HAND-HELD ANIMAL EXCREMENT REMOVAL DEVICE The present invention relates to a device for removing deposited animal excrement from a surface and, more specifically, to such a device which includes means for disinfecting and/or de-odorising the area from which excrement has been removed.

Concern over the health risks and general unpleasantness occasioned by canine excrement in particular has lead to the development of a number of devices for the removal of canine excrement from the surfaces of public places. Examples of such devices are shown in patent specifications GB 2,255, 492,2, 236,271, 2,227, 645, EPO 561 093 and WO 95/17810.

Specification GB 2, 255, 492 discloses a device in the form of a hollow walking stick in which there is a spring-loaded piston to which are attached a number of claws. The piston rod projects from the top of the walking stick and terminates in a handle. In use, the handle is pushed downwards to cause the claws to project from the bottom of the walking stick and to compress a spring and the claws are placed around a deposit of excrement to be removed. When the spring is released by means of a trigger within the handle, the piston is withdrawn into the body of the walking stick causing the claws to close around the excrement and draw it into the body of the walking stick assisted by the suction created by a piston seal. The device is cumbersome and not aesthetically pleasing.

Specification GB 2,236, 291 discloses a device in which an inner tubular member terminates in an array of spring fingers which are biased outwardly but held in a closed configuration by an outer tubular member

which can be moved upwardly to release the fingers to an open configuration, enabling them to be placed around a deposit of excrement and then downwardly to close around the excrement. Although the device may achieve its purpose, the components have to be moved manually.

Specification GB 2,227, 645 A discloses a device in which a scoop has a lower blade and a movable upper blade forming a pair of tongs. The tongs are used in conjunction with a plastics bag which is placed around the tongs in such a way that there is a re-entrant portion of the plastics bag between the tongs. In use, the lower blade of the tongs is slid under a deposit of excrement until it is within the bag whereupon the tongs are closed to hold the excrement within the bag while it is slid off the tongs and enclosed within the bag.

Again, the device may be effective but it is cumbersome.

Specification EPO 561093 discloses a device which is very similar to that disclosed in GB 2,255, 492 and similar remarks apply.

Specification WO 95/17810 discloses a device which consists of a scoop mounted on a handle. The scoop is closed by a cover which can be moved forward by a linkage attached to the handle so that the device can be placed with the scoop on one side of a deposit of excrement and the cover on the other and the linkage operated to move the cover towards the scoop so sweeping the excrement into the scoop so sweeping the excrement into the scoops. The handle also acts as a reservoir for a liquid bactericide which can be discharged over the area from which the excrement has been removed.

The device is complicated and cumbersome.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a device for the removal of excrement from a surface, which is simple to use, positive in its action and aesthetically pleasing.

According to the present invention there is provided a hand-held device for the removal of a deposit of animal excrement from a surface, comprising a plurality of tubular members adapted to move one within the other, one tubular member being adapted in one position to enclose a plurality of outwardly-biased fingers, means for moving the said tubular member to expose the said fingers to enable them to encompass a deposit of animal excrement and means for causing the said fingers to close around the deposit of animal excrement to enable it to be removed from a surface upon which it has been deposited, wherein there is provided an inner tubular member and an outer tubular member, the inner tubular member being adapted in a first position to enclose the said fingers and in a second position to expose the said fingers to enable them to be placed around a deposit of animal excrement and there is included means for urging the inner tubular member from the second position to the first position thereby to cause the said fingers to close around the deposit of animal excrement to enable it to be removed from the said surface.

The invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Figure 1 shows an excrement removal device embodying the invention in an open and a closed position, and

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional drawing of the embodiment of the invention shown in Figure 1.

Referring to Figure l (a) an animal excrement removal device comprises an outer tubular member 10 and an inner tubular member 11. The outer tube 10 is static and therefore can be hand-held. The inner tube 11 is arranged to slide into and out from the outer tube 10. The outer tube 10 is provided with a longitudinal slot or groove 12 which acts as a guide for a sliding pin 13 to prevent relative rotation between the tubes 10 and 11. Alternatively, the inner tube 11 may be provided with a guide slot or groove and the outer tube with a guide pin.

Above the outer tube 10 is an enclosing cap 14 to which there is attached a hand cord 15. The cap 14 shrouds a pressurised reservoir 21 within which is a disinfectant or other form of deodorant. Removal of the cap 14 enables the disinfectant or other deodorant to be sprayed onto the area from which a deposit of excrement has been removed. Above the slot or groove 12 is a spring release button 16. Figure l (b) shows the device when it is ready for use. The inner tubular member 11 has been pushed into the outer tubular member 10 so as to expose and release an array of fingers, or tynes 17 which are moved outwardly by springs 18. The tynes 17 terminate in inwardly directed lifter lips 19. At the same time, a coil spring (not visible in Figure 1) is compressed and held by a latch (again, not shown in the drawings).

The tynes 17 are placed on the ground or other surface from which a deposit of excrement is to be removed so that they surround the deposit of excrement and the spring release button is operated. This releases the compression spring which urges the inner tubular member 10 downwards

causing it to enclose the tynes 17 and force them inwards to close on the deposit of excrement and detach it from the surface from which it is to be removed.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of the device shown in Figures la and 1b and shows its construction in more detail. Housed in a central tube within the upper tubular member 10 is a reservoir 21 for a disinfectant or deodorant fluid which can be discharged by means of a valve 24. No details are given of the construction of the valve 24 as such items are well-known in the field of pressurised fluid discharge systems. Surrounding the reservoir 21 is a coil compression spring 22 which bears at one end on the closed end of the upper tubular member 10 and the other on a collar attached to the top of the lower tubular member 11. The tynes 17 are hingedly attached to a spider 23 which is fixed in relation to the upper tubular member 10. The lower tubular member 11, however, is free to move relative to the spider 23 so that it can be moved into the upper tubular member 10 so as to compress the spring 22 and release the tynes 17. As described above, the release of the spring 22 by the operation of the spring release button 16 causes the lower tubular member 11 to move downwards, forcing the tynes 17 to close upon the excrement and detach it from the surface upon which it is resting and then enclosing securely the tynes 17 and the excrement held within them.

In use, preferably a flexible bag made of a plastics material is placed over the excrement prior to the operation of the device so that the bag encloses the excrement as it is withdrawn into the lower tubular member 11.

The device may be provided with an outer, preferably opaque, cover.