Patent Application
20210084861
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
The disclosure relates to lift devices and more particularly pertains to a new lift device for elevating a kitty litter box thereby facilitating a user to lift the kitty litter box without bending over.
The prior art relates to lift devices.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a litter box for containing kitty litter. A ramp is positionable on a support surface thereby facilitating a feline to walk up the ramp. A lifting unit is positioned in the ramp. The lifting unit is actuatable between a lifted position and a lowered position. A panel is coupled to the lifting unit. The litter box is positionable on the panel such that the litter box is lifted or lowered by the lifting unit. In this way a user can lift the litter box without bending over.
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
A lifting unit 34 is positioned in the ramp 16 and the lifting unit 34 is actuatable between a lifted position and a lowered position. The lifting unit 34 comprises a scissor lift 36 that is positioned in the ramp 16. Additionally, the scissor lift 36 is positioned beneath the opening 32 in the top wall 22 of the ramp 16. The scissor lift 36 is positionable in an extended position having a top end 38 of the scissor lift 36 extending upwardly through the opening 32 in the top wall 22 of the ramp 16. The scissor lift 36 is positionable in a collapsed position having the top end 38 of the scissor lift 36 being positioned beneath a threshold of the opening 32.
The lifting unit 34 includes an actuator 40 that is coupled to the scissor lift 36. The actuator 40 is turned on in a first condition to urge the scissor lift 36 into the extended position. Additionally, the actuator 40 is turned on into a second condition to urge the scissor lift 36 into the collapsed position. The actuator 40 may be an electric motor, a linear actuator or any other type of powered actuator that can operate the scissor lift 36. The scissor lift 34 may achieve a height of approximately 36.0 inches when the scissor lift 34 is in the extended position. As is most clearly shown in
The lifting unit 34 includes a foot switch 42 that is remotely positioned with respect to the ramp 16 to be stepped on by a user. The foot switch 42 is positionable in a first position, a second position or a third position. Additionally, the foot switch 42 is biased into the third position. A conductor 44 is electrically coupled between the foot switch 42 and the actuator 40 such that the foot switch 42 is in electrical communication with the actuator 40. The actuator 40 is turned on into the first condition when the foot switch 42 is positioned in the first position. Additionally, the actuator 40 is turned on into the second condition when the foot switch 42 is positioned in the second position. The actuator 40 is turned off when the foot switch 42 is in the third position.
A power supply 46 is coupled to the ramp 16, the power supply 46 is electrically coupled to the actuator 40 and the power supply 46 comprises at least one battery. The power supply 46 may alternatively include a power cord that extends away from the ramp 16. The power cord may be plugged into a power source comprising a female electrical outlet. A panel 48 is coupled to the lifting unit 34. The litter box 12 is positionable on the panel 48 such that the litter box 12 is lifted or lowered by the lifting unit 34.
The panel 48 has a bottom surface 50 and a top surface 52. The bottom surface 50 is coupled to the top end 38 of the scissor lift 36 and the litter box 12 is positionable on the top surface 52. The panel 48 has a lip 54 extending upwardly from the top surface 52. The lip 54 is coextensive with a perimeter edge 56 of the panel 48 to inhibit the litter box 12 from sliding off of the panel 48. The top surface 52 of the panel 48 is textured to inhibit the litter from sliding. As is most clearly shown in
In use, the user steps on the foot switch 42 to lift the litter box 12 when the user wants to empty the litter box 12. In this way the litter box 12 is positioned at a height that does not require the user to bend over in order to pick up the litter box 12. Thus, an elderly user, a physical disabled user or any other user is assisted with picking up the litter box 12. The litter box 12 is placed on the panel 48 when the kitty litter 14 has been changed and the foot switch 42 is stepped on to lower the litter box 12. Thus, the litter box 12 is positioned to allow the feline 20 to enter the litter box 12 when the feline 20 walks up the ramp 16.
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.
