pet door enclosure system

Abstract

The door system disclosed herein includes a frame and a door fabricated from a plurality of horizontal and vertical wire rods. The door may have an inverted hook which is aligned to a horizontal wire rod of the frame when the door is pivoted to the closed position. To close the door, the door is dropped so that the horizontal wire rod of the frame is traversed into the inverted hook. At this point, the animal inside of the pet crate cannot open the door by pushing on the door. Rather, the door must be raised so that the inverted hook clears the horizontal wire rod of the frame to pivot the door to the opened position.

1 . An animal door system comprising:
 a frame having a plurality of interconnected vertical and horizontal wire rods with an opening at a central area of the frame for allowing an animal to pass therethrough;   a door having a plurality of interconnected vertical and horizontal wire rods, the door being pivotally attached to a first vertical wire rod of the frame for pivoting the door between opened and closed positions, the door having a first inverted hook positioned inside an outer periphery of the door, the inverted hook receives a first horizontal wire rod of the frame when the door is in the closed position to strengthen the animal door system.   
     
     
         2 . The door system of  claim 1  wherein first and second horizontal wire rods of the door are wrapped around the first vertical wire rod of the frame for pivotally attaching the door to the frame. 
     
     
         3 . The door system of  claim 1  wherein the first inverted hook is located at an upper portion of the door, and the door further comprises a second inverted hook attached to a lower portion of the door. 
     
     
         4 . The door system of  claim 1  further comprising a third inverted hook attached between the first inverted hook and the pivot connection between the door and the frame at the upper portion of the door. 
     
     
         5 . The door system of  claim 1  further comprising a latch attached to an opposite side of the door from the pivot axis of the door. 
     
     
         6 . The door system of  claim 1  wherein an opening of the inverted hook points downward. 
     
     
         7 . The door system of  claim 1  wherein a width of the opening of the inverted hook attached to the door is greater than a diameter of the horizontal wire rod of the frame. 
     
     
         8 . An animal door system comprising:
 a door having a plurality of interconnected vertical and horizontal wire rods;   a frame having a plurality of interconnected vertical and horizontal wire rods with an opening at a central area of the frame for allowing an animal to pass threrethrough, the frame having a first upright hook positioned outside of an inner periphery of the opening of the frame wherein the door is pivotally attached to a first vertical wire rod of the frame for pivotally opening and closing the door, and the first upright hook receives a first horizontal wire rod of the door when the door is in the closed position to strengthen the animal door system.   
     
     
         9 . The door system of  claim 8  wherein an opening of the upright hook points upward. 
     
     
         10 . The door system of  claim 8  wherein a width of the opening of the upright hook attached to the frame is greater than a diameter of the horizontal wire rod of the door. 
     
     
         11 . A method of opening and closing a door comprising the steps of:
 with the door closed, raising the door to clear a hook or tab attached either to the door or the frame from a first horizontal wire rod of a frame or the door wherein the hook or tab is positioned inside an outer periphery of the door or outside an inner periphery of an opening of the frame;   pivoting the door to the opened position;   lowering the door.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11  further comprising the steps of:
 with the door opened, raising the door to clear the hook or tab attached either to the door or the frame from a first horizontal wire rod of the frame or the door; 
 pivoting the door to the closed position; 
 lowering the door so that the hook or tab attached either to the door or the frame receives the first horizontal wire rod of the frame or the door. 
 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the hook is an inverted hook attached to the door and raising the door clears the inverted hook attached to the door from the first horizontal wire rod of the frame. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the hook is an upright hook attached to the frame and raising the door clears the upright hook attached to the frame from the first horizontal wire rod of the door. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the tab is an inverted tab attached to the door and raising the door clears the inverted tab attached to the door from the first horizontal wire rod of the frame. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the tab is an upright tab attached to the frame and raising the door clears the upright tab attached to the frame from the first horizontal wire rod of the door. 
     
     
         17 . An animal door system comprising:
 a frame having a plurality of interconnected vertical and horizontal wire rods with an opening at a central area of the frame for allowing an animal to pass therethrough;   a door having a plurality of interconnected vertical and horizontal wire rods, the door being pivotally attached to a first vertical wire rod of the frame for pivoting the door between opened and closed positions, the door having a first inverted tab which is positionable behind one of the horizontal wire rods when the door is in the closed position to distribute energy imparted on the door to the frame to strengthen the animal door system.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17  wherein the inverted tab is attached to a bottom edge portion of the door. 
     
     
         19 . An animal door system comprising:
 a door having a plurality of interconnected vertical and horizontal wire rods;   a frame having a plurality of interconnected vertical and horizontal wire rods with an opening at a central area of the frame for allowing an animal to pass threrethrough, the frame having a first upright tab wherein the door is positionable behind the first upright tab when the door is in the closed position to distribute energy imparted on the door to the frame to strengthen the animal door system.   
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19  wherein the upright tab is attached to a bottom edge portion of the opening. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 19  wherein the upright tab is attached to an upper edge portion of the opening.