IP Library Granted Patent US 11,284,599
Granted Patent B2
US 11,284,599 · App. 16/616,389 · Granted Mar 29, 2022

Animal toilet usage status management system

Inventors: Koji Hori (Fujisawa, JP); Teruki Hirahata (Fujisawa, JP); Atsushi Hiroyama (Fujisawa, JP)
Assignee: Hachi Tama Inc.
A01K1/0107A01K29/005G01G19/52
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,284,599
App. No.
16/616,389
Granted
Mar 29, 2022
Kind
B2
Abstract

The present invention relates to an animal toilet usage status management system, which is an animal toilet usage status management system including an animal toilet and a management server, wherein the animal toilet has a hole penetrating in the vertical direction at the bottom of the formed upper container, a lower container that receives urine passing through the hole, and a weight measuring unit that measures the weight of the upper container, the management server including a calculating part configured to calculate animal body weight and excretion information based on the measured weight transition change of the upper container.

Claims (15)

1. An animal toilet usage management system for cats, the toilet usage management system including an animal toilet for cats and a management server, wherein

the animal toilet for cats includes;

an upper container whose bottom part has holes formed therein, the holes penetrating the bottom part in a vertical direction,

a lower container configured to receive urine passing through the holes, and

four first weight sensors configured to measure weight of the upper container, the four first weight sensors configured to be not loaded with the urine received by the lower container after passing through the holes,

the management server includes;

a calculating part configured to calculate, based on a change in weight of a combined value of weight measurements measured by the four first weight sensors, a urine amount of an animal, without any second weight sensor configured to measure weight of the lower container, wherein

the combined value of weight measurements is configured to include a variation range due to a sand scratching act of a cat in the animal toilet, and the combined value is configured to be leveled based on the weight measurements measured at a timing before a certain timing included in a duration of the sand scratching act and the weight measurements measured at a timing after the certain timing, when the weight measurements measured at the certain timing has the variation range which is greater than those measured at the timing before the certain timing and measured at the timing after the certain timing, and the corresponding variation range measured at the certain timing occurs in the weight measurement of only one of the four first weight sensors.

2. The animal toilet usage management system for cats claimed in claim 1 , wherein the management server further includes a static state determining part configured to detect, based on the change in weight of the combined value of the upper container, a static state of the animal which has entered the upper container.

3. The animal toilet usage management system for cats claimed in claim 2 , wherein, in a case where the static state is detected, the calculating part is configured to calculate decreased weight as the urine amount, if the weight decreases from a static state start time when the static state starts to an exit start time when the animal starts to exit the upper container.

4. The animal toilet usage management system for cats claimed in claim 2 , wherein, in a case where the static state is detected, the calculating part is configured to calculate increased weight as a feces amount, if the weight increases from an entrance start time when the animal starts to enter the upper container to an exit completed time when the animal completes exiting the upper container.

5. The animal toilet usage management system for cats claimed in claim 4 , wherein the weight at a static state start time when the static state starts is the same as the weight at an exit start time when the animal starts to exit the upper container.

6. The animal toilet usage management system for cats claimed in claim 1 , wherein the calculating part is configured to calculate differential weight as a body weight, the differential weight being a difference between the weight at an exit start time when the animal starts to exit the upper container and the weight at an exit completed time when the animal completes exiting the upper container.

7. The animal toilet usage management system for cats claimed in claim 1 , wherein

a time resolution of a detection function of the four first weight sensors is once every 0.3 to 0.6 seconds.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Nov 22, 2019
From: HORI, KOJI; HIRAHATA, TERUKI; HIROYAMA, ATSUSHI
To: HACHI TAMA INC.
Reel/Frame 051092/0536 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20200236897A1 · Jul 30, 2020
Cited By (2)
US 12,374,452 US 12,718,939