Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
1138Z74
The present invention relates to a box for receiving
the feces of small domestic animals such as cats, dogs, mice ham-
sters and birds.
Heretofore boxes for household animals have been pro-
vided with litter so that the animals can relieve themselves
thereon. These boxes exist for all kinds of domestic animals
in corresponding sizes and shapes in order to attain a deposition
of feces suitable for the animal concerned. The litter contained
in the boxes contains water-absorbing and odor-binding sub-
stances, as for example, peat, special litter, special expanded
clay chips and similar materials which are odor-bindin~,intercept
the urine of the animals and bind the feces.
These boxes must be cleaned at regular intervals. This
means that the entire box must be emptied and the litter or
filler material must be removed. The disadvantage of this
method of cleaning lies in that the amount of work expended is
relatively large and that the method is cumbersome since the box
must still be cleaned after it has been emptied and the removal
of the litter from the box thus can not be carried out without
leaving residues.
Moreover, when emptying the content of the box, for
example, into a garbage can, the litter is sometimes spilled,
resulting in substantial odorous annoyance and in pollution of
the environment.
However, residues of the litter of filler material
always remain in the box so that tedious cleaning measures are
required. Again, the feces can stick to the inaccessible
corners of the box, resulting in substantial odorous annoyance
and constituting a constant unhygienic source of infection.
The present invention provides a box of the aforesaid
type in which the filler material can be completely removed with-
out leaving residues and additional cleaning of the box after
- 1 -
113~274
the filler material has been removed is not required. Retention
of the filler material or of the feces in the box is to be reli-
ably avoided.
The present invention also constructs the box that the
]itter can bc changed or put into the box particularly fast and
in a labour-saving manner without the risk of spilling litter
when changing it or putting it into the box.
In accordance with the present invention at least the
inside of the box is lined with one or several removable sheets.
Thus the advantages of the present invention are
obtained in a simple manner by arranging one or several removable
sheets on the inside of the box. The litter is then poured on
the sheet and the box is then used for the intended purpose when
keeping domestic animals in households. After a predetermined
period, which depends on the soiling of the litter, s~id litter
is simply changed in that ~he entire sheet is pulled from the
box and the litter remains in the sheet (sheet bag) so that the
litter can be removed from the box without leaving residues.
The retention of residues of the litter, feces or urine in the
box thus is avoided.
The sheet bag with the litter contained therein can be
thrown away in its entirety.
It is just as simple to pour in new litter since the
empty box is first lined with a sheet on to which the litter is
then poured.
In a second embodiment of the present invention, the
litter is sold directly in the sheet bag as a sales unit and the
person buying this sheet bag with the litter contained therein
merely has to put the bag into the box and to line the latter
correspondingly. The user thus buys completely packed sheet
bag with the filler material contained therein correspondingly.
The amount of filler must be adapted to the box concerned.
~13~3Z~4
In a third embodiment several sheet bags are included
in a packaging bag containing the litter so that all the user
has to do is to remove a sheet bag in order to pour the litter
thereinto. I'he number of sheet bags included in a bag for the
litter is so determined that the content of the bag with litter
can be distributed consecutively over the enclosed sheet bags.
In a further embodiment the sheet bags are contiguous
and separable by perforations and are wound onto a reel. The
user buying this kind of reel can then pull off the sheet
bags consecutively.
In yet another embodiment th~ box is completely lined
withseveral superjacent sheets when it is sold. The user merely
has to pour in the litter and the box is ready for use. When
the litter is to be replaced the top sheet is removed from the
box and thrown away. The next foil is then exposedand can be
covered with litter immediately.
After using all the sheets contained in the box either
a refill pack can be provided in order to line the box again
with s~eets arranged in superjacent layers or the box may also
be thrown away in its entirety in order to acquire a new box
lined with superjacent sheets.
In a further embodiment it is possible that instead
of sheet bags correspondingly stiff plastic parts having rela-
tive dimensional stability and the shape of an open-topped box
are used. These plastic elements are telescoped or stacked in
each other so that comparatively several box-shaped elements
emboxed in each other are sold as a box and that the litter is
poured first into the topmost box-shaped element.
When the litter is used up the topmost element is re-
moved"to~ether with the litter and the next element is ready tobe filled with litter.
The present invention will be further illustrated by
way of the accompanying drawings, in which:
1~8'~74
Figure 1 is a sketch of a box lined with sheets in
perspective topview according to one embodiment of the present
invention;
Figure 2 is a section along the line II-II in Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a section through the box according to a
second embodiment of the present invention; and
Figure 4 is a detail section through the wall of a box
according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 1 shows a box lined with a sheet 2. In this case
the sheet 2 has been pulled over the edges of the box 1 so that
it engages over the upper edge 4 round the box 1. Litter 3 is
filled into the box 1. When the litter is used up the sheet 2
is pulled from the edge 4 and is removed together with the litter
3 in its entirety.
Figure 2 shows that the sheet 2 still overlaps the
edge 4 of the box 1. Figure 3 shows that the sheet 2 can also
be secured to the edge 4 by means of additional clamping devices,
as for example, a clamping ring 7 or a clamp strap 9 (see Fig. 4).
Figure 3 shows a second embodiment of a box. In this
case several sheets 6 have been put into a box 5 as a package.
The sheets 6 are superposed in layers and are pulled off consecu-
tively from the top to the bottom. In this case, too, the
sheets can be secured by means of a clamping ring 7or by clamp
straps 9.
Figure 4 shows this kind of clamp strap 9, which force-
ably presses a sheet 2 onto the edge 8 of a box.
