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US 5,343,828 AGranted
Primate amusement and environmental enrichment device
AssigneePrimate Products
InventorsPaul W. Houghton, Kenneth R. Bloom
Life of this patent
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AssigneePrimate Products
InventorsPaul W. Houghton, Kenneth R. Bloom
Estimating the term…
A simple puzzle toy designed for the amusement of primates and enrichment of their environment. The device of the preferred embodiment is a sphere having a plurality of holes. Pellets of food or other substances attractive to the primate are placed inside the device. The dimensions the holes are such that the pellets will pass through the holes in certain orientations and will not pass through the holes in other orientations, or such that it will have corners or edges of food and treats too large to be retrieved whole to be chewed until the food is small enough to be aligned with the opening and be removed in its entirety. Arrangement of the pellets, or reduction in size of the pellets by chewing, provides the device's amusement and environmental enrichment value.
An amusement and environment enrichment device comprising a housing having an interior space and at least one hole through the housing to the interior space and at least one item disposed within the interior space, the housing comprising a first section, a second section separable from the first section, and a locking mechanism holding the first section and the second section together, the locking mechanism comprising a cam surface on the first section, and the at least one item having a size and shape permitting it to pass through the at least one hole in at least one spatial orientation of the at least one item and prohibiting it from passing through the at least one hole in at least one spatial orientation of the at least one item, or such that the item will have corners or edges of food and treats too large to be retrieved whole to be chewed until the food is small enough to be aligned with the at least one hole and be removed in its entirety.
A method for amusing and enriching a primate's environment comprising the following steps:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.