Abstract:
A prefabricated bird house for easy assembly and transport and method of assembling the same. The bird house includes a plurality of walls wherein each pair of adjacent walls presents at least one pair of complemental latches that are configured for latching interengagement when the adjacent walls are assembled. When the latch elements are in latching interengagement, the walls are interconnected in such a manner that they are permitted to shift freely lengthwise relative to one another, but are prevented from shifting in a generally transverse, lateral direction.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a prefabricated bird house. In particular, the invention pertains to a prefabricated bird house capable of easy assembly by means of integral locking structure thereby eliminating the need for additional tools or parts for assembly. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     Birds are usually welcomed guests at a person&#39;s property. Their calls to each other provide entertainment and their colors and markings can be pleasing to the eye. More importantly, birds typically consume insect pests, which facilitates insect-free entertaining outdoors and prevents the spread of disease by insect carriers. Thus, bird houses are often constructed and placed in such a manner to attract birds to a property for nesting purposes. 
     The prior art discloses a variety of pre-assembled housing structures for accommodating different species of birds. The bird houses of the prior art are typically made of wood, plastic or other rigid material which is relatively bulky. These characteristics of the traditional bird house have certain disadvantages. The rigidity, bulk and weight of such bird houses creates disadvantageous economies in respect to the storage, transport and ease of use of the bird house. A bird fancier who desires to purchase a bird house may be concerned with transportability, not only from the store to home or other location of use, but from place to place as the user may have a temporary or permanent relocation of the site where the bird house will be used. It would be a desirable improvement to provide a bird house which is prefabricated and easily disassembled for storage or transport and then easily reassembled at its site of use. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention solves the prior art problems discussed above and provides a distinct advance in the state of the art. In particular, the bird house hereof enables ease of assembly, storage and transport. 
     The preferred embodiment includes a prefabricated bird house comprising a housing that defines a bird nesting enclosure and includes a plurality of walls. The housing further defines an access hole for permitting ingress and egress of birds. Each pair of adjacent walls present at least one pair of complemental latch elements that are configured for latching interengagement when the adjacent walls are assembled. When the latch elements are in latching interengagement, the walls are interconnected in such a manner that they are permitted to shift freely lengthwise relative to one another, but are prevented from shifting in a generally transverse, lateral direction. A method of mounting the bird house of the present invention on a support is also described. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the preferred unassembled bird house in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the preferred assembled bird house; 
     FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the bird house; 
     FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the bird house; 
     FIG. 5 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view which illustrates the L-shaped locking tabs in locking engagement with the slots of the front wall. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates a preferred prefabricated bird house  10  in accordance with the present invention in a disassembled state. Broadly, birdhouse  10  includes a left side wall  12 , a right side wall  14 , a front wall  16 , a rear wall  18 , a floor  20 , and a roof  22 , all generally rectangular. Walls  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  18 , floor  20 , and roof  22  cooperatively define an interior bird nesting cavity  24 . 
     In more detail, left side wall  12  includes inner face  26  and opposed outer face  28 , upper edge  30  and opposed lower edge  32 , and front attachment edge  34  and opposed rear attachment edge  36 . A plurality of ventilation holes  38  extend through side wall  12  proximal upper edge  30  for permitting air to flow in and out of cavity  24 . Upper edge  30  slopes generally downwardly from rear edge  36  to front edge  34 . Attachment edges  34  and  36  each include at least one locking tab  40  configured for locking engagement with walls  16  and  18  which will be discussed in more detail below. Inner face  26  includes outwardly extending first guide rail  42  and second guide rail  44 , as shown in phantom lines in FIG. 1, proximal lower edge  32  that form a track  46  therein configured to slidably receive floor  20 . 
     Right side wall  14  includes inner face  48  and opposed outer face  50 , upper edge  52  and opposed lower edge  54 , and front attachment edge  56  and opposed rear attachment edge  58 . A plurality of ventilation holes  60  extend through side wall  14  proximal upper edge  52  for permitting air to flow in and out of cavity  24 . Upper edge  52  slopes generally downwardly from rear edge  58  to front edge  56 . Attachment edges  56  and  58  each include at least one locking tab  40  configured for locking engagement with walls  16  and  18 . Inner face  48  includes outwardly extending first guide rail  62  and second guide rail  64  that form a track  66  therein configured to slidably receive floor  20 . 
     Front wall  16  includes inner face  68  and opposed outer face  70 , upper edge  72  and opposed lower edge  74 , and left attachment edge  76  and opposed right attachment edge  78 . A bird access hole  80  extends through front wall  16 . Access hole  80  is positioned for permitting a bird to enter and exit birdhouse  10  in its assembled state. Left edge  76  and right edge  78  each include at least one locking slot  82  configured to engage a like number of locking tabs  40 . Front wall  16  further includes an aperture  84  proximal lower edge  74  configured to receive floor  20 . 
     Rear wall  18  includes inner face  86  and opposed outer face  88 , upper edge  90  and opposed lower edge  92 , and left attachment edge  94  and opposed right attachment edge  96 . Left edge  94  and right edge  96  each include at least one locking slot  82  configured to engage a like number of locking tabs  40 . Rear wall  18  further includes an inwardly-projecting ledge  98  proximal lower edge  92  configured to receive and support floor  20  thereon. Rear wall  18  further includes a top support element  100  proximal upper edge  90  and a bottom support element  102  proximal lower edge  92 . Elements  100  and  102  being configured for fastening to a tree, post, or the like. It will be appreciated that elements  100  and  102  may include a hole configured to receive a screw or nail as shown in FIG. 1 or may also include tabs projecting outwardly from rear wall  16  configured to couple with a support structure. 
     Roof  22  is configured to removably engage upper edges  30 ,  52 ,  72 , and  90  of walls  12 ,  14 ,  16  and  18 . Roof  22  includes opposed upper face  104  and lower face  106 , opposed front edge  108  and rear edge  110 , and opposed left edge  112  and right edge  114 . Lower face  106  includes a boss  116  configured to complementally engage upper edges  30 , 52 ,  72 , and  90 . Rear edge  110  may also include a cut-away notch (notch) for complemental engagement with top support element  100 . Roof  22  presents a downwardly sloping surface from rear edge  110  to front edge  108  when assembled with walls  12 ,  14 ,  16  and  18 . 
     Floor  20  includes left edge  120  and opposed right edge  122  and further includes front edge  124  and opposed rear edge  126 . Rear edge  126  is configured to be received within aperture  84  and rest upon ledge  98 . Left edge  120  is configured to cooperatively engage track  46  and right edge  122  is configured to cooperatively engage track  66 . 
     FIG. 5 illustrates left wall  12  and front wall  16  in locking interengagement. Left wall  12  includes the preferred locking tab  40  and front wall  16  includes the preferred tab-receiving slot  82  configured to interengage edges  34  and  76 , respectively. Locking tab  40  presents a horizontal section  128  and generally transverse first catch  130  depending therefrom. First catch  130  slopes generally outwardly and transversely relative to horizontal section  128  and is configured for locking engagement with tab-receiving slot  82 . It will be appreciated that first catch  130  may be oriented upward as illustrated in FIG. 1 on front edge  34  of left wall  12  or downward as shown on the rear edge  36  of left wall  12 . Left edge  76  of front wall  16  includes slot  82  extending through front wall  16  for receiving locking tabs  40 . Slot  82  includes an inner surface  132  presenting a generally sloped second catch  134  configured for receiving first catch  130  in locking engagement. 
     In preferred forms, walls  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  18 , floor  20  and roof  22  are each integrally formed from wood, synthetic resin material or other materials that provide relatively maintenance-free use of bird house  10 . It will also be appreciated that walls  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  18 , floor  20  and roof  22  may be rectangular, square or any other shape that allows interconnecting of the side edges thereof. The bird house  10  of the present invention is specifically designed for simple and quick assembly as a result of the complemental locking tabs  40  and slots  82 . 
     To assemble bird house  10 , as shown in FIGS. 2,  3 , and  4 , top support element  100  and bottom support element  102  of rear wall  18  may be fastened to a tree, post, or other support structure by a nail, screw, or other fastening means. Left wall  12  is interconnected to rear wall  18  by aligning at least one locking tab  40  with a corresponding locking slot  82 , sliding tab  40  forward into slot  82  until first catch  130  engages second catch  134  and then shifting tab  40  until the sloped surface of first catch  130  is in locking engagement with the complemental sloped surface of second catch  134  as shown in FIG.  5 . Right wall  14  may then be interconnected to rear wall  18  in a similar manner. Any attempt to remove walls  12  or  14  by pulling them outwardly will result in catches  130  and  134  cooperatively preventing such attempted removal in addition to preventing lateral movement of walls  12  and  14 . 
     Front wall  16  interconnects to left wall  12  and right wall  14  by aligning left edge  76  having at least one slot  82  therein with a corresponding locking tab  40  on left wall  12  , and aligning right edge  78  having at least one slot  82  therein with a corresponding locking tab  40  on right wall  14 , sliding the corresponding slots  82  forward to receive a complemental tab  40  until first catch  130  engages second catch  132  and then shifting tab  40  until the sloped surface of first catch  130  is in locking engagement with the complemental sloped surface of second catch  134 . Floor  20  is inserted into and through aperture  84  so that left edge  120  is received by track  46  and right edge  122  is received by track  66 . Floor  20  is then slidably shifted toward rear wall  18  where it engages ledge  98  for locking support thereon thereby preventing walls  12 ,  13 ,  16  and  18  from shifting lengthwise or laterally. To complete assembly of bird house  10 , roof  22  is coupled to side walls  12  and  14 , front wall  16  and rear wall  18  proximal upper edges  30 ,  52 ,  72 , and  90  by complemental engagement of boss  116  with the interior of bird house  10 . 
     Although preferred forms of the invention have been described above, it is to be recognized that such disclosure is by way of illustration only, and should not be utilized in a limiting sense in interpreting the scope of the present invention. Obvious modifications to the exemplary embodiments, as set forth above, could be readily made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the present invention. 
     The inventor hereby states his intent to rely on the Doctrine of Equivalents to determine and assess the reasonably fair scope of their invention as pertains to any apparatus not materially departing from but outside the literal scope of the invention as set out in the following claims.