PET ANIMAL WASTE COLLECTION APPARATUS

Abstract

A pet waste collecting apparatus for easily collecting animal solid wastes. The apparatus comprises an upper portion, a lower portion, and a support. The upper portion comprises a canister for storing grocery sacks. The lower portion comprises a pair of hands and a stand. A grocery sack can hang on the pair of hands. The support can be utilized for maintaining the upper and lower portions in an upright position. The pair of hands acts as an extra set of hands while disposing a solid waste of the pet animal. The stand placed on the back of the lower portion can be utilized for holding a scooper device. When the user operates the scooper device with one or both hands, the hands attached to the lower portion can maintain the grocery sack open for facilitating the user to place the picked up waste.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO PROVISIONAL PATENT APPLICATION

This patent application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/488,867 entitled, “Pet Animal Waste Collection Apparatus,” which was filed on May 23, 2011 and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments are generally related to animal waste collection devices. Embodiments also relate to the field of animal waste collection apparatus and method that are utilized in combination with a bag for collecting solid waste of pet animals such as dog and cat.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Domestic companion animals, particularly dogs and cats, are very popular among pet owners. However, waste handling is an unpleasant but significant aspect of pet ownership. Neglecting the waste handling responsibilities can create a smelly, unsanitary atmosphere in an owner's yard. Many types of scoopers for the purpose of waste removal have been introduced. However, difficulty still exists in transferring the waste from a scooper or shovel to a waste bag. This difficulty along with the unsanitary probability of having to directly use one's hands in the process of transferring waste into a bag cause a pet owner to dread and possibly delay the task of waste removal from their yards causing an unpleasant and unhealthy atmosphere for owners and their neighbors. The task of transferring waste from a conventional scooper to a bag would be greatly facilitated if there were somewhere to place the bag in such a way that the bag would be held open for the pet owner so they wouldn't have to use their own hands directly to keep the bag open while placing the waste into the bag.

The problem of the collection and disposal of animal waste deposits and particularly those from pet dogs has come under increasing public scrutiny in recent years. Over the last several decades, more and more suburban neighborhoods with smaller lots and yards in closer vicinity have become prevalent and as a result the effects of neighboring animals, particularly dogs, can and has become increasingly offensive to neighbors. Dog waste accumulation can attract mice and parasites. Beyond offending and being a nuisance to neighborhoods, the improper disposal of pet waste or neglecting the task of pet waste disposal completely, leads to many issues. Pet waste is a health risk to wildlife and people, especially children as it is full of bacteria that can cause sickness. When it rains, harmful bacteria are transferred through pet waste picked up in storm water runoff washing into lakes, streams, rivers, and marine waters. There are a host of several issues for aquatic life as well as human life. It is for these concerns that several cities have passed laws requiring pet owners to clean up wastes deposited by their pets with violators being subject to a substantial fine. Facilitation of pet waste removal is key in promoting and encouraging proper and frequent disposal of harmful waste.

In an effort to alleviate the above problem and to comply with clean up laws, various devices and techniques have been proposed for collecting and disposing of animal wastes. The device most commonly used by dog owners is a small shovel or scoop for picking up the wastes from their yards and transferring them into a disposable bag. It is the transferring of the waste into a disposal bag that poses some unpleasant handling. Alleviating the hassles and the possibility of human hands coming in direct contact with the pet waste during this step of transferring the waste would promote and encourage proper and frequent disposal of harmful waste. This is significant in creating a healthful pet waste management atmosphere for a pet owner's yard, the neighborhood, the city, and beyond.

Neighborhood resident associations, community organizations, and sometimes even local city authorities intervene to make sure that pet waste removal is occurring if an appeared lack of disposal creates a nuisance. The pet owner is responsible to make sure that a nuisance does not occur. In addition to being unpleasant, the task can be especially cumbersome for a pet owner who is trying to hold open a bag with one hand while simultaneously attempting to place the waste from the pooper scooper being held by the other hand. Often this results in pet waste falling outside of the bag or making contact with the owner's hand. Both of which makes pet waste removal an undesirable and often neglected task which then can result in the above mentioned nuisance. The waste pick-up facilitator device should be conveniently located and simple to operate. Waste removal practices that require simultaneous use of both hands presents a problem with respect to sanitary pet disposal. If the waste pick-up practice requires two hands to hold the disposable bag open for more sanitary use makes waste pick-up and removal impossible unless two people are working together. The is most often not the case and therefore the pet owner is forced to use one hand to hold a disposable bag open while balancing the waste and scooper while “aiming” and hopefully placing all waste in the bag without direct human contact. This is a nearly impossible task and is undesirable as direct human contact with pet waste will most likely always occur. In an effort to address the foregoing difficulties, it is believed that the pet collection apparatus with hands for holding a disposable bag as discussed herein can address many of the problems with traditional pet waste collection devices.

BRIEF SUMMARY

The following summary is provided to facilitate an understanding of some of the innovative features unique to the disclosed embodiment and is not intended to be a full description. A full appreciation of the various aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein can be gained by taking the entire specification, claims, drawings, and abstract as a whole.

It is, therefore, one aspect of the disclosed embodiments to provide for an animal waste collection device.

It is a further aspect of the present invention to provide for an animal waste collection apparatus and method that are utilized in combination with a bag for collecting solid waste of pet animals such as a dog and cat.

The aforementioned aspects and other objectives and advantages can now be achieved as described herein. An animal waste collection apparatus for easily collecting the solid wastes of a pet animal is disclosed. The apparatus comprises of an upper portion, a lower portion, and a support. The upper portion comprises of a canister for storing grocery sacks. The lower portion comprises of a pair of hands and a stand. A grocery sack from the canister can be hung on the pair of hands. The support can be utilized for holding the upper and lower portions upright. The pair of hands acts as extra hands while placing the solid waste of the pet animal in a grocery sack. The stand placed on the back of the lower portion can be utilized for storing a standard scooper device.

The scooper device can be utilized for picking up the solid waste and placing it in the grocery sack. The grocery sack with solid waste is then disposed in a trash can. When the user operates the scooper device with one or both hands, the hands attached to the lower portion can hold the grocery sack open for facilitating the user to place the picked waste easily eliminating direct human contact with pet waste.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying figures, in which like reference numerals refer to identical or functionally similar elements throughout the separate views and which are incorporated in and form a part of the specification, further illustrate the disclosed embodiments and, together with the detailed description of the invention, serve to explain the principles of the disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 1 illustrates a front view of a pet waste collection apparatus, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates a front view of the pet waste collection apparatus depicted in FIG. 1 with a grocery sack hung on the hands, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 3 illustrates a backside view of the pet waste collection apparatus depicted in FIG. 2 showing a canister and a scooper device, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates a front view of the pet waste collection apparatus depicted in FIG. 1 showing a scooper device utilized for picking up the pet waste, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 5 illustrates a side view of a trash can utilized for disposing a grocery sack with pet waste, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments; and

FIG. 6 illustrates a high level flow chart depicting a process of disposing the pet waste by utilizing the pet waste collection apparatus depicted in FIG. 1 in accordance with an alternative embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The particular values and configurations discussed in these non-limiting examples can be varied and are cited merely to illustrate at least one embodiment and are not intended to limit the scope thereof. Note that in FIGS. 1-5, identical or similar parts or elements are generally indicated by identical reference numerals.

The embodiments will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which illustrative embodiments of the invention are shown. The embodiments disclosed herein can be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly defined herein.

FIG. 1 illustrates a front view of a pet waste collection apparatus 100, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments. The apparatus 100 comprises of an upper portion 105, a lower portion 120, and a support 125. The lower portion 120 comprises of a pair of hands 110 and 115 which act as extra hands while placing solid waste of the pet animal in a grocery sack (not shown). The support 125 can be utilized for holding the upper portion 105 and lower portion 120 upright.

FIG. 2 illustrates a front view of the pet waste collection apparatus 100 depicted in FIG. 1 with a grocery sack 205, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments. A bundle of grocery sacks (not shown) can be stored on a canister 305. A grocery sack 205 can be taken from the canister 305 and can be hung on the pair of hands 110 and 115. The hands 110 and 115 keep the grocery sack 205 open for placing the solid waste easily.

FIG. 3 illustrates a backside view of the pet waste collection apparatus 100 depicted in FIG. 2 showing the canister 305 and a scooper device 320, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments. A stand 310 placed on the back of the lower portion 120 can be utilized for storing a standard scooper device 320. The apparatus 100 can be of a pet animal shape, for example, the shape of a puppy and is made of durable, weather resistant materials.

FIG. 4 illustrates a front view of the pet waste collection apparatus 100 showing the scooper device 320 utilized for picking up the solid waste 405, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments. The scooper device 320 can be utilized for picking up the solid waste 405 and placing it in the grocery sack 205. FIG. 5 illustrates a side view of a trashcan 500 utilized for disposing the grocery sack 205 with the pet animal waste 405, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments. After placing the animal waste 405 in the grocery sack 205, it can be disposed in the trashcan 500.

FIG. 6 illustrates a high level flow chart 600 depicting the process of disposing the pet animal waste collection device in accordance with an alternate embodiment. As illustrated at block 605, the grocery sacks can be stored on the canister, which is placed on the back of the pet waste collection apparatus 100 depicted in FIG. 1. A grocery sack can be taken out from the canister as depicted at block 610. Then as indicated at block 615, the grocery sack can be placed or hung on the hands of the pet collection apparatus. The pet animal waste can be picked and placed in the grocery sack using a standard scooper device as depicted at block 620. Then, as illustrated at block 625, the grocery sack with the animal waste can be removed from the hands and finally as depicted at bock 630, the grocery sack can be disposed in the trash can. The hands keep the grocery sack open allowing the user to easily place the picked up solid waste into the grocery sack.

Based on the foregoing, it can be appreciated that a number of embodiments, preferred and alternative, are disclosed herein. For example, in one embodiment, a pet waste collection apparatus can be implemented, which includes an upper portion comprising a canister for storing a plurality of grocery sacks; a lower portion attached to the upper portion comprising a pair of hands and a stand, wherein the pair of hands maintains at least one grocery sack from among the plurality of grocery sacks; and a support for holding upright the upper portion and the lower portion.

In another embodiment, the pair of hands can act as extra hands for disposing solid waste of a pet animal. In yet another embodiment, the pair of hands can maintain the at least one grocery sack open for placement of the solid waste into the at least one grocery sack. In still another embodiment, the stand can be placed on a back of the lower portion for storing a scooper device. In yet another embodiment, the scooper device can be utilized for picking up the solid waste and placing the solid waste in the at least one grocery sack. In still other embodiments, the at least one grocery sack with the solid waste is disposable into a trash can. In another embodiment, the pair of hands can maintain the at least one grocery sack open for placement of the solid waste into the at least one grocery sack and wherein the stand is placed on a back of the lower portion for storing a scooper device. In still other embodiments, the at least one grocery sack with the solid waste is disposable into a trash can.

It will be appreciated that variations of the above disclosed apparatus and other features and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be desirably combined into many other different systems or applications. Also, various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art which are also intended to be encompassed by the following claims.

Claims

1. A pet waste collection apparatus, comprising:

an upper portion comprising a canister for storing a plurality of grocery sacks;

a lower portion attached to said upper portion comprising a pair of hands and a stand, wherein said pair of hands maintains at least one grocery sack from among said plurality of grocery sacks; and

a support for holding upright said upper portion and said lower portion.

2. The pet waste collection apparatus of claim 1 wherein said pair of hands acts as extra hands for disposing solid waste of a pet animal.

3. The pet waste collection apparatus of claim 1 wherein said pair of hands maintains said at least one grocery sack open for placement of said solid waste into said at least one grocery sack.

4. The pet waste collection apparatus of claim 1 wherein said stand is placed on a back of said lower portion for storing a scooper device.

5. The pet waste collection apparatus of claim 4 wherein said scooper device is utilized for picking up said solid waste and placing said solid waste in said at least one grocery sack.

6. The pet waste collection apparatus of claim 1 wherein said at least one grocery sack with said solid waste is disposable into a trash can.

7. The pet waste collection apparatus of claim 1 wherein said pair of hands maintains said at least one grocery sack open for placement of said solid waste into said at least one grocery sack and wherein said stand is placed on a back of said lower portion for storing a scooper device.

8. The pet waste collection apparatus of claim 7 wherein said at as one grocery sack with said solid waste is disposable into a trash can.

9. A pet waste collection apparatus, comprising:

an upper portion comprising a canister for storing a plurality of grocery sacks;

a lower portion attached to said upper portion comprising a pair of hands and a stand, wherein said pair of hands maintains at least one grocery sack from among said plurality of grocery sacks; and

a support for holding upright said upper portion and said lower portion, wherein said scooper device is utilized for picking up said solid waste and placing said solid waste in said at least one grocery sack.

10. The pet waste collection apparatus of claim 9 wherein said pair of hands acts as extra hands for disposing solid waste of a pet animal.

11. The pet waste collection apparatus of claim 9 wherein said pair of hands maintains said at least one grocery sack open for placement of said solid waste into said at least one grocery sack.

12. The pet waste collection apparatus of claim 9 wherein said stand is placed on a back of said lower portion for storing a scooper device.

13. The pet waste collection apparatus of claim 9 wherein said at least one grocery sack with said solid waste is disposable into a trash can.

14. The pet waste collection apparatus of claim 10 wherein said at least one grocery sack with said solid waste is disposable into a trash can.

15. The pet waste collection apparatus of claim 14 wherein said pair of hands maintains said at least one grocery sack open for placement of said solid waste into said at least one grocery sack.

16. A pet waste collection apparatus, comprising:

an upper portion comprising a canister for storing a plurality of grocery sacks;

a lower portion attached to said upper portion comprising a pair of hands and a stand, wherein said pair of hands maintains at least one grocery sack from among said plurality of grocery sacks; and

a support for holding upright said upper portion and said lower portion, wherein said pair of hands acts as extra hands for disposing solid waste of a pet animal.

17. The pet waste collection apparatus of claim 16 wherein said pair of hands maintains said at least one grocery sack open for placement of said solid waste into said at least one grocery sack.

18. The pet waste collection apparatus of claim 16 wherein said stand is placed on a back of said lower portion for storing a scooper device.

19. The pet waste collection apparatus of claim 18 wherein said scooper device is utilized for picking up said solid waste and placing said solid waste in said at least one grocery sack.

20. The pet waste collection apparatus of claim 16 wherein said at east one grocery sack with said solid waste is disposable into a trash can.