Wall shelf amusement device for cats

Shelves for assembling climbing apparatus on the walls of a building, for affording exercise and amusement to climbing pets such as cats. Each shelf has a horizontal platform and a vertical depending flange. The platform and flange have common flat rear surfaces. The flange has holes for accepting fasteners for mounting the shelf to the wall. Both the platform and the flange have rounded corners. The platform has a downwardly open, blind threaded hole for receiving a hook or the like, for suspending objects from the shelf. Preferably, the shelves are provided in sets or kits of at least three shelves differently configured from one another. One difference is that of relative widths. Another difference is that one shelf is configured to cooperate with a corner formed by intersecting walls of the building. A method of providing amusement and exercise to a cat comprises the steps of mounting the shelves in spaced apart locations on one or more walls such that a cat can climb the shelves by jumping from shelf to shelf.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
 1. Field of the Invention
 The present invention relates to apparatus which provides shelves or ledges
 enabling a cat to perch at the side of a wall of a building, for exercise,
 amusement, and to obtain superior vantage points for viewing. The
 invention provides a kit or plurality of shelves readily attached to
 finished walls and partitions of residences and similar buildings, so that
 a pet cat or other animal inclined to climb can indulge itself in climbing
 and sitting on the perch afforded by a given shelf. Owners of pets and
 those desiring to display animals, such as pet store owners, zoo
 operators, experimenters, and those establishing educational displays can
 employ the novel kit to build perches usable by cats and other animals.
 2. Description of the Prior Art
 Cats and other domesticated animals given the run of the residence of their
 owner frequently enjoy climbing to a vantage point high in the residence
 or other building where they are kept, for exercise, amusement, and to
 obtain superior vantage points for viewing. Normally, ordinary furniture,
 drapes, and other commonplace household objects meet this need. However,
 such objects are not designed for this type of use, and may become damaged
 when a pet climbs thereon. Shelves dedicated to pets would answer this
 need.
 Shelves attachable to walls and partitions are known. Shelves adapted for
 flush mounting on a wall are seen in U.S. Pat. No. 5,706,737, issued to
 Stephen P. Whitehead et al. on Jan. 13, 1998, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,755,343,
 issued to Louis A. Harvey, Sr., on May 26, 1998. In each case, the subject
 patent does not suggest providing a kit of a plurality of related although
 differently configured shelves, and also does not provide shelves
 configured in the manner of the present invention.
 U.S. Pat. No. 1,984,610, issued to Harlow Warren on Dec. 18, 1934, shows an
 object suspended from the underside of a shelf. However, the shelf itself
 lacks a fastener which would cooperate with a corresponding fastener
 formed in the suspended object. By contrast with Warren, shelves of the
 present invention have fastening elements for suspending other objects
 from their undersides.
 U.S. Pat. No. 5,588,370, issued to Jonathan T. Longley on Dec. 31, 1996,
 shows a shelf designed to fit flush against intersecting walls. Longley's
 shelf is not configured in the manner of a corner shelf of the present
 invention, lacking a dependent flange, screw holes, and threaded blind
 holes for suspending an object from the underside of the shelf.
 The prior art fails to show a kit or plurality of similarly configured yet
 different shelves which would be suitable for forming a succession of
 shelves attachable to a wall or walls to form a staircase for climbing
 pets.
 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
 The present invention sets forth a kit of shelves which are readily
 installed on one or more walls of a typical residential building, for the
 purpose of providing recreational facilities for cats and other climbing
 pets. Three varieties of shelves are provided. One is configured to fit
 square corners of intersecting walls. Two are configured for flush
 mounting to a flat wall. The latter two differ in shelf length.
 Each shelf has a horizontal support surface and a vertical depending flange
 for stabilizing the shelf. Mounting holes are formed in the vertical
 flange. Threaded blind holes are provided in the underside of the
 horizontal member so that hooks can be removably fixed thereto, for
 supporting objects such as hanging plant holders.
 Preferably, a plurality of shelves are mounted on one or more walls such
 that they collectively form a stairway. Individual shelves can be spaced
 apart from one another sufficiently to require that a pet ascend to the
 highest shelf by jumping from shelf to shelf. Pets, particularly cats,
 will thus be able to enjoy a modicum of exercise, while also having a
 vantage point located high in a room so that the pet will be able to view
 the entire room. A particularly advantageous location for the highest
 shelf is adjacent a window, so that the pet can observe the outdoors. One
 shelf is relatively wide or large so that an animal can turn around to
 descend.
 Of course, the same shelves may be employed for storage and display of
 objects as well as for exercise and amusement of animals. The shelves are
 configured to have flat surfaces for supporting objects, if desired.
 Accordingly, it is one object of the invention to provide indoor climbing
 apparatus for pets inclined to climb.
 It is another object of the invention to provide apparatus for a climbing
 pet to exercise and to have perches from which it may view the interior of
 a building.
 It is a further object of the invention that the climbing apparatus be
 readily installed on walls of a building.
 Still another object of the invention is to provide a suitable support for
 removably suspending objects in a room from a wall.
 An additional object of the invention is that each shelf be stable after
 being mounted on a wall or walls.
 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.
 These and other objects of the present invention will become readily
 apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
 FIG. 1 of the drawings shows three shelves 10, 12, 14 mounted flush on two
 flat walls 2, 4 of a building (not shown in its entirety). For the
 purposes of this invention, "flat" refers to planar nature of surfaces,
 and not to relation of a surface to a horizontal orientation. Shelves 10,
 12, 14 are disposed in a series in spaced apart relation in a progressive
 order of height. Progressive order of height signifies that any one shelf
 10, 12, or 14 is higher than one other adjacent shelf 10, 12, or 14, and
 lower than another adjacent shelf 10, 12, or 14. A shelf 10 or 14 located
 at either end of the series of shelves can, of course be adjacent to only
 one other shelf, when viewed from left to right or from right to left by
 an observer. Height will be understood to refer to location of a shelf 10,
 12, or 14 above the floor 6 of the building.
 Shelf 10 has a platform 16 and a flange 18 joined to and depending from
 platform 16. Platform 16 is characterized in having a flat, planar upper
 surface 20 having width indicated by arrow 22, and a flat, planar lateral
 surface 24 disposed perpendicularly to upper surface 20. Flange 18 extends
 along and continuously spans the entire width 22 of platform 16. Flange 18
 has a flat rear surface 26 which is coincident with lateral surface 24 of
 platform 16.
 Shelf 12 has a platform 28 and a depending flange 30 which are generally
 similar to those of shelf 10, although platform 28 and flange 30 differ,in
 width, indicated by arrow 32, from the width 22 of shelf 10. Shelf 14 has
 a platform 34 and a depending flange 36, but differs from shelves 10, 12
 in that shelf 14 is configured to be mounted in a corner established at
 the intersection of walls 2, 4. Both shelves 12, 14 have respective flat
 upper surfaces corresponding to upper surface 20 of shelf 10.
 To accommodate the corner, platform 34 of shelf 14 has perpendicularly
 arranged lateral surfaces 38, 40. Lateral surfaces 38, 40 are
 perpendicular both to each other and also to the flat upper surface of
 platform 34. Flange 36 is formed in two adjacent, intersecting sections
 42, 44 disposed perpendicularly to one another, so that shelf 14 will
 simultaneously contact walls 2 and 4 when mounted in the corner
 therebetween.
 FIGS. 2 and 3 show characteristics of shelf 10. Flange 18 of shelf 10 has
 two horizontally extending holes 46, 48 passing entirely through flange
 18, for accepting fasteners 50. Preferably, holes 46, 48 are stepped holes
 configured to receive the head 51 of fastener 50. A decorative cap 53 is
 configured to be frictionally retained within hole 46 (and also within
 hole 48), to conceal fastener 50. Upper surface 20 has an underside 52 in
 which are formed a blind threaded hole 54 for accepting a threaded hook 58
 or the like. Hook 58 enables objects such as a hanging toy 59 (which may
 take any of several forms of fabric or other flexible or flaccid material)
 to be suspended from shelf 10 if desired. A shelf 10, 12, or 14 may be
 located so that a toy 59 hangs down close to another shelf, so that a cat
 may play with toy 59.
 As seen in FIG. 3, lower corners 60, 62 of flange 18 are rounded.
 Corresponding forward corners 64, 66 of platform 16 are also rounded. This
 feature assists in avoiding damage and injury which could result from
 forceful contact with corners 60, 62, 64, 66, while not substantially
 reducing strength of either platform 16 or of flange 18.
 Strength of shelf 10 is further improved by monolithic construction. This
 is shown in FIG. 2, wherein it will be seen that shelf 10 is
 monolithically formed as a single component from a suitable synthetic
 resin. Shelf 10 thereby avoids joints which would otherwise be present if
 shelf 10 were fabricated, for example, from two wooden boards joined
 together. Rather, shelf 10 can be injection molded in a single operation,
 so that fastener holes 46, 48 and threaded hole 54, do not require
 separate drilling, tapping, or other steps to be incorporated into shelf
 10. Shelves 12 and 14 have similar construction, apart from differences in
 dimensions and proportions, and in the case of shelf 14, the nature of
 flange 36.
 Turning now to FIG. 4, shelf 14 is seen to have two fastener holes 68, 70
 and a downwardly open threaded holes 54 formed in platform 34.
 Intersecting flange sections 42, 44 are similar having two fastener holes
 and a downwardly open threaded hole. Only one fastener hole 76 and one
 threaded hole 54 are visible in the view of FIG. 4.
 The invention is preferably provided in the form of a kit 100 of shelves
 10, 12, and 14. Kit 100 includes at least of each type of shelf 10, 12, or
 14, and is contained within a suitable enclosure 102. Enclosure 102 may
 be, for example, a corrugated paper carton of the type typically employed
 for displaying merchandise in retail establishments. Any number of any of
 shelves 10, 12, or 14 may be included in kit 100. Kit 100 includes printed
 instructions 104 for assembly. Instructions 104 may be provided as a
 separate sheet of paper, as shown in FIG. 5, or alternatively may be
 printed on enclosure 102.
 The invention may also be regarded as a method of providing indoor exercise
 and amusement for a climbing pet inside a building having walls, by
 employing kit 100. The novel method comprises the steps of mounting a
 first shelf, such as shelf 10, to wall 2 inside the building, mounting a
 second shelf, such as shelf 12, to wall 2 in a location spaced apart from
 the first shelf both horizontally and vertically, and mounting a third
 shelf, such as shelf 14, to wall 2 in a location spaced apart from both
 the first shelf and the second shelf both horizontally and vertically.
 Access to the erected shelves is then provided to a climbing pet.
 Full advantage of the invention is taken when one of the steps of
 assembling or erecting the shelves comprises a further step of locating
 one of the shelves in a corner formed at the intersection of walls 2, 4.
 Shelf 14 is located to contact both walls 2, 4 in simultaneous abutment
 therewith, as shown in FIG. 1. Preferably, shelves 10, 12, 14 are located
 in a progressive order of height, so that a climbing pet is afforded the
 highest possible perch with the fewest number of shelves being required.
 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.