Pet treat vending machine

1 . A system for dispensing pet treats, comprising:

a housing configured to hold and dispense pet treats,

the housing having a dispensing end formed in the housing and a spiral coil mounted vertically in the housing, and wherein the spiral coil delivers the pet treats at the dispensing end through the housing;

a light array positioned adjacent to the dispensing end, the light array having an emitter and a plurality of detectors configured to detect individual pet treats as they are dispensed at the dispensing end; and

a controller device operatively connected to the spiral coil and the light array and configured to interface with a plurality of RFID tags, each RFID tag being affixable to an animal collar, wherein the controller device:

detects a selected one of the plurality of RFID tags when the selected RFID tag is within a specified range of the controller device;

determines a maximum number of pet treats to be dispensed in association with the selected RFID tag in a selected time period; and

activates the spiral coil to convey the pet treats at the dispensing end limited by the maximum number of pet treats to be dispensed for the selected RFID tag in the selected time period.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the system is operated by a dog wearing the selected one of the RFID tags.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the pet treats are dog treats.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein a vend motor is mounted above the spiral coil.

5 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the pet treats each lie between two points of the spiral coil.

6 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the controller device activates the spiral coil by revolving the vend motor to advance the spiral coil advancing by one pitch, one of the pet treats dropping out of the spiral coil, and the remaining pet treats advance within the spiral coil downward by one pitch.

7 . A method of dispensing pet treats, comprising:

providing a housing having a controller device, a dispensing device connected to the housing, a dispensing detector in a bottom of the housing, and RFID tags capable of interacting with the controller device;

detecting, by the controller device, a selected one of the RFID tags when the selected RFID tag is within a specified range of the controller device;

in response to detecting the selected RFID tag, connecting to a network to obtain a maximum number of pet treats to be dispensed in a selected time period for the selected RFID tag; and

activating the dispensing device to convey the pet treats outside of the housing based on the maximum number of pet treats to be dispensed in the selected time period for the selected RFID tag, wherein the dispensing device includes a spiral coil connected to the housing, the spiral coil is mounted vertically in the housing, and wherein the spiral coil conveys the pet treats.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the RFID tags are removable attached to dog collars.

9 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the pet treats are dog treats.

10 . The method of claim 7 , including detecting a disruption within the dispensing detector indicating an individual pet treat has been dispensed at the dispensing device and communicating to the controller device that the individual pet treat has been successfully dispensed.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the dispensing detector is a light array having an emitter and a plurality of detectors.

12 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the dispensing device comprises a vend motor that is mounted above the spiral coil.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the pet treats each lie between two points of the spiral coil.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein activating the dispensing device includes revolving the vend motor once to advance the spiral coil by one pitch, whereby one of the pet treats dropping out of the spiral coil, and the remaining pet treats within the spiral coil advance downward by one pitch.