초록

A device for continuously cleaning the litter in a litter pen by removing the old, used litter automatically as the animal uses the litter box. The number of litter changes is greatly reduced and the amount of litter wasted is also reduced.

대표청구항 ▼

Apparatus for removing spent animal litter, comprising: (a) a frame, (b) a treadle moveably mounted to said frame for accepting an animal\s weight and said treadle positioned to move under the force of said weight, (c) an endless belt having an upper and a lower surface, said belt being positioned t

Apparatus for removing spent animal litter, comprising: (a) a frame, (b) a treadle moveably mounted to said frame for accepting an animal\s weight and said treadle positioned to move under the force of said weight, (c) an endless belt having an upper and a lower surface, said belt being positioned to support animal litter on its upper surface, (d) a first roller having an axis of rotation positioned generally horizontally, said first roller being rotatably mounted to said frame for rotation about its axis of rotation and at a location to support one end of said endless belt, (e) a second roller having an axis of rotation positioned generally horizontally, said second roller rotatably mounted to said frame for rotation about its axis of rotation and at a location to support the opposite end of said endless belt, at a lower elevation than said first roller, (f) means connecting said treadle to one of said rollers to rotate said one of said roller as the treadle is moved under the weight of an animal, the rotation of said one of said rollers moving the upper surface of the belt and the litter on this surface, and (g) a closure barrier connected to the frame and positioned over and generally orthogonal to a portion of the upper surface of the belt and transverse to the movement of the belt, the closure barrier having an opening adjacent to the upper surface of the belt to permit only the lower layer of litter adjacent to the belt to pass through the opening, thereby passing primarily spent litter located in the lower layer of litter, while retaining primarily unused litter located above the opening in the closure barrier.