Pro Pet
DESCRIPTION:
The pets that people love and care for are extensions of their family and treat them as such. People want to take their pets everywhere they go. Especially if it’s an outing for entertainment. The enjoyment and pleasure derived from owning a pet compel individuals to spend as much time with them as possible.
The most popular pet for traveling with their owners is the dog. Although cats see some travel too, dogs do excursions better, much more focused on their owners and don’t tend to wander as much. There is probably some argument to that premise but, the consensus is that dogs do better on a trip and away from home with their owners. There are other animals that require pet carriers, but dogs and cats are the most popular.
Travel accessories that are available on the market today consist of a wide range of products. One of the most important products a pet owner can possess is the pet carrier. A pet carrier confines the pet and keeps the animal safe. The pet carrier also provides a means of transport. Once suitably adapted to a pet carrier the animal can enjoy and feel secure in the carrier.
Sports fans and especially football fans like to bring their pets along with them particularly to the phenomenon of tailgating. Other events are popular too such as outdoor concerts, fairs, shows, etc. and for the dedicated football fan, there is never an event celebrated without supporting their favorite team. Sports team colors and paraphernalia are often used to adorn their pets. There are many varieties of sports related products people purchase to show their favorite team colors and spirit. Many of these involve dressing the animal up in various colors and costumes and other types of displays. The pet carrier misses the mark out of this celebration of team colors and spirit.
The pet carrier usually consists of drab colors such as beige or gray. These are not terribly exciting colors or décor for such a large item in the travel inventory.
The Pro Pet carrier is an innovative and unique take on the unassuming pet carrier. Fashioned to look exactly like the sports fans favorite team football helmet. The Pro Pet brings a new and exciting element into the sports paraphernalia market. Constructed of durable and light-weight materials, the Pro Pet will show off your favorite team while replacing the usual drab and dull pet carrier. The Pro Pet features screened vents on the sides and top of the carrier. The front of the Pro Pet is a cage door designed to emulate the face guard of the professional team helmet. The cage door swings up and out of the way on its hinge. Releasing the latch at the base allows easy entry and exit of the pet. Located where a chin strap would appear on a helmet, a tray at the bottom of the front of the carrier provides food and water during travel time. The container is divided and slides in and out for easy access. The tray can be substituted with a single gate piece that will provide more interior room. Underneath the unit is a stand with a slide in and out tray for disposal of pet waste and debris. Beneath the sliding tray a set of caster wheels for ease of movement. The casters will lock for secure placement of carrier. Handles located at each tray provide easy manipulation for moving the trays in and out. Located at the top of the carrier is a sturdy handle for moving and carrying the Pro Pet. The entire top section of the Pro Pet will separate from the base to allow for easy cleaning. Matching blankets and a comfortable pad provide the pet with comfort while traveling. The Pro Pet is a unique product that shows the colors and spirit of a football fan while providing safety and transport for their pet.
SPECIFIC, UNIQUE FUNCTIONS OF INVENTION:
- Comes in any professional team helmet configuration
- Cage door emulates helmet face guard
- Cage door swings up and out of the way for access
- Well vented to keep pets cool
- Top vents can be closed to keep rain out or increase warmth
- Wheel casters for easy movement
- Locking wheel casters for secure placement
- Slide out tray for water or food
- Food tray can be substituted with a single gate piece for increased interior room
- Different sizes available for larger or smaller pets
- Lower tray for removing pet waste
- Matching pads and blankets available
- Entire top half is removable for access and cleaning
- Perfect for showing team colors while traveling with pet
PRODUCT COMPONENT CLARIFICATION:
The “Pro Pet” is an innovative pet carrier product that has been designed to allow the user to easily, transport, feed, and water the pet in a very stylish carrier that shows support for the favorite team of the pet owner. The molded plastic carrier is sized to fit pets from small to large and has vents with adjustable covers to provide the optimum in pet comfort. The unit is shaped like a helmet where the face mask is the front door. The food and water dish can be removed and replaced with a curved strap, making more room in the product for the pet. Pads and/or blankets with the same team logo. The plastic and metal carrier is easy to use and clean.
Currently, most pet carriers are rounded edge, rectangular cubes with a front opening door. They are a combination of rigid plastic and wire forms. They do not have any capability to adjust air flow for pet comfort or prevent the intrusion of the elements. They are not easy to keep clean and certainly are not decorative. Feeding and watering the pet is difficult and cleaning up after the pet is not efficient or optimum.
The “Pro Pet” resolves most of these problems by providing a fashionable pet carrier that is shaped like a football helmet, including the team colors and logo. The molded plastic carrier is easy to use and clean, while providing the optimum comfort for the pet. The base of the carrier has 4 swiveling casters so the pet and carrier can easily be wheeled from one location to another. The casters lock to secure the carrier in one place. The food and water bowl are located in the front, just under the lower edge of the welded wire face mask and snap into place. Once the pet is fed, the food/water bowl can be removed and the gate section installed to provide more room in the carrier for the pet. After use, the base tray can be removed, washed, dried, and returned to the carrier for the next use.
- As an option, the product can also be supplied with a custom pad with the team colors and logo, or a blanket with similar markings.
- As another option, the helmet can be supplied in high school or college colors and logos, or even corporate colors, or various selected images, which dramatically broadens the total available market.
The Pro Pet is supplied in various sizes. These are, but not limited to, the following.
| Carrier Size | Recommended Pet Size |
|---|---|
| Miniature | Up to 10 pounds |
| Small | 10 to 20 pounds |
| Medium | 20 to 50 pounds |
| Large | 50 to 100 pounds |
| Extra Large | 100 to 150 pounds |
The plastic components: These plastic components are either injection molded, blow molded, or rotationally molded as the shape dictates, for example the face mask (door) will be injection molded while the helmet crown will be either rotational or blow molded. All the components will be molded from polypropylene plastic. This plastic is very durable, is highly resistant to household chemicals and ultraviolet degradation, is very easy to clean using soap and water, and is often used in this application. There are several different sections, which can be molded in almost any vibrant color to make the selected school, professional team, or corporate colors.
All the sections fit together and the connections are strong enough to prevent separation during use or if the pet is very active, yet can be taken apart with normal force when required. Any required machining is automatically performed in a CNC milling center. The sections are, but not limited to, the following.
- The pet carrier base.
- The base tray.
- The food and water bowl.
- The product is also supplied with a gate section that can be swapped with the food and water bowl to provide more room in the enclosure for the pet.
- The lower helmet section with ventilation screens
- The helmet crown with closable ventilation screens and face mask mounting straps
- The helmet crown may be supplied with a fixed or folding carry handle.
The face mask: The face mask is the front door of the carrier. The 0.125” diameter, type 304 stainless steel wire is used to keep the pet contained. The wire is supplied to the fabricator on a spool, is de- reeled, and cut to length as required. One longer section of wire is robotically bent to make the face mask perimeter shape. The cut pieces are then robotically placed into a fixture on 1” centers and are spot welded together. After welding, cleaning, and passivation, the flat mask is placed in a hydraulic press in a mold and pressed into the final curved shape.
The ventilation screen: This screen is type 304 stainless steel mesh. The mesh is welded on 0.5” centers using 19 gauge (0.036”) diameter wire. This mesh is commercially available and is cut to shape using a flywheel press and a specialty die. After cutting, it is placed in the molded pockets in the molded plastic shell and thermally bonded in place. All loose ends are covered with thermally bonded plastic trim pieces so the pet cannot be injured and cannot claw them loose.
The casters: These swiveling casters are commercially available and are supplied with non-marking, non-skid rubber wheels that each capable of supporting up to 100 pounds each. These 2” diameter by 0.75” wide casters are supplied with a rectangular metal base that is screwed to the bottom of the pet carrier base sections. The polyurethane rubber tread rolls easily and has good abrasion resistance so the pet carrier can be rolled almost anywhere. The casters have a total lock feature where the lever can easily be operated with the toe of the shoe.
The pad or blanket: These commercially available foam pads or blankets are provided to the manufacturer in colors and patterns as they require for the product. They fit into the base section and can be sponged off to clean while the blankets can be machine washed and dried.
The Pro Pet is designed to be aesthetic and effective in the application. The practically uncomplicated fabrication and the reasonably priced components provide good marketability for the manufacturer. The user benefits from improved style, ease of use, and pet comfort, which should provide considerable market interest in the product.
The invention is illustrated in the attached drawings of the essential points as explained to us in the documentation.
Drawing 1, Block 1: Pro Pet – Side Views With Face Mask (Door) Up And Down
(1) The casters are non-marking, non-skid, and lock when the bar s depressed, then .roll freely when the brake is released, allowing easy transportation of the pet.
(2) The stainless steel wire face mask pivots at the top center of the pet carrier and locks into place at the cheeks using strong magnets. The metal targets are adhesively bonded to the cheek locations and are ridged to provide additional holding force when the mating contour magnets on the face mask are attracted to the steel targets in the helmet section.
(3) The helmet is supplied with the base color of the team logo molded into the plastic and the logo can be applied using a UV ink printed decal, or both the carrier and the logo can be robotically painted on the product.
(4) The compartmentalized food and water bowl insert snaps onto the base of the carrier or can be replaced with the gate section that increases the interior space. The exterior surface of the food/water bowl and the gate section are curved and are the same thickness so they look the same from the side or front when attached to the base.
(5) The face mask flips up to remove the pet from the carrier and is secured in place with the magnetic catch that cannot be opened by the pet. Both cheek ends of the face mask have to be pulled outward simultaneously for the face mask catches to release and the door to be rotated upward.
(6) The air vent, (one on each side of the centerline of the helmet), can be open as shown below or closed as shown here.
(7) The top of the helmet and face mask (front door) can be removed for better access to the interior of the pet carrier.
(8) The lower screen vents allow air to flow through the carrier, are durable so the pet can’t damage them, and are easy to clean.
(9) The base tray pulls out so any waste, dirt, debris, or spilled water can easily be removed, the tray wiped clean, and then re-installed.
(10) The helmet can be supplied in almost any base color of and with almost any logo or image of a school, professional team, or company.
(11) The unique product can be supplied with matching foam pads or blankets for the pet’s comfort.
(12) The molded base is ribbed for strength, has pockets for the casters, and openings for the tray, etc.
Although a single embodiment of the invention has been illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described in the above detailed description, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiment developed herein, but is capable of numerous rearrangements, modifications, substitutions of parts and elements without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
This document has been prepared for the manufacturer’s elucidation. The manufacturer’s decision makers should consider this product for licensing (providing intellectual property protection for their sales of the product in return for a royalty payment for a period of years) or an outright purchase of the patent for a negotiated fee. The inventor and his team are standing by to consider offers for licensing or outright purchase of the patent.
