The present invention relates to a device for collecting dog droppings and to a disposable container for their collection.

It is known that dogs tend to defecate when they are taken for a walk. It is also known that dog owners must collect the droppings and throw them into public baskets in order not to take fines by the municipal administration. For this reason dog owners often bring along disposable containers in which droppings can be collected. Once droppings fall onto the ground it is difficult to collect them completely, thus inevitably soiling ground, grass or pavements. Tn order to overcome this problem, numerous droppings collecting devices have been proposed, wherein a disposable container is connected at the end of a rod. By maneuvering the rod, the disposable container is placed under the anus of the dog when he/she assumes a defecation position, thus allowing to intercept the droppings before they touch the ground. At the end of the operation the disposable container is disconnected from the rod and thrown away. Hence, droppings collecting devices allow to prevent the soiling of the ground and have the advantage of not obliging the owner of the dog to lower himself in order to collect the droppings from the ground. Patent application US 2004/0201232 Al describes, for example, a droppings collecting device comprising a rod with a ring-shaped supporting member arranged at one end. A disposable container, for example a plastic bag, is placed on the ring, folded thereon and fixed thereto. Once collected the droppings, the bag is removed and thrown away. Patent application US 2006/0157995 Al describes a droppings collecting device that is very similar to the device of the above-mentioned application, except that the ring-shaped supporting member for the disposable container is pivotably connected to the rod and may be folded back thereon in order to minimize the size of the device during transportation. Regardless of the numerous solutions knovvn in the art, one of the major problems of droppings collecting devices is related to the placement and removal of the disposable container These operations, the placement in particular, require time which is often not a\ailablc when the dog starts to defecate, and must be carried out precisely m order to avoid that the container comes away during the collection and 'or the rod or the rmg-shaped supporting member are soiled due to a wrong positioning Other problems are related to the size and the weight of the device The owner of a dog m fact must normally use a leash, -whereby it is fundamental that the size and the weight of a droppings collecting device, which is additional with respect to the leash, are reduced to the minimum in order to facilitate its transportation

A partial solution to the problem of the size is given by the abo\ e-mentioned patent applications, which provide for the use of telescopic rods Droppings collecting devices arc also known and a\ailablc on the market, which comprise telescopic rods and wherein the rmg-shaped supporting member for the disposable container is not restrained to the rod but integrated in the disposable container and provided with a protrusion suitable to allow its connection to the rod This solution is indeed ad\antdgeous in that it allow s to reduce the size of the rod to a minimum, in particular when this is of a telescopic type However, the problem of the o\erall size of the collecting device is only partially solved, because the rmg-shaped supporting member is simply moved from a component of the de\ ice to another one

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a droppings collecting dcMCC and a disposable container that allow to o\ crcomc such disadvantages Said object is achieved by means of a droppings collecting device and a disposable container whose main features arc disclosed in claims 1 and 10, respectπ cly, while other features are disclosed in the remaining claims

The droppings collecting de\ice according to the present invention comprises a disposable container provided with a self-closing frame and a rod provided with widening means suitable to allow to widen the container during the placement and to keep the container in an open configuration for the collection of droppings Thanks to these characteristics the present invention meets the needs for simplicity, precision and rapidity of placement that are among the major problems of droppings collecting devices

Moreover, the rod may advantageously be of a telescopic type which, in combination with the use of a self-closing container, allows to reduce the size of the collecting device to a minimum during transportation

Another advantage of the collecting device according to the present invention is that it is extremely simple and cheap to manufacture Further advantages and features of the droppings collecting device according to the present invention will become clear to those skilled m the art from the following detailed and non-limiting description of an embodiment thereof with reference to the attached drawings, w herein figure 1 is a perspective view of a droppings collecting device according to the present invention, figure 2 is a pcrspccti\c \ icw showing the rod of the device of figure 1 , figure 3 shows a longitudinal section along line III-III of figure 2, and figure 4 is a perspective view of the disposable container of the device of figure 1 in a closed configuration Referring to figure 1 the droppings collecting device according to the present invention comprises a rod 1, preferably of a telescopic type, and a disposable container 2 preferably at least partially made of a biodegradable material, suitable to recerve and contain droppings The disposable container 2 is provided with a frame 3 and is connectable at a distal end of rod 1 by means of suitable locking means 4 arranged on rod 1

According to the inventive concept underlying the present invention, the disposable container 2 is self-closing and rod 1 comprises w idening means 5 connectable to frame 3 and suitable to widen the disposable container 2 and to keep it in an open configuration for the collection of droppings Advantageously, the widening means 5 are associated w ith the locking means 4 and arranged therewith on a supporting member 6 that is connected to the distal end of rod l

As shown m detail m figures 2 and 3, the widening means 5 comprise at least one wedge-shaped member arranged at the free end of the supporting member 6 and the blocking means 4 comprise a plurality of teeth 7 suitable to allow to snap-lock frame 3 on the supporting member 6 - A -

Ad\ dntdgeously, teeth 7 may be formed in the wedge-shaped member 5 In the embodiment shown m figure 2, the wcdgc-shapcd member 5 comprises two symmetrical inclined surfaces in each of which a tooth 7 is formed

The locking means 4 further comprise a shoulder 8 arranged at the end of the supporting member 6 adjacent to rod 1 The shoulder 8 serves to limit the movement of frame 3 in the direction of rod 1

In order to limit the movement of frame 3 in the vertical direction, the shoulder 8 further comprises a protrusion 9 arranged on its top Alternate ely, the retaining function accomplished by protrusion 9 might be carried out by further teeth 7 arranged on the supporting member 6 between shoulder 8 and the wedge-shaped member 5

In order to facilitate the fitting of frame 3 during the placement, the supporting member 6 preferably comprises a plurality of guiding πbs 10 These ribs also have the function of limiting the mo\ cmcnt of frame 3 transversely to rod 1 In the embodiment shown in figures 2 and 3, the supporting member 6 comprises two ribs 10 arranged along its flanks

As shown in figure 4, the frame 3 of the disposable container 2 comprises a pair of arms 3a, 3b connected to each other at one end The frame 3 further comprises urging means 11 suitable to urge one arm towards the other thus maintaining them in a closed configuration in which the arms 3a, 3b are substantially parallel to each other The urging means 1 1 arc made of a resilient material and arc arranged at the connection points of arms 3a, 3b Preferably, the urging means 11 are made integral with arms 3a, 3b and, as shown in the embodiment of figure 4, they may simply consist of a U-shaped member Alternatively, arms 3 a, 3b may be pivotally restrained to each other and the urging means may comprise a torsion spring arranged at the pivot The arms 3a, 3b of frame 3 support a collecting portion 12 of the disposable container 2 and the U-shaped member 11 extends from their proximal end thus allowing the connection of frame 3 to the supporting member 6 of rod 1

Adv antageously, arms 3a, 3b and the U-shaped member 11 form among them an acute angle in the vertical plane, for example an angle of about 30°, so that during use the collecting portion 12 is inclined upwards with respect to the supporting member 6, thus facilitating the positioning of the disposable container 2 under the anus of the dog In order to place the disposable container 2 on the supporting member 6 of rod 1, a user handles frame 3 and positions it so that the U-shaped member 1 1 or anyway the connection point between arms 3a, 3b rests on shoulder 8 of the supporting member 6 As explained above, the presence of guiding ribs 10 on the supporting member 6 facilitates this operation The frame 3 is then placed onto the wedge-shaped member 5 and pressed against it, thus causing arms 3a, 3b to be moved away from each other and thereby the opening of the disposable container 2 The frame 3 is rotated with respect to the supporting member 6 until arms 3a, 3b engage teeth 7, thus being snap-locked and remaining restrained to the supporting member 6 Once collected the droppings, the user carries out the reverse operation by handling frame 3 and levering on the supporting member 6 in order to the resistance opposed by teeth 7 Once disengaged from the supporting member 6, the disposable container 2 closes under the effect of the action of the urging means 1 1 , thus keeping the droppings therein, and may conveniently be thrown away In order to ensure that the closed configuration of the disposable container 2 is maintained after its remo\ al and during its disposal, closing means may advantageously be provided, such as for example an adhesive strap (not shown) arranged on one of the surfaces of the collecting portion 12 and suitable to be fixed on the opposite surface of the collecting portion 12 by passing over arms 3a, 3b Alternate cly, the closing means may comprise a plurality of protrusions 13 formed in one of the arms, e g arm 3a, and a plurality of holes 14 formed in the other one of the arms, c g arm 3b, and so configured as to receive and retain protrusions 13

The droppings collecting device according to the present invention may ad\ antageously be provided together with a plurality of disposable containers in a kit for the collection of droppings

It is clear that the embodiments of the droppings collecting device and of the disposable container according to the present invention are just examples susceptible of numerous variants For example, the supporting member 6 might be made as an independent member that can be snap-mounted or screwed onto rod 1 , thereby allowing to replace it in the case of breaking without obliging the user to replace rod 1 Further, teeth 7 might be clastically bcndablc with respect to the supporting member 6, thus fdcilitdtmg the engagement and disengagement of frame 3 Still further, the closing means of the disposable container 2 might be made by forming a longitudinal groove in one of the arms that is suitable to receive and retain a matching longitudinal protrusion formed in the other arm