Centrifugal pump pet water fountain

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11470813-B2
Application number	US-201916561607-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 5, 2019
Priority date	Sep 5, 2018
Publication date	Oct 18, 2022
Grant date	Oct 18, 2022

Abstract

A centrifugal pump pet water fountain is provided which includes a bowl defined by a peripheral wall extending upwardly from a floor. The bowl is configured to hold water. The housing divides the basin into a drinking basin and an interior basin. The housing includes an upright sidewall extending from a floor and a cap. The housing also defines an elevated water reservoir with a spout. A rotating cone is positioned within the housing and driven by a motor. The cone has a water inlet and a top opening adjacent the cone top opening. During operation, the rotation of the cone forces water to climb the interior surface of the cone through centrifugal force, where the water is deposited within the reservoir and returned to the drinking basin through the spout.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A pet water fountain comprising:
a bowl for holding an aqueous drinking fluid;
a housing configured to cover a portion of the bowl, the housing defining a cone mounting flange and a fluid reservoir;
a rotatable cone positioned within the cone mounting flange, the cone tapering outwardly from a bottom end to a top end, the cone bottom end having a fluid inlet to allow the passage of fluid from the bowl through the inlet and into the interior of the cone, the bowl top end being in fluid communication with the housing fluid reservoir, and
an electric motor coupled to the rotatable cone for rotatably driving the rotatable cone.

2. The pet water fountain of claim 1 wherein the electric motor is positioned outside the bowl.

3. The pet water fountain of claim 1 wherein said electric motor is an air cooled electric motor.

4. The pet water fountain of claim 1 wherein the cone includes a central axle and wherein the electric motor is coupled to the central axle.

5. The pet water fountain of claim 1 wherein the cone has an interior surface having a plurality of inwardly extending projections.

6. The pet water fountain of claim 5 wherein the projections are upwardly extending elongated ribs.

7. The pet water fountain of claim 5 wherein the projections are inwardly extending bumps.

8. The pet water fountain of claim 5 wherein the projections are inwardly extending needle like projections.

9. The pet water fountain of claim 1 wherein the cone has an interior surface, and wherein the pet water fountain further comprises a mesh overlaying the interior surface of the cone.

10. The pet water fountain of claim 1 wherein the cone includes a cone bottom portion and a cone top portion mounted to the cone bottom portion,
whereby cone top portions of various heights may be mounted to the cone bottom portion to provide different overall heights of the cone.

11. The pet water fountain of claim 1 wherein the cone includes a water filter.

12. The pet water fountain of claim 11 wherein the water filter is a two part water filter having a first part mounted at a first select height and a second part mounted at a second select height higher than said first select height of the first part.

13. The pet water fountain of claim 1 wherein the cone includes a stepped sidewall forming a ledge, and wherein the pet water fountain further comprises a water filter positioned to abut the ledge.

14. The pet water fountain of claim 1 wherein the cone has a non-circular cross-sectional shape along a plane perpendicular to an axis of the cone.

15. The pet water fountain of claim 1 wherein the cone has a polygonal cross-sectional shape along a plane perpendicular to an axis of the cone.

16. The pet water fountain of claim 1 wherein said cone includes an exterior sidewall having an interior water contacting surface and an interior sidewall forming an axle receiving channel.

17. The pet water fountain of claim 1 further comprising a cap coupled to the housing positioned to overlay the cone top end.

18. A pet water fountain for dispensing an aqueous drinking fluid, comprising:
a bowl having a drinking portion and an interior portion;
a housing at least partially covering the interior portion;
a fluid reservoir in fluid communication with the bowl, and
a liquid pump in fluid communication with the bowl and the reservoir, the liquid pump including a cone-shaped tube coupled to an electric motor for rotation of the cone-shaped tube, the cone-shaped tube having a lower end positioned within the bowl and an upper end positioned adjacent the fluid reservoir.

19. The pet water fountain of claim 18 wherein the electric motor is positioned outside the bowl.

20. The pet water fountain of claim 18 wherein the electric motor is an air cooled electric motor.

21. The pet water fountain of claim 18 wherein the cone-shaped tube includes a central axle and wherein the electric motor is coupled to the central axle.

22. The pet water fountain of claim 18 wherein the cone-shaped tube has an interior surface having a plurality of inwardly extending projections.

23. The pet water fountain of claim 22 wherein the projections are upwardly extending ribs.

24. The pet water fountain of claim 22 wherein the projections are inwardly extending bumps.

25. The pet water fountain of claim 22 wherein the projections are inwardly extending needle like projections.

26. The pet water fountain of claim 18 wherein the cone-shaped tube has an interior surface, and wherein the pet water fountain further comprises a mesh overlaying the interior surface of the cone-shaped tube.

27. The pet water fountain of claim 18 wherein the cone-shaped tube includes a water filter.

28. The pet water fountain of claim 27 wherein the water filter is a two part water filter having a first part mounted at a first select height and a second part mounted at a second select height higher than said first select height of the first part.

29. The pet water fountain of claim 18 wherein the cone-shaped tube includes a tube bottom portion and a tube top portion mounted to the tube bottom portion,
whereby tube top portions of various heights may be mounted to the tube bottom portion to provide different overall heights of the cone-shaped tube.

30. The pet water fountain of claim 18 wherein the cone-shaped tube includes a stepped sidewall forming a ledge, and wherein the pet water fountain further comprises a water filter positioned to abut the ledge.

31. The pet water fountain of claim 18 wherein the cone-shaped tube has a non-circular cross-sectional shape along a plane perpendicular to an axis of the cone-shaped tube.

32. The pet water fountain of claim 18 wherein the cone-shaped tube has a polygonal cross-sectional shape along a plane perpendicular to an axis of the cone-shaped tube.

33. The pet water fountain of claim 18 wherein said cone-shaped tube includes an exterior sidewall having an interior water contacting surface and an interior sidewall forming an axle receiving channel.

34. The pet water fountain of claim 18 further comprising a cap coupled to the housing positioned to overlay the cone-shaped tube top end.

35. A pet water fountain comprising,
a water bowl;
a housing coupled to the water bowl;
a rotating cone coupled to the housing, the cone having a water inlet extending through a lower portion of the cone and a water outlet at an upper portion of the cone, and
an electric motor coupled to the cone for rotational movement of the cone, the electric motor being positioned outside the water bowl.

36. The pet water fountain of claim 35 wherein the electric motor is positioned outside the bowl.

37. The pet water fountain of claim 35 wherein the electric motor is an air cooled electric motor.

38. The pet water fountain of claim 35 wherein the cone includes a central axle and wherein the electric motor is coupled to the central axle.

39. The pet water fountain of claim 35 wherein the cone has an interior surface having a plurality of inwardly extending projections.

40. The pet water fountain of claim 39 wherein the projections are upwardly exten

Assignees

• Radio Systems Corp

Inventors

• Sayers Kevin Michael
• Stricklin Cody Lee
• White Anita Rechelle
• Huber Jonathan William
• Brush Marc Edward
• Ward Eric Alexander
• Given Grant Matthew

Classifications

• A01K7/02 Primary

  Automatic devices · CPC title

• F04D29/708

  specially for liquid pumps · CPC title

• F04D13/06

  the pump being electrically driven · CPC title

• F04D1/14

  Pumps raising fluids by centrifugal force within a conical rotary bowl with vertical axis · CPC title