WO1996003866A1 - Improvements relating to leads for pets - Google Patents

Abstract

A dog lead (2) has a suction device (4) attached near its handle (3), preferably via a shock cord (5). This enables the dog to be tethered by applying the suction device (4) to a plate glass window (7) or other smooth surface. The suction device (4) may be a simple suction pad, pressed against the surface to expel air and then released. But it may incorporate a pressure-sensitive alarm (10) to indicate unwanted separation from the anchorage surface.

Description

"Improvements relating to Leads for Pets"

This invention relates to leads for pets. It is primarily concerned with dog leads, but other animals are occasionally taken out on a lead by their owners, and the invention could equally well apply to them. But, for convenience, reference will now mostly be made to dogs.

Certain shops and other places with public access do not admit dogs. They therefore have to be left outside, and not all are well enough trained to stay put without a restraint.

Hitching rails, while common enough outside the General Stores in the old Wild West, are a rarity in modern Britain, and the current fashion for smooth fronts, with large plate glass windows, leaves nothing to which to tie the lead. It is the aim of this invention to provide an answer to this problem.

According to the present invention there is provided a pet lead having a suction device attached thereto.

The suction device may take the form of a simple resilient rubber or plastics cup with a central projection on its convex side affording means to attach it to the lead. For example, the projection might have a transverse aperture to accept a link, such as a key ring, by which it is loosely coupled to the lead. Such a cup, squashed against a smooth surface such as that of a plate glass window, has a very considerable holding power. The size will be chosen according to the size and power of the dog, and at the upper end of the range there may have to be a vacuum release device for the sucker. Alternatively two or more suction devices may be attached to the lead. Another possibility is to have a simple pump, similar to those used to create a partial vacuum in opened wine bottles for example, rather than rely on pressing a suction pad almost flat.

Generally, the suction device will be attached to the lead at or near the end normally held by the dog owner, the other end being adapted to clip onto a dog collar. In order to damp out sudden jerks which might dislodge the sucker, there may be a resilient connection between the sucker and the lead. For example, there could be a short coil spring, or a rubber shock cord.

As an added precaution, an alarm device may be incor- porated, sensitive to the pressure within the suction device. It could be primed by the human user when the sucker is attached, and will be set off if the suction is released prematurely. When the user returns, he will first neutralise the alarm device, before releasing the suction, so that no alarm is set off.

For a better understanding of the invention, one embodiment will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 illustrates a lead with a suction device holding a dog tethered, and

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic cross section of the suction device showing an alarm.

In Figure 1 a dog has a collar 1 and lead 2 with the usual loop or handle 3. Attached to the lead 2 just below the handle 3 is a suction device 4 (exaggerated in size in the drawing) the connection being made by a short shock cord 5. The device 4 is a suction cup with a central apertured boss 6 on its convex side to which the cord 5 is attached. Simply by having its concave side pressed almost flat against a plate glass window 7, the suction generated will hold the device fast, and thus keep the dog from straying. Figure 2 shows the suction cup in more detail. The shoulder 8 provides means for releasing the suction in known manner. By putting finger tips under this shoulder and pulling, the skirt 9 is eased away from the smooth surface 7. But the main purpose of Figure 2 is to illustrate how an alarm device might be incorporated. Smoke alarms and rape alarms are now very compact and a sound generator and battery of the kind used in such alarms can be incorporated in a small capsule 10 encased in the boss 6. This is hollow with a screw-on cap 11 to give access to the capsule 10 for battery changing. Inside the suction cup, at the centre of the internal surface below the boss 6, there is a recess 12 into which is sealed a membrane switch 13. When pressure within the cup is low (as when it is in use) this switch is open, the greater pressure within the switch distorting the membrane to keep the contacts apart. But when the pressure within the cup is atmospheric (as when it is not in use) the membrane reverts to its relaxed condition and the switch is closed. Leads 14 from this switch go to the capsule 10, but the latter can be primed or neutralised, respectively to respond or not to the switch 13, by a manual switch 15 on the side of the boss. Opposite this switch 15 there is an aperture 16 for sound to escape from the capsule 10.

Claims

1. A pet lead having a suction device attached thereto.

2. A pet lead as claimed in Claim l, wherein the suction device is a resilient cup with a projection on its convex side affording means to attach it to the lead.

3. A pet lead as claimed in Claim 1 or 2, wherein the projection is central and has a transverse aperture.

4. A pet lead as claimed in Claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the suction device is attached to the lead at or near the end normally held by the human user.

5. A pet lead as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the suction device is attached to the lead via a resilient connection.

6. A pet lead as claimed in any preceding claim, and further comprising an alarm device sensitive to the pressure within the suction device to signal when the suction is released.

7. A pet lead as claimed in Claim 6, wherein the alarm device can be primed and neutralised by the human user.