Disabled inventor crafts DinnerUp pet feeder

After a solid four-mile run on the Doggy Treadmill, it's not too tough to understand why Fido is famished, but for folks who are disabled in ways that make bending down or moving around in general difficult, getting the pet food from the pantry to the bowl has been a serious chore. Thanks to a retired engineer (who was stricken by cerebral palsy) that figured he better solve his own problem rather than wait for someone else, the DinnerUp apparatus was concocted, and now it's on the brink of commercialization. The device mounts onto a kitchen counter or door and relies on a hand crank / clutching system in order to lift the attached bowls to a level that's easy to reach, after which it's lowered back down to the anxious pets below. Currently, Ray Dinham is assembling the units himself and offloading them to "satisfied customers" for £70 ($140) apiece, but it shouldn't be long before the manufacturing is "outsourced to a UK-based firm" and these gain some serious worldwide traction.

[Via BBC]

[Zozart @ Apr 29th 2007 8:12AM]

Brilliant idea!

[Paul @ Apr 29th 2007 9:33AM]

its a good idea for old people or paralyzed people who cant bend over but thats just way too much

[Wonderkid @ Apr 29th 2007 10:33AM]

I built something (crudely) similar for my grandma in the 1970s or early 1980s and it worked for her! Great to see someone has commercialised the idea. Will post pics when I find them. Have just contacted the firm that makes the Dinner Up, as I may have some prior art rights that will help them with a patent. Contact me at http://www.owonder.com/contact - ask for Alex.

[MightyTwin @ Apr 29th 2007 11:28AM]

I find their logo a bit disturbing:

"I don't have to bend to feed my friend"

...

[Rob @ Apr 29th 2007 1:03PM]

That is genius, I hope this guy (and previous poster) can make some cash off this one.

[david @ Apr 29th 2007 1:12PM]

Great job. It'll sell well if they get the advertising.

[Jon Little @ Apr 29th 2007 5:27PM]

Bothers me that the author wrote "who was stricken by cerebral palsy"...

As a highly successful senior software architect, married, 5 month old daughter who's CP means that I type with my left foot - I am anything but friggin stricken...

[Kentucky Wildcats! @ Apr 30th 2007 1:45AM]

Hand crank? I hope 2.0 uses electric. The idea is not unique for sure. But here is a guy trying to make it available for anyone, which is great.

PS: A good story is not PC enough for someone who only sees the word "stricken" -- should we delete that from the vocabulary? Frickin' PC cr*pola.

[markcant @ May 4th 2007 10:06AM]

Sometimes it's hard for those of us who are fully functional to understand how hard day-to-day life can be for those less enabled, but something like this is a godsend. Wish I'd invented it.

[Andrew G. Coviello @ Feb 19th 2008 7:58AM]

I invented a motorized unit back in l988 and was patented in l991. I would hope that this Mr. Ray Disham, will contact me for there is a very good case of infringement here. Thank You, Andrew G. Coviello, Greenwich, CT USA

[Galley @ Apr 30th 2007 9:23AM]

Ray deserves an "attaboy"!