Ultrasonic toy for animals

Abstract

An ultrasonic toy for animals is comprised of a noisemaker arranged to produce ultrasonic noise at about 30 to 70 dB, which is loud enough to be clearly heard by an animal but not enough to be aversive, frightening or harmful to the animal. The noisemaker is comprised of a resonance tube attached to an air bladder. The resonance tube includes a closed outer end, an axial hole open to the inner end, and a notch on a side wall communicating with the hole. An insert is positioned inside the hole. Keys in the hole and the insert align the insert radially and longitudinally within the hole. An alternative noisemaker is comprised of an electronic transducer driven by an oscillator which is activated by a pressure sensitive switch. An alternative air bladder includes a recess wherein the resonance tube is positioned to protect it from being dislodged or blocked.

1 . An ultrasonic toy for animals, comprising: 
 a noisemaker arranged to produce ultrasonic noise at about to 30 to 70 dB when measured about 6 inches away, which is high enough to be clearly heard by a predetermined type of animal, but low enough not to be aversive to said animal when producing said ultrasonic noise close to said animal's ears.    
   
   
       2 . The ultrasonic toy for animals of  claim 1 , wherein said noisemaker is arranged to produce acoustic frequencies of between about 20 kHz and about 50 kHz.  
   
   
       3 . The ultrasonic toy for animals of  claim 1 , wherein said noisemaker is comprised of a resonance tube attached to an air bladder.  
   
   
       4 . The ultrasonic toy for animals of  claim 1 , wherein said noisemaker is comprised of a resonance tube attached to an air bladder, said resonance tube is comprised of: 
 a hollow tube with an open inner end connected to said air bladder;    a closed outer end;    a triangular notch on a wall of said hollow tube;    an insert inside said hollow tube; and    a gap between said insert and said hollow tube defining a channel between said open inner end of said hollow tube and said notch.    
   
   
       5 . The ultrasonic toy for animals of  claim 1 , wherein said noisemaker is comprised of a transducer driven by an oscillator, and a pressure sensitive switch connected to said oscillator.  
   
   
       6 . The ultrasonic toy for animals of  claim 1 , further including a plush covering surrounding said noisemaker.  
   
   
       7 . An ultrasonic toy for animals, comprising: 
 an air bladder with a recess; and    a resonance tube connected to said air bladder and positioned in said recess.    
   
   
       8 . The ultrasonic toy for animals of  claim 7 , wherein said resonance tube is arranged to produce ultrasonic noise at about to 30 to 70 dB when measured about 6 inches away, which is high enough to be clearly heard by a predetermined type of animal, but low enough not to be aversive to said animal when producing said ultrasonic noise close to said animal's ears.  
   
   
       9 . The ultrasonic toy for animals of  claim 7 , wherein said resonance tube is arranged to produce acoustic frequencies of between about 20 kHz and about 50 kHz.  
   
   
       10 . The ultrasonic toy for animals of  claim 7 , wherein said resonance tube is comprised of: 
 a hollow tube with an open inner end connected to said air bladder;    a closed outer end;    a triangular notch on a wall of said hollow tube;    an insert inside said hollow tube;    a gap between said insert and said hollow tube defining a channel between said open inner end of said hollow tube and said notch.    
   
   
       11 . The ultrasonic toy for animals of  claim 7 , further including a plush covering surrounding said air bladder and said resonance tube.  
   
   
       12 . An ultrasonic toy for animals, comprising: 
 an air bladder;    a resonance tube attached to said air bladder, said resonance tube including an axial hole open to an inner end;    a triangular notch positioned on a side of said resonance tube in communication with said hole;    an insert positioned inside said hole;    a first key in said hole engaged with a second key on said insert to radially align said insert within said hole; and    a third key in said hole engaged with a fourth key on said insert to longitudinally position said insert within said hole.    
   
   
       13 . The ultrasonic toy for animals of  claim 12 , wherein said resonance tube is arranged to produce ultrasonic noise at about to 30 to 70 dB when measured about 6 inches away, which is high enough to be clearly heard by a predetermined type of animal, but low enough not to be aversive to said animal when producing said ultrasonic noise close to said animal's ears.  
   
   
       14 . The ultrasonic toy for animals of  claim 12 , wherein said resonance tube is arranged to produce acoustic frequencies of between about 20 kHz and about 50 kHz.  
   
   
       15 . The ultrasonic toy for animals of  claim 12 , wherein said first key is comprised of a longitudinal groove in said hole, and said second key is comprised of a longitudinal rib shaped to mate with said groove, said third key in said hole is comprised of a step, and said fourth key is comprised of an oppositely shaped step mating with said third key.  
   
   
       16 . The ultrasonic toy for animals of  claim 12 , further including a plush covering surrounding said resonance tube and said air bladder.