Method for producing pet dental treat

A pet dental treat includes an outer shell constituting a dense, solid shell which keeps the dog occupied while the dog's teeth sink into a soft, chewy porous inner core, potentially coated on exposed surface(s) such as with a bio-active compound, to scrape tartar and remove plaque from the dog's teeth, including hard-to-reach teeth, thereby helping to maintain the oral health of the dog while also reducing bad breath. The pet dental treat has a cross-section visually resembling a tooth and includes a longitudinal slot defining an integral pocket having in-turned retaining elements at an entrance to the slot, with the pocket provided to selectively retain a functional, edible additive insert, such as a vitamin, medicinal item or the like insert, to be given to the pet, with the retaining elements preventing the edible insert from inadvertently falling out of the pocket.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention generally pertains to the art of edible pet products and, more particularly, to a method for producing a pet dental treat including an outer shell encapsulating a porous core to establish a dual texture dog chew treat, with the outer shell being formed with an integral pocket for selectively retaining an additional edible insert.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Pet owners often feed treats to their pets to show affection, create interactive moments with their pets, or reward their pets. As consumers are increasingly treating their pets like family members, the oral health of these domestic animals has become of particular concern. With this being recognized by manufacturers, various pet treats specifically formulated to promote the oral health of pets, particularly dogs, have been made readily available to consumers. Certain known pet dental treats include hard outer bodies, e.g., hide or bone, and a softer edible core portion. Tooth plaque and tarter are removed as portions of the product scrape against the animal's teeth while the treats are being chewed.

Although available pet treats specifically intended for dental hygiene are widely known, there are still improvements to be made in this field, particularly to further improve oral cleaning attributes of the products, provide products which are longer lasting and specifically formulated to be more digestible, and also enhance the versatility of the products by providing for the ability to also present functional, edible additives, such as vitamins, medicinal items or the like, to pets. With the above in mind, it is desired to provide a method for mass producing pet dental chews treats, particularly employing a co-extrusion or molding process to establish a dual texture product, with each pet treat being formulated for ease of digestion and integrally formed with structure to selectively retain an additional edible insert.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is concerned with a method for producing pet dental treats, particularly for dogs. In one form of the invention, a co-extrusion process is employed to produce product ropes having a dual texture, i.e., a long-lasting outer, chewable shell with a soft, chewy porous core. The rope is fed to a cutter assembly which can be configured to produce products of predetermined length, such as slices, sticks or logs. In another form of the invention, the dental treats are formed through a molding process. In either form of production, the outer shell constitutes a dense, solid shell which keeps the dog occupied while the dog's teeth sink into the soft, chewy porous core to scrape tartar and removes plaque from the dog's teeth, including hard-to-reach teeth and along gumlines, thereby helping to maintain the oral health of the dog while also reducing bad breath. Regardless of the length of the product, the pet dental treat has a cross-section visually resembling a tooth, which not only provides an indication of the product's dental function but advantageously enables the inclusion of a longitudinal slot defining an integral pocket including in-turned retaining elements at an entrance to the slot. This pocket is provided to selectively retain one or more functional, edible additive inserts, such as vitamins, medicinal items or the like inserts, to be given to the pet, with the retaining elements preventing the edible insert(s) from inadvertently falling out of the pocket.

Although the pet dental treat of the invention can be made from various ingredients, it is preferred that the outer shell constitute a dense, grain-based solid which will be long lasting and highly digestible. For instance, the outer shell can include rice flour, potato flour, gelatin, glycerin, pea starch, cultured whey, cellulose, citric acid and salt. On the other hand, the chewy porous core can includes rice flour, potato starch, gelatin, glycerin, cultured whey, citric acid and salt. Meat may also be employed in forming the outer shell and/or inner core. In any case, it is intended that the entire product contains no artificial colors, artificial flavors or artificial preservatives so as to establish an overall healthy, highly digestible, long lasting pet treat having dental cleaning functionality. In certain embodiments of the invention, the exposed surfaces of the soft, chewy porous (permeable) core can provide a suitable carrier for active ingredients in liquid form to be infused, such as through a coating operation. For instance, a coating of heat sensitive bio-active compounds, such as probiotics, enzymes such as papain, antioxidants, antimicrobials, vitamins, calcium peroxide, flavors, calcium chelating agents, plant or plant extracts, can be employed. To avoid deactivation during process stages of higher temperature, the heat-labile ingredients can be applied via a low temperature coating to the pet treat after the product has been extruded or molded.

Additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more readily apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments of the invention when taken in conjunction with the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As indicated above, the product of the invention can be made employing various production techniques, including co-extrusion and molding processes.FIG.1schematically illustrates a portion of an exemplary manufacturing line for the automated mass production of pet dental treats in accordance with the invention. This arrangement employs a multi-row co-extruder2including a die plate5having a plurality of laterally spaced heads or dies, one of which is indicated at10. As shown in the enlarged view, each die5is defined by a port or an opening in die plate5, with the co-extrusion opening having an outer peripheral shape resembling a tooth (see enlarged view). Of course, other arrangements are equally applicable, such as die plate5threadably or otherwise receiving various selectively replaceable die inserts to establish the requisite opening. In the embodiment shown, the co-extrusion opening includes a central extrusion region20and an outer extrusion region30which surrounds central extrusion region20. Important in connection with an aspect of the invention for reasons which will be detailed herein, outer extrusion region30is integrally formed with in-turned retaining elements40and41along a longitudinal slot (not labeled but discussed further below in connection withFIG.2). Again, for exemplary purposes, extruder2is shown to form a plurality of elongated, laterally spaced extrudate rows deposited in the form of continuous ropes80-82onto a common conveyor87, with each rope80-82having a cross-section visually resembling a tooth.

Downstream of extruder2is provided a cutting assembly which is generally indicated at90extending across conveyor87. Cutting assembly90includes a roller110having an associated motor driven drive shaft (not shown) for rotating roller110and an outer surface115from which project one or more cutting members, such as a blade indicated at120. With this exemplary arrangement, each rope80-82passing beneath roller110upon moving conveyor87will be cut by the one or more cutting members in forming individual, tooth-shaped (in cross-section) intermediate products150. The length of each intermediate product150will depend on various factors, including the speed of extrusion and conveyance, the rotational speed of roller110and the number of cutting members120provided circumferentially spaced about roller110. Overall, the length can vary significantly but, in most preferred forms of the invention, the resulting pet treat has a length in a range of approximately 1.25-18 cm.

After being cut to a desired length, the intermediate products150need to be dried. Although drying could proceed under ambient conditions,FIG.1illustrates the inclusion of a dryer unit175downstream of cutting assembly90, with conveyor87directing intermediate products150through dryer unit175in producing the final pet treats 180 having tooth-shaped bodies in cross-section. At this point, pet treats 180 can be transported to a further downstream location where they are packaged for shipping and consumer sale.

A pet treat 180 produced in accordance with the invention is illustrated inFIG.2. As clearly illustrated, the pet treats 180 of the invention have a tooth-shaped cross-sectional body generally indicated at185including a soft, chewy inner core190surrounding by a dense, solid outer shell195. Certainly, the dense, solid characteristics of outer shell195and the soft, chewy characteristics of core190can be defined in various ways. By way of example, dense, solid outer shell195is reminiscent of a rawhide, having a hardness (Force kg) in the range of 20-120 and a preferred target of 60, as well as a flexibility (Force Ascending Slope Kg/sec) in the range of 20-120 and a preferred target of 60. On the other hand, core190is more like a sponge, having a hardness (Force Kg) in the range of 3-20 and a preferred target of 15, along with a flexibility (Force Ascending Slope Kg/sec) in the range of 1-45 and a preferred target of 10. For the sake of completeness, the bend analysis (3-point) was performed with a TA-HD plus instrument equipped with a 250 Kg load cell and a 3 mm thick450chiseled end blade. The bend upright supports were set to a 6 cm gap. The associated blade traveled a distance of 20 mm at a rate of 5 m/sec with a 10 g trigger start.

Importantly, outer shell195has integrally formed therewith the in-turned retaining elements40and41along a longitudinal slot (not separately labeled) establishing a pocket198defined, at least in part, by retaining elements40and41. This overall configuration is important in providing added versatility to pet treat 180 by enabling a functional, edible additive, such as a vitamin, medicinal item or the like insert200, to be given to the pet by pushing insert200past retaining elements40and41and into pocket198. As clearly shown in this figure, pocket198is laterally restricted at an entrance region or opening210by retaining elements40and41such that retaining elements40and41function to prevent edible insert200from inadvertently falling out of pocket198after insertion, while still enabling a pet to access insert200. As indicated above, edible insert200can be constituted by a wide range of items, including medicinal items, vitamins, palatability enhancers, digestion additives like probiotics, enzymes, and mouth surface effective compositions like polyphosphates, any of which can be in pill, capsule, gummy, paste or other form. Depending on the length of the slot forming pocket198, multiple inserts can be provided in a single pet treat 180 which can be extremely convenient if a pet must receive daily medicines or other supplements. Any insert200may be added during the production process and therefore sold as a variety of pet treat 180 or, preferably, pocket198exists to enable consumers to individually tailor pet treats 180 for consumption by their pets.

As indicated above, pet treats 180 can be produced in various lengths without departing from the invention. In addition, the particular composition of pet treats 180 can also vary. A preferred composition of the invention is presented below, with the listed percentage ranges and most preferred or target range percentages (by weight) before (Table 1) and after (Table 2) drying.

In this example, the ropes80-82are co-extruding a pre-blend of dry ingredients with a heated liquid addition to establish an extrusion exit moisture range of approximately 25-30% at a temperature of approximately 180-210° F. and an exit pressure of approximately 500-1100 psi. Ropes80-82are preferably in the range of approximately 2.5-5 cm in diameter and are cut to preferred lengths in the range of approximately 1.25-18 cm. After the drying process, outer shell195of pet treat 180 has a moisture in the range of 8-12% while inner core190has a moisture of 2-3 times that of outer shell195, with dryer unit175being employed to expedite the drying process. Optionally, another dryer (not shown) can be provided upstream of cutting assembly90for this purpose.

The invention also contemplates taking advantage of the soft, chewy porous nature of core190to potentially apply one or more infusible coatings (not separately shown or labeled) to the exposed surfaces of inner core190. For example, one or more coatings containing bio-active compounds, including probiotics, enzymes such as papain, antioxidants, antimicrobials, vitamins, calcium peroxide, flavorings, calcium chelating agents, plant compounds or plant extracts, or the like can be applied to inner core190, preferably in liquid form for easy infusion. A flavored coating could be employed to enhance product appealability, such as a meat-based coating. As the heating conditions employed for extrusion or injection molding processes would be detrimental to heat-labile active ingredients, the coating can be applied after the extrusion or molding process, i.e., after the body sufficiently cools to a temperature which will not deactivate the heat-labile active ingredients.

Although described with reference to preferred embodiments of the invention, it should be understood that various changes and/or modifications can be made to the invention without departing from the spirit thereof. For instance, various cutting assemblies known in the art could be equally employed, such as linear or guillotine, ultrasonic or the like cutting assemblies. Instead, the invention is only intended to be limited by the scope of the following claims.