Patent Publication Number: US-2022217946-A1

Title: Pet Toy

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/172,472 filed 8 Apr. 2021; the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. The application is a continuation-in-part application claiming priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 29/761,817 filed 11 Dec. 2020; the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     1. Technical Field 
     The disclosure relates to toys for pets and, more particularly toys that can be loaded with an edible material for the pet. Specifically, the disclosure relates to a multiple-purpose pet toy that can function as a chew toy itself and as a holder for a spreadable, edible material that can be consumed by the pet. 
     2. Background Information 
     A wide variety of pet toys exist in the art and many of these are designed for chewing by the pet or delivering edible treats to the pet. One category of these toys are designed to hold edible treats such as kibble that fall out of the toy. Other devices define areas where a spreadable substance such as peanut butter or cheese can be added to the toy. The dog using the toy can then remove the substance by licking. 
     Those who use these toys desire a configuration that remains stable during use so that the material is not spread around to different areas inside a dwelling while the dog finds a convenient position to remove the substance. The users also desire configurations wherein it is possible for the dog to remove substantially all of the material. Users also desire a configuration that is easy to wash wherein substantially all of the substance can be removed. 
     SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     The disclosure provides a pet toy configured to hold a spreadable, edible substance in a manner that allows it to be removed by a pet such as a dog. Examples of the spreadable, edible substance are peanut butter, cream cheese, or a spreadable cheese. The material can be removed by licking. 
     The disclosure provides a first configuration of a pet toy with a hub having a straight inner wall that defines a through opening configured to hold a spreadable substance such as peanut butter while also being configured for removal by a dog through the process of licking. The majority of the through opening is in the shape of a right cylinder and, more particularly, in the shape of a circular or oval right cylinder. The inner wall that defines the opening is free of corners, undercuts, overhangs, and protrusions. This configuration of the opening allows the pet to remove substantially all of the material loaded into the opening and the opening is easy to clean. 
     The disclosure provides a second configuration of a pet toy with a hub having a recess defined by a straight inner wall and a rounded bottom configured to hold a spreadable substance such as peanut butter while also being configured for removal by a dog through the process of licking. The majority of the recess opening is in the shape of a right cylinder and, more particularly, in the shape of a circular or oval right cylinder. The recess does not extend through the hub and is defined by a rounded bottom. The inner wall that defines the opening is free of corners, undercuts, overhangs, and protrusions. This configuration of the opening allows the pet to remove substantially all of the material loaded into the opening and the opening is easy to clean. 
     The disclosure provides a configuration of a pet toy wherein the terminal areas of the opening or recess defined by the hub are defined by rounded surfaces that are free of sharp corners that would be impacted by a dog&#39;s tongue while removing material from the opening. The opening and recess are surrounded by a rim that has a width of about half of the opening diameter to provide a broad surface with no sharp edges surrounding the opening. 
     The disclosure provides a configuration of a pet toy wherein one or a plurality of arms project from a central portion of the hub so that the hub can be tilted by pressing an arm downwardly against a support surface. This also tilts the bottom of the hub up away from the floor to limit the amount of material that is transferred from the hub to the support surface. 
     The disclosure provides a configuration of a pet toy that defines an opening with a length that is about twice the opening diameter. 
     The disclosure provides a configuration of a pet toy wherein the body of the toy is fabricated from a chewable material such as nylon that can be flavored. 
     The preceding non-limiting aspects, as well as others, are more particularly described below. A more complete understanding of the device and how it operates can be obtained by reference to the accompanying drawings, which are not intended to indicate relative size and dimensions of the assemblies or components thereof. In those drawings and the description below, like numeric designations refer to components of like function. Specific terms used in that description are intended to refer only to the particular structure of the embodiments selected for illustration in the drawings, and are not intended to define or limit the scope of the disclosure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an exemplary first configuration for the pet toy. 
         FIG. 2  is a top plan view of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a front elevation view of  FIG. 1  showing the outer wall of the central hub extending both above and below the arms. 
         FIG. 4  is a rear elevation view of  FIG. 1  showing the outer wall of the central hub extending both above and below the arms. 
         FIG. 5  is a right side view showing the toy tilted on a support surface as it is used when a dog pushes down on the arms with a paw while the toy is being used. 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of an exemplary second configuration for the pet toy. 
         FIG. 7  is a top plan view of  FIG. 6 . 
         FIG. 8  is a front elevation view of  FIG. 6  showing the outer wall of the central hub extending both above and below the arms. 
         FIG. 9  is a left side view. 
     
    
    
     Similar numbers refer to similar parts throughout the specification. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     An exemplary configuration of the pet toy is indicated by the reference numeral  2  in the accompanying drawings. Toy  2  in the exemplary configuration includes a hub  4  that defines an opening  6 . A pair of arms  8  extend from hub  4  and connect together to define a ring. A single arm  8  is used in other configurations. In still other configurations, arms  8  project from hub  4  and do not join with each other. In the exemplary configuration, the body of toy  2  itself functions as a chew toy that is made from a chewable material such as nylon. The nylon can be flavored with bacon or chicken. Toy  2  can be used to support a spreadable, edible material such as peanut butter, cream cheese, or a cheese within opening  6  from which the pet removes the substance by licking. The material can be frozen inside opening  6  by placing the loaded toy  2  in a freezer. Arms  8  provide grips for the pet and can be used to tilt toy  2  on a support surface  10  such that the lower end of opening  6  is raised off of surface  10 . 
     Arms  8  are centered along the height of hub  4  such that toy  2  can be tilted as shown in  FIG. 5  regardless of which end of hub  4  is facing upward. The bottom of hub  4  is tilted about 5 to 15 degrees from horizontal at a minimum. Portions of the outer sidewall of hub  4  extend both above and below arms  8 . Each arm  8  is joined with the sidewall of hub  4  with a smoothly curved neck portion  12  that smoothly merges arm  8  with the cylindrical outer sidewall surface of hub  4 . When opening  6  is full of the spreadable substance, having the lower end of opening  6  lifted above surface  10  helps to prevent the material from leaving hub  4  and gathering on surface  10  from which it must be cleaned. The tilting of toy  2  occurs naturally as the pet places a paw on arm  8  or arms  8  to grip toy  2  while licking at the spreadable substance. Using joined arms  8  to define a ring allow hub  4  to be tilted regardless of where a pet pushes down on arms  8  with the degree of tilt changing as the downward pressure moves closed to hub  4 . The ring-shaped arms  8  also allow toy  2  to rock back and forth as the downward pressure moves positions along the ring. 
     Opening  6  is defined by an inner sidewall of hub  4 . The inner sidewall defines a right cylindrical sidewall that is perpendicular to the ring-shaped end surfaces  14  of hub  4 . Opening  6  is in the shape of a right cylinder and, more particularly, in the shape of a circular right cylinder. Other shapes with smooth sidewalls can be used such as an oval right cylinder or another polygonal shape with rounded corners. The inner sidewall that defines opening  6  is free of sharp corners, undercuts, overhangs, and protrusions. This configuration of opening  6  allows the pet to remove substantially all of the material loaded into opening  6  and opening  6  is easy to clean. 
     Ring-shaped ends  14  are joined with the inner sidewall at rounded corners that are free of sharp corners that would be impacted by a dog&#39;s tongue while removing material from opening  6 . Ring-shaped ends  14  have a width of about half to sixty percent of the opening diameter to provide a broad surface with no sharp edges surrounding opening  6 . Ends  14  are also joined with the outer sidewall with rounded corners. 
     Opening  6  has a length (defined between the ends of hub  4 ) along the inner sidewall of hub  4  that is between about 1.8 and 2.2 times the maximum diameter or width of opening  6 . Lengthening the opening compared to its diameter helps retain the spreadable material as the pet&#39;s tongue pushes on the ends of the material. However, the length should not be too long to prevent the pet from accessing all of the material and making the entire length of opening  6  hard to clean. In an exemplary configuration, opening  6  has a diameter of 0.90 inches with the height of hub  4  being 1.88 inches. Hub  4  has an outer diameter of 1.90 inches. Each arm is circular in cross section and has a diameter of 0.88 inches. The overall length of toy  2  is 6.14 inches measured from the farthest point on arms  8  away from hub  4  to the far point on hub  4  (left to right dimension in  FIG. 5 ). Arms  8  define a ring having an outer diameter of 5.63 inches. 
     Arms  8  can define grooves  16  that add grip for a pet&#39;s claws. 
     Another exemplary configuration of the pet toy is indicated by the reference numeral  102  in  FIGS. 6-9 . Toy  102  in the exemplary configuration includes a hub  104  that defines a recess  106 . A pair of arms  8  extend from hub  104  and connect together to define a ring. A single arm  8  is used in other configurations. In still other configurations, arms  8  project from hub  104  and do not join with each other. In the exemplary configuration, the body of toy  102  itself functions as a chew toy that is made from a chewable material such as nylon. The nylon can be flavored with bacon or chicken. Toy  102  can be used to support a spreadable, edible material such as peanut butter, cream cheese, or a cheese within recess  106  from which the pet removes the substance by licking. The material can be frozen inside recess  106  by placing the loaded toy  102  in a freezer. Arms  8  provide grips for the pet and can be used to tilt or rock toy  102  on a support surface  10  on the rounded lower end  108  of hub  104 . 
     Arms  8  are disposed closer to the top of hub  104  than the bottom to allow toy  102  to rock back and forth. The bottom  108  of hub  104  is rounded and may be semi-spherical. Portions of the outer sidewall of hub  104  extend both above and below arms  8 . Each arm  8  is joined with the sidewall of hub  104  with a smoothly curved neck portion  12  that smoothly merges arm  8  with the outer sidewall surface of hub  4 . The tilting of toy  102  occurs naturally as the pet places a paw on arm  8  or arms  8  to grip toy  102  while licking at the spreadable substance. Using joined arms  8  to define a ring allow hub  104  to be tilted regardless of where a pet pushes down on arms  8  with the degree of tilt changing as the downward pressure moves closed to hub  104 . The ring-shaped arms  8  also allow toy  102  to rock back and forth as the downward pressure moves positions along the ring. 
     Recess  106  is defined by an inner sidewall of hub  104 . The upper portion of the inner sidewall defines a right cylindrical sidewall with the bottom portion of the wall defining a rounded bottom surface of recess  106 . The upper portion of recess  106  is in the shape of a right cylinder and, more particularly, in the shape of a circular right cylinder. Other shapes with smooth sidewalls can be used such as an oval right cylinder or another polygonal shape with rounded corners. The inner wall that defines recess  106  is free of sharp corners, undercuts, overhangs, and protrusions. This configuration of recess  106  allows the pet to remove substantially all of the material loaded into recess  106  and recess  106  is easy to clean. 
     The upper end of hub  104  defines a thin raised rim  114  that helps a user remove a spreadable substance from a knife and into recess  106 . Rim  114  is connected to the inner sidewall with a rounded corner and rim  114  is connected to the outer sidewall with a rounded corner. 
     Recess  106  has a diameter of 1.00 to 1.25 inches and a depth of 1.90 to 2.10 inches. Hub  104  has an outer diameter of 1.90 inches and a height of 2.35 inches. The ring has an outer diameter of 5.63 inches and an inner diameter of 3.88 inches. 
     Arms  8  can define grooves  16  that add grip for a pet&#39;s claws. 
     In the foregoing description, certain terms have been used for brevity, clearness, and understanding. No unnecessary limitations are to be implied therefrom beyond the requirement of the prior art because such terms are used for descriptive purposes and are intended to be broadly construed. Moreover, the description and illustration of the invention is an example and the invention is not limited to the exact details shown or described. Modifications and alterations of those embodiments will be apparent to one who reads and understands this general description. The present disclosure should be construed as including all such modifications and alterations insofar as they come within the scope of the appended claims or equivalents thereof. Throughout the description and claims of this specification the words “comprise” and “include” as well as variations of those words, such as “comprises,” “includes,” “comprising,” and “including” are not intended to exclude additives, components, integers, or steps.