Patent ID: 8316803

Claim:
A pet door hood system, comprising: a pet door including: a frame defining a first rectangular aperture, the first rectangular aperture having a height and a width, the frame being configured to be inserted in a second rectangular aperture formed in a vertical panel separating an indoor volume from an outdoor volume; and a flap operatively coupled to the frame and operable to sequentially swing open and closed inward and outward through a substantially vertical plane defined by the first rectangular aperture; and a pet door hood including: a mount configured to mount the pet door hood onto an external surface of the vertical panel peripheral to the first rectangular aperture, the mount including a top portion configured to mount above a top of the first rectangular aperture and two side portions configured to mount adjacent to sides of the first rectangular aperture, wherein the two side portions are defined by a vertical dimension greater than the height of the first rectangular aperture such that the two side portions extend beyond the top and a bottom of the first rectangular aperture; and a shell operatively coupled to and protruding outward from the mount, the shell including: two shell sides configured to extend outward from the respective two side portions of the mount, such that the two shell sides extend beyond the top and the bottom of the first rectangular aperture at the respective two side portions of the mount; a shell top configured to extend outwards from the top portion of the mount and across the top of the first rectangular aperture such that the shell top is contiguous with or coupled to the two shell sides; and a shell front contiguous with or coupled to the shell top and the two shell sides, the shell front having a height less than the height of the first rectangular aperture and the shell front being vertically located such that a bottom edge of the shell front is higher than the bottom of the first rectangular aperture, wherein the two shell sides extend downward from the bottom edge of the shell front to the respective two side portions of the mount; wherein the shell sides, shell top, and shell front form a partially enclosed volume having an open bottom, the partially enclosed volume being sufficiently large to allow the flap to swing into the volume responsive to pressure from a pet passing through the first aperture to exit the indoor volume, and to allow the pet to pass through when entering the indoor volume.