Self-cleaning kitty litter box
OwnerAngelo Carlisiinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A self-cleaning kitty litter box and method for cleaning the litter box are disclosed. The kitty litter box has a removable pan in which kitty litter is placed. A motor and timing device are provided for periodically moving a rake through the kitty litter so to push solid waste to one end of the pan. The rake is then rotated in contact with a stop out of the pan, the rake then moves forward and drops the collected solid waste into a storage tray. The motor and timer allow this process to be periodically repeated without involvement of the cat owner until ultimate disposal of the cat waste is desired.
Claims14
A self-cleaning kitty litter box comprising:
- a housing including an area for holding kitty litter said area having at one end an arcuate upwardly extending portion and a lip;
- a rake including a plurality of pivotable tines movable laterally along the housing through the area for holding kitty litter;
- means interacting with the rake as it approaches said end so as to rotate the tines along said arcuate upwardly extending portion until the rake passes beyond the area for holding kitty litter as lateral movement of the rake continues;
- and
- dropping means located beyond said arcuate upwardly extending portion of the area for holding kitty litter interacting with the rake so to allow any solid waste collected by the tines as they pass through the area for holding kitty litter to be dropped outside the area for holding kitty litter.
A method for cleaning solid waste from kitty litter comprising the steps of:
- moving a rake laterally through kitty litter in a holder so as to collect solid waste in the kitty litter;
- abutting a portion of said rake so as to rotate the rake out of the kitty litter while lateral movement continues maintaining any collected solid waste on the rake until the rake clears the holder;
- further moving the rake laterally so as to result in the dumping of the solid waste outside the kitty litter holder.
A self-cleaning kitty litter box comprising a housing including a first area for holding a pan into which kitty litter is to be held, said housing having laterally extending side walls;
- a motor going to the housing connected to a worm gear for driving a worm;
- a rake joined to a pair of carriers which move laterally within the side walls, said rake including a plurality of generally downwardly and forwardly extending tines and an upwardly extending abutment;
- one of said carriers including a traveler movable by said worm to cause the lateral movement of the carrier;
- a stop joined to the housing on one of said side walls so to interact with the rake abutment and move the tines upwardly out of the pan and then allowing downward movement of the tines into the tray beyond the pan.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.