Abstract:
This invention provides a device by which a dog owner can conveniently pick up fecal matter deposited on the ground by his dog. The device can be operated by the dog owner without bending over and it has containers that move toward one another to pick up the fecal matter and then telescope to enclose it in a package that can be removed from the frame by which the container parts are held down on the ground and guided during the operation of the device.

Description:
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     There are lots of ways of picking up fecal matter dropped by a dog such as use of a shovel or hoe from which the matter picked up can be dropped into a bag; but this often leaves the dog owner with a dirty and smelly shovel or hoe which is difficult and unpleasant to clean up. 
     Depending upon the nature of the ground, whether hard, sandy or grassy, the shovel or hoe may push the matter along the ground instead of moving under it into a position to pick it up. This invention provides a container at the lower end of a frame by which the container can be held down on the ground, and provides also means for moving fecal matter on the ground into the container in response to the operation of a manual control at the top part of the frame. The means for moving the fecal matter is preferably a second container that moves toward the first container and that telescopes with the first container to form a package in which the fecal matter is enclosed. 
     If the outside of the package has become dirty from its contact on the ground, it can be dropped into a bag; and since only the parts of the package touch the fecal matter and are disposable items, there is no cleaning of the pick-up device after each operation. 
     Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear or be pointed out as the description proceeds. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING 
     In the drawing, forming a part hereof, in which like reference characters indicate corresponding parts in all the views: 
     FIG. 1 is a side elevation showing the frame by which the containers of this invention are held in place and operated; 
     FIG. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional view of the frame, taken on the line 2--2 of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is an enlarged, sectional view on the line 3--3 of FIG. 1, with the containers shown in section and positioned on horizontal guides of the device in position for starting a pick-up operation; 
     FIG. 4 is an isometric view of the left-hand container shown in FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 5 is a sectional view on the line 5--5 of FIG. 4; 
     FIG. 6 is an isometric view of the right-hand container before it is mounted on the guides; 
     FIG. 7 is a greatly enlarged sectional view taken on the line 7--7 of FIG. 3, but with one container inserted part way into the other near the start of a pick-up operation; and 
     FIG. 8 is a fragmentary view of the part of the structure shown in FIG. 7 but with the parts in the positions they occupy near the end of a pick-up stroke, at the line 8--8. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     FIG. 1 shows a pick-up device 10 with an upwardly extending handle portion 12 by which the device can be conveniently held when carrying it or when in use. Guides 16 extend horizontally from the upwardly extending element 12 and parallel to each other; and these guides 16 extend along the ground when the device is in use and they serve as guides for holding containers 18 and 20 at ground level (FIG. 3) for picking up fecal matter 21 from the ground. 
     When the device is to be operated to pick up and package the fecal matter, the guides 16 are brought into position so that the matter 21, to be picked up, is between the guides 16 and under the container 18, as shown in FIG. 3. Before describing the way in which the containers 18 and 20 are correlated with the guides 16, it is necessary to understand the cross-section of the guides 16 and that of the containers 18 and 20, as shown in FIGS. 3, 4, 6 and 7. 
     The container 20 has a bottom 28 with side walls 26 extending from it to provide curved flanges 30, the purpose of which will be described in connection with FIG. 7. The container 20 may also have a back wall 32 which extends a short distance upward from the bottom 28 between the side walls 26. 
     FIGS. 4 and 5 show the container 18 which has a top wall 34, side walls 36, a back wall 38 and a front wall 39. There are curved flanges 40 projecting outwardly from the walls 36 and curving upwardly and outwardly, the purpose of which will be described in connection with FIG. 7. A generally Tee shaped runner 37 extends lengthwise along the outside of each of the flanges 40. 
     FIG. 7 shows one of the guides 16 formed with a slot 42 which opens through the side of the guide 16 and into a hollow interior of the guide, this interior being designated by the reference character 45. The flange 40 of the container 18 snaps into a groove 46 in a side of the guide 16 below the slot 42. The groove 46 can extend for the full length of the guide 16 or for only a portion of the guide length. 
     The curved flange 30 of the side wall 26 of the container 20 is placed under the guide 16, and bends around the guide 16 to overlap the outer end of the slot 42, as shown in FIG. 7. A projection 47 is connected to a slide 49 that fits loosely in the interior of the guide 16. This projection 47 extends through and beyond the slot 42, and into an opening 51 (FIG. 7) in the side wall 26. A knob 53, on the end of the projection 47, is a snug fit in the opening 51 and thus buttons the side wall 26 to the projection 47. p The knob 53 can be disengaged from the opening 51 automatically at the end of a pick-up stroke by having the projection 47 continue its movement after the containers are fully telescoped into one another. This causes the knob 53 to come unbuttoned from the opening 51. 
     Referring again to FIGS. 2 and 3, a flexible cable 52 extends through the hollow interior of the guide 16 and passes around curved surfaces 54 to a vertical run of the cable 52 along the inside of the handle element 12 to a slide 56 (FIG. 2) within the handle element. 
     The cables 52 in both of the guides 16 connect with the slide 56, as shown in FIG. 2, or they can be connected together below the slide 56 and have a common element connecting them to the slide 56. A spring 60 is stretched between the slide 56 and an upper part 58 of the handle element. This spring maintains tension on the cables 52 and pulls the moveable container 20 (FIG. 3) along the guides 16 until a front lip 62 (FIG. 3) of container 20 passes under the matter 21 and tends to center the matter in the container 20 as a result of the shape of the lip 62 which curves or slopes rearwardly toward the center line of the container 20. 
     This leading edge 62 is preferably a curved chisel edge, so that it tends to dig under the fecal matter 21. The front edge 62 is originally placed under the rearward ends of the flanges 40 of the stationary container 18, as shown in FIG. 3. The front edge 62 slides under the fecal matter 21 as the moving container 20 telescopes into the container 18 until the wall 32 (FIG. 6) contacts or becomes flush with the wall 38 (FIG. 4) of container 18. 
     The runners 37 extend into a groove 70 (FIGS. 6 and 7) and can be used to hold the containers 18 and 20 in assembled relation with one another, since the flange 30 presses the groove 79 into engagement with the runner 37 to hold the inner flange 40 always engaged with the groove 79 of the flange 30. In the preferred construction, the containers are also latched together when they reach fully telescoped relation with one another. A projection 80 (FIGS. 4 and 8) extending outward from the surface of the runner 37 contacts with the inside surface of the curved surface 30 during telescoping of the containers 18 and 20. At the completion of a pick-up stroke, there is an opening 82 (FIGS. 6 and 8) into which the projection 80 enters to prevent further movement of the containers with respect to one another. There are other ways in which parts of the containers can engage one another; and the projection 80 and opening 82 are representative of means for locking the containers in fully engaged relation at the end of a pick-up stroke. 
     Referring again to FIG. 2, the slide 56 is secured to a short shaft 76 that extends through a slot 78 in a wall of the handle portion 12. A knob 77 at the outer end of the shaft 76 is used to push the slide 56 downward to tension the spring 60. The spring can be held under tension by moving the shaft 76 circumferentially into a bayonet offset 80. This leaves the cables 52 slack. 
     By tilting the device so that the free ends of the guides are lowermost, the slides 49 in the guides 16 slide in directions to take up any slack in the cables 52. The containers 18 and 20 are then placed on the guides 16, as shown in FIG. 3, with the ends of the flanges 30 projecting for a short distance under the flanges 40. 
     When a pick-up is to be made, the device is placed on the ground with the open bottom of the container 18 located directly over the fecal matter 21. The knob 77 is shifted to the left in FIG. 1, and the spring 60 (FIG. 2) pulls the slide 56 upward. This pulls the container 20 into and under the container 18 enclosing the matter in a box formed by the containers 18 and 20 and locked together by the runners 37 and grooves 79; and by the projection 80 engaged in the opening or recess 82, as shown in FIG. 8. The box or package is disengaged from the guides 16 by pulling the flanges 30 outward to disengage them from the projections 47 and knob 53, and then pushing the assembled containers downward to disengage the flange 40 from the slot 46, or sliding the telescoped container off the ends of the guides remote from the upwardly extending element 12. 
     The containers 18 and 20, movable along guide means, are representative of means for moving container into a position on the ground close to fecal matter which is to be picked up, and apparatus for moving the fecal matter into the container by means of motion-transmitting means controlled from a handle at a location which does not require the operator to bend over to move the element that pushes the fecal matter into the container. 
     The preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, but changes and modifications can be made and some features can be used in different combinations without departing from the invention as defined in the claims.