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US 7,426,901 B2Granted
Animal feeding device and method
OwnerRobert Michael Turner, Mark Douglas Olcottinventors
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An automated feeding system for pets with special diets includes a feeder dish which is made accessible to a pet only when an ID tag on the pet is recognized as authorized by a receiver on the device and only for a certain time period. The appropriate amount of food is thereby made available at appropriate time intervals. If a plurality of tags is pre-programmed as authorized, each animal's tag can sequentially activate the feeding device to feed each animal, respectively. However, if more than one authorized tag is present in the feeding time set for one animal, the drawer closes.
Claims32
An animal feeding device, comprising:
- a housing including a drawer movable between a first position inside the housing and a second position outside the housing;
- a device for supplying food in the housing to the drawer in the first position;
- a radio frequency receiver;
- a radio frequency transmitter worn by an animal to send a signal to the receiver;
- and
- a controller, which receives confirmation from the receiver that a signal has been detected from an authorized transmitter which moves the drawer into the second position, and which can distinguish between the signal detected from the authorized transmitter and a signal detected from an unauthorized transmitter.
3 more elements
A method for automatically feeding, comprising the steps of:
- providing a housing having a drawer movable between a first position in the housing and a second position outside of the housing;
- placing food in the drawer;
- providing a receiver to receive a signal generated by a radio frequency transmitter spaced from the receiver;
- programming a controller to recognize the transmitter as authorized;
- putting the transmitter within a range of the receiver so that the receiver can receive the signal;
- having the receiver signal to the controller that a signal from the transmitter has been received;
- having the controller recognize the transmitter as authorized;
- and
- moving the drawer from the first position to the second position.
6 more elements
An animal feeding device, comprising:
- a housing including a food dispensing mechanism, a drawer movable between a first position inside the housing and a second position outside the housing, a device for moving food from the food dispensing mechanism to the drawer;
- a radio frequency receiver in the housing;
- a radio frequency transmitter, spaced from the housing, and worn by an animal to send a signal to the receiver;
- and
- a controller, which receives confirmation from the receiver that a signal has been received from the transmitter, said controller recognizing the transmitter as an authorized transmitter and discriminating between said authorized transmitter, for which the controller moves the drawer into the second position, and an unauthorized transmitter, for which the controller does not move the drawer into the second position, or for which the controller moves the drawer from the second position to the first position,
- wherein the housing includes a body having first and second openings,
- wherein the food dispensing mechanism includes a hopper in the first opening of the body, said hopper having a first open end and a second open end,
- a lid covering the first open end of the hopper,
- a dish removably mounted on the drawer for receiving the food, and
- the drawer being movable within the second opening of the housing, and
- wherein the device for moving the food includes an auger extending between the hopper and the dish, when the drawer is in the first position.
8 more elements
A method for automatically feeding an animal, comprising the steps of:
- providing a housing having a food dispensing mechanism, a drawer to receive the food, which drawer is movable between a first position in the housing and a second position outside of the housing;
- providing a receiver to receive a signal generated by a radio frequency transmitter spaced from the receiver;
- programming a controller to recognize the transmitter as authorized;
- attaching the transmitter to the animal;
- putting the transmitter within a range of the receiver so that the receiver can receive a signal from the transmitter;
- having the receiver signal to the controller that a signal from the transmitter has been received;
- having the controller recognize the transmitter as authorized;
- moving the drawer from the first position to the second position,
- wherein the drawer receives the food at a time when the transmitter is recognized as authorized by the controller;
- and
- moving the drawer from the second position to the first position, if a signal from an unauthorized transmitter is received by the receiver, when the drawer is in the second position.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.