Patent Application
20110154955
This invention relates to the field of collars for small domestic animals and bottle openers and the combination thereof.
Domesticated small animals, such as dogs, often wear collars. Collars serve as both a functional and aesthetic purpose for the owners of the pets. A collar provides a means for connecting a leash to the animal. Often the collar will include a D-ring to facilitate the selective coupling of a leash to the collar. The D-ring also serves as a hanging device for attaching an identification tag.
Far-removed from the art of animal collars, bottle openers were developed to open a variety of bottles, including those with caps that are crimped to seal in the contents, whether it be beer, soda, or other liquids.
Openers are available in many different designs, including hand held, wall mounted, vending machine mounted, as well as other styles.
The incorporation of a bottle opener into a device than can be worn on a person is known. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,185,772 and 4,135,267 describe belt-buckle bottle openers. One attempt to combine a dog collar with a bottle opener is a collar sold under the brand name of Wander Collar by Kurgo available at www.kurgo.com. However, these known devices have several shortcomings: Specifically, the combination belt and bottle opener are generally difficult to use because the bottle-prying feature aligns perpendicular to the long-axis of the belt. Thus, when attempting to open a bottle while worn, the opener causes the belt to twist and this twisting makes opening the bottle difficult or impossible. Further, this twisting is uncomfortable to the wearer. In other devices, the entire belt must be removed for the belt-buckle opener to function as a opener—this is often impractical so such devices are worn as a gag or statement, and fail to work as a utilitarian bottle opener and belt. The Kurgo Wander Collar has many shortcomings in addition to the similar shortcomings just discussed relative to belt-bottle openers: For example, the Wander collar has many sharp crags and edges that can catch on articles and can readily cause injury to the dog or person handling the dog and because of the alignment of the pry-hook, it too is difficult to use as an opener when worn as a collar as there is insufficient space to grip the opener when worn on the dog's neck and there is no resistance provided by the collar due to the orientation of the opener relative to the collar.
Yet another problem not contemplated in the art of dog collars and generally overlooked in human apparel is the amount of human-generate scrap material that ends up in land fills and is otherwise wasted and adds to the global green-house gas production and increases humankind's carbon footprint. Therefore, there is a need to re-use and/or reclaim any portion of this scrap to reduce the environmental impact new products, including dog collars, cause. One overlooked solution is to re-use discarded rubber products, such as bicycle inner tubes, which are particularly difficult to dispose as they do not quickly degrade or deteriorate, and due to the high petroleum content, pose a serious risk of fire, smoke and air pollution if left in scrap piles. Further, butyl rubber cannot be recycled with other plastics or household waste. The relative low cost of virgin-raw material makes traditional recycling cost prohibitive.
Yet another problem with existing dog collars, which are typically constructed of either leather or nylon, is the time required for the collars to dry after becoming wet. This often causes the material to deteriorate and can become malodorous.
Accordingly, there remains a need for an improved combination of dog collar and bottle opener that improves upon the current art. Such a collar should use recycled material to reduce the environmental impact on the planet. Further, such a device should be operable as a bottle opener when worn without causing distress or pain to the wearer. Also, such a device should be free from sharp edges and crags, but also serves as a means for hanging an identification tag and also serve as a coupling link for a leash. Further, the collar should dry quickly, resist odors, and be soft and comfortable for dogs to wear.
The present invention overcomes the limitations of the prior art and contemplates a domestic animal collar, specifically a pet dog collar, that includes a combination D-ring and bottle opener. The combination D-ring and bottle opener serves much as a conventional D-ring, enabling a secure means for coupling the collar to a leash and for hanging an I.D. tag, but also serves as a bottle opener without requiring removal of the collar or opener from the pet's neck to use it as a bottle opener. Further, the present invention contemplates a collar consisting of a two-ply material; one ply consists of reclaimed bicycle inner tube rubber, the second ply consists of a hydrophobic material such as nylon or polyester. The combination of a stretchable material (rubber) and a non-stretch material (nylon or polyester) attached with interlocking stitching results in a laminate that has a controlled amount of stretch. The amount of stretch can be varied by changing the length and tension of the interlocking stitch. The use of small, controlled amount of stretch adds a cushioning element to the collar and reduces the force on the dogs neck from a leash. Because the force felt by the animal around the neck is a function of the mass of the collar and leash times the acceleration, a reduction in acceleration due to a stretch or resiliency designed into the collar due to the spacing of the stitching and ply materials results in a corresponding reduction of the force on the dog's neck. This results in a collar that is comfortable for the dog to wear, resists fraying of the edges, is quick-drying, and resists odors. Other features and advantages contemplated include:
An adjuster or slider for adjusting sizing of the collar without creating a loose collar end;
A bottle opener with features to enable simultaneous use as a bottle opener and hold an I.D. tag, and hold a leash clasp, while still being worn around a dog's neck;
The combination D-ring and bottle opener couples to the collar in a way to allow movement parallel with the webbing of the collar;
The dog collar D-ring bottle opener can be used to tie, clasp, or attach a leash to the dog collar in a way that collar/leash attachment point can withstand considerable force;
The smooth rubber surface of the inner ply of the collar will not catch or pull dog's fur;
The D-ring/bottle rotate substantially about 180-degrees around the center point of the attachment point on the collar to the bottle pry feature to arrange along the long-axis of the collar so that the collar need not be removed to be operable as a bottle opener; and
The D-ring bottle opener includes a formed loop (prying point for the bottle cap) at the center point of the D-ring.
Possible preferred embodiments will now be described with reference to the drawings and those skilled in the art will understand that alternative configurations and combinations of components may be substituted without subtracting from the invention. Also, in some figures certain components are omitted to more clearly illustrate the invention.
A first preferred embodiment of the present invention, as
The strap 12 further includes a strap second end 19 (see, e.g.,
The device 10 further includes a mating male connector end 70 slideably coupled to the strap at a second intermediate portion. Thus, as the adjuster 50 increases or decreases the overall collar strap length, the male connector 70 moves and rotates relative to the strap portion passing through it. The male connector includes support features to enable this and is well understood in this art. One exemplary clasp system that is well suited to this first preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a clasp by ITW Nexus, of Des Plaines, Ill., USA, as model number C-25, for instance.
This D-ring and bottle opener 20 further includes a bottle-opening portion consisting of the intermediate link (pry hook) 24 and hinge bar 26 The radius 36 forms a bottle pry for inserting under the lip of a crimped on bottle lid and the second linking member 26 forms the hinge bar that passes over the top of the bottle lid so that a downward rotation of the opener 20 relative to the bottle lid forces the bottle pry region 36 to lift up the overhanging portion of the crimped on lid, while the hinge bar 26 restricts relative movement of the lid, thus forcing it open—as would be well understood in this art. Importantly, the bottle-opening side of the intermediate linking member or pry hook 24 includes a first groove 32 and second groove 24. The importance of these grooves is better understood in relationship to
Of particular note in this preferred embodiment, the hinge bar 26 and pry hook 24 lie in a common plane and encircle a void suited for clipping a leash; thus, the hinge bar also serves as an attaching point for a leash or collar i.d. tag. Moreover, all three linking members (pry hook 24, hinge bar 26, and first linking member 22) all lie in this first common plane. Because the collar inserts between the intermediate pry hook 24 and the first member, there must be sufficient slack in this void to allow the entire combination bottle opener 20 to rotate to lie flat relative to the collar in one direction and rotate 180-degrees to lie relatively flat on the collar in the opposite direction. This results in the combination ring 20 to lie flat on the collar with the long axis of the combination ring 20 coinciding with the long axis of the collar. Further, this orientation of the combination ring 20 results in the long axis of the pry hook 24 being arranged perpendicular to the long axis of the collar. This feature allows the bottle opener portion of the combination 20 to function as a bottle opener without needing to remove the collar from the dog.
A second preferred embodiment of the combination D-ring and bottle opener 20, as
The width of arms 30 and 28 are optimized—small enough so that a leash clip can freely rotate around it and slide along it along with the inside radius 37 (which is smaller than the corresponding outside radius 39), yet thick enough to provide a stable platform for bending the bottle cap without causing permanent deflection of member 26. Edge 35 has a very large radius so that it is slightly curved. As a bottle opener, this edge 35 needs to be straight to ensure proper opening of a bottle, but as a clip for a leash it needs to be radiussed to ensure that the leash clip moves to the geometric center of the combination opener/clip 20 when used as a clip to hold a leash. This edge, therefore, needs to cause the leash to move to center, otherwise the leash will cause the opener 20 to twist when worn by the dog and the dog pulls. This can injure the dog.
In the various preferred embodiments, two lockstitches, one on each edge running parallel to each other, holds or couples the first and second ply, which include a top or first ply material such as nylon, hemp, leather, bamboo webbing or other material and the re-claimed rubber (second ply or bottom material). Each lockstitch uses two threads, one passed through the needle and one coming from a bobbin or shuttle. Each thread stays on the same side of the material being sewn, interlacing with the other thread at each needle hole. The optimum thread weight is 92 oz polyester, with a hole spacing of about 4.5 mm.
In the various embodiments, the design has been optimized to create the shortest overall length, as well as shortest standoff height (length that D-Ring stands off of collar) while still allowing operation of opening a bottle. If the length of the frame body is much longer it will make it easier to open a bottle, but the dog may snag it on something, thus being dangerous to the dog. If you make it shorter, opening a bottle will be very difficult or impossible. The void or opening adjacent to member 22 is critical to overall length. Making this opening too short will not allow the opener to swivel 180 degrees perpendicular to the collar; making it to long will result in an overall length that poses danger to the dog.
The prying flange length is critical as well. The human operator uses the prying flange to open bottles. The user would normally place his thumb on top or fingers on the backside of the prying flange. A large plying flange makes opening easier, but increases the overall length of the opener (problems stated above) and/or decreases the opener/bottle cap area (which will make opening more difficult as more force is needed, or impossible as hinge bar would not engage the opener. Just a note that the opener is a lever, so the longer the lever, the less force needed to open the bottle.
Also, an identification tag 80 can be coupled to the combination bottle opener 20 at the first inner loop defined by the void defined by the first linking member 22, the intermediate linking member 24, and the two arms 28 and 30, for example. There is sufficient clearance for both a coupling means 86 and collar strap 12 in this void.
A second preferred embodiment, as
Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention disclosed herein discuss utilizing thread interwoven as the means for mechanically fastening overlapping ends of the strap or the two plies of the strap, other well-understood mechanical fastening or chemical fastening methods and devices are also contemplated including, for example, riveting, and gluing.
Although the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to certain embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
