Animal Regurgitation Scooping Assembly

Abstract

An animal regurgitation scooping assembly includes a scoop member and a scraper member. The scoop member includes a pan and a scoop handle attached to the pan. The scraper member includes a scraping structure and a scraper handle attached to the scraping structure. The scraping structure includes a body portion and a tapered portion that tapers to a scraper edge to permit a user to scrape animal regurgitation off of a surface and into the pan.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] Not ApplicableSTATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

[0002] Not ApplicableTHE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

[0003] Not ApplicableINCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM

[0004] Not ApplicableSTATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR

[0005] Not ApplicableBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION(1) Field of the Invention

[0006] The disclosure relates to pet cleaning devices and more particularly pertains to a new animal regurgitation scooping assembly for scooping up animal regurgitation, vomit, or other animal waste from surfaces, such as hard floors, furniture, carpeting, and rugs. The animal regurgitation scooping assembly includes a scoop member and a scraper member that have straight edges that can be brought together to scoop up the majority or nearly all of an amount of animal waste that has liquid and solid components. The animal regurgitation scooping assembly is cleanable and reusable.(2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98

[0007] The prior art relates to pet cleaning devices. The prior art, as best understood, does not disclose an animal regurgitation scooping assembly that has a scoop member and a scraper member, wherein the scraper member includes a tapered portion that tapers to a scraper edge to permit a user to scrape animal regurgitation off of a surface and into a pan of said scoop member.BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above in an animal regurgitation scooping assembly generally comprising a scoop member and a scraper member. The scoop member includes a pan and a scoop handle attached to the pan. The scraper member includes a scraping structure and a scraper handle attached to the scraping structure. The scraping structure includes a body portion and a tapered portion that tapers to a scraper edge to permit a user to scrape animal regurgitation off of a surface and into the pan.

[0009] There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

[0010] The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

[0011] The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:

[0012] FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of an animal regurgitation scooping assembly according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0013] FIG. 2 is a front view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0014] FIG. 3 is a side view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0015] FIG. 4 is a bottom view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0016] FIG. 5 is a close-up view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0017] FIG. 6 is a side view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0018] FIG. 7 is a top view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0019] FIG. 8 is a close-up view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0020] FIG. 9 is a side view of an embodiment of the disclosure in use.

[0021] FIG. 10 is a side view of an embodiment of the disclosure in storage.DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0022] With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1 through 10 thereof, a new animal regurgitation scooping assembly embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral 10 will be described.

[0023] As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 10, the animal regurgitation scooping assembly 10 generally comprises a scoop member 12 and a scraper member 14. The scoop member 12 includes a pan 16 and a scoop handle 18 attached to the pan 16. The pan 16 includes a bottom wall 20 designed to receive animal regurgitation thereon. The bottom wall 20 includes a main wall portion 22 and a tapered wall portion 24 that tapers from the main wall portion 22 to a front scoop edge 26 to facilitate scooping of animal regurgitation onto the bottom wall 20. The front scoop edge 26 is positioned at the bottom surface of the bottom wall 20. The pan 16 includes a back wall 28 and side walls 30 extending upwardly from the bottom wall 20 to retain animal regurgitation in the pan 16. The scoop handle 18 is attached to the back wall 28. The pan 16 can be made of a non-stick material to minimize adherence of animal regurgitation to the pan 16, such as plastic or rubber. Alternatively, the pan 16 could have a non-stick coating.

[0024] The scraper member 14 includes a scraping structure 32 and a scraper handle 34 attached to the scraping structure 32. The scraping structure 32 includes a body portion 36 and a tapered portion 38 that tapers to a scraper edge 40 to permit a user to scrape animal regurgitation off of a surface and into the pan 16. The body portion 36 has parallel first and second body surfaces 42. The tapered portion 38 includes first and second scraper surfaces 44 extending from the first and second body surfaces 42. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, each of the first and second scraper surfaces 44 is inclined at an angle with respect to its corresponding one of the first and second body surfaces 42. However, in a possible embodiment, only one of the first and second scraper surfaces 44 is inclined at an angle with respect to its corresponding one of the first and second body surfaces 42. The scraping structure 32 can also be made of a non-stick material, such as plastic or rubber, or alternatively could have a non-stick coating.

[0025] The scoop member 12 and the scraper member 14 are releasably connectable together in a storage position, as shown in FIG. 10, when not in use. The scoop handle 18 includes a storage portion 46 that releasably holds the scraper handle 34 when the scraper member 14 is in the storage position. The storage portion 46 extends in an offset position below the bottom wall 20 such that, when the scraper handle 34 is inserted into the storage portion 46, the body portion 36 of the scraping structure 32 abuts flush against the bottom wall 20 of the pan 16. The storage portion 46 includes a contoured recess 48 shaped similarly to outer surfaces of the scraper handle 34 and has indented surfaces 50 to releasably hold the scraper handle 34 flush in a snap-fit type connection. As shown in FIG. 8, the scraper handle 34 could have corresponding indented surfaces 50 to promote a secure connection. In other possible embodiments, the scoop member 12 and the scraper member 14 could be connected together in other ways, such as using clips, straps, brackets, magnets, or other connecting structures. As shown in FIG. 1, both the scoop handle 18 and the scraper handle 34 have matching orifices 52 therein that are positioned such that the orifices 52 are aligned when the scoop member 12 and the scraper member 14 are connected together in the storage position, which orifices 52 can be used to hang the scooping assembly 10 from a storage hook or similar structure.

[0026] The animal regurgitation scooping assembly 10 is primarily designed for the purpose of scooping up regurgitation or vomit from household pets, such as dogs and cats, off of household surfaces, such as carpet, furniture, hard floors, rugs, and other household surfaces on which a pet might vomit. However, the animal regurgitation scooping assembly 10 could be used to clean up vomit from other animals, or even human adults or children. The animal regurgitation scooping assembly 10 also possibly could even be used to scrape up other types of wet or semi-liquid organic waste that adheres or soaks into surfaces, such as fecal material and hairballs. The size of the animal regurgitation scooping assembly 10 could be adjusted from smaller to larger sizes to accommodate smaller or larger amounts of vomit. The animal regurgitation scooping assembly 10 is designed to scoop up a large portion of the vomit but could possibly scoop up nearly all of the vomit in the case of very smooth surfaces, such as plastic or cement floors or surfaces. However, the animal regurgitation scooping assembly 10 is primarily to be used to scoop up most of the vomit in order to allow the user to then clean up any remnants or residues using cleaning liquid or foam and scrubbing or wiping devices.

[0027] In order to use the animal regurgitation scooping assembly 10, the user picks up the scoop member 12 by grasping the scoop handle 18 with one hand and picks up the scraper member 14 by grasping the scraper handle 34 with another hand. As shown in FIG. 9, the user places the scraping structure 32 and the pan 16 on opposite sides of an amount of animal regurgitation 70. The user then pushes, as shown in FIG. 9, or drags the scraper edge 40 along the surface 72, such as a hard floor or carpet, and into the amount of animal regurgitation 70, and thereby scrapes the animal regurgitation 70 off of the surface 72 and into the pan 16. The user can then dump out the animal regurgitation 70 into a waste container or bag. The user can then wash off the scraping structure 32 and the pan 16 by hand or in a dishwasher.

[0028] With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0029] Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.

Claims

1. An animal regurgitation scooping assembly comprising:a scoop member comprising a pan and a scoop handle attached to said pan;a scraper member comprising a scraping structure and a scraper handle attached to said scraping structure; andsaid scraping structure comprises a body portion and a tapered portion that tapers to a scraper edge to permit a user to scrape animal regurgitation off of a surface and into said pan.

2. The animal regurgitation scooping assembly of claim 1, wherein:said body portion has parallel first and second body surfaces; andsaid tapered portion comprises first and second scraper surfaces extending from said first and second body surfaces.

3. The animal regurgitation scooping assembly of claim 2, wherein at least one of said first and second scraper surfaces is inclined at an angle with respect to its corresponding one of said first and second body surfaces.

4. The animal regurgitation scooping assembly of claim 2, wherein each of said first and second scraper surfaces is inclined at an angle with respect to its corresponding one of said first and second body surfaces.

5. The animal regurgitation scooping assembly of claim 1, wherein:said pan comprises a bottom wall configured to receive animal regurgitation thereon; andsaid bottom wall comprises a main wall portion and a tapered wall portion that tapers from said main wall portion to a front scoop edge to facilitate scooping of animal regurgitation onto said bottom wall.

6. The animal regurgitation scooping assembly of claim 5, wherein said front scoop edge is disposed at a bottom surface of said bottom wall.

7. The animal regurgitation scooping assembly of claim 6, wherein said pan comprises a back wall and side walls extending upwardly from said bottom wall to retain animal regurgitation in said pan.

8. The animal regurgitation scooping assembly of claim 7, wherein said scoop handle is attached to said back wall.

9. The animal regurgitation scooping assembly of claim 1, wherein said scoop member and said scraper member are releasably connectable together in a storage position when not in use.

10. The animal regurgitation scooping assembly of claim 9, wherein said scoop handle comprises a storage portion that releasably holds said scraper handle when said scraper member is in said storage position.

11. The animal regurgitation scooping assembly of claim 10, wherein said storage portion extends in an offset position below said pan such that when said scraper handle is inserted into said storage portion said body portion of said scraping structure abuts flush against said bottom wall of said pan.

12. The animal regurgitation scooping assembly of claim 10, wherein said storage portion comprises a contoured recess shaped similarly to outer surfaces of said scraper handle and having indented surfaces to releasably hold said scraper handle flush in a snap-fit type connection.

13. The animal regurgitation scooping assembly of claim 9, wherein said scoop handle and said scraper handle each have matching orifices therein disposed such that said orifices are aligned when said scoop member and said scraper member are connected together in said storage position to permit hanging of said scooping assembly from a storage hook or similar structure14. The animal regurgitation scooping assembly of claim 10, wherein said scoop handle and said scraper handle each have matching orifices therein disposed such that said orifices are aligned when said scoop member and said scraper member are connected together in said storage position to permit hanging of said scooping assembly from a storage hook or similar structure15. The animal regurgitation scooping assembly of claim 1, wherein said scraping structure comprises a non-stick material to minimize adherence of animal regurgitation to said scraping structure.

16. The animal regurgitation scooping assembly of claim 9, wherein said pan comprises a non-stick material to minimize adherence of animal regurgitation to said pan.

17. A method of scooping animal regurgitation using the animal regurgitation scooping assembly of claim 1, said the method comprising the steps of:grasping said scoop handle with one hand;grasping said scraper handle with another hand;placing said scraping structure and said pan on opposite sides of an amount of animal regurgitation; andpushing or dragging said scraper edge along a surface and into the amount of animal regurgitation and thereby scraping the animal regurgitation off of the surface and into said pan.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the method further comprises washing off said scraping structure and said pan by hand or in a dishwasher.

19. An animal regurgitation scooping assembly comprising:a scoop member comprising a pan and a scoop handle attached to said pan, said pan comprises a bottom wall configured to receive animal regurgitation thereon, said bottom wall comprises a main wall portion and a tapered wall portion that tapers from said main wall portion to a front scoop edge to facilitate scooping of animal regurgitation onto said bottom wall, said front scoop edge is disposed at the bottom surface of said bottom wall, said pan comprises a back wall and side walls extending upwardly from said bottom wall to retain animal regurgitation in said pan, said scoop handle is attached to said back wall, said pan comprises a non-stick material to minimize adherence of animal regurgitation to said pan;a scraper member comprising a scraping structure and a scraper handle attached to said scraping structure, said scraping structure comprises a body portion and a tapered portion that tapers to a scraper edge to permit a user to scrape animal regurgitation off of a surface and into said pan, said body portion has parallel first and second body surfaces, said tapered portion comprises first and second scraper surfaces extending from said first and second body surfaces, wherein at least one of said first and second scraper surfaces is inclined at an angle with respect to its corresponding one of said first and second body surfaces, each of said first and second scraper surfaces is inclined at an angle with respect to its corresponding one of said first and second body surfaces, said scraping structure comprises a non-stick material to minimize adherence of animal regurgitation to said scraping structure; andwherein said scoop member and said scraper member are releasably connectable together in a storage position when not in use, said scoop handle comprises a storage portion that releasably holds said scraper handle when said scraper member is in said storage position, said storage portion extends in an offset position below said bottom wall such that when said scraper handle is inserted into said storage portion said body portion of said scraping structure abuts flush against said bottom wall of said pan, said storage portion comprises a contoured recess shaped similarly to outer surfaces of said scraper handle and having indented surfaces to releasably hold said scraper handle flush in a snap-fit type connection, and said scoop handle and said scraper handle each have matching orifices therein disposed such that said orifices are aligned when said scoop member and said scraper member are connected together in said storage position to permit hanging of said scooping assembly from a storage hook or similar structure.

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