Abstract:
An improved animal medical collar includes openings allowing pets, domestic, and captive wild animals wearing the medical collar to freely see and smell their surroundings while preventing access to a wound or surgical area. The openings are sized and spaced to allow the animal to view and smell it&#39;s surroundings and provides increased air circulation around the animal&#39;s head. Providing such viewing and perception of odors and scents relieves the stress and anxiety the animal would otherwise experience.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to animal medical collars and to dog medical collars in particular. 
         [0002]    It is often necessary or desired to fit a restrictive medical collar to an animal to restrict the animal from chewing or licking wounds, stitches, casts or braces, and the like. These medical collars are generally frusto conical in shape and fit around the animal neck and open forwardly around the animals head. U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,354 for “Collar for Mounting Around the Neck of an Animal,” discloses such a medical collar made from a flat arced shaped piece of material which may be folded into the frusto conical shape around an animal&#39;s neck and head to prevent the animal from chewing or licking an injury. The &#39;354 patent is herein incorporated by reference in it&#39;s entirety. 
         [0003]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,382,140 for “Apparatus and Method for Encapsulating an Animal&#39;s Head,” discloses a clear spherical medical collar however, such clear colors affect the animals vision and smell, and do not provide a natural experience to the animal. 
         [0004]    Unfortunately, these known designs for Cone Collars only permit the animal to see straight ahead (tunnel vision effect). While such collars are successful in preventing the undesirable behavior, they also often cause the animal wearing the medical collar to be nervous and may result in accidents and possibly further injury. Without peripheral vision the animal is in effect wearing blinders and will unwittingly catch, bump, or rub the collar on furniture, walls, doors and other objects creating an unsafe environment for both the animal and it&#39;s surrounding. The animal will naturally do this as a means of navigating its way, similar to a blind person adjusting their attitude with a cane or hands and arms outstretched. Many animals become so disoriented wearing a cone collar with their peripheral vision blinded, they enter into a state of depression and/or paranoia. Some animals refuse to eat. Others will not move about and most just stumble over things not visible from their perspective. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    The present invention addresses the above and other needs by providing an improved animal medical collar which includes openings allowing pets, domestic, and captive wild animals wearing the medical collar to freely see and smell their surroundings while preventing access to a wound or surgical area. The openings are sized and spaced to allow the animal to view and smell it&#39;s surroundings and provides increased air circulation around the animal&#39;s head. Providing such viewing and perception of odors and scents relieves the stress and anxiety the animal would otherwise experience. 
         [0006]    The improved medical collar of the present invention is created from a pliable, clear or semi-opaque, sheet plastic material, die cut to a semi-circle shape with a smaller inner semi-circle inset boundary incorporating collar and assembly attachment arrows. The die cut shape also contains multiple perforations of different size and shape windows throughout the body of the cone that may easily be removed. The veterinarian or animal husband simply positions the improved medical collar checking size, location of the eyes and ears of the animal in relation to the position of the windows. Selection and removal of windows that enhance peripheral vision, hearing, and ventilation outside the reach of the protected area will create a custom application. Thus providing the beneficial qualities of the design to be achieved without compromising the protective elements. The semi-circle plastic shape is then rolled about a central axis to form a truncated cone and assembly is completed with the fitting of the attachment arrows into designated slots accommodating animal&#39;s size to achieve a snug fit. The improved medical collar design also allows for this customization of the collar to be concurrent with the healing progression of the animals affected area(s) and a safer environment for the animal while the collar is in place. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING 
         [0007]    The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following more particular description thereof, presented in conjunction with the following drawings wherein: 
           [0008]      FIG. 1A  is a side view of a prior art medical collar worn by a dog. 
           [0009]      FIG. 1B  is a front view of the prior art medical collar worn by the dog. 
           [0010]      FIG. 2A  is a side view of an improved medical collar according to the present invention worn by the dog. 
           [0011]      FIG. 2B  is a front view of the improved medical collar according to the present invention worn by the dog. 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  shows the improved medical collar lying flat. 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  shows the improved medical collar rolled into a cone. 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  is a slot cut-out of the improved medical collar according to the present invention. 
           [0015]      FIG. 6  is a round cut-out of the improved medical collar according to the present invention. 
           [0016]      FIG. 7  shows a side view of the dog wearing the prior art medical collar and the resulting loss of vision. 
           [0017]      FIG. 8  shows a side view of the dog wearing the improved medical collar according to the present invention with openings providing vision and smell. 
           [0018]      FIG. 9  shows a side view of the dog wearing a second embodiment of an improved medical collar according to the present invention with fixed openings providing vision and smell 
       
    
    
       [0019]    Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding components throughout the several views of the drawings. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0020]    The following description is of the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the invention. This description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of describing one or more preferred embodiments of the invention. The scope of the invention should be determined with reference to the claims. 
         [0021]    A side view of a prior art medical collar  12  worn by a dog  10  is shown in  FIG. 1A , and a front view of the prior art medical collar  12  worn by the dog  10  is shown in  FIG. 1B . The prior art medical collar  12  prevents or restrict the dog  10  from chewing or licking wounds, stitches, casts or braces, and the like. Unfortunately, the prior art collar  12  prevents the dog  10  from seeing and smelling it&#39;s surroundings often causing the dog  10  to be nervous and may result in accidents and possibly further injury. 
         [0022]    A side view of an improved medical collar  14  according to the present invention worn by the dog  10  is shown in  FIG. 2A  and a front view of the improved medical collar  14  worn by the dog  10  is shown in  FIG. 2B . The improved medical collar  14  includes a multiplicity of round and slotted openings  16  and  18  allowing the dog  10  to see and smell it&#39;s surroundings. The openings  16  and  18  may be of varying size and shape, and provide sufficient vision and smell to the dog  10  to allow the dog  10  to have normal perception of it&#39;s surroundings. Preferably, the openings  16  and  18  are in the top half  54  of the medical collar  14  (see  FIG. 9 ) and have an area of between approximately 25 percent and approximately 50 percent of the top half  54 , and more preferably the openings  16  and  18  have an area of approximately 50 percent of the top half  54 . 
         [0023]    The improved medical collar  14  is formed from a flat sheet having an inside arc  14   a , an outside arc  14   b , a first end  14   c  connecting the inside arc  14   a  to the outside arc  14   b , and a second end  14   d  connecting opposite ends of the inside arc  14   a  to the outside arc  14   b . The second end  14   d  attachable to the first end  14   c  to form the flat sheet into a truncated cone. 
         [0024]    The improved medical collar  14  is shown lying flat forming a semi-circle in  FIG. 3  and rolled into a cone in  FIG. 4 . The openings  16  and  18  are provided as cut-outs  16   a  and  18   a  which may be punched out to create the number of openings desires. The improved medical collar  14  further includes slots  22  and arrows  24  which are engaged to form the collar  14  into a cone around a dog&#39;s, or other animal&#39;s, neck. The improved medical collar  14  also includes straps  26  and slots  28  to form loops  29  for attaching the medical collar  14  to a typical dog collar such as a leash is attached to. 
         [0025]    The slot cut-out  18   a  of the improved medical collar  14  is shown in detail in  FIG. 5  and the round cut-out  16   a  is shown in detail in  FIG. 6 . The slot cut-outs include four cuts or slices  30  forming the shape of the slot and four tabs  32  which may be cut, torn, or broken to open the slot  18   a . The round cut-outs  16   a  include two semicircular cuts or slices  34  forming the shape of the round cut-out  16   a  and two tabs  32  which may be cut, torn, or broken to open the round cut-out  16   a.    
         [0026]    A side view of the dog  10  wearing the prior art medical collar  12  with the resulting loss of vision is shown in  FIG. 7  and a side view of the dog  10  wearing the improved medical collar  14  according to the present invention with openings  16  and  18  providing vision and smell is shown in  FIG. 8 . An eye  40  of the dog  10  is visible though the opening  40  thereby providing vision to the dog. In many instances, the entire nose  42  of the dog  10  is recessed inside the prior art medical collar  12  thereby limiting the dog&#39;s ability to smell objects in it&#39;s surroundings. 
         [0027]    A side view of the dog  10  wearing a second embodiment of an improved medical collar  48  according to the present invention with fixed openings  56  and  58  providing vision and smell, and directional hearing respectively to the dog  10 . The medical collar  48  has a forward half  52  and an upper half  54 . The fixed openings  56  and  58  are positioned proximal to the eyes  10   a  and ears  10   b  (see  FIG. 1A ) of the dog  10 , and are preferably positioned in the intersection of the forward half  52  and the upper half  54  of the medical collar  48  on opposite sides of the medical collar  48 . The openings  56  and  58  are preferably pairs of openings on opposite sides of the medical collar  48 . The bottom half of the medical collar  14  and  48  is preferably solid or substantially solid to prevent licking. While some holes may be present in the bottom half, for example for attaching ends  14   a  and  14   d  (see  FIG. 3 ) the substantially solid medical collar does not have openings large enough for the dog to lick through. 
         [0028]    The orientation of the medical collar  14  or  48  is preferably maintained by a weighted bottom. For example, the overlapped portion  15  provides weight to tend to provide a rotational orientation, and when a leash type dog collar is attached to the medical collar using the loop  29  (see  FIG. 4 ), the leash collar may be positioned with a heavy buckle aligned with the overlapped portion  15  to help maintain the medical collar orientation. Additionally, a weight  50  may be attached to the bottom of the medical collar  48  to maintain the rotational position of the medical collar  48  on the dog  10  (see  FIG. 4 ). 
         [0029]    In instances where the weight of the collar is not sufficient to maintain the orientation of the collar, and clip to grasp some of the dog&#39;s hair, or a harness may be used to maintain the position of the medical collar  14  or  48  on the dog. 
         [0030]    While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means of specific embodiments and applications thereof, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention set forth in the claims.