Patent Application
20170311568
The present invention is directed to a pet toy specifically intended to be of interest to domestic cats. The toy vibrates and emits a buzzing sound by providing a pod housing the source of the vibration and buzzing sound which can be inserted within relatively soft and flexible covers to renew a cat's interest and to prevent the cat from degrading the pod.
It is well known that pets, and particularly cats, have certain instinctual needs which must be satisfied. Failure to do so can not only recall in the expression of overt antisocial behavior but can even adversely affect the health and well-being of the animal. One of these needs is to hunt by swiping and pouncing upon an object which stimulates the cat's curiosity.
A cat's instinct to swipe and pounce upon an attractant is well known to virtually any cat owner. It is quite common to see a pet owner dangle an attractant such as a feathered bundle or plush mouse in a cat's vicinity to appreciate this instinctual behavior. Such toys also help keep cats occupied and exercised while providing the pet's owner with the enjoyment of watching his or her cat at play.
Although there are a plethora of cat toys which have been designed to satisfy the cat's need to hunt, most are either overly complex, fail to achieve their intended objective or are subject to breakage. Usually one such a toy is in the slightest way damaged, the entire toy must be discarded. Furthermore, most toys, upon purchase, have a set configuration as to color, size and orientation and, as such, often times, a cat will lose interest regardless of the toys initial stimulation.
There are a significant number of vibratory toys such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,038,503, 8,591,281, 8,834,226, 8,834,227, 8,882,558, 8,905,813, 9,017,136 and 9,050,541, all of which are related as having a common assignee. The vibratory powered toys of the prior art, as exemplified by the cited patents, use rotational motors that spin a shaft attached to a counterweight. The rotation of the counterweight induces an oscillatory motion, which, in turn, causes the toy to vibrate and bounce along a support surface. Such toys are taught to have elongated bodies and “legs” arranged in rows on each side of their bodies, the legs being curved and off-set causing the toy to move in a linear path. Although such toys are capable of amusing a cat, their linear motion has been found to be less than ideal in satisfying the cats need to hunt and pounce. In addition, a stimulating cat is notorious in its quest to hunt, pounce and to degrade any toy which grabs its attention. If the “legs” of such a toy are deformed or detached from its body, the toy's characteristic movement will be lost.
It has now been found that a superior vibratory toy in the form of a reusable pod insertable within a flexible rubber or rubberlike cover is highly stimulating, resistant to degradation through abusive play and capable of renewing the cat's interest by replacing covers of differing animal shapes and colors. Thus, the attributes of a vibratory toy can be realized while overcoming the limitations of the prior art.
These further objects will be more readily apparent when considering the following disclosure and appended claims.
A vibratory pet toy comprising:
A kit comprising:
Novel features which are characteristic of the invention, as to organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof will be better understood from the following description considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for illustration description only and are not intended as definitions of the limits of the invention. The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are recited with particularity in the claims.
There has been broadly outlined more important features of the invention in the summary above and in order that the detailed description which follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form additional subject matter of the claims appended hereto. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based readily may be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important therefore, that claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
Certain terminology and the derivations thereof may be used in the following description for convenience and reference only, and will not be limiting. For example, words such as “upward,” “downward,” “left” and “right” refer to directions in the drawings to which reference is made unless otherwise stated. Similar words such as “inward” and “outward” refer to directions toward and away from, respectively, the geometric center of a device or area and designated parts thereof. Reference in the singular tense include the plural and vice versa, unless otherwise noted.
The present invention is directed to a vibratory pet toy as well as a kit based upon it. The first component of the vibratory pet toy is depicted in
As noted, the present toy operates by vibration causing the toy to vibrate and to create a buzzing sound as the toy bounces about a supporting surface such as surface 26 (
Flexible cover 20 is shown in
In constructing the vibratory pet toy 40 of
In turning to
As noted previously, the present invention can also be characterized as being in the form of a kit. Specifically, pod 10 can be employed repeatedly with different flexible covers 20 while remaining within the spirit and scope of the present invention. It is believed that a cat activity engaging vibratory to 40 will, in time, degrade cover 20 to the point where it no longer serves the purpose of supporting and frictionally housing pod 10 as intended. Rather than to replace the entire vibratory toy, flexible cover 20 can be replaced with another flexible cover creating what is virtually a new toy as needed. Even if flexible cover 20 was not sufficiently degraded to as to require replacement, the present vibratory toy could be sold with multiple flexible covers of different shapes and colors to create renewed interest.
The above disclosure is sufficient to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to practice the invention, and provides the best mode of practicing the invention presently contemplated by the inventor. While there is provided herein a full and complete disclosure of the preferred embodiments of the invention, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction, dimensions, relationships, or operations as described. Various modifications, alternative constructions, changes and equivalents will readily occur to those skilled in the art and may be employed as suitable without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention. Such changes might involve alternative materials, components, structural arrangements, sizes, shapes, forms, functions, operational features or the like. Therefore, the above description and illustration should not be considered as limiting the scope of the invention, which is defined by the appended claims.
