Patent Document

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This patent application is a continuation-in-part of Patent Application Ser. No. 817,620, filed Jan. 10, 1986, now abandoned. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to an automatic pet feeding device and contains a simple, low cost method of providing food and water to small common house pets such as dogs, cats, rabbits, etc., on an automatic, pretimed basis. This invention is unique in design and solves the universal problem of pet owners wishing to leave their pets unattended for short periods of time. Research indicates that pet owners experience, on a regular basis, the dilemma of what to do with their pet when the pet owner is away from home for an extended period of time. Due to the constraints and responsibilities of pet ownership, a pet owner wishing to leave the home for more than one night is faced with the dilemma of what to do with their pet. Common solutions to the problem include (1) the pet owner boarding the pet; (2) imposing on a fried or relative; (3) paying an individual to come to the home and care for the pet; or (4) leaving large amounts of food out for the pet with the attendant problems of staleness, spoilage or vermin infestation or contamination. 
     A number of previous devices have been developed and are cited here. Each have notable deficiencies or limitations either in method of operation, construction, power source, serviceability, safety, or food presentation to the pet. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,248,175 to Navarro employs a driving arrangement to the feeding tray that utilizes a belt/pulley arrangement that can stretch over time, slip with age and is susceptible to breakage after long use. U.S. Pat. No. 2,528,742 to Coffing employs many intricate parts and a light bulb that must be replaced periodically. U.S. Pat. No. 3,826,231 to Crawford et al utilizes a rotating housing/lid which suffers the limitation that the device must be placed in the room in such a manner that access to the food opening does not become obstructed by furniture or other appliances. U.S. Pat. No. 4,249,483 to Sobky intended to moisten the food, subjects the food to spoilage and utilizes a coil spring for indexing purposes, but also suffers the limitation that the pet could possibly become injured if the pet is feeding at the time of actuation. U.S. Pat. No. 4,450,790 to Stansbury Jr. suffers the same limitation as the Crawford patent noted above, namely location and placement of the device is critical for reliable access from the pet. 
     The invention corrects the deficiencies of the above cited patents in that it is safe, simple, requires a minimum number of parts, provides separate food and water after each index below the lid opening, is automatic and thus requires no action by the pet owner. Additionally, it utilizes a relationship between the number of food/water pairs, timer on-time, and motor speed to accomplish indexing. In addition, the food tray can be simply removed without the need for tools and placed in a dishwasher without damage or alteration to the feeding device. Food and water compartment access under the lid opening is not subject to obstruction or limited because the food tray is indexed under the constantly positioned opening. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention, an automatic pet feeding device, discloses a modularly constructed apparatus consisting of seven major components for providing food and water to common household pets in an automatic pretimed fashion. The major components include the following: lid, food tray, base, base closure, drive lug, timer/motor mechanism, and electrical cord. This device is unique in shape and operates automatically by indexing the food tray under the lid opening. The food tray provides a plurality (six pairs shown) of food and water combinations. The food and water compartments are designed with no sharp edges and are easily accessed by the pet at the lid opening. The time/motor mechanism, located in the center of the base module indexes the food tray at, for example, 12 hour intervals. The food tray is supported by the motor shaft and drive lug and rides on top of the base module in a bearingless, beltless manner. The food tray can be removed for cleaning by first detaching the lid and then lifting it off the drive lug. The timer/motor mechanism is AC powered and operates off of standard household current via the electrical cord. The timer/motor mechanism consists of a pulse timer which activates every 12 hours for 10 seconds. This in turn controls a 1 RPM motor that operates through 60 degress and then is shut off by action of the 10 second timer. The number of food and water compartments, the timer/motor relationship eliminates the need for belts, pulleys and gear reduction to accomplish indexing. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of an automatic pet feeding device incorporating the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the pet feeding device of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the portion of the pet feeding device of FIG. 1 showing the relationship of the lid and food tray; 
     FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of another portion of the pet feeding device of FIG. 1 showing the base unit, timer/motor mechanism and base closure; and 
     FIG. 5 is a schematic representation of the electrical control system consisting of the timer/motor module and their interconnection. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Refer to FIGS. 1-5 and reference numbers 10-28 for an illustration of the preferred embodiment. 
     As shown in FIG. 1, the automatic pet feed device generally denoted as the numeral 8, is a self contained modular unit. This device sequences every 12 hours under control of the timer/motor mechanism 22, 23 as depicted in FIGS. 2, 3, and 4. This modular feeding device 8 consists of a lid 10 with feed opening 11, food tray 12 with a plurality of individual food compartments 15 separated by partitions 16, and a base unit 19. This lid 10 fits over the food tray 12 and snugly on the base unit 19, and can be easily removed without the use of tools. The food tray 12 is generally in the shape of a truncated cone with a perimeter skirt 30 depending from the periphery of the base. The food compartments 15 are formed in the slanted wall 31 of the cone shaped food tray 12, open to the slanted wall 31, and equally spaced apart circumferentially of the cone shaped food tray 12. The food compartments 15 depend from the slanted wall 31 and the bottom of the compartments are generally in the plane of the peripheral edge of the perimeter skirt 30. The truncated top 14 of the food tray 12 includes means 13 for engaging a drive lug 17 operatively associated with the driven shaft 26 of the motor 22. The drive lug engagement means 13 is shown best in FIGS. 2 and 3 as a downwardly open pocket having a rectangular peripheral shape located at the geometric center of the truncated top 14 of the food tray 12. The drive lug 17 is also rectangular in peripheral shape and is sized to nest in registration within the pocket 13 with a slide fit. The food tray rests on top of the drive lug 17 which is attached to the motor driven shaft 26 and is held in place by set screw 18. The base unit 19 consists of a central module support 21 having cylindrical side wall 32, a closed top 21A integral with the cylindrical slide wall, and an open bottom 33 defining an enclosure for the timer/motor mechanism 22, 23. A circumferential flange 34 is integral with the side wall 32 and projects radially outwardly from the circumferential edge of the cylindrical side wall 33 defining the open bottom 33 of the central module support 21. The closed top 21A further includes an annular bearing 35 concentric with the top 21A and raised above the top 21A. As shown, the annular bearing 35 is integrally formed with the closed top 21A. The food tray 12 rides on and is supported by the annular bearing 35 of the module support 21. More particularly, the underside of the truncated top 14 of the food tray 12 rests on the annular bearing 15. In addition, the vertical distance from the circumferential flange 34 of the base unit 19 to the bearing surface of the annular bearing 35 is greater than the vertical distance from the peripheral edge of the perimeter skirt 30 to the underside of the truncated to 14 of the food tray 12 so that the peripheral edge of the perimeter skirt 30 is spaced from the circumferential flange 34 of the base unit 19. The top 21A of the base module 21 contains a hole at the center of the top 21A for receiving the motor shaft 26 and mounting holes for the timer/motor mounting bracket 29. The food tray 12 is driven directly by the motor via the engagement of the drive lug 17 in the pocket 13 in the top 14 of the food tray 12 and requires no belts, pulleys, or gears for coupling purposes. The base unit 19 rests on support feet 20 formed in the circumferential flange 34, providing support for the food tray unit. The drive lug 17 motor shaft arrangement provides a superior approach to powering the food tray since it is a direct drive method and requires no gears for speed reduction or belts that can slip with age or stretch in time. In addition, this method provides accuracy and repeatability so that a compartment pair is precisely under the lid opening at all times. 
     The timer/motor mechanisms 22, 23 are contained on a mounting bracket 29 which fits inside the central module support 21 of base unit 19 as shown in FIG. 2. A base closure 27 fits underneath the base unit 19 over the bottom opening 33 of the central module support 21 and includes an opening 28 for the power cord 24. The base closure 27 is cemented to the bottom of the base unit 19 and thus seals the entire timer/motor mechanisms 22, 23 inside the central module support 21 preventing access by the pet or pet owner. 
     With reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the lid 10 is also in the shape of a truncated cone with a perimeter skirt 36 depending from the periphery of the base of the cone. The circumference of the skirt 36 of the lid 10 is larger than the circumference of the skirt 30 of the food tray 12, and the slope of the slanted wall 37 of the lid 10 is essentially the same as the slope of the slanted wall 31 of the food tray 12. The feed opening 11 is formed in the slanted wall 31 of the lid 10 and is sized and configured to expose two adjacent food compartments 15. The lid 10 fits coaxially over the base unit 19 with the peripheral edge of the perimeter skirt 36 of the lid 10 registering with and supported on the circumferential flange 34 of the base unit 19. The perimeter skirt 36 of the lid 10 circumferentially and concentrically overlaps the perimeter skirt 30 of the food tray 12, and the slanted wall 37 of the lid 10 is generally parallel to and spaced a small distance from the slanted wall 31 of the food tray 12. In addition, the truncated to of the lid 10 is spaced from and parallel to the truncated top 14 of the food tray 12. 
     As depicted in FIGS. 4 and 5, the drive mechanism consists of two standard components; an AC motor 22 and a pulsed timer unit 23. FIG. 5 shows the electrical schematic diagram of the control circuit. The AC drive motor turns at a rate of one RPM. The AC drive motor 22 is pulsed every twelve hours by the timer unit 23. The timer unit 23 pulses on the AC drive motor for exactly ten seconds. The motor then turns exactly 60 degrees and stops. The AC motor output shaft 26 is coupled to the food tray via drive lug 17. The timer 23 is powered by a standard household 110 VAC source via a power cord 24 and provides AC power to the AC motor by closing an internal set of contracts and applying electrical energy via the pair of control wires 25. The number of food and water compartments, and the timer/motor relationship thus eliminates the need for belts, pulleys, gear reduction to accomplish indexing. 
     The preferred embodiment has been described and illustrated in detail herein. This invention may be modified, altered, or adapted by those skilled in the art either by increasing or decreasing the number of or volume of the food and water pairs, and the relationship to the timer/motor operation. However, those variations are to be understood to be within the scope and spirit of this invention and the following claims.

Technology Category: 1