BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 show the long handled device in various operating positions;
FIG. 4 is an exploded and perspective view of the elements of the device;
FIG. 5 shows the upper end of the long handle;
FIG. 6 shows the individual elements at the lower end of the long handle.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 show a long handle 1 having upper and lower ends. At the upper end of the handle 1 there is located a trigger handle 2a and an electrical manipulating switch 6a to be described below.
The lower end of the handle 1 shows two pairs of claim shells 3a and 3b which are hinged to the housing 7a. FIG. 1 shows a bag 4 of appropriate paper that will be located within the pair of outer shells 3a and 3b. Located within the outer or first pair of shells is a second pair of shells 5a and 5b.
FIG. 4 is an exploded and perspective view of the mounting and the operation of the device. In FIG. 4, the pair of the first and outer clam shells are shown as 3a and 3b. Both of the shells 3a and 3b are hinged to the housing 7a at the lower end of the handle 1 by way of hinge pins 10a and 10b. The opening and closing of these shells 3a and 3b is controlled by the trigger handle 20 at the top of the handle 1. Within the housing 7a there is located an electric gear motor 7 having a drive shaft 7b. A yoke 12 is attached to the motor shaft 7b to be rotated thereby when the need arises. The two second or inner clam shells (shown as 11a and 11b in this Fig.) are hingedly attached to the yoke 12 by way of the hinge pin 14. Interposed between the two second pair clam shells 11a and 11b is a spring 15 which is held in place by the hinge pin 15 and it is biased in such a manner that the spring 15 always tends to keep the second pair of clam shells in an open position. This way, the second pair of clam shells will always follow the opening or closing movement of the first pair of clam shells. It should also be noted that each clam shell of the pair of the second clam shells 11a and 11b are designed as a frame having a central opening therein. When the first pair or outer clam shells 3a and 3b are in an open position, so will be the second pair of claim shells 11a and 11b because of the bias of the spring 15, a paper bag for collecting the animal droppings can be placed within the inner pair of shells. It then will be fastened to the inner surface of the first or outer pair of clam shells. The fastening is the result of friction knobs 17 that are located on the inner surface of each of the outer clam shells. The shading 17 indicates the presence of such knobs. The knobs may be part of the well known hook and loop fasteners or may be tiny mushroom heads made by the 3MM Company.
FIG. 5 shows the upper end 1 of the pickup device. 2 illustrates the trigger 2 to operate the clam shells located at the bottom of the handle. Also located at the top of the handle 1 is a push button 6 which, when pushed, will operate the gear motor 7. The requisite batteries to supply energy to the motor 7 are also located in this location on the handle 1. The operation of these elements will be described below.
FIG. 6 shows the bottom of the device in a break-away fashion but only half of the pickup system is shown. The same reference characters of previous Figs. are shown. To this end, the gear motor 7 is shown with the yoke 12 attached to the motor shaft 7b. The yoke 12 also shows how one half 3b of the outer pair of clam shells is hingedly attached to the housing 7a (FIG. 4). The yoke 12 has attached thereto the one half 5a of the second pair of clam shells. The paper bag 4 is symbolically shown prior to being attached to the friction knobs 17 in the interior of the first or outer shell casing 3b. Also note the presentation of the alligator teeth 8 on both the outer shells 3a and 3b.
Operation
To prepare the pickup device, the trigger 2 is opened and the first or outer clam shells 3a and 3b are opened together with the second or inner pair of clam shells 11a and 11b (FIG. 4). At this point the paper bag 4 (FIG. 6) or 16 (FIG. 4) is placed within the second pair 11a and 11b of clam shells. The paper of the paper bag 16 is now adhered to the knobs 17 on the inner surface of each of the clam shells 3a and 3b. The reason why the paper bag can be adhered to the friction knobs 17 is because both of the halves of the pair of the second clam shells have an opening in the center thereof so that the paper can pass there through. The device is now ready for its intended use.
When taking a pet out for a walk any droppings occasioned by the pet can now be picked up simply by placing the outer pair 3a and 3b of clam shells under the dropping. By now pulling on the trigger 2 the two halves of the outer pair of the shell clams will now move together to close the device. With the aid of the alligator teeth 8, the dropping will be scraped from the ground and will be trapped inside the second pair of clam shells which moved together also as the first pair moved together. It was mentioned above that the electric motor 7 is a gear drive motor so that the shaft 7b can turn very slowly when the push button 6 (FIG. 5) is activated. The reason is that the second pair of clam shell with the bag and the dropping contained therein should not be turning or spinning at a high speed which would tear the bag apart. A few slow turning rotations are sufficient to twist the bag including the content into a manageable pile while at the same time removing the outer periphery of the bag from the friction knobs located on the interior on both halves of the outer pair of clam shells. It is merely up to the handler to simply pull the trigger 2 upward to thereby open both the first and second pairs of clam shells. The bag can now easily be disposed of at a proper location.
Patent Application
20080042456
