Patent Publication Number: US-2021177011-A1

Title: Pet food supplemental coating method

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not Applicable 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT 
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     INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM 
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     STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR 
     Not Applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     (1) Field of the Invention 
     The disclosure relates to pet food coating methods and more particularly pertains to a new pet food coating method for coating pet foods with supplemental powders. Many pets are fed insects or pellets but may need supplements to augment their dietary needs. These supplements may be in powder form and attaching the supplements to the pet&#39;s existing food items may increase the likelihood of ingestion. 
     (2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98 
     The prior art relates to devices used to lower food items into containers and then to allow removal without having to reach into and touch the food items while submerged. These items typically are used in brining or storing items in a liquid medium to prevent spoil. Some devices use a grid to allow breading to pass through to a food item on the other side of the grid within an enclosed container. The prior art is silent on devices or methods related adding supplemental powders to pet food items. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a method of coating pet food product with supplemental powders. The supplemental powder in a container and pet food product is then placed into a basket assembly. The basket assembly is positioned into the container and a lid is placed on the container to close the container. The container is shaken to coat the pet food product with the supplemental powder. The lid is removed and the basket assembly is taken from the container. The now coated pet food product is thereafter removed from the basket assembly. 
     There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. 
     The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S) 
       The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a broken, top front in-use view of a pet food supplemental coating method according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a front side view of an embodiment of the disclosure illustrating the exterior of the container when all pieces are assembled. 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded view of an embodiment of the disclosure to show the orientation of the assembly of each component. 
         FIG. 4  is a handle side view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 5  is a section view of an embodiment of the disclosure showing the features of an embodiment of the disclosure if bisected using line  5 - 5  of  FIG. 4 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to  FIGS. 1 through 5  thereof, a new pet food coating method embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral  10  will be described. 
     As best illustrated in  FIGS. 1 through 5 , the pet food supplemental coating method  10  generally comprises a method of coating pet food product  12  with supplemental powders  14 , said method includes numerous steps. First, place supplemental powder  14  in a container  16 . The container  16  has a bottom wall  18 . A perimeter wall  20  is attached to and extends upward from the bottom wall  18 . The bottom wall  18  has a diameter between 2.00 and 3.50 inches. The perimeter wall  20  has a top edge  22  with respect to the bottom wall  18 . The top edge  22  has a slot  24 . The slot  24  extends therein and through an interior  26  and exterior  28  surfaces of the perimeter wall  20 . The perimeter wall  20  increases in diameter between the bottom wall  18  and the top edge  22 . The top edge  22  has diameter between 2.50 and 5.00 inches. The slot  24  has a depth between 0.25 and 0.50 inches. The slot  24  has a width between 0.25 and 0.75 inches along the top edge  22 . The container  16  should not be filled to the top of the container  16  to allow the supplemental powder  14  room to move around the pet food product  12  in the container  16 . 
     The next step is to place pet food product  12  in a basket assembly  30 . The basket assembly  30  includes a rim  32  and a handle  34  is attached to and extends outwardly away from the rim  32 . The handle  34  has a size to matingly engage the slot  24  in the container  16  such that the handle  34  extends outwardly from the container  16 . A mesh receiver  36  is coextensive with and extends downwardly from the rim  32 . The mesh receiver  36  has apertures  38  therein to allow the supplemental powder  14  to move through the mesh receiver  36  while inhibiting the pet food product  12  from moving through the mesh receiver  36 . The basket assembly  30  should not be filled to capacity to best allow room for interaction between the pet food product  12  and supplemental powder  14 . 
     Next, position the basket assembly  30  into the container  16 . The basket assembly  30  is spaced from the bottom wall  18  when the handle  34  is engaged with the slot  24 . The space between the basket assembly  30  and the container  16  varies be between 0.25 and 2.00 inches. The space allows for increased movement of the supplemental powders  14  and pet food product  12  to improve the coating of the pet food product  12 . 
     A lid  40  is positioned on the container  16  to close the container  16 . The lid  40  should engage all components to secure the components together and also form a tight seal to keep the supplemental powder  14  within the container  16 . 
     The container  16  is thereafter shaken to coat the pet food product  12  with the supplemental powder  14 . The container  16  should be sealed when all components are secured so shaking directions do not need to be restricted. 
     The lid  40  is removed and the basket assembly  30  is taken from the container  16  and such that the now coated pet food product  12  can be retrieved from the basket assembly  30 . The pet food product  12  will be evenly coated with the supplemental powder  14 . The basket assembly  30  may be shaken or tapped while partially removed from the container  16  to allow any loose supplemental powder  14  to return to the container  16  before completely removing the basket assembly  30 . The pet food product  12  can be dumped out while holding the handle  34  on the basket assembly  30  so that it may be fed to a pet. 
     With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.