Patent Publication Number: US-11382304-B2

Title: Pet pee pad pen 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 
     Not Applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     (1) Field of the Invention 
     The disclosure relates to pen devices and more particularly pertains to a new pen device for facilitating an animal to relieve themselves in a variety of locations over an extended period. 
     (2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98 
     The prior art relates to pen devices including a box shelter that has separate rooms therein for housing an animal. The prior art discloses an animal house that includes swinging doors and a ramp. The prior art discloses a pet patio which is attachable to a window of a dwelling to facilitate a pet to access the pet patio through the window. The prior art further discloses an automated pet enclosure that is mounted to a window of a dwelling to facilitate a pet to access the enclosure through the window. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a pen which comprises a plurality of walls being hingedly coupled together. In this way the pen forms a rectangular shape to shelter an animal. A respective one of the walls has a plurality of openings each extending therethrough to facilitate the animal to enter or exit the pen. A base is provided that can be positioned on a support surface and the pen is positioned on the base. A pad is positionable on the base and the pad is comprised of a fluid absorbent material to absorb the pet urine. An insert is positionable on the pad thereby inhibiting the pad from being displaced on the base. 
     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 an exploded perspective view of a pet pee pad pen assembly according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a right side phantom view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 3  is a top view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 4  is a bottom view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 5  is a front view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 6  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 6  thereof, a new pen 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 6 , the pet pee pad pen assembly  10  generally comprises a pen  12  which comprises a plurality of walls  14  being hingedly coupled together. Thus, the pen  12  forms a rectangular shape to shelter an animal  15 , such as dog, a cat or other domesticated animal  15 . Each of the plurality of walls  14  has a lower portion  16  and an upper portion  18 . The lower portion  16  is solid and the upper portion  18  is foraminous. The plurality of walls  14  includes a first wall  20  and the first wall  20  has a plurality of openings  22  each extending therethrough to facilitate the animal  15  to enter or exit the pen  12 . The lower portion  16  of each of the walls  14  inhibits urine from a male dog from passing therethrough when the male dog lifts its leg to urinate. 
     A plurality of rails  24  is provided and each of the rails  24  is coupled to the first wall  20 . Each of the rails  24  is vertically oriented and each of the rails  24  is aligned with a respective one of the openings  22  in the first wall  20 . A plurality of doors  26  is each removably disposed on the pen  12  and each of the doors  26  is positionable over a respective one of the openings  22 . Each of the doors  26  engages a respective pair of the rails  24  for retaining each of the doors  26  over the respective opening  22 . Moreover, each of the doors  26  has a bottom portion  28  and a top portion  30 ; the bottom portion  28  is solid and the top portion  30  is foraminous. 
     A base  32  is provided and the base  32  can be positioned on a support surface  33 , such as a floor in a room or the ground outside. The pen  12  is positioned on the base  32  and the base  32  is comprised of a fluid impermeable material to inhibit pet urine from passing therethrough. The base  32  has a top surface  34 , a bottom surface  36  and a perimeter edge  38  extending therebetween, and the base  32  has a lip  40  extending upwardly from the top surface  34 . The lip  40  is aligned with and is coextensive with the perimeter edge  38 . A bottom edge  42  of each of the walls  14  of the pen  12  rests on the top surface  34  having each of the walls  14  abutting the lip  40 . A plurality of cleats  44  is each coupled to the bottom surface  36  to enhance gripping the support surface  33 . The cleats  44  are spaced apart from each other and are distributed over the bottom surface  36 . 
     A pad  46  is provided and the pad  46  is positionable on the base  32 . The pad  46  is comprised of a fluid absorbent material to absorb the pet urine. The pad  46  has an upper surface  48  and a lower surface  50 , and the lower surface  50  rests on the top surface  34  of the base  32 . The pad  46  may be infused with a chemical deodorant to reduce odors associated with the pet urine. An insert  52  is positionable on the pad  46  thereby inhibiting the pad  46  from being displaced on the base  32 . The insert  52  is comprised of a weighted material and the insert  52  comprises a plurality of intersecting members  54 . The intersecting members  54  intersect each other at a perpendicular angle such that the insert  52  forms a rectangular shape. The insert  52  rests on the upper surface  48  of the pad  46  having each of the intersecting members  54  extending along a respective one of the walls  14  of the pen  12 . 
     In use, the base  32  and the pen  12  are positioned in a preferred location when the animal  15  will be unattended for a period of time. The pen  12  can be located next to a secured area, such as a fenced in yard, a balcony or other secure location in which the animal  15  is allowed to urinate or defecate. Respective ones of the doors  26  can be removed to facilitate the animal  15  to move between the pen  12  and the secured area when the animal  15  is unattended. In this way the animal  15  is facilitated to relieve themselves while the animal  15  is unattended. The pen  12  can also be placed indoors  26  and all of the doors  26  can remain in place to inhibit the animal  15  from escaping the pen  12 . The pad  46  and the insert  52  can be placed on the base  32  to absorb urine from the animal  15 . 
     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.