Abstract:
An animal compartment assembly that has a roof that is supported by a sidewall. The sidewall has a door therein that is slidably within the sidewall. A floor supports the sidewall to complete the structure. There is a storage chamber that is disposed within the sidewall and has a door that opens to provide access to the storage chamber from outside the sidewall wherein items for the animal can be stored.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    This invention is directed to an animal compartment and more specifically, this invention is directed to an all inclusive animal compartment. 
         [0002]    Animal compartments are well known in the art and are used to house animals and protect them from adverse weather conditions such as cold temperatures and precipitation. While these animal compartments provide shelter for the dog, they often provide the bare minimum to care for an animal&#39;s life. Additionally, these animal compartments require daily maintenance by the animal&#39;s caretaker to provide food and water to the animal. 
         [0003]    Typically, because these animal compartments contain the bare minimum to care for an animal, they are inconvenient and add additional time to care for an animal as food, drugs, and water are not readily available. Therefore a need exists in the art for a device that addresses these deficiencies. 
         [0004]    Thus, an object of this invention is to provide an animal compartment that is more convenient to use. 
         [0005]    Another object of the present invention is to provide an animal compartment with storage capacity so that care items are readily available. 
         [0006]    These and other objects, features, or advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the specification and claims. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    An animal compartment having a roof, sidewall, and floor that form a hollow chamber. The sidewall has a plurality of doors that provide access to the hollow interior. Associated with one door is a food compartment, associated with a second door is a water device, and associated with a third door is a storage compartment. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]      FIG. 1  is a side plan view of an animal compartment assembly; 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  is a top plan view of an animal compartment assembly wherein the roof has been removed; 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  is a partial top plan view of a door in a closed position; 
           [0011]      FIG. 3A  is a partial top plan view of a door in an open position; 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  is a side sectional view of a food door in a closed position; 
           [0013]      FIG. 4A  is a side sectional view of a food door in an open position; 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  is a side sectional view of a water door in a closed position; 
           [0015]      FIG. 5A  is a side sectional view of a water door in an open position; 
           [0016]      FIG. 6  is a side sectional view of a storage door in a closed position; 
           [0017]      FIG. 6A  is a side sectional view of a storage door in an open position; 
           [0018]      FIG. 7  is a side sectional view of a storage door in a closed position; and 
           [0019]      FIG. 7A  is a side sectional view of a storage door in an open position. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0020]    An animal compartment  10  having a roof  12 , a sidewall  14  and a floor  16  that form a hollow chamber  18 . As one example, the roof  12  includes a plurality of struts  20  which form a strut network to support roof  12 . Struts  20  are connected to the sidewall  14  at a first end and are connected to a central member  22  at a second end. Alternatively, struts  20  are connected to a frame member  24  which extends downwardly at a first end of the strut  20 . A plurality of panels  26  are connected to struts  20 . Panels  26  extend at a slightly downward pitch from central member  22  towards sidewall  14 . At least one window  28  is positioned within a panel  28  which is made of a transparent or translucent material which allows light to pass therethrough to illuminate hollow chamber  18 . Alternatively, panel  26  is constructed of a transparent or translucent material. At least one vent  30  is connected to roof  12 . Vent  30  is preferably integral with central member  22  and is adjustable between an opened or closed position to allow air to flow into the hollow chamber  18 . Vent  30  is any form such as a square roof vent, a roof cap, a turbine roof vent, louvers, or the like. 
         [0021]    Connected to and extending upwardly from the central member  22  is lift member  32 . The lift member  32  has a shaft  34 , a bearing  36  which allows for rotation, and an I-bolt portion  38  for attachment to a leash, cable, chain or the like. Alternatively, lift member  32  is connected to any portion of roof  12 . Lift member  32  also functions as a hard-point to connect the animal compartment  10  to lift, move and place the animal compartment  10 . Additionally, an I-bolt portion  38  is connected to the interior of the roof  12 . 
         [0022]    Sidewall  14  is made of at least one piece, preferably arcuate in shape, or is made of several pieces forming any shape such as a square or rectangle. Sidewall  14  extends downwardly in vertical fashion in relation to the roof  12  at a top edge, to the floor  16  at a bottom edge. Sidewall  14  has at least one opening  42  which allows access to the hollow chamber  18 . Opening  42  is covered by a door  44 . Door  44  is preferably slidably connected to a rail  45  mounted to sidewall  14 . 
         [0023]    Sections of the sidewall  14  are cut to form a food door  46 , water door  48 , and a storage door  50  and are connected to the floor  16  by an conventional means such as a sliding rail, a drawer, a removable attachment such as a clip or the like. Preferably, the doors  46 ,  48  and  50  are hingedly connected to floor  16  or sidewall  14  by hinge  52  and have a handle  53  attached thereto. 
         [0024]    Feeding compartment  54 , which is connected to the feeding door  46  or sidewall  14  has an open top  56 , sidewalls  58 , and a bottom  60  that form a food compartment  61 . The food compartment  61  has a food storage section  62  and a feeding section  63  that are in communication with one another. The feeding section  63  has an opening  64  that permits access to the feeding section  63  by the animal. A resealable top  65  is formed to fit the open top  56 . 
         [0025]    A watering device  66 , which is connected to the water door  48  or sidewall  14 , has a top  67 A, a sidewall  67 B, and a bottom  67 C that form a water storage chamber  68 . The water storage chamber  68  is in fluid communication with a water dish  70  through an opening sealed by valve  72 . Valve  72  is of any type that permits flow of water from chamber  68  to dish  70  and preferably has an activation device  73  that permits flow when the water level in dish  70  reaches a predetermined level. Water is supplied to the watering device  66  from a pressurized source through a spigot  74  that preferably extends through sidewalls  14  and  67 B. In one example, the spigot  74  has a conventional attachment  76  such as a hose attachment or the like. 
         [0026]    Storage compartment  78  has a top wall  80 , a plurality of sidewalls  82  and bottom wall  84  which define a hollow interior chamber  86 . Connected to sidewalls  82 , and preferably extending therebetween, are shelves  88  which define separated areas for the separation and storage of animal related items within the storage compartment  78  such as extra food, toys, medicines, leashes, brushes, tools, bedding and the like. Preferably, shelves  88  define separated areas of varying size so as to accommodate both large bulky items, such as bags of food or bedding, and small items such as brushes and leashes. Alternatively, shelves  88  are connected to the interior side of storage door  50 . In another embodiment, storage compartment  78  is placed on a sliding drawer-type assembly  90  such that as the handle  53  connected to the storage door  50  is pulled; drawer-type assembly  90  slidably pulls out from animal compartment  10  providing access to storage compartment  78 . 
         [0027]    The floor  16  is of any type known in the art. Preferably floor  16  contains a heating element so as to warm the animal compartment  10 . 
         [0028]    In operation, a user connects one end of a leash, cable, chain or any other attachment device to the I-bolt portion  38  of lift member  32  and the opposing end to an animal. By way of the position of lift member  32  being above roof  12  and the rotating abilities of bearing  36  the animal has the ability to walk all the way around animal compartment  10 . To allow the animal to access the hollow chamber  18  the user opens door  44  which slides upon rail  45 . To restrict the animal to the hollow chamber, the user places the animal within the hollow chamber  18  and closes door  44  behind the animal. 
         [0029]    To allow ventilation of the hollow chamber  18  the user adjusts vents  30  to a desired open position. Alternatively, to restrict airflow to the hollow chamber  18  the user adjusts vents  30  to a closed position. 
         [0030]    To fill the feeding compartment  54  the user opens food door  46  by way of handle  53 . In a preferred embodiment the food door  46  rotates outwardly upon hinge  52  positioned at the bottom of food door  46  thereby exposing feeding device  54 . The user then removes the resealable top  58  and fills the food storage chamber  56  with a bulk portion of food. As the animal consumes food from food dish  64 , food contained within storage chamber  56  migrates downwardly by the force of gravity, through the opening in bottom  62 , and into food dish  64 . 
         [0031]    Similarly, to access the watering device  66  the user opens water door  48  by way of handle  53 . In a preferred embodiment the water door  48  rotates outwardly upon hinge  52  positioned at the bottom of water door  48  thereby exposing watering device  66 . The user then fills the watering device  66  through the top of the water storage chamber  68 . Alternatively, the user fills the water storage chamber  68  through spigot  74  by pouring water down spigot  74  or by way of attaching a hose to conventional attachment  76 . 
         [0032]    To access the storage compartment  78 , the user opens the storage door  50  by way of handle  53 . In a preferred embodiment the storage door  50  rotates outwardly upon hinge  52  positioned at the bottom of storage door  50  thereby providing the user with access to storage compartment  78 . Alternatively, as the user pulls on handle  53  the storage door pulls out upon a drawer-type arrangement  90  thereby providing the user with access to storage compartment  78 . In this way the user removes and replaces animal related items upon shelves  88  within the hollow interior chamber  86  of the storage compartment  78 . 
         [0033]    From the above discussion it will be appreciated that the all inclusive animal compartment  10  described above improves upon prior art animal houses, is more convenient to use, and provides storage for ready access. Therefore, the all inclusive animal house described above achieves all of the above stated objectives. 
         [0034]    It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other various modifications could be made to the device without parting from the spirit and scope of this invention. All such modifications and changes fall within the scope of the claims and are intended to be covered thereby.