Abstract:
A litterbox enclosure mounted on an exterior wall of a structure includes a gated passage permitting a pet free access to and from a litter container. The litter container may be filled and maintained from an outside location through an exterior access door. An exterior actuator handle pivots the container to discharge the contents into a lower chute to which a conventional plastic waste bag is secured, thereby avoiding direct contact between the attendant and the waste material.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit under 35 USC 121 of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/254,861 filed on Dec. 13, 2000 in the name of Ronald E. Clemmons and entitled “Exterior Litterbox”. 
     
    
     
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    The present invention relates to litterboxes for pets, and, in particular, to a litterbox mounted exterior of a dwelling for use by cats kept indoors as pets.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    A multitude of approaches have been taken for simplifying the maintenance of litterboxes used primarily for indoor pets such as cats. Efforts have also been made to simplify litter replacement without affecting adversely the needs of the pet or exposing the owner directly to soiled litter and accumulations. Inasmuch as cats often scratch and paw the litter after use, scattering of the contents is commonplace and presents an ongoing maintenance problem. Moreover, normal use presents odor problems and intensifies over time, periodically requiring manual cleaning of the soiled litter and accumulation and eventually removal and disposal of the contents.  
           [0004]    Numerous devices have been proposed for mounting litterboxes exterior of the normal indoor quarters. Many have taken the form of a roofed enclosure mounted on the exterior of the dwelling. The enclosure is accessible by the pet through adapting an existing window opening or modifying an existing exterior wall. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,970,914 to Steil et al. provides a shelter that is mounted on an exterior wall and accessible through an opening therein. A conventional litter box is releasably coupled to the base of the shelter. While removing the litterbox from the indoor space, limited ventilation is provided and odors may still be experienced. Moreover, cleaning and replacement of the litter requires decoupling the box and manually servicing the litter in a conventional fashion. A similar approach is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,350 to Vavrek wherein an outdoor enclosure, accessible through a wall opening, is provided with a litterbox that is exteriorally serviced and maintained.  
           [0005]    A window mounted litterbox is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,842,438 to Messmer wherein a conventional litterbox is located within a secondary compartment in an exterior housing. The litterbox is serviced in a conventional manner through an interior access door. Limited ventilation is provided by a pressure differential flap. Another widow-mounted litterbox is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,195,457 to Namanny wherein a litterbox located in an exterior enclosure is serviced in a conventional manner through an interior access door. A further window mounted litterbox is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No 5,165,366 to Harvey wherein a litterbox in an exterior enclosure may be removed exterior of the building for outdoor cleaning in the conventional manner. While removing the litter site from the indoor environment, servicing and disposal of the litter are handled in much the same manner as indoor boxes, requiring direct personal contact with the cleaning process. Improvements in ongoing disposal of pet wastes, particularly for birds, have been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,572,107 to Clarizo and U.S. Pat. No. 4,838,204 to Young; however, such systems are not amenable to litter-type systems.  
           [0006]    In view of the foregoing limitations of the prior art, it would be desirable to provide an exterior litterbox that is well vented to limit odor transfer to the interior, conveniently located for pet use, serviceable from an exterior location, and emptied without direct personal contact in the disposal process.  
         BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0007]    The present invention provides a litterbox that is mounted on an exterior wall of a structure and has a gated passage communicating with structure interior for permitting the pet free access to and from the litterbox. The litterbox may be filled and maintained from an outside location. As required, the litterbox may be conveniently emptied into a collection bag. The litterbox includes an actuator handle for pivoting the litterbox and discharging the contents into a lower chute to which a conventional plastic waste bag is secured, thereby avoiding direct contact between the attendant and the waste material.  
           [0008]    Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a cat litterbox that may be readily serviced from an exterior location.  
           [0009]    Another object is to provide an litterbox for indoor cats that is well illuminated and ventilated to prevent odor transfer to a building interior.  
           [0010]    A further object is to provide an exterior waste collection system wherein spent litter and accumulations may be discharged into a trash container without direct personal contact with soiled material.  
           [0011]    Yet another object is to provide a litterbox in an outdoor enclosure that may be conveniently emptied by remote actuation without direct contact with the litter container or contents. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]    The above features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 1 is a side cross sectional view of an exterior litterbox positioned at an exterior wall in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 2 is a front view of the exterior litterbox shown in FIG. 1;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the litterbox shown in FIG. 1;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 4 is a top view of the litterbox shown in FIG. 1;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view taken along line  5 - 5  in FIG. 4; and  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view taken along line  6 - 6  in FIG. 4. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0019]    Referring to the drawings for the purpose of describing the preferred embodiment and not for limiting same, FIG. 1 illustrates an exterior litterbox  10  mounted on the exterior wall  12  of a structure  14  for permitting entry of a pet  16  from the structure interior  18  through a portal  20  to an enclosed litterbox area  22  defined by a litterbox enclosure  24 .  
         [0020]    The litterbox  10  is provided with a pivoting container  30  containing conventional litter material  32 . As additionally shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, the container  30  is pivoted by actuating arm  34  to move the container from the normal position shown in the solid lines of FIG. 1 to the rotated disposal position shown in dashed lines to thereby discharge soiled litter material  32  downwardly through an annular opening  36  (FIG. 5) in a lower discharge chute  38  into a conventional plastic collector bag  39 .  
         [0021]    The pet  16  secures elective entrance and egress from the litterbox area  22  through a vertically disposed swinging door  40  disposed in the portal  20 . As described below, the portal  20  includes a flanged duct  94  communicating the interior  18  with the litterbox area  22 . The door  40  is pivotally supported by a hinge  23  positioned adjacent the inside wall of the interior  18 . Other fixed or flexible partitions may also be used to provide controlled access, and to provide a weather and odor barrier between the interior  18  and the litterbox area  22 .  
         [0022]    Referring additionally to FIGS. 2 and 3, the litterbox enclosure  24  has a generally rectangular horizontal cross section defined by a front wall  50 , side walls  52  and  54 , rear wall  56 . The walls  50 ,  52 ,  54 , and  56  are upwardly enclosed by an upwardly and rearwardly inclined top wall  58  and downwardly encompassed by the chute  38 . The rear wall  56 , as shown in FIG. 5, includes a rectangular opening  60  communicating with the portal  20  and a plurality of vertically projecting mounting tabs  62  for securing the enclosure in mounting position on the exterior wall of the structure by appropriate fasteners  64 . The side walls  52  and  54  are fixedly connected to the rear wall  56  and the front wall  50 , by fasteners or weldments. The components are the enclosure are formed of sheet metal component and provided with a weather resistant finish.  
         [0023]    The sidewalls  52 ,  54  contain rectangular apertures carrying horizontally oriented window panels  70  and vertically oriented ventilation panels  72  for respectively illuminating and ventilating the enclosure. The ventilation panels  72  are spaced from the litterbox area  22  by a vertical divider panel  121 , thereby permitting the circulation of fresh air throughout the litterbox  10  and without entry into the house  12 .  
         [0024]    The front wall  50  is provided with a rectangular opening that is covered by a rectangular access panel  82 . The access panel  82  is pivotally connected to the front wall  50  below the opening  80  by a hinge  84  for movement about a longitudinal horizontal axis between the illustrated closed position and a downwardly pivoted opened position providing access to the enclosure for replacement of litter material and interior maintenance. A keyed lock assembly  86  is mounted at the upper end of the access panel  82  for controlling exterior access.  
         [0025]    The enclosure  24  is provided with a slightly downwardly inclined base panel  90  adjacent the portal and between the container  30  and the portal  20  providing an entry alcove  92  for the pet and providing an outside resting area or a transition prior to the litterbox container  30 . The base panel  90  may be carpeted or otherwise embellished for comfort of the pet. The portal  20  includes the tubular duct  94  complementary to the portal opening having an inner flanged mounting panel  96  secured to an interior wall of the structure and an outer flanged mounting panel  98  secured to the rear wall  56 . The door  40  is pivotally suspended from the top or the duct  94  and covers the opening in a normal closed position to isolate the litter box from the interior of the structure while permitting the pet to pivot the trap door readily and sufficiently to gain entrance to and egress therefrom. The door  40  additionally functions as a weather and odor barrier between the interior and the enclosure.  
         [0026]    Referring to FIG. 6, the litter box container comprises a rectangular base  100  surrounded by peripheral walls  102  defining an upwardly opening receptacle for holding a desired amount of litter material  32 . The walls  102  are closely adjacent the front wall and side walls and have a slight clearance relation therewith. The rearward peripheral wall is provided with a rearwardly projecting lip  104  overlying the base panel  90  and establishing an affirmative stop in the normal position.  
         [0027]    Referring additionally to FIG. 5, a pair of laterally extending support shafts  110  are attached at proximal inner ends to the container. The shafts  110  are rotatably journaled at midportions in apertures in the side walls  52 ,  54 . The shafts  110  have distal outer ends projecting beyond the side walls. One shaft terminates with a stop arm  112 . The other shaft includes the actuator arm  34 . The stop arm  112  and the actuator arm  34  engage adjustable stops  116  attached to the side walls for limiting and adjusting the position of the container  30  in the normal position. The shafts are forwardly located on the container to provide an eccentric pivot axis for the container thereby providing gravitational biasing to the normal position. The actuator arm  34  includes a side arm  117  orthogonal to the shaft  110  and a laterally projecting handle  118 . As will be apparent the handle  118  may be manually rotated to permit an attendant to pivot remotely the container  30  between the aforementioned positions for emptying the litterbox container.  
         [0028]    The chute  38  is defined by downwardly and inwardly converging panels terminating with an annular flange  120  defining the discharge opening  39 . The flange  120  is provided an outwardly opening circumferential groove  122  for securing the litter collection bag  39  thereto by tie fastener  124 .  
         [0029]    In usage, the litterbox  10  is mounted on a selected exterior wall sufficiently above ground level to permit use of the collection bag while providing suitable interior access by the pet. A suitable opening is formed, initially or subsequently, for registering with the portal  20 . After installation, the access panel  82  is unlocked and opened and the litter material  32  disposed in the container  30 . The access panel  82  is closed and locked Thereafter, the pet may access the enclosure as needed or desired. When the litter material has been consumed and requires replacement, the attendant secures the collection bag to the chute  38  with the fastener  124 , The handle  118  is rotated to pivot the container  30  to the discharge position thereby depositing the contaminated material into the chute  38  and into the collection bag, without directly exposing the attendant to soiled litter and accumulations. Thereafter, the container is returned to the normal position. The access door is opened, the container refilled with litter material, the access door closed and use resumed.  
         [0030]    Having thus described a presently preferred embodiment of the present invention, it will now be appreciated that the objects of the invention have been fully achieved, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that many changes in construction and widely differing embodiments and applications of the invention will suggest themselves without departing from the sprit and scope of the present invention. The disclosures and description herein are intended to be illustrative and are not in any sense limiting of the invention, which is defined solely in accordance with the following claims.