Patent Application
20160000034
The present invention relates to a pet bed and a method for creating a climate controlled environment for a pet.
While there are many pet beds in existence, none of the beds provide a truly comfortable bed that can cool or heat an animal in an economic fashion with minimal maintenance and operating procedure required. Though there are some pet beds or pet carriers that provide heating and/or cooling means to a pet, they are either complicated, economically infeasible, bulky, have numerous moving parts and are generally uncomfortable. Specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 8,291,866 B2 to Cauchy et al., discloses a pet carrier that has ability to heat or cool a pet. The Cauchey patent discloses the use of heat sinks, fans, and electrical systems to accomplish its goal of providing climate control for a pet. However, it is bulky, costly to produce, uncomfortable and confining to a pet.
When given a choice, pets tend to prefer and seek out comfortable resting areas which include the surface they rest on and the ambient temperature surrounding them. Often times in a home, pets prefer temperatures that are different than that of their owners. In warmer temperatures, pets prefer cooler surrounding temperatures than humans in a living space because a pet's fur keeps them warmer. In colder temperatures, it is often the case that as hot air rises and cold air sinks, the temperature of the airspace closest to the floor can differ a great degree as compared with that portion higher in the air column. Given that pets generally occupy that space closest to the floor they can become cold while their owner may be comfortable with the surrounding temperatures.
What is needed in the art is a pet bed and method for providing temperature control for a pet that is comfortable, un-confining, easily movable to different locations in a living space, simple in design, simple to operate and economical to produce.
The present invention is a pet bed and method to provide a pet with comfortable and climate-controlled conditions. The pet bed has an upper surface and a lower surface with the upper surface substantially parallel to the bottom surface. A plurality of apertures are formed through the pet bed in a direction perpendicular to the upper and bottom surfaces by cutting them out of the foam. These apertures are formed for the purpose of allowing air to flow through them and into contact with a pet's body that is resting on the upper surface. In use, the pet bed is placed over an air vent located on the floor of a living space which allows the air to come into contact with the pet bed and the pet, thus heating or cooling both the pet and the pet bed. The use of the pet bed on a pre-existing air vent takes advantage of the inevitable heating and cooling costs in a living space as its use is incidental to the use of a HVAC system in a living space.
The apertures can be formed in an array across the pet bed, but are generally formed in a location that corresponds to the area occupied of a typical air vent found in a living space. The foam must be of sufficient rigidity to prevent a pet's weight on the upper surface to collapse the apertures which would constrict air flow. The foam could be a number of different types including, but not limited to, polyurethane foam, viscoelastic polyurethane foam, ethylene-vinyl acetate foam, latex foam, and poly-vinyl chloride foam. These and other similar foam materials allow the pet bed to be comfortable while also providing for apertures that will not collapse. In addition, the pet bed could be formed of plastic, carbon fiber, fiberglass or wood.
The apertures should be of sufficient of diameter to allow appropriate air flow but not large enough to cause discomfort or allow a pet's foot to get stuck. In one embodiment, the pet bed's upper surface can have a slight depression in the central region of the pet bed that allows a pet to be nested or cradled by the pet bed. An air-flow permeable removable cover can also be used with the pet bed so as to protect the pet bed from being soiled over time by a pet. The cover can be made of various types of cloth.
The pet bed can also be used in conjunction with a pet attractant such as Nepeta Cataria, otherwise known as catnip. This can be achieved by placing the attractant in a small bag and inserting it into one or more of the apertures. In addition, the pet attractant can be placed in capsule form and inserted into one or more of the apertures in the pet bed.
The present invention can be best understood in connection with the accompanying drawings. It is noted that the invention is not limited to the precise embodiments shown in the drawings, in which:
While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described using specific terms, such description is for illustrative purposes only, and it is to be understood that changes and variations may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the following claims.
This application claims priority of Provisional Patent Application No. 61/965,014.
