Waste collection pad

There is provided herein an animal waste collection pad, comprising: a backing sheet of fluid impervious material, one or more absorbent sheets overlying the backing sheet, a top sheet overlying the absorbent sheet(s) and integrated tie means along one dimension of the collection pad. The tie means form ties for carrying and tying the collection pad into a compact bundle for disposal.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)/CLAIM OF PRIORITY

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REFERENCE OF AN APPENDIX

Not applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention generally relates to waste collection pads and, more particularly, to a animal waste collection pad having built-in ties for convenient disposal thereof.

2. Description of the Related Art

Examples of art related to this invention include the following patents and/or publications:

U.S. Pat. No. 3,626,899 entitled “Training Pads for Young Dogs” and incorporated in its entirety herein by reference, describes “an absorbent material lined on one side thereof with fluid impervious material [which] is impregnated with an odor imparting substances which attracts young dogs to the pads for the purpose of urination and defecation and discourages chewing of the pad by the young dog.”

U.S. Pat. No. 4,800,677 entitled “Animal Waste Collection Pad” and incorporated in its entirety herein by reference, describes “an animal waste collection pad having a backing sheet of fluid impervious material, a non-woven top sheet thereon. An absorbent pad is disposed on the backing sheet and the pad contains a scent, attractive to dogs. The scent may be provided by a frangible capsule, a micro encapsulated scent incorporated in the pad or a spray applied to the pad. There are tapes or drawstrings attached to the backing sheet for tying the animal waste collection pad into a small compact package for disposal.”

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is an improvement over existing animal waste collection pads and provides easy clean up and disposal thereof. Specifically and in accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a animal waste collection pad comprising: a top sheet, a backing sheet of fluid impervious material, one or more absorbent sheets disposed between the top sheet and the backing sheet and built-in ties.

Additional aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description and accompanying drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings. What follows are exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

FIGS. 1 and 2depict exemplary embodiments of a waste collection pad100according to the principles expressed herein. As shown, the waste collection pad100is generally square or rectangular in shape, having first side edges102and104and second side edges106and108. The waste collection pad100comprises: a backing sheet110, one or more absorbent sheets112, a top sheet115and integral ties or tapes120.

The backing sheet110is preferably made of a fluid impervious material, such as polyethylene, polypropylene or other suitable fluid impervious material.

The one or more absorbent sheets112overlays the backing sheet110and are made from suitable absorbent material, such as crepe paper, wood fluff or other suitable absorbent material.

The top sheet115overlays the one or more absorbent sheets112and is preferably made from suitable woven or non-woven materials or the like.

Built-in ties or tapes120are formed integrally with the pad100by perforations121and122or the like. The ties120may be partially detached from a portion of the pad100(See e.g.,FIGS. 5 and 6) by tearing the pad along the perforations121and122.

FIG. 3shows a sectional detail view of the waste collection pad100taken along the plane of line3—3inFIG. 1. As shown, the backing sheet110exceeds the size of the absorbent112and top sheets115along side edges102and104, overlaps the edges of the absorbent112and top sheets115and attaches to the top sheet115to seal the backing sheet110to the top sheet115, thereby containing all layers—backing, absorbent and top sheets. The backing sheet110is attached to the top sheet115by for example, adhesive, welding, heat sealing or other attachment method.

FIG. 4depicts a sectional detail view of the waste collection pad100taken along the plane of line4—4inFIG. 1. As shown, the top sheet115exceeds the size of the absorbent sheet115in one dimension (i.e., along side edges106and108) and attaches to the backing sheet110to seal the top sheet115to the backing sheet110. The top sheet115is attached to the bottom sheet110by for example, adhesive, welding, heat sealing or other attachment method.

Finally,FIGS. 5thru8depict two views of the waste collection pad100wherein the integrated tie means120of the pad100are opened to create strips or ties to conveniently tie the pad100into a compact bundle for disposal.

In an alternate embodiment of the invention, the pad100may be impregnated by conventional means with a suitable odor attractant to attract an animal to the pad100for the purposes of training the animal to urinate and defecate thereon but which discourages the animal from chewing up and destroying the pad100. One conventional odor attractant that is suitable for this purpose is allyl phenyl actetate.

In an alternate embodiment of the invention, the pad100may be colored green and/or impregnated by conventional means with an odor imparting scent, such as a fresh cut grass scent to attract the animal to the pad100for the purposes of training the animal to urinate and defecate outdoors. The backing sheet of the pad100may further have a green color to tie into the fresh cut grass scent.

In an alternate embodiment of the invention, the pad100may be impregnated by conventional means with an odor deterrent such as a floral scent, to reduce or eliminate for example, the undesirable smell of urine.

In an alternate embodiment of the invention, one or more absorbent sheets112of the pad100consists of an absorbent polymer which, similar to a baby's diaper, locks in urine and wetness and prevent leakage.

The pad100may be manufactured in accordance with the following exemplary process: the pad100may be assembled using a continuous process. The pad consists of a poly film moisture barrier (backing sheet110), a carrier tissue, absorbent fluff, additives, and a top cover tissue (collectively forming absorbent sheet112), and an abrasion resistant, hydrophilic, non-absorbing top sheet (top sheet115). The absorbent fluff layer is deposited continuously on the carrier sheet and solid additives, if any, are added to the fluff layer. The top cover tissue is then added to hold the fluff and additives together like a sandwich. This sandwich is then cut into segments shorter than the final pad dimension. Hot melt contact glue is continuously sprayed on to the poly film just prior to the sandwich segments being placed onto the poly film. This results in the sandwich segments being tightly bonded to the poly film moisture barrier. The non-absorbent top sheet is then added to the assembly. The non-absorbent top sheet is tightly bonded by the hot melt contact glue to the poly film layer forming an end seal and the basic structure that will become the built in ties. The poly film layer being wider than the other components is folded over the top sheet and glued to it through the addition of glue in that area of the pad. This forms a side seal to prevent liquid leakage from the pad. Liquid additives, if any, are then sprayed onto the final assembly. The pad is then folded laterally. Because the sandwich segments are shorter than the overall pad dimension, there is an area where only the top sheet and poly film are bonded together. A roll set cuts the process stream into individual pads and simultaneously perforates a pattern that can later be partially detached and used as a tie string (ties120) for the sanitary disposal of the pads after use. By varying the relative size of the end seal area the tie string size and strength can be varied. The nature of the bonded poly film and top sheet forms a composite structure which has strength that exceeds both the poly film and top sheet separately. After being cut, the pads are then folded in the machine flow direction and discharged for packaging.

Having now described embodiments of the present invention, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that numerous other embodiments are contemplated as falling within the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereto. For example, it is recognized that the length, width, and thickness of the pad100may vary as desired to obtain pads of different shapes, configurations, and stiffnesses. Therefore, all the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract, and drawings) may be replaced by alternative features serving the same purpose, and equivalents or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise.