CA1198638A

CA1198638A - Pet toilet

Info

Publication number: CA1198638A
Application number: CA000420411A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Lyall F. Hallum
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1983-01-28
Filing date: 1983-01-28
Publication date: 1985-12-31

Abstract

THE ABSTRACT

The invention is a dry flushing toilet wherein an animal excretes onto a measured portion of absorbant granular material (litter) dispensed onto a circular tray from an adjacent hopper.
The filling of the tray with litter is accomplished by rotating it under the outlet of the hopper. Contaminated litter is dis-posed of through a hole in the centre of the tray into a lower storage container when a simple shutter is opened.

Description

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SPECIFICATION

FIEI.D OF TE~E INVENTION

The inv2ntion relates to a pet toilet, more particularly a 10 toilek for cats a.nd o~her indoor pets.

PRIOR ART

Boxes contsl;ning litter o:~ sand or clay are mos~ co~nonly used by cats or other indos:~r pets ~en performing their natural ex-cretory unctions. Using open boxes the urine is absorbed into the litter arld ~with cats ) the solid matter is buried by ~e .qn; rnzll . The shor'ccomings of such boxes are: a~ the animals ofterl sca~ter contaminated lit~cer out of ~he box, or they may carry it from the box on their fur or feet khus produclng a health haæard) and bo unpleasant odors may emana~e rom the 20 boxes necessitatin~ ~h~ inoonvenience and expense of frequent litter ch~nges and the hlrther expense of deodorizing agents;
and c. the toTlet tr~ining of animals is il~ibited when they are reluctarlt ~:o utllize previously contaminated lltter~

The prior ~rt disclosed a number of compositions to solve the above general problQms of s~nitation and convenience~ One sucll prior arl: reveals a box whose sides and roof limit soat~
tering5 and a ~ri.~ is provided to assist 1n 'che remoYal of the sol~d wastes. Because ~e access is open some 1~ ttering will still ~ake place and the removal of solid m~tter does l'lOt assure 30 the eïimirla~ion of odorsO

Another pr.lor art resolves t~e problem o:l~ scattering by~

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eliminating litter in favor of a filter belt w~ich can have no na~ural appeal to an ~n;m~l. Neither can i~ resolve ~he problem of odors emana~ing from ~he excr~ment and urine ~rapped ~n the Eilter belt.

Other prior ar~ discolses devices of such mechanical complexit~, some with plumbing means and electrical connections 9 as to make them too expensive or general usP and difficult to clean and maintain~

Still another prior art device dispenses lit~er onto a louvered surface which opens to pass the contaminated litter into a cl~sed con~ainer underne~th. This system is mechanically complex, does not ass~re an invlting surface to the ~nimal, and would be diff~cult tb provide with adequate sealing to contain the odors from the storage cont~iner.

BRIEF SUMMAR~ OF THE INv~NllON

The ;nvention solve~ the problems of the prior art in a compostion which provides a. a hopper for dispensing portions o~ clean litter onto b. a circular tray surface on which the animal re~ts whi~e performing its excretory unctions; the tray beln~ rotatable under the outlet of the hopper for replenish-ing the supply of littPr. The tray rotates on circular grooves provided in the l~d of ~he s~orage container which is the base of the device. Access for ~he contaminated litter to the stor-age container is ~y way of a hole in the cen~re of the tray which co in~ides with a hole ln the lld o the storage container~

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and is con~roll~d by a horizontal sh~tter a~ixed ts ~he under-side of the lid of the s~orage cont~iner.

An object of the invent1on lS to provide controlled quanti-ties of fresh litter on~o a surface where an animal may utilizeit for excretory purposes.

A further object o~ the device is to provide means to pass the cont~;n.~ted lltter into an enclosed storage container for later disposal and thereby contain odors and dust~

A~other object of the device is ~ha~ litter will be di~trib-ut~d onto the circular tray in a wa~ that en~ourages an animal ~o util~ze it for it3 excretory functions, Still another object of the device is that it be simple to operate9 to clean, and to ma~ufacture.

T~ese together with vther objec~ and advantages which will become su~sequently apparent reside in the construction and oper-~tion as more fully hereinafter descrîbed and claimed and refer~
red to in the following drawings~

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In drawin~6 which îllu~tra~e embodiment~ of the invention~
Figure 1. i5 a plan sectlon along the line B~B of Figure 2.
of one embodiment~
Figure 2. is a~l elevational section along the llne A-A of Figure 1~ of the same embodimentg 4~

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80 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE: PREF~RRlED E~BODIMENTS

Referr~ng to the drawings and ;n accordance with the pre~ent inven~ion the PET TOILET consis~s of a hopper 19 a circular tray

2 with raised edges 1~ which serves ~o hold the li~ter and support the animal w~ile performing its excretory f~nctions~ a support-lng chassis 3 which is at once the bearin~ surace 17 for the ro~a~able ~ray 2 and the close fitting lid for the storage con-talner 4 and, in ~ts extension9 ~he support for the hopper 1.
There exists also a shutter mechanism 5 operated by me~ns of a mechanical llnkage 6 which permits the contaminated litter to pass through hole 13 in the cen~re of the circular tray 2 and into the storage con~ainer 4.

The hopper havlng walls 7 and a slopillg floor 8 depressed towards its out~et chute 9 is situated either as an integral par~ oE ~he device (as ill~strated) or removed from it and con-nec~ed by a hose9 above the level of the tray 2 so tha~ litter falling from the open outlet ~u~e 9 is deposited on the outer edge of the tray 2~ The height of the outlet 9 over the surEace of ~he kray 2 is such that con3estion of the granuals of litter prevents flow from the hopper 1 unless the conjestion is reduced 100 by rotat~n~ the tray 2 under the outlet 9. ~he hopper 1 may ha~re a cover 10 and a removeable ~rill ~ hich can be used to remove solids wastes from re~cycled li tter as it is poured into t.he hopper 1.

The circular tray is providecl w:Lth a raised edge 12 around its circumference to coltain the ~ er and t:o prnvîde a grip-~5~

ping surface for manually ro~a~ing ihe ~ray.

The sur~ace ~f the ~ray 2 is depressed towards its centralaperture 13 in two a~gular changes 14 ~ 15. ~hP first angular change 14 facilitates the gravi~atic1nal flow of the litter 110 across the surface of the tray 2 as the tray is rota~ed~ The second angular change 1.5 funnels the contaminate-~ litter towards ~he central ap~rture 13 whe~ the shu~er 5 is opened. With the shutter closed this angular change 15 serves to distribute the litter in such a ~ay as to pr~duce a cQncavi~y which is kno~n to be appealing to ca~s as a suitable place to excrete~

The tray 2 in a preferred embodiment may have corrugations 16 on the bearing surface 17 and similar corrugations on the under-side of the tray 16a tv proclucP a vibration which will assist the movement o the li~ter acros~ ~he tray 2 and down the aper~
120 ture 13~

The chassis 3 prov~des a bearing surface 17 for the tray 2~ ~ support for the hopper 19 an~ a ~lose fitting lid for the storage unit 4~ It may also include a stabilizing leg 24 which can be~`folded flat with the chassis for compact packaging. The chassis 3 has a clrcular hole 19 co~inoidlng with the flanged hole 13 in the ~ray 2~ A~tached to the u~derside of the chassis

3 is a sh~tter 5 which pivots hor12Ontally around a vertical post 20 sit~ated adjacent t~ the edge of ~he hole l9~

The sh~tter 5 ~s compres~ed,upw~;~ds.~g~st-~th~ ~n~d 130 opening 13 of the tray 2 by means of a spring 21 compr~ssed by means of a washer 22 and a pin ~3, Thls is to as~ure that the ~9~1~i3~

shutter 5 does not seize in its operat~on becausQ of the gran~
ular nature o ~he litter. The s'nutter is operated by a pu~h~
rod 25 and is rlosed by the resi~tallce of 3prirlg 26~ The shut~
~er may have a va~e afixed vertical:Ly ~o its underside to spre2d the litter throughout the s~orage container 4 and so lîmi~ ~he obstr~ction of ~he apertures 13 ~ 19.

The storage cont~iner 4 is of a size ~o accommodate a 140 ~tandard garbage bag as a liner s~retched over its ~urned lip~

~ n ~nderstandin~ of the invention ca~ be gained by follow ing a cycle of its operation: L~tter is dispensed from the hopper onto the tray when the tray is ro~ated by the pet owner.
~he quantity dispensed is controlled by the number of rotation~
A cat, by w~y of example, wishing to use the device will be draw~ to ~he depressîon in the smooth bed o~ littar~ ~hen it has perormed its f~n~tions it will tend to scratch the lit~er tow~rds the mlddle so reducing scattering~ The pet owner on ~eeing ~he disturbed litter will dispatch the contents of the 150 central portion of the tray into the storage container by open ing the ~hutter~ He wil~ then rotate the tray once or twice to ready it for future useJ When the ~torage contairler i~ full the ~hassi~tra~hopper assembly ls llfted clear of he storage container and the ba~ remove.d ~nd replaced.

From the preceeding descr;ption of a pre~erred embodiment the objects of the invention are attain~d but it is to be under stood that tllis is simply by way of lllustration and example and does not llmit the spir;t and ~cape of the appended claim~.

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Claims

What is claimed:

1. a pet toilet comprising:
a circular rotatable tray with raised edges and a centrally placed hole; the said tray being the supporting surface for the animal and the absorbant medium (litter) in which it performs its excretory functions;
bearing means for the said tray which are also the cover of a storage container wherein the contaminated litter is dispatch-ed through a hole in the said bearing means;
shutter means mounted on the said bearing means to control access of the contaminated litter into the storage container and prevent odors and dust emanating from it;
linkage means to operate the said shutter means;
storage means to support the said bearing means and contain the contaminated litter;
hopper means to store and distribute the said litter to the surface of the said circular tray.

2. The pet toilet of claim 1 wherein the said tray means is depressed toward the central hole facilitating the gravitational flow of the said litter and said excrements.

3. The pet toilet of claim 1 wherein the said bearing means has corrugations to cause vibrations in the said tray means thereby facilitating the gravitational flow of the said litter and excrements.

4. The pet toilet of claim 1 wherein the said shutter means includes a spreader means to distribute the said litter and excrements throughout the said storage means.

5. The pet toilet of claim 1 wherein the hopper means includes a sieve means for the removal of solid excrements from re-cycled litter.

6. A pet toilet comprising:
a circular rotatable tray with raised edges and a centrally placed hole; the said tray being the supporting surface for the animal and the absorbant medium (litter) in which it performs its excretory functions;
bearing means for the said tray which are also the cover of a storage container wherein the contaminated litter is dispatched through a hole in the said bearing means;
shutter means mounted on the said bearing means to control access of the contaminated litter into the storage container and prevent odours and dust emanating from it;
linkage means to operate the said shutter means;
storage means to support the said bearing means and contain the contaminated litter;
hopper means to store and distribute the said litter to the surface of the said circular tray but remote from it and connect-ed to the said tray by a conveyance means.