Preparation method of cat litter and cat litter

Abstract

The present invention provides a preparation method of cat litter and the cat litter, comprising: separately grinding montmorillonite to obtain montmorillonite powder; grinding several kinds of bentonite associated ores to obtain associated ore powder; mixing the montmorillonite powder and the associated ore powder and adding a binder for molding. Separately grinding the montmorillonite and the bentonite associated ores can ensure that the montmorillonite and the bentonite associated ores respectively form montmorillonite powder and associated ore powder with appropriate particle size under their respective suitable process parameter conditions; the montmorillonite is ground independently of the bentonite associated ore, so that the force received during its grinding process does not need to be too large. Therefore, the particle size of the montmorillonite powder will not be too small, avoiding the formation of dust and reducing the damage to the effective components in the montmorillonite powder, thus ensuring the water absorption and agglomeration of the final cat litter; the bentonite associated ore can be ground under a greater force to form small-particle associated ore powder, improving the safety of the cat during the use of the cat litter.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of cat litter, and particularly to a preparation method of cat litter and cat litter. Background Art

[0002] Cat litter is a pet essential item with a very large consumption volume, and its market scale expands with the expansion of the pet market scale (the global cat litter market scale reached 28.192 billion yuan in 2021). Currently, the cat litters on the market include bentonite cat litter, tofu cat litter, mixed cat litter, crystal cat litter, pine cat litter, zeolite cat litter, etc. Among them, bentonite cat litter has good clumping effect and strong water absorption ability, and can quickly coagulate pet feces and urine. It is the type of cat litter with the highest market share at present.

[0003] However, compared with other types of cat litter, bentonite cat litter is very hard and is very likely to scratch the cat's paw. Currently, the common practice is to use cat paw cream. One type of cat paw cream is pre-coated on the cat's paw, and the other type is applied after the cat's paw is injured. The plaster applied on the cat's paw will quickly be wiped off during the friction process, and the effect is not good. Moreover, it increases the risk of bacterial infection after injury. Therefore, cat paw cream only treats the symptoms but not the root cause. In addition, cat paw cream also increases the extra breeding cost of the breeder and requires the breeder to always pay attention to whether the cat's paw is scratched. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Based on this, in view of the problem that cat litter is likely to scratch the cat's paw, it is necessary to provide a preparation method of cat litter and cat litter.

[0005] The technical solution provided by the present invention is as follows:

[0006] A preparation method of cat litter, comprising:

[0007] Grinding montmorillonite alone to obtain montmorillonite powder;

[0008] Grinding several bentonite associated minerals to obtain associated mineral powder;

[0009] Mixing the montmorillonite powder and the associated mineral powder and adding a binder to form a shape.

[0010] If the type of the bentonite associated mineral in the present invention is quartz or feldspar, then grind to obtain associated mineral powder with a particle size not greater than 400 μm.

[0011] At least some types of bentonite associated minerals in the present invention have a hardness less than 4. Grind the bentonite associated minerals with a hardness less than 4 by dry grinding to obtain associated mineral powder with a particle size not greater than 800 μm.

[0012] The types of bentonite associated minerals with a hardness less than 4 in the present invention are illite, chlorite, zeolite, calcite or mica.

[0013] There are at least three types of associated minerals of bentonite in the present invention. Among them, two types of associated minerals of bentonite are quartz and feldspar respectively, and the types of all the remaining associated minerals of bentonite are soft associated minerals of bentonite with a hardness less than 4.

[0014] By mass, montmorillonite is 20 - 80 parts, the total of all soft associated minerals of bentonite is 5 - 20 parts, quartz is 20 - 50 parts, feldspar is 10 - 30 parts, and the binder is 1 - 10 parts.

[0015] The particle size of the associated mineral powder obtained by grinding quartz and feldspar in the present invention is not larger than that of the associated mineral powder obtained by dry - grinding soft associated minerals of bentonite.

[0016] The purity of the montmorillonite in the present invention is greater than 90%, and the particle size of the montmorillonite powder is not larger than 800 μm.

[0017] Activated carbon and antibacterial agents are added during the mixing and molding process of montmorillonite powder and associated mineral powder in the present invention.

[0018] A preparation method of cat litter, comprising:

[0019] Putting bentonite raw ore powder into water for dispersion and precipitating in a sedimentation tank, and separately collecting the precipitate and the suspension and drying them;

[0020] Ball - milling the suspension to obtain a first powder;

[0021] Grinding the precipitate to obtain a second powder;

[0022] Mixing the first powder and the second powder and adding a binder for molding.

[0023] A cat litter obtained by the preparation method of cat litter, with a particle size of 1 - 8 mm and water content less than 8%.

[0024] The beneficial effects of the present invention at least include one of the following:

[0025] 1. Compared with most of the associated minerals of bentonite, montmorillonite has a lower hardness. Therefore, by separately grinding montmorillonite and associated minerals of bentonite, it can ensure that montmorillonite and associated minerals of bentonite respectively form montmorillonite powder and associated mineral powder with appropriate particle size under their respective suitable process parameter conditions.

[0026] 2. Grinding montmorillonite independently of the associated minerals of bentonite enables the force exerted during the grinding process not to be too large. Therefore, the particle size of the montmorillonite powder will not be too small, avoiding the formation of dust, reducing the damage to the effective components in the montmorillonite powder, and ensuring the water - absorption and agglomeration properties of the final cat litter.

[0027] 3. The associated ore of bentonite can be ground into powder of small particles under a relatively large acting force, so as to reduce the hardness of the final cat litter, thereby reducing the risk of scratching the cat's paw and improving the safety of the cat during the use of the cat litter.

[0028] 4. The montmorillonite and the associated ore of bentonite are separately and independently processed, and the proportion of the montmorillonite powder and the associated ore powder can be flexibly adjusted, so that the composition of the cat litter of the present invention is the same as or similar to or significantly different from the composition of the existing bentonite cat litter, thereby ensuring or further improving the performance of the cat litter. Description of the Drawings

[0029] Figure 1 Scratch photo of the printing paper in Example 1 of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 2 Scratch photos of the printing paper in Examples 2-5 and Comparative Example 3 of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 3 Scratch photo of the printing paper in Example 6 of the present invention;

[0032] Figure 4 Scratch photo of the printing paper in Comparative Example 2 of the present invention;

[0033] Figure 5 Scratch photo of the printing paper in Comparative Example 1 of the present invention. Detailed Embodiments

[0034] In order to make the above objects, features and advantages of the present invention more obvious and understandable, the following detailed description of the specific embodiments of the present invention will be given with reference to the accompanying drawings. Many specific details are set forth in the following description in order to fully understand the present invention. However, the present invention can be implemented in many other ways different from those described herein, and those skilled in the art can make similar improvements without departing from the connotation of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention is not limited by the specific embodiments disclosed below.

[0035] Example 1:

[0036] This example provides a kind of cat litter, and its preparation method comprises the following steps (the parts in this example are all parts by mass):

[0037] Step S1: Mix 80 parts of montmorillonite with a purity greater than 90% and stainless steel balls, and grind them by ball milling to obtain montmorillonite powder with a particle size not greater than 800 μm;

[0038] Step S2: Mix three types of soft bentonite associated ores (bentonite associated ores with a hardness less than 4), namely illite, calcite, and mica, in a mass ratio of 3 (illite): 7 (calcite): 1 (mica). The total amount of the three soft bentonite associated ores is 10 parts. Then, use stainless steel balls for ball milling to obtain a first associated ore powder with a particle size not greater than 800 μm. Since the soft bentonite associated ores have a low hardness, the energy consumption for pulverization during the ball milling process is low.

[0039] Step S3: Immerse two types of hard bentonite associated ores (bentonite associated ores with a hardness greater than 7), namely quartz and feldspar, in 0.1 M inorganic acid for 6 hours. Among them, there are 35 parts of quartz and 20 parts of feldspar. Then, use the grinding method for grinding, remove the acid, wash, dry, and mix to obtain a second associated ore powder with a particle size not greater than 400 μm.

[0040] Step S4: Mix the montmorillonite powder, the first associated ore powder, and the second associated ore powder to form a mixed ore powder, and dry it at 60 °C for 12 hours.

[0041] Step S5: Granulate and form the mixed ore powder through a disk granulator. Add 6 parts of binder during the granulation process to form cat litter particles with a particle size of 1 - 8 mm. Then, dry the water content to make the water content of the cat litter particles less than 8% to obtain the cat litter of this embodiment.

[0042] Due to the fact that the hard bentonite associated ore in the cat litter of this embodiment has been treated through two processes of acid immersion and grinding, the sharp parts on the particles of the second associated ore powder are reduced, making the particles of the second associated ore powder more rounded. Eventually, the cat litter prepared from the second associated ore powder in this embodiment is not easy to scratch the cat's paw, improving the safety of the cat during the use of the cat litter.

[0043] During the ball milling process, the montmorillonite powder and the first associated ore powder do not need to accommodate the process parameters of the hard bentonite associated ore, so the particle size will not be too small. Thus, the performance of the montmorillonite powder and the first associated ore powder is ensured, making the cat litter of this embodiment have good water absorption and agglomeration properties.

[0044] Example 2:

[0045] The preparation process of this example is the same as that of Example 1. The difference is that in this example, there are 60 parts of montmorillonite, 45 parts of quartz, 25 parts of feldspar, 8 parts of binder. The three types of soft bentonite associated ores are illite, calcite, and chlorite respectively. The total amount of the three types of soft bentonite associated ores is 20 parts, and the mass ratio of illite, calcite, and chlorite is 14 (illite): 30 (calcite): 5 (chlorite).

[0046] Example 3:

[0047] The preparation process of this example is the same as that of Example 1. The difference is that in this example, there are 60 parts of montmorillonite, 20 parts of quartz, 8 parts of feldspar, 4 parts of binder, and a total of four associated minerals of soft bentonite, namely illite, calcite, zeolite, and chlorite. The total amount of the four associated minerals of soft bentonite is 20 parts, and the mass ratio of illite, calcite, zeolite, and chlorite is 20 (illite): 25 (calcite): 5 (zeolite): 3 (chlorite).

[0048] Example 4:

[0049] The preparation process of this example is the same as that of Example 1. The difference is that in this example, there are 40 parts of montmorillonite, 25 parts of quartz, 12 parts of feldspar, 5 parts of binder, and a total of four associated minerals of soft bentonite, namely illite, zeolite, calcite, and mica. The total amount of the four associated minerals of soft bentonite is 30 parts, and the mass ratio of illite, zeolite, calcite, and mica is 16 (illite): 25 (zeolite): 5 (calcite): 3 (mica).

[0050] Example 5:

[0051] This example provides a cat litter, and its preparation method includes the following steps:

[0052] Step A1: Put the bentonite raw ore powder into water for dispersion, where the solid-liquid ratio is 2:5, and then add a dispersant and stir for 30 min to form a uniform slurry;

[0053] Step A2: Let the slurry precipitate in a settler for more than 12 h, and separately collect the precipitate (hard bentonite associated minerals, such as quartz and feldspar) and the suspension (montmorillonite and soft bentonite associated minerals), dehydrate by centrifugation, and dry at 60 °C for 12 h;

[0054] Step A3: Mix the suspension and stainless steel balls for ball milling to obtain a first powder with a particle size less than 1 mm, and then separate the first powder from the stainless steel balls for later use;

[0055] Step A4: Grind the precipitate into a second powder with a particle size less than 500 μm;

[0056] Step A5: Mix the first powder and the second powder to form a mixed powder. The components and component ratios of the mixed powder are almost the same as those of the bentonite raw ore powder. Dry the mixed powder at 60 °C for 12 h;

[0057] Step A6: Mix the mixed powder with activated carbon and antibacterial agents, and then granulate. Add a binder during the granulation process to form cat litter particles with a particle size of 1 - 8 mm. Dry the water content to make the water content of the cat litter particles less than 8% to obtain the cat litter of this example.

[0058] Example 6:

[0059] This embodiment is exactly the same as Embodiment 1, except that 10 parts of activated carbon and 5 parts of organic antibacterial agent are additionally added during the granulation and forming process.

[0060] Comparative Example 1:

[0061] The difference between this comparative example and Embodiment 1 is only that the particle size of the second associated ore powder is not greater than 1 mm, and the particle sizes of the montmorillonite powder and the first associated ore powder are not greater than 500 μm.

[0062] Comparative Example 2:

[0063] The difference between this comparative example and Embodiment 1 is only that the acid soaking and grinding processes of the hard bentonite associated ore in step S3 are omitted, and the hard bentonite associated ore is used to prepare cat litter in its original state.

[0064] Comparative Example 3:

[0065] The difference between this comparative example and Embodiment 1 is that the ball milling process of the soft bentonite associated ore in step S2 is omitted, and the soft bentonite associated ore is used to prepare cat litter in its original state.

[0066] (1) Test of scratch-free function: Place different cat litter particles on a marble slab, cover with a smooth A4 printing paper, and then place an object weighing 10 kg (slightly heavier than a cat) to perform circular motion. After repeating the motion for several rounds, observe the scratches on the surface of the A4 printing paper in contact with the cat litter.

[0067] See Figure 1 , in Embodiment 1, the scratches on the surface of the A4 printing paper are relatively shallow, with only slight imprints, indicating that the cat litter in Embodiment 1 has excellent scratch resistance and high safety.

[0068] See Figure 2 , in Comparative Example 3, the surface condition of the A4 printing paper is similar to that in Embodiment 1, indicating that whether the soft bentonite associated ore is ball milled does not affect the scratch test, that is, it has no obvious effect on the safety of the cat litter. The surface conditions of the A4 printing paper in Embodiments 2-5 are similar to those in Embodiment 1, indicating that for the cat litter prepared by the specific preparation method in these embodiments, the ratio between quartz and feldspar and their total proportion in the cat litter, as well as the type and quantity of the soft bentonite associated ore, the specific types, and the mass ratio between them, have no obvious effect on the safety of the cat litter.

[0069] See Figure 3 , in Embodiment 6, the scratches on the surface of the A4 printing paper are similar to those in Embodiment 1, except that the activated carbon makes the surface of the printing paper black. This indicates that the activated carbon and the organic antibacterial agent do not affect the safety of the cat litter.

[0070] See Figure 4, in Comparative Example 2, the surface scratches of the A4 printing paper were deep and the paper was severely damaged, indicating that the safety of the cat litter mainly depends on whether the hard bentonite associated ore is ground or not.

[0071] See Figure 5 , in Comparative Example 1, the surface scratches of the A4 printing paper were slightly deeper than those in Example 1.

[0072] (2) Water absorption and agglomeration test: See Table 1

[0073]

[0074] In Example 2, due to the decrease in the content of montmorillonite in the cat litter, the agglomeration stability and water absorption decreased significantly. In Comparative Example 1, the particle sizes of the montmorillonite powder and the first associated ore powder were much smaller than those of the second associated ore powder. Therefore, the water absorption and agglomeration properties of the montmorillonite powder and the first associated ore powder decreased. Thus, the water absorption and agglomeration properties of the montmorillonite powder and the first associated ore powder depend not only on their own particle size, but also on the ratio of the particle size of the second associated ore powder.

[0075] The technical features of the above-described embodiments can be combined arbitrarily. For the sake of brevity of description, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above embodiments are described. However, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, it should be considered as the scope recorded in this specification.

[0076] The above-described embodiments only represent several implementation manners of the present invention. The description is relatively specific and detailed, but it should not be construed as a limitation on the scope of the invention patent. It should be noted that for those of ordinary skill in the art, without departing from the concept of the present invention, several modifications and improvements can still be made, and these all belong to the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention patent should be subject to the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for preparing cat litter, characterized in that, Including: Grind montmorillonite alone to obtain montmorillonite powder; Grind several kinds of bentonite associated ores to obtain associated ore powder; Mix the montmorillonite powder and the associated ore powder and add a binder to form; If the kind of bentonite associated ore is quartz or feldspar, grind to obtain associated ore powder with a particle size not greater than 400 μm; For at least some kinds of bentonite associated ores with a hardness less than 4, perform dry grinding on the bentonite associated ores with a hardness less than 4 to obtain associated ore powder with a particle size not greater than 800 μm; The purity of the montmorillonite is greater than 90%, and the particle size of the montmorillonite powder is not greater than 800 μm.

2. The preparation method of the cat litter according to claim 1, characterized in that, The kinds of bentonite associated ores with a hardness less than 4 are illite, chlorite, zeolite, calcite or mica.

3. The method for preparing cat litter according to claim 1, characterized in that There are at least three kinds of bentonite associated ores, and two of the kinds of bentonite associated ores are quartz and feldspar respectively, and all the remaining kinds of bentonite associated ores are soft bentonite associated ores with a hardness less than 4; By mass, montmorillonite is 20 - 80 parts, all soft bentonite associated ores total 5 - 20 parts, quartz is 20 - 50 parts, feldspar is 10 - 30 parts, and the binder is 1 - 10 parts. The particle size of the associated ore powder ground from quartz and feldspar is not greater than the particle size of the associated ore powder dry - ground from soft bentonite associated ores.

4. The preparation method of the cat litter according to claim 3, wherein Add activated carbon and antibacterial agent during the mixing and forming process of the montmorillonite powder and the associated ore powder.

5. The preparation method of the cat litter according to claim 1, characterized in that, Obtained by the method for preparing cat litter according to any one of claims 1 - 5, with a particle size of 1 - 8 mm and a moisture content less than 8%.

6. A cat litter, characterized in that, ​

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