Abstract:
A device for collecting and disposing of pet waste includes a housing containing a vacuum source. The housing is configured to receive a disposable liner bag. When closed, the housing holds the liner bag securely therein. The mouth of the bag is fed through the access port of the device such that the access port is insulated from contact with the waste being picked up. A bail holds the bag in place. A filtered bag is presented for use in the device.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application is the utility conversion of two U.S. Provisional Applications. This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Appl. No. 61/820,528, filed May 7, 2013. This application also claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Appl. No. 61/675,995, filed Jul. 26, 2012. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present application relates to the field of pet waste collection and handling. More particularly, the described embodiments relate to a powered device to retrieve pet waste from the ground or floor and store the waste in a disposal bag. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Pet waste cleanup is a relatively unpleasant chore for pet owners; yet, failure to clean up pet waste poses environmental hazards due to polluted ground water. Typical devices for waste collection have included shovels, scoopers and bags. These devices can be difficult to use and can become contaminated with waste during use. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows a first embodiment of the present invention a perspective view. 
         FIG. 2  shows the embodiment of  FIG. 1  with a bail in the down position. 
         FIG. 3  shows the embodiment of  FIG. 1  with a side door open exposing a bag. 
         FIG. 4  shows the embodiment of  FIG. 1  with an access door closed. 
         FIG. 5  shows a rear plan view of the embodiment of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 6  shows a front plan view of the embodiment of  FIG. 1 , with the access door closed. 
         FIG. 7  shows a left side plan view of the embodiment of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 8  shows a top plan view of an alternative embodiment of a bag for use in the present invention. 
         FIG. 9  shows the bag of  FIG. 8  without filter material, thereby exposing a hole in the bag. 
         FIG. 10  shows a plastic sheet that can be used to create the alternative embodiment bag. 
         FIG. 11  shows the plastic sheet of  FIG. 10  with a filter material attached to cover the holes. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIGS. 1 through 7  show a device  10  for picking up and facilitating the disposal of solid pet waste. The device has a housing  20  that contains a battery  70  that powers an internal vacuum source  75  to exhaust a collection compartment  25 . A side door  45  opens to provide access to the collection compartment  25 , as shown in  FIG. 3 . The device has a handle portion  15  built into the housing  20  for carrying the device. In one embodiment, the handle portion has a soft, grip portion  16  that is made of a softer, more pliable material then the rest of the housing  20 . A button  17  on the handle portion  15  controls power to the vacuum source  75 . In the preferred embodiment, pressing the button  17  both powers the vacuum source  75  and illuminates an LED light  80  on the front side of the housing  20 . 
     An access door  50  pivots about a hinges  55  to open and close the door  50 . While  FIGS. 1-3  show the device  10  with the access door open,  FIGS. 4, 6 and 7  show the device  10  with the access door closed. The access door  50  is designed so that it does not interfere with use of the LED light  80 . In the closed position, the LED light  80  shines through a hole in the housing  20  and the access door  50 , as can best be seen in  FIG. 4 . When the access door  50  opens, a semi-circle opening at the edge of the door  50  flips from the bottom to the top of the LED light  80  as to avoid interfering with this light  80 . 
     When the access door  50  is open, it exposes a bail  40  and an access port  35  to the collection compartment  25 . The bail  40  swings via hinges  46  that are co-axial with the hinges  55  of the access door  50 . The housing  20  is designed with a plurality of indentations  42  that are sized and position to interface with protrusions  44  on the back side of the bail  40 . As shown in  FIG. 1 , the bail  40  can be swung upwards away from the indentations  42  of the housing  20  along with the access door  50 .  FIG. 3  shows both the access door  50  and the bail  40  in their extreme open positions, with the bail  40  received inside the access door  50 . 
     The access port  35  provides a broad opening to the collection compartment  25  for the receipt and collection of solid pet waste. In the preferred embodiment, the access port  35  comprises a short, cylindrical tube that is capable of sliding relative to the device housing  20 . This tube is directly connected to a sliding pin  37 , found on the left side of the device  10  as shown in  FIG. 7 . This pin  37  slides within slot  39 . When the pin  37  is slid toward the interior of the device  10  (as shown in  FIG. 7 ), the access port  35  is withdrawn into the device  10 . When the pin  37  is slid within slot  39  toward the exterior of the device  10 , then the tube of the access port  35  is extended outward away from the housing  20  of the device  10 . In the preferred embodiment, the tube of the access port  35  slides a distance between 1 and 5 cm. 
     Before using the device, a liner bag  30  must be inserted into the collection compartment  25 . The liner bag  30  has an open mouth  32  through which solid waste can enter the bag, and a plurality of holes or apertures  34  through which the vacuum device can pull air through the bag  30 . To insert the bag  30 , the side door  45  of the device  10  is opened as shown in  FIG. 3 . The majority of the bag  30  is then positioned in the collection compartment  25 . The mouth  32  of the bag  30  is passed through the access port  35  and then folded back over the top of the access port  35 . In effect, the interior of the bag  30  is turned outward to cover and protect the access port  35 . This prevents the pet waste from ever coming into contact with the access port  35 , as only the interior of the bag comes into contact with the waste. An optional extension tube  31  may be used to increase the effective length of the access port  35 . The extension tube internal diameter is seen in the deployed state in  FIG. 1  and it is shown in the retracted position in  FIG. 2 . In general a sufficient amount of the bag  30  is pulled through the access port along with the extension tube so as to allow the bag to be held in place by the bail  40 . The bail  40  is in the open position shown in  FIG. 3  when the bag  30  is positioned. When the bail  40  is then closed, the bail  40  traps the mouth  32  of the bag  30  between itself  40  and the housing  20  of the device  10 . The protrusions  44  of the bail  40  interface with the indentations  42  of the housing through the bag  30  itself to further secure the bag in place. 
     In use, the user grips a handle portion  15  of the device  10  and opens the access door  50  exposing the access port  35  covered by the mouth  32  of the bag  30 . The access port  35  is then extended away from the device using the sliding pin  37 . At this point, the user brings the access port  35  next to the solid waste. Then the user activates the vacuum system  75  via a switch  17  and the waste is sucked into the bag  30  within the collection compartment  25  of the housing  20 . Next the pin  37  is retracted and the door  50  is closed. At this point, the use is over save the removal and disposal of the liner bag  30 . 
       FIG. 5  shows a charging port  90  and a charge indicator light  92  on the rear of the device  10 . By applying a direct current using an external power supply to the charging port  90 , the internal battery  70  of the device  10  can be periodically recharged. During use, the rear of the device  10  is generally facing the user. This means that the charge indicator light  92  can be readily seen. In the preferred embodiment, the charge indicator light  92  glows steady during use to indicate that the device  10  has adequate battery power, and blinks when the internal battery  70  must be recharged. 
     The preferred embodiment  10  also includes a clip  60  with a spring loaded gate similar to those used in carabiners. By mounting the clip  60  on the front of the housing  20  forward of the handle  15 , the clip  60  is conveniently positioned so as to be attached to a leash for use while walking a dog. 
       FIGS. 8 and 9  show an alternative embodiment liner bag  100 . In this embodiment, the liner bag  100  has a front side and a back side that are joined together around the perimeter of the bag  100  except at the mouth or inlet portion  102 . As shown in  FIGS. 10 and 11 , the structure of the bag  30  is preferably formed by taking a single sheet  110  of plastic, such as polypropylene, and folding the sheet  110  on top of itself along fold line  112 . The edges of the bag  100  can be fused or otherwise bonded together to form a bag  100 , with the mouth or inlet portion  102  of the bag remaining unfused to allow waste to enter the bag  30 . This fusing can be done as part of the process that forms the bags  100  from the sheet  110  by using a hot blade that cuts the shape of the bag  100  from the folded plastic sheet  110  at the same time it melts the two sides of the bags  100  together. As shown in  FIGS. 10 and 11 , a plurality of bags  100  can be formed from a single folded sheet  110 . 
     In this embodiment, a hole  104  is formed on the front side of the bag  30 . The holes  104  for the bags  100  can be formed by cutting or melting the holes  104  into the plastic sheet  110  before the sheet  110  is folded along line  112 . This hole  104  in the bag  100  allows the vacuum  75  to create air flow through the bag  100  and pull pet waste through the access port  35  of the device  10 . To prevent the waste from exiting the bag  100  through hole  104 , the hole  104  is covered with a filter material  106  as shown in  FIG. 8 . In the preferred embodiment, this filter material  106  is attached to the plastic sheet  110  after the holes  104  are formed but prior to folding the sheet along line  112  and cutting out the bags  100 . In one embodiment, the filter material  106  is attached to the sheet  110  through the use of two hot rollers that roll along the back edge of the sheet  110  on either side of the holes  104 . In  FIG. 11 , the rollers would roll vertically along the sheet  110 . The hot rollers press through the plastic sheet  110  against the filter material  106 . Cold rollers press against the filter material  106  with the plastic sheet  110  and the filter material  106  passing between the hot and cold rollers. The hot rollers partially melt the plastic sheet  110  and bond the sheet to the filter material  106 . When the sheet  110  is then folded and the bags  100  are cut with a hot blade, the filter material  106  is then bonded at the top and bottom edges of the bag  100 . In this way, the filter material  106  is bonded to the plastic sheet on the front of the bag  100  completely around the hole  104 . By performing the steps in this order, neither the filter material  106  nor the front face of the bag  100  is bonded to the back of the bag  100  except where desired around the circumference of the bag  100  (excluding the mouth  102 ). When the bag  100  is used in the device  10 , the vacuum pulls air through the mouth  102 , and out the hole  104  and the filter material  106 , drawing pet waste through the mouth  102  of the bag  100  and the access port  35  of the device. 
     Since the vacuum will cause air to pass through the bag  100  and pass through outlet ports in the device, another improvement to the bag  100  is to provide a pleasant scent to the filter material  106  in order to minimize the smell of the pet waste. The device  10  can also incorporate a pliable gasket to help create a seal when the access door  50  is closed to further help reduce odors. 
     The many features and advantages of the invention are apparent from the above description. Numerous modifications and variations will readily occur to those skilled in the art. For instance, the alternative embodiment bags could be formed of two separate sheets of plastic rather than folding a single sheet over to form the back surface of the bag. Since such modifications are possible, the invention is not to be limited to the exact construction and operation illustrated and described. Rather, the present invention should be limited only by the following claims.