Patent Publication Number: US-2011067639-A1

Title: Pet Litter Box

Description:
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     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     It is common for cat owners to have a litter box in their house. The simplest litter box is a shallow rectangular box that holds the litter. Some owner use a plastic bag to encase the litter box. The plastic bag keeps the box clean and facilitates throwing out the used litter. However, this system does not keep other pets such as dogs from snacking or prevent the cat from tracking litter out of the box. Enclosed litter boxes have been produced and this help eliminate snacking, but does not prevent litter tracking. There have also been attempts to provide grates in litter boxes to prevent tracking. However, all these previous solutions have not prevented tracking because the cat just jumps over the grate, thereby defeating it purpose. 
     Thus there exists a need for a litter box that stops dog snacking, reduces tracking, stops urine leaks and can be shipped inexpensively. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
     A pet litter box that overcomes these and other problems has a lower portion having a bottom wall and four lower portion side walls that are at slightly more than ninety degrees from the bottom wall. An upper portion has a top wall and four upper portion side walls. A cutout portion in one of the four upper portion side walls forms a pet ingress and egress point. The four upper side walls terminate in a groove that mates with a lip formed by the four lower portion side walls. An internal divider has a floor grate that extends along a length of the lower portion and has a wall at approximately ninety degrees to the floor grate. The wall does not extend the length of the lower portion. A divider groove mates with the lip of the lower portion, whereby a pet entering or exiting the pet litter box is required to make a turn on the grate. Forcing a cat to make a turn when exiting the litter box makes sure the cat does not just jump over the grate. This ensures that most of the litter on the cat&#39;s paws is removed while jumping onto the grate floor and walking along the grate floor. 
     The upper portion and internal divider of the litter box can be nested inside the lower portion for easy shipping. The upper portion and grate floor bar dogs from snacking. Overlapping edges between the upper and lower portions of the litter box stops urine leaks. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a top left perspective view of a pet litter box in accordance with one embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the pet litter box in accordance with one embodiment of the invention; and 
         FIG. 3  is a top left perspective view of the pet litter box nested for shipping in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention is directed to a pet litter box that has a lower portion having a bottom wall and four lower portion side walls that are at slightly more than ninety degrees from the bottom wall. An upper portion has a top wall and four upper portion side walls. A cutout portion in one of the four upper portion side walls forms a pet ingress and egress point. The four upper side walls terminate in a groove that mates with a lip formed by the four lower portion side walls. An internal divider has a floor grate that extends along a length of the lower portion and has a wall at approximately ninety degrees to the floor grate. The wall does not extend the length of the lower portion. A divider groove mates with the lip of the lower portion, whereby a pet entering or exiting the pet litter box is required to make a turn on the grate. Forcing a cat to make a turn when exiting the litter box makes sure the cat does not just jump over the grate. This ensures that most of the litter on the cat&#39;s paws is removed while jumping onto the grate floor and walking along the grate floor. 
     The upper portion and internal divider of the litter box can be nested inside the lower portion for easy shipping. The upper portion and grate floor bar dogs from snacking. Overlapping edges between the upper and lower portions of the litter box stops urine leaks. 
       FIG. 1  is a top left perspective view of a pet litter box  10  in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. The litter box  10  has a lower portion  12 , an upper portion  14 , an internal divider  16 , and a storage shelf  18 . The lower portion  12  has a bottom wall  20  and four upper portions side walls  22 . The side walls  22  are angled at slightly more that ninety degrees from the bottom wall  20 . The upper portion  14  has a top wall  24  and four upper side walls  26 . One of the four upper side walls  26  having an opening or cutout  28 . The upper portion  14  has a plurality of handles  29 . An internal divider  16  has a floor grate  30  that runs the length of the lower portion  12  and is adjacent to the opening  28 . The internal divider  16  has an internal wall  32  that is perpendicular to the floor grate  30  and does not extend the complete length of the lower portion  12  or the upper portion  14 . The wall  32  abuts the upper portion  14  to create a passageway. Where the wall  32  ends it creates a second opening from the floor grate  30  passageway into the lower portion  12 . The storage shelf  18  has a plurality of openings  34  that snap fit onto a plurality of tabs  36  on the lower portion  12 . 
       FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the pet litter box  10  in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. This view shows the lower portion  12  is a somewhat rectangular box with obtuse walls  22 . The walls  22  terminate in a lip  40  along the periphery of the walls  22 . The upper portion  14  has a grove  42  (see  FIG. 3 ) along part of a periphery and half grove or lip  44  along the rest of the periphery that mates with the lip  40  of the lower portion  12 . The divider portion  16  includes a step  46  along its periphery. The step  46  and the half groove  44  form a full groove that mates with the lip  40  of the lower portion. 
       FIG. 3  is a top left perspective view of the pet litter box  10  nested for shipping in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. This figure shows how the litter box  10  nests for shipping. The upper portion  14  when turned over nests inside the lower portion  12 . The divider portion  16  nests inside the upper portion  14 . 
     In operation litter is placed in the lower portion  12 , with or without a plastic bag. The divider portion  16  is placed on top of the lip  40  of the lower portion  40 . Then the upper portion  14  is placed on the lip  40  of lower portion  12 . When a cat or other pet needs to use the litter box, they jump from the floor through the opening  28  onto the grate floor  30 . Then they walk along the grate floor  30  until they reach the end of the divider wall  32  and jump through the opening formed by the upper portion  14 , the grate floor  30 , and the divider wall  32  into the lower portion  12  containing the litter. The cat does their business and then jumps from the  12  portion onto the grate floor  30 . Note that it is impossible for the cat to jump from the lower portion  12  through opening  28  onto the floor, since the cat is forced to turn a corner. As result, the cat walks along the grate or screen floor  30  causing litter on the cats paws to come loose and fall through the crate down into the lower portion  12 . 
     The overlap between the lip  40  of the lower portion  12  and the groove  42  and  44  &amp;  46  formed by the upper portion  14  and the divider wall  16 , prevents any urine leakage out of the litter box  10 . 
     Thus there has been described that stops dog snacking, reduces tracking, stops urine leaks and can be shipped inexpensively. 
     While the invention has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments thereof, it is evident that many alterations, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the foregoing description. Accordingly, it is intended to embrace all such alterations, modifications, and variations in the appended claims.