Abstract:
An ant repellent stand for attaching to the underside of a container, such as a dog dish which would hold dog food, which would otherwise attract ants. The stand is made up of at least three feet which are adhered to the underside of the container which holds the ant attracting substance. The feet are made with a downwardly facing cavity into which may be snapped a ring or substance, such as cotton, pressed into position containing an ant repelling substance. A foot extends through the ring downwardly onto the floor.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The field of the invention is ant (or other crawling insect) repelling containers and the invention relates more particularly to a means for supporting a conventional container with feet which may be secured to an underside of the container and/or platform, such as a tray. 
     Numerous attempts have been made to help prevent crawling insects from infesting the contents of a container. Perhaps the most common need for such repellents would be for a pet food dish. Such dishes are commonly kept out of doors where ants are often present. One such approach is shown in the Anderson patent. U.S. Pat. No. 5,996,531. This device provides a container resting on a frame, which has support legs. Each of the support legs has a moat cup. A fluid is placed in the moat cup and provides a barrier to the passage of crawling insects. The filling of the moat cups would be a tedious step and in the event the frame is knocked over, the cups would become empty and require refilling. 
     Another approach is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,148,626 to Haake, Sr. This device is an insect barrier. It utilizes a spongy member disposed under a protective cover or under a peripheral ring surrounding a dish. This device requires a specially made dish to support a center post or the peripheral ring. 
     The Byer patent U.S. Pat. No. 5,285,749 shows a dish supported off a floor by a plurality of pillars. Each pillar has a down-sloping hemispherical shaped collar, which is said to prevent the passage of ants. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,506 to Sanders utilizes an annular moat containing a sticky substance for trapping insects. 
     The Walker patent U.S. Pat. No. 5,619,952 shows an animal feeder, which utilizes a moat with a liquid or a cartridge or pad containing an insect repellent. Once again, a specially formed dish is required. 
     The Frank patent U.S. Pat. No. 6,065,428 shows a pet dish with an insect barrier. The barrier is a recess near the bottom of the dish and includes a surrounding strip containing an insecticide. Once again, a specially formed dish is required. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a crawling insect repelling system which uses a plurality of feet which may be adhered to the underside of an existing dish and/or platform, such as a tray, which feet include a barrier to prevent the passage of crawling insects. 
     The present invention is for an ant repellent stand for affixing to and supporting a container holding an ant attracting substance, such as dog or cat food. The stand can also be used under a platform to support any insect-attracting substance. While ants are the most common crawling insect pests, the term as used herein is intended to include all crawling insects, which night infest the contents of a container. The ant repellent stand has an inverted cup with a base having an upwardly facing attachment surface. The cup has a downwardly depending peripheral side wall extending downwardly from the base and forming a cavity. The upper surface of the cavity is the underside of the base and the side walls of the cavity are the inner surface of the peripheral side walls. A support post is affixed to the base and extends downwardly past the lower edge of the downwardly depending peripheral side walls. An ant repellent ring is supported, within the cavity above the lower edge of the peripheral side wall. Alternatively, cotton or other soft, absorbent material may be pressed into the cavity and a repellant substance may be added to the material. Three or more stands may be affixed to the underside of a dish, plate, or other container holding a substance attractive to crawling insects. Alternatively, a platform may be supported which, in turn, would support a dish, plate, or other container. 
     An additional feature is that the device is made so that animals or children are restricted by the narrowness of the opening to prevent them from reaching the chemical. 
     The present invention is also for the process for preventing ants from invading the contents of a container. The process includes the steps of applying an adhesive on an upper surface of a base of a foot assembly having downwardly depending peripheral side walls, creating a cavity between an undersurface of the base and an inner surface of the downwardly depending peripheral side walls, and providing a support post extending downwardly through the cavity. The base is then pressed against the underside of the container. The pressing step is repeated at least three times to provide at least three feet held to the underside of the container. An ant repellent ring is snapped into the cavity around the support post, thereby preventing crawling insects from reaching the contents of the container. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the top and side of the ant repellent stand of the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the side and a portion of the underside of the stand of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the underside of the stand of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the underside of the stand of FIG. 1 including an ant repelling ring. 
     FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a first embodiment of the ant stand of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of an alternate embodiment of the stand of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional side view of a dog dish held by a plurality of the stands of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 8A is a side view of the repellent stand of FIG. 1, further including a layer of adhesive on the top. 
     FIG. 8B is a side view of the repellent stand of FIG. 1, except using a double sided tape on the upper surface thereof. 
     FIG. 8C is a side view of the repellent stand of FIG. 1 utilizing a suction cup on the upper surface thereof. 
     FIG. 8D is a side view of the repellent stand of FIG. 1 utilizing a hook and eye fastener on the upper surface thereof. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The stand of the present invention is shown in perspective view in FIG.  1  and indicated generally by reference character  10 . Stand  10  has a base  11  with an upper surface  12 . An outer peripheral wall  13  extends downwardly from the outer edge of base  11  and terminates at a bottom edge  14 . A support post or leg  15  extends downwardly from base  11 , as shown best in FIGS. 5 and 6. The ant stand  10  would preferably be injection molded, although of course, other fabrication techniques can be used, depending upon the facilities available. 
     A perspective view of the ant stand  10  is shown in FIG. 2 where it can be seen that support post  15  extends upwardly past the bottom edge  14  of peripheral side wall  13 . The inner surface of the side wall  16  provides the outer wall of a cavity indicated generally by reference character  17 . Four protrusions  18  extend outwardly from support post  15  and are used to facilitate the securing of an ant repelling disk in cavity  17  as set forth in more detail below. 
     The underside  19  of base  11  is shown in FIG. 3 and a series of reinforcing ribs  20  extend radially outwardly under base  11  to strengthen base  11 . It can also be seen in FIGS. 2 and 3 that protrusions  18  have an angled bottom edge  21  which facilitate the insertion of an ant repellent disk  22 . 
     Ant repellent disk  22  is inserted by placing the disk over support post  15  as shown in FIG. 6 in phantom view. Next the disk is pushed up and over protrusions  18  facilitated by angled bottom edges  21 . The top edge  23  of protrusions  18  serve as a securement point for disk  22 . While four protrusions are shown, a lesser or greater number may be used. While a two-piece repellent stand is shown in FIG. 6, the stand can, of course, be injection molded in one piece as shown in FIG.  5  and indicated by reference character  40 . 
     Support post  15  has a bottom surface  24  which rests on the ground floor or other support surface as shown in FIG.  7 . 
     Turning now to FIG. 7, a dog dish  25  has a bowl portion  26  filled with dog food  27 . A series of ant stands  10  have been adhered to the undersurface  28  of bowl portion  26 . The support posts  15  rest on ground surface  29  in a way that raises the undersurface of dish  25  above ground surface  29  so that no ants or other crawling insects can crawl up the outer surface  21  of dish  25 . A curved bowl portion has been deliberately shown to illustrate that it is not necessary that a dish have a flat horizontal surface for the ant repellent stands of the present invention to work. By permitting the attachment of the ant repellent stands to essentially any dish, the pet does not have to abandon the familiar feeding dish and only the repellent stands need to be purchased, rather than an entirely newly fabricated dish. 
     There are numerous ways of adhering the repellent stands to the underside of a dish and four of them are shown in FIG.  8 . In FIG. 8A, a quantity of adhesive has been placed on base  11 . If the dish to which the stand is to be affixed is particularly uneven, a viscous adhesive, such as a silicone adhesive, may be used. 
     As shown in FIG. 8B, double sided adhesive tape  34  may be used, preferably the type made from a foam which is more forgiving for use on a rough surface. 
     A suction cup  35  is shown in FIG.  8 C and may be used in place of an adhesive on a suitably smooth surface. A pair of hook and eye fasteners  36  and  37  of the type commonly sold under the trademark “Velcro,” are shown in FIG.  8 D. These, of course, would be individually adhered, one to base  11  and the other to the underside  28  of the dish or other object. 
     While various means of adhering the repellent stand on the bottom of a dish are indicated in FIG. 8, it is also contemplated that the ant repellent stand could be molded as part of the original dish or platform, such as a tray, itself. This would still permit the use of the removable and replaceable ant repellent disks or other absorbent material in the cavity of the stands. 
     The ant repellent disk is preferably ring shaped, having an inner opening  38 . It has an outer peripheral surface  39  which is preferably positioned adjacent the inner wall surface  16  to fill the cavity. Ant repellent disk  22  is preferably a foam containing any appropriate ant repellent substance. Of course, if the crawling insects which are a problem are not ants, then other repellent chemicals can be used. While disk  22  is shown held by central protrusions  18 , it could be held by protrusions formed on the inner wall surface  16  along the outer edge of disk  22 . Alternatively, disk  22  could be adhered to the underside of reinforcing ribs  20 , if present, or just to the underside of base  11 . It is advantageous, however, that the disk be easily removable for replacement of a new disk in the event the repellent becomes exhausted. By utilizing protrusions, the disk can be easily removed and a new disk installed. The repellent need not be in the shape of a disk but can be a free-form material, such as cotton. The term “sponge-like” substance as used herein is intended to include not only a sponge but also materials, such as cotton or other fibrous materials. 
     The result is a device which is highly versatile in use and may be placed on new dishes as well as previously owned dishes. While pet food is perhaps the largest potential for use of the present invention, it can be used for many other activities, such as on food containers used at a picnic, where ants are a classical problem, barbecues, and other typically outdoor food using activities. It can also be used indoors in areas where ants are a problem, such as food storage areas. It can be used in pantries by attachments directly on the containers or more practically, on the bottom of trays upon which the foods would be stored. 
     Most commonly four repellent stands would be used on the underside of a dish, although three are sufficient for many other uses and always provide a stable support. More than four stands can also be used. 
     The present embodiments of this invention are thus to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive; the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are intended to be embraced therein.