Patent Application
20100084880
The problem of picking up pet litter, such as dog poops, usually involves the use of a plastic bag, or some rumpled newspaper, along with tissue paper for people to clean their hands. When people want to take their pets out, such as walking their dogs in their neighborhood, oftentimes they have to scramble for something (newspaper, paper towel, etc) and the result is mostly less than ideal. There is no simple and convenient gadget for pet lovers to easily clean up after their pets and keep things nice and tidy.
Present invention provides an easy to use and environmental friendly way of picking up litter or waste, so that the waste collected need no further transportation or transmission and the users can very easily keep themselves clean.
A main object of the present invention is to provide a bag with a defined hand-shaped contour area wherein people can insert their hand into the bag and maneuver for grabbing and picking up objects. After the waste material is grabbed and held in hand, the hand is then pulled out from the opening of the bag.
An inverted zipper mechanism is located at the opening. When the hand, along is pulled out of the bag with the waste material left inside, the zipper mechanism will be inverted back to the normal working status and, with the help of the other hand, close the bag, while leaving the collected waste material inside.
The bag can be made from the everyday plastic bag having a zipper mechanism at the opening. Certainly, the bag can be made from environmentally friendly material such as some type of biodegradable material.
To make the device of present invention, the prior art zipper-bag is first inverted; that is, it is flipped inside out. And then a glove-type hand-shaped contour is formed, either by heat-stamping the surface, so that the stamped part melt together, joining the two sides of the bag, forming a glove shape chamber inside, or by sewing to form the glove type chamber.
Containment of waste material collected by using device of present invention can be further improved when a layer of cotton, or other liquid-absorbing material is overlaid on the outside surface of the hand-shaped contour, so that when the device is maneuvered to pick up animal waste, or even used in a medical setting, the device achieves a better function of removing mushy material.
Referring to
The contour line 12 can be made by heat-stamping, or sewing together the two flat (and flexible) sides of the bag 10, forming the inner chamber of the glove for hand/fingers to be inserted. This heat-stamping or sewing, or other means, needs no disclosure in present invention and forms no part of the claim herein, except to the extent it is combined with the remaining disclosure of present invention.
Note that the zipper 14 is in an inverted state for the ready-to-use device made pursuant to the disclosure herein. A portion of the inner side 17 of the bag 10 will be exposed as shown in
The material of bag 10, zipper 14 and zipper pull 15 can be made from biodegradable material to make the claimed device more environmental friendly.
Additionally, a layer of liquid-absorbing material 19 can be overlaid generally on top of the surface where the hand contour line 12, as shown by the side view in
The thickness of the material used in present invention is not really critical, as long as the flexibility allow for reasonable movement and maneuvering of people's hand and fingers for grabbing objects and pulling out from the bag 10 and for zipping the bag 10 close.
