The present invention relates to kennel cage feeders. More particularly, the invention is a kennel cage feeder with a collapsible container made from a flexible material that collapses to a relatively flat profile, with the collapsible container connected to a cage-mounted hinge so that the collapsible container may be folded against the cage to maximize interior cage space when not in use.
Cage-mounted feed dishes are well known and available in a variety of different configurations and sizes. Known cage-mounted feed dishes utilize a variety of different methods for attachment to a side of a cage, and in some cases provide a means for altering the position of the dish for pets of different sizes. Such devices are often designed to be removable by the owner so that pets will have more space when the device is not in use.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,513,219 discloses an easy to remove mounting system that can accommodate various cage wall thicknesses.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,928,953 discloses a feeder which can be adjusted for positioning at a selected location in the interior space of a cage.
The prior art, however, does not provide a convenient means for repositioning a feed dish for storage without removal of the feeder device. There is a need then for a collapsible feed dish that can be easily transitioned between use and storage configurations without removal of the device itself.
The present invention provides a solution to this problem by allowing a feeder to transition from a feed-bowl configuration to a storage configuration where it is folded against a cage wall. The collapsible container is preferably made from a flexible membrane material such as TPE or silicone, so that the feeder container can be collapsed to a thin profile. The user can easily collapse the dish from an open-topped container to a relatively flat storage configuration by manually compressing the membrane. A hinge mechanism attached to the feed dish allows the flattened feed dish to be easily folded up against a side of the cage by the user, giving the pet more space in the cage without the need for removing the entire device.
Though it is intended to fully describe the invention as set forth here, it is reasonable to assume that one skilled in the art could adjust, modify, subtract or adapt certain aspects of this collapsible kennel feeder without departing from its original scope. Individual or combined improvements disclosed here could be implemented as part of another collapsible kennel feeder. For example, adding another type of collapsible container device would be well within the bounds of what has been revealed herein. Another example would be to utilize a different means for folding the collapsed feeder against the side of the cage. Still another example would be to mount or suspend a collapsible feeder from the cage floor or ceiling.
The gist of this collapsible kennel feeder is that, in addition to being easily reconfigured to save space, it also does not require removal. The recommended materials will likely be, but are not limited to, rigid and elastomeric plastics.
A more complete understanding of the invention and its advantages will be apparent from a review of the Detailed Description in conjunction with the following Drawings, in which:
Referring initially to
In the use configuration (
In the storage configuration (
While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied one type of collapsible kennel feeder, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.
Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention.
This is a continuation-in-part application based on U.S. patent application Ser. No. 29/387,706 filed on Mar. 17,2011.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 29387706 | Mar 2011 | US |
Child | 13422944 | US |