Pet door

A pet door assembly for mounting over an opening, comprising:

• pivot means arranged to be positioned adjacent said opening and arranged to extend generally perpendicularly to the plane of the opening,
• a door mounted on said pivot means so as to be movable in its own plane between positions in which it respectively opens and closes the opening,
• said door including two planar, spaced apart portions each having an outwardly facing flat surface which, in the closed position of the door, lies closely adjacent to the end surface of a tunnel member extending outwardly from the door, said tunnel members together forming a tunnel providing a sealed passage through the opening,
• electric drive means for moving said door between the open and closed positions, and
• means carried by said tunnel and operable by a pet for causing actuation of said drive means to open the door, said means including a sensing device which is such as to sense automatically a pet entering the tunnel and to cause opening of the door, by energizing said drive means, said sensing device being connected to said electric drive means by an electric circuit including a capacitor which is arranged to maintain energization of the drive means for a period of time after said sensing device has been actuated, whereby a pet may have time to pass through the tunnel before the door closes.