Urination processing material for animal

Abstract

To provide a urination processing material for an animal having high deodorant effect and being easy to use.SOLUTION: Provided is a urination processing material for an animal having a pellet form. The urination processing material contains crushed straw, polymer and a binding material. A content ratio of the crushed straw is 75% to 93% by weight ratio. A content ratio of the polymer is 5% to 20% by weight ratio. A content ratio of the binding material is 2% to 8% by weight ratio.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a urine treatment material for animals, which is suitably used as cat litter for cats and the like.

Background Art

[0002] As a dressing for laying on a pet toilet or the like, a pelletized material such as pulp having excellent water absorption has been proposed. In addition, it has been proposed to use plant pieces such as wood chips as components to be contained in the pellets (see Patent Document 1 and the like).

[0003] On the other hand, conventional urine treatment materials for animals using plant pieces contain many components other than plant pieces, such as water-swellable substances of minerals containing bentonite and the like, and tend to have a high density, and there are problems in terms of transportability and ease of handling during purchase and disposal. In addition, although various plant pieces can be considered as plant pieces that can be adopted for urine treatment materials for animals, the optimal compounding components and ratios when adopting a predetermined plant piece have only been proposed for some plants such as kenaf.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] The present invention provides a urine treatment material for animals that has a high deodorizing effect and is easy to use.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The urine treatment material for animals according to the present invention has crushed straw, a polymer, and a binder, the content ratio of the crushed straw is 75 to 93% by weight, The content ratio of the polymer is 5 to 20% by weight, and it is a pellet-shaped animal urine treatment material in which the content ratio of the binder is 2 to 8% by weight.

[0007] In the animal urine treatment material according to the present invention, by containing crushed straw at a high content ratio, the excellent deodorizing effect of the straw is brought out, and by reducing the weight of the animal urine treatment material, it is easy to handle, and transportation, disposal, etc. can also be carried out efficiently. In addition, by containing a polymer and a binder in a predetermined ratio with respect to the crushed straw, high water absorption is achieved, and after effectively absorbing the liquid component of the excrement, it swells and aggregates, thereby realizing a lightweight and easy-to-handle animal urine treatment material.

[0008] Also, for example, the animal urine treatment material according to the present invention may have an elongated shape with a ratio of the length in the longest first axial direction to the length in the second axial direction orthogonal to the first axial direction of 4:1 to 30:1.

[0009] Such an animal urine treatment material is longer than the conventional pellet-shaped urine treatment material, so when it absorbs the liquid component of the excrement and swells, it easily gets entangled with adjacent pellets and aggregates, so that only the soiled ones can be easily selected and discarded. In addition, by making it slender, the surface area ratio becomes higher than that of the conventional one, and excellent water absorption and deodorizing effects are achieved.

[0010] Also, for example, the binder may be CMC.

[0011] By using CMC (carboxymethyl cellulose) as the binder, the crushed straw can be bound with a small amount, and the content of the crushed straw is high, achieving an effective deodorizing effect, and an animal urine treatment material that is easy to handle can be realized.

[0012] Also, for example, the crushed straw may have a passing rate of 80% or more through a sieve (JIS Z-8801) with an opening of 300 μm before mixing and molding.

[0013] By containing a large amount of chopped straw above a certain fineness in the core part, it exhibits an even better water absorption effect and deodorizing effect.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0014]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0015] FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing the appearance of an animal urine treatment material 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the animal urine treatment material 10 is in the form of pellets having an elongated rod-like appearance. However, the animal urine treatment material 10 is not limited to only those having an elongated rod-like appearance, and may have a shape other than an elongated rod shape, such as a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, a plate shape, a spherical shape, an elliptical spherical shape, etc., or these shapes may be mixed.

[0016] Also, in the animal urine treatment material 10 shown in FIG. 1, the cross-sectional shape perpendicular to the first axis direction D1, which is the longest in the pellet, is substantially circular. By making it substantially circular, it is possible to suppress chipping of the pellets and prevent problems such as the generation of fine powder of chopped straw. However, the cross-sectional shape of the animal urine treatment material 10 is not limited to a circular shape, and may be an elliptical shape, a triangular shape, a quadrilateral shape, or other polygonal shapes.

[0017] The animal urine treatment material 10 is suitably used, for example, as a dressing material spread on an animal toilet like cat litter for cats. In FIG. 1, six (6) animal urine treatment materials 10 are illustrated. However, when used as cat litter in a cat toilet, usually several hundred to several thousand or more animal urine treatment materials 10 are used. Also, the size of one (1) pellet (1 piece) of the animal urine treatment material 10 is not particularly limited. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the length L1 in the first axial direction D1 is about 10 to 40 mm, and the length L2 in the second axial direction D2 orthogonal to the first axial direction D1 is about 0.8 to 4 mm, which is easy to handle and preferable when used as cat litter or the like. Further, it is more preferable that the length L1 in the first axial direction D1 is 15 to 30 mm and the length L2 in the second axial direction D2 is 1 to 3 mm, because when absorbing the liquid component of the excrement and swelling, it can easily entangle with adjacent pellets and gather together.

[0018] FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing the pellet shape of the animal urine treatment material 10 shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the animal urine treatment material 10 has an elongated rod shape. The ratio of the length L1 in the first axial direction D1, which is the longest in the pellet shape, to the length L2 in the second axial direction D2 orthogonal to the first axial direction D1 of the animal urine treatment material 10 is preferably an elongated shape of 4:1 to 30:1. The length L1 in the first axial direction D1, the length L2 in the second axial direction D2, and their ratio can be calculated by measuring a predetermined amount (for example, 5 g) of the animal urine treatment material 10 randomly extracted and using their average values.

[0019] Such an animal urine treatment material 10 is more elongated than the conventional pellet-shaped urine treatment material. Therefore, when absorbing the liquid component of the animal excrement and swelling, it can easily entangle with adjacent pellets and gather together. Therefore, by using the animal urine treatment material 10 as a dressing material, even if the amount of the liquid component of the animal excrement is small, the soiled pellets can be gathered, and only that part can be easily selected and discarded. Also, by making it elongated, the surface area ratio becomes higher than that of the conventional ones, and it exhibits an excellent water absorption effect and deodorizing effect.

[0020] The animal urine treatment material 10 shown in Fig. 1 has crushed straw, a polymer, and a binder. The crushed straw is not particularly limited as long as it is mainly the stem of a gramineous plant dried, and examples include crushed rice straw and crushed wheat straw. Examples of the polymer include pulp and resin waste materials from paper diaper waste materials containing a high molecular polymer (high molecular absorbent material). Examples of the binder include starch-based powders and polymers, such as starch like corn starch and polymers such as CMC (carboxymethyl cellulose).

[0021] The content ratio of the crushed straw in the animal urine treatment material 10 is 75 to 99% by weight ratio, and more preferably 82 to 90%. By increasing the content ratio of the crushed straw, the deodorizing effect of the animal urine treatment material 10 can be enhanced. On the other hand, when the animal urine treatment material 10 contains a predetermined amount of a polymer, a binder, etc., it becomes easier to form into pellets, and it is possible to prevent a part of the crushed straw from dissipating from the pellets.

[0022] The content ratio of the polymer in the animal urine treatment material 10 is 5 to 20% by weight ratio, and more preferably 8 to 14%. By setting the content ratio of the polymer within a predetermined range, the deodorizing effect by the crushed straw in the animal urine treatment material 10 can be appropriately exerted, and the water absorption capacity of the pellets can be enhanced.

[0023] Also, the content ratio of the binder in the animal urine treatment material 10 is 2 to 8% by weight ratio, and more preferably 3 to 7%. When the animal urine treatment material 10 contains a predetermined amount of the binder, it becomes easier to form into pellets, and it becomes easier to stick together with adjacent pellets during water absorption, and it becomes easier to recognize that the pellets need to be replaced.

[0024] In addition to the crushed straw, the polymer, and the binder, the core part 20 may contain other components such as a coloring agent, tea leaves, and foamy plant residues such as okara. The content of the coloring agent and tea leaves is preferably about 1 to 2% respectively.

[0025] In addition, the total content ratio of components other than the crushed straw, polymer, and binder in the animal urine treatment material 10 is preferably less than 4% by weight ratio. As a result, the animal urine treatment material 10 contains almost (or hardly) any mineral materials and is composed of a material with a low overall density, so it is lightweight and easy to transport, etc.

[0026] Also, the crushed straw contained in the core part 20 may have a passing rate of 80% or more by weight when passed through a sieve with an opening of 300 μm (JIS Z-8801) before mixing and molding. Since a large amount of finely crushed straw is contained in the core part 20, the contact area between the crushed straw and the absorbed animal urine becomes wide, and the animal urine treatment material 10 having such a core part 20 exhibits a better water absorption effect and deodorizing effect.

[0027] Also, as the binder used for the animal urine treatment material 10, CMC (carboxymethyl cellulose) is preferably used. Since CMC exhibits a good binding force for binding the crushed straw, by using CMC as the binder, the content of the crushed straw in the animal urine treatment material 10 can be increased.

[0028] The animal urine treatment material 10 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 can be manufactured, for example, by mixing and stirring crushed straw, a polymer, CMC as a binder, etc., and then compression molding this using an extrusion molding machine to form pellets.

[0029] In this way, by increasing the content of crushed straw in the animal urine treatment material 10, the excellent deodorizing effect of the straw is brought out, and by reducing the weight of the animal urine treatment material 10, it is easy to handle, and transportation, disposal, etc. can also be carried out efficiently. Further, by containing a polymer and a binder in a predetermined ratio with respect to the crushed straw, high water absorption is achieved, and after effectively absorbing the liquid component of the excrement and swelling and aggregating, a lightweight and easy-to-handle animal urine treatment material is realized. In addition, the animal urine treatment material 10 can effectively reuse rice straw and wheat straw that can also be agricultural waste, and by mainly using raw materials derived from agricultural by-products, the chemical toxicity is extremely low, it is environmentally friendly, and the sustainability is high.

[0030] Hereinafter, the characteristics of the animal urine treatment material 10 according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples.

[0031] (Example 1) As Example 1, 5 g of the animal urine treatment material 10 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 was prepared and placed in a gas bag (volume: 5 liters). After introducing 3 L of ammonia gas into the container to make the ammonia gas concentration in the container 100 ppm, the introduction of ammonia gas was stopped, and after further leaving it sealed for 20 minutes, the ammonia gas concentration in the container was measured. The standing temperature was room temperature of 25°C, and as the detector for the ammonia gas concentration, a measuring instrument based on the detector tube method was used. The contained components, content, and shape characteristics of the animal urine treatment material 10 used in the example are as follows.

[0032] Crushed straw (rice straw) 85% Polymer 10% Binder (CMC) 3% Others (pigment, tea leaves) 2% Length in the first axial direction 14 mm Length in the second axial direction 2 mm Ratio of the length in the first axial direction to the length in the second axial direction 7:1 Note that the crushed straw had a passing rate of 80% by weight through a sieve with an aperture of 300 μm before mixing and molding.

[0033] As a comparative example, an animal urine treatment material made from okara and starch was prepared in the same amount as in the example, and the same ammonia gas concentration measurement test as in the example was conducted. The components, contents, and shape characteristics of the animal urine treatment material used in the comparative example are as follows.

[0034] Okara 90% Starch 10% Length in the first axial direction 10 mm Length in the second axial direction 5 mm Ratio of the length in the first axial direction to the length in the second axial direction 2:1 Note that in the example and the comparative example, the length in the first axial direction and the length in the second axial direction were taken as the average values of 10 randomly extracted grains.

[0035] The results of the example and the comparative example are shown in Table 1 together with the results of a blank experiment (an experiment conducted in an empty container in the same manner).

[0036]

Table 1

[0037] As shown in Table 1, in the experiment using the animal urine treatment material according to the example, the ammonia concentration after 20 minutes was 1 / 2 compared to the case where the animal urine treatment material according to the comparative example was used, and it was confirmed that the animal urine treatment material according to the example exhibited a remarkable deodorizing effect.

Explanation of Signs

[0038] 10…Animal urine treatment material D1…First axial direction D2…Second axial direction L1, L2…Length

Claims

1. comprising crushed straw, a polymer, and a binder, wherein the content ratio of the crushed straw is 75 to 93% by weight, the content ratio of the polymer is 5 to 20% by weight, and the content ratio of the binder is 2 to 8% by weight, and which is a pellet-shaped animal urine treatment material.

2. The animal urine treatment material according to claim 1, which has an elongated shape with a ratio of the length in the longest first axial direction to the length in a second axial direction orthogonal to the first axial direction of 4:1 to 30:

1.

3. The animal urine treatment material according to claim 1, wherein the binder is CMC.

4. The animal urine treatment material according to claim 1, wherein the crushed straw has a passing rate of 80% or more through a sieve (JIS Z-8801) with an aperture of 300 μm before mixing and molding.

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