The present invention relates to pet toys that dispense food or treats, and particularly, to a pet toy having an adjustable treat dispensing lid that enables the dispensing of treats/food in a controlled way to thereby selectively dispense different sized and shaped treats/food and at varying rates.
Interactive pet toys are becoming increasing popular. There are many benefits attributed to a pet toy that may stimulate an animal. For example, the physical and mental health of a pet may be improved with interactive pet toys that cause a pet to be productively engaged with the pet toy.
Pet toys that dispense treats are commercially available in many configurations. By increasing the intensity and length of time an animal is occupied, the animal may be less prone to engage in negative behaviors. For example, pet toys that dispense edible treats have proven to remediate conditions such as separation anxiety experienced by some pets
One example of a pet toy incorporating a dispensing feature is the invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,526,912. This reference discloses a dispenser having a base portion and an upper portion defined by at least one wall enclosing a container cavity. An opening is formed in the upper portion to gain access to a cavity within the container. A weight is fixed to the base of the dispenser, and provides a means for returning the dispenser to an upright position after the dispenser has been tipped. The dispenser can be moved on a surface in an oscillating and sliding motion by the animal to cause treats to be dispensed from the opening.
While treat dispensing pet toys are generally known, there are still a number of deficiencies with prior art treat dispensing toys. One deficiency is the inability to easily load or remove treats from the pet toy. Other disadvantages with the prior art is the inability to effectively dispense treats of different sizes and shapes, and to dispense at different controlled rates. A further problem with many existing treat dispensing pet toys is that many are difficult to clean, and the residue from pet treats over time can create unpleasant odors and become a general health hazard due to bacterial colonization.
In accordance with the present invention, a treat or food dispensing device and method are provided that enable a pet owner to control the dispensing of various types of treat/food from the device to include treats/food of different sizes and shapes, and to control the rate of dispense. The word “treat” used hereinafter is intended to include all animal food stuffs that can be consumed by an animal to include traditional treats and food of widely varying types. Treats may take a number of different forms such as uniformly sized nuggets, or the treats can be irregularly sized and shaped.
According to a preferred embodiment of a device of the present invention, the dispenser has a body, base, and an adjustable lid that connects to an upper portion of the body. The body is preferably hollow and has one or more containers disposed in the hollow body which receive treats as loaded therein by pet owner. The adjustable lid has one or more openings that are used to dispense the treats. The lid is adjustable in its relative position with respect to an upper surface or edge of the body that enables the pet owner to adjust the size of the treat dispensing openings. In the preferred embodiment, the treat dispensing lid has an extension that frictionally engages the interior wall or surface of the body, and which enables the treat dispensing lid to be precisely positioned in order to optimize the size of the treat dispensing opening. The size and number of openings will determine the rate at which treats can be dispensed. The treat dispensing lid may be positioned at one or more locked positions with respect to the body thereby setting the size of the opening for dispensing the treats. These locked positions are accommodated in the preferred embodiment by one or more detents that are formed on the lid extension and which selectively communicate with grooves formed on the portion of the body which receive the detents.
Within the hollow body of the pet toy, one or more treat holding enclosures or containers are disposed, and attach to the interior wall of the body. In one preferred embodiment, the container walls are spaced from the interior surfaces of the body, and the container has its upper edge joined to the abutting portion of the interior wall of the body.
In accordance with the method of the present invention, the lid may be completely removed in order to charge the pet toy with the desired treats. Alternatively, the lid may be lifted away from the body and the treats may be charged by placing them through the one or more treat dispensing openings. The pet owner then may adjust the size of the treat dispensing openings and provide the pet toy to the animal. As the animal interacts with the pet toy, the pet toy will be tipped, rolled, and otherwise moved in different positions which result in treats being dispensed from the openings. The pet owner may decide to prevent the pet toy from dispensing treats and therefore, the pet owner may simply move the lid to a closed position in which the treat dispensing openings are not exposed.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from review of the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings.
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According to a method of the present invention, a user charges the pet toy with the desired type of treat, according to a known size and shape. The lid 16 may be completely removed for adding treats within the treat holding enclosure 32, or the user may simply lift the lid to the open position and place treats through the opening 24. The user then sets a desired size opening 24 to selectively dispense the treats at a desired rate, based upon the owner's perceived level of interaction by the pet. For particularly aggressive interaction between the animal with the pet toy, this will presumably result in a relatively high rate of dispense of treats that the owner can limit by minimizing the size of the dispense opening 24. On the other hand, if there is a less aggressive interaction, the owner may wish to increase the rate of dispense by raising the lid 16 thereby increasing the size of the dispense opening 24. If the owner wishes for the animal to interact with the pet toy but not receive treats, the owner has the option of simply closing the lid. The odor of the treats within the pet toy alone may induce adequate interaction with the animal.
Although only one treat dispensing opening 24 is illustrated in the preferred embodiments, it shall be understood more than one opening 24 could be disposed around the circumference of the adjustable extension 22 which thereby provides yet further options in the rate at which treats are dispensed.
From the foregoing, a number of advantages are provided for the pet toy. A simple yet robust construction is provided enabling a pet owner to easily charge or remove treats from the pet toy. The adjustable lid enables a user to dispense different sized and shaped treats, and at different rates.
Although the present invention has been disclosed in one or more preferred embodiments, it shall be understood that various other changes and modifications can be made to the invention in accordance with the scope of the claims appended hereto.
This application is a continuation in part of co-pending patent application Ser. No. 12/579,043, filed on Oct. 14, 2009, entitled Treat Dispenser For Animals and Method, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 12579043 | Oct 2009 | US |
Child | 13247039 | US |