Sifting scoop
AssigneePioneer Pet Products, LLC
InventorsJohn M. Lipscomb, Qing He
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A sifting scoop for removing pet waste from litter in a litter box having a handle carrying a sifting cup having a mouth wider than a downstream pet waste retaining pocket formed by the cup. The handle overlies the sifting cup providing a waste shield. The handle includes a grip attached by a bridge to the cup that provides a hand guard and scoop hanger with the grip serving as a leg when the scoop is stood uprightly on a pedestal formed by a cup endwall. The cup has a first sifting portion formed in a litter-engaging surface on the side opposite the handle with the sifting portion formed by a plurality of elongate slots that are wavy or S-shaped extending longitudinally in the direction of scooping. The cup has a second sifting portion having slots in the end wall inline with litter being scooped.
Claims33
A sifting scoop comprised of a handle carrying a sifting cup formed of an endless sidewall having a mouth at one end, a perforate bottom at an opposite end, and a perforate sifting region formed in a granular material contacting face of the sidewall opposite the handle that is disposed toward granular material in a container during sifting, wherein the granular material contacting face has a generally flat central section adjacent the mouth and extends from adjacent the perforate bottom to adjacent a scoop tongue that forms a leading scoop edge extending along the mouth adjacent the perforate sifting region guiding granular material into the sifting cup onto the perforate sifting region downstream of the mouth during scooping and sifting, and wherein the endless sidewall necks down toward the perforate bottom generally imparting a funnel shape to the sifting cup such that the mouth is wider than the perforate bottom.
A sifting scoop comprised of an endless sidewall defining a sifting cup having (a) a mouth at one end, (b) a perforate bottom opposite the mouth, (c) a longitudinally extending elongate handle disposed alongside a longitudinally extending imperforate portion of the sidewall, (d) a longitudinally extending granular material contacting face formed of part of the sidewall opposite the imperforate sidewall portion, the granular material contacting face having a longitudinally extending generally flat central section adjacent the mouth extending toward the perforate bottom, the granular material contacting face comprising a perforate sifting region extending from adjacent the mouth substantially to the perforate bottom, and (e) a pair of opposed longitudinally extending sides formed of corresponding portions of the sidewall with one of the sides extending between the granular material contacting face and the imperforate sidewall portion and the other one of the sides extending between the granular material contacting face and the imperforate sidewall portion, wherein the sides converge toward one another from adjacent the mouth to adjacent the perforate bottom such that the mouth is wider than the perforate bottom and the perforate sifting region is wider adjacent the mouth than adjacent the perforate bottom.
A sifting scoop comprised of an endless sidewall defining a sifting cup having (a) a mouth at one end, (b) a perforate bottom opposite the mouth, (c) a handle having a hand grip disposed alongside and generally parallel to a longitudinally extending imperforate portion of the sidewall, (d) a generally longitudinally extending granular material contacting face formed of part of the sidewall opposite the imperforate sidewall portion, the granular material contacting face comprising (i) a perforate sifting region extending from adjacent the mouth to adjacent the perforate bottom with the perforate sifting region comprised of a plurality of generally longitudinally extending elongate slots, and (ii) a generally flat central section extending from adjacent the mouth toward the perforate bottom, and (e) a pair of opposed longitudinally extending sides formed of corresponding portions of the sidewall with one of the sides extending between the granular material contacting face and the imperforate sidewall portion from adjacent the mouth to adjacent the perforate bottom and the other one of the sides extending between the granular material contacting face and the imperforate sidewall portion from adjacent the mouth to adjacent the perforate bottom, wherein the sides converge toward one another in a longitudinal direction from adjacent the mouth to adjacent the perforate bottom such that the mouth is wider than the perforate bottom and the perforate sifting region is wider adjacent the mouth than adjacent the perforate bottom.
A sifting scoop comprised of an endless sidewall defining a sifting cup having (a) a mouth at one end, (b) a perforate bottom opposite the mouth comprised of a plurality of slots formed therein, (c) a handle having a hand grip disposed alongside and generally parallel to a longitudinally extending imperforate portion of the sidewall, (d) a generally longitudinally extending granular material contacting face formed of part of the sidewall opposite the imperforate sidewall portion, the granular material contacting face comprising (i) a perforate sifting region extending from adjacent the mouth to adjacent the perforate bottom with the perforate sifting region comprised of a plurality of generally longitudinally extending elongate sifting slots that each extend from adjacent the mouth to adjacent the perforate bottom, and (ii) a generally flat central section extending generally longitudinally from adjacent the mouth toward the perforate bottom, and (e) a pair of opposed generally longitudinally extending imperforate sides formed of corresponding portions of the sidewall with one of the sides extending between the granular material contacting face and the imperforate sidewall portion from adjacent the mouth generally longitudinally to adjacent the perforate bottom and the other one of the sides extending between the granular material contacting face and the imperforate sidewall portion from adjacent the mouth generally longitudinally to adjacent the perforate bottom, wherein the sides converge toward one another in a generally longitudinal direction from adjacent the mouth to adjacent the perforate bottom such that the mouth is wider than the perforate bottom and the perforate sifting region is wider adjacent the mouth than adjacent the perforate bottom, and wherein the perforate bottom is generally flat comprising a pedestal upon which the sifting scoop can be uprightly stood.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.