Patent Publication Number: US-10306867-B2

Title: Birthing chamber 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 VIE 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 birthing devices and more particularly pertains to a new birthing device for sheltering a feline when the feline is birthing kittens. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a housing. The housing is positioned at an intersection between a pair of vertical support surfaces. Thus, a feline may reside in the housing when the feline is birthing kittens. A lid is removably positioned on the housing to shelter the feline. The lid has a aperture extending therethrough to facilitate the feline to enter the housing. The aperture is spaced from the housing when the lid is positioned on the housing. Thus, the aperture inhibits the kittens from exiting the housing. 
     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 view of a birthing chamber assembly according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 3  is a top view of housing of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective in-use view of an alternative embodiment of the disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to  FIGS. 1 through 5  thereof, a new birthing 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 5 , the birthing chamber assembly  10  generally comprises a housing  12 . The housing  12  is positioned at an intersection between a pair of vertical support surfaces  14 . The vertical support surfaces  14  may be exterior walls of a building or the like. Moreover, the intersection between the vertical support surfaces  14  may be an inside corner of the exterior walls. A feline  16  may reside in the housing  12  when the feline  16  is birthing kittens. 
     The housing  12  has a bottom wall  18  and a peripheral wall  20  extending upwardly therefrom. The peripheral wall  20  has a distal edge  22  with respect to the bottom wall  18  to define an opening  25  into the housing  12 . The peripheral wall  20  has a front side  23 , a first lateral side  24  and a second lateral side  26 . The front side  23  is concavely arcuate between the first lateral side  24  and the second lateral side  26 . 
     The first lateral side  24  intersects the second lateral side  26 . Thus, the housing  12  has a wedge shaped cross section taken along a vertical axis extending through the bottom wall  18 . Each of the first lateral side  24  and the second lateral side  26  abuts an associated one of the vertical support surfaces  14  having the front side  23  being exposed. The housing  12  may be comprised of a biodegradable material such as cardboard or the like. 
     The housing  12  has an interior surface  28 . A liner  30  is provided and the liner  30  is positioned on the interior surface  28  corresponding to the bottom wall  18  of the housing  12 . The liner  30  may be comprised of a deformable and fluid permeable material such as paper or the like. The liner  30  absorbs odor and fluids associated with the feline  16 . The liner  30  is removed from the housing  12  when the feline  16  has completed birthing the kittens. Thus, the odor and fluids associated with the feline  16  are removed from the housing  12 . 
     A lid  32  is provided and the lid  32  is removably positioned on the housing  12 . Thus, the lid  32  shelters the feline  16 . The lid  32  has an aperture  34  extending therethrough. The feline  16  passes through the aperture  34  to enter the housing  12 . The aperture  34  is spaced from the housing  12  when the lid  32  is positioned on the housing  12 . Thus, the kittens are inhibited from exiting the housing  12 . 
     The lid  32  has a front wall  36 , a first sidelong wall  38  and a second sidelong wall  40 . The front wall  36  is concavely arcuate between each of the first sidelong wall  38  and the second sidelong wall  40 . The first sidelong wall  38  intersects the second sidelong wall  40 . Thus, the lid  32  has a wedge shaped cross section taken along a vertical axis extending through the lid  32 . The lid  32  may be comprised of a biodegradable material such as cardboard or the like. 
     The lid  32  has a lower edge  42 . The lower edge  42  engages the distal edge  22  of the housing  12  when the lid  32  is positioned on the housing  12 . Moreover, the lower edge  42  is coextensive with the distal edge  22  when the lid  32  is positioned on the housing  12 . The aperture  34  extends through the front wall  36 . Moreover, the aperture  34  is spaced from the lower edge  42  corresponding to the front wall  36 . 
     In an alternative embodiment  44  as shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , each of the housing  12  and the lid  32  may have a rectangular shape. A secondary housing  46  may be provided and the secondary housing  46  is removably positioned within the housing  12 . Moreover, the secondary housing  46  has a length and a width that is less than a length and a width of the housing  12 . The aperture  34  may be positioned on the housing  12 . A hole  48  extends through the secondary housing  46 . The hole  48  is aligned with the aperture  34  when the secondary housing  46  is positioned in the housing  12 . Thus, the feline  16  may enter the secondary housing  46 . 
     In use, the housing  12  is positioned outdoors at the intersection between the vertical support surfaces  14 . The liner  30  is positioned in the housing  12  and the lid  32  is positioned on the housing  12 . The feline  16  enters the housing  12  through the aperture  34  when the feline  16  is about the birth the kittens. The housing  12  and the lid  32  shelter the feline  16  and kittens. The liner  30  is removed and the housing  12  is cleaned when the feline  16  removes the kittens from the housing  12 . The housing  12  and the lid  32  facilitate shelter for feral or otherwise homeless felines  16  during birthing labor. 
     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.