Shower device for pets

Abstract

To provide a shower device for a pet, capable of inactivating and removing bacteria and parasites attached to the body surface of the pet without requiring excessive cost.SOLUTION: The shower device for the pet is equipped with a plurality of metal pipes 120 as an air shower means for jetting air to the body surface of the pet 9 on the inner surface side of a box 10 for housing at least the body part of the pet 9, wherein the box 10 is equipped with a plurality of infrared lamps 400 as an ultraviolet irradiation means for irradiating the body surface of the housed pet 9 with ultraviolet rays. Bacteria and / or parasites present on the body surface are inactivated and / or removed by irradiating a part where the body hair of the pet 9 is pushed aside to expose the skin with ultraviolet rays by an ultraviolet irradiation means while injecting air from an injection port 1200 of a metal pipe 120.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a pet shower device, and more particularly to a pet shower device for keeping pets such as dogs and cats clean by giving them a hot water shower or air shower while they are housed in a box. [Background technology]

[0002] Washing pets is usually a time-consuming and labor-intensive task for pet owners, but if the pet shivers after washing, droplets can splash onto the worker or onto the walls and ceiling, which can be a hassle. Dogs and cats also dislike getting wet, and there are many cases where they resist entering the washing area or become violent during the washing process.

[0003] In response to this, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-266920 proposes an animal washing implement that is a box-shaped device that has an enclosure member that extends upward around the perimeter of the bathtub and has a head hole in the enclosure member that exposes the pet's head to the outside, so that the animal cannot see that its body is being washed with shower means installed inside, while preventing washing water from splashing outside.This reduces the animal's resistance when washing and prevents the surrounding area from getting dirty with splashes of washing water.

[0004] However, when guiding an animal into a closed box-shaped device and inserting its head into the head hole, there is the problem that the animal may become wary and resist being guided. Also, once the head has been inserted into the head hole, the animal may retract it on its own during cleaning, making it difficult to carry out the cleaning process smoothly.

[0005] In response to this problem, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-319018 proposes a shower device that includes a dome-shaped washing container with arc-shaped inner and outer walls and an open bottom that encases and houses the animal from above, and a water supply means that sends washing water supplied through a water supply pipe between the inner and outer walls.The shower device washes the animal by spraying washing water from a number of nozzles on the inner wall while the animal's head is exposed to the outside through a head hole opened in the front of the washing container.

[0006] In this way, by adopting a system in which the open-bottomed washing container is placed over the animal, it has become easier to house the animal. Also, the rear of the washing container has long spacer holes spaced apart from the rear to the front, and by inserting plate-shaped spacers into the long spacer holes at positions appropriate to the size of the animal to be housed, it is possible to prevent the animal from moving backwards when its head is inserted into the head hole.

[0007] However, the above-mentioned prior art does not have a drying function for the animal after washing, and drying must be done manually using a dryer. Meanwhile, in recent years, pet shower devices that incorporate both a hot water shower device and a hot air dryer have been offered, but being able to supply both hot water and hot air within the box tends to make the device more complicated and expensive. Furthermore, with all of the above-mentioned devices, it is difficult to inactivate or remove bacteria and parasites such as mites and fleas that have attached to the pet's body and keep the pet clean by simply washing and drying. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0008] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-266920 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-319018 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0009] The present invention aims to solve the above-mentioned problems, and has as its object to provide a pet shower device for cleaning pets that can inactivate and remove bacteria and parasites attached to the body surface of pets without incurring excessive costs. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] Therefore, the present invention provides a pet shower device that is equipped with an air shower means for spraying air onto the surface of the pet's body on the inside of a box that houses at least the pet's torso, and the box is provided with an ultraviolet irradiation means for irradiating ultraviolet rays onto the surface of the pet's body housed therein.The air shower means sprays air to part the pet's hair, exposing the pet's skin, and the ultraviolet irradiation means irradiates ultraviolet rays onto the exposed skin, thereby inactivating and / or removing bacteria and / or parasites present on the surface of the body.

[0011] In this way, by using an air shower installed inside the shower device box to brush aside the hair of the pet housed inside and irradiate the exposed skin with ultraviolet light, bacteria and parasites present on the pet's hair-covered surface can be exposed and efficiently killed or inactivated by the ultraviolet light, and many of the inactivated parasites can be blown away and removed by the jet of air.

[0012] Furthermore, in this pet shower device, the air shower means has the function of automatically changing and / or moving the spray position, and if the position where the pet's hair is parted to expose the skin is automatically changed and / or moved while ultraviolet light is irradiated, ultraviolet light can be irradiated evenly onto the pet's skin, making it easier to cleanse the pet efficiently.

[0013] In this case, if the box is equipped with a hot water shower means for spraying hot water onto the pet housed therein, and after the hot water is sprayed to clean the pet's body surface, an air shower means is used to spray hot air to dry the fur and skin while irradiating them with ultraviolet light, the pet can be cleaned even more efficiently.

[0014] Furthermore, in this pet shower device equipped with hot water shower means, if the air shower means and hot water shower means share the same piping and nozzle within the box, and switching means installed at a predetermined position on the piping can be used to switch between the supply of air and the supply of hot water, then this simple configuration will enable the provision of washing and drying functions at a relatively low cost while allowing easy switching between functions.

[0015] Furthermore, if the above-mentioned pet shower device is equipped with goggle-like eye droppers that cover both of the pet's eyes, and has a spraying means that sprays the medicine in mist form into the internal space of the part that covers the pet's eyes when worn by the pet, and has the function of administering the mist medicine to both of the pet's eyes, the necessary medicine can be administered efficiently and easily to both of the pet's eyes while the pet is being cleaned. [Effects of the Invention]

[0016] According to the present invention, which uses an air shower to brush aside the pet's hair and irradiate ultraviolet rays onto the exposed skin, bacteria and parasites attached to the pet's body surface can be inactivated and removed without incurring excessive costs. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0017] [Figure 1] 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a state in which a pet shower device according to a first embodiment of the present invention is in use. [Figure 2] 2A is a right side view showing the pet shower device of FIG. 1 in a state when not in use, and FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. [Figure 3] 2(A) is a partial cross-sectional view showing the state in which air is sprayed from above and from the side by the air shower means in the pet shower device of FIG. 2(B), and FIG. 2(B) is a partial cross-sectional view showing the state in which air is sprayed from the side and from below by the air shower means. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a state in which ultraviolet light is being irradiated at the position shown in FIG. 3(A). [Figure 5] FIG. 4 is a right side view of a pet shower device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] 1. FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a modification of the pet shower device of FIG. [Figure 7] 2(A) is a partial right side view showing an application example of the pet shower device of FIG. 2(A), and FIG. 2(B) is a partial perspective view showing the state in which the eye dropper in the device of FIG. 2(A) is being used on a pet. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0018] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the present invention, the term "warm air" includes air at room temperature that is not cold air, and the term "warm water" includes water at room temperature that is not cold water.

[0019] Fig. 1 shows a vertical cross section of a box 10 of a pet shower device 1A according to a first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 2(A), this device comprises a box 10 having a dome-shaped upper portion for accommodating the body of a pet 90, with a pair of covers 11a, 11b, which can open to the sides and expose the top, hinged to the upper ends of the long sides of a base 12. On the inner side of the box 10, a plurality of straight metal pipes 120 with numerous nozzles 1200 opening on the outer periphery are arranged as air shower means for spraying air onto the body surface of the accommodated pet 90.

[0020] The base ends (right side in the figure) of the multiple metal pipes 120 are fixed at a predetermined interval to arc-shaped slide plates 112, 112 on the inside of the base end surface of the box 10, and are supported along the longitudinal direction of the box 10 so as to be close to and along the inner surfaces of the cover bodies 11a, 11b, and their tip ends are also fixed to slide plates 112, 112 of the same shape on the inside of the tip surface of the box 10, and as shown in Figure 2(B), a total of 12 metal pipes 120 are arranged in parallel at a predetermined interval along the inner surface of the upper side of the box 10.

[0021] In addition, the slide plates 112, 112, 112, 112 provided on both ends of the two pairs of six metal pipes 120 are slidably engaged along the grooves of arc-shaped rails 111, 111, 111, 111 fixed to the inside of the base end surface and the inside of the tip end surface of the box 10, respectively, and are driven by motors 30, 30, 30, 30 arranged on the outside of both end surfaces of the box 10 to perform reciprocating motion while tracing an arc-shaped trajectory as shown in Figures 3(A) and (B) (flexible pipes 70 are not shown).

[0022] As shown in Figure 1, the base ends of these metal pipes 120 are connected to the tip ends of flexible pipes 70 made of flexible material such as rubber, and the base ends of the flexible pipes 70 are connected to a rectangular parallelepiped shower supply unit 20 located outside the box 10.An air supply means (not shown) built into this supplies air drawn in from an intake port 23 to the metal pipes 120 via the flexible pipes 70, either as is or after heating, and as shown in Figure 3, air is sprayed from each injection port 1200 opening into the metal pipes 120 toward the center of the upper space within the box 10.

[0023] In this embodiment, shower supply unit 20 also has built-in hot water supply means (not shown), which is also connected to metal pipe 120 via the flexible pipe 70 described above, allowing hot water to be sprayed from each nozzle 1200. In other words, shower supply unit 20 has built-in switching means (not shown) for switching the connection between the air supply means and flexible pipe 70 and the hot water supply means and flexible pipe 70.

[0024] As a result, after first washing the pet with a hot water shower, simply by switching the piping path with the switching means, the supply path connected to the hot water supply means can be connected to the air supply means, and hot air can be sprayed from the nozzle 1200 of the metal pipe 120 to dry the wet pet. In other words, the air shower means and hot water shower means of the box 10 share the flexible pipe 70, metal pipe 120, and its nozzle 1200 within the box 10, making it possible to provide both washing and drying functions with a simple configuration at low cost.

[0025] A stepping motor is used for motor 30 that rotates metal pipe 120, and the direction, angle, and stop position of the rotation are precisely controlled by commands from electronic control means 24 built into shower supply unit 20. A gear 31 is provided on the drive shaft of motor 30, and meshes with teeth on the outer surface of slide plate 112 to control the sliding movement of slide plate 112 on rail 111. Furthermore, a touch panel type operation / input means 22 is provided on the top surface of shower supply unit 20, which allows input and setting of the control details by electronic control means 24.

[0026] In the pet shower device 1A of the present invention, the box 10 is provided with a plurality of ultraviolet lamps 400 as an ultraviolet irradiation means for irradiating ultraviolet rays onto the body surface of the pet 9 housed therein, and by spraying air to part the pet's fur and expose the skin, the ultraviolet lamps 400 irradiate ultraviolet rays onto the exposed skin, thereby inactivating and / or removing bacteria and / or parasites present on the body surface of the pet 9, which is the greatest feature of the present invention.

[0027] The ultraviolet lamps 400 are waterproofly sealed in transparent pipes and fitted and fixed in a horizontal position parallel to the metal piping 120 along the longitudinal direction of the upper side of the cover bodies 11a and 11b. As shown in FIG. 4, a total of eight ultraviolet lamps 400 irradiate ultraviolet light toward the center of the upper side of the internal space of the box 10, and their on / off and irradiation intensity are controlled by the electronic control means 24.

[0028] Therefore, by appropriately moving the position from which the warm air is sprayed between the position of the metal pipe 120 in Figure 3(A) and the position of the metal pipe 120 in Figure 3(B) while the ultraviolet lamp 400 is irradiating the pet 9, the position at which the fur of the pet 9 is parted and the exposed skin can be moved vertically, making it possible to irradiate ultraviolet rays evenly onto the skin on the body of the pet 9.

[0029] In this way, by using the air shower means to part the hair of the pet 9 and irradiate ultraviolet rays onto the exposed skin, bacteria and parasites present on the skin covered with hair can be exposed and efficiently killed or inactivated by the ultraviolet rays, and many of the inactivated parasites can be blown away by the jetted air flow and efficiently removed.

[0030] As mentioned above, the drive of the motor 30 that operates the metal pipe 120 is controlled by the electronic control means 24, but when washing with warm water, various operations and procedures can be set using the operation and input means 22, such as moving the spray position while repeating a short back-and-forth motion, and the spray of warm air can also be set in detail. Furthermore, the shower supply unit 20 has multiple built-in chemical / solution filling means, and depending on the settings, it is possible to mix cleaning detergents, anti-parasite chemicals, treatment liquids, aroma liquids, etc. into the sprayed liquid or air. For example, if water containing anti-parasite chemicals is sprayed to weaken the parasites, they can be easily inactivated by ultraviolet light irradiation and removed by air spray.

[0031] Furthermore, when placing the animal 9 in the box 10, the cover bodies 11a and 11b are opened as shown by the dotted line in Figure 2(A), and the pet 9 is guided from the left side of Figure 1, and the cover bodies 11a and 11b are closed while supporting the neck of the pet 9 with the hand so that it matches the position of the neck hole 30. However, the position can be adjusted by placing a height adjustment stand 17 of a height according to the size of the pet 9 on the slatted floor board 15.

[0032] Furthermore, by adjusting the length of the height-adjustable base 17 in the front-to-rear direction to the length of the animal's body, when the pet 9, with its head sticking out of the neck hole 30, tries to step back and retract its neck, the step at the end of the height-adjustable base 17 makes it easy to stop the movement. Additionally, the top surface of the height-adjustable base 17 and the floor board 15 are shaped like a slatted platform, connecting the upper cleaning space with the bottom space of the base 12, and the cleaning water is configured to collect in the drawer tray 13 inserted into the base 12. The cleaning solution is discharged by turning the drain cock 14, and any fallen hair or other debris is captured by the filter net 140 in front of the drain cock 14. Furthermore, by pulling out the drawer tray 13, accumulated hair or other debris can be easily cleaned, minimizing the effort required to clean the box 10.

[0033] 5 shows a side view of a pet shower apparatus 1B according to a second embodiment of the present invention. This pet shower apparatus 1B has a configuration similar to that of the pet shower apparatus 1A described above, but its box 10B does not include an ultraviolet lamp 500. Instead, the covers 11c and 11d, excluding at least both end faces and the base 12, are made of a transparent material. A lamp housing 50, which is formed in an inverted U-shape in side view and has a transparent inner surface that transmits ultraviolet light, is placed over the box 10B to cover the outer surfaces of the covers 11c and 11d.

[0034] The lamp storage body 50 has an inner space between its outer and inner surfaces that is wide enough to store the ultraviolet lamps 500, and has a longitudinal size that is approximately the same as that of the box 10B. It stores 13 ultraviolet lamps 500, each with a length approximately equal to the longitudinal width of the box 10B, arranged sideways in a row, and is configured to cover the box 10B to irradiate ultraviolet rays on pets stored therein, and has excellent waterproofing performance in the electrically conductive parts.

[0035] Figure 6 shows a partial cross-sectional view of a pet shower apparatus 1C, which is a modification of the pet shower apparatus 1A of Figure 1. This example is characterized in that ultraviolet lamps 600 are arranged in parallel between adjacent metal pipes 120, 120, and that multiple ultraviolet lamps 600, both ends of which are fixed between a pair of sliding plates 112, 112, slide together with the metal pipes 120.

[0036] In this way, it is possible to provide both the metal pipe 120 and the infrared lamp 600 with a relatively simple configuration, and in addition, ultraviolet rays can be concentrated on the exposed parts of the pet's skin while the air shower is being administered, making it possible to achieve a more efficient pet cleaning process.

[0037] Fig. 7(A) shows a right side partial view of a pet shower device 1D, which is an application example of the pet shower device 1A shown in Fig. 2(A). In this example, a goggle-like eye dropper 80 is attached to cover both of the pet's eyes, and as shown in Fig. 7(B), a medicine filling section 86 and spray nozzles 85, 85 are provided as spraying means for spraying a mist of medicine (eye drops) into the internal space of the part covering both of the eyes when the shower device is worn on the pet 9, and the shower device is characterized by having the function of administering the mist of medicine to both of the eyes of the pet 9.

[0038] In this example, eye dropper 80 is connected to shower supply unit 25 via flexible piping 800, and compressed air is supplied to the internal space of goggle-shaped eye dropper 80 via flexible piping 800. Eye drops pre-filled in medicine filling unit 86 are mixed with the compressed air and sprayed from nozzle 85 into the internal space of eye dropper 80 worn over both eyes of pet 9, so that mist-like eye drops are administered to both eyes of pet 9. This makes it possible to efficiently and easily administer the necessary medicine to both eyes of the pet during cleaning work.

[0039] In common with the above-mentioned embodiments, modifications, and applications, various settings can be made in the electronic control means 24 via the touch panel type operation and input means 22. For example, when setting a course for performing a series of tasks, by presetting courses that automatically perform various tasks, such as a body washing course, a treatment and drying course, a flea and tick removal course, and an eye drop, medication, and feeding course, these can be performed fully automatically by simply selecting the course.

[0040] As described above, the present invention provides a pet shower device for cleaning pets that can efficiently inactivate and remove bacteria and parasites attached to the surface of a pet's body without incurring excessive cost increases. [Explanation of symbols]

[0041] 1A, 1B, 1C pet shower device, 10, 10B box, 11a, 11b, 11c, 11d cover body, 12 base part, 13 drawer tray, 15 floor board, 17 height adjustment stand, 20, 25 shower supply part, 22 operation / input means, 24 electronic control means, 50 lamp housing body, 70, 800 flexible piping, 80 eye dropper, 85 spray nozzle, 86 medicine filling part, 110 neck hole, 111 rail, 112 slide body, 120 metal piping, 400, 500, 600 ultraviolet lamp, 1200 spray nozzle

Claims

1. This pet shower device is equipped with an air shower means on the inside of a box that contains at least the torso of the pet, which sprays air onto the surface of the pet's body, and the box is provided with an ultraviolet irradiation means that irradiates ultraviolet rays onto the surface of the pet's body contained therein.The air shower means sprays air to part the pet's hair, exposing the pet's skin, and the ultraviolet irradiation means irradiates ultraviolet rays onto the exposed skin, thereby inactivating and / or removing bacteria and / or parasites present on the body surface.

2. The pet shower device according to claim 1, wherein the air shower means has a function of automatically changing and / or moving the spray position, and irradiates ultraviolet rays while automatically changing and / or moving the position where the hair is parted to expose the skin.

3. The pet shower device according to claim 2, characterized in that the box is provided with a hot water shower means for spraying hot water onto the pet housed therein, and after the hot water is sprayed to clean the pet's body surface, the air shower means sprays hot air to dry the pet's fur and skin while irradiating it with ultraviolet light.

4. 4. The pet shower device according to claim 3, wherein the air shower means and the hot water shower means share piping and a jet nozzle within the box, and a switching means is provided at a predetermined position on the piping to switch between supplying air and supplying hot water.

5. A pet shower device as described in claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, characterized in that it is equipped with a goggle-shaped eye dropper that covers both of the pet's eyes, and has a spraying means that sprays the medicine in a mist into the internal space of the part that covers both of the pet's eyes when worn by the pet, thereby administering the mist of the medicine to both of the pet's eyes.

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