Patent Application
20050115517
This invention relates to a container apparatus and method. In particular, according to one embodiment, the invention relates to a container apparatus including an exterior form surrounding an interior form with a compartment such that both the exterior form and the interior form include spaces for containing items. At least one opening in the exterior form and the interior form are provided. According to one embodiment, the container takes the form of a ball and the items are edible animal treats.
Play is an important part of human and animal development. A wide variety of devices have been created to assist in the objective of providing meaningful and rewarding play time for children and pets. By way of example only and not by limitation, in the arena of dog training, it is important that the trainer establish a close bond with the animal in order for training to be effective and meaningful. The most effective training is training that is delivered in a positive, playful and safe environment. Additionally, there are times when training an animal when the objective is simply to play.
Again, by way of example and not by limitation, a wide variety of devices have been developed for the distribution of treats to pets in the form of treat dispensing toys. The Herrenbruck patent, U.S. Pat. No. 6,484,671, discloses a treat dispensing toy with a sound device. The toy is inedible and contains small treats that work their way past interior obstacles to an exit. The Miller patent, U.S. Pat. No. 6,186,096, discloses a retractable, extendable, edible chew treat in a hard inedible covering. A human must manipulate the toy to extract or retract a treat from the toy. The Markham patents, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,129,053 and 5,947,061, disclose an inedible toy with treat receiving and retaining receptacles of various sizes and depths in the surface of the toy. Another Markham patent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,865,146, discloses an edible treat retained in a deformable, inedible bouncing pet toy. As the dog chews on the inedible toy, the treat is crushed and parts of it escape the container. The Mauldin patent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,813,366, discloses another inedible toy with a receptacle for retaining an edible treat.
While the idea of including edible treats with a toy has clearly been done, problems exist with prior art devices and methods. One problem is with the delivery of the treats from the interior of the device. In some cases, the items held within the container are distributed almost immediately such that the duration of the play time and interest in the device is very short. Another problem is with the containers themselves. In the situation where the container is not activated by human movement, prior art containers are more or less predictable in their movements and therefore less interesting to animals. Thus, there is a need in the art for providing a container apparatus and method which maintains the interest of the user for extended periods of time and provides for interesting, unpredictable movements while slowly dispensing items contained within the container. It, therefore, is an object of this invention to provide an improved container apparatus and method for dispensing the items, such as animal treats, for example only.
The container apparatus and method of the present invention includes, according to one embodiment, an exterior form, with an outside and an inside, surrounding an interior form with a compartment wherein the exterior form includes at least one space for containing items on the inside and wherein the compartment includes at least one space for containing items. At least one opening in the interior form and at least one opening in the exterior form is provided.
According to another aspect of the invention, the exterior form further includes at least one at least partially circumferential raised element on the outside of the exterior form. In another aspect, the interior form is offset from a center location of the exterior form. According to a further aspect, the at least one opening in the interior form includes a funnel section for funneling items to the at least one opening in the interior form. According to a further aspect, a removable cap is provided for the at least one opening in the exterior form. In other embodiment, the removable cap is edible and the items are edible. In another aspect of the invention, the exterior form includes an interior recess in combination with the interior form for receiving and retaining a removable cap. In another aspect, the exterior form includes two openings and, in a further aspect, the interior form includes two openings.
According to another embodiment of the invention, an animal treat ball includes a ball, with an outside and an inside, surrounding a separate interior form with a compartment wherein the ball includes at least one space for containing animal treats on the inside and wherein the compartment includes at least one space for containing animal treats. Further, at least one opening in the interior form and at least one opening in the exterior form is provided.
In a further aspect of this embodiment, the ball includes at least one at least partially circumferential raised element on the outside of the ball. In another aspect, the ball includes a sinuous raised edge on the exterior of the ball. Other aspects of this embodiment of this invention are provided as well as set forth hereafter.
According to a further embodiment of the invention, an animal treat ball method includes the steps of providing a ball, with an outside and an inside, surrounding a separate interior form with a compartment wherein the ball includes at least one space for containing animal treats on the inside and wherein the compartment includes at least one space for containing animal treats. At least one opening is provided in the interior form and at least one opening is provided in the exterior form. Thereafter, animal treats are inserted into the ball.
An embodiment of the present invention is illustrated by way of example in
Exterior form 12 may be made of any substance now known or hereafter developed. According to one embodiment, exterior form 12 is a soft yet durable, tear resistant plastic like material. Preferably, container apparatus 10 exterior form 12 is highly resilient and highly resistant to deformation and destruction when chewed and/or clawed upon by an animal, such as a dog, for example only. Exterior form 12 may be in any shape desired, rectangular, circular, cylindrical, spherical, prismatic, oblong, ovoid and/or irregular. According to the embodiment illustrated in
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A still further aspect of the invention is illustrated in
A further embodiment of the invention is illustrated in
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While raised element 32 is shown as a continuous sinuous raised edge 40, it should be understood that a series of separate raised elements may be used to form a raised element as well. Additionally, raised element 32 may only partially surround container 10. Further, there may be simply one raised element 32 at one location on the outside 14 of exterior form 12, that being fully sufficient to cause container 10 to wobble when rolled, etc.
In use, a user inserts items 26 within the inside 16 of container apparatus 10 by first inserting items 26 within the space 22 created by compartment 20 in interior form 18. Certainly, interior form 18 may have multiple compartments 20 and spaces 22 into which items 26 may be placed.
Thereafter, the user installs removable cap(s) 36 in place on exterior form 12. According to a preferred embodiment, removable cap 36 is received and held in place by interior recess 38 as previously described. Removable cap 36, again, may be used in combination with a non-removable cap as desired and, according to one embodiment, removable cap 36 is edible. Thereafter, container apparatus 10 is used to interact with an animal, such as a dog, for example only. Because of raised element 32, in one aspect sinuous raised edge 40, exterior form 12 is caused to wobble as it rolls thereby attracting the dog's attention. The dog is then interested in container apparatus 10, chews on it, and thereby eats and or removes removable cap 36. Thereafter, preferably edible, items 26 are free to exit space 24 of exterior form 12 where they have accumulated prior to removal of removable cap 36. As the animal continues to play with container apparatus 10, additional animal items 26 also are dispersed from compartment 20 of interior form 18 as previously described. Once all the edible items 26 and removable cap(s)36 have been removed and/or eaten, container apparatus 10 may be reconfigured with new items 26 and a new removable cap 36.
The discussion of the present embodiments of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. As such, while the present invention has been disclosed in connection with an embodiment thereof, it should be understood that other embodiments may fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.
