초록 ▼

A self-cleaning cat litter box apparatus comprises a litter tray for containing a quantity of cat litter, a waste bin, and a mesh basket sized for having lower regions received into the litter. A supporting frame and the basket form a basket assembly that is hinged relative to the litter tray for pi

A self-cleaning cat litter box apparatus comprises a litter tray for containing a quantity of cat litter, a waste bin, and a mesh basket sized for having lower regions received into the litter. A supporting frame and the basket form a basket assembly that is hinged relative to the litter tray for pivotal movement between a lowered position in which the lower regions of the basket are immersed in cat litter contained in the litter tray and an upright position in which cat waste-containing clumped litter picked up from the tray by the basket is gravity dumped into the waste bin. A basket motor is connected for causing the pivoting of the basket assembly between the lowered and upright positions and for simultaneously opening and closing a waste bin door. Operation of the basket motor is responsive to a cat entering and subsequently leaving the litter tray. Another motor is connected for oscillating the basket assembly relative to the litter tray when pivoting of the basket assembly from its lowered position is started and again as the basket assembly is pivoted back close to its lowered position to facilitate the lifting of the basket from and immersing the basket into, cat litter in the litter tray.

대표청구항 ▼

A self-cleaning cat litter box apparatus comprises a litter tray for containing a quantity of cat litter, a waste bin, and a mesh basket sized for having lower regions received into the litter. A supporting frame and the basket form a basket assembly that is hinged relative to the litter tray for pi

A self-cleaning cat litter box apparatus comprises a litter tray for containing a quantity of cat litter, a waste bin, and a mesh basket sized for having lower regions received into the litter. A supporting frame and the basket form a basket assembly that is hinged relative to the litter tray for pivotal movement between a lowered position in which the lower regions of the basket are immersed in cat litter contained in the litter tray and an upright position in which cat waste-containing clumped litter picked up from the tray by the basket is gravity dumped into the waste bin. A basket motor is connected for causing the pivoting of the basket assembly between the lowered and upright positions and for simultaneously opening and closing a waste bin door. Operation of the basket motor is responsive to a cat entering and subsequently leaving the litter tray. Another motor is connected for oscillating the basket assembly relative to the litter tray when pivoting of the basket assembly from its lowered position is started and again as the basket assembly is pivoted back close to its lowered position to facilitate the lifting of the basket from and immersing the basket into, cat litter in the litter tray. 20020900, Kwon et al., 455/437; US-6484145, 20021100, Home et al., 705/008 with a backhaul link for communicating with ground-based equipment; and radio frequency circuits proximate the antenna array for processing radio frequency communication signals between said antenna array at a tower top and a backhaul link, said radio frequency circuits configured for interfacing with backhaul signals in at least one of digital IF and digital baseband formats at the backhaul link and including: multiplexing circuitry for multiplexing between the backhaul link and multiple antenna elements of the array; analog/digital conversion circuitry for converting between analog and digital representations of the backhaul signals; frequency conversion circuitry for converting between radio frequency communication signals and intermediate frequency signals; the radio frequency circuits configured for providing the necessary processing of radio frequency communication signals between said antenna array and said backhaul link for transceiving communication signals with said ground-based equipment in one of the digital baseband and digital IF formats on the backhaul link. 2. The system of claim 1 wherein said analog/digital conversion circuitry includes a digital-to-analog converter for converting digital signals from said backhaul link to analog intermediate frequency signals. 3. The system of claim 2 wherein said radio frequency circuits include at least one upconverter for upconverting the analog intermediate frequency signals to radio frequency signals. 4. The system of claims 1 and further including a power amplifier coupled with each antenna element. 5. The system of claim 4 wherein said array comprises M columns of N antenna elements wherein both M and N are greater than 1, wherein said analog/digital conversion circuitry comprise a total of M digital to analog converters and the frequency conversion circuitry includes M upconverters, one for each column, and further the multiplexing circuitry including a time domain multiplexer coupled between the backhaul link and said digital to analog converters for de-multiplexing a digital signal from said backhaul link to said digital to analog converters. 6. The system of claim 1 wherein said radio frequency circuits comprise at least one downconverter coupled to the antenna elements for downconverting radio frequency signals to intermediate frequency signals. 7. The system of claim 6 wherein said radio frequency circuits include at least one analog-to-digital converter circuit coupled with said downconverter circuit for converting said intermediate frequency signals to digital intermediate frequency signals. 8. The system of claim 7 wherein said array comprises M columns and N antenna elements, wherein both M and N are greater than 1, wherein said analog-to-digital converter and said downconverter comprise a total of M analog-to-digital converters and M downconverters, one for each column, and further including a time domain multiplexer coupled between the backhaul link and said analog-to-digital converters for multiplexing M digital intermediate frequency signals from the respective analog-to-digital converter circuits into a high speed digital signal for said backhaul link. 9. The system of claim 6 and further including at least one low noise amplifier coupled between the antennas of said array and at least one downconverter. 10. The system of claim 8 and further including a low noise amplifier coupled between each antenna element of said array and a corresponding downconverter. 11. The system of claims 1 wherein said radio frequency circuits comprise at least one downconverter coupled to the antenna elements for downconverting radio frequency signals to intermediate frequency signals. 12. The system of claim 11 wherein said radio frequency circuits include at least one analog to digital converter circuit coupled with said downconverter circuit for converting said intermediate frequency signals to digital intermediate frequency signals. 13. The system of claim 12 w