Ford patents sliding center console with reconfigurable interior.

Ford engineers designed a sliding center console that can be used by both passengers and pets.

Cup holders are a common feature of center consoles, but this version also incorporates a holder for a pet's water bowl, according to a Ford patent application filed in 2021 with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and just published on March 19, 2021, for a particular seat. can slide back and forth to position the beverage near a particular seat.

The monitoring system tracks which seats are occupied by pets and where they are located in the car. The controller then changes the position of the console as needed.

The pet could wear a device that emits radio waves so that the system can track the pet as it walks around the car, Ford suggests. The integrated pet bowl would probably also include capacitive sensors to determine the amount of liquid in the bowl, to prevent the controller from suddenly moving the console and spilling the liquid.

This is just one of Ford's recently filed patents on reconfigurable interior fixtures.

Another recently published patent application describes a center console with a deployable table, and another describes a reconfigurable seat that can be turned forward or backward without physically flipping the seat.

Once in production, this pet-friendly center console could also be used in conjunction with an integrated loading ramp that Ford is seeking to patent. In its recently surfaced patent application, Ford discusses using the deployable ramp not only for loading and unloading cargo, but also to make it easier for pets to get into the SUV's rear seats.