Whelping box
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention generally relates to a whelping box and more particularly a whelping box that fits inside of a dog crate or kennel in order to prevent a mother dog from lying down on her very young puppies which can result in death of the puppies from being crushed or smothered. The whelping box is a tray-like structure which has an outwardly extending peripheral flange attached to the interior of an existing crate by the use of existing fastener bolts which secure the top and bottom half of existing crates together. The whelping box is constructed of a one piece molded plastic material that is stackable and positionable in the bottom half of an existing crate and includes an inwardly projecting peripheral flange spaced upwardly from the bottom edge of the tray-like insert and spaced upwardly from the bottom of an existing dog crate to provide a peripheral protected space for young puppies to prevent the mother dog from lying down on the puppies. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     An ongoing problem encountered when mother dogs give birth to puppies or whelps and are located in a confined area such as a dog crate or kennel is the relatively high incidence of the mother dog accidentally killing one or more very young puppies by the mother dog lying down on and completely covering the young puppies. Various efforts have been made to provide devices to alleviate this problem including the use of some type structure to protect the puppies or whelps during the period in which they are vulnerable to this type of accidental death. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,331,866, 2,552,007 and 3,490,417 relate to this invention. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 3,490,417 discloses one arrangement in which a structure has been incorporated into a dog crate or kennel in an effort to alleviate the problem. 
     None of the prior patents discloses a structure equivalent to the above invention which includes a one piece molded insert that fits the entire bottom of a dog crate or kennel and which provides a safety rail or shelf in the form of a continuous flange which provides a structure to prevent the mother animal from lying on or pushing the puppies against the sides of the crate. This invention is capable of being secured in place within the dog crate by the same bolts which hold the two halves of the dog crate together thus enabling the invention to be easily removed for cleaning. The present invention does not affect operation of the crate with the existing door or doors on the crate being closed to prevent the mother animal from removing the puppies from the crate and the tray-like structure of this invention can be easily stacked for shipment and storage and may be stacked along with the crate top and bottom halves for easy shipping and storage and can be used as a free standing bed or as a free standing whelping bed outside of an existing crate or kennel. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An object of the present invention is to provide a whelping box to prevent a mother dog from lying on and causing injury or death to her very young puppies or whelps. 
     Another object of the invention is to provide a whelping box in the form of a one piece, molded tray-like structure having an inwardly extending peripheral flange disposed above the bottom edge of the tray-like structure to provide a protected space for receiving whelps to prevent a mother dog from lying on her whelps and possibly causing injury or death. 
     A further object of the invention is to provide a whelping box in accordance with the preceding objects in which the tray-like structure is provided with a partially open front and a peripheral outwardly extending flange at the upper edge to enable the tray-like structure to be nested and stacked for transit and storage and enabling the tray-like structure to be inserted into existing dog crates or kennels by attaching the outwardly extending flange at the upper edge thereof between the flanges on the lower and upper half of a two piece dog crate or kennel with the tray-like structures being stacked and nested with respect to the upper and lower halves of the dog crate for transit and storage. 
     Still another object of the invention is to provide a whelping box in accordance with the preceding objects in which the whelping box can be used as free standing bed or free standing whelping bed. 
     Yet another object of the invention is provide a whelping box in accordance with the preceding objects which is easily cleaned by being constructed of plastic, metal or similar material which can be easily molded into a final shape which can be easily assembled with respect to a dog crate or kennel or easily removed therefrom for cleaning. 
     These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a dog crate or kennel with portions broken away illustrating the orientation of a whelping box in relation to the dog crate. 
     FIG. 2 is a transverse, sectional view illustrating further structural details of the whelping box and its association with a dog crate. 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective of the whelping box illustrating its specific structure. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring now specifically to the drawings, the whelping box of the present invention is in the form of a tray-like structure generally designated by the reference numeral 10 and, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the whelping box is associated with a conventional existing dog crate 12 which includes a bottom half 14 and a top half 16 provided with an entrance door 18 at one end thereof and ventilation openings 20. The whelping box is of conventional construction and the top and bottom halves may be of one piece molded construction each of which is provided with an outwardly extending flange 22 at the mating edges thereof which are secured together by conventional fastener bolts 26 all of which represents conventional dog crate structures with the top and bottom halves of the dog crate being nested or stacked for shipment and storage. 
     The whelping box 10 of the present invention is in the form of a tray-like structure having a pair of side walls 28, a solid end wall 30 and a front end wall 32 having an open area 34 therein aligned with a portion of the opening defined by the door 18 for the dog crate 12. The walls 28, 30 and 32 are all inclined downwardly and inwardly to conform with the inner surface of the lower half 14 of the dog crate 12 as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 with the edges of the opening 34 also extending downwardly and inwardly in an inclined manner to conform with the edges of the opening defined by the openable door 18. The upper peripheral edge of the tray-like structure is provided with an outwardly extending flange 36 having openings 38 therein which match with and receive the bolts 26 securing the flanges 22 on the dog crate together when the whelping box 10 is combined with the dog crate 12. Thus, the flange 36 is positioned between the flanges 22 and the bolts 26 secure the whelping box in position within the dog crate with the whelping box generally defining a liner for the interior of the bottom half of the dog crate. 
     Positioned along the interior of the side walls 28 and end wall 30 is a flange 40 that is spaced upwardly from the bottom edge of the walls 28 and the end wall 30 with the flange 40 being continuous throughout the length of the walls 28 and end wall 30 to define a shelf-like support structure and defines a protected area 42 under the flange or shelf 40 to provide a space in which very young puppies or whelps can be protected from the mother dog lying down on the puppies or whelps as clearly illustrated in FIG. 2. Thus, by installing the tray-like structure 10 within the dog crate or kennel 12, the whelps will be protected from injury or death due to the mother dog lying on the whelps or young puppies. 
     The whelping box 10 can be used separate and apart from the dog crate or kennel 12 as a free standing bed or as a free standing whelping bed with the flange or shelf 40 still providing a substantial protected area 42 for the whelps. The provision of the relatively narrow flange 36 and the openings 38 enables the tray-like structure to be easily assembled with the two halves of the dog crate and also enable easy removal thereof for cleaning. The whelping box 10 can be nested and stacked with other identical whelping boxes and be nested and stacked with the halves of the dog crate for ease of transit and storage. The whelping box 10 does not alter the operation or function of the dog crate with the closure door 18 of the dog crate being operable as usual with the door being capable of being closed to prevent the mother animal from removing the whelps from the dog crate. As illustrated, the flange or shelf 40 provides an adequate height and width to the protected area 42 to protect the whelps or other small animals from the mother animal by preventing the adult animal from lying on the smaller animals. The one piece molded construction does not provide any small areas in which the small animals might catch their feet or toes and provides a space to enable the mother animals still to reach the small animal and enable the small animal to reach the mother animal to enable the small animal or whelp to suckle in a natural manner. When the mother animal lays down in the whelping box, the flange or lip 40 forming a shelf provides a protected area which enables the puppies to crawl under the flange and the mother dog will not lay on them and even if she lays down the mother dog cannot mash the puppies against the side of the whelping box. 
     The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.