Abstract:
The present invention discloses a sectional cage, typically a birdcage designed as a combination of several modules, each module facilitating the reduction of the accommodating space and transportation cost. The cage of the present invention features an easy assembling and a stable and firm structure, and adapts different specifications and provides more choices for economical variation of its shape, assembly and disassembly.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a cage, more particularly to a modularized cage, typically a birdcage. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     A cage, such as a birdcage, is a necessary tool for breeding or selling pets like birds, and the size of the birdcage should be made according to the size and quantity of birds. Therefore, a breeder may provide an appropriate size of the cage to a cage manufacturer. If a manufactured cage is transported as is, it will occupy lots of space. Therefore, the structure of the birdcage designed in detachable modules for the purpose of easy transportation and assembling upon its arrival at the destination can effectively reduce transportation cost. Easy assembling and firm structure, and even more flexibility for changes and additional functions should be taken into consideration for the module design of the birdcage. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a sectional birdcage, designed in detachable modules for reducing accommodation space and lowering transportation cost. The birdcage of the present invention features easy assembly as well as stable and firm structure, and the birdcage adapts to different specifications and provides more choices for configuration under limitations of cost. 
     Technical measures taken to achieve the above stated objectives of the present invention, comprises: 
     a plurality of aluminum pressed pipes; the cross-sectional structure of each pipe having a hollow main pipe; a grid groove being disposed along the direction of the long axis on both sides of the exterior adjacent to the main pipe, and both ends of the grid groove being open; and an opening being disposed at the center of the exterior; 
     a plurality of three-way connectors made of a plastic material, each three-way connector having a main body, with an insert post being protruded from each of three sides adjacent to said main body for allowing an end of the main body of the pipe to be tightly pressed and pass through; and 
     a plurality of metal grid plates, having a metal bar at its periphery slidably embedded into a groove of the grid plate of the pipe. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
     FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing dissembled parts of the birdcage according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the parts according to FIG. 1 assembled. 
     FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the birdcage through cross-section  3 — 3  in a direction of arrows indicated in FIG.  2 . 
     FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view through cross-section  4 — 4  indicated in FIG.  2 . 
     FIG. 5 is an enlarged exploded perspective view of a region enclosed in a circle in FIG.  2 . 
     FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing disassembled parts of the birdcage according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the birdcage through cross section  7 — 7  in a direction of arrows indicated in FIG.  6 . 
     FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view showing disassembled parts of the birdcage according to a third preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the parts assembled according to FIG.  8 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The modularized birdcage according to the present invention comprises: 
     a plurality of frame pipes generally designated  10  as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, each preferably being an aluminum pressed pipe and having a cubic main pipe body  11 , and said main pipe body  11  at each of its two externally adjacent sides having a grid plate groove  12  along the direction of the long axis of the main pipe body  11 , and both ends of said grid plate groove  12  being open, and an opening being disposed at the center of an external wall; 
     a plurality of three-way connectors  20  as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, made of a plastic material and having a cubic main body  21 , and said main body  21  at each of its three adjacent sides having an outwardly protruded insert post  22  for allowing an end of the main pipe body  11  of the frame pipe  10  to pass through, and a slippery-proof threaded section being disposed on the surface of the insert post  22  such that the inner wall of the main pipe body  11  producing a slippery-proof effect to prevent the insert post  22  from falling apart from the main pipe body  11 ; a roller through hole  23  being disposed on said main body  21  for allowing an insert rod  241  on a roller  24  to pass through, and said roller  24  being disposed on the bottom of the three-way connection  20 ; 
     a plurality of grid plates  30  as show in FIGS. 1,  2 , and  3 , each grid plate each  30  comprising a plurality of longitudinal and transversal metal bars,  301 ,  302  and all longitudinal metal bars  301  being soldered with the transversal metal bars  302  on the same side; the metal bar at the periphery of said grip plate  30  being slidably embedded into the groove of grid plate of said frame pipe  10 , thereby a metal bar  301 , 302  being embedded into the inner side of the grid plate groove  12 , and the end of its perpendicularly intersected metal bar  301 , 302  passing through an opening  121  of the grid plate groove  12 ; 
     a plurality of grid plate reinforced rod  40  as shown in FIGS.  1 , 2 , and  4 , each being a pressed aluminum rod with a length slightly shorter than the width of the grid plate  30 ; the cross-sectional structure having an upper and a lower grid plate groove  41 , and an opening  411  at the center of the cross-sectional structure along the direction of the long axis; the metal bars at the bottom and top of the two upper and lower grid plates  41  and the grid plate groove  41  of the reinforced rod  40  being intersected and slidably embedded at their ends; the transversal metal bar  302  being embedded into the inner side of the grid plate groove  41 , and the longitudinal metal bar  301  passing through the opening  411  of the grid plate groove  41 ; the way of using said grid plate reinforced rod  40  for the connection increasing the area of the grid plate  30  and providing an excellent support to said grid plate  30 . 
     By means of the foregoing modules, a birdcage  50  of different configurations and variations can be made. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the metal bars at the periphery of the grid plate  30  and the grid plate groove  12  of the frame pipe  10  are intersected and slidably embedded at their ends, and the frame pipes  10  are mutually coupled with a three-way connector  20  to constitute a cage bottom  51 , a cage body  53 , and a cage top  52  of the birdcage  50 . A plurality of rollers  24  can be installed onto the bottom of the three-way connector  20  at the cage bottom  51  as needed. Accessory resting bars, feeding boxes, drinking devices and the like (not shown in the figure) can be installed inside the birdcage. Because such accessories are not key features of this invention, they will not be described here. The grid plate  30  for the cage body  53  may include a door  54  according to the prior art technology. 
     The above embodiment may use several grid plate reinforced rods  40  and a required number of grid plates  40  depending on the area of the grid plate  30  and the required support. If grid plate reinforced rods are used, the bottom and the top of the upper and lower grid plates  30  should be coupled to the grid plate groove  11  of the reinforced rod first, and then the metal rod at the periphery of the grid plate  30  with the combined grid plate rod  40  are slidably embedded into the grid plate groove  12  of the frame pipe  10 . Because the length of the grid plate reinforced rod  40  is shorter than the width of the grid plate  30 , both ends of the grid plate reinforced rod  40  will not be embedded into the grid plate groove  12  of the frame pipe  10 . 
     Further, in FIGS. 1 and 2, various measures may be used to support the bottom of the grid plate  30  of the cage body  53  to an appropriate height, and its purpose is to create an accommodating space between the bottom of the cage body  53  and the cage bottom  51  for placing a dirt tray  56 . In the embodiment of this invention, a supporting frame  57  is slidably embedded into the grid plate groove  12  of the frame pipe  10  at the cage bottom  51  and the bottom of the cage body  53  first, and then the grid plate  30  of the cage body  53  is disposed; such supporting frame  57  upwardly supports the grid plate  30  of the cage body  53  at a predetermined height, and then the bottom of the grid plate  30  of the cage body  53  is hooked to a bottom grid  58 , and a dirt tray  56  can be placed in the space between the bottom grid  58  and the cage bottom  51 , and the dirt tray  56  can be drawn out from the reserved opening in the supporting frame  57 . 
     Refer to FIGS. 6 and 7 for the second preferred embodiment of this invention, which has a panel groove  13  disposed at the outer edge of the frame pipe  10 ′ of the cage body  53  and the cage bottom  51 , a panel  55  is slidably embedded into the corresponding panel groove  13  of the cage body  53 , such that the bottom of the panel  55  can be supported by the panel groove  13  of the cage bottom  51 . By the means of the panels surrounding the cage body  53 , the bird inside the birdcage can be protected from strong winds or achieve the purpose of keeping the bird warm. A viewing hole  551  is added onto the panel  55  for gripping or viewing. 
     Refer to FIGS. 8 and 9 for the birdcage  60  according to the third preferred embodiment of this invention. By means of the aforementioned modules and assembling principle, a cage bottom  62 , a cage body  65 , and a cage top  63  of a birdcage  60  are constructed. However, the grid plate of the cage bottom  62  is replaced by a bottom plate  61 , and the cage body  65  is made of transparent side panels  64 , grid plate reinforced rods  40 , and grid plates  30 . The bottom plate  61  and side plate  64  at the cage bottom  62  according to this embodiment constitute another feeding area  66 , and such feeding area  66  may be covered with other basic materials such as soil, said, and saw dust for breeding small pets other than birds such as mice, rabbits, etc. As to the way of assembling the cage body  65 , four pieces of transparent side panels  64  are embedded downward into the bottom of the frame pipe  10  of the cage body  65  and the frame pipe  10  of the cage bottom  62 , and then the bottom of grid plate  30  is slidably embedded into a grid plate reinforced rod  40 , and the metal bars at the periphery of the grid plate  30  is slidably embedded downwardly into the grid plate groove  12  of the frame pipe  10  of the cage body  65 . The grid groove  41  at the bottom of the grid plate reinforced rod  40  is embedded into the top of the side panel  64 . 
     The birdcage of the present invention can be designed as a combination of several modules, and each module facilitates the reduction of accommodating space and transportation cost. The birdcage of this invention does not require any special tools or special skills for its assembling; the assembling is simple and easy, yet the structure is very stable and reliable. The frame pipe of this invention preferably is made of aluminum (or equal) by pressing, and thus it is not limited to any particular predetermined length. Therefore, such birdcage can adapt different specifications or provide more choices for its shape. 
     While the present invention has been described by two most practical and preferred embodiments, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirt and scope of the broadest interpretations and equivalent arrangements.