GB2347604A

GB2347604A - Animal house with viewing window which is only translucent at a predetermined viewing angle

Info

Publication number: GB2347604A
Application number: GB9928563A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Paul Scott Evans
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1998-12-02
Filing date: 1999-12-02
Publication date: 2000-09-13
Also published as: GB9928563D0; GB9826496D0

Abstract

An animal house, particularly a bird nesting box, has a viewing window 30 produced from 'diacroic' layers of film which pass light only at a predetermined angle relative to the surface of the film. This film thereby enables the animal in the animal house to be viewed through the viewing window yet hinder sight of the viewer by the animal. The nesting box is assembled from a preformed blank (fig.1). An aperture (33,fig.5) is cut into the nesting box to allow the bird access to the box.

Description

Animal house.

This invention relates generally to animal houses and, more particularly, to an animal house within the above mentioned class which has a viewing window.

Background of the Invention : Devices for housing animals have long been used to provide a dwelling or home for a range of animals. They have long played a part in popular culture and prior art has been furnished with numerous designs thereof. The popularity of animal house (s) stems from a desire by the user's for interaction or observation with the animals which inhabit them. Animal house owners, particularly, enjoy the sights and sounds of the animals which are attracted to the provided stations. Typical placement for an animal house can encompass many areas, either, near or inside visual or aural distance of the animal house owners residence, a professional or research placement or at any other desirable placement. Typical animal houses will cater for all types of animals or creatures capable of living within an enclosure.

A typical animal house enclosure housing includes a back wall, opposed sidewalls, a front wall, a floor and a roof. Typically one of these walls has an entrance opening therein which is sized and configured to allow an animal or, a creature, to pass through into the interior of the housing.

Typically the creature may bring material into the housing for it's comfort, security, hibernation or breeding purposes. During breeding the creature may go through a period of pregnancy before giving birth to it's young therein or by laying an egg or eggs therein and allowing them to follow their natural hatching cycle. Afterwards the creature may typically feed and nurture the young inside, or allow them to follow their natural path of survival. The animal house, thus, offers a valuable teaching opportunity, to teach young and old alike the breeding and nurturing behaviour of animals.

Animal houses can also serve a useful purpose due to changes in the aforementioned animals natural habitats which have been disturbed or destroyed.

Some conventional animal houses have a construction to the housing that can be opened to enable cleaning. The cleaning of the animal house is typically conducted during the animals stay or after they have left the abode to clear parasites, urine, excrement or waste from the interior.

The conventional animal house is not suited to allow a person to observe the natural activity therein without substantially interfering with the creatures therein. An attempt to view the natural activity of certain creatures by simply opening the roof or side wall could cause disturbance and alarm and pose a risk of injury to the person observing. Thus, while suitable for their intended purpose, the conventional animal houses have not evolved in their design to exploit this teaching opportunity.

A need exists for an animal house which in addition to offering a way to house creatures has a construction which allows a child, person or professional person to directly witness the birth preparation, birth, nurturing activities, natural activities of creatures contained therein without substantially interfering with these natural activities. It would further be beneficial if such an animal house could be placed in a location which was both convenient and safe for such viewing. It would additionally be beneficial if the animal house could allow screened viewing to further reduce the impact of the observer to the observed creature.

In the case of Prior Art there have been numerous examples of animal houses that have been designed to observe animals at close distance without visual aids. Because of the obvious intrusion of the privacy of certain animals, this has led to alternative designs using a viewing panel or an observer construction in many guises. Prior art has many examples of one way mirror, one way films, reflective and semi reflective films, combinations of mirrors and lenses, convex or concave mirrors used in their construction. These type of designs often suffer from problems for the enclosed animal (s) including intimidation from seeing their own reflections, awareness of the observer due to differential dispersions of light and inflated manufacturing costs.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an animal house having the aforementioned characteristics and capable of acting as a teaching tool for children, adults and professionals, to teach the behavioural, breeding, reproductive, nesting and rearing behaviour of animals.

A further object of the present invention is to, wherever possible, provide a better link with homo sapiens and nature by creating a better understanding of their natural behaviour and needs.

Description of Invention In view of any prior art, an animal house has been provided in accordance with the present invention which acts as a teaching tool for examining the behavioural patterns of animals whilst in the interior of the aforementioned animal house. More particularly the animal house of the present invention allows a viewer namely a child, an adult or a professional person to safely and conveniently view the natural behaviour of the aforementioned animals without disturbing these natural behaviours.

The aforementioned animal house invention shall be for the prime use of a range of animals namely any animal (s) which form part of the animal kingdom and are a living creature that can be viewed by the aforementioned observer without disturbing their natural behaviour.

In its broadest sense, the aforementioned animal house shall include an enclose housing which provides an interior area, within which the aforementioned animal can behave as naturally as possible.

The aforementioned animal house enclosure can include a front wall, a back wall, opposed side walls, a floor, a roof in whatever combination thereof deemed necessary for the comfort and security of the aforementioned animal.

The aforementioned animal house can also be constructed naturally by the aforementioned animal (s) with the aesthetic shapes of the a aforementioned enclosure frame only being critical to the present invention, to enable their arrangement resulting in a defined enclosure forming the interior area for the safety, comfort and or security of an aforementioned animal during habitation.

The material from which these conventional elements are made for the aforementioned enclosure, are manufactured from a range of materials, encompassing any natural or man made material in any derivative form which may be a more applicable or comfortable for use with a particular breed or variety of animal.

The aforementioned animal house enclosure may include an opening or entrance in any of the aforementioned combinations of walls and/or floor (s) and/orroof (s) and/or naturally constructed enclosure, for free access to the enclosure which is sized and configured to allow the animal to be observed to pass into the housing's interior.

If free access is inadvisable to the aforementioned enclosure due to the breed or variety of the aforementioned animal or for the viewers safety and security, free access is inadvisable, then this shall be at the discretion of the user.

Accordingly, the aforementioned animal house may be produced as a self assembly or purpose built structure, dependent on a balance between the needs and comfort of the breed or variety of the aforementioned animal and the observer.

With the aforementioned self assembly animal-house structure there shall be the option of producing the structure as a one piece manufactured tooling with the option of manufacturing the tooling in sections should there be any packaging size restriction (s).

The aforementioned self assembly animal-house structure may be locked and unlocked into position by a series of tab and slit connections produced from within the aforementioned manufacturer tooling from a suitable aforementioned material. These aforementioned tab and slit connections will add to the facility of the aforementioned enclosure for the purpose of ease of constuction, repositioning, rearrangement of the interior, locking the aforesaid housing into position, providing a more watertight container and generally produce a more cost effective product.

The aforementioned self assembly structure or purpose built structure may be locked and unlocked into position by the use of any suitable natural or man made non toxic fixings, rivets or sealant suitable for use with an applicable enclosure material for a forechosen animal, for the purpose of fixing or sealing the aforementioned housing into position and having the facility to reopen it for repositioning, rearrangement or cleaning of the aforementioned interior.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, the aforementioned natural or manmade material used for the origination or manufacture of the housing may have a translucent or opaque quality to be dependent on the aforementioned animal (s) natural needs.

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention the aforementioned housing material may be produced naturally in it's own natural hue, or by any chemical formulation of a man made material or chemical coating be produced in any colour which is available and so chosen for the attraction qualities or needs of the aforementioned animal (s).

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, if a man-made material is suited to the construction of the aforementioned housing and is deemed as having good potential for the chosen animal (s), due to it's cold weather insulation qualities and/or shock absorption capabilities and/or warm weather'breathability'qualities for added coolness capabilities and/or lightness of mass and/or strength of material and/or waterproofing, it may be manufactured in any of it's derivative chemical formulations as a single, biform, triform or of any combination housing material suitable for housing an aforementioned animal in alternative temperature and/or weather conditions.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention the material with the closest properties relevant to the example of the invention referred to in this Patent Application and for the purposes of manufacture of the aforementioned example be referred to as a twinwall polypropylene sheet based on a propylene ethylene copolymer and be generally available and manufactured by alternative manufacturers with one such manufacturer namely Correx (tm) quoted soley for the purposes of manufacture for convenience of the aforementioned example.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, if a man-made material is used for construction of the aforementioned housing an Ultra Violet additive or coating may be added during or after manufacture to preserve the material during it's use in direct sunlight and/or artificial light.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, if a man-made material is used for construction of the aforementioned housing a Non Toxic additive or coating may be added during or after manufacture as a protection for the aforementioned animal (s) well being during the animal (s) habitation of the housing.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention shall include a non reflective viewing film produced from Diacroic layers bonded together to produce an element which passes light at a predetermined angle relative to the surface of the element. Explaining this more fully, the viewing film shall vary both in it's number of layers and layer positions to each other on a horizontal plane, to allow particular areas of vision leaving the non particular areas of vision, secluded. These particular areas of vision and non particular areas of vision shall vary on the required viewing circumstance of the observer (s) and the areas of non vision required by the subject namely the aforementioned animal and shall be dependent on the number of layers and format of layment of the Diacroic layers for a particular viewing circumstace dependent on the required angle of viewing by the observer and non vision by the aforementioned subject. Applying this principle of vision to the subject to be viewed, namely the aforementioned animal (s) shall be placed comfortably within a predetermined area of vision, to enable vision of the subject from a predetermined angle by the viewer and concealment of sight of the viewer by the subject.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention the aforementioned viewing film controls the direction of light enabling it to change from a transparent to a non transparent material depending on the angle it is viewed.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention the aforementioned Diacroic layered film during use will allow similar amounts of light to pass from both sides to pass at predetermined angles relative to the surface of the element allowing for clearer vision of the subject namely an aforementioned animal by the observer allowing the range of aforementioned housing material to include opaque and semi opaque material.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention the aforementioned Diacroic layered film shall include a self-adhesive backing and shall have the ability to adhere to either side of a plate of transparent material and function to it's full capability whether the film shall be located nearest to the animal or the observer for more convenient use whether in a gas or a liquid.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention the aforementioned transparent material that the self adhesive backing of the Diacroic film will attach to may be produced from any convenient non toxic transparent material including glass, polycarbonate, acrylic, silicon or any plastic in any of it's derivative forms suitable for use in an aforementioned natural or manmade animal house and shall be chosen through personal preference and/or superior visibility qualities and/or fire retardent capapibilities and/or budget constraints.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention the material with the closest properties relevant to the aforementioned Diacroic layered film and included for the purposes of production of the aforementioned animal house shall be these purposes mentioned and shall be so mentioned by its trade name of Lumisty (tm).

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention the combination of the aforementioned self-adhesive Diacroic layered film and the transparent material shall be known for the purposes of this Patent Application as the viewing window.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention if an opaque, semi-opaque or semi transparent material is chosen for the aforementioned housing manufacture, a viewing port may be provided in one or more of the aforementioned enclosure wall (s) and/or roof and/or floor.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention a range of fixing methods can be used to hold the viewing window in position inside the viewing port including brackets, fixings and enclosures manufactured from natural or man-made materials including plastic or any derivative (s) suitable for use with an aforementioned enclosure material applicable for a forechosen animal.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention the aforementioned Diacroic layered film material shall also have the facility to be manufactured within an aforementioned transparent material producing a dense material panel with the same capabilities as the aforementioned viewing window producing a more practical material should there be a requirement for the animalhouse to be submerged within a gas or liquid.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention a full range of attachement and/or reattachement devices either natural or man made shall be provided for mounting the aforementioned animal house apparatus to a selected fixed mounting base which can be utilised for mounting onto a planar surface at any angle to the horizontal to enable viewing of a particular species of aforementioned animal (s) and shall be so chosen for the particular mounting circumstance.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention a full range of attachement and/or reattachement devices either natural or man made shall be provided for hanging or attaching the aforementioned animal house to selected fixing position which can be utilise to enable viewing of a particular species of aforementioned animal (s) and shall be chosen for the particular mounting circumstance.

Additional advantages of this invention will become apparent from the example animal house from the description which follows, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Description of Drawings of Particular Embodiment of Invention : The invention will be more readily understood by reference to the self assembly example outlined i the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals are used to indicate, like elements throughout the drawing figures, and in which: Figure. 1 shows a flat foldable precut section of material, manufactured from a twin wall plastic material.

Figure. 2 shows a perspective view showing the blank being constructed and folded to make the enclosure.

Figure. 3 shows the reinforcement panels being married together during construction to form a central drainage hole, the same size and directly above the base drain hole.

Figure. 4 is a partial vertical perspective view indicating the rear of the animal house adhered to a planar surface namely a facing window placed in a holding position using re-attachement devices, namely flexible plastic suckers. This perspective view also shows the viewing window held in position within the rear wall of the animal house by a homogeneous plastic enclosure.

Figure. 5 is a partial perspective view indicating the front elevation of the completed structure showing it's entrance affixed to an outside facing window.

Figure. 6 shows homogeneous plastic holder for the purpose of holding the viewing panel in position within the enclosure material.

Figure. 7 shows the process for attaching a Diacroic film to a plastic or glass sheet to allow for repositioning and release of captured air.

Figure. 8 shows a plastic rivet with the capability of being reopened.

Figure. 9 shows the holding attachment in position within the plastic twin wall material.

Figure. 10 shows method of smearing cooking oil on facing surface of holding attachment to create stronger attachment.

DetailedDescriptionofDrawingsorParhcuiarEmbodiment of Invention.

Fig 1 illustrates a flat'machined tooled'blank of plastic previously machine tooled, cut and mechanically folded. The material is a twin wall plastic derivative which is suitable for the fore chosen animal, namely a bird, as it gives added insulation in cold weather, breathability during hot weather, lightness of mass which is applicable for the hanging application and is non toxic for safety during the fore chosen animal (s) use. A UV (Ultra Violet) additive has been added during manufacture to protect the material from deterioration by the Sun when in use in the outside atmosphere, the material, manufactured from a derivative of plastic is also water proof. The blank has a rectangular end or base panel 10 to the sides of which are foldably connected a pair of opposing reinforcement panels 11 and an opposing panel 13. The base panel 10 and the base panel reinforcing panels 11 are provided with drain holes 12a 12b that marry in complimentary positions during rection to form a central drain hole which matches in position and size with hole 12 as in Fig 3. The side panels 13 support a pair of wing panels 14 which in turn support a pair of flanges 27 which have locking slits 15 on the fold between panels 14 and 27. The side panel 13 also supports a foldable panel 17 with pre-formed rivet holes 26. The side panels 13 has a series of dotted lines 16 marked on the panel whereby a hole or rectangle 33 may be cut out of the material by a sharp knife Fig 11 (by an adult) to enable the potential viewer to choose a particular species of bird (s) and select a hole size to enable the fore chosen bird to enter or leave the animal house (alternatively the dotted lines can represent preformed cut out sections sized for particular species of birds to make construction by a child easier and will of course be dependent on overall manufacturing costs). The main roof panel 22 is supporting two opposing pairs of side flaps 23 with rivet connection holes 24 for resealable plastic rivets 32 as indicated in Fig 8. Side panel 18 has fixing slats 19 in set positions on each side of the panel with a rectangle cut out 20 for placement of the viewing window assembly Fig 4,30. The side panel 18 also has holes formed during tooling 21 for planar attachment fixings Fig 4,29. Wing panels 14, have preformed holes 22 for resealable plastic rivet (s) 32 as shown in Fig 8, as well as preformed holes for enclosure ventilation 28 Fig 4. During erection of enclosure rivet holes 24 will marry up with 22 and 26 with 25. The blank may be erected as follows, assuming for convenience of description that the blank is initially horizontal Fig 1. Initially choose the particular bird you wish to attract and cut carefully around the marked lined areas with a sharp knife Fig 11. Before beginning construction of enclosure, smear a fine layer of one part washing up liquid with fifty parts water onto transparent C Fig 7 sheet as indicated by B in Fig 7, take the piece of Diacroic film A Fig 7 and peel off the protective backing film and affix Diacroic film A Fig 7 into position, reposition if fit is not perfect and release any trapped air bubbles by pushing them out by squeezing bubbles through mixture ; once positioning is correct allow mixture to dry and allow backing adhesive to adhere the two elements together. Enclose the element inside one part of the Homogeneous plastic holder. nd place the element into the underside of the rectangle within the side panel 18 at 20, with the Diacroic layered A Fig 7 outer side parallel with the outside of the enclosure while placing a secondary Homogeneous part on the other side of 20 in such a way that the male and female end poppers fit together to form a seal that holds the viewing window in place in panel 18 as in 30 Fig 4. Then place each of the two enclosure fixings into the underside of the replaced horizontal flat blank so that the end enclosure plugs fit into the holes 21 to form a seal Fig 9. Assuming for convenience the blank is then placed back into the original horizontal position for construction of the enclosure. The opposing panels 11 to the base panel 10 are folded upwards through 90 degrees whilst the adjoining wing panels 14 are also folded upwards at 90 degrees to the horizontal as in Fig 2. The side panel 13 is then also folded upwards through 90 degrees whilst keeping base panel 10 horizontal, pane118 is then folded upwards through 90 degrees to become parallel to panel 13. The pair of flanges 27 are then folded inwards at 90 degrees to panel (s) 14 to also become parallel to 13. The fixing slats 19 are then folded inwards at 90 degrees to panel 18 and fitted into the the locking slots and pushed into position, until they lock. The observer then packs the inner enclosure with applicable preparatory nesting material as recommended by the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds to a predetermined filling level as mentioned in the Description of the Invention. The main roof panel 22 is then folded downwards until it lies flat against the incline of the parallel walls 14 whilst beforehand holding down at a similar incline the foldable panel 17, so that it fits underneath panel 22. The wing panels 23 are then folded down so they are parallel to panel 14, the reusable fasteners are then inserted into 22,24,25 and 26 and the panels are fixed in position, with the ability of being reopened for annual cleaning and riddance of parasites. Before fixing to the planar surface namely the outside surface of a window, smear a fine layer of cooking oil rubbed onto the outer surface of the enclosure fixings as indicated in Fig 10 to act as seal for a firmer grip for the enclosure fixings. Make sure the outer surface of the window is cleaned before positioning the animal house into position, for final positioning place in position and push side panel 13 where panel (s) 14 join it.

Claims

Claims 1. An animal housing at least one side of which incorporates a Diacroic film whereby the interior of the housing can be viewed from outside the housing through the Diacroic film.
2. An animal housing as claimed in claim 1 in which the Diacroic film forms part of a panel.
3. An animal housing as claimed in claim 2 in which the panel is transparent, translucent or partially transparent.
4. An animal housing as claimed in claim 2 in which the panel is opaque.
5. An animal housing as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4 in which the Diacroic film is affixed to a transparent sheet.
6. An animal housing as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5 in which the Diacroic film is positioned between sheets of a transparent or partially transparent material.
7. An animal housing as daimed in any one of claims 1 to 6 in which there are a plurality of Diacroic films in contact with each other so light passes through the Diacroic films sequentially.
8. An animal housing as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which light can only pass through the Diacroic film when the light impinges on the film at an angle or a limited range of angles to the surface of the film.
9. An animal housing as claimed in claim 8 in which light can only pass through the Diacroic film when the light impinges on the film at a predetermined angle to the surface of the film.
10. An animal housing as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9 in which an observer from outside the housing can view an animal inside without being observed by the animal.
11. An animal housing as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10 which incorporates a door allowing entrance into the enclosure.
12 An animal housing as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 11 which incorporates a roof.
13. A Diacroic sheet having an adhesive layer on one surface adapted to fix the Diacroic sheet to a transparent or partially transparent surface.
14. A panel which incorporates a Diacroic film over at least part of its surface which panel is adapted to form part of an animal housing.
15. A panel as claimed in claim 14 in which the Diacroic film is affixed to a transparent sheet.
16. A panel as claimed in any one of claims 14 or 15 in which the Diacroic film is positioned between sheets of a transparent or partially transparent material.
17. A panel as claimed in any of claims 14 to 16 in which there are a plurality of Diacroic films in contact with each other so light passes through the Diacroic films sequentially.
18. A panel as claimed in any of claims 14 to 17 in which light can only pass through the Diacroic film when the light impinges on the film at an angle or a limited range of angles to the surface of the film.
19. A panel as claimed in claim 18 in which light can only pass through the Diacroic film when the light impinges on the film at a predetermined angle to the surface of the film.
20. An animal housing as claimed in any of claims 1 to 19 whereby the material chosen for manufacture of the housing itself can be produced from a natural or man made material.
21. An animal housing as claimed in claim 20 whereby the aforesaid man made material may be produced as a single, twinwall, triwall extrusion.
22. An animal housing as claimed in claim 21 whereby the aforesaid man made extrusion material can be produced with a UV (Ultra Violet) additive.
23. An animal housing as claimed in claim 22 whereby the aforesaid man made extrusion can be produced with a Non Toxic additive or coating.
24. An animal housing as claimed in claim 23 can be manufactured as a self assembly kit.
25. An animal housing as claimed in claim 24 can be manufactured as a self assembly kit which may be locked and unlocked into position by a series of tab an slit connections produced from within a manufacturers tooling.
26. An animal housing as claimed in claim 25 may be manufactured as a self assembly kit which may be locked and unlocked into position by the use of any suitable man made non toxic fixings.
27. An animal housing as claimed in claim 26 whereby the animal housing will allow for a range of suitable man made attachment devices for the housing to be attached to any planar surface.
28. An animal housing as in claimed in claim 27 whereby the aforesaid housing extruded man made material may be produced in any colour as an additive to the extrusion or chemical coating.
29. An animal housing as herein before described with reference to the drawings.