The present invention relates to paw protection for pets including canines, and more particularly to a device for attaching pet socks or boots to a pet's foot.
Some pet owners, particularly dog owners, utilize dog boots or socks as a way of protecting a dog's paws from external elements, such as heat, cold, chemicals, harmful surfaces etc. The owners attach these dog boots or socks onto the dog's foot in order to protect the paws.
For example, Pawz® (U.S. Pat. No. 8,360,012) is a brand of rubber dog boots. These dog boots may be made of a flexible and elastic material having a closed bottom end and an open top end for receiving a dog's foot. The open top end is typically narrower than the closed bottom end.
Pawz® boots and other similar products typically require two hands to prepare the boot to be able to receive the dog's foot. While two hands hold the boot open, one of the two hands must also direct the dog's foot through the opening, and completely into the boot. Given that dogs often do not like this process, it is difficult and cumbersome to get the dog boots onto a dog's foot. An improved method of attaching dog boots to a dog's paws is required.
The present application provides a device and method for attaching pet boots to an animal's paw or foot. The pet boot jack (“PBJ”) device makes it easier to attach the pet boot to the pet's paw as only one hand is required to use the PBJ device.
In the example embodiments, reference is made to a dog boot and using the PBJ to attach the dog boot to a dog's paw. However, the device and method of the present application may be applied to the paw or foot of any animal or pet, such as a cat, rabbit, etc.
The components of the PBJ device can vary, but in an example embodiment the device comprises two parts representing the two halves of the device.
As illustrated in
As shown in one embodiment of
As seen in
In some embodiments, as shown in
The PBJ 100 is designed to open its jaws 112, 114 either by squeezing the pair of handles 122, 124 together or by pulling the pair of handles 122, 124 apart. For example, according to one embodiment shown in
In use, a dog boot at its open end is attached around the seat 160 of the pair of jaws 112, 114, when the PBJ device 100 is in the closed position. The protrusions 302, 304 secure the dog boot to the seat 160 so that the dog boot does not slip off the jaws 112, 114. A user may then with one hand squeeze the pair of handles 122, 124 together which causes the jaws 112, 114 to expand away from each other, thereby stretching and widening the opening of the dog boot to the appropriate size and shape to allow easy insertion of the pet's foot into the pet boot. Once the pet's foot is in the pet boot, the user may move the PBJ device 100 in an upward direction to detach the pet boot from the bottom section 160 of the pair of jaws 112, 114. In the embodiment shown, there is no mechanism to hold the boot open, besides the user's hand. The jaws close by themselves using the elastic force of the boot. In other embodiments (not shown), an adjustable interference lever is used to hold the jaws open, so that the user does not have to continue to squeeze the handles together; this mechanism is then released to close the jaws.
One benefit of the PBJ is that it makes putting appropriate foot protection onto pets easier, and therefore makes it more likely that owners will use adequate foot protection from road salt and extreme cold for their pets. As previously discussed, after attaching the dog boot to the seat 160 of the pair of jaws 112, 114, one would only need a single hand to stretch the dog boot to its fullest opening size and shape, thus allowing the free hand to be used to easily insert the dog's foot into the dog boot. Once the dog's foot is securely in the dog boot, a user can pull or move the PBJ device 100 up slightly until the pair of jaws 112, 114 clear the opening of the dog boot and then can release the pair of handles 122, 124 of the PBJ device 100 to return the device 100 to its closed position.
The PBJ device 100 may be made of varying production materials such as plastic or composite materials. Other possible materials include, but are not limited to, metal, alloy, stainless steel, and wood.
The scope of the claims should not be limited by the embodiments set forth in the examples, but should be given the broadest interpretation consistent with the description as a whole.
The present invention is a U.S. National Stage under 35 USC 371 patent application, claiming priority to Serial No. PCT/CA2014/050148, filed on 28 Feb. 2014; which claims priority from U.S. Provisional No. 61/771,833, filed 2 Mar. 2013, the entirety of both of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/CA2014/050148 | 2/28/2014 | WO | 00 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2014/134721 | 9/12/2014 | WO | A |
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International Search Report for corresponding PCT/CA2014/ 050148 dated May 9, 2014; Completed on Apr. 8, 2014 by Simon Webster. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20160000041 A1 | Jan 2016 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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61771833 | Mar 2013 | US |