Reconstituted Rawhide via Acid Swelling and Cross-Linking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for producing rawhide dog chews from limed animal hide result in off-cuts and scraps with uneven thickness and irregular shapes, which are difficult to re-process due to their adhesive properties and moisture content, leading to poor palatability and nutritional value, and require additional costly steps for incorporating meat products and flavors.
Innovation Solution
A novel method involving acid swelling, defibering, grinding, filtration, and dehydration of collagen fiber suspensions, followed by cross-linking, to create a reconstituted rawhide with consistent thickness and bonding properties, allowing for the incorporation of meat fibers and additives without adhesives, resulting in a mechanically strong and nutritious pet chew material.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If rawhide scraps are ground into granules and mixed with gelatin for re-processing, then the scraps can be formed into shapes, but the gelatin becomes hard and brittle after drying making it difficult to bend and knot
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the collagen fiber from the rawhide scraps through acid swelling and mechanical separation, isolating the functional component that provides flexibility and bonding. This extracted collagen fiber is then used without requiring gelatin additives, solving the brittleness problem while maintaining re-processing capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses acid-swollen collagen fiber as an intermediary material that naturally provides adhesive properties. This intermediary replaces the need for gelatin while maintaining the ability to bond and form shapes, and crucially retains the flexibility needed for bending and knotting operations.
2Ease of manufacture
If collagen fiber is combined with large amounts of water for processing, then the fiber can be formed into shapes, but the material becomes difficult to dehydrate leading to high moisture content and deterioration
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies acid swelling treatment preliminarily to the collagen fiber before forming operations. This preliminary action modifies the fiber structure to reduce its water-holding capacity, enabling easier dehydration after forming while maintaining the ability to be shaped during the wet state.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the chemical parameters of the collagen fiber through acid treatment, which alters the fiber's physical properties including its water absorption and retention characteristics. This parameter change allows the fiber to be formed with adequate moisture but then dehydrated effectively without deterioration.
3Quantity of substance
If meat products and flavors are incorporated into traditional rawhide chews, then palatability and nutritional value improve, but production costs increase due to additional costly steps
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges the collagen fiber extraction process with the incorporation of meat products and flavors into a single integrated process. The acid-swollen collagen fiber serves as both the structural matrix and the binding agent, allowing meat and flavor additives to be incorporated during the same processing steps without requiring separate addition operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The acid-swollen collagen fiber performs multiple functions simultaneously: it provides the structural framework, acts as a natural binder for meat and flavor additives, and serves as the final chew material. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate adhesive applications and reduces production process complexity.
4Device complexity
If off-cuts and scraps are discarded instead of re-processed, then production costs are reduced, but material utilization efficiency decreases and waste increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention converts the previously harmful or useless off-cuts and scraps into valuable collagen fiber material through acid swelling and mechanical separation. These waste materials are transformed into the primary ingredient for new chew products, turning a loss into a resource and improving material utilization efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of discarding the off-cuts and scraps, the invention recovers the collagen fiber from these materials through acid treatment and mechanical separation. The recovered collagen fiber is then reused to manufacture new chew products, eliminating waste and improving overall material utilization.
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
The method produces a collagen fiber reconstituted rawhide with improved mechanical strength, nutritional value, and controllable shape and size, utilizing waste materials efficiently and reducing production costs, while ensuring better palatability and bonding properties.
Implementation Method 1
the collagen fiber suspension is then vacuum filtered for consistent particle size, and chemically dehydrated
Implementation Method 2
The suspension is then vacuum filtered for consistent particle size
Implementation Method 3
vacuum filtered for consistent particle size, and chemically dehydrated
Implementation Method 4
followed by cross-linking, to create a reconstituted rawhide with consistent thickness and bonding properties
Data Source
AI summary
This invention describes a collagen fiber reconstituted rawhide useful in the production of pet chews, and a method for making the same. Beginning materials include animal skins with hair, depilated limed splits and leftovers from the manufacture of rawhide pet chews. The materials are pretreated, ground, subjected to acid treatment to swell and separate the collagen fibers that comprise the animal hide, further ground into pulp, vacuum filtered, mixed with a dehydration agent that chemically shrinks the expanded fibers, drained, formed and dried into sheet and/or exposed to a cross-linking agent to increase the adhesive strength of the end product. Edible materials, including meats, may be added to the solution prior to draining, to enhance the nutritional value and palatability of the final product, and the reconstituted rawhide sheets may be bleached for appearance. The described method produces rawhide pet chews at lower cost, and of greater diversity and utility, compared with current methods of production.