Patent Publication Number: US-2009229528-A1

Title: Pet food dish with ant barrier

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     Pet food dishes which include a barrier for protecting the contents of the dishes from being reached by ants. 
     BACKGROUND 
     There is an unfilled need for apparatus and method that will adequately protect pet food in an open pet food dish from ants. 
     The Problem  
     The problem is ants. Ants get into the pet food dish. Always prevalent outdoors, they easily find a pet food dish placed outside; but since they can enter just about any house, they oftentimes find the pet dish indoors too. When an explorer ant discovers a food source, he identifies it as food by physically inspecting it. He must, however, inspect the food by touching it. Then, from the point of the food source, he lays down an odor trail all the way back to the chamber of his waiting colony. Thus alerted, the colony swarms forth upon the explorer-ant&#39;s chemical trail. But if the explorer ant is unable to actually reach the food itself, he will lay down no odor trail and no ants will be directed to the food; accordingly, no ant swarm will appear in and around the dish. 
     Ants come in a variety of species. Ant poisons kill some of these but are ineffectual against others, and hence, unreliable. Additionally, no one ever knows how long ant killers will retain their potency; very often the only real indicator is the next big ant swarm. Moreover, people don&#39;t want poisons inside their residence where children or pets might be endangered by contact with them. 
     The Solution  
     The types of ants commonly considered household pests in the United States and elsewhere will not cross a barrier of water. The function of the illustrated pet food dishes is to deny any explorer ant access to the pet food in the dishes by means of a water barrier or water filled “moat” around the circumference of the dishes. This moat may be created in various ways including the following three. In a first configuration, the moat is provided around the bottom or side of the dish. In a second configuration, the moat can be a separate part, such as a ring shaped trough which is placed around a standard pet bowl; the ring is easily accommodated by the standard tapered dish which is narrower at the top. In a third configuration, the separate food dish may be placed in a separate saucer-like pond member with which it inter-engages to limit transverse relative movement. These configurations all create a “no-ant” moat around the pet food dish to keep ants out. 
     Explorer ants will stop short at a water-filled moat. Since they cannot cross it, they will not summon a swarming ant colony to invade the food dish. 
     Convenience is part of the solution. Such a moat dish an any configuration is easy to fill with water and to empty. A water-moat of about thumb-width is easy to clean. A roughly equivalent water depth will prevent the water from evaporating away too quickly. 
     SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE  
     The drawings show several (i) pet food dishes with peripheral liquid barriers, and (ii) separate liquid-barrier-providing attachments for standard pet food dishes, that provide presently preferred embodiments of the invention. 
     One illustrated pet food dish is in the form of a bowl has a peripheral barrier in the form of a trough or channel that extends completely around the bowl. When the trough is filled with liquid such as water, the resulting liquid barrier is sufficiently wide and deep to prevent ants from reaching the contents of the bowl. The illustrated bowl has a bottom wall and upstanding side walls that define a central receptacle for holding a portion of pet food. . The illustrated peripheral trough is connected to the side wall so that there are on no openings or spaces between them through which ants might proceed. In one form, the trough may be formed by an extension of the lower edge of the side walls being turned upwardly. In another form, the trough may be formed by an extension of the upper edge of the side walls being turned first downwardly and then upwardly. In another form, the dish may take the form of a generally flat plate. Another presently preferred embodiment of the invention is a separate, trough-forming attachment that is attachable to a standard pet food bowl. 
     The bowl may be constructed of any suitable material such as plastic, metal, rubber or the like. The bowl may be a single unitary piece of material formed into the desired shape. Plastic and rubber-type material could be formed by known molding processes. Metal could be formed by known stamping or other metal forming methods. Alternatively the bowl could be fabricated from multiple sections that are secured to one another as by a variety of known securing means such as nuts and bolts, adhesive, welding, heat fusion, etc.( to some extent determined by the material of the sections). In particular, the trough-forming portion may be a separate section and may be of a different material from the rest of the bowl, such as a high-friction non-skid material. 
     While the illustrated pet food dish is designed particularly to protect the pet food from ants, it will also serve to separate and protect the food in the dish from other small insects that will not be able to cross the water filled trough. 
    
    
     
       IN THE DRAWINGS: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic top plan view of a pet food dish which is a presently preferred embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic side sectional view of the dish of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic side sectional view of a modified form of pet food dish. 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic top plan view of a different shape dish.. 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic top plan view of an oval shape dish. 
         FIG. 6  is a schematic side sectional view of a modified form of dish fabricated from multiple sections. 
         FIG. 7  is a schematic side sectional view of a modified dish having a trough that is V-shaped in cross-section 
         FIG. 8  is a schematic side sectional view of a modified dish having a trough that is rectangular in cross-section. 
         FIG. 9  is a schematic side sectional view of a separate trough-forming attachment about to be mounted upon a standard pet food dish. 
         FIG. 10  is a schematic side sectional view of the attachment of  FIG. 9  shown mounted upon the standard pet food dish. 
         FIG. 11  is a schematic side sectional view of an attachment and dish similar to that shown in  FIGS. 9 and 10 , with the addition of a sealing member. 
         FIG. 12  is a schematic top plan view of a barrier providing attachment and a dish similar to that of  FIGS. 9 and 10 , where the attachment and the dish are generally rectangular. 
         FIG. 13  is a schematic side sectional view of a pet food dish which is another presently preferred embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 14  is a schematic side sectional view of a low profile pet food dish which is another preferred embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 15  is a schematic side sectional view of a two-member pet food dish which is another preferred embodiment of the invention, comprising a separate bowl inter-engaged with a large moat providing base. 
         FIG. 16  is similar to  FIG. 15 , showing a different means for inter-engaging the bowl and the base. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIGS. 1 and 2  illustrate a pet food dish  20  which is a presently preferred embodiment of the invention. The illustrated dish  20  is in the form of a bowl that includes a generally circular bottom wall  22  and generally up right sidewalls  24 . The bottom wall  22  in the sidewalls  24  define a receptacle  26  for a portion of pet food. 
     Connected to the side walls  24  and extending completely around the bowl is an outer peripheral portion  28  that defines an upwardly open channel or trough  29 . The trough  29  may be filled with water or other liquid to define an ant stopping water barrier or moat  31  that extends completely around the bowl  20 . More particularly, the illustrated outer peripheral trough  28  includes a generally upright inner trough wall  30  that is secured along its upper edge to the upper edge of the side walls  24 . The lower edge of the inner trough wall  30  is connected to a curved bottom trough wall  32  that in turn is connected to the lower edge of a generally upright outer trough wall  34 . The trough walls  30 ,  32  and  34  define the moat.  29 . The trough  29  is sufficiently wide and deep to prevent ants from crossing it to reach the food holding receptacle  26  of the bowl. 
     Good results have been achieved with a trough having a generally semi-circular cross section with a radius of about one-half inch. This provides a water-filled moat about one inch across, with a maximum depth of about one-half inch. This provides an adequate barrier to ants. It also lends itself to be easily cleaned with a finger of the user. The size of the moat may vary somewhat. For example, the moat may be about one and one-half inches across, particularly for a larger dish. 
     As shown best in  FIG. 2 , the bottom trough wall  32  of the bowl  20  supports the bowl on a surface such as a patio, deck or lawn. 
       FIG. 3  illustrates a slightly modified bowl  120  where the peripheral outer trough portion  128  has a short upright inner trough wall  130  which causes the trough  129  to be elevated and located adjacent to the upper edge of the side walls  124 . The bowl  120  rests upon its bottom wall  122 .. 
     The pet food dish may take various different shapes. For example, it may be rectangular as shown in  FIG. 4  or generally oval as shown in  FIG. 5 . 
     The bowl  20  of  FIG. 1 and 2  is shown as a single piece of material formed to provide the food receiving receptacle  26  and the peripheral trough-forming portion  28 . This has several advantages such as ease and economy of manufacture/fabrication and upkeep. Cleaning is easy and facilitated. However, alternative constructions may be utilized. For example, the trough-forming peripheral outer portion may be provided by a separate section. This is illustrated in  FIG. 6  which shows a modified dish in the form of a bowl  200  having a separate peripheral outer trough-defining portion  228  that is fixedly connected to the bowl sidewalls  224  by suitable connecting means such as nuts and bolts  235 . The portion  228  might be made of a higher-friction non-skid material to keep the dish from moving around too much while the pet is eating out of it. Similarly, the illustrated trough  29  has a generally curved bottom provided by the curved bottom trough wall  32 .. This is a desirable configuration in terms of both manufacturer and maintenance of the bowl. It lends itself to be easily and completely cleaned. However, other trough shapes might be utilized.  FIG. 7  illustrates a V-shaped cross-section for the trough-defining peripheral outer portion  328 , while  FIG. 8  illustrates a rectangular shape cross-section for the trough defining outer portion  428 . 
       FIGS. 9 and 10  illustrate a separate, trough-providing attachment  1000  for being removably mounted upon a standard pet food dish in the form of bowl B. This bowl B has generally upright sidewalls  1024  that are sloped or inclined slightly outwardly from top to bottom. The illustrated attachment  1000  is in the form of a closed ring or loop that defines a liquid-holding trough or channel forming portion  1028 . The attachment  1000  is shown in  FIG. 9 , elevated above the standard pet food bowl B in a position to be lowered onto the bowl.  FIG. 10  shows the attachment  1000  after it has been lowered onto the bowl and is supported by the angled sidewalls  1024  of the bowl. The angle of the sidewalls  1024  creates a wedged inter-engagement between the attachment  1000  and the sidewalls  1024 . This wedged inter-engagement will tend to create a seal that serves to block passage of any ants up the outside of the sidewalls  1024  beyond the location of the attachment  1000 . Any ants crawling around the trough-forming portion  1028  will encounter the water filled trough and will thereby be stopped from further movement toward the food in the receptacle  1026 . The attachment  1000  may be removed from the bowl B for cleaning of attachment and /or bowl, for storing the attachment, etc. 
       FIG. 11  illustrates a modified attachment  1000 A which includes and annular sealing member or element  1036  disposed between the outer surface of the sidewalls  1024  and the inner trough wall  1030  of the trough-forming portion  1028 . This sealing element  1036  may be made of a hard but somewhat compliant material such as a rubber O-ring, or it may be made of a softer material such as foam rubber or foam plastic. Such a sealing element  1036  tends to ensure the integrity and completeness of the seal between the engaging surfaces of the sidewalls and the attachment  1000 A, regardless of any irregularities in those surfaces themselves or in their interface. 
       FIG. 12  illustrates an attachment  1200  that may be permanently affixed to another shape standard pet food dish B′ by various known connecting means.  FIG. 12  illustrates the use of an adhesive layer  1235 . Some may find this arrangement more desirable as the attachment will not be misplaced or lost. 
       FIG. 13  illustrates a modified form of trough-providing attachment  1300  that is similar to attachment  1000  except that it is rectangular instead of circular, for attachment to a rectangularly shaped dish.. 
     Having a separate trough-providing attachment has several advantages. A single attachment can be used for several different pet food bowls at different locations and of somewhat different sizes. It will be noted that the larger the size of the bowl, the higher up the attachment will seat itself on the inclined sidewalls. Further, the attachment may be cleaned separately. It may be stored when not needed, as when the bowl is used within the home where there are no ants present. Still further, the attachment is less costly than a complete bowl including a trough- providing portion as it requires less material and simpler and less costly manufacture/fabrication. 
       FIG. 14  illustrates another presently preferred embodiment in the form of a low-profile dish  1400 . This dish  1400  has a bottom wall  1422 . The plate  1400  shares a generally vertical peripheral side wall  1426  with an outer trough-forming portion  1428 . That outer portion  1428  also has a generally flat trough bottom wall  1432  and a generally vertical trough outer wall  1434 . 
       FIG. 15  illustrates a two-member dish device  1500  that is another presently preferred embodiment. Dish device  1500  has a separated base member  1527  that provides the moat  1528 . The base member  1527  has a large bottom wall  1532  and a generally upright outer side wall  1534 . The dish device  1500  also has a separate bowl member C that rests upon the bottom wall  1532  and inter-engages with the bottom wall  1532  to limit transverse movement of the bowl member relative to the bottom wall. In the dish device  1500  the inter-engagement is achieved by a circular retainer rim or lip  1540  that extends upwardly from the upper surface of the bottom wall  1532 . The lip  1540  forms a receptacle for the lower end of the dish member C. This configuration allows use of the base member  1527  with a standard pet food dish. Transverse movement need not be completely prevented so long as it is adequately limited. 
       FIG. 16  shows a modified two-member dish device  1600  similar to dish device  1500  where the interconnection is achieved by an upward protection or pin  1631  on the bottom wall  1632  that is received in a receptacle or recess  1633  in the bottom of the separate dish member C. 
     Other forms of the interconnection may be used such as a pair of inter-engaging velcro-type strips, one on the base member and one on the dish member 
     The illustrated devices may be modified in various ways without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention which is defined by the following claims..