Abstract:
A hand-operated sanitary grasping device for grasping an object such as animal feces includes a control assembly, and extension structure, a support structure, which includes a pair of bag clips, a linkage assembly, a pair of scooped-shaped opposed jaws, and a pair springs. A plastic bag is placed over the jaws and attached to the bag clips on the support structure. The control assembly operates the jaws via the linkage assembly and has a latch to lock the jaws open before installing the inverted bag. The bag and jaws are placed around the object and the latch opened, allowing the jaws to grasp the object within the bag. The bag is then detached from the clips, allowing the bag to be pulled down over the jaws. The jaws may then be opened for removal of the bagged object.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/416,532, filed Oct. 8, 2002. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0003]    The present invention relates generally to hand-operated, pole mounted grasping devices and more particularly to an animal waste scooper for sanitary handling of animal droppings from pet dogs, cats, and the like, of the type commonly referred to as a pooper scooper.  
           [0004]    2. Description of Related Art  
           [0005]    Devices for picking up animal feces are well known. These devices usually have two opposing jaws, pivotally mounted at the bottom of a pole. The top end of the pole usually has a handle having a lever, trigger, button, or other device for actuating the jaws. With such a device, people may retrieve trash or animal feces from the ground without bending or reaching excessively, and further, may do so without coming into contact with the items to be picked up. However, the practical usefulness and reliability of these devices varies greatly.  
           [0006]    One of the most appealing reasons for using such a grasping device is that the user&#39;s hands remain clean when picking up animal waste. However, typically the jaws of the device do not stay clean. The jaws are often unprotected and in direct contact with the waste material. The device will quickly become unwelcome in the user&#39;s home, due to the contamination. Thus, the device will be left outdoors and subject to the elements. This rapidly ages the device and leads to early failure or breakage. Alternatively, the user must take the time to clean the device, a chore that typically must be done by hand, preferably using rubber gloves to avoid soiling one&#39;s hands.  
           [0007]    A few of the devices available today make use of covers for the grasping jaws, usually with plastic bags. However, there are no bag retention clips on those devices. The bags are loosely wrapped around the jaws with no regard for retention. The devices have no mechanical means for averting the external influences of wind, gravity, etc., in order to remain in place unassisted. In addition, where the device&#39;s jaws close automatically, the user must fight the tendency of the jaws to close while simultaneously attempting to place a plastic bag over the jaws.  
           [0008]    A variation on that theme is jaws that are open when the machine is at rest. The jaws close when the device is actuated. Such a device requires the user to keep a tight grasp of the trigger or handle to keep from dropping the jaws&#39; contents.  
           [0009]    Various devices have been proposed for solving these problems.  
           [0010]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,179,145, issued to Joe Shinsako in December 1979, describes a sanitary dog litter bagger that uses bags over a pair of jaws. The bags are not secured to the jaws. Actuation is by rotating the handle, requiring two hands.  
           [0011]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,380,054, issued to Misael Galvis in January 1995, describes a handheld device for picking up objects. The device may be operated with one hand, but is not intended for use with bags.  
           [0012]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,503,442, issued to Ke-Chiang Lee in April 1996, describes a pick-up device for picking up animal feces. The device is intended for use with bags and requires the use of a bag dispenser attached to the device&#39;s handle.  
           [0013]    None of the above patents describes a sanitary waste handling device that can be operated with a single hand, uses ordinary plastic shopping bags to line the jaws, locks open so that bags may be affixed more easily, and includes bag clips to hold the bag in place during operation.  
           [0014]    None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0015]    The animal waste scooper is a pole-mounted device for picking up waste and simultaneously placing the waste into a bag. The scooper includes a control assembly, an extension assembly, a support structure, a linkage assembly, a pair of jaws, and a bag. The control assembly comprises a handle, a trigger and a latch. The extension structure comprises a hollow pole having an upper end and a lower end, the handle being attached to the upper end of the pole. The support structure is an inverted bowl shape, with two extensions providing for linkage attachment, and is attached to the lower end of the pole. The support structure comprises a support bridge, a plurality of guide slots and a plurality of bag clips to secure a bag in place. The linkage assembly includes an actuation rod, a four-bar linkage including a double bell crank, a hinge pin, a pair of guide pins and a linkage shield. Each half of the double bell crank has its corner attached to the hinge pin, which serves as a fulcrum. The actuation rod is routed through the hollow pole and attaches to the trigger at one end and to the four-bar linkage at the other end. The hinge pin pivotally connects the jaws, and is fixed to opposing sides of the support bridge. The guide pins are disposed through the lower arm of each half of the double bell crank and the jaws, and engage the guide slots in the support bridge. A pair of springs is biased between the guide pins adjacent to the guide slots of the support bridge. The linkage shield is suspended from the hinge pin.  
           [0016]    In use, the jaws are opened by pulling up the trigger and are latched by a hook connected between the trigger and a handle. An ordinary plastic shopping bag is opened, inverted, and placed over the jaws, the sides of the bag being retained over the jaws by retainer clips on the sides of the support bridge. The latch is released while holding the trigger to keep the jaws open, the jaws are positioned over the animal waste, and the trigger is released, closing the jaws to enclose the animal waste in the plastic bag.  
           [0017]    Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to disclose an animal waste scooper which picks up animal waste and encloses the waste in common plastic shopping bags for disposal.  
           [0018]    It is another object of the invention to provide an animal waste scooper having bag retention clips to securely hold an ordinary plastic shopping bag in place around the jaws of the scooper.  
           [0019]    It is a further object of the invention to provide an animal waste scooper that may be operated with one hand.  
           [0020]    Still another object of the invention is to disclose an animal waste scooper having jaws that may be latched open to simplify the bag-loading process.  
           [0021]    It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof in an apparatus for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.  
           [0022]    These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0023]    [0023]FIG. 1 is a fragmented perspective view of an animal waste scooper according to the present invention.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 2 is a side view of the animal waste scooper with the jaws closed according to the present invention.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 3 is a side view of the animal waste scooper with the jaws open according to the present invention.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 4 is a front view of the animal waste scooper, the opposite side being a mirror image.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 5 is a fragmented side view showing the linkage and jaws of the animal waste scooper.  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 6 is a fragmented side view showing the linkage and jaws of the animal waste scooper, with bag attached and shown in phantom.  
         [0029]    Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0030]    The present invention is an animal waste scooper comprising a control assembly, an extension structure, a support structure, a linkage assembly, a pair of jaws, and a plurality of springs.  
         [0031]    Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the present invention is a generally vertically disposed animal waste scooper, designated generally as  8  in the drawings. The device  8  is held and operated with one hand, with the opposed scoop-shaped jaws  10  being placed over the object to be picked up. The scoop-shaped jaws have an upper containment portion and a lower grasping portion with opposing sidewalls. The user squeezes the trigger  18  to operate the linkage assembly  50  and open the jaws  10  against the biasing springs  40  (only one spring  40  is shown in the drawings, the opposite side of the scooper  8  being identical). The jaws  10  are supported by an inverted bowl-shaped support bridge  34 , which in its preferred embodiment are made of a strong, lightweight, corrosion-resistant metallic or nonmetallic material, such as aluminum, vinyl, polycarbonate, fiberglass, or other synthetic polymeric material.  
         [0032]    An ordinary plastic shopping bag is secured around the jaws with the bag clips  42 . The jaws  10  are placed over and around the object on the ground and the trigger  18  is released. The springs  40  bias the jaws  10  to a closed position, capturing the object in the jaws  10  and returning the linkage assembly  50  and trigger  18  to their original positions. The object may be transported to another place, such as a waste receptacle, within the device&#39;s jaws  10 . The object is released by removing the bag from the clips  42  and squeezing the trigger  18  to open the jaws  10 . The bag and its contents drop out and away from the jaws  10 . For ease of manufacture, each half of the jaws  10  is identical,  
         [0033]    Referring particularly to FIG. 2, the handle  12  of the scooper  8  comprises a grip portion  14  with a side rail  16  at each end. In the preferred embodiment, the handle  12  and the grip portion  14  are each half-round shape, with the flat side of the handle  12  oriented down and the flat side of the grip portion  14  oriented up, so that when the trigger is squeezed toward the handle  12  the flat sides are together. Each side rail  16  includes a guide rib (not shown). The channels are parallel and face toward each other. The trigger  18  is disposed in a generally D-shaped opening defined by the handle  12  and also has a grip  22  portion and two side rails  20 . The trigger&#39;s side rails  20  contain slots to engage the side rails guide ribs. The trigger  18  slides upon the handle&#39;s side rail  20 , guided by the engagement of the guide ribs and slots.  
         [0034]    The handle  12  attaches to an upper end of a hollow pole extension structure  24 . In the preferred embodiment, the pole  24  may also be made from a strong, lightweight, corrosion-resistant metallic or nonmetallic material, such as aluminum, vinyl, polycarbonate, fiberglass, or other synthetic, polymeric material. An actuator  26  is attached at one end to the trigger  18 , and is routed through the hollow pole  24 , where the other end of the actuator  26  attaches to a pin of a four-bar linkage mechanism  50 . The actuator  26  may be a cable, a rod, or other elongated material capable of withstanding the tension created by the biasing springs  40 . The linkage mechanism  50  includes a pair of upper links  28  pivotally connected to the actuator at one end, and pivotally attached to a pair of bell cranks  30  at the opposite end. Alternatively, the upper links  28  may be replaced by a single, flexible piece of material, such as a cable or monofilament line joined at its midpoint to the actuator  26 .  
         [0035]    Each bell crank  30  has an upper arm and a lower arm rigidly attached at approximately a 90° angle, defining a corner. Each upper link  28  is pivotally attached to the upper arm of one of the bell cranks  30 , which form the lower links in the four-bar linkage  50 . The corners of each bell crank  30  are pivotally attached to the hinge pin  32 . The lower legs of each bell crank  30  are pivotally attached to guide rods  36 , which are rigidly attached to the opposing jaws  10 . The double bell crank  30  provides the leverage necessary to open the jaws  10 , when the trigger  18  is squeezed.  
         [0036]    When the trigger  18  is pulled upward, one bell crank  30  rotates about the hinge pin  32  in a clockwise direction, while the other bell crank  30  rotates in a counterclockwise direction, thereby opening the jaws  10 . The hinge pin  32  also pivotally connects the jaws  10  and is rigidly positioned and supported by the support bridge  34 . The guide rods  36  are fixed to the jaws  10 , while the ends of the guide rods  36  extend through and slide within the guide slots  38  defined in the support bridge  34 . The ends of guide pins  36  are biased together by a pair of compression springs  40 . In the preferred embodiment, the compression springs  40  are located inside the walls of the support bridge  34 . The support bridge  34  includes a pair of bag clips  42 , one on each outward facing side, for securing ordinary plastic shopping bags. A linkage shield  52  provides a horizontal barrier within the jaws  10  and just below the guide pins  36 . The linkage shield  52  is suspended by a pair of supports attached to the hinge pin  32 . The supports extend between the guide pins  36 , without interfering with the closure of the jaws  10 . The linkage shield  52  prevents fingers and bags from becoming entangled in the linkage mechanism.  
         [0037]    [0037]FIG. 3 is a side view of the animal waste scooper  8  according to the present invention with the jaws  10  open.  
         [0038]    In operation, when the trigger  18  is squeezed toward the handle  12 , the actuator  26  is pulled upward, pulling the pin joining the upper links  28  upward toward the handle  12 . The linkage pulls the upper arms of the bell cranks  30  upward, drawing the upper arms of the double bell crank  30  together. The corners of the bell cranks  30  pivot on the hinge pin  32 , forcing the lower arms of the bell crank  30  apart. The attachment of the lower arms of the double bell crank  30  to the jaws  10  forces the jaws  10  open against the biasing force of the springs  40  attached to the guide rods  36 . A linkage shield  52  is suspended from the hinge pin  32  and between the guide pins  36  to provide a horizontal barrier to protect the linkage assembly.  
         [0039]    When the trigger  18  is adjacent to the handle  12 , the latch  46  may be set, thereby locking the trigger  18  to the handle  12  and locking the jaws  10  open. Latch  46  may be a hook pivotally attached to trigger  18  which engages a pin or eyelet extending from the handle  12 , however any appropriate latch may be used in the present invention. With the jaws  10  locked open, the user may place an ordinary plastic shopping bag around the jaws  10  and secure it to the bag clips  42  without working against the mechanism, simplifying the process.  
         [0040]    [0040]FIG. 4 is a front view of the animal waste scooper  8 , the opposite side being a mirror image. The jaws  10  are skeletonized to reduce weight, presenting an open frame which discourages the use of the device without bags. This keeps the device clean and aids in its longevity. The linkage assembly  50  is located midway between the opposing sides of the support bridge  34  and in line with the longitudinal axis of the hollow pole  24  to enable proper function of the linkage assembly  50  through the actuator  26 . The bags clips  42  are located at the sides of the support bridge  34 .  
         [0041]    [0041]FIG. 5 is a side view showing the linkage assembly  50  and jaws  10  of the animal waste scooper  8 . Here the actuator  26  is in tension, pulling the upper links  28  toward the handle  12 . The upper links  28  pivot about the pin joining the upper links  28 , thus drawing the opposite ends of the upper links  28  together. Alternatively, a one-piece flexible cable (not shown) may be used. As the ends of the upper links are drawn together, the bell cranks  30  are forced to rotate about the stationary hinge pin  32 . The upper arms of the bell cranks  30  are drawn together, and the lower arms of the bell cranks  30  are forced apart due to rotation about the hinge pin  32 . The lower arms of the double bell crank  30  are attached to the jaws  10  via the guide rods  36 . The guide rods  36  engage the guide slots  38  in the support bridge  34 . At their closest points, the guide slots  38  are close enough together to permit the jaws  10  to fully close. At their extreme ends, the guide slots  38  are far enough apart to permit the jaws  10  to accept a plastic bag and to be placed around an object to be picked up.  
         [0042]    [0042]FIG. 6 is a view of the linkage assembly  50  and jaws  10  of the animal waste scooper  8 , with bag  44  (shown in phantom) attached. To secure a bag  44  around the jaws  10 , the user must squeeze the trigger  18  to the handle  12  and operate the latch  46 . This locks the jaws  10  open. With the jaws  10  open, the user places the jaws  10  into an inverted, open, conventional plastic shopping bag  44 , with one of the bag&#39;s two loop handles  48  located on each side of the support bridge  34 . Each handle loop  48  is secured into a bag clip  42  on the support bridge  34 , and the remaining portion of the bag  44  is pushed up into the space between the jaws  10 , thus covering the jaws  10  and allowing a space between the jaws  10  large enough to encompass the object desired for retrieval.  
         [0043]    When the object is between the jaws  10 , the latch  46  may be released. The springs  40  act to bias the jaws  10  to the closed position, whereby the object is captured between the jaws  10  and inside the bag  44 . In this manner, the jaws  10  stay clean.  
         [0044]    It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.