Animal litter box apparatus

Active Publication Date: 2020-12-17
KISER MARGARET LIGON
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present patent is about an animal litter box assembly that can be used with an animal waste scooper or sifting device. The assembly includes a litter scoop and a slidable cover that can be opened to access the scooper. The scooper can be easily stored when not in use and can be easily removed when needed. The assembly also has a slide structure that allows for easy cleaning and stability during use. The slide structure consists of an interior cover panel wall and a linear slot in the litter box main body floor that enhances stability and engagement with the interior cover member. Overall, the assembly provides a convenient and easy-to-use solution for managing animal waste.

Problems solved by technology

The scoops, used to sift through litter to collect animal waste, often become covered with litter, dust, and animal waste.
Such contaminated waste removal scoops are very unsanitary, to both the user and the animal, not to mention being very unsightly when left exposed—typically adjacent to the litter box.
Users of conventional animal litter boxes find it difficult to locate places to discretely store a scoop in a convenient location near the litter box.
Consequently, users' options are generally limited to either washing / cleaning the scoop after each use, or simply living with the odor emanating from the exposed unclean scoop.
Placing the scooper on the floor surface alongside the litter box is not only an eyesore, but remnants left attached to the scoop basket often detach and drop to the floor, which is very unsanitary.
Hanging the scooper on a hook outside of the litter box is not an acceptable approach since it is also an eyesore, emits an undesirable odor, results in unsanitary waste and litter falling to the underlying floor, and leaves the scooper accessible to the cat (or other animal).
Placing the scooper in the litter box main area with the basket buried in the litter to support the scooper in an orientation with the handle extending upward (or in a separate area divided by a wall, or similar structure, from the main litter box area suffers from many of the same issues (e.g. accessible to the animal, enabling the scooper to be compromised by the animal).
However, when users simply throw the scoops away instead of cleaning them, they incur the cost of a replacement scoop.
Furthermore, even if the scoop was retained within the interior space in a manner preventing such undesirable contact with the animal, this would not solve the problem of foul odors from the scoop escaping through the litter box entry / exit opening.
Furthermore, this would also make user-access to the scoop very inconvenient.

Method used

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  • Animal litter box apparatus
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Embodiment Construction

[0055]The following detailed description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the described embodiments or the application and uses of the described embodiments. As used herein, the word “exemplary” or “illustrative” means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any implementation described herein as “exemplary” or “illustrative” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other implementations. All of the implementations described below are exemplary implementations provided to enable persons skilled in the art to make or use the embodiments of the disclosure and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure, which is defined by the claims. For purposes of description herein, the terms “upper”, “lower”, “left”, “rear”, “right”, “front”, “vertical”, “horizontal”, and derivatives thereof shall relate to the invention as oriented in FIG. 1. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any expressed or implied theo...

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Abstract

An animal litter box apparatus includes a main body having a base and vertical sides. A main body front side has a dual-walled construction including an exterior wall, a spaced-apart interior wall, and an upper edge adjoining upper ends of the interior and exterior walls to define an interior storage space. A compound opening is defined by respective cut-out portions of the interior wall, exterior wall, and the upper edge. A magnetic coupling element within the interior storage space cooperates with a corresponding magnet on a litter-sifting basket of a litter scoop to selectively retain the litter scoop basket therein. A recessed portion of the exterior surface of the exterior wall accommodates a proximal end portion of the litter scoop handle. An inverted U-shaped cover member disposed about the front side is slidable from an open position to a closed position to discreetly house the entire litter scoop.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) application claims the benefit of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16 / 034,421 having a filing date of Jul. 13, 2018, the content of which is incorporated-by-reference herein in its entirety.TECHNICAL FIELD[0002]The present invention pertains generally to animal litter boxes, such as cat litter boxes. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved animal litter box apparatus configured and constructed to accommodate selective engagement with an animal waste scooper, or sifting device, such that a waste collection basket portion of the scooper can be selectively contained within an interior litter box space, and a handle length of the scooper similarly concealed by a slidable cover, while the scooper is stowed when not being used.BACKGROUND ART[0003]Conventionally, animal waste is removed from an animal litter box (e.g. a cat litter box) using an animal litter scoop. These sco...

Claims

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Application Information

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IPC IPC(8): A01K1/01
CPCA01K1/011
InventorKISER, MARGARET LIGON
OwnerKISER MARGARET LIGON