Pet Feeding Tray With Interconnected Grooves
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pet feeding devices fail to stimulate pets' natural behavior, lead to rapid food consumption causing discomfort, and require multiple sizes for different pets, resulting in increased production costs and potential laziness or aggression.
Innovation Solution
A tray with interconnected up-turned grooves that require pets to retrieve food slowly, stimulating their natural behavior and intelligence, while being adaptable for various pet sizes and easy to clean, featuring a maze-like design that challenges pets to work for their food.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a bowl-shaped dish is used for feeding pets, then the feeding process is simple and convenient, but the pet consumes food rapidly causing belching, vomiting and discomfort
Solution Approach 1:
The dish surface is segmented into multiple radial sections by ribs, dividing the food into smaller portions. This segmentation slows down the pet's eating speed by requiring them to navigate around the ribs to access food, thereby preventing rapid consumption and associated discomfort while maintaining feeding convenience
2Object-affected harmful factors
If radially extending ribs are added to divide food portions, then the pet's eating speed is slowed down, but more sizes of dishes must be marketed for different pet kinds and sizes resulting in heavy production expenses
Solution Approach 1:
The dish is designed with a universal structure that can accommodate pets of different kinds and sizes through a single model. The radial ribs create sections that work effectively for various pet types without requiring size-specific variations, thereby reducing production expenses while maintaining eating speed control
3Ease of manufacture
If the known dish with radial ribs is used, then production costs are reduced, but the eating process does not stimulate the inherent nature of pets causing them to become lazy or aggressive
Solution Approach 1:
The invention adds a dimensional element by incorporating raised ribs that create three-dimensional sections across the dish surface. This dimensional structure stimulates pets' natural foraging behavior by requiring them to navigate and explore the ridges and valleys, providing behavioral enrichment while maintaining simple production
4Adaptability or versatility
If a maze structure is created to stimulate pets, then pet intelligence is engaged, but the construction becomes voluminous, costly and complicated with joints where food can hide and taint
Solution Approach 1:
The maze-like stimulation structure is merged directly into the dish body as an integrated component rather than a separate assembly. The radial ribs forming sections are incorporated into the single molded dish structure, eliminating joints and crevices where food could hide and taint, while still providing the maze-like engagement for pet intelligence stimulation
Data Source
AI summary
A tray (1) serves for presenting food to a pet/animal. The tray comprises a topside (2), an underside (3) and a peripheral side (4) extending between the topside and the underside of the tray (1). The topside is moreover partly formed as a number of up-turned grooves (5) and interconnected grooves (5). When a pet is retrieving food from the tray, the animal will not only be self-engaged and fed during retrieval of the food, but the tray will also ensure that the natural needs of the animal are meet with respect to the use of brain, olfactory sense and feeding. The animal will hereby be more relaxed and behave in a balanced manner.