Abstrict A cat litter enclosure is provided including a main housing providing
an outer box having an entrance at one end enclosing a removable
second housing providing an inner box, smaller than the outer box,
having an entrance at an end opposite the entrance into the main
housing. A path is provided around the inner periphery of the main
housing leading from the entrance therein to the entrance in the
second housing. A removable cat litter pan is disposed within the
second housing. The path may be carpeted and, since a cat must move
along the path to enter the second housing where the cat litter
pan is, and retrace its path, its paws will be cleaned of litter
and other debris when the cat exists the main housing.
Claims I claim:
1. A cat litter enclosure comprised of:
a first outer housing having a bottom wall surrounded by interconnected
side walls forming a first enclosure;
a second inner housing removably mounted internally of said first
outer housing having an open bottom formed by a plurality of interconnected
side walls closed off by a top wall forming a second enclosure;
an opening through one of the side walls of said outer housing
leading into the interior thereof; and
an opening through one of the side walls of said inner housing
leading into the interior thereof, said opening through one of the
side walls of said inner housing being spaced from the opening through
one of the side walls of said outer housing when said inner housing
is mounted internally of said outer housing.
2. In the enclosure of claim 1 including a cat litter pan mounted
on the bottom wall of said outer housing within the open bottom
of said inner housing when said inner housing is mounted in said
outer housing whereby a cat, when using said litter pan, enters
said outer housing through said opening therein, travels a path
along the bottom wall of said outer housing to the opening in said
inner housing onto said pan, then traverses said path to exit out
of said outer housing.
3. In the enclosure of claim 2 wherein said path is covered by
a roughened material.
4. In the enclosure of claim 3 wherein said path is covered by
carpet material.
5. In the enclosure of claim 1 wherein said opening through said
inner housing is opposite the opening through said outer housing.
6. In the enclosure of claim 1 wherein said outer housing is generally
rectangular having a rectangular bottom wall surrounded by four
interconnected side walls, one side wall of said outer housing being
generally trapezoidally-shaped sloped at the top, a second side
wall of said outer housing connected to said one side wall forming
a planar or back wall, a third side wall of said outer housing forming
an L-shaped side interconnected to said second side wall and a fourth
side wall of said outer housing providing a front wall for said
outer housing having a first trapezoidally-shaped portion connected
to said third side wall and a second elongated vertical portion
connected to both said first trapezoidally-shaped portion and said
first side wall, said vertical portion having said opening therein
leading into the interior of said first enclosure, and an L-shaped
top wall closing off said first outer housing extending from said
vertical portion along the upper end of said one side to said back
wall and said third side wall.
7. In the enclosure of claim 6 wherein said inner housing is generally
rectangular having 4 interconnected side walls closed off by said
top wall thereof, said inner housing being mounted within said outer
housing having its open bottom disposed on the bottom wall of said
outer housing between the top wall, front wall, back wall and third
side wall of said outer housing.
8. In the enclosure of claim 7 wherein said opening through said
inner housing faces the back wall of said outer housing.
9. In the enclosure of claim 8 wherein the space on the bottom
wall of said outer housing between said inner housing and the inner
walls of said outer housing between the openings therein are covered
with a rough material.
10. In the enclosure of claim 9 wherein said rough material is
carpeting.
11. In the enclosure of claim 7 wherein handle portions are provided
in two oppositely disposed side walls of said inner housing adjacent
the top wall thereof.
12. In the enclosure of claim 11 wherein said handle portions are
provided by cut-outs through said oppositely disposed side walls.
Description BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to cat litter enclosures; and, more particularly,
to such an enclosure which automatically cleans the paws of a cat
using the same.
2. Description of Related Art
Cats are extremely popular house pets but, if kept inside, it is
necessary to maintain some sort of cat litter pan or the like in
one's house or apartment. Many types of cat litter devices have
been proposed over the years to deal with the problem of odors,
removal of feces and urine, cost, absorbency, etc. Recently, clumping-type
cat litter has become very popular which clumps up when used by
the cat. The feces and urine deposited by the cat can then be scooped
out using a strainer-type shovel or the like and the clumps are
then discarded. The remaining cat litter may be replenished and
reused thus saving costs. One of the problems with all types of
commercial cat litters, and particularly the clumping type, is that
the loose particles of litter or the clumped material adheres to
the paws of the cat after the cat leaves the litter box. This litter
is then deposited outside of the litter box soiling the floors and
rugs of the house or apartment of the cat owner.
There is thus a need for a cat litter enclosure which cleans a
cat's paws before it leaves the litter enclosure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of this invention to provide a cat litter enclosure
for containing therein cat litter which enclosure cleans the paws
of a cat of litter or debris before the cat leaves the litter enclosure.
It is a further object of this invention to carry out the foregoing
object economically and in a manner which cuts down on cat litter
odors and retains the cat litter inside the enclosure.
These and other objects are preferably accomplished by providing
a cat litter enclosure which includes a main housing providing an
outer box having an entrance at one end enclosing a removable second
housing providing an inner box, smaller than the outer box. The
second housing has an entrance at an end opposite the entrance into
in the main housing. A path is provided around the inner periphery
of the main housing leading from the entrance therein to the entrance
in the second housing. A removable cat litter pan is disposed within
the second housing. The path may be carpeted and, since a cat must
move along the path to enter the second housing where the cat litter
pan is, and retrace its path, its paws will be cleaned of litter
and other debris when the cat exits the main house.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cat litter enclosure in accordance
with the teachings of the invention;
FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the enclosure of FIG. 1 showing a
cat litter pan disposed inside of the outer housing;
FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the enclosure of FIG. 1 with a portion
of the roof of the outer housing broken away for purposes of illustration;
FIG. 4A is a front elevational view of the enclosure of the invention;
FIG. 4B is a side elevational view of the enclosure of FIG. 1;
and FIG. 5 is an elevational view of second housing 12 showing the
rear wall thereof.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring now to FIG. 1 of the drawing, FIG. 1 shows the assembled
cat litter enclosure 10 in accordance with the invention. Enclosure
10 is comprised of three basic parts; a main outer housing 11 (see
FIG. 2) an inner housing 12 and a cat litter pan 13 shown disposed
internally of outer housing 11.
As seen in FIG. 2 outer housing 11 has a base or floor 14 an
upstanding right side wall 15 (FIG. 4B), a spaced upstanding left
side wall 16 (FIG. 2) which is L-shaped, a plan or rear wall 17
and an L-shaped top wall 18.
As also seen in FIGS. 4A and 4B, top wall 18 has two portions,
a first portion 19 running along the top of rear wall 17 and a sloping
portion 20 running along the top of side wall 15 (sloping from its
intersection with portion 19).
As seen in FIGS. 1 and 2 the front wall 21 of the outer housing
11 has a first trapezoidal portion 22 running along the lower front
of housing 11 and a second elongated leg portion 23 extending vertically
along side of portion 22 from bottom wall 14 to top wall 18 (intersecting
with sloping portion 20). An opening 24 is provided in portion 23
spaced from bottom wall 14.
Second housing 12 is a box-like structure having an open bottom
surrounding by interconnected side walls 25 to 28 (see FIG. 3) closed
off at top by top wall 29. An opening 30 (FIG. 5) is provided in
rear wall 28 of second housing 12.
As seen in FIGS. 2 and 4 cut-out 37 may be provided in side walls
27 25 respectively, to provide handles for lifting second housing
12 out of first housing 11. Also as seen in FIG. 3 housing 12 fits
snugly within housing 11 between front wall portion 22 inside wall
16 and the inner edge of top wall 18 of housing 11. As can be appreciated
from viewing FIGS. 1 and 3 the opening 30 in second housing 12
is toward the rear wall 17 of housing 11 (and, thus, opposite opening
24).
As seen in dotted lines in FIG. 3 and in FIG. 2 cat litter pan
13 is disposed on the floor 14 of outer housing 11 in a position
within the open bottom of inner housing 12. Also, as seen in FIGS.
2 and 3 carpeting 33 may be provided on bottom wall 14 extending
about inner housing 12 as clearly seen in FIG. 3.
Assembly of enclosure 10 of FIG. 1 is simple. The cat litter pan
13 is disposed internally of outer housing 11 on bottom wall 14
and filled with any suitable cat litter. This pan 13 is positioned
in the area where the open bottom of inner housing 12 will be placed
(and is defined by the area surrounded by carpeting 33--FIG. 3).
Of course, if carpeting is not used, indicia may be provided on
bottom wall 14 for proper placement of pan 13.
The open bottom of inner housing 12 is now placed over on top of
pan 13 with opening 30 (FIG. 1) to the rear of outer housing 11.
The final assembled portion is shown in FIG. 1.
In order to use litter pan 13 the cat must enter opening 24 walk
around carpeting 33 and enter opening 30 leading into the interior
of second housing 12 (and, thus, to litter pan 13). When the cat
is finished, it must retrace its path out of opening 30 along carpeting
33 and out of opening 24.
Carpeting 33 may be any suitable roughened surface or material,
such as regular, rough or shag carpet material, astroturf material,
toweling material, etc., as long as it removes the granules of litter
material on the paws of the cat as it traverses the carpeting 33.
Such carpeting 33 may be removable for cleaning, if desired.
Pan 13 may be of any suitable material, such as plastic, metal,
etc., and may have 4 interconnected side walls surrounding a bottom
wall. Housings 11 12 may be made of any suitable materials, such
as stiff cardboard, wood, plastic, etc. Inner housing 12 is removable
via handles 31 32 for access to litter pan 13 and easy cleaning
of the entire disclosure.
Any suitable configuration may be used for housing 11 12 in order
to carry out the teachings of the invention. Any suitable dimensions
may be used. For example, outer housing 11 may be about 24"
wide at the front and about 291/2" deep with an overall height
of about 17". Inner housing 12 may be about 16" wide at
the front, about 201/2" deep and about 17"high. The opening
30 may be about 6" from the bottom. Opening 24 may be about
1" from the bottom. Both openings may be about 7".times.9"
in width and length. Again, these dimensions may vary.
It can be seen I have disclosed a cat litter enclosure which must
be used by a cat in a way that cleans its paws of litter material
and other debris. Another advantage of this arrangement is that
odors are diminished since such odors are baffled due to the inner
wall arrangement of the two housings.
Although a specific embodiment of the invention is disclosed, variations
thereof may occur to an artisan and the scope of the invention should
only be limited by the scope of the appended claims. |