GB2291577A - Animal toilet - Google Patents

Abstract

An animal toilet includes two enclosures 12, 14 providing animal defecating areas and two walkways 22, 24 for animal handlers. A washing system including sparge pipes 38 and drains 36 are provided to wash the floor of each enclosure 12, 14. The washing means may be automatic, by timed operation, or manual. The enclosures have walls 18/20 which are low enough to allow a handle to keep the animal on a lead. The enclosures have scent lures 34. <IMAGE>

Description

ANIMAL TOILET The present invention relates to an animal toilet.

The purpose of the animal toilet is to prevent public parks or other areas open to the public but also frequented by dogs or other pets or animals from being contaminated by faecal matter.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an animal toilet comprising an animal enclosure bounded by one or more walls, access means for an animal handler and washing means for washing the enclosure.

The access means is preferably separated from the enclosure by a wall or other partition of a height sufficiently low to enable a lead to pass over the wall or partition to a handler when the handler's animal is in the enclosure.

The access means preferably includes a walkway adjacent the enclosure. The walkway may itself be bounded by an outer wall or other partition for partitioning the whole toilet from the public. This outer wall or partition is preferably higher than internal partitions of the animal toilet.

In the preferred embodiment, the washing means includes one or more jets operative to direct water or other fluid to the floor of the enclosure.

There is preferably provided a plurality of jets. In the preferred arrangement, the jets are spaced approximately 25 centimetres or less from one another.

Preferably, the or each jet is placed close to the base of the enclosure, advantageously around 5 centimetres therefrom.

There may also be provided spray preventIon means for preventing unwanted spray of water or other fluid from the jet or jets. The spray prevention means may include a shield disposed substantially opposite the jet or jets. Preferably, the shield is formed from an elongate member having an elongate edge which curves towards the base of the enclosure.

The washing means may be operable at timed intervals or by manual actuation. In the case of manual actuation, there is preferably provided a timer for preventing washing within a predetermined time of a previous wash.

One or more lures may be provided in the enclosure, these preferably generating a luring scent.

The enclosure is preferably approximately 3.5 metres (12 feet) by 1.5 metres (5 feet) although could be made longer to accommodate more animals. The access means would be provided adjacent one of the elongate sides of the enclosure.

The enclosure is preferably bounded by walls approximately 45 centimetres (18 inches) high and the animal toilet may have outer walls or other partitions which are higher, preferably to a total of approximately 1 metre (3 feet). The outer partitions could include wooden or metal railings.

Two enclosures are preferably provided, disposed side by side. Handler access means may be provided on opposing sides of the two enclosures.

An embodiment of the present invention is described below, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of double pet toilet; Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view in elongate section of the pet toilet of Figure 1; and Figure 3 is a plan view of the pet toilet of Figure 1.

Referring to the Figures, the embodiment of pet toilet shown is of the double type in which two enclosures 12,14 are disposed side by side. Each enclosure 12, 14 is of rectangular shape and includes an impermeable floor, preferably made of concrete. The floor is preferably slightly graded for better clearance of pet faeces.

Bounding each enclosure 12, 14 is a common wall 16 and a parallel wall 18,20 of, in this embodiment, substantially the same height as the common wall 16.

It has been found that a height for the walls 16 to 20 of around 45 centimetres (18 inches) is preferable. Taller walls may intimidate some pets, such as smaller dogs.

At the other side of each wall 18, 20 relative to the enclosures 12, 20, there is provided a walkway 22, 24 for the handler of the pet. This walkway is preferably also impermeable, although the walls 18, 20 are intended to ensure that the walkways are always maintained clean.

Figure 1 shows an optional rail 25 coupled to the wall 18 by the walkway 22 which can be used to tie pet leads thereto or merely as an additional partition between the pet enclosure and the handler walkway.

Bounding the walkways 22, 24, are outer walls 26, 28, which in this embodiment are higher than the other walls of the structure to provide privacy and to hide the interior of the pet toilet from the general public. These outer walls 26, 28 are formed from a taller bricked portion and finished with a wooden railing.

There are also included two end walls 30, 32 formed in this example of two layers of bricks and extending substantially perpendicularly relative to the common wall 16.

All the walls of the pet toilet, as will be apparent from the Figures, are preferably formed from concrete bricks. They could be made of metal, block, brick or other suitable material for example, metal panels or durable plastic panels.

In the preferred form, the internal walls are preferably around 45 centimetres (18 inches) high and the outer walls, including the railing, around 1 metre (3 feet).

The enclosures 12, 14 provide the defecating areas for the pets and include lures 34 for attracting pets thereinto (see Figure 3). These lures preferably provide a suitable attracting scent and are in the form of a fitting into which a scented substrate can be placed. In the embodiment shown, the lures 34 are placed at the sides of the enclosures 12, 14, although could be placed in any convenient location, even in the centre of the enclosures.

Adjacent the common wall 16, there are provided drains 36 which couple to a suitable sewerage system (not shown).

Drainage gullies are provided to the drains 36.

At each opposing wall 18, 20 there is provided a washing system formed from a sparge pipe 38 having a plurality of apertures or other nozzles therein to provide a plurality of water jets which direct water at the ground of the enclosures towards the drains 36. They are so arranged as to allow for cleaning of the sections thoroughly.

The sparge pipes 38 are preferably around 5 centimetres (2 inches) off the ground, this having been found to provide the best washing action. The jets are preferably spaced around 25 centimetres (9 inches) or less from one another, such that for an enclosure 12, 14 of approximately 1.5 metres by 3.5 metres (5 feet by 12 feet) there would be around 10 to 12 jets.

The sparge pipes 38 are supplied with water or a disinfecting fluid from a tank and pump system 40 of any suitable type, which is connected to the sparge pipes 38 by the conduits shown in dotted outline in Figure 3. The pumping system provides a pressure of around 2750 mbar (40 psi) or higher, which has been found to provide a good washing action for an enclosure around 1.5 metres (5 feet) wide.

Not shown in the Figures is a suitable cleaning control system for controlling each cleaning operation. Two methods are presently preferred. The first is automatic and actuates the jets, that is the pump system 40, at predetermined intervals, for example 30 minutes, dependent upon the usage of the toilet. The intervals can be preset as appropriate and can be at set periods during the day if preferred.

The second system is manually operated by the pet handler.

In this alternative, the system preferably includes a timing mechanism for preventing excessive cleaning.

Against the wall opposite the jets, in this case the common wall 16, the structure includes splash guards 42. These are in the form of an elongate metal member having a first side secured to the wall 16, for example by being cemented thereto, and a rolled edge at its free side. The rolled edge points towards the floor of the enclosures 12, 14 and is shaped so as to re-direct water bouncing off the wall 16 back towards this wall, and thereby towards one of the drains 36.

The splash guard is located at a suitable height to catch all or substantially all of the water ccming from the jets 38.

The actual height can be found readily by experiment.

In the preferred embodiment, the or each enclosure 12, 14 has a width of around 1.5 metres (5 feet) and a length of approximately 3.5 metres (12 feet). Should it be desirable to increase the size of the enclosure so as to be able to accommodate more pets at any one time, this is preferably done by increasing its length so as to maintain ease of control of a pet by its handler and cleaning efficiency. It will be appreciated that the preferred embodiment can be constructed to suit the particular site where it is needed.

Measurements given herein are intended to give an indication of approximate sizes for this embodiment.

In place of the wooden railings, there could be provided wire mesh panels or a partition which blends in with the environment. In the case of a single pet toilet, the common wall 16 would be an outer wall, which could therefore also be finished off with wooden railings or other partition.

For winter operation, the animal toilet can be provided with antifreeze within the water system, so as to prevent frost damage. Additional feature can be a fitted heater in water tank housing, preventing damage to pipework and allow for continuous operation.

Claims (15)

Claims:

1. An animal toilet comprising an animal enclosure bounded by one or more walls, access means for an animal handler and washing means for washing the enclosure.

2. An animal toilet according to claim 1, wherein the access means is separated from the enclosure by a wall or other partition of a height sufficiently low to enable a lead to pass over the wall or partition to a handler when the handler's animal is in the enclosure.

3. An animal toilet according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the access means includes a walkway adjacent the enclosure.

4. An animal toilet according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the walkway is bounded by an outer wall or other partition.

5. An animal toilet according to any preceding claim, wherein the washing means includes one or more water jets operative to direct water or other fluid to the base of the enclosure.

6. An animal toilet according to claim 5, comprising a plurality of jets.

7. An animal toilet according to claim 6, wherein the jets are spaced approximately 25 centimetres or less from one another.

8. An animal toilet according to claim 5, 6 or 7, wherein the or each jet is placed around 5 centimetres from the floor of the enclosure.

9. An animal toilet according to any one of claims 5 to 8, comprising spray prevention means for preventing unwanted spray of water or other fluid from the jet or jets.

10. An animal toilet according to claim 9, wherein the spray prevention means includes a shield formed from an elongate member having an elongate edge which curves towards the floor of the enclosure.

11. An animal toilet according to any preceding claim, wherein the washing means is operable automatically at timed intervals.

12. An animal toilet according to any preceding claim, wherein the washing means is operable by manual actuation.

13. An animal toilet according to any preceding claim, comprising one or more lures in the enclosure.

14. An animal toilet according to any preceding claim, comprising two enclosures disposed side by side and separated by a wall or other partition, and two access means, one for each enclosure.

15. An animal toilet substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.