FR2810683A1 - Method for collecting dog feces from ground comprises pressing pad which is divided by grid of transverse walls into feces, raising it, with feces adhering to it, using cord attached to handle and disposed of it in bin - Google Patents

Abstract

The method for collecting dog feces (A) from the ground comprises pressing a pad (1) which is divided by a grid of transverse walls (5) into the feces. The pad can then be raised, with the feces adhering to it, using a cord (2) attached to a handle (3) and disposed of in a bin. An Independent claim is included for a pad as described above.

Description

Method and device for collecting soil, especially dog excrement The problem of dirt on sidewalks, paths and walkways is well known and it is known that there is virtually no solution to prevent the existence of such stains , the worst of all being the dog excrement, on the one hand because of their sticky consistency and on the other hand because of the effect of disgust they provoke. To avoid such droppings, it would be necessary to forbid access to dogs, even leashed, in all pedestrian places, which is impossible. Another solution is to ask people who walk with dogs to collect the droppings that, obeying only the laws of nature, are sometimes generated inadvertently, surprising the attention of these people.

Many devices have already been proposed to collect these droppings but none gives complete satisfaction, especially because it forces the person to manipulations both uncomfortable and unpleasant, without excluding that person has a sense of ridicule, which pushes take an attitude of indifference, even aggression, rather than feel humiliated in an attitude that can provoke the mockery and laughter of others.

These reasons have the effect that these devices have had no success.

In addition, the pickup devices proposed until now have proved poorly suited to their function because they are easy to carry on, in a pocket or in a handbag, they are small volume and their handling is unpleasant. If conversely they allow the user to use them without getting too close to the stain, they clutter too large to be easily kept at hand and can not be easily removed.

The present invention differs from known solutions and relates to a method and a device that eliminates unpleasant manipulations. To this end, the subject of the invention is a method for the collection of soils present on the ground, in particular canine waste on sidewalks, paths, alleys and traffic lanes for pedestrians, bicycles, carts and the like, characterized in that it consists in applying on each one of these stains a skate crossed of multiple passages perpendicular to its plane, then to exert from top to bottom slight pressure on the pad so that it penetrates a little in the matter of the stain then to raise the pad to which the material remains attached because of the friction on the walls which delimit the passages and which create numerous friction zones and distributed over the entire pad.

The invention also relates to a device for the collection of soil, including canine excrement, on sidewalks, paths and alleys, characterized in that it comprises at least one pad which has a substantially planar active surface formed by multiple walls perpendicular to it and determining intervals over a substantial height, and which is provided with a lifting means.

According to other features of this device the lifting means is a link by which the pad and the material which is attached to it can be raised; the pad has a bearing surface opposite to the active face and adapted to receive a thrust; the bearing face is solid, either because it is in one piece with the multiple walls of the pad, or because a wall is attached to the ends of said multiple walls; D the wall is a flexible sheet; the wall is a deformable or even elastic sheet capable of following deformations of the pad, in particular when it has a deployable structure; the pad has the form of a grid, that is to say that it is formed of juxtaposed segments; the juxtaposed segments are tubular elements; the segments of the grid are planar, crossed and hinged together so that said grid can be folded, in which case the segments are placed against each other, or deployed, in which case the segments are spaced apart from each other; D the pad comprises at least one locking element of the segments in the deployed position of the grid; the pad is formed of two parts hinged together according to their edges in order to occupy either a folding position in which they are located against each other by their active faces, or a deployment position in which said active faces are located in the extension of one another to form only one, these two parts being biased elastically towards their folding position.

The invention will be better understood from the detailed description given below with reference to the accompanying drawing. Of course, the description and the drawing are given only by way of indicative and nonlimiting example.

Figure 1 is a schematic view illustrating the situation of a user implementing the method of the invention.

Figure 2 inscribed in a circle is an enlarged view of a portion of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a schematic sectional view of an example of a disposable device according to the invention, in use.

Figure 4 is a schematic view illustrating the situation of the user of Figure 1, simultaneously removing the dirt he has collected and the device.

Figure S is a schematic perspective view of a device according to the invention, folded on itself to be flat and, therefore, easy to put in a pocket or in a purse.

Figure 6 is a schematic perspective view of the device of Figure S, deployment position, ready for use.

Figure 7 is a view similar to that of Figure 6 and illustrating an embodiment of the invention according to which the walls are through holes allowing better attachment of soil.

Figure 8 is a schematic front view of a device according to the invention, according to an embodiment which provides that the pad is cri two articulated parts.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing the use of the device of FIG. 8. FIGS. 10 and 11 are partial schematic views illustrating two embodiments of a device according to the invention, the pad of which has a curved contour, and in this case circular.

Figure 12 is a schematic perspective view showing a device according to the invention having an opaque top sheet.

FIG. 13 is a diagrammatic sectional view illustrating an embodiment of a device according to the invention, the active portion of which is formed of an absorbent cellular material.

 As explained in the preamble above, horned devices are unsatisfactory because they are still based on the same principle of picking up dirt, which assumes that a sufficiently rigid and solid element can be inserted between the soil and soil. This is the case of all devices like shovel or clamp. Sometimes, the clip is simply constituted by the user's own fingers which, in order not to get dirty himself, interposes a protection article of the paper hankie kind.

There is another principle of collection of dog excrements, which requires a pipe and a central vacuum, which obviously implies that only a machine served by a professional can implement such a principle which, in addition to its exorbitant price, requires a Many staff and an important logistics of maintenance, cleaning and maintenance.

The present invention uses a different method and which consists in lifting the soil by penetration of a tool from top to bottom and no longer from bottom to top, starting from the observation that a stain always has a soft and even rather soft consistency .

The tool, that is to say the device by which the process of the invention is implemented, is a pad that is partially penetrated into the mass of the soil so that it adheres to it. after which one raises the skid and the stain that remains attached to it and eliminates them together, in a garbage bin, a litter bin, a street gutter, etc. The method is illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 4, in which a user who has noticed a stain A on the edge of a sidewalk B is seen to place a slider 1 above the stain A by holding it by a thread 2 provided with a ring 3 and exerts on pad 1, with foot C a slight pressure so that the various elements (described further detail) of the pad 1 penetrate part of the material of the soil A. Then, it is sufficient for the user to remove its foot C, to lift the shoe 1 by the ring of the wire 2 and to bring said shoe 1 and the soil A above the gutter D bordering the sidewalk B, then to let go of the ring 3, so that the shoe 1, the wire 2, the ring 3 and the soil A are thrown where the cleaning service regularly and often flow water whose flow leads to the sewer all discarded by the user.

Naturally, the gutter D is here designated only as an example, because it would be even more rational and hygienic to throw the whole in a trash bin trash, as found in cities, parks and parks. gardens, places for walks, pedestrian zones, etc.

skid 1 has on the one hand a lower face 4 that qualifies as active face because it is it that comes into contact with the soil, and on the other hand an upper face 5 that is described as the face of support because it is she who receives the push of the foot C of the user.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, a correct location E of the shoe 1 on the pavement B has been traced in gray to grip the stain A and it can be seen that it is not necessary to place the slider 1 in a precise central position. , the important thing being only that a substantial part of the pad 1 penetrates the material of the stain A. The operation is thus easy and fast and is very discretely The active face 4 has multiple perpendicular walls 6 determining intervals 7 numerous and having a substantial height, that is to say of the order of a few centimeters.

The wire 2 is docked substantially in the center of the pad 1, that is to say in an area close to the center of gravity, and at a distance from the edges of the pad 1 sufficient for a user to support the underside of the pad 1 a shoe without meeting the wire 2, which amounts to saying that the shoe 1 must have a width sufficient to provide a surface compatible with the usual dimensions of a shoe, which surface is also close to what is necessary for a correct catch of a canine excrement of a large dog. Anything smaller <I> a fortiori </ I> easy to lift and eliminate. Experience shows that convenient dimensions for the shoe 1 are of the order of eight centimeters square when it is square and eight centimeters in diameter when its contour is circular. Naturally, the pad 1 could also be rectangular or oval.

When a user sees a stain, especially when a dog deposits an A drop on a sidewalk, he takes a device according to the invention, deploys the wire 2 and grasps the ring 3 by a finger, and thus directs the pad 1 above the discharge A, then he places his foot C on the pad 1, which tends wire 2 and keeps the pad 1 as exactly as possible above the A drop.

The user then exerts on the pad 1, with its foot C, a pressure just sufficient for the walls 6 to penetrate the material of the excrement A, then he removes his foot C and by means of the wire 2 and the ring 3, simultaneously raises the pad 1 and the A droplet which remains gripped with the pad 1, transports the whole above the channel D and loosens the ring 3, thus leaving the device, namely the pad 1, the wire 2 and the ring 3 as well as the dejection A where it is suitable.

Naturally, the gutter D is cited only as an example as a suitable place to place the device and the A waste, because it would obviously be more ecological and more civic to place it in a trash or other receptacle to waste but the important thing is to evacuate as quickly as possible a disgusting stain and even dangerous because of its sliding character.

As the device is eliminated at the same time as the soil, it is advantageous for all the elements eliminated to be of a biodegradable nature, which is obviously the case for animal waste. Thus, the pad 1 can be obtained market recycled cardboard, but other materials can be envisaged, either directly of vegetable origin, or synthetic easily biodegradable, incineration without release of gaseous pollutants, etc.

Link 2 and ring 3 can also be of a plant and / or biodegradable nature.

Another solution is to provide a reusable link (not shown), including a chain, provided with a carabiner or other member for attachment to a pad 1 before use and the stall after placing the pad 1 and the stain that it carries over the receptacle into which they are dropped. Thus, it eliminates each time the pad 1 itself and the link and its fastener are retained, so that the discarded part after use is very cheap.

link can also receive a gripping member such as the ring 3 or form a loop for easy handling.

As the user must be able everywhere to have a device immediately available the pad 1, its wire 2 and the ring 3 must be cheap, light and not bulky to be preserved, before use, in a pocket, a holder. documents or a handbag, so that a good solution is to design a skate that can occupy a folding position of very small volume and a deployment position in which it offers the approximate dimensions indicated above.

FIGS. 5 to 7 show an example of such a shoe 1, the walls 6 of which are formed by interpenetrated blades that are not fixed together, so that they can pivot relative to one another.

In Figure 5, the blades are folded against each other and form a very small volume, substantially flat, around which the wire 2 is simply wound.

6, the shoe 1 is in the deployed position, ready for use as illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 4, the walls 6 having been separated by multi-pivoting in the manner of the Nuremberg scissors to be in the orthogonal position and thus constituting a substantially parallelepipedal volume of lower height at its sides, which are equal to each other.

material whose blades 6 are made can have an influence on their thickness, but experience shows that even if the blades are thin, a natural jamming exists when the blades are deployed, as soon as they are perpendicular, because it forms an equilibrium of the blades which do not elastically return to their folding position, neither on one side nor the other. Thanks to this locking effect, the shoe 1 keeps deployment position which is that of its nornial use.

Nevertheless, it may be useful to provide a wedging member (not shown) ensuring the maintenance of the deployed blades.

When the shoe 1 comprises a large number of walls 6, and therefore of intervals 7, the dirt clings well because of the importance of the friction walls 6 and the fact that the weight of the material is distributed over several blades, since it is subdivided. in the intervals 7.

In Figure 7, we see a variant in which walls 6 are traversed by holes 6a. These holes allow voluminous soil to spread horizontally when they are bulky, rather than going up vertically. The walls 6 forming the periphery of the pad 1 are obviously not perforated, so that the dirt remains confined in the contour of the pad 1. The holes 6a contribute to the attachment of the materials, to prevent them from falling when raising the floor. together to transport it over the evacuation area.

But we can further increase the snap effect with a device such as that of Figure 8, the pad 1 is always formed of a plurality of walls 6 creating gaps 7, but here, the pad 1 comprises two parts la and lb articulated together as two branches of a clamp, and biased by resilient means (not shown) to a position of bringing the two parts la and lb, which is schematized by two arrows F1 and F2.

The wire 2 is attached to the shoe 1 substantially in the center of the hinge axis of the two parts la and lb so as not to hinder their relative pivoting.

In FIG. 9, it can be seen that when the foot C of the user presses on the two parts 1a and 1b at a time, while the wire 2 is stretched, these two parts 1a and 1b pivot and move apart and their facing faces together form an active lower face 4 which behaves exactly as described above.

But when the user releases the pressure of his foot C, the two parts lb, biased towards each other (for example by a simple elastic strap) tend to tighten the soil and therefore to retain it even if the friction due to the walls (and possibly the holes 6a) are insufficient, which could be the case of relatively liquid materials.

In FIGS. 10 and 11, two alternative embodiments of the walls 6 are shown in a non-folding version of the pad 1.

FIG. 10 shows, on the side of the face 4 of the shoe 1, that it is formed of numerous cylindrical segments 8 juxtaposed and enclosed in a circular frame 9, the whole being made of any material, synthetic or natural, biodegradable advantageously molded in one piece. FIG. 11 shows, on the side of the face 4 of the shoe 1, that the latter is molded in one piece and has perpendicular walls 6, determining numerous gaps 7 closed laterally by a circular surround 10. again, the walls 6 can be traversed by holes (not shown).

With embodiments described and shown in Figures 1 to 9, the gaps 7 are through, that is to say they have no bottom.

It is possible to create such a bottom, either by molding, in particular with the embodiments of FIGS. 10 and 11, or by fixing an insert plate, for example on each of the parts 1a and <B> <U> lb , </ U> </ B> but not with the embodiment of Figures 5 to 7, because blades are movable and can not be joined by a rigid member.

FIG. 12 illustrates the case where an attached base 11 consisting of a flexible sheet of paper or of synthetic material, which does not need to be resistant because it does not undergo any constraint, is intended merely to mask for the user, the unpleasant view of the material that may appear in the intervals 7, and at worst to avoid contaminating the sole of the shoe of the user. He however reminded that it is not necessary to drive the pad 1 deeply in the material of the stain but only to penetrate the walls 6 so that they play their role of maintenance for a very short time.

The principle of an attached sheet of flexible material can be adopted for the embodiment of Figures 5 to 7, and so that the attached sheet can fold and then deploy, it must be maintained, especially by gluing or by welding, the periphery of the pad in the deployed position because after fixation, it bends and creases easily. A more elaborate solution is to choose a sheet of elastic material that can be attached to the upper edges of the walls 6 because the sheet can then deform and return to its original position. It may be useful to allow slack to remain in line with the passages 7, the sheet then having between the walls of the pockets that are stretched when deploying said walls 6 previously folded under low volume. FIG. 13 shows a particular embodiment according to which the shoe 1 is formed of a frame 12 for open-celled cell body 13, forming as many intervals for the attachment of stains, this cell body 13 being moreover absorbing liquids and thus able to improve the collection of wet stains, as are some dog excrements.

The invention allows many variants, including the constitution of the pad 1 to give it a minimum footprint before use.

Claims (12)

1. A method for the collection of dirt on the ground, including canine waste on sidewalks, paths, alleys and traffic lanes of pedestrians, bicycles, carts and the like, characterized in that it consists of to apply on each of these stains (A) a skid (1) crossed multiple passages perpendicular to its plane, then to exert up and down a slight thrust on the pad (1) so that it penetrates a little in the material of the soil (A), then to lift the pad (1) to which the material remains attached because of the friction due to the walls which delimit the passages and which create numerous friction zones and distributed over the entire pad (1) . 2. Device for collecting soil, especially dog excrement, on sidewalks, paths and alleys, <U> characterized in that it comprises less a pad (1) which has an active face (4) substantially planar formed by multiple walls (6) perpendicular to it and determining intervals over a substantial height, and which is provided with a lifting means (2-3). 3. Device according to claim 2, <U> characterized in that </ U> the lifting means is a link (2) by which the pad (1) and the material that is hooked can be raised. 4. Device according to claim 2, <U> characterized in that </ U> the shoe 1) has a bearing surface (5) opposite to the active face (4) and adapted to receive a thrust. 5. Device according to claim 4, characterized in that </ U> the bearing face (5) is solid, either because it is in one piece with the multiple walls (6) of the pad ( 1), or because a wall is attached to the ends of said multiple walls (6). 6. Device according to claim 5, <U> characterized in that </ U> the wall is a sheet (11), flexible. 7. Device according to claim 5, characterized in that the wall is a deformable sheet, even elastic, capable of following deformations of the pad (1), in particular when it has a deployable structure. 8. Device according to claim 2, <U> characterized in that </ U> the pad in the form of a grid, that is to say that it is formed of juxtaposed segments. 9. Device according to claim 8, <U> characterized in that </ U> juxtaposed segments are tubular elements (8). 10. Device according to claim 8, characterized in that the grid segments are planar, crossed and hinged together so that said grid can have either folded, in which case the segments are placed against each other. others, either deployed, in which case the segments are separated from each other. 11. Device according to claim 10, characterized in that </ U> the pad (1) comprises at least one blocking element of the segments in the deployed position of the grid. 12. Device according to claim 2, characterized in that the pad (1) is formed of two parts (la and lb) hinged together along one of their edges in order to occupy either a position of folding in which they are located against each other by their active faces (4), a deployment position in which said active faces (4) are located in the extension of one another for not forming one, these two parts (la and lb) being biased elastically towards their folding position.