Patent Application
20170211249
Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to sanitary handling tools and, more particularly, to an animal waste grasping tool having a toothed grasping member.
Description of the Prior Art
The use and various designs of conventional pooper-scoopers to pick up animal feces from public places and yards is well established. Conventional pooper-scoopers typically include some type of scooping or collecting member disposed at one end of an elongated pole, with a user handle disposed at the opposite end. A problem which still exists, however, conventional pooper-scoopers generally struggle to pick up smaller pieces of animal feces and are not optimized to pick up feces in areas with thick and/or tall grass. Thus, there remains a need for a toothed waste grasping tool which allows animal feces to be selectively grasped and held between opposing toothed panels which can hold feces of any size without also holding surrounding blades of grass. It would be helpful if such a toothed waste grasping tool employed paddles which were removably attached to opposing trigger activated jaws. It would be additionally desirable for the paddles of such a toothed waste grasping tool to include teeth which when positioned properly on opposing jaws, move in to adjacent, non-interlocking positions.
The Applicant's invention described herein provides for a toothed waste grasping tool adapted to allow a user to pick up solid animal waste from a ground surface without bending down by grabbing it between sets of teeth. The primary components in Applicant's toothed waste grasping tool are a reacher grabber with an elongated frame, a handle with a trigger and opposing activated jaws as well as a pair of removable paddles. When in operation, the toothed waste grasping tool enables more effective and efficient solid waste pick up even for small items and/or items in tall and/or thick grass. As a result, many of the limitations imposed by prior art structures are removed.
A toothed waste grasping tool for grasping, holding and picking up animal solid waste from a ground surface. The toothed waste grasping tool comprises a trigger activated base grabber having an elongated frame with a handle and trigger at one end and opposing trigger activated jaws at the opposite end and a pair of toothed paddles that are selectively attachable to the jaws. The removable paddles each have a substantially planar body with a front side that includes a plurality of teeth and a rear side which includes an attachment surface. The teeth on each paddle are organized into discrete rows, with each row separated by a flat portion. When the paddles are attached to opposing jaws in a pickup position, solid waste of any size on a ground surface can be trapped and picked up while still allowing blades of grass to slide out from between the opposing paddles as the trapped solid waste is lifted off the ground surface.
It is an object of this invention to provide a toothed waste grasping tool which allows animal feces to be selectively grasped and held between opposing toothed panels which can hold feces of any size without also holding surrounding blades of grass.
It is another object of this invention to provide a toothed waste grasping tool which employs paddles which were removably attached to opposing trigger activated jaws.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a toothed waste grasping tool which includes teeth which when positioned properly on opposing jaws, move in to adjacent, non-interlocking positions.
These and other objects will be apparent to one of skill in the art.
Referring now to the drawings and in particular
The removable paddles 120 each have a substantially planar body with a front side and a rear side. The front side includes a plurality of teeth 121 extending therefrom. Integrated with the rear side is an attachment surface 122 which is operative to removably attach the rear side of a given paddle to one the jaws 114.
In the preferred embodiment, each paddle 120 is identical and the teeth 121 are organized into discrete rows, with each row separated by a flat portion 123. Accordingly, when a pair of paddles 120 are attached to opposing jaws 114 in a pickup position, defined by each of the paddles 120 being attached to one of the opposing jaws 114 with their front sides facing and paddles 120 being in an upside down orientation relative to one another, and the jaws 114 are moved to the closed position, the teeth 121 of each paddle 120 contacts one of the flat portions 123 of the other paddle 120. It is contemplated that by moving the teeth 121 of opposing paddles 120 to such an to adjacent but non-interlocking position, solid waste of any size on a ground surface can be trapped (pierced and/or compressed against the opposing flat portion 123) by the teeth 121 on one or both paddles 120 so as to be grabbed and held. Furthermore, if the ground surface is grassy, such positioning of the teeth 121 allows blades of grass to slide out from between the opposing paddles 120 (while still in the closed position) as the trapped solid waste is lifted off the ground surface.
It is appreciated that because the teeth 121 of a given paddle 120 are sufficiently long enough to contact the opposing paddle 120, when a user desires to remove solid waste that gets stuck in the teeth 121 (i.e. solid waste that does not simply fall out when the jaws are returned to the open position), the user can simply move the paddles 120 between the open and closed position a few times and allow the vibration from the teeth 121 on opposing paddles 120 contacting the surface of the opposite paddle 120 cause the waste to be dislodged.
In the preferred embodiment, the attachment surface 122 defines an adhesive coating. In some embodiments, a low tack adhesive which coats the entire back surface is employed. Advantageously, the use of a low tack adhesive over such a wide surface area provides both a sufficiently secure attachment to resist inadvertent slippage while still allowing the paddles 120 to be selectively removed.
It is contemplated that in alternate embodiments, the attachment surface 122 may define a hook and loop fastener system or a magnetic fastener system, with the jaws 114 having a corresponding portion of such a fastener integrated therewith. It is recognized, however, that such embodiments would require the jaws 114 to be preconfigured for the attachment of the paddles 120.
In one embodiment, the toothed waste grasping tool 100 measures 27 inches and the paddles 120 define 3 inch by 2 inch by ½ inch wooded members
The instant invention has been shown and described herein in what is considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment. It is recognized, however, that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention and that obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.
