Animal litter, process for preparing animal litter and method of removal of animal waste

• US 9,288,964 B2
• Filed: 02/20/2013
• Issued: 03/22/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 02/20/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kent Pet Group, Inc. (The Kent Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Kent Pet Group, Inc. (The Kent Corp.)
• Inventors: Wang, Lin, Wiesner, Thomas A.
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, TRINH T
• Application Number:
  US13/772,086
• Publication Number:
  US 20130213309A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,126 Days
• Field of Search: 119/161, 119/165, 119/171, 119/172, 119/173, 119/174, 424/76.6
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 1/0152 Litter
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 1/0154 comprising inorganic material
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 1/0155 comprising organic material

Abstract

An animal litter, process for preparing the animal litter and a method for removal of animal waste using the animal litter are provided. The animal litter generally includes ground malt sprouts, a lubricant, and a cohesiveness agent. The animal litter is in the form of discrete plural particles which tend to agglomerate when wetted.

Claims

1. An animal litter comprising:

at least about 20 weight % ground malt sprouts;

a lubricant; and

a cohesiveness agent,

the animal litter being in the form of discrete plural particles which tend to agglomerate when wetted, the cohesiveness agent being present in an amount effective to enhance the intraparticle cohesion of the particles, said malt sprouts contributing to the agglomeration of the litter; and

wherein no more than about 5% of the ground malt sprouts particles are larger than a U.S. standard #20 mesh screen size while at least 50% of the ground malt sprouts particles are smaller than U.S. standard #40 mesh screen size, and at least 20% of the ground malt sprouts particles are smaller than a U.S. standard #80 mesh screen size.

2. The animal litter of claim 1 wherein the ground malt sprouts are in the form of a finely ground malt sprouts configured to pass through a 1/16 inch screen.

3. The animal litter of claim 1 wherein the lubricant is selected from the group consisting of corn germ, virgin corn germ, fats, oils and mixtures thereof.

4. The animal litter of claim 1 wherein the cohesiveness agent is corn starch.

5. The animal litter of claim 1 further comprising a mold inhibitor selected from the group consisting of citric acid, potassium sorbate and mixtures thereof.

6. The animal litter of claim 1 including at least about 30 weight % malt sprouts.

19. The animal litter of claim 1, further including at least 2% of a puffed odor-absorbing carbon based material.

7. A process for preparing an animal litter, the method comprising:

providing a mixture of comprising at least about 20 weight % ground malt sprouts, a lubricant and a cohesiveness agent; and

compacting the mixture of into discrete plural compacted particles which tend to agglomerate when wetted, the malt sprouts in the discrete plural compacted particles contributing to said agglomeration; and

wherein no more than about 5% of the ground malt sprouts particles are larger than a U.S. standard #20 mesh screen size while at least 50% of the ground malt sprouts particles are smaller than U.S. standard #40 mesh screen size, and at least 20% of the ground malt sprouts particles are smaller than a U.S. standard #80 mesh screen size.

8. The process of claim 7 wherein the ground malt sprouts are in the form of finely ground malt sprouts configured to pass through a 1/16 inch screen.

9. The process of claim 7 wherein the lubricant is selected from the group consisting of corn germ, virgin corn germ, fats, oils and mixtures thereof.

10. The process of claim 7 wherein the cohesiveness agent is corn starch.

11. The process of claim 7 wherein the mixture further comprises a mold inhibitor selected from the group consisting of citric acid, potassium sorbate and mixtures thereof.

12. The process of claim 7 including at least about 30 weight % malt sprouts.

20. A process according to claim 7, said mixture further including at least 2% of a puffed odor-absorbing carbon based material.

13. An animal litter comprising:

at least about 20 weight % ground malt sprouts;

a lubricant,

a cohesiveness agent, and

at least 2% of a puffed odor-absorbing carbon based material;

the animal litter being in the form of discrete plural particles which tend to agglomerate when wetted, the cohesiveness agent being present in an amount effective to enhance the intraparticle cohesion of the particles; and

wherein no more than about 5% of the ground malt sprouts particles are larger than a U.S. standard #20 mesh screen size while at least 50% of the ground malt sprouts particles are smaller than U.S. standard #40 mesh screen size, and at least 20% of the ground malt sprouts particles are smaller than a U.S. standard #80 mesh screen size.

14. The animal litter of claim 13 wherein the ground malt sprouts are in the form of a finely ground malt sprouts configured to pass through a 1/16 inch screen.

15. The animal litter of claim 13 wherein the lubricant is selected from the group consisting of corn germ, virgin corn germ, fats, oils and mixtures thereof.

16. The animal litter of claim 13 wherein the cohesiveness agent is corn starch.

17. The animal litter of claim 13 further comprising a mold inhibitor selected from the group consisting of citric acid, potassium sorbate and mixtures thereof.

18. The animal litter of claim 13 including at least about 30 weight % malt sprouts.