AUTOMATIC SELF-SUFFICIENT TOILET FOR HOUSEHOLD PETS

Abstract

An automatic toilet for household pets comprises a housing having in its upper part a tray that is fastened to load-bearing side plates and has a depression for receiving an animal. The bottom of the tray is inclined and has a drainage hole. Arranged in the upper part of the tray is a conveyor configured in the form of a modular perforated conveyor belt with holes. Arranged in two rows above the conveyor belt are optical sensors. Arranged to the left and right of the modular conveyor belt are a scraper and a roller brush which are protected by covers and abut the conveyor belt across its entire width. Disposed above the site where the scraper and the roller brush respectively abut the conveyor belt is a tube with holes, which is connected to a tube for filling the tray with water.

Claims

1. Standalone automatic pet toilet, containing a body, conveyor belt, drain hole, animal presence indicator, microcontroller, water supply valve, water level sensor and shredder characterized in that the body is decorative, in the upper part of which there is a tray fixed on the bearing side plates of the body and there is a recess to accommodate the pet; the bottom of the tray is made with an inclination and has a drain hole; the conveyor tape is made in the form of a modular perforated conveyor belt with holes of 6×10 mm and is mounted on shafts, also fixed on the side plates of the body; optical fixation sensors are placed above the modular perforated tape in two rows: the upper and lower, wherein the upper row is located at a distance of 50-55 mm, the lower row is located at a distance of 10-15 mm from the surface of the tape, to the left and right of the modular tape there are a scraper and a brush shaft, which are protected by casings, wherein the casings are attached by screws to the bearing side plates of the body, and the scraper is adjacent to the perforated conveyor belt along its entire width with a gap of 2-4 mm, and the gap between the scraper and the bottom of the tray is 8-12 mm, the brush shaft is also adjacent to the perforated conveyor belt along its entire width; above the junction of the brush shaft at a height of 25-30 mm from the perforated conveyor belt there is a tube with holes, which, in its turn, is connected to the tube for filling the tray with water by means of a tee connected to the water supply valve and further to the water supply hose, which, in its turn, is connected to the water supply, the tube for filling the tray with water is placed on its rear wall and fixed with clamps, wherein the tube has a larger diameter than the tube with holes, and in the lower part of the case there is a sealed and vibration-soundproof engine compartment, which is a rectangular plastic bowl with high edges and an open top, which has mounting holes for quick access to the internal space of the compartment, in which an electric gear motor is located to drive a perforated conveyor belt, an electric gear motor to drive a brush shaft, shredder assembly with electric motor, which has a separate housing, pump, cooler for cooling the electric motor-shredder, cooler for forced ventilation of the engine compartment, water leak sensor, drain hose, water supply hose, rubber branch pipe connecting the drain hole of the tray and the shredder, and the microcontroller has two cleaning cycle programs: short and standard.

Description

[0016] FIG. 1 shows the general top view of the device with the designation of the sides A-B-C-D.

[0017] FIG. 2—side D.

[0018] FIG. 3—side A.

[0019] FIG. 4—side B.

[0020] FIG. 5—side C.

[0021] FIG. 6—engine compartment.

[0022] FIG. 7—brush shaft irrigation unit (rear view).

[0023] FIG. 8—brush shaft irrigation unit (top view).

[0024] The device consists of a decorative body 1, which has two parts—the upper and lower, where the lower is the engine compartment. At the top of decorative housing 1 there is tray 2 fixed on bearing side plates 3 of housing 1. Tray 2 has a recess to accommodate the pet. The bottom of tray 2 is tilted and has a drain hole 4. At the top of tray 2 there is a modular perforated conveyor belt 5 with holes of 6×10 mm. Tape 5 is mounted on shafts 6 fixed on side plates 3 of body 1. Water level sensor 7. To the left and right of modular perforated conveyor belt 5 there is scraper 8 and brush shaft 9, which are protected by housings 10. Housings 10 are fastened by screws to supporting side plates 3 of housing 1. Above the junction of brush shaft 9 and modular perforated conveyor belt 5 there is a tube with holes 11, which, in its turn, is connected to the water filling tube of tray 12 by means of tee 13 connected to water supply valve 14. The tube for filling the tray with water 12 is fixed by clamps 15 on the back wall of tray 2. At the bottom of body 1 there is an engine compartment. The engine compartment is made in the form of a rectangular plastic bowl with high edges and an open top. In the engine compartment of housing 1 there is electric gear motor 16 for driving perforated conveyor belt 5, electric gear motor 17 for driving brush shaft 9, shredder 18 assembled with electric motor 19 that has a separate housing, pump 20, cooler 21 for cooling electric shredder motor 19, cooler 22 for forced ventilation of the engine compartment, water leak sensor 23, drain hose 24, water supply hose 25, rubber pipe 26 connecting the drain hole of tray 4 and shredder 18 and microcontroller 27.

[0025] A display may be integrated into decorative housing 1 (not indicated in the drawing).

[0026] Tray 2 is made of plastic.

[0027] Scraper 8 adjoins tape 5 across its entire width with a gap of 2-4 mm. The gap between scraper 8 and the bottom of tray 2 is 8-12 mm.

[0028] Brush shaft 9 adjoins modular tape 5 across the entire width.

[0029] Tube with holes 11 is located above the junction of brush shaft 9 to modular perforated conveyor belt 5 at a height of 25-30 mm. Tube 12 for filling tray 2 with water has a larger diameter than tube with holes 11.

[0030] Microcontroller 27 has two cleaning cycle programs, a short one and a standard one. It can also be supplemented with programs for SMS-notification to the owner of the animal about an emergency situation or included in the ‘smart home’ program.

[0031] Water leak sensor 23 is triggered in the event of an emergency.

[0032] Modular perforated conveyor belt 5 has sufficient rigidity that allows to withstand an animal with a large weight and is made of a safe plastic designed for the food industry and resistant to various aggressive environments.

[0033] Above modular perforated conveyor belt 5 in two rows there are optical fixation sensors: upper and lower (not indicated in the drawing). The top row of optical fixation sensors is located at a distance of 50-55 mm from the surface of tape 5, the bottom row—at a distance of 10-15 mm. The bottom row of optical fixation sensors, after determining the presence or absence of excrement on modular tape 5, transmits this information to microcontroller 27 to enable one of the two cleaning cycles.

[0034] The device works as follows:

[0035] Optical fixation sensors record the moment the animal visiting the standalone automatic toilet, transmit this information to microcontroller 27, which after 30-90 seconds runs one of the cleaning cycle programs. After the animal has left the toilet, the microcontroller gives a signal to water supply valve 14 to open. Water enters the tray via tube 24, as long as water level sensor 7 does not disconnect water supply valve 14. Next, microcontroller 27 instructs geared motor 16 to scroll modular perforated conveyor belt 5 from shaft to shaft. During this time, optical fixation sensors detect the presence or absence of excrement on the modular tape, and in the absence of it, microcontroller 27 starts a short cleaning cycle.

[0036] During a short cleaning cycle, modular tape 5 is scrolled, brush shaft 9 cleans the surface of modular tape 5. Water and urine through the openings in modular perforated conveyor belt 5 enter the lower part of tray 2, and through branch pipe 26 with pump 20 are pumped into the sewer. Shredder 18 is not included.

[0037] In the case of fixation of excrement by optical sensors on modular perforated conveyor belt 5, microcontroller 27 starts a standard cleaning cycle. Modular perforated conveyor belt 5 is scrolled, brush shaft 9 and scraper 8 clean the surface of the belt and clean the excrement. Excrement enters the lower part of tray 2, from where through branch pipe 26 to shredder 18. From where through pump 20 it enters the sewer. In the case of adhesion of excrement on a modular perforated conveyor belt, the scraper cleans it, overlapping the gap between the bottom of the belt and the bottom of the tray, which does not allow the resulting suspension to enter the tray at the time of collecting water and settle on the bottom of the latter.

[0038] In the case of returning an animal to the toilet, for example, the top row of optical fiction sensors instantly detects its presence, and the cleaning cycle stops. The cycle resumes only when the animal leaves the toilet again.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

[0039] The use of the claimed invention makes it possible to manufacture devices that are completely autonomous and capable of functioning without human attention for 2 to 3 days, subject to the mandatory connection of the device to technical networks (water supply—sewerage).