Efficiency promoting water drinking container for animals

Abstract

A first embodiment of the present invention contemplates a rectangular cubic container including five sub-chambers generally separated from one another by parallel partitions, with each partition having a small weep hole near its bottom. The weep holes are designed to facilitate equalization of water level in each sub-chamber. Each sub-chamber has an elongated length dimension and a width that is relatively narrow and designed to approximate the width of an animal's tongue. When an animal is drinking water from one of the sub-chambers of this embodiment, as the tongue is lapping, the sides of the tongue are close to the inner walls of the sub-chamber, thereby precluding some of the water resting on the tongue from falling off the tongue as the water is lifted into the animal's mouth. In this way, the efficiency of drinking using the lapping technique is enhanced. The inventive device may be made with sub-chambers having differing widths to accommodate to animals of different sizes and different tongue widths. In a further embodiment, a second sub-chamber provides a reservoir for replenishing the first sub-chamber as it drains down through a small weep hole near the bottom of a common wall between the sub-chambers. The second sub-chamber may be designed to receive an inverted bottle filled with water so that continuous replenishment of the drinking sub-chamber through a weep hole connecting the supply sub-chamber may be accomplished.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention relates to an efficiency promoting water drinking container for animals. Animals use their tongues to drink water. They dip their tongue into a container of water with the end of the tongue curved backward and then lift the tongue upwardly bringing a quantity of water into their mouth. This is an extremely inefficient way to convey water into their mouth. In particular, the portion of the tongue that is bent backward is relatively flat allowing the water to spill off the sides of that portion of the tongue as the tongue is lifted up with a quantity of water resting thereon. In a book titled “Canine Behavior,” Dr. Bonnie Beaver, President of the American Veterinary Medical Association, says the following:[0002]“The tongue is curled backward and serves as a ladle to lift the water into the mouth. Because the curl is almost flat across instead of cup-shaped, much of the water spills out from the sides before the dog can get it into...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0011](1) In a first aspect, a first embodiment of the present invention contemplates a generally rectangular cubic container including five sub-chambers generally separated from one another by parallel partitions, with each partition having a small weep hole near its bottom. The weep holes are designed to facilitate equalization of water level in each sub-chamber. Each sub-chamber has an elongated length dimension and a width that is relatively narrow and designed to approximate the width of an animal's tongue. When an animal is drinking water from one of the sub-chambers of this embodiment, as the tongue is lapping, the sides of the tongue are close to the inner walls of the sub-chamber, thereby precluding some of the water resting on the tongue from falling off the tongue as the water is lifted into the animal's mouth. In this way, the efficiency of drinking using the lapping technique is enhanced.

[0013](3) In a further embodiment, if desired, the upper terminations of the walls of each sub-chamber can curve toward one another to enhance retention of water on the tongue of an animal drinking therefrom.

[0017]It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a device in which the side walls of a drinking sub-chamber are made close enough together so that they approximate the width of an animal's tongue to enhance drinking efficiency.

Problems solved by technology

This is an extremely inefficient way to convey water into their mouth.

However, these patents do not contemplate the problem of the inefficiency of lapping of water nor do they propose a solution.

Images