Apparatus for washing animals

Apparatus for washing animals, such as dogs, cats, or even livestock, includes an enclosure in which the animal can be restrained with only its head extending therefrom; a plurality of spray heads located within the enclosure; a plurality of adjustably positionable and movable brushes located within the enclosure; mechanism for supplying warm water to the spray heads, and for subsequently supplying drying air to the same spray heads; and mechanism for moving the brushes to effect gentle scrubbing of the animal.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of Use 
This invention relates generally to apparatus for washing animals, such as 
pets and livestock and particularly to such apparatus which includes an 
animal-receiving enclosure having liquid spraying nozzles therewithin. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
Presently, small animals such as dogs and cats are usually washed by hand 
either at home or at pet grooming shops. At home, washing is usually done 
in the bath tub, but this is time-consuming, difficult and unpleasant. 
Restraining the animal is difficult and the animal shakes itself and wets 
the surrounding area and the person doing the cleaning. Cleaning animals 
in a grooming shop is expensive and it is not practical to do this very 
often. Consequently, pets such as dogs aren't cleaned frequently and 
remain dirty, smelly and quite unpleasant to persons near them. 
The prior art discloses several types of apparatus for washing animals, 
such as pets and livestock, and the following U.S. Pat. Nos. illustrate 
the state of the art: 4,083,328; 4,057,032; 4,056,078; 3,941,092; 
3,884,191; 3,263,653; 3,023,734; 2,611,341; 2,536,943; and 2,438,979. 
Several of these patents disclose rigid or flexible housings or enclosures 
wherein the animal is restrained with only its head protruding. Some also 
show mechanisms including spray heads in the enclosure, for directing 
liquid cleansing solutions and/or drying air at the animal. Some further 
show access openings in the enclosure whereby the person cleaning the 
animal can insert his or her hands or a scrub brush to exert a scrubbing 
action on the animal. 
Such prior art apparatus still requires a lot of effort and movement and is 
time consuming and tiresome to use. It still requires exercise of 
incomplete and difficult methods, such the same as if the animal were 
still washed in the bathtub. Except for a better way of confining the 
animal, the prior art apparatus does not appear to encourage the owner to 
wash the animal more frequently and keep them clean. 
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
In accordance with the present invention there is provided improved animal 
washing apparatus that encourages animal owners to pay more attention to 
the cleaning and hygiene of the animals and, consequently, to the hygiene 
of themsevles and their families. The apparatus does a very high 
percentage of the work automatically and in a very short time on the order 
of only a few minutes. 
The apparatus includes several mechanism that wash the animal gently, as if 
it were done with the tip of the fingers, and that operate in a matter of 
a few minutes so that washing an animal is not time-consuming, unpleasant, 
and exhausting to the attendant and does not allow the surroundings and 
the attendant to get sprayed and dirty. Also, the apparatus prevents the 
animal from running away and thereby cause exhausting attempts by the 
owner to restrain it. Since washing the animal is so easily, rapidly and 
virtually automatically done, washing the animal becomes a simple and 
routine procedure. Thus, animals are washed frequently so that the animal 
looks and feels better. Through better hygiene the animal remains 
healthier and there is less chance of endangering the health of the 
owners. The apparatus is suited to become a common household item for the 
pet owners, such as conventional dishwashers or clothes washing machines 
are. The apparatus can be manufactured according to the size of the 
animal, and can be built for small sized animals, such as cats and dogs, 
or for large sized animals such as horses or cattle. The smaller sized 
apparatus is suited to be installed in a laundry room, since the water 
supply connection and drainage system are the same as present domestic 
appliances. The apparatus can be designed to fit animals of relatively the 
same size, with the differences of up to several inches in side being 
accounted for. Since means are provided to adjust the brushes to the 
contour and size of the animals, an owner of a Yorkshire Terrier would buy 
apparatus that fits the size of such a small dog, and an owner of a Great 
Dane would buy a unit of larger size. 
Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter appear.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
General Arrangement 
FIGS. 1 through 14 pertain to a first embodiment of the invention employing 
non-rotatable reciprocably movable brushes. FIGS. 15 through 18 to a 
second embodiment of the invention employing stationarily positioned 
rotatable roller type brushes. FIGS. 19 through 21 pertain to a third 
embodiment of the invention employing longitudinally movable rotatable 
roller type brushes. 
Apparatus in accordance with the invention generally comprises the 
following components and mechanism which are understood to be employed 
with all embodiments of the invention disclosed herein, namely: (1) an 
enclosure E for an animal, such enclosure having a floor F and a 
releasably closeable door or lid 8 for access opening A through which the 
animal is emplaced and removed, such enclosure also having an opening H 
through which the animal's head can protrude; (2) means within the 
enclosure E for releasably restraining the animal in a stationary 
position, including bars 15 and 16 and restraints 13 and 14; (3) means for 
supplying cleansing liquid to the enclosure E and including a mixing tank 
1, a liquid pump 24, and spray heads or nozzles 79 within the enclosure E; 
(4) means for supplying drying air to the enclosure E and including an air 
pump 42 and the aforementioned spray heads 79; (5) moveable brushes B or 
108 and 132 within enclosure E for contact with the animal to effect 
cleansing; (6) means to adjustably position the brushes in an appropriate 
position relative to the animal; (7) means to move the brushes against the 
animal to effect cleansing; (8) means including a drain 51 and a drain 
pump 53 and a removable rotatable spray arm (not shown) to effect cleaning 
of the machine after use; (9) and means including access ports 10 and 11 
to enable the operator's hand or a hand-held brush such as 48 (FIG. 3) to 
be inserted to assist in cleaning the animal or the apparatus. 
In the first embodiment, the brushes B are resiliently mounted on 
longitudinally movable drive rods 69, 70, 71 reciprocably movable in the 
horizontal direction by means of a motor 81A. Axles 59 and 64 are 
rotatably about the vertical axis by means of motors 60 and 81 and cause 
horizontal reciprocal movement of rod 65. The drive rods are mounted in 
support frame assemblies 80 that can be moved toward or away from the 
animal and releasably locked into a proper position for most effective 
scrubbing. Motor 81A through pulley and belt run each one of three 
segments independently. 
In the second and third embodiment, the brushes 108 and 132 are resiliently 
mounted, relatively large type brushes which are rotatable about vertical 
axes by means of suitable belt-drive mechanism, for example. The brushes 
are adjustably positionable relative to the animal and releasably lockable 
in desired positions. 
In the second embodiment, the rollers 108, once positioned, rotate about 
fixed vertical axes. In the third embodiment, the rollers 132 shift back 
and forth along the length of the animal as they rotate. 
Since the cold and hot water should not be poured into the machine while 
the animal is in it, mixing tank reservoir 1 is necessary and is filled by 
the inlet cold and hot water pipes 2 and 3, respectively, and a thermostat 
4 is provided to control the temperature of the water. Tank 1 has a drain 
outlet 5 for draining the tank after the washing has been done. Tank 1 is 
connected to the washing machine enclosure E by a pipe 6. The top or lid 8 
of enclosure E can be removed to put the animal inside the enclosure. The 
top of lid 8 has another lid 9 that can be opened for allowing the hosing 
down and washing of the brushes and movable parts to free them from the 
hairs and debris of the animal after the animal has been washed and 
removed. The enclosure E has several access ports such as 10 and 11. A 
door 12 is provided in the back of enclosure E for letting the animal into 
the enclosure for cleaning if this way is preferred, although such a door 
could be located on the front or sides of the enclosure. All of the doors 
and access ports are watertight when they are closed to prevent messing up 
the floor and the surroundings. 
After the animal is put in enclosure E it should be immobilized as much as 
possible to enable proper washing. For this purpose several straps and 
restraints are provided such as pairs of straps 13 and 14 for keeping the 
animal's feet in the proper place. Also, the bars or restraints 15 and 16 
prevent the animal from sitting down or moving forward or backwards. 
Further restraints or abutments 17 and 18 for the bony area of the 
shoulders and back will further immobilize the animal and abutments or 
stoppers 19 and 20 and their corresponding stoppers on the other side of 
the animal will prevent the animal from moving sideways. A stopper 21 that 
is located below the tail at the hip portion will prevent the animal from 
moving backwards and a stopper 22 will not allow the animal to go forward. 
A watertight collar 23 for opening H will prevent water from getting out 
of the enclosure from around the animal's neck where the head and neck of 
the animal protrudes out of the enclosure E. 
The floor F of enclosure E is inclined toward the center for proper 
drainage and the drain pump 53 and piping therefor is located underneath 
floor F in a space 23. 
Referring to FIG. 2, which is a top view of space 23, some of the other 
components in space 23 are shown. Although some of the water valves in the 
system can be solenoid-operated by timers or automatically, since the 
operator has to attend the animal during washing, it is safer and 
preferred to operate these solenoid-operated water valves and water and 
air pumps by means of manually operable individual switches to prevent any 
kind of harm to the animal. 
A water pump 24 pumps heated water from reservoir 1 and, after a valve 25 
is opened, directs the water through a pipe 26 to a pipe 27. Pipes 26 and 
27 are connected to vertical pipes 40 and 41 which penetrate the floor F 
of the enclosure E. Flexible hoses 28, 29, 30 and 31 connect pipes 40 and 
41 to the proper shower or spray heads or nozzles 79. Pipes 26, 27 connect 
through pipes 32, 33, respectively, to the two other corner pipes 38 and 
39 which penetrate upward vertically through floor F to connect to 
flexible pipes 34, 35 and 36, 37 to provide water to additional shower 
heads 79. 
An air pump 42 with a heating element (not shown) is provided. After the 
animal has been washed and after valve 25 has been closed, a valve 43 will 
open and allow warm air to pass through the same pipes above-described to 
the shower heads to blow at and dry the animal. 
As FIG. 2 shows, a pipe 44 connects to water supply pump 24 and a pipe 45 
connects to the warm air supply pump 42. Pipes 44 and 45 have control 
valves 46 and 47, respectively, which, if the operator desires to use the 
manual brush 48 of FIG. 3, they are connectable to the hand brush 48 for 
scrubbing and/or drying some areas of the body of the animal that cannot 
be washed and dried automatically by the apparatus. Brush 48 has a 
semi-firm bendable arm or handle 48A that can be bent by the operator as 
he sees proper to reach those areas through access ports such as 10 and 
11. Handle 48A has a head 49 at one end that is like the rest of the 
brushes B, hereinafter described, that are located inside of enclosure E. 
Although the bristles 49A of brush 48 (and brush B hereinafter described) 
can be made of different materials such as plastic or metal with different 
firmness and different lengths and sizes of bristles, apparatus that 
cleans as gently as if it were done with the hand and tips of the fingers 
should comprise brushes made of a relatively soft but durable rubber with 
projections as wide as tips of the fingers, i.e., as FIG. 14 shows, 
probably about one centimeter in diameter and 0.3 centimeter high and 
spaced about 1/2 centimeter apart from each other. However, these 
dimentions can vary according to the size of the animal and the length of 
the hair and other variable conditions. Head 49 has many small holes 48B 
between its bristles 49A for allowing the water and warm air to pass 
through. The brush 48 has an inner semi-rigid core for proper function. 
The other end of brush handle 48A has a selector valve 50, shown in FIGS. 
3, 4 and 5 that allows either water or warm air, according to valve 
position, to emerge from the head. The water and the air cannot be mixed, 
and this is a safety measure to protect the pumps 24 and 42. 
FIG. 6 shows a top plan view of the area in enclosure E, above floor F, in 
which the animal is washed. Floor F has a central drain 51 which is on the 
axis 52 of pump 53 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Pump 53 preferably is of the 
same type as is used in domestic dishwashers and is provided with the same 
characteristic features. Pump 53 is used to clean the enclosure E of hair 
and debris of the animal after the animal has been washed and removed. 
Pump 53 has a spray arm (not shown) that is removed when the animal is in 
the enclosure E so that accidental rotation will not injure the animal. A 
spray arm (not shown) can also be installed in the upper part of the 
enclosure E like in some dishwashers to completely wash the different 
parts of the interior. Pump 53 has its own separate inlet water supply 
lines, warm and cold lines 54 and 55, respectively, and its own draining 
system 56 that can be drained into a home drain system. When pump 53 is 
cycling and spraying water around, it is preferred that at the same time 
water via pipe 56 and 57 be filtered through a filter 58 and returned to 
the enclosure E so that as much hair and debris are removed as possible. 
Since the interior of enclosure E has many different projections, removing 
the hair and debris in this manner will help in cleaning those parts much 
more easily. Filter 58 can simply be a strainer (not shown) placed inside 
a container (not shown), and water from pipe 56 will pour into the 
strainer wherein hair and debris are filtered out and the water is picked 
up by pipe 57 and returned into the enclosure E. Other kinds of filters 
can be used, if desired. 
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 7, the lines 65, 69, 70, 71 are brush support rods 
that are located in the side, front and back of the animal. The rods 69, 
70, 71 are mounted on frame assemblies 80 that move on wheels 80A on 
roller guides 146 toward and away from the animals. A front element 59 is 
provided that is driven by a motor 60 and moves on roller guides 61, 62, 
63. As is shown in FIG. 1, motor 60 is elevated from the floor F so that 
hair and debris do not trap anywhere and automatic cleaning of the machine 
at the end is practical. In the same manner, a rear element 64 is provided 
that has its own motor 81 (with reducing gears, not shown). As is shown in 
FIGS. 1 and 6, motor 81 runs both the back brushes B and also rod 65 that 
is located between the legs of the animal and its brushes B will run the 
undersurface of the abdomen and the inner part of the legs. If desired, 
this portion of the animal can be cleaned either manually with a glove or 
with the portable brush 48 as described in connection with FIG. 3. 
FIG. 7 shows a cross section of the apparatus taken on line 7--7 of FIG. 1. 
FIG. 7 shows the brushes B that are used for scrubbing the back of the 
animal and which are located on the upper lid of the apparatus and these 
are run by a motor 66 with its reducing gear (not shown) and axle 68. 
FIG. 8 shows an enlargement of a group of two adjacent brushes B and an 
associated shower head 79 that are located on a brush support rod, such as 
65, 69, 70, 71. Rod spacing is chosen according to the size of the animal. 
Three rods that are located on the left side of the animal in FIG. 1 are 
designated as 69, 70 and 71. These rods move reciprocably and horizontally 
for a short distance that is longer than the length of each brush so that 
with each reciprocal movement there is slight overlapping of the area 
where two adjacent brushes B on the same rod has scrubbed. Also, as is 
shown in FIG. 10, the brushes B of two adjacent rods can be made to 
slightly overlap by choosing a distance between the two rods which is 
slightly shorter than the width of each brush, so no area will remain 
unscrubbed. The brushes B move very slowly, each reciprocating movement 
taking a few seconds. The shape of the brush B as was described and slow 
movement reproduce the same action as if a person were using his fingers 
for scrubbing the back. It is very gentle to the animal. Because all of 
this brushing is done simultaneously and probably not more than 20 or 30 
seconds of such movement is necessary for completing the brushing and 
cleaning the animal, no more than a minute or two is spent for the entire 
cleaning operation and here is the principle that saves a tremendous 
amount of the time and effort by the cleaner. 
Besides slow motion, a few other factors help to achieve gentle scrubbing. 
The periphery of the brush B is rounded and does not have any sharp edges 
to injure the animal. Also as FIG. 8 shows each brush B moves a few 
degrees around an axis 72, in the direction of the movement so that the 
brush moves according to the contour of the body. Furthermore, a safety 
feature is the movement of the entire brush B inwardly along axis 73 in 
cylinder 74. The brush B is biased outwardly by a spring 75A. Spring 75 
should be a soft, flexible spring to keep gentle but sufficient pressure 
of the brush B against the animal's body, but with a change in contour, 
the brush easily moves in and does not harm the animal. 
Another factor that helps achieve efficiency and comfort is provision of 
means to adjust the position of brush holding cylinder 74 in relation to 
the contour of the body of the animal. The brushes B are located in such a 
way that in their cross section arrangement at each given plane they 
resemble the shape of the cross section of the animal at that plane (see 
FIG. 7). Preferably, this is achieved by an adjustable dummy of an animal 
that the owner will purchase and is sized according to the species of the 
animal that he intends to wash. By using a measuring instrument M such as 
shown in FIG. 11, measurements are made of the different areas of the 
animal body and the dummy is adjusted so that it is the size of the 
animal. The dummy is put in the enclosure E where the animal will stand 
and then, by pulling a handle 77 of FIG. 12, releases all of the brushes 
in that group by pulling upward on a frame AF which is shown in FIG. 12. 
As FIGS. 9 and 13 show, this will disengage the securing member 74B from 
the toothed area 74A of the top of cylinder 74. Then cylinder 74 moves 
forward by the action of spring 75 and stops when brush B has touched the 
body of the dummy. As handle 77 is released, all of the brushes B are 
locked in a position that accommodates the shape of the animal. FIG. 14 
shows the surface of a brush B. FIG. 8 shows a water line 78 that runs 
under cylinders 74, as is shown in FIG. 9, and which provides water or 
warm air to the shower head 79. 
The movement of the brushes B can be achieved by moving the brushes in each 
support frame 84, 85, 86 together by a common driven pulley P as is shown 
in FIG. 12. A group of pulleys (not shown) are driven by common motor for 
the 3 segments of left group. Other motors drive the right group, the 
front row, and the rear group. It is to be understood that this creates a 
reciprocal movement of the brushes B and shower heads 79 together. FIG. 12 
shows the springs 82 and 83 that keep the rod support frame down against 
the cylinders. 
This reciprocal movement can be achieved in another way, as is shown in 
FIG. 17 and FIG. 18. The brushes B of each segment are fixed with the 
shower head 79 in different rows on a solid member 85 and that solid 
member 85 moves in another frame 87 as shown in FIG. 17. For example, in 
FIG. 17 these frames 87 are connected but the members 84, 85 and 86 that 
contain the brushes B are not connected and each one moves separately in 
frame 87, preferably on a roller for ease of movement. These movable 
frames are numbered 84, 85, 86 and the surrounding frame is designated by 
the number 87. As FIGS. 17 and 18 show, a common motor like 81 moves the 
screws 88, 89, 90 and these screws are run through pulleys 91, 92, 93 and 
the guiderails 94, 95, 96, 97, 98 and the belt or chain 99. Each segment 
85, for example, moves in reciprocating movement after the screw 89 drives 
a worm gear 100 and, as is apparent, this, acting through the arms 101 and 
102, moves the segment 85 and the brushes B back and forth. 
The kind of brush B that was hereinbefore described is used in a preferred 
embodiment of the invention. In the following description, two other 
embodiments of the invention are described. Instead of non-rotatable 
brushes B, rotary cylindrical brushes 108 or 132 with numerous soft 
bristles or fibers F can be employed to gently brush the body of the 
animal as the cylinder rotates. A mechanism for effecting rotation of the 
brushes 108 is shown in FIGS. 15 and 16. FIG. 16 shows that each segment 
85 could have its own motor 103 that by its pulley P and chain or belt C 
moves a group of the vertically located pulleys P1 and those pulleys 
through secondary pulleys P2 move all of the pulleys and cylinders on that 
line. Then, each segment 85 according to the mechanism described in FIGS. 
17 and 18 will have a reciprocating movement so it will cover the entire 
surface of the animal as was described for the brushes B. Here again, as 
FIG. 15 shows, the springs 104 after the frame 105 has been pulled up will 
bring the cylinder 106 outward so the cylinder will take the position that 
is in accordance with the contour of the animal and, after locking system 
105 is released, will lock the cylinder in the position. FIG. 15 shows a 
supply line 107. Cylinder roller 108 has fiber bristles F. As the pulley 
110 rotates, the cylinder 111 also rotates and moves shaft 112. Shaft 112 
moves gears 113 and gear 114 to move cylinder 108. As is seen, cylinder 
111 and 112 telescope to allow adjustment of the position of the brush 
108. 
The third embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 19, 20 and 21 can be 
used for larger and stronger animals, such as horses and cattle. The 
animal is placed in the center of the enclosure E, as FIG. 19 shows. The 
numerals 115, 116, 117, 118 designate the straps for securing the feet of 
the animal and the line 119 designates the cross section of the body of 
the animal to show its location. A double rail 120 that takes the shape of 
the body of the animal is fixed to the wall of the enclosure E in such 
locations as 121, 122, 123, 124 and so forth. The shape of the rail 120 
remains the same for one species of animal, for example, but it can be 
constructed in such a way that, if the owner changes the species of the 
animal, the shape of the rail 120 can be changed or it can be replaced to 
go with the shape and size of the animal. The double rails 120 houses 
rollers 125, 126, shown also in FIG. 20. Also, below rail 120 is another 
rail 120A to house roller 127 to keep the movable parts stabilized. The 
rotary cylinder brush 132 with its soft bristles could be a single brush 
that goes 360.degree. around the rail and then reverses its movement, or 
there may be two brushes 132 installed, each one operating through a 
180.degree. arc. Or, two or more brushes that are installed in a vertical 
line to cover areas of different height on the animal could be employed, 
rather than choosing a long brush to extend from the top to the bottom of 
the animal. In such case, each brush moves on separate rails (not shown) 
installed as vertically spaced parallel rails. As is shown in FIG. 20, 
motor 128 rotates cylinder 129 which rotates cylinder 130 and gear 131 to 
eventually rotate cylinder 132. Element 133 is a reduction gear box. Also, 
motor 128 moves a series of reduction gears 134 that eventually turn the 
rollers 125, 126 which move the apparatus along the rail 120. A chain or 
belt 140 moves roller 127 and this acts to keep the mechanism straight and 
in place and also helps in its movement. In this embodiment there is only 
one or merely a few brushes, Thus, automatic adjustment of the length of 
the cylinder 135 is not necessary. Adjustment can be done manually by 
removing pin 136 and adjusting the length of the cylinder by telescopic 
action and replacing the pin. Of course, this roller brush 132 and the 
brush 108 that was described before should preferably be provided, where 
necessary, with plenty of drainage facilities so dirt cannot clog and 
cause malfunctions, 
For the back of the animal a separate brush 138, shown in FIG. 21 has been 
devised. Motor 137 drives brush 138 through a reduction gear (not shown) 
and a series of rollers such as 139 and 142 are on opposite ends. These 
rollers move on the alternate rails 140, 141 that have been shown in FIG. 
19. If desired, a brush that moves in the same manner on rails 142, 143 
could be provided for brushing the underside of the abdomen and legs. 
Here, the heights of the rails should be adjustable to locate the brush at 
the proper distance from the back and the abdomen. 
The drive and transmission systems that are herein described can be 
constructed in differently than disclosed to do the same job. 
It should be noted that in the first and second embodiments of the 
invention, when adjusting the length of the brush cylinders 74 and 106 
automatically, each unit is moved on the roller guides 146 up to a point 
144, as is shown in FIG. 6 in the left-hand group of brushes, and then the 
handle 77 of FIG. 12 is pulled upward. In this case the cylinders 74 and 
106 move forward by the action of springs 145-104 and stop according to 
the contour of the animal body at that point. Then, as the handle 77 or 
105 is released, the locking frame will come down and lock the cylinders 
in position. Now, this position usually will not change and should remain 
the same for a long time and readjustment should not be necessary. Then, 
the groups of brushes are pulled back to point 146B (FIG. 6) so the 
brushes B will be completely out of the way to allow the animal to be 
placed in enclosure E. When the group of brushes B is moved to point 146A, 
the distance is about a third or a fourth of the length of cylinder 73 
away from the point 144. At this point, as FIG. 7 shows, the locking into 
position can be done by means such as by vertical rods 160 that move from 
an anchor plate 147 attached to the wall of the enclosure E down through 
rings 148, 149, attached to the surface of this brush support frame 80 
down to an elevated ring 150 that is attached to the floor F. At point 
146A the brushes B are pressing softly against the body of the animal and 
cylinder 73 is half out. If the animal moves an inch or two from one side 
to the other side the cylinder 74 moves in and out and the brush B 
constantly remains in contact with the body of the animal. 
Operation 
The lid over one of the openings, such as the door is raised and the animal 
is placed in the enclosure. Its legs are strapped down and the 
immobilization rests are put in place. Assume that a liquid soap has 
already been placed in a soap container 151 and that water has been 
already put in tank 1 with the desired temperature. Assume that the water 
supply valves 2 and 3 (FIG. 1) have been closed to prevent further 
entrance of the water into the tank 1 to prevent a change in the 
temperature of the water. Air vent 152 is necessary and is connected to 
the sewer system to allow atmospheric pressure on the top of the water and 
also to drain the overflow water if this happens accidentally. If 
preferred, a water level switch (not shown) in the tank 1 could be 
provided to ring a bell (not shown) or turn on a light (not shown) to warn 
the user to turn the water off. Water shut-off can be done automatically. 
Then, by actuating a switch (not shown) pump 24 will send the soapy water 
through different shower heads 79 on the animal and after a short time 
such as a minute or so, by actuating another switch (not shown) the 
brushes B start scrubbing the animal. This should not take more than a 
minute or two and an automatic relay (not shown) can be installed to shut 
off the brushing mechanism in the case that the operator forgets each one 
of these mechanisms. Then, by actuating another switch (not shown), the 
pump 24 provides more water from the tank 1 and sprays it on the animal 
while the brushes are still moving. This will rinse the animal of soap and 
dirt. Then by actuating another switch (not shown) valve 25 will shut off 
and valve 43 opens up and subsequently the electric elements (not shown) 
in blower 42 become hot and shortly after the blower starts blowing warm 
air through the shower heads on the animal for drying. This should not 
take more than a few minutes. Then the animal is taken out of the 
enclosure E and, if it is necessary, additional styling of the fur can be 
done by a manual blower and comb and brush. However, prior to drying the 
animal it might be necessary to clean underneath the abdomen and the inner 
part of the legs with hand and glove or by the manual brush 48 shown in 
FIG. 3. After the animal has been removed, the spray arm (not shown) is 
installed on shaft 52 of pump 53 and this will turn the enclosure E into a 
self-cleaning machine. The animal cleaning function can be regulated by a 
timer (not shown) that automatically and subsequently can perform chosen 
cycles, such as for short haired or long haired animals, or animals that 
are clean and need a shorter cycle or those that are dirtier and need 
longer scrubbing.