
A puzzle pet toy and treat dispenser comprising of a housing, a lid, an inner chamber, a drum aperture, a motor assembly, and an external chamber. The inner chamber is divided by a plurality of vertical radial walls, creating a plurality of containers formed by the inner surface of the vertical radial walls, a plurality of tangential walls parallel to the vertical surface of the drum aperture, the inner surface of the drum aperture, and the lid. The plurality of containers hold non-liquid pet treats, and an opening on the drum aperture aligned vertically with the tangential walls allows the pet treat on a given container to be released into the external chamber, where said treats can be dispensed outside of the pet toy and treat dispenser during play. A motor assembly rotates the drum aperture to the next opening, creating a revolver action to dispense the contents of the next chamber. The toy can be programmed to rotate the aperture at given time intervals, so the pet can receive treats on a predetermined schedule while the owner is away. The motor assembly also contains a means of noise generation during the rotating action to attract the pet to come and play with the toy.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims priority date to a U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/903,273 titled “Pet Toy and Treat Dispenser”, filed on Nov. 12, 2013. 
     
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 
       [0002]    None. 
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    The present invention relates to puzzle pet toys that dispense food or treats, and particularly, to a puzzle pet toy having a plurality of separate chambers that enables the dispensing of treats/food in a controlled way to thereby selectively dispense treats/food at a regular interval. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0004]    Interactive pet toys are becoming increasingly popular. It is well known in the field that there are many benefits attributed to a pet toy that may stimulate an animal. As an example, the physical and mental health of a pet may be improved with interactive toys that cause a pet to be productively engaged with the toy. 
         [0005]    Pet toys that dispense treats are commercially available in myriads of configuration. By regulating the intensity and length of time an animal is occupied, the animal may be less prone to engage in negative behaviors. For example, a pet toy that dispenses treats while the owner is away is likely to pacify the pet from foraging food and engage in a destructive behavior in its living space. 
         [0006]    While treat dispensing pet toys are generally known, many shortcomings of the prior art are not yet addressed in the field. One issue is the inability to sanitize the inner parts of the toy because of the construction of the toy. Other disadvantages with the prior art is that the toy cannot regulate the rate of the treat being dispensed relative to the pet&#39;s attention. For an example, a hungry pet may be aggressively seeking every piece of the treat contained within the toy, while a disinterested pet may not even touch the toy without other motivations to do so. Because of these issues, pet toys from the prior art require a large degree of human supervision in order to be optimal and safe to use with pets. 
         [0007]    Another issue that has not been addressed in the prior art is providing a motorized toy and treat dispenser present in the same device. In addition, pet toys involving motorized parts are notoriously difficult to clean unless the motor can be removed from the toy for cleaning. Therefore most automatic feeders are stationary designs where the feeder dispenses food from a chamber to a pet bowl, and are not designed for the pets to interact with the feeder. 
         [0008]    For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for a pet toy and treat dispenser that can entertain a pet for a few hours with minimal human supervision, and is relatively easy to clean and maintain. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    The present invention is directed to a motorized puzzle pet toy and treat dispenser that enable a pet owner to automatically regulate the rate of dispensing of various types of treat/food from the device. The word “treat” used hereinafter is intended to include all animal foodstuffs that can be consumed by an animal to include traditional treats and food of widely varying types. Treats may take a number of different forms such as uniformly sized nuggets, or the treats can be irregularly sized and shaped. 
         [0010]    The puzzle element of the preferred embodiment requires the pet to interact with the puzzle toy and treat dispenser in order for the toy to dispense the treat to the pet, unlike other pet food dispensers that dispense the treat without the need of the pet&#39;s interaction with the dispenser. 
         [0011]    According to a preferred embodiment of a device of the present invention, the puzzle pet toy and treat dispenser has a housing, a lid, an internal chamber, an external chamber, removable drum aperture, and a removable motor assembly located at the base of the toy. 
         [0012]    The internal chamber has a base, a perimeter wall perpendicular to the base having a cylindrical shape, and a plurality of divider walls that create a plurality of container spaces within the inner chamber. Each container&#39;s section of the perimeter wall has an opening that allows treat to be dispensed from said chamber. These containers can be loaded with treats by opening the lid and pouring treats into the separate chambers. 
         [0013]    The drum aperture is shaped substantially like a cylinder, and envelops the perimeter walls and the base of the inner chamber. A receiver for a driveshaft is provided at the base of the drum aperture, removable connected to a motor assembly. 
         [0014]    The external surface of the drum aperture and the internal surface of the housing form a cavity within the toy, here defined as the external chamber. The drum aperture has an opening in the size and shape of the opening of a perimeter wall of the container section of the internal chamber, such that it allows the treat to dispense from the container to the external chamber when the opening on the drum aperture and the opening of a container are aligned together. In this manner, only a portion of the treat in the inner chamber is dispensed to the external chamber at any given moment. As the drum aperture rotates to the next container, it opens the next container while enclosing the remainder of the containers. 
         [0015]    In the preferred embodiment, the housing comprises of two separable pieces forming a substantially spherical toy, with each hemisphere having at least one opening to allow dispensing treats from the external chamber. The lower housing also has a receptacle that conforms to the shape of the removable motor assembly. The separable pieces of the housings allow the toy to be easily serviced by the pet owner, and in the preferred embodiment, all the parts of the toy are to be made of materials that are dishwasher safe. 
         [0016]    The motor assembly has at least a motor connected to a drivetrain, which in turn connected to a clutch that leads to a drive shaft. The drive shaft is then inserted into the receiver on the bottom of the drum aperture, which allows the motor to freely rotate the drum aperture. The motor assembly also contains a removable battery to power the motor, a switch to operate the motor, and a noisemaker that generates sound when the drum aperture moves to attract the animal to play with the toy. 
         [0017]    During use, the pet must interact with the puzzle toy and treat dispenser in order for the toy to dispense the treats present in the external chamber. The low center of gravity due to having the motor assembly located at the bottom of the puzzle toy allows it to have a roly-poly toy effect, such that if a pet pushes over the toy with its paw or its face, it wobbles for a few moments while seeking the upright orientation of its natural equilibrium state. The puzzle toy will then dispense the treats through the openings on the external surface of the toy until it depletes all the in the external chamber. 
         [0018]    In the preferred embodiment, the motor is located at the base of the toy, to act as a lower center of gravity for the toy. This results in a wobbling factor that allows the toy to move around and dispense treats during play, but also ensuring that the positions of the openings are perpendicular to the ground when the toy is standing still. Without this feature, it is very likely that the toy might be inverted or in a position where the chamber opening is not oriented in a way that allows treats to dispense from the inner chamber to the outer chamber. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         [0019]    These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following descriptions, appended claims and accompanying drawings where: 
           [0020]      FIG. 01  shows a perspective view of the toy; 
           [0021]      FIG. 02  shows an exploded view of the toy with all the removable parts; 
           [0022]      FIGS. 03A and 03B  show a semi-exploded view of the toy assembled with the lid and motor assembly removed; 
           [0023]      FIGS. 04A and 04B  show the toy assembled and the inner surface of the lid; 
           [0024]      FIG. 05  shows a cross section view of the toy, showing the lid aligned with the dividing walls forming a container within the inner chamber, as well as the external chamber formed by the external surface of the drum aperture and the internal surface of the housing; 
           [0025]      FIG. 06  shows a top perspective view of the toy with a section of the drum aperture enveloping the inner chamber, with the opening of the drum aperture aligned with one of the openings of the container in the inner chamber; 
           [0026]      FIG. 07  shows an alternate view of the upper housing attached to the internal chamber; 
           [0027]      FIGS. 08A and 08B  show the inner chamber as a separate piece from the upper housing; 
           [0028]      FIG. 09  shows the bottom view of the inner chamber showing the inner chamber base opening to receive the driveshaft socket from the drum aperture; 
           [0029]      FIG. 10  shows the lower housing assembly with a receptacle to hold the motor assembly within the housing assembly; 
           [0030]      FIG. 11A  shows a top perspective view of the drum aperture; 
           [0031]      FIG. 11B  shows a bottom perspective view of the drum aperture; 
           [0032]      FIGS. 12A and 12B  show a close up view of the drum aperture showing the scooping fins; 
           [0033]      FIGS. 13A ,  13 B, and  13 C show a stop animation view of the drum aperture rotating its opening from one container to the next; 
           [0034]      FIGS. 14A ,  14 B, and  14 C show an alternate stop animation view of the drum aperture rotating its opening from one container to the next; 
           [0035]      FIG. 15A  shows a perspective view of the inner side of the motor assembly; 
           [0036]      FIG. 15B  shows a perspective view of the outer side of the motor assembly without the battery cover; 
           [0037]      FIG. 15C  shows a perspective view of the outer side of the motor assembly with the battery cover; 
           [0038]      FIG. 16  shows an exploded view of the motor assembly; 
           [0039]      FIGS. 17A ,  17 B, and  17 C show the internal views of the motor assembly; 
           [0040]      FIGS. 18A ,  18 B, and  18 C show a step diagram of a dog interacting with the toy; 
           [0041]      FIG. 19  shows a diagram flowchart of the software logic used in the toy; 
           [0042]      FIG. 20  shows a step-by-step use of the toy by the owner; 
           [0043]      FIG. 21  shows a diagram flowchart of a training mode feature in the preferred embodiment. 
       
    
    
     REFERENCE NUMBER INDEX 
       [0000]    
       
         
           
               100  Puzzle Pet Toy and Treat Dispenser 
               101  Upper Housing 
               102  Lower Housing 
               103  Housing Opening 
               104  External Chamber 
               105  Motor Assembly Receiver 
               200  Lid 
               201  Recessed Finger Grips 
               202  Lid dividers 
               300  Inner Chamber 
               301  Inner Chamber Base 
               302  Inner Chamber Perimeter Wall 
               303  Inner Chamber Perimeter Wall Opening 
               304  Inner Chamber Divider Walls 
               305  Inner Chamber Containers 
               306  Inner Chamber Base Opening 
               400  Drum Aperture 
               401  Drum Aperture Base 
               402  Drum Aperture Perimeter Wall 
               403  Drum Aperture Opening 
               404  Driveshaft Socket 
               405  Scooping Fins 
               406  Trigger Actuators 
               500  Motor Assembly 
               501  Battery 
               502  Battery Cover 
               503  Motor 
               504  Gears 
               505  Clutch 
               506  Striker 
               507  Noisemaker 
               508  Driveshaft 
               509  Stop Switch 
               510  Interval Selector 
               511  Power Button 
               512  LED 
               513  Recessed Finger Grips 
               514  Speaker Grill 
               515  PCB Circuit 
               600  Pet 
               700  PCB Logic Flowchart 
               701  Set time interval step 
               702  Power up step 
               703  Chamber Rotation step 
               704  Conditional check step 
               705  Reset time interval step 
               706  Shut down motor and power step 
               800  User Process Flowchart 
               801  Open lid step 
               802  Load container with treats step 
               803  Close lid step 
               804  Remove motor assembly step 
               805  Set timer step 
               806  Replace motor assembly step 
               807  Power on step 
               808  Rotate drum aperture step 
               809  Repeat process step 
               810  Wait for interval step 
               811  Shut down power step 
           
         
       
     
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0103]      FIG. 1  shows the look and feel of the preferred embodiment of the invention. The preferred embodiment comprises a housing  100 , a lid  200 , an inner chamber  300 , a drum aperture  400 , and a motor assembly  500 . 
         [0104]    The housing  100  has a substantially spherical shape to allow the toy to roll around freely during play. Also in the preferred embodiment, the housing  100  can be formed from two pieces combined into one housing, with the pieces here described as an upper housing  101  and a lower housing  102 . The housing should have a plurality of openings  103  to allow treats to dispense from the external chamber  104  within the housing, the external chamber formed by the internal surface of the housing  100  and the external surface of the drum aperture  400 . The lower housing  102  has a receptacle that can retain and hold the motor assembly  500  by using a twist-lock method of securing the motor assembly within the lower housing body. 
         [0105]    The inner chamber  300  comprises of a base  301 , a perimeter wall  302  perpendicular to the base, and a plurality of divider walls  304  that divide the inner chamber into a plurality of containers  305 . The divider walls  304  divide the perimeter wall  302  into equal sections, with each section creating an individual treat container  305 . On each of the perimeter wall section  302  of a given container is an opening  303  that allows treats to travel from an open container  305  to the external chamber  104 . Located on the external surface of the base of the inner chamber  301  is an opening  306  to receive the driveshaft socket  404  of the drum aperture  400 . It should be noted that the internal surface of the opening on inner chamber base  306  does not come to contact with the external surface of the driveshaft socket  404  at any point, only to provide space for the socket during assembly. 
         [0106]    The lid  200  is located at the top of the housing, and in the preferred embodiment is secured using a twist-lock method. A plurality of recessed finger grips  201  are present to assist users in tightening or opening the lid. The inner surface of the lid has a plurality of dividers  203  that aligns with the top portion of the plurality of the divider walls in the inner chamber, creating a complete enclosure of the individual containers  305  from the base  301  to the inner surface of the lid  200 . The plurality of containers  305  are completely enclosed from one another such that the treats are separately contained within each container space; the only possible means of access to the individual container would be by opening the lid  200  or when the drum aperture opening  403  aligns completely with the inner chamber perimeter wall opening  303  of a given container.  FIGS. 15   a ,  15   b , and  15   c  along with  FIGS. 16   a ,  16   b , and  16   c  show the step by step operation of a container being opened and closed during the rotation of the drum aperture  400 . 
         [0107]    The drum aperture  400  has a preferably circular base  401 , and a perimeter wall  402  perpendicular to the base forming a substantially a cylindrical shape. Located at the center of the external surface base is a socket  404  for the driveshaft  507  that connects the motor assembly  500  to the drum aperture  400 . The base  401  is slightly recessed inside the perimeter wall  402  to accommodate the depth of the motor assembly  500  being inserted into the lower housing  102  and the drum aperture  400 . In the preferred embodiment, the socket  404  is shaped in a way that conforms with the driveshaft  507  such that the driveshaft firmly holds to the socket and does not slip when rotating the drum aperture  400 . A symmetrical shape such as a hexagon or an octagon is preferred because it allows multiple ways of the drive fitting into the socket when the motor assembly is replaced into the toy. An opening in the perimeter wall of the aperture  403  is provided to allow treats to travel from the separate containers  305  to the external chamber  104 . The size and shape of the opening  403  should conform substantially of the inner chamber perimeter wall openings  303  of the individual containers to maximize the number of treats dispensed when a container  305  is opened by the drum aperture  400 . 
         [0108]    A plurality of scooping fins  405  can be provided in the upper and lower edges of the perimeter wall  402  that conforms to the shape of the internal surface of the housing  100  as an alternate embodiment of the present invention. The scooping fins  405  prevent any treats that may inadvertently jam on the corners and prevent the drum aperture  400  moving freely during operation. At the perimeter of the external surface of the drum aperture base  401 , a plurality of evenly spaced trigger actuators  406  around the perimeter of the base are provided to interact with the stop switch  508  on the motor assembly  500  and regulate the operation of the motor  502 . 
         [0109]    The motor assembly  500  comprises a housing for the battery  501  powering the motor, a battery cover  502 , a motor  503  connected to a plurality of gears  504 , said plurality of gears having connected to a clutch  505  and a striker  506  that strikes a mechanical bell  507 . The clutch is then connected to driveshaft  508  that can be inserted into a driveshaft socket  404  located on the base of the drum aperture  401 . It should be clear to a person having ordinary skill in the art that the striker and mechanical bell portion can be substituted as any noise-making device that is synchronized to the rotating motion of the drive shaft. Present within the motor assembly is a stop switch  509  that is activated by a plurality of actuators located at the perimeter of the external surface of the drum aperture base. Whenever the stop switch  509  is pressed by the actuator, it stops the motor from moving the drum aperture around the internal chamber. The stop switch  509  is located on the inner side of the motor assembly facing the external surface of the drum aperture base. An interval selector  510  is provided on the inner side of the motor assembly that can be toggled by the user to set the time interval for the aperture opening moving to the next chamber. Having the stop switch  509  and the interval selector  510  located on the inner side of the motor assembly minimizes the possibility of a pet accidentally accessing these control functions. A power button  511  is provided on the outer side of the motor assembly. The power button  511  is recessed slightly so a pet cannot reach the button, but a human using his/her finger can. In the preferred embodiment, an LED indicator  512  is provided along with the power button to inform the user about the mode and the status of the motor. The power button  511  and LED indicator  512  sit on a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) assembly  515  that stores the software logic for the motor operation. 
         [0110]    A speaker grill  514  is provided to allow sound to travel out from the noisemaker  507 . A plurality of recessed finger grips  513  are provided on the outer side of the motor assembly to assist a person to comfortably grip the motor assembly during removal and replacement of the assembly. In the preferred embodiment, the motor assembly is located at the base of the toy and drum aperture and acts as a lower center of gravity for the toy. The contents of the motor assembly acts as a weight, and eliminates the need for a separate weight to achieve a lower center of gravity in an alternate version of the toy. 
         [0111]    The noisemaker  507  creates a sound to attract the pet to interact with the puzzle toy. In the preferred embodiment, the sound produced by the noisemaker is timed to coincide with the rotation of the drum aperture  400  to signal the pet that there are treats ready to be dispensed from the toy. The noisemaker can be in the form of a traditional mechanical bell, as chosen in the preferred embodiment. However, it should be noted that the noisemaker can be in the form of a digital sound chip playing a prerecorded sound, music, or speech that simulates the action of a mechanical bell. 
         [0112]    In the preferred embodiment, the housing, the lid, and the rotating aperture is made out of food grade plastics, such as HDPE, PE, LDPE, ABS, PET, and other suitable food grade plastic commonly used in the field for food containers. The food grade plastic is chosen for its inert, durable characteristics such that it is safe for the pet to consume treats dispensed from the puzzle toy. Finally, the pet owner can safely disassemble and wash the puzzle pet toy after use, and the parts made out of the food grade plastic is ideally made to be dishwasher safe. 
         [0113]      FIGS. 21   a ,  21   b  and  21   c  show the method of play of the preferred embodiment. A pet owner leaves the pet  600  with the toy fully loaded with the treats, sets the time interval, and leaves the pet alone with the toy. As the motor rotates the drum aperture, a noisemaker in the assembly emits an audible sound to attract the pet&#39;s attention. As the pet approaches the toy and interacts with the toy, the toy wobbles around and dispenses treats from the external chamber. The pet then eats the treats dispensed from the toy, and usually will attempt to retrieve more treats by playing with the toy. In the usual scenario, the pet will usually lose interest as soon as it perceives all the treats that have been dispensed by the toy, and would leave the toy alone. The toy then counts down to the next scheduled time interval. Once the countdown is reached, the toy activates the motor, with the drum aperture moving to the next chamber and while doing so, activates the noisemaker that lasts for a few seconds as the drum aperture moves to the next container. The pet will gradually associate the noise with the toy dispensing treats, and will have enough motivation to play with the toy even when the owner is not around. 
         [0114]    In the preferred embodiment, the toy can have several modes of use. One such mode is the general use, where the user opens the lid  801 , loads the treat into the containers  802 , close the lid  803 , remove the motor assembly from the toy  804 , set a time interval  805 , replace the motor assembly  806 , activate the toy by turning the power on  807 , and as the toy is powered on the drum aperture rotates to the next container  809 , and finally leaving the toy for the pet to play with.  FIG. 22  shows a flowchart of the software logic used in the preferred embodiment to regulate the interval between opening the next container. The time interval can be set in increments of 15 minutes between the rotation to the next chamber (15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, and 1 hour), or other time intervals desirable for the toy. Another mode available to the user is the training or demo function, where the drum aperture rotates only once to dispense the treats on the next available chamber.  FIG. 24  shows a flowchart of this mode. The purpose of this function is to train a pet to associate the sound and movements made by the toy with the dispensing of the treat, so the pet understands what the sound means when left alone with the toy. The second mode is desirable in scenarios where the pet has an aversion to the toy, or does not comprehend the function of the toy such that the owner needs to train the pet to understand the purpose of the toy. 
         [0115]    In the training mode, a user simply presses and hold the power button for at least one second or longer  900 . When this is done, the chamber rotates until the trigger actuates switch, and this action shuts down the motor and power. The user can repeat this action indefinitely with the pet, so the pet can associate the noise generated by the toy to signal play and feeding time. It should be noted that the mechanical action of activating the training mode is for illustration purposes, and a person having skilled in the art can create an analogous function with a variation of the process, and this variations are meant to be covered under this disclosure. 
         [0116]    In the Summary of the Invention above and in the Detailed Description of the Invention, and the claims below, and in the accompanying drawings, reference is made to particular features (including method steps) of the invention. It is to be understood that the disclosure of the invention in this specification includes all possible combinations of such particular features. For example, where a particular feature is disclosed in the context of a particular aspect or embodiment of the invention, or a particular claim, that feature can also be used, to the extent possible, in combination with and/or in the context of other particular aspects and embodiments of the invention, and in the invention generally. 
         [0117]    The term “comprises” and grammatical equivalents thereof are used herein to mean that other components, ingredients, steps, etc. are optionally present. For example, an article “comprising” (or “which comprises”) components A, B, and C can consist of (i.e., contain only) components A, B, and C, or can contain not only components A, B, and C but also one or more other components. 
         [0118]    Where reference is made herein to a method comprising two or more defined steps, the defined steps can be carried out in any order or simultaneously (except where the context excludes that possibility), and the method can include one or more other steps which are carried out before any of the defined steps, between two of the defined steps, or after all the defined steps (except where the context excludes that possibility). 
         [0119]    The term “at least” followed by a number is used herein to denote the start of a range beginning with that number (which may be a range having an upper limit or no upper limit, depending on the variable being defined). For example “at least 1” means 1 or more than 1. The term “at most” followed by a number is used herein to denote the end of a range ending with that number (which may be a range having 1 or 0 as its lower limit, or a range having no lower limit, depending upon the variable being defined). For example, “at most 4” means 4 or less than 4, and “at most 40%” means 40% or less than 40%. When, in this specification, a range is given as “(a first number) to (a second number)” or “(a first number)-(a second number),” this means a range whose lower limit is the first number and whose upper limit is the second number. For example, 25 to 100 mm means a range whose lower limit is 25 mm, and whose upper limit is 100 mm. 
         [0120]    Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred versions thereof, other versions are possible. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred version contained herein.