Animal husbandry – Waste toilet or related device – Walled receptacle; e.g. – litter box – etc. – containing...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-02-26
2001-03-27
Poon, Peter M. (Department: 3644)
Animal husbandry
Waste toilet or related device
Walled receptacle; e.g., litter box, etc., containing...
Reexamination Certificate
active
06205953
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to pet litter containers. More particularly, the invention relates to a cat litter container with improved features for ingress and egress.
2. Related Art
There exist a number of litter boxes in the art. Litter boxes are commonly used indoors to retain cat waste. A waste and order absorbing material are commonly employed into the litter box. The litter box usually includes a base and side walls, wherein the side walls are sufficiently high enough to prevent the waste and absorbing material from being easily kicked out of the litter box by the pet, such as a cat.
The wall height presents problems for young, aging and ill cats which cannot climb over the side walls. Accordingly, there is a need to accommodate cats suffering from these characteristics. One way to solve the problem has been to lower the height or remove part of the wall. This defeats the retaining purpose of the wall and is not desirable. Also, providing a mere ramp for ingress and egress into the litter box still suffers from the problem of permitting litter and absorbing material to be displaced by the pet from the box upon entry and exit.
There remains a need for an improved cat litter container which accommodates these types of pets. The present invention solves these problems.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object to improve litter containers.
It is another object to ease ingress and egress of cat litter containers while maintaining cleanliness about the same.
It is another object to provide a container which can also serve as a bed.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a cat litter container having an improved ingress and egress. The cat litter container includes a base and a retaining side wall extending from the base in a manner to form a partial enclosure and having an access surface is provided.
The access surface includes a ramp interconnecting the retaining wall and base and has a raised portion which together with the base and retaining wall serve as a primary container for cat litter. The ramp further includes a plurality of opening surfaces to permit cat litter pass therethrough. A cavity is formed beneath the ramp. A removable tray is disposed in the cavity beneath the ramp to catch cat litter as it passes through the open surfaces of the ramp, thus serving as a secondary container. A tread is also formed on the ramp.
Other objects and advantages will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art upon viewing the drawings and reading the detailed description hereafter.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4615300 (1986-10-01), McDonough
patent: 4723510 (1988-02-01), Skillestad
patent: 5121712 (1992-06-01), Alfa-Pet, Inc.
patent: 5158042 (1992-10-01), Hammerslag
patent: 5195464 (1993-03-01), Mutter
patent: 5218930 (1993-06-01), Casmira
patent: 5220886 (1993-06-01), Hyde
patent: 5329878 (1994-07-01), McCauley
patent: 5329879 (1994-07-01), Walton
patent: 5517947 (1996-05-01), Christmas
patent: 5676090 (1997-10-01), Cannady, Jr.
patent: 5713302 (1998-02-01), Walter
patent: 5791289 (1998-08-01), Savicki
Abbott Yvonne R.
Ginn Sharron A.
Poon Peter M.
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