WO2004010772A2

WO2004010772A2 - Disposable toilet-box for cats

Info

Publication number: WO2004010772A2
Application number: PCT/IT2003/000475
Authority: WO
Inventors: Pia Luisa De Gaudenzi
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2002-07-30
Filing date: 2003-07-30
Publication date: 2004-02-05
Anticipated expiration: 2005-01-30
Also published as: EP1553819B1; PT1553819E; DE60312879D1; CA2493204A1; WO2004010772A3; US20060054095A1; ES2285206T3; WO2004010772B1; ATE357847T1; DE60312879T2; DK1553819T3; ITVA20020042A1; EP1553819A2; AU2003253288A8; AU2003253288A1; HK1082641A1

Abstract

Box for containing sand (or hygienic litter or other material for receiving the excrements of animals) which can be used as toilet by the cat and which is realized in disposable execution, i.e.: that after the use it is destinated to the trash. Realized in two types: full toilet-box (it already contains the sand) and empty toilet-box (it must be filled with sand). Both types have been devised in two versions: as self-standing disposable toilet-box or as spare disposable toilet-box for being received by another structure.

Description

DESCRIPTION

DISPOSABLE TOILET-BOX FOR CATS

The invention is referred to the boxes (or trays)

into which one fill sand (or hygienic litter) and

which are used as toilet by cats . It is a toilet-box

realized in the disposable version, which after

having been used is destinated to the trash together

with its content .

Explana tory no te : The disposable toilet-box for

cats has been developed in consequence of the

necessity to take a cat on a journey and having

to stay for a couple of days In a place where

they were not organized for animals. The normal

equipment for the physiological relieves of the cat a to big for the luggage. In the shops they

offered several models of cat litter boxes and

separately packaglngs containing hygienic litter

and some other equipment like plastic film or

bags for collecting the litter but there wasn't

found anything handy, quick to use and easy to

get rid of it. So a simple and provisory

execution has been realized and, supposing that

somebody else might have the same necessity, this

was examined and a new, practical and disposable

object has been defined.

The characteristic of being the toilet-box for

cats disposable has been considered fundamental.

The enclosed DRAWING A show a model for better

understanding and example . It is intended to be realized in two different types :

1) Full toilet-box: the packaging (rigid, semirigid

or pliable - box, tray or other) containing the sand

(or hygienic litter or other material for receiving

the animal's escrements) is executed in a way that,

after having been opened, it can be used as toilet by

the animal and after the use it is destinated to the

trash together with its contents.

A saving of effort is deriving therefrom for not

having to transfer the material before and after the

use and an advantage from the hygienical point of

view for not needing to handle the dirty material too

much after use;

Explana tory note: This corresponds to the

disposable toilet-box shown on the enclosed DRAWING A. It is made of carton and has a shape

that makes it recognizable as being for cats. It

is characterized by a particular opening and

closing system and a 3 -layer bottom to secure it

against wetness.

The particularity of the opening and closing

system makes the box becoming higher when it is

open and lower when it is closed. This gives more

space for the cat when moving inside and avoids

the litter to c me out of the box while being it

lower when it is closed the box becomes smaller,

easier to handle and to throw away. Furthermore

the cover, besides having a shape that alludes to

a cat's head, is executed for being easy to open, to close and to fix when closed for keeping the

material safe inside.

The features and the closing and opening

mechanism are described herebelow (the dimensions

can be deducted from the enclosed DRAWING A.2) :

Features : When it is open, the box is a

rectangular box with 5 faces: the bottom, 4

vertical faces, no cover (2 short side faces and

the frontal and the back face being longer) . The

2 side faces and the frontal have the same

height. The back face is considerably heigher as

the exceeding part becomes the cover of the box.

The top edge of this part has a particular shape

(3 curves: 2 sharp curves at the corners and a

lower plane curve in the middle between them) 75 which is made for fixing the cover when it is

closed and which has been cut in a way that makes

it look like the two ears and the brow of a cat.

The movement is made possible by the following

plies: there is one outcomlng horizontal ply at

80 half height all along the 4 side faces which

subdivides them into upper and lower part and 4

oblique entering plies distributed as follows:

one on each side face, in the upper part and

starting from the a.m. horizontal ply where the

85 latter meets with the back face of the box; and

respectively one left and one right on the upper

part of the frontal face, starting from the

horizontal ply where this meets with the side

face. 90 Closing and opening mechanism: The closing and

opening is done by a catenated movement which

starts from the cover and is transmitted by the

outcoming and entering plies to the the upper

part of the box. The outcomlng horizontal ply

95 becomes the upper border of the box when it is

closed.

When lowering the cover, this transforms the

upper part of the 2 side faces and the frontal

face, by acting on the plies, into 3 flaps which

100 are oriented towards the internal side of the

box. The cover pushes down the two lateral flaps

and the two lateral flaps push down the frontal

flap. When pushing down the cover until bringing the

105 "brow" under the frontal flap the box is closed.

And it is quite secure against accidental opening

because the "ears" keep the lateral flaps into

position and the pressure exerted by the lateral

flaps on the extremities of the frontal flap

110 makes the latter resistant against some

opposition of the cover.

The box can be opened by pulling up the two

"ears" and bringing the cover in the vertical

position. The 3 flaps will then return in their

115 original position and become part of the 4

vertical faces again. (See drawing A. l at this

purpose) . The 3-layer bottom: This is obtained by folding

the 4 flaps of the bottom and sticking them

120 together. The two larger cover each the whole

surface of the bottom and, there between, the two

smaller together cover the same surface. The way

of folding them is very simple and shown on

drawing A.3.

125 2) Empty toilet-box: this is an empty container (box,

pliable box, tray or other) which, after having been

filled with sand (or hygienic litter or other

material for receiving the animal's escrements), is

used by the cat as toilet and which after the use is

130 destinated to the trash together with its contents .

An advantage is deriving therefrom for having the

possibility to fill in the desired quantity of sand (or hygienic litter or other material for receiving

the animal' s escrements) and an advantage from the

135 hygienical point of view for not needing to handle

the dirty material too much after use.

Explanatory note: The possibility has been

considered of making the desposable toilet-box

for cats available in an empty version aswell

140 because this might offer some advantages when

preferring to choose the quantity of litter to

fill in, or wanting to fill in a particular type

of litter or considering it easer to stock or to

carry.

145 Both types have been devised in the following two

versions : as self-standing toilet-box and as spare

toilet-box to be received by another structure. Explana tory no te : In some cases it might be

preferable to have a permanent and not degradable

150 structure to hold the disposable toilet-box; for

example when it is kept outside. The model shown

on drawing A is intended to be a full

self standing type but it could also be used in

this sense because the dimensions chosen already

155 fit into some available plastic cat litter boxes.

Anyway it can also be produced in different sized

and proportions and some other models are at

study.

The possibility is reserved to realize the disposable

160 toilet-boxes with various types of devicing, for

example: that they can be closed after the use, that

they are realized with biodegradable materials, that they are realized in different models, shapes and

sizes, that they are made recognizable for eventual

165 differentiated trash collections, that they are

adapted for beeing used by other animals aswell, etc.

Explana tory note: A simple devicing of the

illustrated disposable toilet-box for cats is

already offered by the covering: when it is open

170 it could be a protection or better separation if

it has to be placed against a wall or close to

another object, and also it can be used by male

cats for putting their marks on it as they do

this sometimes on their toilet place. Some other

175 improvements could of course be apported like

providing it with a handle for being carried like

a suitcase etc. and the possibility has been taken into consideration to modifying it for

being used by some other animals aswell . In the

180 latter case the shape of the cover of the model

on drawing A would be changed for alluding to

another animal .

Some other models of disposable toilet-boxes are

at study.

185

190

Claims

195 For the DISPOSABLE TOILET-BOX FOR CATS the following

is claimed:

1) It is disposable and made of not long lasting

material and structure;

2) It is realized in full or empty version;

200 3) It is realized as selfstanding toilet-box or as

refill for another structure;

4) It is realized in various shapes and sizes, in

different materials and equipped with various kind of

devicing;

205 5) The model as described and illustrated and its

characteristics :

6) It is made of carton; 7) The box containing the litter is to be opened on

its large top ;

210 8) The shape of its cover alludes to a cat' s head;

9) It has a particular opening and closing system

that makes the box higher when it is open and lower

when it is closed;

10) It has a 3-layer bottom;

215 11) It can eventually be adapted for being used by

other animals aswell;

12) If it is adapted for being used by another animal

the shape of the cover will allude to another animal .

220