Pivoting Comb Device for Pet Medicament Skin Application
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for applying insecticide and antiparasitic medicaments to pets, such as dogs and cats, often result in incomplete treatment due to the medicament being collected by the hair rather than reaching the skin, especially in pets with long hair, as there is no effective tool to ensure direct application to the skin while avoiding hair contact.
Innovation Solution
A hand-operated device with pivotally attached elongated members and comb teeth that can be manipulated to expose the pet's skin by parting the hair, allowing for efficient application of medicaments directly to the skin without hair interference.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If medicament is applied directly to the skin of the pet, then the treatment effectiveness is improved, but it becomes difficult to apply when the pet has long hair as the hair prevents direct contact with the skin
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a comb as an intermediary tool between the applicator and the pet's skin. The comb parting mechanism creates temporary pathways through the hair, allowing the medicament to reach the skin without direct manual hair manipulation. This mediator tool resolves the contradiction by making the application process easier while ensuring reliable skin contact.
Solution Approach 2:
The device segments the application process into two functional parts: a comb component for hair parting and an applicator component for medicament delivery. This segmentation allows each component to specialize in its function - the comb creates access pathways while the applicator delivers medication, thereby improving ease of operation while maintaining treatment effectiveness.
2Reliability
If the owner manually spreads the hair apart to apply medicament, then the medicament can reach the skin, but this requires significant time and effort especially with long hair
Solution Approach 1:
The comb performs preliminary action by parting the hair and creating access pathways before the medicament is applied. This pre-prepared access eliminates the need for time-consuming manual hair spreading during the actual application, thereby reducing overall application time while ensuring reliable skin contact.
Solution Approach 2:
The comb acts as a mediator that automates the hair parting process, replacing the time-consuming manual action with a tool designed specifically for this purpose. The comb's teeth efficiently separate hairs and create pathways, significantly reducing the time required compared to manual hair spreading while ensuring the medicament reaches the skin.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the medicament is applied along the backbone to prevent licking, then the pet's safety is improved, but the long hair in this area makes it difficult to reach the skin
Solution Approach 1:
The comb serves as an intermediary tool that efficiently parts the dense hair along the backbone, creating precise pathways for medicament application. This mediator tool makes it easy to reach the skin in the backbone area while maintaining the safety advantage of applying along the backbone where the pet cannot lick the medication.
Solution Approach 2:
The device applies local quality by concentrating the combing and parting action specifically at the application site along the backbone. The comb creates localized pathways through the hair exactly where needed, enabling easy skin access in this specific difficult-to-reach area while preserving the safety benefit of backbone application.
Data Source
AI summary
A device for assisting the application of medicaments to pets includes first and second elongated members. Each elongated member includes a proximal end and a distal end, a handle portion extending between the proximal end and the distal end, and comb teeth extending between the proximal end and the distal end. The proximal end of the second elongated member and the proximal end of the first elongated member are pivotally attached to one another. The comb teeth of the first and second elongated members extend in the same direction perpendicular to a plane in which the first and second members pivot relative to each other. The handle portions extend in the same or parallel plane in which the first and second members pivot relative to one another. The device is used to part the hair of the pet so that the medicament can be applied directly to the pet's skin.