Foldable Device for Manually Picking Up Samples or Substances

The present invention relates to a foldable device which is suitable for manually picking up samples or substances, which may or may not be foul-smelling, and, more particularly, to a foldable device for picking up domestic animal feces.

Everyone is aware of the problem posed by the feces of domestic cats and dogs when these are deposited on the public thoroughfare and which obliges their owners to use a scoop and a bag to pick the feces up and to dispose of them later in a suitable place. Many owners of pets or domestic animals are also known to be reluctant to walk along the streets with the abovementioned scoop and bag, which means that the waste frequently remains in the streets and on the sidewalks, with the risk this involves for passersby or pedestrians.

It is therefore the object of the present invention to solve this problem by providing a foldable device which may be carried in a pocket or in a purse and which is suitable for picking up domestic animal feces, without soiling one's hands.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a foldable device, which may be reused, for picking up samples or substances, or which may be thrown away, i.e. which is disposed of after use.

It is obvious that the invented device also serves for picking up samples, for example, of pulverulent or granular materials, in a hygienic manner and that it enables said samples to be transported to the place where they are deposited or kept. In an alternative embodiment the invented device may remain closed after the samples or feces have been collected.

The subject of the present invention is therefore a foldable device which is suitable for picking up samples or substances, which, in its folded-up position, may be kept in a pocket or in a purse, and which is formed by a laminar element which consists of a rectangular principal body which has two fold lines or creases perpendicular to its longer sides, one of said fold lines or creases being made in the substantially central region of said rectangle and the other being made close to one of its shorter sides, determining a substantially rectangular tab, a substantially trapezoidal tab, whose major base coincides with said other, shorter side of said rectangle, being joined to the other, opposite shorter side, and substantially triangular individual lugs being joined to the longer sides of said rectangle, each triangular lug being divided into two triangular parts by a crease which originates at the vertex which coincides with the end of the central crease of the rectangular body, each one of said triangular parts having, joined to their bases by means of a crease, substantially trapezoidal individual flanges, said substantially trapezoidal tab, said substantially rectangular tab and the external triangular parts having fastening or joining flaps.

Throughout this specification and the claims, the terms "fold lines" and "creases" are used to indicate the same thing.

In an alternative embodiment the subject of the present invention the rectangular principal body has on its longer edges, substantially trapezoidal individual projections which include three creases on their shorter sides and two fastening flaps each. Once the device of the invention has been made up, said projections form pockets or handles in which the user's fingers are inserted in order to operate said device. It is obvious that such pockets may be replaced by an elastic band or by a strip of laminar material, or something similar.

The invention will be better understood with reference to the appended drawings which show a preferred embodiment of the proposed article.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows an unfolded version of the template to be used for making the invented article;

FIGS. 2a and 2b show the foldable device from the front and from the side in its open position;

FIGS. 3a and 3b show the foldable device from the front and from the side in its closed position, i.e. after a sample has been collected; and

FIGS. 4a and 4b show the foldable device from the front and from the side in its folded-up position.

FIG. 1 therefore shows a sheet of a laminar material, for example cardboard, paper, plastic, card, laminated metal, etc., which consists of a rectangular principal body 1 which has a crease A substantially in the central region of said principal body 1 and a crease B close to one of the smaller sides of said rectangle, both creases A and B being perpendicular to the larger sides of said rectangle and the crease B delimiting a substantially rectangular tab 5, and a substantially trapezoidal tab 4 being joined said principal body 1 on its other smaller or shorter side by means of a crease C which coincides with said shorter side of the principal body 1.

The two tabs 4 and 5 have, on their shorter sides, small wings for fastening or joining, by means of some suitable means, such as, for example, an adhesive, to substantially trapezoidal flanges 10a, 10b, 11a and 11b, which are described below.

The principal body 1 has, in addition, two triangular lugs 8 and 9 joined to the longer sides of the rectangle of the body 1 by means of the creases D and E, and with their vertices arranged at the ends of the crease A.

Each triangular lug 8 and 9 is divided into two triangular parts 8a and 8b and 9a and 9b, respectively, the external parts 8b and 9b having small wings for joining or fastening them, by means of some suitable means, to the principal body 1. These suitable means may, depending on the material chosen for constructing the device, be adhesives, rivets, clips, staples etc.

Each of said triangular parts 8a, 8b, 9a and 9b has, joined on its base, one of said substantially trapezoidal flanges 10a, 10b, 11a and 11b mentioned.

Once the foldable device has been made up, the flanges 10a, 10b, 11a and 11b and the tabs 4 and 5 form the mouth or entrance for the samples or feces.

FIG. 1 also shows two substantially trapezoidal projections 6 and 7 which, on each of their shorter sides, have three creases F, G, H and J, forming individual bellows, and two small flaps for joining or fastening said projections 6 and 7 to the principal body 1. These projections, once adhesively bonded to the body, form two pockets in which the user's fingers are inserted in order to prevent the device of the invention slipping while it is being used. Clearly, these pockets may be replaced by other elements, such as, for example, two strips of cardboard, or two rubber bands, or something similar.

Once made up, the foldable device which is the subject of the invention adopts the form shown in FIGS. 2a and 2b, in which the mouth or entrance 13 via which the samples or feces are collected and the entrances 14 and 15 of the pockets formed by the projections 6 and 7 may be seen. It is understood that only one or both projections may be present.

FIGS. 3a and 3b show the foldable device of the invention in its closed position, i.e. after the samples or feces have been collected, and in them it may be seen that the entrance 13 is closed because the tabs 4 and 5 and also the flanges 10a and 10b (and 11a and 11b, not shown in these figures) are mounted on one another. In this position it is possible to transfer the substances collected to the place where they will be deposited or kept.

FIGS. 4a and 4b show, diagrammatically, how, by inverting the crease at the joints between the flanges and the tabs and the principal body, it is possible to fold up the device of the invention until it is practically flat. The projections 6 and 7 are attached to the principal body by virtue of the bellows-shaped creases.

The device of the invention may have, suitably adhesively bonded to its inside, a double-sided adhesive tape 12 which will keep it closed after the domestic animal feces or waste has been collected.

It is also obvious that the free edges of the tabs 4 and 5 may be indented or corrugated, or of diverse shapes, and that the surfaces thereof may have perforations, and that the device may be constructed from any laminar material such as cardboard, plastic, textile materials, cards, laminated metal, aluminum etc.