Self-cleaning litter box
AssigneeWindmere Corporation
InventorsArnold Thaler, Philip Y. H. Cheung
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A self-cleaning litter box for cats employs a comb drive to drive a comb through litter to remove waste from the litter. A sensor for detecting the presence of an obstruction is coupled to the comb drive and stops the comb drive upon detecting an obstruction. A manual mode selector switch and an actuating switch are provided to manually activate the cleaning of the litter box at a time deemed appropriate by the cat owner. A foot pedal unit may be provided for semi-automatic use. A removable tray for cat litter may be provided. The tray may be disposable. A pivotable ramp facilitates ingress to, and egress from, the litter box. The ramp may be carpeted. A tray receives the litter box and a hood encloses the litter box to provide privacy.
Claims21
A litter box, comprising
- a housing for receiving litter;
- a comb disposed in said housing;
- a motor for moving the comb from the first position to a second position;
- and
- a sensor for sensing contact by the comb with an obstruction as the comb is moved from the first position to the second position.
A self-cleaning cat litter box, comprising:
- a housing defining a litter chamber for receiving cat litter;
- a comb disposed in said litter chamber;
- a comb drive coupled to said housing, said comb drive including a drive motor;
- and
- a sensor coupled to the drive motor and positioned to detect contact with an obstruction, wherein the sensor generates a signal to change the state of said comb in response to said contact.
A self-cleaning cat litter box, comprising:
- a housing defining a litter chamber;
- a comb disposed in said housing;
- a comb drive coupled to said housing;
- a mode selector switch movable between a manual operation selecting position and an automatic operation selecting position, said comb drive driving said comb in response to a signal from a controller when said mode selector switch is in the automatic operation selecting position;
- and
- a manual operation switch electrically connected to said mode selector switch, said comb drive driving said comb in response to actuation of said manual operation switch when said mode selector switch is in the manual operation selecting position.
A method of cleaning waste from a cat litter box, comprising the steps of:
- operating said litter box according to a manual cleaning mode;
- subsequently, switching said litter box to an automatic mode configuration;
- subsequently, operating said litter box according to an automatic mode;
- and
- detecting an obstruction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.