Animal urination processing material

Abstract

To provide an animal urination processing material having a high deodorant effect and easy to use.SOLUTION: An animal urination processing material includes: a core part including wood powder of a Cupressaceae tree and a binding material; and a shell part covering the core part and including paper powder. An area ratio of the core part and the shell part in a central part transverse section being a section orthogonal to a longitudinal direction and passing the center is 6:4 to 98:2. A content ratio of the wood powder in the core part is 40 to 70%. A content ratio of the wood powder in the shell part is equal to or less than one-tenth of the content ratio of the wood powder in the core part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an animal urine treatment material suitable for use as cat litter or the like. [Background technology]

[0002] Pellets made from highly absorbent pulp have been proposed as bedding for pet toilets, etc. Cat litter has also been proposed in which the pellets have a double structure consisting of a core and a shell, making it easy to distinguish between pellets that have absorbed moisture from animal urine and those that have not absorbed moisture (see Patent Document 1, etc.).

[0003] Meanwhile, animal urine disposal materials such as cat litter are required to have both absorbency and odor-preventing properties. Conventional animal urine disposal materials, which are primarily made from pulp, have been developed using techniques such as blending fragrance ingredients into the materials or using materials with deodorizing properties as part of the materials, but there is a demand for materials that are easier to use and have a stronger deodorizing effect. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-247920 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The present invention provides an animal urine treatment material that has a high deodorizing effect and is easy to use. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The animal urine treatment material according to the present invention comprises: a core portion including wood powder of a cypress tree and a binder; a shell portion that covers the core portion and contains paper powder, The area ratio of the core portion to the shell portion in a central cross section, which is a cross section perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and passing through the center, is 6:4 to 98:2; The content of the wood flour in the core part is 40 to 70%; The content of the wood flour in the shell is one-tenth or less of the content of the wood flour in the core.

[0007] In the animal urine treatment material according to the present invention, by setting the wood flour content of cupressaceae trees to a predetermined level or more, the excellent deodorizing effect of cupressaceae tree wood flour can be achieved, and by forming the surface portion with a shell containing paper powder, the wood flour can be prevented from scattering and good moisture adsorption can be ensured. Furthermore, by increasing the area ratio of the core portion containing a high content of cupressaceae tree wood flour, the deodorizing effect of cupressaceae trees can be effectively achieved. Furthermore, by not including crushed wood flour in the shell portion, or by limiting the amount of crushed wood flour contained therein to a predetermined level or less, the shell portion containing paper has a clean appearance and is able to effectively absorb moisture and prevent the crushed wood flour from scattering. Furthermore, wood flour from cupressaceae trees, particularly cypress and Japanese cypress, has excellent antibacterial properties and a pleasant fragrance.

[0008] Furthermore, for example, the material may be in the form of a pellet having a diameter of 0.1 to 2 cm in equivalent circle calculated from the area of ​​the central cross section and a length of 0.4 to 4 cm in the longitudinal direction.

[0009] Animal urine treatment materials with this shape are easy to handle as cat litter, etc., and can ensure a shell portion of appropriate thickness and a core portion of sufficient area, making them particularly excellent in both deodorizing effect and ease of handling.

[0010] Furthermore, for example, the wood flour may have a passing rate of 80% or more when passed through a sieve (JIS Z-8801) with openings of 300 μm before mixing and molding.

[0011] By including a large amount of wood powder from cypress trees pulverized to a predetermined finer level in the core, better water absorption and deodorizing effects are achieved. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is an external view of an animal urine treatment material in the form of cat litter according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of the animal urine treatment material shown in FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0013] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing the appearance of an animal urine treatment material 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 1, the animal urine treatment material 10 has a roughly cylindrical pellet-like appearance. However, the animal urine treatment material 10 is not limited to a roughly cylindrical shape, and may have a shape other than a cylindrical shape, such as a roughly rectangular parallelepiped, plate-like, spherical, or oval sphere, or may have a mixture of these shapes.

[0014] The animal urine treatment material 10 is preferably used as bedding for animal litter boxes, such as cat litter. Five pellets of the animal urine treatment material 10 are shown in Fig. 1, but when used in a cat litter box as cat litter, several hundred to several thousand pellets of the animal urine treatment material 10 are typically used. The size of each pellet of the animal urine treatment material 10 is not particularly limited, but it is preferable that the length L in the longitudinal direction D1 shown in Fig. 2 is approximately 0.4 to 4 cm, and that the equivalent circular diameter calculated from the area of ​​the central cross section shown in Fig. 2 is approximately 0.1 to 2 cm, as this is easy to handle when used as cat litter.

[0015] Figure 2 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the cross section of the animal urine treatment material 10 shown in Figure 1. Figure 2 shows a central cross-section that is a cross section perpendicular to the longitudinal direction D1 of the animal urine treatment material 10 and passing through the center C, and only the outline shape of the upper half of the animal urine treatment material 10 is shown by a dotted line. As shown in Figure 2, the animal urine treatment material 10 has a double structure having a core portion 20 and a shell portion 30 that covers the core portion 20.

[0016] The core 20 contains wood flour from a tree of the Cupressaceae family and a binder. Examples of trees of the Cupressaceae family that serve as the raw material for the wood flour include Japanese cypress and Japanese cypress, with Japanese cypress being particularly preferred. Examples of wood flour include ground and dried trunks, branches, bark, etc. of trees of the Cupressaceae family. Examples of binders contained in the core 20 include starchy powders and polymers, such as starch like cornstarch and polymers like CMC (carboxymethyl cellulose).

[0017] The wood flour content in the core 20 is preferably 40 to 70% by weight, more preferably 43 to 60%, and most preferably 45 to 55%. Increasing the wood flour content from cupressaceae trees can enhance the deodorizing effect of the animal urine treatment material 10. Meanwhile, the inclusion of a predetermined amount of binder or the like in the core 20 makes it easier to form into pellets and prevents some of the wood flour from cupressaceae trees from scattering from the core 20.

[0018] The binder content in the core portion 20 is preferably 1 to 10% by weight, and more preferably 2 to 6%. The inclusion of a predetermined amount of binder in the core portion 20 facilitates pellet molding, and the binder expands easily upon absorbing water, making it easier to identify pellets that need to be replaced. It is also preferable that the core portion 20 contains waste paper products, so that the binder of the core portion 20 is derived from the waste paper products.

[0019] In addition to wood flour and a binder from a cypress tree, the core 20 may contain coloring agents, foaming plant residues such as soybean pulp, or waste paper products (including paper dust) such as disposable diapers. If the core 20 contains coloring agents, the coloring agents migrate toward the shell 30 when the animal urine treatment material 10 absorbs water, discoloring the surface of the animal urine treatment material 10 and making it easier to identify pellets that need replacement. Because the core 20 contains a high proportion of wood flour from a cypress tree, if it is not colored with dyes or pigments, it will appear ochre-brown under white light. However, because the core 20 is covered by the shell 30, which contains paper dust and appears white under white light, the animal urine treatment material 10 appears as a white pellet. However, the animal urine treatment material 10 may be a color other than white.

[0020] Furthermore, the wood flour from the cupressaceae tree contained in the core portion 20 may have a passing rate of 80% by weight or more through a 300 μm mesh sieve (JIS Z-8801) before mixing and molding. When the core portion 20 contains a large amount of wood flour that has been crushed to a predetermined size or finer, the contact area between the wood flour from the cupressaceae tree and the absorbed animal urine is increased, and the animal urine treatment material 10 having such a core portion 20 exhibits even better water absorption and deodorizing effects.

[0021] The shell portion 30 shown in FIG. 2 covers the core portion 20 and contains paper powder (ground paper). Examples of the paper powder contained in the shell portion 30 include bleached or unbleached pulp powder, as well as pulp and resin waste from waste disposable diapers. In addition to the paper powder, the shell portion 30 may contain a binder such as starch or a polymer such as CMC (carboxymethyl cellulose). By making the binder content in the core portion 20 less than the binder content in the shell portion 30, it is possible to increase the content of wood powder from cupressaceae trees while effectively preventing the wood powder from cupressaceae trees from scattering from the pellets.

[0022] However, it is preferable that the shell portion 30 does not contain wood flour from cupressaceae trees, which is the main constituent component of the core portion 20, or even if it does, the content of wood flour from cupressaceae trees in the shell portion 30 is one-tenth or less of the content of wood flour from cupressaceae trees in the core portion 20. An animal urine treatment material 10 having such a shell portion 30 has a good appearance of cleanliness due to the shell portion 30 containing paper dust, and can effectively absorb moisture and prevent the scattering of wood flour in the shell portion 30.

[0023] 2, the thickness of the shell portion 30 of the animal urine treatment material 10 is considerably thin, which increases the content of wood powder from trees of the cupressaceae family, which is abundant in the core portion 20, enabling the animal urine treatment material 10 to achieve a high deodorizing effect. The area ratio of the core portion 20 to the shell portion 30 in the central cross section (expressed as S1:S2, where S1 is the area of ​​the core portion 20 and S2 is the area of ​​the shell portion 30) is preferably 6:4 to 98:2, and more preferably 7:3 to 97:3.

[0024] By setting the area ratio of the core portion 20 to the shell portion 30 to a predetermined value or more, the content of wood powder from cupressaceae trees in the animal urine treatment material 10 can be increased, thereby enhancing the deodorizing effect. Furthermore, by setting the area ratio of the core portion 20 to the shell portion 30 to a predetermined value or less, the core portion 20 can be reliably covered by the shell portion 30, preventing the wood powder from cupressaceae trees contained in the core portion 20 from dissipating. Furthermore, by forming the shell portion 30 to a predetermined thickness or more on the surface, the animal urine treatment material 10 can ensure good moisture adsorption properties.

[0025] 1 and 2 can be manufactured, for example, by the following process. In manufacturing the animal urine treatment material 10, first, wood flour from a tree of the cypress family and a binder such as CMC are mixed and stirred, and then the mixture is compression-molded using an extruder to obtain a pellet-shaped core 20. Next, paper powder is attached to the surface of the pellet-shaped core 20 to form a shell 30 that covers the core 20, thereby obtaining the animal urine treatment material 10.

[0026] Thus, the animal urine treatment material 10 utilizes the excellent deodorizing effect of cypress trees by increasing the wood flour content of the cypress family, while forming the surface with a shell portion 30 containing paper powder to prevent the wood flour from scattering and ensure good moisture absorption. Furthermore, the animal urine treatment material 10 effectively reuses thinned wood, primarily from Japanese cypress and Japanese cedar trees, and by using many naturally derived raw materials, it is extremely chemically hazardous, environmentally friendly, and highly sustainable. The animal urine treatment material 10 uses little or no wood flour in the shell portion 30, which functions as an absorbent material in the core portion 20, and by clearly differentiating the materials and properties of the core portion 20 and shell portion 30, it exhibits unprecedentedly excellent properties. [Explanation of symbols]

[0027] 10...Animal urine treatment materials 20...Core part 30...Shell part D1: Longitudinal direction C...Center (bisection point in the longitudinal direction) L...length

Claims

1. a core portion including wood powder of a cypress tree and a binder; a shell portion that covers the core portion and contains paper powder, an area ratio of the core portion to the shell portion in a central cross section, which is a cross section perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and passing through the center, is 6:4 to 98:2; The content of the wood flour in the core portion is 40 to 70%; An animal urine treatment material, wherein the content of said wood flour in said shell portion is not more than one-tenth of the content of said wood flour in said core portion.

2. 2. The animal urine treatment material according to claim 1, which is in the form of a pellet having a circle-equivalent diameter calculated from the area of ​​the central cross section of 0.1 to 2 cm and a length in the longitudinal direction of 0.4 to 4 cm.

3. 2. The animal urine treatment material according to claim 1, wherein the wood flour has a passing rate of 80% or more through a sieve with 300 μm openings (JIS Z-8801) before mixing and molding.

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