Patent Application
20240298605
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The disclosure relates to expandable kennel and more particularly pertains to a new expandable kennel for containing a canine in an enclosed area with an adjustable size.
The prior art provides several examples of kennels which are expandable to accommodate different sizes of canine or to provide more room for the canine to move within the kennel. Some expandable kennels in the prior art have wall panels which are slidable with respect to each other to lengthen or shorten the kennel. Others include a collapsible cover such as a netting which allows the kennel to length or shorten. However, the prior art does not disclose an expandable kennel with a telescoping frame and a collapsible cover extending around the telescoping frame. Such a device is desirable in that it provides rigidity from the telescoping frame while combining the rigid frame with a flexible, collapsible cover for securing the canine within the interior of the kennel.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a housing configured for holding a canine. The housing has a length dimension, a height dimension, and a width dimension, and the width dimension is selectably shortened or elongated to facilitate different sized canines. The housing has a front side having a door positioned therein for accessing an interior of the housing.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
The housing 12 also includes a frame 20 which comprises a front portion 22, a rear portion 24, and a plurality of telescopic members 26. The front portion 22 includes a top support 28, a bottom support 30, and a pair of side supports 32. The top support 28 and the bottom support 30 are coupled to and extend between the pair of side supports 32. The front portion 22 bounds an opening 34. The door 36 is coupled to the frame 20 and is positionable to cover the opening 34 of the front portion 22. The door 36 is pivotal with respect to the front portion 22. The rear portion 24 includes an upper support 38, a lower support 40, and a pair of lateral supports 42. The upper support 38 and the lower support 40 are coupled to and extend between the pair of lateral supports 42. The plurality of telescopic members 26 is coupled to and extends between the front portion 22 and the rear portion 24. Each telescopic member 26 comprising a plurality of rods 44 which are slidably interconnected. The rear portion 24 is movable between a retracted position 46 and an extended position 48 with respect to the front portion 22. A length between the front portion 22 and the rear portion 24 is between 1.5 feet and 2.5 feet when the rear portion 24 is in the retracted position 46 and between 5.5 feet and 6.5 feet when the rear portion 24 is in the extended position 48.
A retainer 50 is coupled to the frame 20 for securing the rear portion 24 in the extended position 48. The retainer 50 comprises a plurality of locking pins 52, each of which is associated with a pair of adjacent rods 44 of the plurality of rods 44 of one of the plurality of telescopic members 26. Each locking pin 52 is biased to extend through each rod 44 of the associated pair of adjacent rods 44 when the rear portion 24 is in the extended position 48.
The plurality of walls 18 of the housing 12 includes a rear wall 54 and a perimeter wall 56. The rear wall 54 is coupled to the rear portion 24 of the frame 20, extending between the upper support 38 and the lower support 40 and between the pair of lateral supports 42. The perimeter wall 56 is coupled to the frame 20 and extends between the front portion 22 and the rear portion 24 of the frame 20. The perimeter wall 56 and the rear wall 54 partially enclose the interior 66 of the housing 12. The perimeter wall 56 includes a top wall 58, a bottom wall 60, a first side wall 62 and a second side wall 64, and the interior 66 is accessed through the opening 34 of the front portion 22 of the frame 20. The perimeter wall 56 contracts and expands with a contraction and expansion of the frame 20. The perimeter wall 56 comprises chain link fencing 68 with a plurality of links 70, each link 70 of which is movable with respect to an adjacent link 70 of the plurality of links 70 such that the perimeter wall 56 expands when the rear portion 24 is moved toward the extended position 48 and retracts when the rear portion 24 is moved toward the retracted position 46. The perimeter wall 56 also surrounds the plurality of telescopic members 26.
A lock 72 is also provided and is operable to secure the door 36 closed, the lock 72 comprising an insertion pin 74 is insertable through the door 36 and the housing 12 to secure the door 36 closed.
In use, the width dimension is elongated or shortened to a selected size, and the canine 14 is positioned in the interior 66 of the housing 12 to contain the canine 14. The retainer 50 may be used to secure the rear portion 24 in the extended position 48, and the lock 72 may secure the door 36 closed.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
