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Circular animal toilet enclosureCircular animal toilet enclosure description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070175400, Circular animal toilet enclosure. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001]This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application 60/763,489 filed on Jan. 30, 2006, the entirety of which is herein incorporated by reference. This application is also related to U.S. Pat. No. 6,857,391, issued Feb. 22, 2005. TECHNICAL FIELD [0002]This invention relates generally to animal toilets and more specifically to an animal waste enclosure. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003]As the density of human population continues to grow in the more affluent countries, the total number of domestic pets has created an increasing problem of how to simply and safely dispose of pet excreta. Any system or product that can solve this problem must be reliable, compatible with the natural instincts of pets, not expensive to buy and operate, easy to manufacture with few moving parts to allow a reasonable manufacturer's guarantee period as well as being readily acceptable by health and police officials. [0004]In review of the previous art in the field, the following patents were consulted: TABLE-US-00001 U.S. Pat. No. Inventor Date 3,817,213 Chalmars Jun. 18, 1974 3,949,429 Hall Apr. 13, 1976 3,964,437 Brown Jun. 22, 1976 4,010,970 Campbell May 8, 1977 4,050,415 Knochel et al Sep. 27, 1977 4,117,555 Dennis Oct. 3, 1978 4,185,861 Berner May 29, 1980 4,196,693 Uversaw Apr. 8, 1980 4,228,554 Tumminaro Oct. 21, 1980 4,660,506 Nalven Apr. 28, 1987 6,014,946 Rymer Jan. 18, 2000 6,039,370 Dooley, Jr. et al Mar. 31, 2000 6,457,435 Bridges Oct. 1, 2002 6,554,335 Kelly, et al Apr. 29, 2003 6,561,131 Schwartz May 13, 2003 6,568,348 Bedard May 27, 2003 [0005]The listed patents can be grouped under a few headings relative to their design and the difficulties and problems that might arise if they were in wide usage by the public. [0006]The first grouping could be: use of the same device by both animals and humans. This is exemplified by the patents of Hall, 1976 and Rymer, 2000. These patents use a modified toilet seat that expands and contracts enough to manually arrange it as a seat for use by both humans and animals. Many humans would shy away from such use and it is very difficult to train an animal to void excreta while sitting or standing on a toilet stool seat. [0007]The second grouping could be: use of a funnel shaped floor or platform. This is presented in patents by Brown, 1976 and by Tumminaro, 1980. The sloping floor, while stable, creates a training problem for use by any animal and in the case of Brown required that a human push a button to initiate cleaning action. [0008]The third grouping could be: unstable floor or platform in order to initiate some mechanical action by downward movement of the floor. This is presented in patents by Knochel et al, 1977, Dennis, 1978, Unversaw, 1980, and Nalvern, weight down on a surface and it begins to move downward which would make training animals for this type of animal toilet very difficult. [0009]The fourth grouping could be: the use of drain holes for removal of excreta in a flat stable board. This is exemplified by the patent of Bridges, 2002. Although it has the use of electronics to assist in the activation of cleaning of the flat stable board, there is no good mechanism for the cleaning of the underside of the board. It is removable to assist in this. The board also contains permanent open holes to allow the excreta to pass through. These holes are open while the animal is in the unit and constitute a hazard for harm to the legs of the animal. [0010]The fifth group is probably not strictly an animal toilet so that it could be called: catch pouch on a pole or a pooper bag. Both Dooley, 2000, and Kelly, 2003, present this concept very well in their patents. However, this system is not automatic and requires a great deal of human intervention. [0011]The sixth group could be entitled: the complex litter box. This concept is presented well in the patents of Schwartz, 2003, and Bedard, 2003. However, the use is limited to cats and involves special clumpable litter wherein the urine is removed as clumps of congealed litter along with fecal material by mechanical means such as rakes. [0012]Although several patents have been issued for animal toilet inventions over many years, none have successfully solved the problem by presenting an acceptable method to the general public for rapid, simple economical disposal of dog and cat excreta. There has been no change in the handling of dog and cat excreta as compared to that of human excreta which has progressed from outdoor toilets to modern indoor toilets in bathrooms of first world people. A parallel development has been the invention of modern day washers and dryers for clothes and for dishes. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0013]The circular animal toilet enclosure of this invention has a bottom section removably coupled to a rotatable flywheel floorboard, a cover cylinder removably coupled to the bottom section, a top section removably coupled to the cover cylinder, and a means for controlling the enclosure. The rotatable flywheel floorboard has pivoting serrated portions for grinding excreta while the floorboard is rotating. The cover cylinder has fixed serrated portions aligned with the pivoting serrated portions for grinding excreta while said floorboard is rotating. The cover cylinder also has at least one door, and at least one shower head in fluid communication with a water supply, an upper ring, waste collection tube, and a second drive motor. The upper ring is in fluid communication with both the rotatable flywheel floorboard and the waste collection tube. The waste collection tube is in fluid communication with a sewer. The second drive motor is removably coupled to the rotatable flywheel floorboard. A means for controlling the enclosure has electric and electronic devices for periodically energizing an enclosure control system. [0014]The animal toilet enclosure is electrically and electronically controlled, totally automated, and cleans and semi-sterilizes itself while preventing entry of an animal before it is ready for use again. It is a circular animal toilet with fixed walls and a stable rotatable flywheel floorboard for the animal to stand or squat while voiding feces or urine. As the animal leaves the toilet an entry/exit door closes automatically. A slightly slanted from the center single large rotatable flywheel floorboard with radial grooves fills approximately the entire floor of the toilet. As the rotatable flywheel floorboard begins to rotate slowly on its vertical axle, simultaneously, overhead streams of water from at least one shower head in fluid connection with a water supply begin to wash the rotatable flywheel floorboard as it rotates to and fro. The rotation becomes unidirectional and speeds up, creating a centrifugal force to assist in moving the excreta to the periphery of the rotatable flywheel floorboard where it is finely ground between the pivoting serrated portions on and near the edge of the rotatable flywheel floorboard and the fixed serrated portions adjacent toilet wall before it passes in a pulverized state downward through a tubular collecting system containing a one way gas and fluid valve in fluid connection with an outside sewer system. The tubular collecting system may be located entirely on the inside of the cylinder or partially outside of it. The tubes may be rather soft and somewhat flexible or hard and rigid; more like pipes. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0015]FIG. 1 is a top outside rear view of animal toilet. The excreta collecting ring is located on the outside of the cylinder. The rotatable flywheel floorboard, cover, motors, and connecting rods and electrical components are not shown. [0016]FIG. 2 is a partial side view of junction of wall and rotatable flywheel floorboard with a supporting ledge. The waste collection tube is on the outside of the wall and a ball bearing with its supporter is assisting in the support of the rotatable flywheel floorboard. [0017]FIG. 3 is a partial horizontal view of the junction of wall and rotatable flywheel floorboard with collection tube and drain pipe to sewer on the inside of the toilet. [0018]FIG. 4 is a partial top view of rotatable flywheel floorboard with grooves and attachments. Continue reading about Circular animal toilet enclosure... Full patent description for Circular animal toilet enclosure Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Circular animal toilet enclosure patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. Start now! - Receive info on patent apps like Circular animal toilet enclosure or other areas of interest. ### Previous Patent Application: Containment systems and components for animal husbandry Next Patent Application: Economic easy clean cat toilet Industry Class: Animal husbandry ### FreshPatents.com Support Thank you for viewing the Circular animal toilet enclosure patent info. IP-related news and info Results in 0.3336 seconds Other interesting Feshpatents.com categories: Tyco , Unilever , Warner-lambert , 3m 174 |
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