Patent Description:
A toilet used by an animal such as a cat reared indoors is conventionally known as an animal litter box. A toilet configured to measure the number of excretions of the animal is also known as such an animal litter box (for example, see PTL <NUM>).

[PTL <NUM>] <CIT> <CIT>, <CIT> and <CIT> relate to urinary collection systems for an animal living in a cage: the urine is collected with high accuracy.

<CIT> provides an automated feeding station and an automated collection system, such as a urine collection system. The feeding event and excrement elimination events provide insights into the health of the animal.

A toilet described in PTL <NUM> is capable of measuring the number of excretions, but incapable of measuring an amount of excrement (for example, an amount of urine). In view of this, it was difficult to early detect a disease (for example, chronic renal failure) whose symptom appears in the amount of urine, and to determine a replacement timing of an absorbent sheet that absorbs the urine.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the problem as described above. An object of the present invention is to provide an animal litter box that is capable of measuring an amount of excrement.

The present invention provides the animal litter box of independent claim <NUM>. The dependent claims specify preferred but optional features. A principal aspect of the present invention to achieve the above advantage is an animal litter box, including: an upper container having a plurality of holes formed on a bottom portion, the plurality of holes penetrating in an up-down direction; a lower container that includes a receiving section receiving excrement that has passed through the plurality of holes, the weight of the upper container not acting on the lower container; and an output unit that outputs a signal changing according to an amount of the excrement received by the receiving section, wherein an absorbent sheet that absorbs the excrement is placed on the receiving section in use of the animal litter box. Other features of the present invention will be made clear through the present specification with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The present invention is capable of measuring the amount of excrement.

At least the following matters will be made clear by the description in the present specification and the accompanying drawings.

Disclosed is an animal litter box, including: an upper container having a plurality of holes formed on a bottom portion, the plurality of holes penetrating in an up-down direction; a lower container that includes a receiving section receiving excrement that has passed through the plurality of holes, the weight of the upper container not acting on the lower container; and an output unit that outputs a signal changing according to an amount of the excrement received by the receiving section.

According to such an animal litter box, only the excrement (urine) that has passed through the plurality of holes falls in the receiving section of the lower container. This can measure the amount of this excrement (amount of urine) based on the signal output from the output unit.

In this toilet for animal, an absorbent sheet that absorbs the excrement is placed on the receiving section.

Such an animal litter box facilitates determination of a replacement timing of the absorbent sheet.

In this toilet for animal, it is preferable that the animal litter box further includes a support member that supports the lower container, and the output unit is disposed on the support member and located below the lower container.

Such an animal litter box is capable of measuring the amount of the excrement based on a force that the output unit receives from the lower container.

In this toilet for animal, it is preferable that the lower container includes an engaging section that is engageable with the output unit.

Such an animal litter box is capable of reducing positional deviation and bias between the lower container and the support member.

In this toilet for animal, it is preferable that the output unit is waterproof.

With such an animal litter box, the support member is washable with water.

In this toilet for animal, it is preferable that the support member includes a control unit that detects an amount of the excrement based on the signal outputted from the output unit.

With such an animal litter box, only the animal litter box is capable of measuring the amount of the excrement without using another member (such as an external terminal).

In this toilet for animal, it is preferable that the control unit detects an amount of the excrement each time by calculating a difference between a signal outputted before excretion and a signal outputted after excretion.

Such an animal litter box is capable of enhancing a measurement accuracy of the amount of the excrement.

In this toilet for animal, it is preferable that a liquid-permeable granular material having water repellency is provided in the upper container, and when detecting an amount of the excrement, the control unit adds a correction value that is set for the liquid-permeable granular material in advance.

Such an animal litter box is capable of further enhancing the measurement accuracy of the amount of the excrement.

In this toilet for animal, it is preferable that the upper container includes a display section that displays a result of detection detected by the control unit, and the control unit is capable of communicating with the display section by radio.

Such an animal litter box improves visibility of the result of detection.

In this toilet for animal, it is preferable that the animal litter box further includes an upper-container output unit that outputs an upper-container weight signal, the upper-container weight signal changing according to a weight of the upper container.

Such an animal litter box is capable of increasing the measurement objects.

In this toilet for animal, it is preferable that the animal litter box further includes an upper-container control unit that detects, based on the upper-container weight signal, at least either one of an weight of an animal and an amount of excrement that has not passed through the plurality of holes.

Such an animal litter box is capable of measuring the weight of the animal and the amount of solid excrement (feces).

In this toilet for animal, it is preferable that the animal litter box further includes a battery for supplying electrical power.

Such an animal litter box ensures improvement in safety.

An animal litter box according to embodiments of the present invention is used by an animal such as a cat, for example, reared indoors. The "animal" in this description includes not only a so-called pet such as a cat, a dog, a rabbit, and a hamster, but also, for example, babies of a tiger and a lion.

A description will be given of a configuration of an animal litter box <NUM> with reference to <FIG>. In the following description, a normal direction of a surface of a floor plate <NUM> is set to an up-down direction. A side where an upper container <NUM> and a lower container <NUM> are located with respect to the floor plate <NUM> is set to "up", and its opposite side (floor side) is set to "down".

<FIG> is a perspective view illustrating the animal litter box <NUM> according to a first embodiment of the present invention. <FIG> is an exploded explanatory view of the animal litter box <NUM>. <FIG> is a view when the animal litter box <NUM> is viewed from above. <FIG> is a cross-sectional view taken along a line A-A of <FIG>. <FIG> is a cross-sectional view taken along a line B-B of <FIG>. The drawings other than <FIG> illustrate a state where the upper container <NUM> does not house excrement treatment materials <NUM> (the excrement treatment material <NUM> is not illustrated).

The animal litter box <NUM> includes the upper container <NUM>, the lower container <NUM>, and the floor plate <NUM> (equivalent to a support member). This toilet for animal <NUM> is, for example, used by being installed on an indoor floor or the like.

The upper container <NUM>, which is an open-topped container, has a bottom portion <NUM> and a sidewall portion <NUM>.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the bottom portion <NUM> has a peripheral edge portion <NUM>, a plane surface portion <NUM>, and a tapered surface portion <NUM>.

The peripheral edge portion <NUM> is a part near an outer periphery of the bottom portion <NUM> in plan view.

The plane surface portion <NUM> is located on an approximate center of the bottom portion <NUM> in plan view, and located on a lowermost part of the bottom portion <NUM> in a height direction (up-down direction). The plane surface portion <NUM> is a surface of the upper container <NUM> extending in an approximately horizontal direction. A plurality of through-holes 21a are formed on the plane surface portion <NUM>. Each through-hole 21a is formed into a size through which urine (liquid) passes, but feces (solid) does not pass, among excrement of the animal.

The tapered surface portion <NUM> is an acclivitous surface from a peripheral edge of the plane surface portion <NUM> toward the peripheral edge portion <NUM> of the bottom portion <NUM>. That is, the tapered surface portion <NUM> is a declivitous surface from the peripheral edge portion <NUM> toward the approximate center. The tapered surface portion <NUM> has a taper angle that is preferably five degrees to <NUM> degrees with respect to the bottom portion <NUM>. When the taper angle of the tapered surface portion <NUM> is too shallow to the extent falling below five degrees, it is difficult to move the urine or the like of the animal to a side of the plane surface portion <NUM> to guide it to the lower container <NUM>. When the taper angle of the tapered surface portion <NUM> is too deep to the extent exceeding <NUM> degrees, a position on which the animal stably steps feet when stepping on the upper container <NUM> is narrow.

The sidewall portion <NUM> is a wall surface that is standing from the peripheral edge portion <NUM> of the bottom portion <NUM> and constitutes an outer wall of the upper container <NUM>. The sidewall portion <NUM> has an upper wall portion <NUM> and an extending wall portion <NUM>.

The upper wall portion <NUM> has a lower end continuous from an upper end of the tapered surface portion <NUM>. Then, the upper wall portion <NUM> extends to an upper end portion of the upper container <NUM>, and the upper wall portion <NUM> is warped outward at the upper end portion.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the extending wall portion <NUM> is a part extending downward from the upper wall portion <NUM> on an outer surface side of the upper wall portion <NUM>. As illustrated in <FIG> and <FIG>, the extending wall portion <NUM> is located outside the lower container <NUM>. The extending wall portion <NUM> extends to a top surface of the floor plate <NUM> to constitute foot portions <NUM> in four corners of the upper container <NUM>. As illustrated in <FIG>, the extending wall portion <NUM> has a cut-out portion <NUM> that is cut out so as to arc upward between the foot portion <NUM> and the foot portion <NUM>.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the upper container <NUM> houses the granular excrement treatment materials <NUM> (corresponding to liquid-permeable particulate matter). Each of the excrement treatment materials <NUM> is a granular treatment material that absorbs or transmits liquid excrement of the animal such as the urine, and a so-called cat litter. In the present embodiment, a type that is water-repellent to transmit a lot of liquid to a liquid absorbent member is used as the excrement treatment material <NUM>. This is because a type that absorbs the liquid, which absorbs urine, makes it difficult to accurately measure the amount of urine. However, the water-repellent treatment material also slightly absorbs the urine, and its amount is different depending on a kind of the excrement treatment material <NUM>. Thus, in the present embodiment, as described below, when the amount of urine is detected, correction is carried out corresponding to the used excrement treatment material <NUM>.

A display section <NUM> is disposed on the outer surface of the upper wall portion <NUM> of the upper container <NUM>. The display section <NUM> is a part that displays output of a control unit <NUM> of the floor plate <NUM>. The display section <NUM> includes, for example, a liquid crystal display. The display section <NUM> includes, for example, a communication unit (not illustrated) that communicates with the control unit <NUM> by radio, an input unit (not illustrated) for carrying out switching of a display content and various kinds of setting, and a battery (not illustrated) for supplying electrical power. Thus, the disposition of the display section <NUM> on the upper container <NUM> facilitates visibility of the display content. However, the disposition of the display section <NUM> is not limited to this. For example, the display section <NUM> may be disposed on the lower container <NUM> or the floor plate <NUM>. When the display section <NUM> is disposed on the floor plate <NUM>, the display section <NUM> may communicate with the control unit <NUM> by wire not by radio.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the lower container <NUM>, which is an open-topped container, has a receiving section <NUM>, a lower sidewall portion <NUM>, and a handle portion <NUM>.

The receiving section <NUM> is a part that receives the excrement (specifically, urine) that has passed through the plurality of through-holes 21a of the plane surface portion <NUM> of the upper container <NUM>. An absorbent sheet <NUM> is located on this receiving section <NUM>. The absorbent sheet <NUM> is a member configured to absorb the liquid excrement (urine) of the animal. The absorbent sheet <NUM> in the present embodiment is a square sheet formed by stacking and bonding a liquid-permeable front surface sheet, a liquid-retaining interlayer sheet, and a liquid-non-permeable back side surface sheet.

An engaging section <NUM> is disposed on the receiving section <NUM>. The engaging section <NUM> is a part engageable with a load cell <NUM> (described below) on the floor plate <NUM>. The engaging section <NUM> is formed so as to project upward (such that a bottom surface is depressed). This engaging section <NUM> is disposed on a position corresponding to the load cell <NUM> of the floor plate <NUM>.

The lower sidewall portion <NUM> is a wall standing from a peripheral edge of the receiving section <NUM>. As illustrated in <FIG> and <FIG>, in the animal litter box <NUM> in the present embodiment, there is a clearance between an upper end of the lower sidewall portion <NUM> and the upper container <NUM> (peripheral edge portion <NUM>). Thus, the lower sidewall portion <NUM> does not contact the upper container <NUM>. Accordingly, the weight of the upper container <NUM> does not act on the lower container <NUM>.

The handle portions <NUM> are located on an outer surface of the lower sidewall portion <NUM>. The handle portions <NUM> are disposed on sides of the lower container <NUM> in a short side direction one by one. Thus, the handle positions <NUM> are disposed on total two positions facing one another. Each of the handle portion <NUM> is disposed so as to project outside the lower container <NUM>.

The floor plate <NUM> is a plate-shaped member installed on the floor to support the upper container <NUM> and the lower container <NUM>. In view of this, as illustrated in <FIG>, the floor plate <NUM> is disposed having a size extending outside the foot portions <NUM> in the four corners of the upper container <NUM>. However, it is only necessary that the floor plate <NUM> supports at least the lower container <NUM>. That is, the floor plate <NUM> may be formed inside the foot portions <NUM> in the four corners of the upper container <NUM>. In this case, the foot portions <NUM> of the upper container <NUM> will be located on the floor, and the upper container <NUM> will be supported to the floor.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the load cell <NUM> and the control unit <NUM> are disposed on the floor plate <NUM>.

The load cell <NUM> is a sensor that converts an applied force into an electrical signal to output it. The load cell <NUM> is disposed on the floor plate <NUM>, and the load cell <NUM> is located below the lower container <NUM>. In view of this, the load cell <NUM> outputs the signal corresponding to the force received from the lower container <NUM>. In other words, the load cell <NUM> outputs the signal that changes according to the amount of the excrement received by the receiving section <NUM> of the lower container <NUM> (urine that has passed through the through-holes 21a). The load cell <NUM> in the present embodiment is a compression type having a circular cylindrical (columnar) shape. Four load cells <NUM> are located on the floor plate <NUM> at intervals. Then, the force is equally applied to these four load cells <NUM> from the lower container <NUM>.

As illustrated in <FIG> and <FIG>, each load cell <NUM> is engaged with the engaging section <NUM> of the lower container <NUM>. This can reduce positional deviation and bias between the lower container <NUM> and the floor plate <NUM>. As illustrated in <FIG>, there is a clearance between a lower surface of the receiving section <NUM> of the lower container <NUM> and a top surface of the floor plate <NUM>. Thus, the weight of the lower container <NUM> will act on only the load cell <NUM>. The load cell <NUM> and the control unit <NUM> on the floor plate <NUM> are waterproof. This can separate the floor plate <NUM> the lower container <NUM> to wash the floor plate <NUM> with water.

The control unit <NUM> is coupled to the load cell <NUM> with a signal line (not illustrated). The control unit <NUM> detects the amount of urine based on the signal output from the load cell <NUM>. As described above, the control unit <NUM> is capable of communicating with the display section <NUM> of the upper container <NUM> by radio. The control unit <NUM> causes the display section <NUM> to display a result of detection of the amount of urine.

<FIG> is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of the control unit <NUM>.

The control unit <NUM> includes a communication unit <NUM>, a storage unit <NUM>, a processing unit <NUM>, and a battery <NUM>.

The communication unit <NUM> is a site that communicates with a communication unit of the display section <NUM> by radio.

The storage unit <NUM> is constituted of a RAM, a ROM, and the like. The storage unit <NUM> is a site that stores various kinds of data and programs. The storage unit <NUM> in the present embodiment stores, for example, a program for detecting the amount of urine, a correction value associated with the excrement treatment material <NUM>, detection result data of the amount of urine, and a threshold of the amount of urine each time.

The processing unit <NUM> is constituted of a CPU and the like. The processing unit <NUM> is a site that performs various kinds of arithmetic operation. For example, the processing unit <NUM> executes the program for detecting the amount of urine that is stored in the storage unit <NUM> to perform the arithmetic operation for detecting the amount of urine.

The battery <NUM> is a battery for supplying the electrical power to the respective sections (control unit <NUM>, load cell <NUM>) of the floor plate <NUM>. In the present embodiment, a small-sized button battery is used as the battery <NUM>. The battery <NUM> may be a disposable type battery (primary battery) or a battery that is a type repeatedly usable by being charged (secondary battery). The electrical power may be supplied from an external power supply such as a household outlet via a code without the battery <NUM>. However, in this case, the animal possibly gets caught on the code or gets an electric shock. In contrast, the animal litter box <NUM> in the present embodiment uses the battery <NUM>, thus ensuring the improvement in safety.

In the present embodiment, the control unit <NUM> is disposed on the top surface of the floor plate <NUM>. However, the disposition of the control unit <NUM> is not limited to this. For example, the control unit <NUM> may be disposed inside the floor plate <NUM>. In this case, the battery <NUM> is preferably disposed separately from the control unit <NUM> (on a replaceable position).

The following describes an operation for measuring the amount of urine by the animal litter box <NUM>.

First, the kind of the excrement treatment material <NUM> housed in the upper container <NUM> is preliminarily set. This setting can be carried out with an input unit (for example, a button) of the display section <NUM>. Data showing the excrement treatment material <NUM> is transmitted from the display section <NUM> to the control unit <NUM> by radio to be received by the communication unit <NUM> of the control unit <NUM>. The processing unit <NUM> of the control unit <NUM> refers to the storage unit <NUM> based on this data to set the correction value associated with the excrement treatment material <NUM> of the upper container <NUM>.

When the animal such as the cat urinates on the bottom portion <NUM> of the upper container <NUM>, this urine falls in the lower receiving section <NUM> of the lower container <NUM> through the clearance between the granular excrement treatment materials <NUM> and the through-holes 21a. The feces of the animal does not pass through the through-holes 21a, thus remaining on the bottom portion <NUM>. That is, only the urine falls in the lower container <NUM>. Then, the fallen urine is absorbed into the absorbent sheet <NUM> of the receiving section <NUM>. This increases a weight of the absorbent sheet <NUM> (that is, increases the force that the load cell <NUM> receives from the lower container <NUM>). Then, the load cell <NUM> outputs the signal corresponding to the force received from the lower container <NUM>.

<FIG> is a view illustrating an exemplary time change of the output signal of the load cell <NUM>. <FIG> has a horizontal axis that shows a time and a vertical axis that shows a weight (amount corresponding to the output signal of the load cell <NUM>).

The weight is approximately constant at Wa until a time ta. This weight Wa is an additional value obtained by adding a weight of the lower container <NUM> to the weight of the absorbent sheet <NUM> (also including the absorbed urine). When the weight thus does not change, the control unit <NUM> is in a standby mode (sleep mode). Immediately before the time ta, the animal comes to the animal litter box <NUM> to urinate. In view of this, the urine falls in the receiving section <NUM> (absorbent sheet <NUM>) of the lower container <NUM> at the time ta, and then, the weight starts increasing (the output signal of the load cell <NUM> changes). When the control unit <NUM> detects this change, the control unit <NUM> switches from the standby mode to a normal mode to start measuring the weight (amount of urine). The weight increases at an approximately constant rate between times ta and tb. Then, the weight becomes Wb at the time tb. Afterwards, the weight does not change (the output signal of the load cell <NUM> does not change). When the control unit <NUM> determines that the weight does not change for a predetermined period, the control unit <NUM> terminates the measurement of the weight.

Then, the processing unit <NUM> of the control unit <NUM> calculates a difference (Wb - Wa) between the weight Wa when the weight starts increasing (the output signal of the load cell <NUM> before the urination) and the weight Wb when the increase of weight stops (the output signal of the load cell <NUM> after the urination). This difference corresponds to the amount of urine discharged by the urination each time.

The processing unit <NUM> adds the correction value preliminarily set with respect to the excrement treatment material <NUM> to the above-described difference. This ensures more accurate calculation of the amount of urine. Then, the control unit <NUM> causes the display section <NUM> of the upper container <NUM> to display the result of detection.

When the animal does not urinate for a while, the weight gradually decreases, for example, by water evaporation. However, when the animal urinates, the weight again increases. Also in this case, the difference between the output signal of the load cell <NUM> before the weight increases and the output signal of the load cell <NUM> when the increase stops is calculated. This can enhance the measurement accuracy of the amount of urine each time. The measurement accuracy of the amount of urine can be further enhanced by adding the correction value to this difference. The control unit <NUM> detects the amount of urine each time by this repetition of the calculation to cause the display section <NUM> to display it. This ensures early detection of a disease whose symptom appears in the amount of urine. For example, this ensures early detection of a chronic renal failure by which the amount of urine increases. The control unit <NUM> may compare the result of detection (amount of urine) each time with the threshold stored in the storage unit <NUM>. Then, when the amount of urine exceeds the threshold, for example, it may be notified of the fact that it is abnormal by causing the display section <NUM> to emit light or by generating warning sound from a speaker (not illustrated) or the like. This facilitates detection of the abnormity.

The storage unit <NUM> stores the result of detection of the amount of urine each time. The processing unit <NUM> is also capable of calculating an accumulated amount of urine by accumulating the amount of urine each time with reference to the storage unit <NUM>. The display section <NUM> in the present embodiment is also capable of displaying the accumulated amount of urine corresponding to setting (switching of the display content by the input unit). This facilitates determination of a replacement timing of the absorbent sheet <NUM>. Physical condition management for animal can be also carried out by displaying a change history of the amount of urine.

As described above, the animal litter box <NUM> in the present embodiment includes the upper container <NUM>, the lower container <NUM>, and the load cell <NUM>. The upper container <NUM> has the bottom portion <NUM> on which the plurality of through-holes 21a penetrating in the up-down direction are formed. The lower container <NUM> has the receiving section <NUM> that receives the urine that has passed through the plurality of through-holes 21a. The weight of the upper container <NUM> does not act on the lower container <NUM>. The load cell <NUM> outputs the signal that changes according to the amount of urine received by the receiving section <NUM>. This ensures measurement of only the amount of urine without confusing the weight of feces with the weight of urine. The measurement of the amount of urine facilitates the early detection of the disease (for example, chronic renal failure) whose symptom appears in the amount of urine and the determination of the replacement timing of the absorbent sheet <NUM> that absorbs the urine.

In a second embodiment, a weight of the upper container is also measured. This measurement ensures detection of a weight of the animal and the weight of feces. The following describes an animal litter box <NUM> in the second embodiment with reference to the drawings. The same configurations as the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numbers and the description thereof will be omitted.

<FIG> is a perspective view of a floor plate <NUM>' in the second embodiment. <FIG> is a cross-sectional view of the animal litter box <NUM> in the second embodiment. <FIG> illustrates a cross-section at a position identical to that in <FIG> in the first embodiment.

The animal litter box <NUM> in the second embodiment includes an upper container <NUM>', the lower container <NUM>, and the floor plate <NUM>'.

The upper container <NUM>' has a configuration approximately similar to that of the upper container <NUM> in the first embodiment. However, as illustrated in <FIG>, engaging sections <NUM> engaged with load cells <NUM> described later are disposed on the foot portions <NUM> in the four corners of the upper container <NUM>'.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the load cell <NUM> (equivalent to upper-container output unit) and an upper-container control unit <NUM> are disposed on the floor plate <NUM>' in addition to the load cell <NUM> and the control unit <NUM>. The load cell <NUM> and the upper-container control unit <NUM> are waterproof similar to the load cell <NUM> and the control unit <NUM>.

The load cell <NUM> is disposed outside the load cell <NUM> (specifically, a position facing the engaging section <NUM> of the foot portion <NUM> of the upper container <NUM>) on a top surface of the floor plate <NUM>'. Then, when the upper container <NUM>' is located on the floor plate <NUM>', the respective engaging sections <NUM> of the four foot portions <NUM> of the upper container <NUM>' are engaged with the load cells <NUM>. Accordingly, the weight of the upper container <NUM>' acts on only the load cell <NUM>. Then, the load cell <NUM> outputs a signal (equivalent to upper-container weight signal) that changes according to the weight of the upper container <NUM>'. Thus, in the second embodiment, the load cell <NUM> and the load cell <NUM> are disposed on the floor plate <NUM>', thus ensuring increase in the detection objects compared with the first embodiment.

The upper-container control unit <NUM> has a configuration approximately similar to that of the control unit <NUM>. The upper-container control unit <NUM> is electrically coupled to the load cell <NUM> via a signal line (not illustrated). Then, the upper-container control unit <NUM> detects at least one of the weight of the animal and the amount of feces based on the output signal of the load cell <NUM>.

For example, when the animal steps on the animal litter box <NUM> (upper container <NUM>') for excretion, the output signal of the load cell <NUM> changes. A difference between a value after this change and a value before this change ensures the detection of the weight of the animal. At this time, the weight of the upper container <NUM>' does not act on the lower container <NUM>. Thus, the output signal of the load cell <NUM> does not change.

The feces of the animal do not pass through the through-holes 21a of the upper container <NUM>'. Thus, the feces of the animal remains on the bottom portion <NUM> of the upper container <NUM>'. Accordingly, the amount of feces can be detected from a difference between the output signal of the load cell <NUM> after the animal separates from the animal litter box <NUM> (upper container <NUM>') and the output signal of the load cell <NUM> before the animal steps on the animal litter box <NUM> (upper container <NUM>').

The upper-container control unit <NUM> transmits the above-described result of detection to the display section <NUM> to cause the display section <NUM> to display it. Also in the second embodiment, similarly to the first embodiment, the control unit <NUM> detects the amount of urine based on the output signal of the load cell <NUM> to cause the display section <NUM> to display its result of detection. Thus, the second embodiment ensures measurement of the weight of the animal and the amount of feces in addition to the amount of urine. That is, the measurement objects can be increased compared with the first embodiment.

In the present embodiment, the control unit <NUM> and the upper-container control unit <NUM> are separately disposed. However, they may be integrally constituted. Then, one control unit may carry out all the processes. In this case, for example, it is known that the animal stepped on the animal litter box <NUM>, but did not urinate. This ensures detection of a phenomenon specific to a lower urinary tract disease.

As described above, when the fact that the animal stepped on the animal litter box <NUM>, but did not urinate is detected, another sensor not the load cell <NUM> may be disposed. For example, a light-emitting section and a light-receiving section of an infrared sensor may be disposed on a position facing an interior upper portion of the sidewall portion <NUM> of the upper container <NUM>'. Also in this case, when the animal steps on the animal litter box <NUM> (upper container <NUM>'), it obstructs the infrared. Thus, it is known that the animal comes for the excretion. Combination of this result and the result of detection of the amount of urine ensures the detection of the fact that the animal stepped on the animal litter box <NUM>, but did not urinate.

The embodiments are intended for easy understanding of the present invention and are not in any way to be construed as limiting the present invention. Needless to say, the present invention may be modified and improved without departing from the scope of the invention, and equivalents thereof are also encompassed by the invention.

In the above-described embodiment, the animal litter box <NUM> is a type where the receiving section <NUM> is disposed on the lower container <NUM> (a type where the upper container is put on the lower container). However, it is not limited to this. For example, it may be applied to an animal litter box that is a type where a tray (receiving section) is taken into and out of the lower container.

In the above-described embodiment, the control unit (control unit <NUM>, upper-container control unit <NUM>) and the display section <NUM> are disposed on the animal litter box <NUM>. However, it is not limited to this. For example, a control unit and a display section may be disposed on an external terminal (for example, a personal computer, mobile terminal). Then, the output signal of each load cell is transmitted to the external terminal, and thus the external terminal may carry out measurement and display.

Claim 1:
An animal litter box (<NUM>), comprising:
an upper container (<NUM>) having a plurality of holes (21a) formed on a bottom portion (<NUM>), the plurality of holes penetrating in an up-down direction;
a lower container (<NUM>) that includes a receiving section (<NUM>) receiving excrement that has passed through the plurality of holes (21a),
wherein, an absorbent sheet (<NUM>) that absorbs the excrement is placed on the receiving section (<NUM>), characterised by:
the weight of the upper container (<NUM>) not acting on the lower container (<NUM>); and
an output unit (<NUM>) that outputs a signal changing according to an amount of the excrement received by the receiving section (<NUM>.