JP6767439B2 - Pet toilet - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a pet toilet used when excreting a pet.

Various proposals have been made so far regarding pet toilets for pets such as cats raised at home to excrete indoors (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 4). The pet toilet is composed of a main body portion that receives pet excrement and a cover portion that is detachably attached to the upper part of the main body portion. The main body is composed of a box-shaped upper container with an open upper surface and a lower container that are stacked one above the other so that a space is formed between them, and allows pets to enter and exit a part of the peripheral wall of the cover. There is an entrance / exit section.

At the bottom of the upper container, a mesh-like (slatted) urine passage part is formed to pass urine excreted from the pet, and a granular excrement treatment material such as cat sand is formed on the urine passage part. Is laid. In the space formed between the upper container and the lower container of the main body, a container-shaped tray is housed so that it can be inserted and removed (taken in and out).

JP-A-2017-146729 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2016-158562 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-204230 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-320295

When a pet such as a cat enters from the entrance / exit part of a pet toilet for excretion, the forefoot is often placed on the lower end edge of the entrance / exit part, and the lower end edge is used as a stepping stone to enter the inside of the pet toilet from the head. Then, the pet who has finished excretion often turns upside down inside the pet litter box, puts his forefoot on the lower end edge of the entrance / exit portion with his head in front, and exits from the pet litter box using this lower end edge as a stepping stone. By the way, in recent years, the life span of pets has been extended and the number of elderly pets has been increasing. However, elderly pets have weak legs and are not easy to get in and out of the toilet. Therefore, there is a demand for a toilet that can be easily used even by elderly pets.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a toilet in which pets can easily enter and exit.

The present invention is composed of a main body portion that receives pet excrement and a cover portion that is detachably attached to the upper part of the main body portion, and the main body portion is a box-shaped upper container and a lower container having an open upper surface. The cover portion is formed in a pet toilet in which a part of the peripheral wall thereof is provided with an entrance / exit portion for pets to enter / exit, and the cover portion is formed so as to form a space between the two. The first footrest portion extending substantially horizontally inward and a standing wall portion rising upward from the inner end edge of the first footrest portion are integrally provided on the lower edge of the lower end of the entrance / exit portion. It solves the problem of.

According to the present invention, pets can easily enter and exit the toilet.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing a preferred embodiment of the pet toilet of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view of the vicinity of the entrance / exit portion of the pet toilet shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a partial front view of the vicinity of the entrance / exit portion of the pet toilet shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. FIG. 5 is a partial side sectional view schematically showing a dimensional relationship in the vicinity of the entrance / exit portion of the pet toilet shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a partial side sectional view schematically showing a dimensional relationship in the vicinity of an entrance / exit portion in another embodiment of the pet toilet of the present invention.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on the preferred embodiment with reference to the drawings. 1 to 5 show an embodiment of the pet toilet of the present invention. The pet litter box 1 is used when excreting a pet such as a cat indoors. The toilet 1 is formed of resin in a rectangular box shape. In FIG. 1, the arrow directions in the figure orthogonal to each other are the front-back direction, the left-right direction, and the height direction, respectively.

The pet toilet 1 shown in FIG. 1 is composed of a main body 2 for receiving pet excrement and a cover 3 detachably attached to the upper part of the main body 2. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the main body 2 is formed by vertically stacking the upper container 2A and the lower container 2B having an open upper surface so that a space S is formed between them.

The upper container 2A and the lower container 2B are configured as vertically long rectangular containers whose length in the front-rear direction is longer than the length in the left-right direction. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the upper container 2A has a mortar-shaped concave curved surface around it. The portion of the upper container 2A other than the periphery forms a horizontal flat bottom. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a mesh-shaped (drainboard-shaped) urine passing portion 2a through which urine excreted from the pet passes is formed on the bottom portion. A granular excrement treatment material (not shown) called cat sand or the like is laid on the urine passage portion 2a formed at the bottom of the upper container 2A. As the excrement treatment material, for example, a particulate matter formed by containing one or more of components such as a crushed product of a plant-derived material, a synthetic resin, and a clay mineral is used. Examples of the particulate matter include the water-resistant excrement treatment material described in JP-A-2006-204249, which the applicant filed earlier. A large number of slit-shaped holes are formed in the urine passage portion 2a. The size of each hole is set to a size that allows the passage of urine but can block the passage of the excrement treatment material.

As shown in FIG. 5, for example, the pet toilet 1 is installed on an indoor horizontal floor surface (toilet mounting surface) FL with the main body 2 facing down. The lower container 2B of the main body 2 has a flat surface whose bottom surface is horizontal. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a space S is formed between the lower container 2B and the upper container 2A as described above. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a rectangular container-shaped tray 4 is housed in the space S. The tray 4 is for receiving and collecting urine that is excreted from the pet and passes through the urine passing portion 2a of the upper container 2A, and is inserted in the space S in the front-rear direction (arrows a and b in FIG. 1). It is housed so that it can be removed (taken in and out). At the center of the front surface of the tray 4 in the width direction, a rectangular concave handle portion 4a is formed for a person to insert a hand when the tray 4 is taken in and out of the main body portion 2 (lower container 2B).

As shown in FIG. 4, flat flange portions 2b and 2c bent outward are formed on the peripheral edges of the upper container 2A and the lower container 2B of the main body 2, respectively. Specifically, on the peripheral edge of the upper surface opening of the upper container 2A, a protrusion-shaped fitting convex portion 2A1 bent outward in an inverted U shape and the lower end of the fitting convex portion 2A1 are directed outward. The flange portion 2b extending horizontally is formed. Further, a bent portion 2B1 bent in an inverted U shape toward the outside is formed on the peripheral edge of the upper surface opening of the lower container 2B, and the horizontal portion of the bent portion 2B1 serves as the flange portion 2c. It is configured. As described above, the rigidity of the upper container 2A and the lower container 2B is enhanced by forming the fitting convex portion 2A1 and the bent portion 2B1 on the peripheral edges of the openings of the upper container 2A and the lower container 2B, respectively. .. As a result, deformation of the upper container 2A and the lower container 2B can be prevented.

As shown in FIG. 4, the flange portion 2b of the upper container 2A is overlapped on the flange portion 2c of the lower container 2B, and the upper container 2A is overlapped on the lower container 2B and both are assembled to form the main body portion 2. Is configured. The space S described above is formed between the upper container 2A and the lower container 2B which are stacked vertically.

The cover portion 3 detachably attached to the upper portion of the main body portion 2 is formed into a substantially rectangular dome shape having an open lower surface. The cover portion 3 is composed of two members, a cover main body 3A having a rectangular opening on the lower surface and a front surface, and a rectangular frame 3B fitted to the peripheral edge of the front opening of the cover main body 3A and integrated with the cover main body 3A. It is configured. A substantially rectangular entrance / exit 3a as an entrance / exit portion for pets to enter / exit is opened on the front surface of the cover portion 3. As shown in FIG. 4, an inverted U-shaped fitting recess 3A1 is formed on the peripheral edge of the lower surface opening of the cover body 3A, and the fitting recess 3A1 is projected from the peripheral edge of the upper surface opening of the upper container 2A. By covering and fitting the fitting convex portion 2A1 from above, the cover portion 3 is detachably attached to the upper portion of the main body portion 2 as described above.

In the pet litter box 1, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a third extending substantially horizontally toward the inside (right side of FIGS. 4 and 5) at the lower edge of the entrance / exit 3a that opens to the front surface of the cover portion 3. 1 foot rest portion 3b, a standing wall portion 3c that rises diagonally upward from the inner end edge of the first foot rest portion 3b, and a second foot rest portion that extends substantially horizontally inward from the inner end edge of the standing wall portion 3c. 3d is integrally connected.

As shown in FIG. 5, for example, the pet toilet 1 configured as described above is installed on a horizontal floor surface (toilet mounting surface) FL indoors and is used when excreting pets such as cats. In the toilet 1, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the first footrest portion 3b, the standing wall portion 3c, and the second footrest portion 3d are integrally provided on the lower edge of the entrance / exit 3a. Therefore, when the pet enters through the entrance 3a of the toilet 1 for excretion, the pet first puts one of the forefoot on the first foot rest 3b. Then, the pet enters the toilet 1 using the first footrest portion 3b as a stepping stone. The pet that has finished excreting turns its body 180 degrees in the toilet 1 and uses the second footrest 3d as a stepping stone, or crosses the second footrest 3d and goes out of the toilet 1. Get out. When straddling the second footrest portion 3d, the first footrest portion 3b is used as a stepping stone, or the first footrest portion 3b is not stepped on and goes out directly. Therefore, when a pet enters and exits the toilet 1, it is advantageous that the difference between the step when entering the toilet 1 and the step when exiting the toilet 1 is small. From this point of view, when the height of the first footrest portion 3b from the toilet mounting surface is A and the height of the vertical wall portion 3c from the bottom surface of the upper container 2A is B, A: B is 1.0. It is preferably set in the range of 1.6 to 1.6: 1.0, more preferably set in the range of 1.0: 1.5 to 1.5: 1.0, 1.0: It is more preferable to set it in the range of 1.2 to 1.5: 1.0. Here, the height B has the same meaning as the distance from the surface of the bottom surface of the upper container 2A to the highest position on the standing wall portion 3c. By setting the heights A and B in this way, even an elderly pet with weak legs can easily enter and exit the toilet 1.

By the way, pets such as cats have a habit of covering the excrement with the excrement treatment material by scratching the granular excrement treatment material after excretion and flying it backward. At this time, the excrement treatment material may jump out from the pet toilet 1 and scatter on the floor surface. However, in the toilet 1 of the present embodiment, since the standing wall portion 3c that rises upward from the inner end edge of the first foot rest portion 3b is provided, the excrement treatment material is scratched toward the entrance / exit 3a after excretion due to the habit of the pet. Even if it is blown off, the excrement treatment material that is scraped off is blocked by the standing wall portion 3c, making it difficult for it to jump out from the doorway 3a. Therefore, it is unnecessary or alleviated to clean up the excrement treatment material scattered around the toilet 1 after excretion, and the physical burden on the owner is reduced.

In the pet toilet 1, the second footrest portion 3d is further integrally provided with the first footrest portion 3b and the standing wall portion 3c. Therefore, when the pet leaves the toilet 1, it is possible to select whether to use the first footrest 3b as a step or the second footrest 3d as a step, and even an elderly pet with weak legs can be selected. It becomes easy to get in and out of the toilet 1. At the same time, even if the pet scrapes the excrement treatment material toward the doorway 3a after excretion, the scraped excrement treatment material is blocked by the second footrest 3d and it is difficult for the pet to jump out from the doorway 3a. It has become.

In order to allow pets to enter and exit the pet litter box 1 more easily, it is preferable that the heights A and B are low, respectively. However, if the heights A and B are lowered in order to facilitate the entry and exit of the pet to the toilet 1, as described above, when the granular excrement treatment material is scratched and blown backward by the pet's habit after excretion. , The excrement treatment material may jump out from the toilet 1 and scatter on the floor surface. As described above, the ease of entering and exiting the toilet 1 and the anti-scattering property of the excrement treatment material are in a trade-off relationship. As a result of diligent studies by the present inventor in order to solve this problem, in addition to setting the heights A and B in the above-mentioned relationship, it is preferable to set the height B to 80 mm or more, preferably 90 mm or more. It was found that it is more preferable to do so. The upper limit of the height B is preferably set to 160 mm or less, and more preferably 140 mm or less.

On the other hand, the height A is preferably set to 60 mm or more, and more preferably 80 mm or more. The upper limit of the height A is preferably set to 180 mm or less, and more preferably 145 mm or less.

The ease of entering and exiting the pet toilet 1 and the anti-scattering property of the excrement treatment material are also related to the depth length D of the first footrest portion 3b. In detail, the depth length D of the first footrest portion 3b is set to 15 mm or more so that the pet can place his / her feet sufficiently and the excrement treatment material is hard to scatter. It is preferable to set it to 25 mm or more, and it is more preferable to set it to 75 mm or less, and it is set to 50 mm or less in order to secure a sufficient space for pets to easily excrete in the pet toilet 1. Is even more preferable.

The first footrest portion 3b is preferably substantially horizontal so that the pet can easily place the foot. The inclination angle of the first footrest portion 3b with respect to the horizontal plane is preferably set to a value of ± 20 degrees or less, and more preferably set to ± 10 degrees or less.

As shown in FIG. 5, when the depth length of the lower end edge of the doorway 3a is G, the ratio D / G of the depth length D of the first footrest portion 3b to the depth length G is 0.5 or more. It is preferably 0.6 or more, more preferably 0.7 or more. Then, it is preferably 0.95 or less, and more preferably 0.9 or less. By setting the D / G value in this way, it is possible to easily enter and exit the pet toilet 1, prevent the excrement treatment material from scattering, and secure a sufficient space for easy excretion. ..

As shown in FIG. 5, the depth length F of the second footrest portion 3d is sufficient to be long enough for the pet to temporarily place the foot, and is preferably set to 2 mm or more, and is set to 3 mm or more. It is more preferably set to 15 mm or less, and further preferably set to 10 mm or less.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the standing wall portion 3c is formed so as to rise diagonally inward from the rear end edge of the first foot rest portion 3b. The inclination angle of the vertical wall portion 3c with respect to the horizontal plane is preferably set to 45 degrees or more, more preferably 60 degrees or more, and preferably 90 degrees or less, and preferably 85 degrees or less. Is more preferable. Specifically, it is preferably set to 45 degrees or more and 90 degrees or less, and more preferably 60 degrees or more and 85 degrees or less. The standing wall portion 3c may be vertically upright (inclination angle of 90 degrees). The standing wall portion 3c may be inclined from the inside of the toilet toward the entrance / exit 3a side as long as the pet can easily enter and exit the pet toilet 1 and the excrement treatment material can be prevented from scattering.

In order to prevent the excrement treatment material from jumping out of the pet toilet 1 in relation to the standing angle of the standing wall portion 3c, it is preferable to set the height C of the standing wall portion 3c to 10 mm or more, and to set it to 15 mm or more. It is more preferable to set it to 100 mm or less, and further preferably to 75 mm or less.

The height H (= A + C, see FIG. 5) of the second footrest 3d in the pet toilet 1 from the floor (toilet mounting surface) FL is preferably set to 100 mm or more, and is set to 125 mm or more. It is more preferable to set it to 300 mm or less, and further preferably to set it to 200 mm or less. By doing so, it is possible to easily move the pet into and out of the toilet 1 and prevent the excrement treatment material from scattering.

When the depth lengths of the first footrest portion 3b, the standing wall portion 3c, and the second footrest portion 3d are D, E, and F, respectively, as shown in FIG. 5, there is a magnitude relationship of D> F> E between them. It is preferable to determine the dimensions of these parts so that By doing so, it is possible to easily enter and exit the pet toilet 1 and prevent the excrement treatment material from scattering. From the viewpoint of making this effect more remarkable, the ratio D / E of the depth length D of the first footrest portion 3b to the depth length E of the standing wall portion 3c is preferably 3 or more, and is preferably 5 or more. More preferably, it is more preferably 100 or less, and even more preferably 30 or less. Further, the ratio F / E of the depth length F of the second footrest portion 3d to the depth length E of the standing wall portion 3c is preferably 1 or more, more preferably 1.2 or more, and It is preferably 5 or less, and more preferably 3 or less.

As a general method of using the pet toilet 1 configured as described above, first, the upper container 2A is superposed on the lower container 2B and both are assembled to form the main body 2. Next, the tray 4 provided with an absorber capable of absorbing urine, such as a mat or a sheet, is pushed into the space S of the main body 2. Then, a granular excrement treatment material is laid on the bottom of the upper container 2A. Then, the toilet 1 can be used by attaching the cover portion 3 to the upper portion of the main body portion 2.
When a pet uses the toilet 1, the pet can easily enter the toilet 1 with the head first from the doorway 3a that opens in front of the toilet 1, and is placed on the bottom of the upper container 2A of the main body 2. In the state of being placed, excretion is performed on the granular excrement treatment material laid on the bottom. At this time, since the periphery of the pet is covered by the cover portion 3 of the toilet 1 and the state of its own excretion cannot be seen from the outside, the pet can calmly excrete without worrying about the surroundings. It is also easy for pets to get out of the toilet 1.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, excrement such as urine and feces excreted from the pet passes through the urine passage portion 2a formed at the bottom of the upper container 2A, falls, and is housed in the space S below it. Received by the tray 4 made. When a certain amount of urine has accumulated in the tray 4, a hand is inserted into the handle 4a, the tray 4 is pulled out toward the front side (direction of arrow a in FIG. 1), and the absorber is discarded. After disposal, a new absorber is installed on the tray 4, the tray 4 is pushed inward (in the direction of arrow b in FIG. 1), and the tray 4 is set in a predetermined position of the pet toilet 1 for use. If excrement or dirty excrement treatment material is present at the bottom of the upper container 2A, remove it from the toilet 1 and replenish and use the same amount of excrement treatment material as the removed amount.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, components different from those in the above-described embodiment will be mainly described, and similar components will be designated by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted. The above-described description of the embodiment is appropriately applied to the components not particularly described.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the pet litter box 1. In the toilet 1 shown in FIG. 6, the second footrest portion 3d does not exist, and the lower end peripheral edge of the doorway 3a is formed by integrally connecting only the first footrest portion 3b and the standing wall portion 3c. .. This embodiment also has the same effect as that of the above-described embodiment.

Although the present invention has been described above based on the preferred embodiment, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment and can be appropriately modified. For example, the above-mentioned pet toilet 1 is provided with a dome-shaped cover portion, but instead, the pet toilet 1 may be provided with an open-type cover portion having an open upper surface. Further, the first footrest portion 3b and the standing wall portion 3c may be integrally connected by injection molding and formed inseparably, or the first footrest portion 3b and the standing wall portion 3c may be separate parts. It may be formed in a separable manner by being integrally connected by fitting those parts or the like.

1 Litter box 2 Main body 2A Upper container of main body 2B Lower container of main body 2a Urine passage part of upper container 2b Flange part of upper container 2c Flange part of lower container 3 Cover part 3A Cover body of cover part 3B Cover part Rectangular frame 3a Doorway (doorway / exit) of the cover
3b 1st footrest 3c Standing wall 3d 2nd footrest 4 Tray 4a Tray handle FL Floor (toilet mounting surface)
S Space between upper container and lower container

Claims (13)

It consists of a main body that receives pet excrement and a cover that is detachably attached to the upper part of the main body.
The main body is formed by vertically stacking a box-shaped upper container and a lower container having an open upper surface so as to form a space between them.
The cover portion is a pet toilet provided with an entrance / exit portion for pets to enter / exit in a part of the peripheral wall thereof.
A first footrest portion extending substantially horizontally inward and a standing wall portion rising upward from the inner end edge of the first footrest portion are integrally provided on the lower edge of the lower end of the entrance / exit portion of the cover portion. Pet toilet. The pet toilet according to claim 1, wherein the height C of the standing wall portion is set to 10 mm or more. The pet toilet according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the depth length D of the first footrest portion is set to 15 mm or more. The pet toilet according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the inclination angle of the first footrest portion with respect to the horizontal plane is set to ± 20 degrees or less. The pet toilet according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the inclination angle of the standing wall portion with respect to the horizontal plane is set to 45 degrees to 90 degrees. The ratio A: B of the height A of the first footrest portion from the toilet mounting surface to the height B of the standing wall portion from the bottom surface of the upper container is 1.0: 1.6 to 1.6. : The pet toilet according to any one of claims 1 to 5, set to 1.0. Any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein a second footrest portion extending substantially horizontally from the inner edge of the standing wall portion is further integrally provided with the first footrest portion and the standing wall portion. Pet toilets listed in. The pet according to claim 7, wherein a magnitude relationship of D> F> E is established between the depth lengths D, E, and F of the first footrest portion, the standing wall portion, and the second footrest portion. Toilet. The pet according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the ratio D / G of the depth length D of the first footrest portion to the depth length G of the lower end edge of the entrance / exit portion is set to 0.5 or more. Toilet. Any of claims 1 to 9, wherein a mesh-shaped urine passage portion through which urine excreted from a pet is passed is formed at the bottom of the upper container, and a granular excrement treatment material is laid on the urine passage portion. The pet toilet described in item 1. The pet litter box according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein a tray for receiving urine excreted from a pet is housed in a space between the upper container and the lower container. The pet toilet according to claim 11, wherein the tray is removable with respect to the space. The pet litter box according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the pet is a cat.

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