US 6,349,671 B1Granted

Pet feeding system and method of using same

OwnerNan R. W. Lewis, Steven Rylands Braceinventors

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

Pet owners in multi-pet households often find it difficult to ensure that each of their pets eats an dequate, but not excessive, amount of food each day. In addition, in those households where less than all of the pets are on a special diet, and/or where a number of the pets are on different special diets, pet owners must often resort to monitored feedings to ensure that each pet eats only the food which is intended for that pet. Monitored feedings are not only inconvenient and time consuming, they can often lead to behavioral problems in the pet, such as anorexia and competitive eating syndrome. The present invention addresses these problems by providing a pet feeding system which allows only the intended pet to have access to food stored in the dish intended for that pet, and prevents all pets in the household from eating food which is not intended for them.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A pet feeding system comprising:

a feeding dish including at least one food compartment;
an electrical actuator being connected to said feeding dish;
a control unit being connected to said feeding dish and being operably coupled to a base receiver and said electrical actuator;
said base receiver being connected to said feeding dish and being operably coupled to said control unit and said electrical actuator and being capable of receiving a unique electromagnetic signal;
a transmitter disconnected from said feeding dish;
a lid being operably coupled to said electrical actuator and connected to said feeding dish;
said lid being movable perpendicular to a vertical axis between a closed position and an open position, said lid being moved toward said open position when said base receiver receives said unique electromagnetic signal;
said at least one food compartment being inaccessible when said lid is in said closed position;
said at least one food compartment being accessible when said lid is in said open position;
and
a plurality of vent holes being included on said lid and being sized and arranged to prevent access to said at least one food compartment.

8 more elements

A multiple pet feeding system comprising:

at least one pet feeder including a feeding dish having at least a first food compartment and a second food compartment;
an electrical actuator being connected to said feeding dish;
a control unit being connected to said feeding dish and being operably coupled to a base receiver and said electrical actuator;
said base receiver being connected to said feeding dish and being operably coupled to said control unit and said electrical actuator and being capable of receiving a unique electromagnetic signal;
at least a first transmitter being disconnected from said at least one pet feeder and being capable of transmitting a first unique electromagnetic signal;
at least a second transmitter being disconnected from said at least one pet feeder and being capable of transmitting a second unique electromagnetic signal;
a lid being operably coupled to said electrical actuator and connected to said at least one pet feeder;
said lid being movable perpendicular to a vertical axis between a closed position, a first open position and a second open position, said lid being moved toward one of said first open position and said second open position when said base receiver receives at least one of said first unique electromagnetic signal and said second unique electromagnetic signal.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.