WO2004091290A1

WO2004091290A1 - Bathing apparatus for pet animal

Info

Publication number: WO2004091290A1
Application number: PCT/KR2004/000886
Authority: WO
Inventors: Chang-Min Seo
Original assignee: Chang-Min Seo
Priority date: 2003-04-16
Filing date: 2004-04-16
Publication date: 2004-10-28

Abstract

Disclosed is a bathing apparatus for pet animals, which fixes the pet animal in a bath not to move for facilitating bathing of the pet animal. The apparatus includes a bath having a receiving portion for receiving water and a pet animal and having a round groove; neck movement preventing members slidably mounted at both sides of the round groove for fixing the neck of the pet animal; and a fixing unit for fixing the neck movement preventing members at a predetermined position.

Description

BATHING APPARATUS FOR PET ANIMAL

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a bathing apparatus for pet animals, and more particularly to a bathing apparatus for pet animals which facilitates easier bathing of a pet animal by fixing a net portion of the pet animal without reluctance.

BACKGROUND ART

Generally, a pet animal such as dog or cat is not easily controlled during bathing, different from the human, which makes the bathing work of the pet animal so troublesome. In this point of view, many bathing devices have been proposed up to the present. For example, Korean Utility Model Publication No. 1998-055996, Korean Patent Publication No. 2003-0011118, Korean Patent Publication No. 2002-0049709, Korean Patent Publication No. 2000-0049452, and Korean Patent Registration No. 0346909 disclose such bathing devices.

However, the conventional bathing devices for pet animals are so complicated and expensive, and they are very inconvenient to fix a pet animal having much reluctance to bathing. In addition, though a pet animal is fixed to the bath, serious pains or bad feeling of ill treatment may be caused. In other words, the conventional bathing devices do not have an animal-friendly structure.

Meanwhile, the conventional bathing devices are impossible to keep a constant water pressure in a bath and have a nozzle at a fixed position, so they are not suitable for bathing the whole body of a pet animal. DISCLOSURE OF INNENTION

The present invention is designed to solve the problems of the prior art, and therefore an object of the invention is to provide a bathing apparatus for pet animals which is configured so that the neck of a pet animal is fixed in right and left directions but allowed to move in up and down directions to some extent by using a neck movement preventing member having a rod shape of which an end is curved.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a bathing apparatus for pet animals which is designed to fix a pet animal to a bath regardless of a size of the neck without giving reluctance to the pet animal.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a bathing apparatus for pet animals which is capable of adjusting a position of a nozzle with spraying water at a constant water pressure into a bath through the nozzle regardless of its position.

In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides a bathing apparatus for pet animals, which includes a bath having a receiving portion for receiving water and a pet animal, and having a round groove thereon; a neck movement preventing member slidably installed to both sides of the round groove in order to prevent movement of the neck of the pet animal; and a fixing unit for fixing the neck movement preventing member to a predetermined position. Preferably, the neck movement preventing member has a rod shape of which an end is curved so that the neck of the pet animal is fixed in right and left directions but allowed to move in up and down directions within a predetermined range.

Preferably, the bathing apparatus for pet animals further includes a water supply unit for spraying water into the receiving portion.

Preferably, the water supply unit includes a pivoting member pivotably

combined to the bath; a hose installed in the pivoting member; and a water spraying member installed to the pivoting member and connected to the hose so as to spray water

into the receiving portion.

Preferably, the pivoting member may be pivoted and then fixed at a predetermined angle.

Preferably, the water spraying member is rotatable.

Preferably, the bathing apparatus for pet animals further includes a drain hole for discharging the received water.

Preferably, the bath further includes a temperature sensing indicating member for sensing temperature of the water received in the receiving portion and indicating the

temperature outside.

In another aspect of the invention, there is also provided a bathing apparatus for

pet animals, which includes a bath having a receiving portion for receiving water and a

pet animal, and having a round groove thereon; and a cover having a neck support for

surrounding the neck of the pet animal together with the round groove, the cover being

hinged to the bath.

Preferably, the bathing apparatus for pet animals further includes an insert

groove formed near any of the round groove and the neck support; and a restricting member connected to a neck strap of the pet animal so as to be selectively inserted into

the insert groove.

Terms and words used in the specification and appended claims are suitably defined for explaining the present invention in the best way, not limited to general and dictionary meanings. Thus, the terms and words should be interpreted based on the meanings and concepts conforming to technical aspects of the present invention on the basis of the principle. Therefore, the description proposed herein is just a preferable example for the purpose of illustrations only, not intended to limit the scope of the invention, so it should be understood that other equivalents and modifications could be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other features, aspects, and advantages of preferred embodiments of the present invention will be more fully described in the following detailed description, taken accompanying drawings. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a bathing apparatus for pet animals according to a first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a front view showing the bathing apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plane view showing the bathing apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along A-A line of FIG. 3; FIG. 5 is a side view showing that a pivoting member of the bathing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 sprays water with pivoting; FIG. 6 is a rear view showing the bathing apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a connection member used in the bathing apparatus according to this embodiment;

FIGs. 8 and 9 are perspective views showing a bathing apparatus for pet animals according to a second embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 8 shows that a cover is closed to a bath, while FIG. 9 shows that the cover is open from the bath;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a restricting member which is combinable

into an insert groove shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a water spraying unit adopted to the bathing apparatus shown in FIGs. 8 and 9;

FIG. 12 is a partially enlarged perspective view showing that a nozzle of FIG. 11

is installed to the bath; and

FIG. 13 is an enlarged perspective view showing a supply port of FIGs. 8 and 9.

BEST MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, a bathing apparatus for pet animals according to a preferred

embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the

accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a bathing apparatus for pet animals

according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view showing

the bathing apparatus of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a plane view showing the bathing

apparatus of FIG. 1.

Referring to FIGs. 1 to 3, the bathing apparatus 100 of this embodiment includes a bath 10 provided with a receiving portion 11 and a round groove 17, a neck movement preventing member 20 slidably installed to both sides of the round groove 17 so as to be capable of fixing the neck of a pet animal, a fixing unit 21 for the neck movement

preventing member 20 to a predetermined position, and a water supply unit 30 for spraying water into the bath 10.

The bath 10 has the receiving portion 11 for receiving water therein, and the round groove 17 for the neck of a pet animal to be put thereon. The receiving portion 11 substantially has a long rectangular shape, and is composed of a hollow rim portion 13 and a bottom 15. The hollow rim portion 13 is provided with a hose (not shown) therein so as to carry water. The bottom 15 has a predetermined number of drain holes 70 and drain stoppers in order to discharge water outside.

At both sides of the round groove 17, provided are the neck movement preventing member 20 for fixing the neck of the pet animal thereto, the fixing unit 21 for fixing the neck movement preventing member 20 to a predetermined position, and a sliding groove 23 for allowing the neck movement preventing member 20 to slide thereon within a predetermined range.

The neck movement preventing member 20 preferably has a rod shape of which an end is curved. Thus, when the neck of a pet animal is fixed thereto, the neck is fixed in right and left directions but may be moved in up and down direction to some extent, thereby relieving reluctance and fear which the pet animal feels against bathing.

The fixing unit 21 has two blocks 21a and 21b having slopes and is installed so that the slopes are faced with each other, as shown in FIG. 4. One of the blocks 21a is connected to a lever 21c, and the other 21b is connected to the neck movement preventing member 20. If the lever 21c is rotated, the block 21 having the slope is rotated to bias the wall of the bath 10, thereby fixing the neck movement preventing member 20 to a certain position.

The water supply unit 30 includes a hollow pivoting member 31 pivotably combined to the bath 10, a hose (not shown) installed in the pivoting member 31, and a water spraying member 35 for spraying water, supplied through the hose, toward the receiving portion and the pet animal. The hose is connected to a supply port 50, described later, and plays a role of supplying water to the water spraying member 35 with passing through the inside of the hollow rim portion 13. The water spraying member 35 is installed to the end of the hose so as to spray water toward the receiving portion 11 or the pet animal. The water spraying member 35 is preferably configured to be rotatable. As shown in FIG. 5, while the pivoting member 31 pivots on the center of a hinge axis 33, the water spraying member 35 may spray water to a desired direction with rotating. More preferably, the pivoting member 31 may be rotated as much as a desired angle and then fixed to a certain position. For this function, elastic protrusions are formed on the pivoting member around the hinge axis 33, and corresponding grooves are formed in the receiving portion. In addition, it is also possible that grooves are formed in the pivoting member around the hinge axis 33, and elastic protrusions are formed on the receiving portion in correspondence to the grooves. If the pivoting member 31 is rotated a predetermined angle and then fixed to a certain position, a worker may bathe the pet animal with both hands, so the bathing work is more effectively conducted.

A slip prevention support (not shown) may be prepared on the bottom of the bath 10. This slip prevention support also keeps a space between the bottom of a bathroom and a lower surface of the bath so that water may be easily discharged through the drain hole.

As shown in FIGs. 5 and 6, the bottom of the bath 10 is preferably arranged relatively higher near the neck movement preventing member 20 so that water is more easily discharged through the drain hole 70. For this configuration, a support 72 is installed to the bottom of the bath 10 toward the neck movement preventing member 20.

The support 72 is preferably pivoted and folded toward the bottom of the bath. The bath may be provided with a temperature sensing/indicating member (not shown). A pet animal is usually not acquainted with expressing his/her own mind, and it is the reason that the temperature sensing/indicating member is required. The

temperature sensing/indicating member may adopt a common electronic thermometer. Preferably, the temperature sensing/indicating member is installed to the hose mounted in the pivoting member 31. Though a temperature sensing/indicating member shows a temperature of water in the bath when being installed to the bath, the temperature sensing/indicating member installed to the hose directly shows the temperature of the

water while being supplied.

Meanwhile, the bathing apparatus of the present invention may further include an auxiliary container so as to add perfume, functional chemicals, soap, shampoo or the

like to the water received in the receiving portion 11. The auxiliary container is

installed between a shower hose and the supply port 50. The water supplied through

the shower hose is mixed with perform, functional chemicals, soap or shampoo in the

auxiliary container, and the mixed water is supplied to the bath through the hose in the

hollow pivoting member 31 and the water spraying member 35. Preferably, the perfume, functional chemicals or soap is received in a bag made of cloth such as gauze and then put into the auxiliary container. The auxiliary container is provided with an

input hole with a cap so as to put in or out the bag containing perfume, functional chemicals or soap.

In addition, the bathing apparatus according to this embodiment includes a connection member 80 for facilitating easy combination between the supply port and the shower hose. As shown in FIG. 7, a shower hose insert groove 82 for combination with the shower hose is formed on one end of the connection member 80, and a female

screw is formed in the other end thereof for combination with the supply port 50. Preferably, a biasing unit 84 is formed around the shower hose insert groove 82 in order to bias the shower hose inserted therein. In addition, a screw groove 86 may be formed in the outer circumference of the connection member so that a cap (not shown) for

opening or closing a water feeding passage of the connection member 80 may be

combined thereto.

Now, the process of bathing a pet animal with the use of the bathing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention is described as follows.

First, in order to bathe a pet animal, the neck of the pet animal is positioned on

the round groove 17 of the bath, and the neck movement preventing member 20 is then slid to conform to the neck of the pet animal. After that, the neck movement

preventing member 20 is fixed using the fixing unit 21.

Subsequently, a water supply hose, preferably a hose of the shower used in a

home in which its handle is removed, is connected to the supply port 50. At this time,

in order to facilitate the connection between the shower hose and the supply port 50, the connection member 80 as shown in FIG. 7 may be used. Water is supplied through the supply port 80 positioned at the rear surface of the bath 10, and then supplied to the water spraying member 35 through the hose installed in the pivoting member 31. Preferably, the auxiliary container is further installed between the shower hose and the supply port 50 so as to mix perfume, functional chemicals or soap into the water supplied to the bath.

And then, a user bathes the pet animal with pivoting the pivoting member 31 on the center of the hinge axis 33. If rotating the water spraying member 35 installed to the pivoting member 31 together with pivoting the pivoting member 31, the user may

bathe the whole body of the pet animal with supplying water thereto. In addition, if the pivoting member 31 is fixed at a certain angle, the user may use his/her both hands,

which enables to bathe the pet animal more conveniently and faster. During this procedure, the user may adjust the temperature of the water suitably

by using the temperature sensing/indicating member (not shown).

FIGs. 8 and 9 are perspective views showing a bathing apparatus for pet animals according to a second embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 8 shows the state that a cover is closed to the bath, while FIG. 9 shows the state that the cover is

open from the bath.

As shown in FIGs 8 and 9, the bathing apparatus 200 of this embodiment

includes a bath 110 having a receiving portion 112 and a round groove 114, and a cover

120 hinged to the bath 110 so as to surround the neck (not shown) of a pet animal.

The bath 110 has a substantially oval shape, and is composed of inner and outer

walls. A water spraying unit 130 is equipped in a space between the inner and outer walls. The inner wall of the bath 110 forms the receiving portion 112. The receiving portion 112 basically receives water and is also capable of receiving the body (not shown) of a pet animal. A discharging hole 116 is prepared in the bottom of the bath 110 in order to discharge the water received in the receiving portion 112 to outside, and a discharging cap 118 is combined to the discharging hole 116. The round groove 114 formed at the front portion of the bath 110 is a place where a lower portion of the neck of the pet animal is put on. A temperature sensing/indicating member 111 is installed at the rear portion of the bath 110. The temperature sensing/indicating member 111 senses a temperature of the water received in the receiving portion 112 and indicates it

so that a user may recognize the temperature, and a common electronic thermometer is

preferably used. A pare of nozzle installation units 113 are prepared on both sidewalls of the bath 110 so that a nozzle 136 (see FIG. 11) of the water spraying unit 130 may be installed thereto. A slip prevention support (not shown) is prepared on the bottom of

the bath 110. The slip prevention support keeps a space between the bottom of the bathroom and a lower surface of the bath so that water may be more easily discharged through the discharging hole 116.

The cover 120 is combined to upper ends of both sidewalls of the bath 110 by

hinges 122, respectively. A neck support 124 is formed in the front portion of the

cover 120. The neck support 124 forms a circular opening together with the round

groove 114 when the cover 120 is closed, and the neck support 124 is contacted with an

upper portion of the neck of the pet animal (not shown) at this time. The opening

formed by the round groove 114 and the neck support 124 has a size so as to restrict

movement of the pet animal to the maximum with surrounding the neck portion of the pet animal while the pet animal is bathed.

A pair of insert grooves 115 are formed in both sides of the front portion of the

bath 110 on the basis of the round groove 114. The insert groove 115 gives a space where a protrusion 142 of a restricting member 140 shown in FIG. 10 may be inserted

and hooked. The insert groove 115 may also be formed in the cover 120. The restricting member 140 has a connection unit 146 to which a neck strap 144 (see FIG. 10) of a pet animal (not shown) may be combined. The connection unit 146 preferably

has a clip shape. The restricting member 140 is an auxiliary tool which is used when the neck of the pet animal is far smaller than the opening formed by the round groove 114 and the neck support 124. That is to say, in this case, the neck strap 144 is

installed to the neck of the pet animal, and then the neck strap 144 is installed to both

sides of the opening by means of the restricting member 140. A pair of locking members 126 are installed to the cover 120. The locking member 126 is selectively combined to a locking groove 119 formed in the bath 110,

preferably using one-touch manner.

The cover 120 is preferably configured to cover only a front upper portion of the bath. However, if required, the cover 120 may be configured to cover not only the

whole upper rim of the bath but also the pet animal received in the receiving portion

112.

FIG. 11 shows an example of the water spraying unit adopted in the present

invention, FIG. 12 shows that the nozzle of FIG. 11 is installed to the sidewall of the bath, and FIG. 13 is a partial perspective view showing a rear portion of the bath.

As shown in FIGs. 11 to 13, the bathing apparatus 200 according to this embodiment has the water spraying unit 130 in order to spray water of a certain water pressure to the receiving portion 112. The water spraying unit 130 includes a storage tank 132 installed to the rear of the bath 110, a pair of pipe members 134 included in the bottom of the bath 110 so as to be connected to the storage tank 132, and nozzle members 136 installed to the nozzle installation units 113 prepared to both sidewalls of the bath 110 so as to be connected to the pipe members 134 respectively.

The storage tank 132 may be supplied with water from outside by means of the supply port 133. The supply port 133 is configured so that it may be directly connected to a shower (not shown), of which a handle is removed, in a bathroom of a home. The storage tank 132 is installed to the bath 110 at a sufficiently high position. In order to

use difference of the water levels according to the storage tank 132, the pipe member

134 is installed adjacent to the bottom of the bath 110. In addition, the pipe member 134 preferably adopts a minute pipe in order to obtain sufficient water pressure, and a

flexible hose is used for it.

The nozzle member 136 is used for spraying the water supplied from the pipe

member 134 to a pet animal received in the receiving portion 112, and adopts a general nozzle. As shown in FIG. 12, the nozzle member 136 is installed to be pivotable at a

predetermined angle (shown by the arrow "A" in FIG. 12) in the nozzle installation unit

113. The pivoting movement of the nozzle member 136 enables a worker to adjust a

water spraying angle.

As shown in FIGs. 11 to 13, an auxiliary installation unit 150 for adding perfume

or functional chemicals to the water sprayed to the receiving portion 112 through the water spraying unit 130 or mounting soap or shampoo thereto is prepared at the rear of the bath 110. A filter added by perfume or functional chemicals or a package (not shown) containing soap or shampoo may be installed to the auxiliary installation unit 150. Now, operation of the bathing apparatus for pet animals according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention is described.

First, in order to bathe a pet animal, a user pushes a button of the locking

member 126 to open the cover 120 from the bath 110. Then, the cover 120 is pivoted upward on the center of the hinge 122 and then opened.

Subsequently, the body of the pet animal to be bathed is positioned in the receiving portion 112 of the bath 110, and the neck of the pet animal is positioned on

the round groove 114. And then, the cover 120 is descended and pushed down so that the cover 120 is fixed to the bath 110 by means of the locking member 126. In this process, if the neck of the pet animal is smaller than the opening formed by the round

groove 114 and the neck support 124, the restricting member 140 is used. That is to

say, the connection unit 146 of the restricting member 140 is connected to the neck strap 144 of the pet animal, and then the protrusion 142 of the restricting member 140 is inserted into the insert groove 115 of the bath 110 so as to primarily fix the neck of the

pet animal. And then, the cover 120 is fixed to the bath 110 for secondary fixing.

Then, the water supply hose, preferably a hose of a home shower whose handle

is removed, is connected to the supply port 133. And then, the water flown from the

shower is supplied to the storage tank 132 through the supply port 133. If necessary, the water supplied to the storage tank 132 is transferred to the nozzle member 136

through the pipe member 134 together with various perfumes, chemicals or detergents.

Subsequently, the nozzle member 136 sprays the water to the receiving portion 112 at a constant pressure by means of not only pressure difference between the storage tank 132 and the pipe member 134 but also the fine pipe of the pipe member 124. In this process, the user may bathe the entire body of the pet animal with adjusting an angle of the nozzle member 136.

In addition, the user may control a temperature of the water sprayed to and stored in the receiving portion 112 suitably with the use of the temperature sensing/indicating member 111.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The bathing apparatus for pet animals according to the present invention,

configured as mentioned above, gives the following effects. First, the bathing apparatus of the present invention may be manufactured at cheaper expenses with a simple structure than the conventional one. In particular, the

animal-friendly design of the bathing apparatus according to the present invention

ensures a pet animal not to be reluctant when the pet animal is fixed to the bath.

Second, the bathing apparatus of the present invention may fix a pet animal to the bath more safely by using the auxiliary clip regardless of the neck size of the pet animal.

Third, water may be supplied into the bath with keeping a constant water

pressure.

Fourth, since the angle of the nozzle may be adjusted, it is possible to bathe the

entire body of the animal more easily.

Fifth, since the neck movement preventing member has a rod shape of which an end is curved, a pet animal may move his/her neck in up and down directions to some extent, but not in right and left direction, thereby minimizing the reluctance of the pet animal against bathing.

Sixth, by using the pivoting member pivotably installed to the bath and the water spraying member rotatably installed to the pivoting member, it is possible to bathe the whole body of the pet animal with supplying water in all directions as desired.

The present invention has been described in detail. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating

preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will

become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

Claims

What is claimed is;

1. A bathing apparatus for pet animals, comprising: a bath having a receiving portion for receiving water and a pet animal, and

having a round groove thereon; a neck movement preventing member slidably installed to both sides of the round groove in order to prevent movement of the neck of the pet animal; and means for fixing the neck movement preventing member to a predetermined

position.

2. The bathing apparatus for pet animals according to claim 1, wherein the neck movement preventing member has a rod shape of which an end

is curved so that the neck of the pet animal is fixed in right and left directions but allowed to move in up and down directions within a predetermined range.

3. The bathing apparatus for pet animals according to claim 1 or 2, further

comprising a water supply unit for spraying water into the receiving portion.

4. The bathing apparatus for pet animals according to claim 3, wherein the

water supply unit includes: a pivoting member pivotably combined to the bath;

a hose installed in the pivoting member; and a water spraying member installed to the pivoting member and connected to the hose so as to spray water into the receiving portion.

5. The bathing apparatus for pet animals according to claim 4, wherem the

water spraying member is rotatable.

6. The bathing apparatus for pet animals according to claim 1, further comprising a drain hole for discharging the received water.

7. The bathing apparatus for pet animals according to claim 1, wherein the bath further includes a temperature sensing/indicating member for

sensing temperature of the water received in the receiving portion and indicating the temperature outside.

8. A bathing apparatus for pet animals, comprising:

a bath having a receiving portion for receiving water and a pet animal, and having a round groove thereon; and

a cover having a neck support for surrounding the neck of the pet animal

together with the round groove, the cover being hinged to the bath.

9. The bathing apparatus for pet animals according to claim 8, further comprising: an insert groove formed near any of the round groove and the neck support; and a restricting member connected to a neck strap of the pet animal so as to be selectively inserted into the insert groove.