Post-Extrusion Kibble Coating for Reliable Pet Medication Delivery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Administering medications to pets is challenging due to persuasion issues and owner forgetfulness, necessitating improved methods for incorporating functional feed ingredients, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and probiotics into pet food.
Innovation Solution
A method involving mixing an active ingredient with a carrier, applying the mixture to kibble, and maintaining it at a temperature above 40°C to create a homogenous activated feed, which can include surface-active agents and additives like palatants, bactericides, and edible colorings.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If medications are administered to pets through traditional methods, then the medication can be delivered to the animal, but the process is challenging and unreliable due to persuasion issues and owner forgetfulness
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the medication (active ingredient) with palatable food items to create a unified feed product. This merging eliminates the separate act of administering medication, as the pet naturally consumes both the food and medication together, thereby improving reliability while maintaining ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses food items as an intermediary carrier to deliver the medication to the pet. Instead of directly forcing medication into the pet's mouth, the food serves as a mediator that the pet willingly accepts, making the administration process both reliable and easy to perform.
2Adaptability or versatility
If functional feed ingredients are incorporated into pet food, then the nutritional and therapeutic benefits are improved, but the manufacturing process becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the manufacturing process into distinct modules: preparing the active ingredient mixture, preparing the food item mixture, combining them, and forming the final feed. This segmentation allows each step to be optimized independently, making the overall process manageable despite the added complexity of incorporating functional ingredients.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes temperature parameter changes (maintaining mixtures at temperatures above 40°C) to facilitate the incorporation of functional ingredients. This parameter change enables better mixing and integration without requiring complex equipment, thereby managing manufacturing complexity while achieving versatile ingredient incorporation.
3Manufacturing precision
If medications are mixed with carrier materials, then the medication can be uniformly distributed, but the mixing process requires specific temperature control
Solution Approach 1:
The patent specifies maintaining the mixture at a temperature above 40°C during mixing to achieve uniform medication distribution. This parameter change facilitates better mixing efficiency and uniformity while remaining a relatively simple temperature control requirement, balancing manufacturing precision with manageable temperature control.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Facilitates the incorporation of medications and functional ingredients into pet food, enhancing palatability and ensuring consistent administration.
Implementation Method 1
maintaining the mixture at a temperature greater than 40.0° C.
Implementation Method 2
maintaining the admixture at a temperature of greater than 40.0° C.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods of manufacturing animal feed that include one or more active ingredients added to the feed post extrusion. The feeds can be dry or semi-dry kibble coated with an edible mixture that includes at least one active ingredient.