Top-Loading Pet Carrier With Hinged Cover for Vertical Entry
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional pet carriers with front openings are undesirable for animals, particularly cats, as they resist entry, leading to difficult and dangerous situations.
Innovation Solution
A pet carrier with a single top-loading opening and a hinged cover mechanism, featuring a latching mechanism and wire grating, allowing vertical entry and exit, which reduces animal resistance and enhances safety.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a front opening is provided in conventional carriers, then the carrier structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but animals resist entry and the loading process becomes difficult and dangerous
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the conventional carrier design by moving the opening from the front to the top of the carrier. This inversion allows animals to enter vertically from above rather than facing the front opening, eliminating their resistance and making loading easy and safe.
2Ease of operation
If a top opening is provided in the carrier, then animal entry resistance is minimized and loading is easier, but the carrier structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The carrier is divided into separate components: a bottom portion and a top portion with an opening. This segmentation allows the opening to be positioned at the top for easy animal access while keeping the overall structure manageable and manufacturable through modular design.
3Reliability
If a cover portion is added to close the top opening, then animal security is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cover portion includes an automatic latching mechanism that self-activates when the cover is closed. This self-service feature provides reliable animal security through automatic locking without requiring additional complex manual locking systems or external mechanisms.
Data Source
AI summary
A carrier includes a body and a cover portion. The body has a bottom portion and a top portion and an opening in the top portion. The bottom portion is configured to be placed on a surface. The opening is the only opening sized and configured to enable an animal to enter or exit the body and enables an animal to enter or exit the body in a vertical manner when the bottom portion is placed on the surface. The cover portion is sized and configured to fit within the opening of the top portion. The cover portion is hingedly attached to the top portion at a first side and includes a latching mechanism at a second side. The latching mechanism enables the cover to be disposed in a latched state to close the opening in the top portion.