Copyright © Françoise Herrmann
The West Paw™ Toppl® treat-dispensing toy has two interlocking parts with varying degrees of unlock difficulty, designed both to create and adjust the challenge of retrieving favorite treats lodged inside the two parts of the toy. Each part of the toy has a weighted bottom so that when the two parts are unlocked, each one rights itself up, with the oval openings facing up, thus always enabling access to the treats. Both parts of the toy have molded gripper petals on the bottom, designed to secure treats inside the toy in a variety of combinations, some of which might include retrieval from the side window opening of the toy.
Compared to the prior art of treat dispensing toys, West Paw’s™Toppl® invention offers both mental stimulation and joy. The two interlocking parts function as a puzzle, with varying levels of difficulty, and treat dispensing configurations. The two parts also function independently, as two separate treat dispensing toys.
The Toppl® interlocking parts are each made of a single piece of injection molded material called Zogoflex®, the proprietary material of choice for all West Paw’s™ durable dog toys. Zogoflex® material has many desirable properties such as being almost indestructible, highly resistant to chomping and chewing, eco-friendly, non-toxic, latex-free and BPA free, machine washable and both semi-rigid and flexible.
West Paw’s™ Toppl® toy invention is recited in the US utility patent US9622458B2 titled Two-part self-righting pet toy with internal gripper petals. The patent recites the preferred embodiments of the invention, in particular, the two honey-pot shaped parts of the toy, one smaller and one larger, with oval and flared openings at the top. The necks of each part of the toy comprise ridges and grooves, of slightly decreasing circumference relative to the top opening. The oval openings are designed in such a way that the smaller toy part fits inside the larger toy part, engaging with the ridges and grooves of the larger part at various depths of interlock. The two parts lock even more tightly when the smaller part is rotated within the larger part so that the oval openings are no longer aligned.
West Paw’s™ Toppl® toy invention is recited in the US utility patent US9622458B2 titled Two-part self-righting pet toy with internal gripper petals. The patent recites the preferred embodiments of the invention, in particular, the two honey-pot shaped parts of the toy, one smaller and one larger, with oval and flared openings at the top. The necks of each part of the toy comprise ridges and grooves, of slightly decreasing circumference relative to the top opening. The oval openings are designed in such a way that the smaller toy part fits inside the larger toy part, engaging with the ridges and grooves of the larger part at various depths of interlock. The two parts lock even more tightly when the smaller part is rotated within the larger part so that the oval openings are no longer aligned.
The description of the invention also includes specification of the evenly-spaced, radial configuration of the plurality of tapered gripper petals. The gripper petals are designed to hold treats in place and to further vary the levels of access difficulty. The gripper petals extend from the bottom of the toy part, weighted due to the thickness of the material, up to beneath the grooves and ridges of the oval opening. The radial configuration of the petals also allows space between the interior walls of the toy part and the petals.
The toy's window is also described with its threefold purpose: enabling the dog to see the treats, enabling access to a treat without unlocking the two parts of the toy and enabling more treats to be inserted without unlocking the toy.
The abstract of this invention is included below, together with the patent Figure 1, and an image of the marketed interlocked Toppl® treat toy, in Aqua blue and Tangerine. Figure 1 depicts the two unlocked honeypot-shaped parts (1 and 2) of the Toppl® treat toy, with the windows 3, the gripper petals 4, the oval-shaped top opening 5, the neck area 6, the ridges 7 and grooves 8, the thicker weighted bottom 9.
A pet toy comprising a first part and a second part, each made of a single piece of molded, durable, semi-rigid and flexible material and each comprising a weighted bottom, flared open top that is oval in shape, and plurality of gripper petals extending from the weighted bottom toward the flared open top. Each part comprises a neck area with a plurality of grooves and ridges. The flared open top of the first part fits into the flared open top of the second part and engages with the grooves inside the neck area of the second part. The inner circumference of each successive groove is preferably smaller as the distance from the open flared to increases. [Abstract US9622458B2]
Reference
West Paw™
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