Patent Application
20220396923
The present invention relates to dog waste collection and disposal devices. More specifically, the present invention relates to a electronically operated containment system for capturing dog waste when a pet owner is outdoors with their pet.
The collection and proper disposal of pet waste is a concern for today's communities. Major metropolitan cities were the first to realize the hazards of uncollected dog waste, but today it is a concern in all communities. Some municipalities have enacted ordinances to neutralize the pet waste epidemic by requiring owners to dispose of the waste or risk a large fine.
A significant motivation behind the proper collection and disposal of pet is that it carries bacteria, parasites and viruses. Although this is more pleasant for the public, it leaves the dog owner with an extremely unpleasant task.
Another important aspect of the pet waste issue is the corresponding environmental impact that is associated with improper disposal. Pet waste that is not sanitarily collected has a high probability of ending up in storm drains that run through our cities, some of which circumvent the local treatment facility opting to feed into local bodies of water.
Many differing scooping devices have been provided to hold open a bag while the feces are scrapped or scooped therein. Carious devices are known to accomplish the above mandate. It is know by pet owners to use plastic gloves that are worn on the hand which simply picks up dropping and by inverting the glove, or simple stripping the glove off the hand to invert the same, the droppings can be disposed in a sanitary manner. Others simply carry a small bucket or similar container to accomplish the task as noted above. Then there are other more complicated devices which accomplish the pickup and disposal of animal droppings in a completely sanitary manner.
The present invention addresses the prominent shortcomings relating to current pet waste collection and disposal devices. The majority of devices in the art contain similar methods for collecting the waste, which commonly requires a user to bend down below the waist, physically scoop up the waste in some form of a receptacle and then seal the receptacle thereby containing the waste. These devices don't work well for those who are unable to bend below the waist or who would rather deploy the device with only one hand. Other devices require only one-handed operation while not requiring people to bend over. The drawback to those devices is that they require a complete pickup of the waste in one scoop, and that their pickup device is contaminated with poop until clean. The present invention has uses a course fabric to drop over the feces which is then picked by a scooper with two sets of clamping the devices, the outer one to scoop the feces, and the second set of clamping devices to hop the coarse fabric cover until it can be disposed of.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,097,082 to Orofino describes a device which accomplishes the task of picking up animal feces. The implement described in the patent consists of an elastomeric band to automatically close offer the mouth of a flexible wrapper which is operated by two side plates that will swing inwardly at their bottom to grab the flexible wrapper having the animal droppings, to keep it therein and to thereafter dispose of the same, all in a sanitary manner.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,628,537 to Kiemer shows a similar device. This patent discloses a device which also uses a pair of jaws that are pivotally attached to one end of the long handle. An elongated sleeve is connected to the jays around the handle. When the jaws are locked open a bag clip engages the closed end of the ordinary thin plastic bag while the open end of the bag is inverted over the edges if the jaws. To pick up dog feces, the user positions the bag over the bag over the waste, makes the jaws to contact with the ground, rotates the sleeve to unlock a sliding motion and moves the sleeve downward on the handle. This closes the jaws and closes the waste within the bag to be disposed of at a later time in a sanitary manner.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,305,322 to Patel (the inventor herein) discloses a waste pickup device with a cross of flexible material at one end of the handle. The cross with claws thereon will accept a sheet of paper. When the device is used to pick up animal droppings, the cross with its claws is placed over the animal waste and the cross is pulled back into a sleeve at the lower endo of the handle dropping at the lower end of the handle and as the cross collapses into the sleeve, the waste is picked up and disappears in the sleeve to be disposed of.
U.S. Patent Publication 2008/0042456 publishes an application by Patel (the inventor herein). This disclosure describes a device which comprises a handle having triggers on the upper end of the handle to operate elements at the lower end of the handle. The elements at the lower end of the handle consist of a pair of outer clam shells which are opened and closed from the triggers at the upper end. The outer clam shells have located therein a second pair of clam shells having ventral openings therein. The second pair of clamshells is always biased into an open position and operated in conjunction with the operation of the first or outer clamshells. The second pair is rotated within the first pair by an electric motor to twist a paper bag into a pile once the pet waste has been trapped within.
The present invention is a device for picking up animal waste droppings or feces. The device comprises an elongated member with a preferred handle on its upper end. The elongated member length is typically of sufficient length so that to user can manipulate the device and pickup animal waste without having to overly exert himself or herself by having to bend down and reach the ground surface. The elongated member can be formed as a tube with a hollow interior.
The invention further includes two pairs of clamshell clamps at the end of the elongated member, near the ground that clamp together along a generally central point. The outer set of clamps contains a set of fasteners on the inside surface to the clamps, set in a pattern such that when the outer set of clamps close the fasteners go through holes in the inner clamps. The device works by dropping a tent shaped coarse fabric over the animal waste. The device is placed over the tent shaped coarse fabric, which preferably is longer than the length of the inside clamps, over the animal waste with the device having both clamps open, with the clamps in a general planar direction. Then both clamps are closed, the inner clamps containing the tent shaped coarse material which contains the coarse material and the animal waste.
The claws can be opened and the animal waste released when a sanitary receptacle is located.
The clamps are operated by three electrical switches on the top handle, which are connected through a printed circuit board inside the top handle to operate the clamps. The first switch opens and closes both clamps together, the second switch opens only the outer pair of claws, and the third switch opens only the inner claw. The electrical switches are operated by three batteries. The claws open and close with the use of two gears connected to clamping arms, with a motor with a turning rod for movement, such as a linear actuator, to open and close the clamps. Each of the two sets of clamps has its own set of motors and gears to open and shut. The motors and gears sit in an enclosure the sits between the elongated rod and the two sets of clamps, with the clamping arms placed within each set of clamps.
Preferably to enhance the grasping characteristic of the device, the outer clamps can be configured to include a plurality of teeth located at the lower most end (nearest to the ground) of the outer clamps, generally perpendicular to the movement of the outer clamps.
It should be understood that the preceding is merely a detailed description of one or more embodiments of this invention and that numerous changes to the disclosed embodiments can be made in accordance with the disclosure herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The preceding description therefore is not meant to limit the scope of the invention. Rather the scope of the invention is to be determined only by the appended claims and their equivalents.
