JP7054279B1 - Animal toilet - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a toilet for animals provided with a "slatted structure" in which urine does not easily remain. SOLUTION: A cat litter box 10 as an animal litter box is an upper-layer toilet container 12 having a urine structure 20 on the bottom surface and a lower-layer toilet container 13 arranged under the upper-layer toilet container 12, and has a urine structure 20. A lower toilet container 13 for accommodating a urine collection tray 14 arranged below the urine collection tray 14 is provided, and the saw structure 20 includes a plurality of vertical members 30 extending in a first direction, ... It is composed of a plurality of horizontal members 40, ... That connect the vertical members 30, 30 adjacent to each other in the second direction orthogonal to the direction of 1, and the horizontal member 40 is a spherical to teardrop-shaped guide. It is formed as a protrusion 41. [Selection diagram] FIG. 4

Description

The present invention relates to animal litter boxes for animals, including cats.

Traditionally, dogs and cats may be kept as pets at home. In recent years, animal toilets equipped with various functions such as a deodorant function and an automatic cleaning function for excrement have become widespread. Of these, one of the important issues for the owner of a "cat" (cat) is the health problem of cats. Especially in the case of cats, there are many urinary diseases, and there is data that nearly half of all cats experience urinary diseases.

One of the things owners can do to prevent this urinary illness is to keep the toilet clean. Cats are known as clean-loving animals, and because the toilets are dirty and stressful, owners need to check the toilets daily and keep them clean at all times.

In addition, as signs / symptoms of urinary system diseases (renal failure, etc.) in cats, there are phenomena such as an increase in the number and amount of excretion and a decrease in body weight. For this reason, it is desirable for the owner to observe the number of toilets and excretion of the cat, and to measure the weight regularly, and if any abnormality is found, see a veterinarian immediately.

Therefore, various techniques related to animal toilets capable of measuring the amount of excretion and body weight of pets have been developed. For example, in Patent Document 1, urine (liquid component) passes through a manure separation hole (slatted structure) formed in a grid pattern and is received by a urine collection tray arranged below. Pet toilets are disclosed.

Japanese Patent No. 6392475

However, the conventional "drainboard structure" including Patent Document 1 is formed in a grid pattern from vertical members and horizontal members. The intersection of the lattices is flat and has a sufficient area to hold the liquid, and the bottom surface is flat with the liquid (urine) covering the entire slit, so the film is formed by surface tension. Easy to hold. That is, there is a problem that urine remains (water retention) due to surface tension in the gaps of the grid of the drainboard structure, and it becomes difficult to accurately measure the urine volume and body weight.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a toilet for animals having a "slatted structure" in which urine does not easily remain.

In order to achieve the above object, the animal toilet of the present invention is an upper-layer toilet container having a drainboard structure on the bottom surface and a lower-layer toilet container arranged below the upper-layer toilet container, and is below the drainboard structure. The drainboard structure comprises a plurality of vertical members extending in a first direction and a second orthogonal to the first direction. It is composed of a plurality of horizontal members connecting the vertical members adjacent to each other in the direction of the above, and the horizontal members are formed as spherical or teardrop-shaped guide protrusions.

As described above, the animal toilet of the present invention includes an upper-layer toilet container having a drainboard structure on the bottom surface and a lower-layer toilet container, and the drainboard structure is composed of a plurality of vertical members and a plurality of horizontal members. The lateral member is formed as a spherical or teardrop-shaped guide protrusion. With such a configuration, by minimizing the final cross-sectional area of the droplets on the lower surface of the drainboard structure, the toilet for animals has a "slatted structure" in which urine does not easily remain.

It is a perspective view which shows the whole structure of a cat litter box. It is an exploded perspective view which shows the cat litter box disassembled into parts. It is a perspective view of the upper-layer toilet container. It is a perspective view which looked at the bottom of the drainboard structure from above. It is a perspective view which magnified the bottom of the slatted structure and looked at from the bottom. It is a perspective view which magnified the bottom of the slatted structure and looked at from the side. It is sectional drawing which cut | cut the bottom part of the slatted structure in the plane of the 2nd direction (horizontal direction). It is sectional drawing which cut | cut the bottom part of the slatted structure in the plane of the 1st direction (vertical direction).

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the components described in the following examples are examples, and the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to them. In the following examples, a cat will be taken as an example of an animal (pet) and will be described in detail.

(Constitution)
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of a cat litter box (10) as an animal litter box according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a component configuration of the cat litter box (10) according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the cat litter box 10 is a multi-layer litter box developed for cats. The multi-layer (for example, two-layer) cat litter box 10 is provided with an upper-layer case 11 and an upper-layer toilet container 12 at the upper part. Then, cat sand (not shown) is sprinkled on the upper toilet container 12.

The cat litter box 10 is provided with a lower toilet container 13 and a urine collection tray 14 at the bottom. Then, a commercially available pet sheet S having a water absorption / deodorizing effect is laid on the urine collection tray 13 that can be pulled out from the top of the sensor plate 15.

Therefore, when a cat excretes manure, the feces (solid) are received by the cat sand of the upper toilet container 12, and the urine (liquid) is received by the "soil structure (separation structure of manure)" provided at the bottom of the upper toilet container 12. 20 ”, it falls on the pet sheet S of the urine collection tray 14 and is absorbed.

The sensor plate 15 is installed on the lowest layer (bottom surface) of the entire cat litter box 10. At the four corners of the sensor plate 15, one weight sensor for measuring (weighing) the load is installed, for a total of four. Although the sensor plate 15 is provided with four weight sensors, it is also possible to provide one weight sensor in the center.

Then, when the lower-layer toilet container 13 is installed on the sensor plate 15, the convex portions at the four corners of the bottom surface of the lower-layer toilet container 13 are placed on the four weight sensors, respectively. At this time, the load of the upper layer case 11, the upper layer toilet container 12, and the lower layer toilet container 13 acts on the weight sensor, but the load of the urine collection tray 14 does not act on the weight sensor.

That is, since the bottom surface of the urine collection tray 14 is placed on the central gantry of the sensor plate 15, the load of the urine collection tray 14 acts on the central gantry but does not act on the weight sensors at the four corners. It has become.

The cat litter box 10 according to the present embodiment has a side surface that is an IoT device equipped with a camera 16, a sensor plate 15, etc. in addition to the original function as a litter box (excretion place for cats), and is a litter box for cats. It has a function to manage the usage status (cat weight and excretion amount) through a smartphone or the like.

(About the drainboard structure)
Next, the configuration of the “drainboard structure 20” of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 8. As shown in FIG. 4, the slatted structure 20 includes a plurality of vertical members 30 extending in parallel to each other along the long side direction (first direction, front-rear direction) of the cat toilet 10, and the vertical member 30. By intersecting a plurality of horizontal members 40, ... It is formed.

That is, the slatted structure 20 connects a plurality of vertical members 30 extending in the first direction, and a plurality of vertical members 30, 30 adjacent to each other in the second direction orthogonal to the first direction. It is composed of the lateral members 40, .... By having a gap of a predetermined width in the slatted structure 20, the cat litter is held on the slatted structure 20 and is configured to allow the liquid component of manure (mainly urine) to permeate.

As shown in FIGS. 5 to 6, the horizontal member 40 is formed as a spherical to teardrop-shaped guide projection 41 that connects (connects) the adjacent vertical members 30 and 30. That is, the guide projection 41 has a hemispherical shape at the upper portion 41a and a sharp mountain shape (conical shape) at the lower portion 41b, so that the guide protrusion 41 has a teardrop shape as a whole.

Both side surfaces of the guide projection 41 facing the second direction are connected to the vertical members 30 and 30 on both sides. That is, the horizontal members 40 are arranged at equal intervals between the vertical members 30 and 30 so as to connect the lowermost portions of the vertical members 30 and 30 having a vertically convex trapezoid repeatedly formed.

The height of the lowermost portion of the lower portion 41b of the guide projection 41, which is the horizontal member 40, and the height of the lowermost portion of the vertical member 30 are substantially the same. However, the heights of the two do not necessarily have to be the same, and the height of the lowermost portion of the lower portion 41b of the guide projection 41 may be lower or the same as the height of the lowermost portion of the vertical member 30. Furthermore, the outer shape of the sharp mountain-shaped (weight-shaped) lower portion 41b substantially coincides with the outer shape (curve) of the lowermost portion of the vertical member 30 described later when viewed from the second direction. It is formed. The outer shapes (curves) of the two do not necessarily have to match.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, the vertical member 30 is formed so that the upper surface side 31 is curved in a continuous arc shape along the first direction (longitudinal direction), and the lower surface side 32 is a continuous platform. It is formed so as to bend into a shape.

That is, the upper surface side 31 of the vertical member 30 is formed in an upwardly convex arc shape with the position of the horizontal members 40, 40 (center) as the lowermost position between the adjacent horizontal members 40, 40. .. That is, it is formed in the highest arc shape at the central position between the horizontal members 40 and 40.

Further, the lower surface side 32 of the vertical member 30 is formed in an upwardly convex trapezoidal shape with the position of the horizontal members 40, 40 (center) as the lowermost position between the adjacent horizontal members 40, 40. .. More specifically, the lower surface side 32 is formed in an isosceles trapezoidal shape from the central upper bottom 32a and the legs 32b and 32b on both sides.

Then, as shown in FIG. 7, the upper portion 30a of the vertical member 30 is formed so as to have an upwardly convex arcuate cross section when cut on a vertical plane parallel to the second direction (horizontal direction). .. That is, the upper surface side 31 of the vertical member 30 is formed so as to be curved in a short arc in the second direction. In other words, the upper portion 30a of the vertical member 30 has a lateral corner chamfered in an arc shape.

(effect)
Next, the effects of the cat litter box 10 as the animal litter box of this embodiment will be listed and described.

(1) As described above, the cat litter box 10 as the animal litter box of the present embodiment has an upper litter box 12 having a urine structure 20 on the bottom surface and a lower litter box arranged below the upper litter box 12. A container 13 comprising a lower toilet container 13 which is arranged below the saw structure 20 and accommodates a urine collection tray 14 for collecting urine, and the saw structure 20 has a plurality of vertical lengths extending in a first direction. The horizontal member 40 is composed of a member 30, ..., And a plurality of horizontal members 40, ... That connect the vertical members 30, 30 adjacent to each other in the second direction orthogonal to the first direction. Is formed as a spherical to teardrop-shaped guide protrusion 41.

With such a configuration, by minimizing the final cross-sectional area of the droplets on the lower surface of the slatted structure 20, the cat litter box 10 is provided with the “slatted structure 20” in which urine does not easily remain. That is, since the lateral member 40 is a spherical to teardrop-shaped guide projection 41, the cross-sectional area of the most advanced portion (lowermost portion) is reduced, and the total surface tension can be reduced.

The drainboard structure 20 of this embodiment has been developed according to the following structural rules. That is, as an unbalanced shape in which the liquid (urine) is difficult to stabilize against gravity,
1) Reduce the number of horizontal planes,
2) Eliminate edges of the same level,
3) Pour the liquid on a slope,
4) Collect the liquid to enlarge the droplets,
5) Reduce the final cross-section of the droplet,
It is developed according to the five concepts.

Then, in order to reproduce such a concept, in this embodiment, the upper portion 41a of the lateral member 40 of the slatted structure 20 is formed into a spherical shape to eliminate the horizontal plane and the edge where surface tension is generated, and the lateral member 40. By forming the lower portion 41b of the above into a sharp protrusion shape, the final cross-sectional area of the droplet is reduced so that the droplet can be easily dropped.

(2) Further, the lower surface side 32 of the vertical member 30 is formed in an upwardly convex trapezoidal shape with the positions of the horizontal members 40 and 40 at the lowermost position between the adjacent horizontal members 40 and 40. The droplets can be collected up to the position of the guide protrusion 41 to make the droplets larger, and the horizontal plane is reduced so as not to hold the droplets. At this time, the presence of the trapezoidal upper bottom (flat surface portion) 32a makes it easier for a certain amount of droplets to collect and flow down along the legs 32b and 32b.

Further, since there is no flat surface at the intersection of the lattices, only fine droplets are not retained and flow down through the slit and flow to the urine collection tray 14 along the guide projection 41, so that a film is stretched. The probability also decreases. In this way, by adopting a shape that does not form edges of the same level (triangle, quadrangle, or circle, etc.) and making the surface tension unbalanced by the action of gravity in the vertical direction, urine is retained in the mesh part. It makes it difficult.

(3) Further, since the height of the lowermost portion of the guide protrusion 41, which is the horizontal member (40), is equal to or less than the height of the lowermost portion (end of the leg 32b) of the vertical member 30, urine is formed from the guide protrusion 41. By falling, the total amount of urine dropped can be increased.

(4) Further, the upper surface side 31 of the vertical member 30 is an upwardly convex circle having the position of the guide protrusions 41, 41 as the lowermost position between the guide protrusions 41, 41 which are adjacent horizontal members 40, 40. Since it is formed in an arc shape, urine on the upper surface of the vertical member 30 can be guided to the position of the guide protrusion 41.

(5) Further, since the upper portion 30a of the vertical member 30 is formed so as to have an upwardly convex arcuate cross section when cut on a vertical plane parallel to the second direction, urine on the upper surface side 31 can be collected. It can be smoothly guided to the lower surface side 32 through the side surface.

(6) Further, the cat litter box 10 as the animal litter box of the present embodiment measures the weight of the upper toilet container 12 including the slatted structure 20, but does not measure the weight of the urine collection tray 14, the sensor plate 15. Further prepared. In the case of such a configuration, if urine remains on the drainboard structure 20 side, the amount of urine is erroneously measured by the residual amount, so that it can be said that the effect of applying the drainboard structure 20 of the present embodiment is particularly large. ..

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and design changes to the extent that the gist of the present invention is not deviated are made in the present invention. included.

For example, in the examples, the cat litter box 10 has been described as an example of the animal litter box, but the present invention is not limited to the cat litter box 10 and is also applicable to other (small) animal litter boxes including dogs. can do.

Further, in the embodiment, the case where the guide projections 41 are arranged at all the positions of the horizontal member 40 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the horizontal member 40 is not limited to this, and every other horizontal member 40 (in a staggered manner on a plane). It is also possible to arrange the guide projection 41.

10: Cat litter box (animal litter box)
11: Upper case 12: Upper toilet container 13: Lower toilet container 14: Urine collection tray 15: Sensor plate 16: Camera 20: Drainboard structure 30: Vertical member 30a: Upper 31: Upper surface side 32: Lower surface side 32a: Upper bottom 32b : Leg 40: Horizontal member 41: Induction protrusion 41a: Upper part 41b: Lower part

Claims (5)

A high-rise toilet container with a drainboard structure on the bottom,
A lower-layer toilet container arranged below the upper-layer toilet container, which is arranged below the slatted structure and accommodates a urine collection tray for collecting urine.
The slatted structure is composed of a plurality of vertical members extending in a first direction and a plurality of horizontal members connecting the vertical members adjacent to each other in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction.
The horizontal member is formed as a spherical to teardrop-shaped guide protrusion .
The upper surface side of the vertical member is an animal toilet formed in an upwardly convex arc shape with the position of the horizontal member at the lowermost position between the adjacent horizontal members. The animal use according to claim 1, wherein the lower surface side of the vertical member is formed in an upwardly convex trapezoidal shape with the position of the horizontal member as the lowermost position between the adjacent horizontal members. toilet. The animal toilet according to claim 2, wherein the height of the lowermost portion of the guide protrusion, which is the horizontal member, is set to be equal to or lower than the height of the lowermost portion of the vertical member. One of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the upper portion of the vertical member is formed so as to have an upwardly convex arcuate cross section when cut along a vertical plane parallel to the second direction. Animal toilets listed in. The animal according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , further comprising a sensor plate, which weighs the upper toilet container including the slatted structure but does not weigh the urine collection tray. Toilet.

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