Animal husbandry – Exercise or amusement device – Toy – lure – fetch – or related device
Reexamination Certificate
2002-10-30
2004-03-09
Jordan, Charles T. (Department: 3644)
Animal husbandry
Exercise or amusement device
Toy, lure, fetch, or related device
C362S259000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06701872
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to apparatus for exercising curious animals, especially pet cats. This invention is an improvement over the invention described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,443,036 issued Aug. 2, 1995. Laser pointers are known and in particular it is known that cats are attracted by and stalk the spot of a laser pointed in their vicinity. It is also known that cats are attracted to the air movement of a fan, often to be cooled by such air movement. Heretofore the method for inducing exercise in a cat has been to manually move the spot beam in an arbitrary manner to stimulate exercise.
It has been found that the prior art exercise method is limited my the need for manual intervention, which may not always be desirable. An example is in a cage in a zoo, where large curious animals may need exercise. What is needed is an exercise apparatus which eliminates the need for manual intervention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention, an apparatus for exercising a curious animal such as a pet housecat comprises a laser pointer mounted on a shaft driven by a motor mounted on a pedestal. The rotatable shaft is preferably vertically disposed and the direction of the pointer is preferably obliquely downward so that activation of the motor causes the spot beam of the laser to track a vector of motion to attract a cat into interaction with the spot beam. In a further specific embodiment, the laser pointer may be mounted on the head of an oscillatory air circulation fan with a pedestal. The oscillation of the spot beam, together with the air movement of the oscillatory fan, further stimulates activity in a cat while conveniently inducing convective cooling.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4926438 (1990-05-01), Maes et al.
patent: 5443036 (1995-08-01), Amiss et al.
patent: 5934223 (1999-08-01), Ellery-Guy
patent: 6505576 (2003-01-01), Nathanson et al.
patent: 6557495 (2003-05-01), Lorenz
Allen Kenneth R.
Jordan Charles T.
Nelson Judith A.
Townsend and Townsend / and Crew LLP
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