WO2004086854A2

WO2004086854A2 - Toilet for pets

Info

Publication number: WO2004086854A2
Application number: PCT/DE2004/000660
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kay Wagner
Original assignee: Kay Wagner
Priority date: 2003-03-28
Filing date: 2004-03-29
Publication date: 2004-10-14
Also published as: DE20305040U1; WO2004086854A3

Abstract

The invention relates to a toilet for pets, comprising a housing (1) in which a removable separating element (11) intended for separating solid soilings (19) from clean litter (17) is arranged. The separating element (11) is arranged in a wall segment (5) located opposite an admission or removal opening (10). The size of said separating element matches the light cross section of the housing (1). The separating element has a handle construction (15) ending in the area of the opening (10). The arrangement is such that the separating element (11) can be inserted into the housing (1) or removed from the housing through the opening (10) and then transported using the handle construction (15).

Description

Pet toilet

The invention relates to a toilet of the type specified in the preamble of claim 1.

Pet toilets of this type are used especially for cats. In their simplest design, such toilets consist of a tub partially filled with litter, which the cats and other pets visit themselves after a short period of familiarization. Such toilets are usually cleaned with a shovel and a sieve, through which still clean litter is conveyed back into the tub, while solid contaminants such as solid excrement or solidified lumps or the like formed by liquid excrement are retained in the sieve and then disposed of , Such a procedure is tedious and often associated with unpleasant smells, feelings of disgust, undesirable dust generation and other intolerances. The cleaning process is therefore often not carried out as often as would be necessary for hygienic reasons. This in turn has the consequence that the contaminants settle on the tub floor or on the walls of the tubs, which makes further cleaning work necessary and clean pets such. B. can prevent cats from visiting the toilet.

The disadvantages described can be with known toilets of the neten genus (US-PS 4 922 150) only partially eliminate. They contain a largely closed housing with a sieve integrated in this, which is arranged in the ceiling area of the housing and is formed on a shell which can be pulled out of the housing in the manner of a drawer. The arrangement is such that the litter located on the bottom part can be conveyed into the shell by rotating the housing, from which the clean litter due to its gravity passes through the sieve back to the bottom of the housing while the contaminants are retained in the shell become. After the sieving process, the bowl can be removed and cleaned. The advantage that a partially automated cleaning of the toilet is possible is offset by the disadvantage that the housing has to be rotated through 360 °, a comparatively large space is required and contaminations that are not yet completely encrusted when the housing is rotated easily Store wall sections or ceiling part.

In a similar known litter box (EP 0 781 088 B1), a sieve-shaped separating element is firmly installed in the housing and is arranged in such a way that after rotation of the housing by approximately 180 °, the clean litter on a first wall section and the contaminated rest on one of them second wall section separated by the separating element comes to rest. When the housing is turned back, again by approx. 180 °, the impurities then enter a drip tray, which can be pulled out of the housing and emptied like a drawer. This toilet is also difficult to handle, and the dirt can easily settle on the wall sections and on the ceiling part.

Proceeding from this, the present invention is based on the technical problem of designing the toilet of the type described in the introduction in such a way that it can be handled more easily, a rotation of 180 ° or more is not required, and the probability that the contaminants will stick to the walls and Lower the ceiling part of the housing, is greatly reduced. This problem is solved according to the invention with the characterizing features of claim 1.

Further advantageous features of the invention emerge from the subclaims.

The invention and its advantages are explained in more detail below on the basis of an exemplary embodiment currently considered best and in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In these show:

Figure 1 is a rough schematic perspective view of a toilet for pets according to the invention in a use position.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the toilet of Figure 1 in a cleaning position rotated by 90 °;

3 shows a front view of the toilet in the cleaning position according to FIG. 2;

4 shows the toilet according to FIG. 2 after the removal of a separating element;

FIG. 5 shows a reduced view of the toilet corresponding to FIG. 1 before the separating element is reinserted; and

Fig. 6 shows the toilet in a view corresponding to Fig. 1 after reinserting the partition.

1, a toilet according to the invention for pets, in particular cats, contains a housing 1 with a preferably flat bottom part 2, a ceiling part 3 and wall sections 4 to 7 arranged between the latter and the bottom part 1. For the sake of simplicity, the wall section 4 is subsequently referred to as the front or first wall section, the wall section 5 referred to as the rear or second wall section and the two remaining wall sections 6 and 7 as the side wall sections. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the housing 1 is essentially cuboid, so that the parts 2 to 7 are essentially rectangular in shape. All of these parts are firmly connected.

An exception to the cuboid or rectangular shape results in the preferred exemplary embodiment in that the base part 2 is connected to the second, rear wall section 5 by a short inclined surface 8 which, for. B. forms an angle of 110 to 140 ° with the bottom part 2. As a result, the two side wall sections 6, 7 are provided with correspondingly bevelled edges which end on the inclined surface 9.

An opening 10 is formed in the first, front wall section 4. This is preferably extended over most of the clear cross-section of the housing 1, the cross-sectional area of the housing 1 which is formed by the parts 2, 3, 6 and 7 and being parallel to the wall sections 4 and 5 being defined here as the clear cross-section. In the exemplary embodiment, the front wall section 4 is also formed only by a comparatively low threshold, while the rest of the part is missing and the opening 10 is thereby created.

The housing 1 can assume two preferred positions. These are a common use position shown in FIG. 1 and a cleaning position shown in FIGS. 2 to 4. In the use position, the housing 1 stands with its bottom part 2 on a base, for. B. the floor. The arrangement is such that the bottom and ceiling parts 2, 3 are arranged essentially horizontally and the wall sections 4 to 7 are arranged essentially vertically. In addition, the short side edges of the wall sections 4, 5 are arranged vertically in this position. In the cleaning position, on the other hand, the housing 1 is supported with the second, rear wall section 5 on the floor or the like, so that the floor and ceiling parts 2, 3 are now arranged vertically. Because of the cuboid shape, the cleaning position, starting from the use position according to FIG. 1, can be produced by simply tilting the housing 1 by approximately 90 ° in the direction of an arrow y in FIG. 1. 3 and 4 in particular, the toilet has a separating element 11 which is removably arranged in the housing 1. The separating element 11 preferably contains a plane-parallel, rectangular frame part 12 and a sieve body 14 filling its central opening, which, for. B. consists of a clamped in the frame opening mesh, wire mesh or the like .. The area defined by the outer contour of the frame part 12 is essentially as large as the clear cross section of the housing 1 at a central point 8a (FIG. 3) corresponds to the inclined surface 8, as shown in particular in FIG. 3. It is therefore possible to insert the frame part 12 held parallel to the wall sections 4 and 5 through the opening 10 into the housing 1 until it is supported with its lower edge at the point 8a of the inclined surface 8 and at the same time its The upper and side edges lie substantially close to the side wall sections 6, 7 and the ceiling part 3, which corresponds to the desired position of the separating element 11 during use.

3 and 4 show, the separating element 11 is provided with a handle construction 15, which makes it possible to advance the frame part 12 in the position shown in FIG. 1 or in accordance with FIG. 4 in the direction of an arrow perpendicular to the wall sections 4 and 5 w to pull out of the housing 1. The height of the threshold (= first wall section 4) is chosen so that the frame part 12, which is shorter because of the inclined surface 8 than the distance of the ceiling part 3 from the bottom part, the wall section 4 without further notice, possibly after a slight tilting movement , can happen.

For this purpose, the handle structure 15 preferably contains two parallel carrying handles 15a and 15b, the ends of which are dimensioned such that they reach the front wall section 4 when the frame part 12 is in the desired position. In addition, the carrying handles 15a, 15b are flexible, so that after the insertion of the separating element 11 with means located at their curved ends in the form of recesses 16, they are snapped behind or under associated means of the wall section 4 (eg its upper edge 4a) can (Fig. 3). This will inadvertent pulling out of the separating element 11 in the desired position prevented.

To fix the frame part 12 in the housing 1 arranged perpendicular to the ceiling part 3, a wall section 12a projecting perpendicularly from the frame part 12 is preferably provided, which is supported on the ceiling part 3 in the desired position of the separating element 11.

Otherwise, the carrying handles 15a, 15b according to FIG. 4 are expediently fastened to the outer sides of the frame part 12 so that they rest on the side wall sections 6, 7 in the desired position of the separating element 11. With particular advantage, a front side of the frame part 12 facing the base part 2 and lying on the inclined surface 8 according to FIGS. 3 and 4 is further shaped into a sharp edge 12b which can act as a scraper in a manner to be described.

On an end edge 3a of the ceiling part 3 (FIG. 3) located on the front wall section 4, a swing door (not shown) can additionally be hung, which enables the pets to open them, and which automatically closes again after the animals have passed through and thereby the opening 10 closes. In addition, parts 2 to 7 can consist of a transparent material such as acrylic glass or a suitable plastic so that the degree of contamination of the toilet can be checked at any time.

The function of the toilet results from FIGS. 1 to 6. In the usual position of use according to FIG. 1, the base part 2 is usually covered with schematically indicated litter 17, among which materials such as chaff, sand, lump-forming litter or used in pet toilets are to be understood. The litter 17 is preferably filled up to approximately the height (point 8a) in FIG. The front wall 4 or threshold expediently also extends up to this height in order to retain the litter 17 at the front. Cats or the like can enter and leave the toilet in this use position through the opening 10. If the litter 17 is contaminated by solid excrement or by liquid excrement solidified into lumps of lumps or the like, the housing is tilted according to FIGS. 1 to 3 by approximately 90 ° into the cleaning position, which is simplified by the inclined surface 8. The still clean litter automatically passes through the sieve body 14 into a space 18 between the latter and the rear wall section 5 due to gravity, while the contaminants 19 accumulate on the sieve body 14. On the one hand, it is assumed that the screen body 14 divides the interior of the housing 1 into two spaces such that both the space accessible by the pets and the space 18 used for the intermediate storage of the litter 17 are sufficiently large. In addition, it is assumed that the sieve or mesh size required for the passage of the litter 17 used in each case is dimensioned accordingly. In addition, the swing door is appropriately designed and arranged so that it automatically lies against the ceiling part 3 in the cleaning position.

Following the tilting process, the carrying handles 15a, 15b are elastically bent in order to release the cutouts 16 from the upper edge 4a. Thereafter, the separating element 11 is pulled up out of the housing 1 by means of the carrying handles 15a, 15b, as is shown schematically in FIG. 4. The sharp edge 12b can be moved along the inner surface of the bottom part 2 in order to loosen and convey impurities located on the bottom part 2 like with a scraper or scratch and convey them onto the screen body 14. At the same time, the screen body 14 can be tilted slightly backwards so that the contaminants 19 collect in the region of the wall section 12a and are retained by the latter.

After emptying and, if necessary, cleaning the sieve body 14, the separating element 11 according to FIG. 5 is inserted in the opposite direction into the housing 1, which can be in the position of use or in the cleaning position until finally the position of use according to FIG. 6 will be produced.

After the separating element 11 has been reinserted with the housing 1 in the cleaning position, litter 17 that is still in the space 18 passes through the sieve body 14 back onto the floor part 2 to be used by the pets as soon as the toilet is moved from the cleaning position into the use position.

The advantages achieved with the toilet described are many. First of all, the toilet is easy and inexpensive to manufacture, since only plate-shaped parts need to be used. Furthermore, the handling of the toilet is extremely simple, since the separating element 11 only has to be removed upwards through the opening 10, which serves both as an access opening for the animals and as a removal or insertion opening for the separating element 11, and is to be reinstalled automatically fixed on the inclined surface 8. As a result, the room 18 will always be the same size. Another advantage is the sharp edge 12b, which helps to keep the bottom part 2 clean. In addition, only little space is required for the cleaning process, since the housing 1 only needs to be tilted onto its comparatively small wall section 5.

The invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiment described, which could be modified in many ways. This applies in particular to the housing shape selected in the individual case and the shape of the separating element 11 or its handle construction 15. Furthermore, the carrying handles 15a, 15b can be designed so flexibly that their free ends can be moved towards one another and can thus be grasped with only one hand are. Further z. B. the parts 2 to 7 at least partially releasable instead of firmly connected. It is also clear that the cuboid shape described can also be replaced at least partially by wall sections which are rounded or along cylindrical surfaces or the like. Finally, it goes without saying that the various features can also be used in combinations other than those shown and described.

Claims

Expectations

1. toilet for pets with a housing (1) which has a base part (2), a ceiling part (3) and wall sections (4 to 7) arranged between them, a removable part arranged in the housing (1) for separating solid impurities ( 19) of clean litter (17) determined separating element (11) and with an opening (10) arranged in a first wall section (4) for entering or leaving the housing (1), characterized in that the separating element (11) on one the second wall section (5) opposite the opening (10) and arranged at a distance from it, has a size corresponding to the clear cross section of the housing (1) and has a handle construction (15) ending in the region of the opening (10), that it can be inserted into or removed from the housing (1) and transported and transported through the opening (10) by means of the handle construction (15).

2. Toilet according to claim 1, characterized in that the bottom part (2) is connected by an inclined surface (8) to the second wall section (5) and that

Separating element (11) is supported on a central part (8a) of the inclined surface (8).

3. Toilet according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the handle construction (15) contains two flexible carrying handles (15a) which run close to the two wall sections (6, 7) which are between the first and second wall sections (4th , 5) extend.

4. Toilet according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the opening (10) extends over most of the clear cross section of the housing (1).

5. Toilet according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the carrying handles (15a, 15b) and an edge of the opening (10) with means (4a, 16) for supporting the carrying handles (15a, 15b) on the first housing wall (4th ) are provided.

6. Toilet according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the second wall section (5) and the separating element (11) are arranged substantially perpendicular to the bottom part (2).

7. Toilet according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that an edge (12b) of the separating element (11) is designed as a scraper associated with the bottom part (2).

8. Toilet according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the housing (1) is substantially cuboid.

9. Toilet according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the floor and ceiling part (2, 3) and the wall sections (4 to 7) are at least partially made of a transparent material.

10. Toilet according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the opening (10) is associated with a swing door suspended in the region of the ceiling part (3).

11. Toilet according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the first wall section (4) is designed as a threshold or is missing entirely.

12. Toilet according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that in a position of use thereof the bottom part (2) and in a cleaning position thereof the second wall section (5) each forms a support surface on a base.

13. Toilet according spoke 12, characterized in that it can be transferred from one position to the other by a rotary movement around a boundary line of the bottom part (2) facing the second wall section (5).

14. Toilet according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that the separating element (11) is designed to receive solid impurities in the cleaning position.