CA1074561A - Pet or doll house - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
An improved pet and/or doll house designed for maximum efficiency in assembly and disassembly and having as a major design feature insulated metal, plastic, or wood components making up such a house.

Description

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This invention relates to pet and doll houses and, in particular, to pet and doll houses which have insulated metal, plastic, or wood structural members and can be easily assembled and disassembled.
Pet and large doll houses have been well known for some time, and therefore a simple house generally does not represent ~n advance in the art.
IIowever, many pet and doll houses are fairly permanent structures fabri-cated from wood in a manner similar to the construction of standard houses.
These structures are cumbersome and heavy and, thus, are very difficult to move from place to place. Additionally they are expensive, and in our highly mobile society families often must move and leave the pet or doll house behind bècause of its awkward shape and weight.
Another disadvantage of the prior art structures i8 this manner of assembly. It is very conceivable and highly probable that a person needing a pet or doll house lacks the basic skill to build a conventional pet or doll house and, thus, must purchase a commercially available product. The present-day products leave such a person no choice but to either hire some-one to assemble the structure at additional expense or attack the frustrating job personally, often with disastrous consequences to the house andlor the person.
It should also be noted that none of the prior art structures makes an attempt to warm the animal lodged in a pet house other than an electrical heating unit, which is a costly and potentially dangerous solution to the problem of providing a warm, dry shelter for an animal.
The present invention, recognizing the limitations of the prior art structures, attempts to successfully dispel their shortcomings in a novel, uncomplex, and inexpensive pet or doll house fabricated from sheet metal, plastic, or wood components.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an im-provcd pet or doll house of a lightweight sheet metal, plastic, or wood , ,:
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1(~7'~5~1 construction with a minimum number of components.
It is further an object of this invention to provide an improved pet or doll house which can be assembled and disassembled quickly and easily by someone with no special skills in constructing such structures.
It is still an object of this invention to provide an improved pet or doll house, the assembly of which requires the use of onlr simple tools, such as a screwdriver and pliers.
Finally, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved pet or doll house which carries insulation on its component parts so that, when the parts are correctly joined, a warm, fully insulated pet or doll house is obtained.
According to the present invention, there is provided an improved house designed to be easily assembled and disassembled, the house including a front section and a rear section, the front section and the rear section each having a sheet wall, and a frame member disposed along the bottom of each of the walls. A top portion is associated with each of the walls, each of the top portions including a triangularly shaped sheet member having right-angled framing members extending laterally inwardly therefrom and attached thereto by suitable fastening means. Securing framing members and threaded fastening means extend through the framing member for threadedly connecting each of the wall members to one of the triangularly shaped members for attaching the members to one another. Two side wall sections, are provided which each include a side wall member fabricated

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" , ~,, ~ . , -~07~5~;1 from a pair of spaced parallel sheets of impervious material.An inclined framing member is attached to the wall surface of each of the side wall members for providing strength and rigidity thereto. An angled horizohtal framing member has a leg thereof attached to the upper edge of each of the side wall members and an inclined portion extending inwardly therefrom. A pair of right-angled vertical framing members is provided for each side wall member, each of the vertical framing members having a leg portion attached to the wall surface of one of the side wall members at an end thereof, the other legs of the vertical framing members extending inwardly therefrom. The last-mentioned legs engage the front and rear wall sections and threaded fasteners extending through the front and rear wall sections and vertical framing members for securing the front and the rear sections to the side walls, all of the framing members being turned inwardly.
A roof includes a pair of angularly disposed sheet members joined along the center portions thereof, the roof being disposed and supported upon the inwardly extending portions of the framing members with threaded fastening members extending through the roof and the inwardly extending portions for securing the roof to the side walls and the front and rear section of the house. The front wall has an aperture defining a doorway, and a door is disposed on the front end section in front of the opening for permitting the ingress and egress into the interior of the housing. A layer of insulating material is mounted to the interior surfaces of the front section, the end section, the side wall sections, - 2~ -sb/, - ; . :. :, ., :, ; ;
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1~7~5~;1 and the roof, and located between the spaced parallel sheets.
Means is provided for attaching the insulation layer to the interior surfaces of the house comprising an adhesive disposed between the interface of the insulation material and the interior surface of the house. A floor member is carried by and attached to the inwardly extended flanges disposed along the bottom edges of the front and rear wall sections, and foam-type insulating material underlying and being secured to the floor member.
Other objects, advantages, and applications of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art of pet or doll house consturction when the accompanying description of one example of the best mode contemplated for practicing the invention is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.
The description herein makes reference to the accompanying drawing in which like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views, and in which:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a pet house constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention;
Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the pet house taken along line 2-2 of Figure l;
Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view of the pet house shown in Figure l; and Figure 4 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of a wall of the pet house taken along line 4-4 of Figure 3.
Referring now to the drawing wherein there is illustrated one example of the present invention in the form of a pet house 10 designed to be - 2b -, I
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1~7'~S~;l easily assembled and disassembled with a minimum amount of skill and effort. The pet house 10 comprises a front end section 12, a back end section 18, side sections 20 and 22, and a roof 24. All of the sections and components thereof, as will be described hereinafter, are fabricated from a sheet metal, plast.c, or wood material having an insulation material 26 (shown only in Figures 3 and 4) which is sandwiched between the interior and exterior surfaces 27 and 29 of the housing 10 by any suitable means, such as an Pdhesive, applied to the interface between the interior and ex-terior walls of the housing and the facing surface of the insulation. It should 10 be noted that the interior surfaces 27 of the housing 10 are only shown in Figure 3; however, it should be understood that all of the house walls com-prise an exterior surface 29 which may be a sheet of metal such as alu-minum, an inner insulation 26 such as a Styrofoam material, and an inner surface 27 which is also of a sheet metal construction. It should also be understood that while the description herein refers to sheet metal compo-nents, other suitable materials may be used for the building walls such as plastics and wood.
As can best be seen in Figure 3 of the drawing, the front section 12 comprises a rectangularly shaped wall 28 having an arched aperture 30 which 20 defines a doorway, which will be described hereinafter. The lower edge of the front wall member 28 is attached to an L-shaped frame member 32 by any suitable fastening means, such as metal screws 34. The upper portion of the front end section 12 takes the form of a triangularly shaped, apertured top portion 36 which is formed by two inclined right-angled frame members 38 and 40 and a base frame member 42, all of the members being joined to a triangularly (or gambrel if desired) shaped metal sheet member 44 by any suitable means, such as metal screws 46, which pass through the vertical legs of the framing members 38, 40, and 42 into threaded engagement with the shcet member 44. Similarly, the triangwlarly (or ~ambrel)shaped top ,, . . ., : ..................................... .:

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portion 36 is attached to the upper edge of the wall member 28 by means of threaded fasteners 48 extending through the bottom portion of the frame member 42 into engagement with the wall 28. It should be understood that, while the fastening members referred to hereinafter are of the sheet metal screw type, suitable apertures may be formed within the various members of the pet house 10 through which a threaded screw may extend for attach-ment to a nut in the conventional manner, A n~p 50 (or door in the case of a doll house) is mounted on the interior of the wall 28 in a position corresponding to the doorway aperture 10 30. The flap (or door) is attached to the wall 28 by any suitable means, such as fastening screws 52, which extend through the wall and engage flap 50.
It can be seen that the flap 50 provides a convenient means for an animal to enter into the pet house 10, yet one which will automatically close to keep the elements from entering into the interior of the pet house 10.
The rear section 18 is comprised of the same elements as the front section, namely, a wall member 28 and an upper triangularly (or gambrel) shaped portion 36, attached to the wall member 28 by fasteners 48, while the lower portion of the wall 28 is attached to the L-shaped frame member 32 by fasteners 34. The rear wall 18, however, does not include the arched 20 doorway 30. Since the rear wa~l is substantially identical to the front wall 12, a further detailed description thereof is not necessary; and common components are hereinafter described by the same numerals throughout the specification, as well as in the accompanying drawing.
Similarly, the side walls 20 and 22 are identical in construction and, thus, only the side wall 20 will be described in detail; however, it should be understood that the description of the side wall 20 refers to the description of the side wall 22, and similar and like components will be described and referred to by the same numerals.
~- The side sect;on 20 comprises a metal, plastic, or wood wall . ~
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~07~5~;1 member 54 which has an inclined frame member 56 attached thereto by suitable fasteners, such as metal screws 58. The inclined framing member 56 provides lateral and structural support to the wall member 54 to give it strength and rigidity. The side section 20 further comprises an upper an-gled framing member 60 which has its lower or verticai leg 62 attached to the upper edge of the wall 54, while the inclined or extending leg 64 of the frame memker 60 is adapted to be attached to the roof 24, in a manner to be described hereinafter. The bottom edge of the wall member 54 is supported by framing member 65, The side section 20 further comprises right-angled frame members 66 and 68 which are attached to the opposite edges of the wall 54 such that the extending or projecting legs 70 of each of the frame mernbers 66 and 68 are adapted to extend around the front edge of the adjacent walls 28 respec-tively of the front and rear sections 12 and 18, as illustrated in Figure 1 of the drawing, The roof section 24 comprises two rectangularly shaped members 72 and 74 which have adjacent edges joined to each other by angled member 76. Suitable fastening members 78 extend through the angled member 76 into threaded engagement with the adjacent edges of the roof members 72 20 and 74.
During assembly the side wall sections 20 and 22 are attached to the front wall section 12 and the rear wall section 18 by means of the frame members 66 and 68, while the roof portion 24 is attached to the front section 12, rear section 18, and side wall sections 20 and 22 by means of suitable threaded fasteners that extend through the roof and into the laterally disposed legs of the frame members 38, 40 and 60, as shown in Figures 2 and 3 of the drawing.
The inwardly extending legs of the front wall frame member 32 may _"
bc used to support a floor 80 (Figure 3), or if desired the floor 80 may be .:
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~.07~iS~;l omitted and the earth or straw or the like placed on the earth may be used for the animal to lay upon. The floor 80 comprises a hardboard upper sur-face 81 and a lower Styrofoam portion 83 which provides insulation for the floor 80.
It can thus e seen that the present invention has disclosed a pet house which may be quickly assembled with the simplest of tools; namely, a screwdriver and/or pliers depending upon the type of fasteners used. The pet house 10 is so constructed that it provides the an;mals w;th a simple and easy entry into and exit from an insulated shelter. Its easy of assembly and 10 disassembly permits the pet house 10 to be shipped and sold in a knocked-down state and provides the purchaser with a simple means of assembling a pet house for use~ In the event it is necessary for the owner to move, the pet house may be disassembled and packed in a very easy, convenient manner, thereby the owner does not have to give up the pet house when moving or incur considerable expense in moving a large pet house, as would be necessary with the prior art pet houses.
It can thus be seen that the present invention has provided a new and improved pet house to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art structures, yet one which, due to its unique structure, is provided with 20 framing members; and, in addition to providing structural support to give additional strength and rigidity to the pet house, the framing members, when painted with contrasting colors with respect to the remaining portion of the walls and roof, provide an attractive hcuse taking on an l~lpine or barn-style appearance in decoration.
While only one example of the present invention has been disclosed, it should be understood by those skilled in the art of manufacturing pet house structures that other forms of the invention may be had, all coming within the spirit of the present invention and scope of the appended claims.

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Claims

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. An improved house designed to be easily assembled and disassembled, said house comprising:
a front section and a rear section, said front section and said rear section each having a sheet wall;
a framing member disposed along the bottom of each of said walls;
a top portion associated with each of said walls, each of said top portions comprising a triangularly shaped sheet member having right-angled framing members extending laterally inwardly therefrom and attached thereto by suitable fastening means;
securing framing members and threaded fastening means extending through said framing member for threadedly connecting each of said wall members to one of said triangularly shaped members for attaching said members to one another;
two side wall sections, each comprising a side wall member fabricated from a pair of spaced parallel sheets of impervious material;
an inclined framing member attached to the wall surface of each of said side wall members for providing strength and rigidity thereto;
an angled horizontal framing member having a leg thereof attached to the upper edge of each of said side wall members and an inclined portion extending inwardly therefrom;

a pair of right-angled vertical framing members for each side wall member, each of said vertical framing members having a leg portion attached to the wall surface of one of said side wall members at an end thereof, the other legs of said vertical framing members extending inwardly therefrom, said last-mentioned legs engaging said front and rear wall sections and threaded fasteners extending through said front and rear wall sections and vertical framing members for securing said front and said rear sections to said side walls, all of said framing members being turned inwardly;
a roof comprising a pair of angularly disposed sheet members joined along the center portions thereof, said roof being disposed and supported upon said inwardly extending portions of said framing members, and threaded fastening members extending through said roof and said inwardly extending portions for securing said roof to said side walls and said front and rear sections of said house;
said front wall having an aperture defining a doorway;
a door being disposed on said front end section in front of said opening for permitting the ingress and egress into the interior of said housing;
a layer of insulating material mounted to the interior surfaces of said front section, said end section, said side wall sections, and said roof and located between the spaced parallel sheets;

means for attaching said insulation layer to said interior surfaces of said house comprising an adhesive disposed between the interface of said insulation material and said interior surfaces of said house; and a floor member carried by and attached to the inwardly extended flanges disposed along the bottom edges of said front and rear wall sections, and foam-type insulating material underlying and secured to the floor member.