Abstract:
An automatic pet wet canned food dispenser robot has a robotic arm comprised of mechanical elements and motors, a can opener and a programmed microprocessor. The programmed microprocessor guides the robotic arm to grasp a food can and utilize the can opener to open the can and invert it and shake out the food contents into a bowl for a pet at predetermined times setup by the pet owner whose presence is not required at time of feeding.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     Ser. No. 14/454,070 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING COMPACT DISK APPENDIX 
     Not Applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is in the technical field of automated pet food dispensers. More particularly, the present invention is in the technical field of automated dispensing of wet canned food to household pets. 
     There have been a number of inventions in automated and timed dispensing of pet food for pets like dogs and cats, as often pet owners need to leave their homes for work or for a weekend and need their pets fed when they are gone. 
     Challenge is most inventions on the market work well only for dispensing dry pet food. However, a large percent of pet owners prefer wet food since dry food contains very little moisture which can lead to dehydration in pets. Further, a large percent of pets prefer wet or moist food over dry food. 
     Almost all current inventions on market which dispense wet food require the pet owner to open hermetically sealed commercially available pet food cans and load their contents into various compartments of an automated dispenser hours or days in advance of when the food will be actually dispensed to pets. Such exposed wet food is susceptible to bacterial infection. Also open food attracts invertebrate pests, for example spiders, ants, flies, pill bugs which will infest food directly and lay eggs and indirectly infest food with their larvae. Finally open food could also attract mice, ants and create unhygienic contamination problems in homes or apartment buildings where pets and pet owners reside. 
     REFERENCES CITED 
     
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                   
               
               
                 U.S. patent DOCUMENTS 
               
             
          
           
               
                 patent 
                 Dated 
                 Inventor 
                 Limitations of Prior Art: 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 US-2008/ 
                 January 
                 Krishna- 
                 Wet food needs to be manually 
               
               
                 0289580A1 
                 2010 
                 murthy 
                 loaded &amp; gets exposed to air  
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 borne bacteria.  
               
               
                 US-2005/ 
                 March 
                 Morosin 
                 Wet food loaded will go bad after 
               
               
                 0066905A1 
                 2005 
                 et. al. 
                 ice packs have stopped providing 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 sufficient cooling. Limited 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 loading capacity. 
               
               
                 US- 
                 March 
                 Figlia; 
                 Single feed automated can  
               
               
                 4,077,360 A 
                 1978 
                 Anthony G 
                 dispenser. Sharp edges on 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 can, not safe for pet feeding. 
               
               
                 US-2012/ 
                 September  
                 Aoyama; 
                 Speech communication system  
               
               
                 0232891 A1 
                 2012 
                 Kazumi 
                 and method, and robot apparatus;  
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 will not open food cans 
               
               
                 US- 
                 September 
                 Watanabe; 
                 Food dishing robot system; will  
               
               
                 7,107,123 B2 
                 2006 
                 Atsushi 
                 not open food cans 
               
               
                 US-2015/ 
                 February 
                 Ramsey; 
                 Automated pet feeding apparatus;  
               
               
                 0053138 A1 
                 2015 
                 David 
                 has a later priority date; handles  
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 pouches only, not food cans. 
               
               
                 US-2016 
                 February 
                 Taneja; 
                 Requires leverage element to be  
               
               
                 /0037748 A1 
                 2016 
                 Bruce 
                 installed by user on each pop top  
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 food can; 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     PRIOR ART LIMITATIONS 
     All wet pet food dispenser prior arts, with exception of U.S. Pat. No. 4,077,360 by Figlia, require a pet owner to open the hermetically sealed cans many hours or days in advance of when the food will actually be served to their pets. The noted exception, U.S. Pat. No. 4,077,360 by Figlia, which opens the hermetically sealed can at time of serving, is limited to serving only 1 can which is not sufficient for pet owners looking for multiple food can servings at one time, or multiple food cans being served over a period of time. Further this noted art by Figlia serves the opened food can with sharp edges which could tear a pet&#39;s tongue or skin around the pet&#39;s mouth and hence the opened food can is not cafe for pets to cat out of. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to an automatic wet food dispenser which consists of a machine which further consists of a can opener, a programmed microprocessor and a mechanical arm driven by motors. 
     NASA&#39;s website defines a robot as a programmable, self-controlled device consisting of electronic, electrical, or mechanical units. In the present invention, a microprocessor and a mechanical arm are collectively referred to as a robot, where the microprocessor contains programming to determine when and where to position the mechanical arm in order for this invention to complete its function of opening a food can and serving the food without presence of a human being. Further, this function can be executed repeatedly at predetermined times without any human intervention at times of operation. 
     The programmed microprocessor instructs the mechanical arm to move a wet food can to an electrical can opener, which opens the wet food can. The microprocessor then instructs the mechanical arm to move the food can away from the can opener, optionally removes the lid of the opened food can and to serve the opened food from the can to a pet serving area. Please note the sequence of the actions after the food can has been opened is not important, for example, the lid of the opened food can could be removed first, then the food can could be moved to the pet serving area and then the food could be served from the can. 
     Please also note that the mechanical arm could be designed with various alternate designs, in which the position of motors and its various mechanical parts can be made and assembled differently, while still achieving the function of moving a food can. In fact, this mechanical arm need not look like a mechanical arm at all, and could be a mechanical machine with some similarity to a coffee or soda vending machine where cups or cans would slide with help of gravity or be moved by levers or by other mechanical means. The objective is simply to move a wet food can to an electrically powered can opener which cuts open the food can. After the food can&#39;s lid has been separated, this mechanical machine moves the food can away from the can opener and removes the lid. Finally, this mechanical machine empties the food can into a serving bowl, which could be done by mechanically grasping and inverting the food can and using a shaking motion to allow gravity to empty out the contents into a below placed bowl. 
     Since the hermetically sealed food can is opened just prior to the food can being dispensed, and not hours or days prior to the food being consumed, the present invention hence overcomes the prior arts&#39; shortcomings related to hygiene noted earlier. Hence, this invention drastically reduces the risk of bacterial, bug and rodent infestation which is a threat to the health of pets and pet owners. 
     The microprocessor can be setup by the user to open and serve the canned pet food at certain times, intervals or a when certain events occur such as pet approaching the pet feeding area or when the previous bowl is empty or perhaps when a “dispense now” button is pressed. 
     Please note while this invention is primarily designed to serve canned food to pets, it can also serve canned food to disabled humans who could use such a device to serve human food to them at predetermined times. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a front lower left side of the present invention 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a front higher right of the present invention 
         FIG. 3  is a partial perspective view of the present invention variation with robot gripper in rotated position to empty a food can 
         FIG. 4  is a sample device interface interaction 
         FIG. 5  is an alternate design for Robot Gripper of the mechanical arm which clasps the food can more firmly before moving it 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view from rear upper side of the present invention with an optional can rack which show the food can rack where a user can stack food cans which are accessible by the mechanical arm 
         FIG. 7  is a front perspective view showing lid removal using gripper only method, whereby the mechanical arm lifts off the lid from the wet food can which has been cut open by the can opener. 
         FIG. 8  is a front perspective view showing lid removal using gripper vacuum method, whereby the mechanical arm lifts off the lid from the wet food can which has been cut open by the can opener. 
         FIG. 9  is a front perspective view showing lid removal using gripper magnet method, whereby the mechanical arm lifts off the lid from the wet food can which has been cut open by the can opener. 
     
    
    
     
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
             
           
               
                   
               
               
                 PARTS REFERENCE LIST: 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 2RM1 
                 Robot Shoulder Motor 
               
               
                   
                 1MH 
                 Microprocessor &amp; Robot 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Base Motor Housing 
               
               
                   
                 2RA1 
                 Robot Upper Arm 
               
               
                   
                 3CB1 
                 Can Opener Blade 
               
               
                   
                 2RM2 
                 Robot Elbow Motor 
               
               
                   
                 3CB2 
                 Can Opener Base 
               
               
                   
                 2RA2 
                 Robot Forearm 
               
               
                   
                 3CH1 
                 Can Opener Housing 
               
               
                   
                 2RM3 
                 Robot Wrist Motor 
               
               
                   
                 3CH2 
                 Can Opener Can Guide 
               
               
                   
                 2RA3 
                 Robot pre-gripper Arm 
               
               
                   
                 3CP 
                 Can Platform 
               
               
                   
                 2RM4 
                 Robot Wrist Rotate Arm 
               
               
                   
                 4PC 
                 Wet Food Can, also 
               
               
                   
                   
                 referred to as: Food Can 
               
               
                   
                 2RG 
                 Robot Gripper, also  
               
               
                   
                   
                 referred as: Gripper 
               
               
                   
                 5WC 
                 Wire Conduit 
               
               
                   
                 3PS 
                 Proximity Sensor to 
               
               
                   
                   
                 detect a pet 
               
               
                   
                 6WS 
                 Weight Sensor - for 
               
               
                   
                   
                 food bowl 
               
               
                   
                 3CAM 
                 Camera for pictures 
               
               
                   
                 7iF 
                 Interface User Display 
               
               
                   
                   
                 and Input 
               
               
                   
                 3LEV 
                 Can Opener Operation 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Lever 
               
               
                   
                 3RCK 
                 Can Food Rack - for 
               
               
                   
                   
                 stacking food cans 
               
               
                   
                 LID 
                 Separated lid from Wet  
               
               
                   
                   
                 Food Can. 
               
               
                   
                 SCP 
                 Suction Cup 
               
               
                   
                 VMTR 
                 Vacuum, also referred  
               
               
                   
                   
                 as Vacuum motor 
               
               
                   
                 PIPE 
                 Pipe element connecting  
               
               
                   
                   
                 Suction Cup to Vacuum 
               
               
                   
                 MAG 
                 Magnet attached to  
               
               
                   
                   
                 Robot Gripper 
               
               
                   
                 Robot 
                 Mechanical Arm, also 
               
               
                   
                   
                 referred as Robot Arm 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring now to the invention in more detail, in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , shown is the robot arm on the right and the can opener on the left. The robot arm has a round base housing  1 MH, which contains the programmed microprocessor and the robot base motor (both these components are not shown in the figure). Please note there is nothing special about placement of the microprocessor, for e.g. instead of being placed in the  1 MH housing, it could be placed in the can opener housing  3 CH 1  or under the  7 iF user interface shown in  FIG. 2  or any other enclosed part which is not exposed to the pet or the user of this invention. This is to prevent any accidental damage to the microprocessor. 
     The robot arm comprises of the robot motors  2 RM 1 ,  2 RM 2 ,  2 RM 3 ,  2 RM 4 ,  2 RGM and  1 MH to enable movement of its various arm components which are  2 RA 1 ,  2 RA 2 ,  2 RA 3  and  2 RG. For example, motor  2 RM 1  will force arm  2 RA 1  to move back and forth depending on what degree turn signal is sent by the programming in the microprocessor. Motor  2 RM 2  turning motion as signaled by the programming in the microprocessor wired to all motors will cause arm  2 RA 2  to move up and down. Same logic applies to  2 RM 3  motor and  2 RA 3  arm combination. Motor  2 RM 4  rotates gripper  2 RG. The gripper  2 RG can be clamped tight on a food can or opened to release food can by motor  2 RGM. Additionally, base housing  1 MH motor&#39;s rotation allows the entire robot arm to rotate at its base. Hence, the robot arm can be moved around to a series of predetermined positions by programming in various angles required of each of the motors along with the timings and appropriate delays such as to create a various motions of the robot arm in order to perform the required functions. 
     Some of the arm components such as  2 RA 1 ,  2 RA 2  shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2  are in pairs but could be optionally designed with single arm components with more strength with no loss in functionality. The center line running through the motors are indicating that single or paired motors could be utilized between each arm component with no loss in functionality. Also the positions of motors could be interchanged. For example, the motor  2 RM 4 , which rotates the robot gripper  2 RG, could be optionally placed between  2 RM 3  and  2 RM 2  with no loss in functionality as now instead of rotating just the wrist, we would still rotate the wrist along with rotating the arm components  2 RA 2  and  2 RA 3 , which is inconsequential since for example, the objective might be to rotate the gripper  2 RG and the food can held by  2 RG. 
     The can opener shown on the left side of  FIG. 2 , sits on its base  3 CB 2  with the can opener blade  3 CB 1  protruding from its housing  3 CH 1  in order to the cut open the wet food can  4 PC. The can opener is powered optionally through the wire conduit  5 WC and is very similar in design to the commercially available standard can openers. Additionally, this can opener could have a different body shape to optionally allow for holders for placing a stack of food cans and empty disposable bowls. However, the basic function of this can opener remains as described. 
     The robot arm utilizes its gripper  2 RG to grasp a food can from the optional food can rack  3 RCK as shown in  FIG. 6 , and moves it and places it on the can opener platform  3 CP as seen in  FIG. 1 . The height of platform  3 CP can be adjusted, so the wet food can  4 PC with varying sizes are at the correct position relative to the can opener blade  3 C 131 , and the food can  4 PC is held in correct vertical position and not too high or past the position of the optional can opener guide  3 CH 2 . Once the lid of the food can is cut open, the robot gripper  2 RG then moves the food can towards the pet serving area and removes the lid before serving the pet food to the pet in the serving area by emptying the contents into a bowl. The exact sequence of moving the can to pet feeding area and removal of can lid is not important and could be reversed or the can could be placed in an intermediate spot where the robot arm removes the lid, before continuing to move the food can toward pet feeding area to serve the food can contents by either serving the opened food can as is or by flipping the contents of the opened food can into a bowl as shown in  FIG. 3 . 
     Microprocessor in  1 MH housing is programmed to control the amount of movements and times of movements for each of the various motors in the invention to create various desired actions and motions as noted of the robotic arm. This is possible as all target locations where the can is moved to and from are predetermined and are coded in the program run by the microprocessor. 
     As per the example menu shown in  FIG. 4 , the user of this invention can setup times or intervals or type of events of when the device will actually open and serve the canned food. Please note that  FIG. 4  only shows a sample interaction and the interaction dialogue that will be seen by the user of the invention can be modified by updating the firmware programming on the device. 
     There can be a few different options of interfaces which can be implemented with this invention. These interfaces will used by the user of this invention to input desired options in order to setup the operation of this invention such s the number of cans to be served as a “single serving” and the times or intervals to serve the canned food. Such interfaces could include a single or multiple button keypads or a touchscreen on the invention itself. Interface can also be available over a wired or wireless connection to a computer or a handheld electronic device, such as a smartphone app. The microprocessor can then guide the opening and serving of pet food at certain times, intervals or when a certain event occurs such as pet approaching the pet feeding area or when the previously served bowl is empty or when a “dispense now” button is pressed by the pet owner or the pet on one of these interfaces. 
     In another variation of this invention, the can opener can be operated by either the robot gripper  2 RG pushing down on the optional lever  3 LEV on the can opener which would operate it similar to commercially available household electrical can openers to operate the can opener blade  3 CB 1  or by the programming in the microprocessor which signals a switch in the can opener housing to operate the can opener blade  3 CB 1 . 
     A variation is also shown in  FIG. 2 , whereby the present invention will optionally have two peripherals: a weight sensor  6 WS under the food bowl and/or a proximity sensor  3 PS. There is nothing special about the locations of these two peripherals on the can opener housing as shown in  FIG. 2 , and these peripherals can also be installed elsewhere on the device, such as on the robot arm. The weight sensor can be calibrated to sense if the food bowl is empty. The proximity sensor can detect if a pet is approaching the feeding area. The programmed microprocessor can be programmed to direct the device to open and dispense a new can if any of these conditions are true:
         i. The food bowl is empty.   ii. The food bowl is empty and current time is within predetermined feeding hours.   iii. The food bowl is empty and a pet is approaching.       

     Instead of having a standalone can opener as shown, optionally, a small can opener could be mounted on a mechanical arm component such as  2 RA 2 , or  2 RG so that the mechanical arm could move itself over a food can, engage the mounted can opener, cut food can&#39;s lid, and then continue with lid removal and serving of contents into a bowl as explained before. 
     An optional camera  3 CAM can take pictures and transmit the same to the pet owner&#39;s device such as a PC or phone to confirm to pet owner that food was served to the pet or a photo of the pet when the pet approaches the device or just a photo of surroundings at predetermined times. 
     Once the can opener has been separated the lid from the body of the wet food can, the actual lifting away of the lid from the body of the wet food can is optional and could be done in a number of alternate ways as noted below. Once the lid is removed using one of the methods noted below, the lid could be then dropped into a trash container or receptacle or any other pre-designated area.
         i. As in  FIG. 7 , the first method involves just using the robot gripper to grasp the edges of the cut lid (LID) and then the mechanical arm as a whole lifts the lid (LID) off the food can.   ii. As in  FIG. 8 , the mechanical gripper could be mounted with a suction cup SCP. The suction cup is connected via a pipe to a vacuum VMTR. The mechanical arm will be guided in this case so the suction cup SCP is placed over the cut lid and the vacuum would attach the cut lid to the suction cup, and then the mechanical arm as a whole lifts the lid off the food can.   iii. As in  FIG. 8 , the mechanical gripper could be mounted with a magnet MAG. The mechanical arm will be guided in this case so the magnet MAG is placed over the cut lid and the magnet MAG would attach to the cut lid, and then the mechanical arm as a whole lifts the lid off the food can.       

     Most of the base, housing and framing material used in both the can opener and the robotic arm could be injection molded plastic or metal. Most motors can be either off the shelf 3 rd  party servo or stepper motors available from a number of vendors, and these motors can be controlled by the programmed microprocessor with precision. The motor which powers the can opener blade can be an AC or DC motor with sufficient power to turn the blade while cutting a wet food can. Other devices noted such as the camera, weight sensor and proximity sensor can be off the shelf products or can be custom built products which are capable of communicating with the microprocessor. 
     Suggested dimensions of the robots arm components  2 RA 1 ,  2 RA 2  are 2 to 6 inches long each, whereas the wrist arm  2 RA 3  could be 2 to 4 inches. However, these dimensions are changeable as long as the programming on the microprocessor is adjusted to accommodate the degrees by which each of the motors connected between these arms will be rotated in order to achieve the effect of moving the wet food can to and from the can opener as described earlier. 
     While the foregoing written description of the invention enables one of ordinary skill to make and use what is considered presently to be the best mode thereof, those of ordinary skill will understand and appreciate the existence of variations, combinations, and equivalents of the specific embodiment, method, and examples herein. The invention should therefore not be limited by the above described embodiment, method, and examples, but by all embodiments and methods within the scope and spirit of the invention.