Patent Publication Number: US-11388883-B2

Title: Litter box tool storage assembly

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
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     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
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     THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT 
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     INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM 
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     STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR 
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     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     (1) Field of the Invention 
     (2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98 
     The disclosure and prior art relates to tool storage devices and more particularly pertains to a new tool storage device for storing tools for litter box maintenance. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a box that has a plurality of garbage bags stored therein for storing, and subsequently discarding, soiled kitty litter. A first storage unit is coupled to and extends away from the box. The first storage unit stores a scoop for scooping the soiled kitty litter. A second storage unit is coupled to and extends away from the box. The second storage unit contains maintenance items for kitty litter. The second storage unit is positioned on an opposite side of the box from the first storage unit. 
     There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. 
     The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S) 
       The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a front perspective view of a litter box tool storage assembly according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a back perspective view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 3  is a front view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 4  is a left side view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 5  is a back view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 6  is a top view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to  FIGS. 1 through 7  thereof, a new tool storage device embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral  10  will be described. 
     As best illustrated in  FIGS. 1 through 7 , the litter box tool storage assembly  10  generally comprises a box  12  that has a plurality of garbage bags  14  stored therein. Each of the garbage bags  14  is removable from the box  12  for containing kitty litter that is soiled with feline feces and feline urine. In this way each of the garbage bags  14  facilitates the soiled kitty litter to be disposed of in a garbage container or the like. The box  12  has a bottom wall  16 , a front wall  18 , a back wall  20 , a first lateral wall  22 , a second lateral wall  24  and a top wall  26 . The top wall  26  has an angled portion  28  that slopes downwardly toward the front wall  18 . Additionally, the angled portion  28  of the top wall  26  is open to access an interior of the box  12 . 
     A lid  30  is hingedly coupled to the box  12 . The lid  30  has an opening  32  extending therethrough and each of the garbage bags  14  is removable through the opening  32 . The lid  30  is positioned on the angled portion  28  of the top wall  26  of the box  12 . Additionally, the opening  32  is centrally positioned on the lid  30 . 
     A base  34  is coupled to the box  12  having the box  12  extending upwardly from the box  12 . The base  34  supports the box  12  in a vertical orientation on a support surface  35 , such as a floor of a house or the like. The base  34  has a top surface  36  and a bottom surface  38 , and the bottom wall  16  of the box  12  is coupled to the top surface  36  of the base  34 . The bottom surface  38  of the base  34  abuts the support surface  35 . 
     A first storage unit  40  is coupled to and extends away from the box  12  to store a scoop  42  for scooping the soiled kitty litter. The first storage unit  40  has a forward wall  44  and a pair of lateral walls  46 . Each of the lateral walls  46  and the forward wall  44  extend upwardly from the top surface  36  of the base  34 . Moreover, the forward wall  44  is spaced from the front wall  18  of the box  12  and each of the lateral walls  46  extends forwardly from a respective one of the first lateral wall  22  and the second lateral wall  24  of the box  12 . Each of the forward wall  44  and the lateral walls  46  has a distal edge  48  with respect to the base  34  defining an opening  50  into the first storage unit  40  for receiving the scoop  42 . 
     The forward wall  44  slopes inwardly toward a center of the box  12  between the distal edge  48  of the forward wall  44  and the top surface  36  of the base  34 . In this way the forward wall  44  directs a handle  52  of the scoop  42  away from the box  12  thereby enhancing gripping the handle  52  for removing the scoop  42 . The first storage unit  40  has a width between each of the lateral walls  46  that is greater than a width between the first lateral wall  22  and the second lateral wall  24  of the box  12 . 
     A second storage unit  54  is coupled to and extends away from the box  12  to contain maintenance items  56  for kitty litter. The maintenance items  56  may be powdered deodorant, chemical cleaners or any other substances employed for litter box treatment and maintenance. The second storage unit  54  is positioned on an opposite side of the box  12  from the first storage unit  40 . The second storage unit  54  has a rear wall  58  and a pair of sidelong walls  60 , and each of the sidelong walls  60  extends rearwardly from a respective one of the first lateral wall  22  and the second lateral wall  24  of the box  12 . 
     The rear wall  58  is spaced from the back wall  20  of the box  12  and each of the sidelong walls  60  extends from the top wall  26  of the box  12  toward the bottom wall  16  of the box  12 . Each of the sidelong walls  60  has an upper portion  62  and a lower portion  64 . The lower portion  64  extends further from the back wall  20  of the box  12  than the upper portion  62 . The lower portion  64  has a top edge  66  and the rear wall  58  has an upper edge  68 . The upper edge  68  is aligned with the top edge  66  to define an opening  70  into the second storage unit  54 . 
     In use, the garbage bags  14  are positioned in the box  12  and the garbage bags  14  are individually removed through the opening  32  in the lid  30 . The scoop  42  is removed from the first storage unit  40  and the soiled kitty litter is scooped into the garbage bag  14 . In this way the soiled kitty litter can be disposed of in a garbage receptacle or the like. The scoop  42  is replaced in the first storage unit  40  and the maintenance items  56  are employed for treating and maintaining the litter box. The box  12 , the first storage unit  40  and the second storage unit  54  facilitate all of the tools for maintaining a litter box to be stored in a single location. 
     With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.