ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 17 -- United States Patent no. 12,414,536, issued on Sept. 16, was assigned to Unicharm Corp. (Ehime, Japan).
"Animal litter box" was invented by Hiroki Yamamoto (Kanonji, Japan) and Yasuhiro Akino (Kanonji, Japan).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An animal litter box includes a liquid passage portion having openings through which urine passes downward, and on which granules are disposed. The animal litter box includes an absorbent-body placement portion in which an absorbent body for absorbing the urine that has passed through the liquid passage portion is disposed. Each of the openings extends in a longitudinal direction. A maximum width of the openings in a width direct...