WO1999013707A1

WO1999013707A1 - Rawhide animal treat and method of making same

Info

Publication number: WO1999013707A1
Application number: PCT/CA1997/000679
Authority: WO
Inventors: Frank Balne; Germain Lajeunesse; Denny Neiberger; Charles Prestidge
Original assignee: P.U.P. Inc.
Priority date: 1997-09-17
Filing date: 1997-09-17
Publication date: 1999-03-25

Abstract

An animal treat (10) for animals having the appearance of a greeting card comprises a generally flat sheet (12) of bleached rawhide and a literary message (14) and/or decorative picture (16) printed on at least one side of the sheet. The message and/or picture is printed using one or more edible inks. In one preferred embodiment, there is a decorative picture (16) printed with edible inks of at least two colours. The sheet of rawhide can be generally rectangular with rounded corners (44) although other shapes are also possible. The method of producing this animal treat is also described. This method including drying bleached rawhide in a stretched, flat state, cutting rectangular sheets from the dried material, supporting each dried flat sheet in a suitable support structure for printing and then printing the message and/or decorative design on the flat sheet using a printer, such as a pad printer.

Description

RAWHIDE ANIMAL TREAT AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to rawhide treats for animals, such as pet dogs. Simulated animal bones made of sheets of rawhide are known and have been sold for a number of years . These simulated or artificial bones are purchased by pet owners for their dogs who often like to chew on a hard object such as a bone. The simulated bones can be shaped like a natural bone and the prepared rawhide from which they are made is suitable for consumption by dogs . An example of such a simulated dog bone is shown and described in U.S. patent No. 3,368,528 issued February 13, 1968 to Superior Pet Products, Inc.. This simulated bone is made from one piece of folded and rolled sheet rawhide with all of the layers extending about a generally lengthwise axis . At least one end portion of this product has more layers so that it is thicker than a central portion. The rawhide for this bone can be bleached so that it has a bone like appearance.

Another animal toy made from rawhide is taught in U.S. patent No. 3,441,001 dated April 29, 1969 and issued to Stanton Fisher. This animal toy comprises a sheet of rawhide having a series of alternate ridges and grooves and it can be made from small rawhide particles closely compacted and reconstituted. Other forms of rawhide chew products for dogs are shown in U.S. design patents Nos . 326,002 and 326,004 issued May 5, 1992 to M. del C. Rodriguez. These dog chews appear to be in the form of a bag which is constructed from a sheet of material which has been gathered at one end and tied or secured with a ribbon of material.

Another well known product that is widely sold comprises various forms of greeting cards normally intended to be sent to a human recipient such as a close relative or friend. These greeting cards are normally made from a thin cardboard material and each card is usually made from a sheet of this material that has been folded once or more. The front cover of the card is generally decorated with a suitable design or picture and a suitable greeting or message may be printed on the front of the card or inside the card or in both locations . These greeting cards are commonly purchased at Christmas time or for other special occasions such as Mother's Day, Father's Day and birthdays. Generally the card is sold with suitable envelope in which the card can be inserted for mailing purposes .

The present invention provides a treat for animals, particularly pet animals such as dogs, which device can simulate the aforementioned greeting cards while at the same time being suitable for the animal or pet to chew on. The treat described herein can be made from bleached rawhide at a relatively low cost and may be produced using a reasonably inexpensive printing process and a known type of printing machine.

The present invention also provides a relatively inexpensive method of producing a rawhide treat of the aforementioned type that can be provided to or sent to a dog. The method involves an inexpensive drying and cutting process which produces a flat, dried sheet of rawhide and then supporting this dried sheet in a suitable fixture for printing purposes. A known form of pad printer can be used to print a literary message and/or decorative design on the dried sheet using two or more edible inks .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to one aspect of the invention, an animal treat comprises a generally flat sheet of bleached rawhide and a literary message printed on at least one side of this sheet . The message is printed with at least two edible inks . Preferably, a decorative picture is printed on the at least one side by means of edible inks of at least two colours . According to another aspect of the invention, a treat for a pet animal having the appearance of a greeting card comprises a substantially flat sheet of whitened rawhide and an illustration printed on one side of the sheet. This illustration is printed with at least two different colours of edible ink.

According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for producing a treat for an animal such as a dog, this method including drying a relatively large piece of bleached rawhide in a stretched, flat state and then cutting out a number of substantially smaller sheets from the dried piece of bleached rawhide . Each dried flat sheet is then supported in a support fixture for printing purposes and a literary message is printed on at least one side of the dried flat sheet using a pad printer and at least one edible ink.

Preferably the method includes printing at least one decorative design on the at least one side of the dried flat sheet using two or more edible inks . According to still another aspect of the invention, a method of producing an amusing dog chew product for a dog includes bleaching a relatively large piece of rawhide from an inner layer of animal hide and then drying this bleached piece in a stretched flat state to produce a dried, substantially flat piece. Next, a number of substantially smaller sheets are cut from the dried piece of rawhide. Each dried sheet is then mounted in a support fixture for printing purposes and a decorative coloured picture is printed on at least one side of the dried flat sheet using at least two edible inks of different colours .

Further features and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 is a front view of an animal treat constructed in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 is a bottom edge view of the device of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a block diagram illustrating a process for producing the treat of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a plan view of a support tray used to print the animal treat of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a side view of the support tray of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the support tray with two retainer plates removed for sake of illustration;

Figure 7 is a schematic plan view showing how twelve support trays can be mounted on a rotatable disk;

Figure 8 is a bottom view of a transfer strip section that can be used in a heat transfer printing process;

Figure 9 is a schematic side elevation showing the general arrangement for printing by a heat transfer process; and Figure 10 is a rear view of an envelope for use with the animal treat of Figure 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Figures 1 and 2 illustrate a preferred form of treat or amusement device 10 designed for animals and in particular pet dogs. The treat 10 is in the form of a type of greeting card similar to the greeting cards commonly sent by and to humans. However, unlike the greeting cards sent by humans, the treat of Figure 1 is made from a generally flat sheet 12 of bleached rawhide. Because of the bleaching process used on the rawhide, except for the designs and words printed on the sheet 12, the sheet has a substantially white or off white colour. This colour enhances the appearance of the device and gives it an appearance which is quite similar to that of a standard greeting card made from cardboard. A literary message 14 such as a greeting can be printed on at least one side of the sheet 12 , this message being printed with at least one edible ink. Preferably a decorative picture, such as the illustrated picture 16, is printed on at least one side of the sheet 12 by means of edible inks of at least two colours. For example, in the picture illustrated in Figure 1, the top of the hat at 20 and the dog collar at 22 can be printed in red ink while the dog spots 24 and the outline of the dog can be printed in black or brown ink. The literary message 14 can be printed in a different colour than the picture, if desired. For example, the Christmas greeting shown can be printed in green edible ink.

The rawhide sheet 12 is cut from a relatively large piece of bleached, dried rawhide, to a generally rectangular shape as shown with shorter top and bottom edges 30, 32 and longer side edges 34, 36. The sheet 12 could also have a shape other than rectangular, for example, the shape of a heart. However, the rectangular shape is a preferred shape from the standpoint of efficient use of the rawhide material. The chewable treat or device 10, since it is meant to represent a greeting card, would normally have dimensions similar to those of standard greeting cards made of cardboard. Thus, it would have a maximum length not exceeding 9 inches and a maximum width not exceeding 6 inches and, in a particularly preferred embodiment, is dimensioned between approximately 6 and 7 inches in height and approximately 4 1/2 inches in width. The preferred thickness indicated by D in Figure 2 of the dried rawhide sheet is l/8th inch plus/minus 25%. A preferred weight for the amusement device is 25 grams plus/minus 5 grams.

Generally, any suitable form of rawhide can be used in the production of the treat 10 but normally an inner layer of the rawhide should be used (the outer layer is not used) in order that the end product has the desired, smooth surface, particularly on the side to be printed. Rawhide sheets made from the skins of water buffalo and beef cattle are particularly suitable for present purposes .

A preferred form of edible ink for printing the rawhide cards 10 is an alcohol based ink which is non- toxic to dogs chewing on the device. This ink is also non-toxic to humans. Other forms of vegetable based inks can also be used in the printing of the literary matter and the design or picture.

Instead of printing both the design or picture and the literary greeting on the same side as the rawhide card 10, it is also possible to put the design or picture on one side of the card and the greeting or other text on the opposite side of the card. However, normally, it is preferred to carry out all printing steps on the front surface of the card to keep the printing costs as low as possible.

Since many purchasers of these treats 10 will wish to either mail the treat to the intended recipient or to deliver it in an envelope, the treat 10 can be sold with a suitable envelope for mailing. This envelope 40, which can be made of standard construction and made of paper, is illustrated in Figure 10 of the drawings. The envelope has a flap 41 on one side which can be opened in a known manner for insertion of the rawhide greeting card. Turning now to the method of producing the amusement device or dog chew 10 of Figure 1, the preferred method of production is illustrated in the block diagram of Figure 3. The aforementioned inner layer of rawhide is bleached by a hydrogen peroxide bleaching process known per se in order to provide it with a white or off white colour. After the bleaching process, the relatively large pieces of rawhide are then stretched on a suitable rack of known construction so that each piece is in a flat state. While stretched on the rack, the bleached pieces are dried in any suitable manner. For example, in dry climates, the rawhide pieces can be dried by placing them directly in the sun in warm weather conditions . Alternatively, and particularly in humid climates, it is possible to dry the pieces of rawhide in a drying oven or chamber. After these pieces have been dried, they will generally retain their flat, shape. The whitened or bleached piece is then cut into smaller sheets of the required size, for example, a rectangular shape having a size corresponding to that of a greeting card. Any suitable cutting tool or machine can be used to carry out this cutting step. This cutting process can provide the preferred, rounded corners 44 shown in Figure 1 but it is also possible for the corners to be squared. As indicated, a shape other than rectangular can also be cut by the cutting tool if desired. A heart shape is often used for some forms of greeting cards . After the cutting step, it is then necessary to carry out the printing of the literary message and the picture or design on at least one side of each dried flat sheet. In one preferred printing process, each piece of rawhide is mounted in a support fixture constructed to firmly hold the piece in a flat condition while the printing process is carried out. A multicolor pad printer can then be used to print the literary message and/or design in each of two or more colours of edible ink. The construction of multicolor pad printers is known per se and therefore a detailed description of such printers is deemed unnecessary for present purposes . The pad printer is capable of printing words or a design or a picture on a somewhat irregular or rough surface such as that found on the rawhide sheets of this invention. In order to produce a particularly pleasing and colourful rawhide greeting card, a four colour pad printer can be used and, if desired, a design and/or literary text can be placed on both sides of the rawhide card.

One preferred form of support structure for supporting an individual rawhide sheet during the printing process is illustrated in Figures 4 to 6 of the drawings. This support fixture includes a metal tray 50 which has a generally rectangular, flat supporting surface 52 , an open top 54 and means for correctly positioning the dried, rectangular sheet 10 on the supporting surface 52 for printing purposes. The preferred metal tray 50 has two, low sidewalls 56, 58 that extend the length of the tray and an end wall 60 located at one end of the tray. The sidewalls and the end wall can be integrally formed with the tray bottom 64 which is generally rectangular. The end of the tray opposite the end walls 60 is open in order to permit this end to receive the rawhide sheet 10 prior to printing. Preferably, at this end the tray bottom 64 is rounded at 68, for example, with a one inch radius. Also, preferably, the adjacent ends of the sidewalls 56, 58 are rounded as indicated at 70 and 72 in Figure 4. As will be appreciated, these rounded ends assist in the insertion of the rawhide sheet 10 into the rectangular space formed by the tray 50.

Also, in order to hold the sheet 10 in the tray, two retainer plates 74 and 76 are mounted on the sidewalls 56, 58. These plates are shown in Figures 4 and 5 but have been omitted from Figure 6 for sake of illustration. The plate 74 is substantially wider than the plate 76 in order to cover a bent leaf spring 78. In one preferred embodiment, the two retainer plates are made from l/16th inch plate with the plate 74 being 3/4 inch wide and the plate 76 being 3/8ths inch wide. It will be appreciated that the two plates 74 and 76 form side channels extending the length of the tray in order to receive the edges of the rawhide sheet. A bottom portion of the spring 78 fits into an elongate side cavity 80 that is formed in the tray bottom 64. Preferably, the center of the spring 78 is held in place by a screw or bolt 82. This mounting arrangement permits the two end portions of the spring to flex inwardly when the rawhide sheet 10 is inserted into the tray. The spring then pushes the sheet 10 against the inner surface of the wall 58, thus ensuring that it is correctly positioned widthwise in the tray.

The aforementioned retaining plates 74, 76 are preferably attached to the sidewalls 56, 58 by means of suitable bolts (not shown) , although alternative attaching means such as an adhesive or screws can also be used. The metal tray 50 is preferably made of aluminum or aluminum alloy, for example, 7075-T6 aluminum.

For tray indexing purposes, a short vertical metal plate 67 extends downwardly from the tray near the front or outer end 69 thereof. In the center of this plate 67 is an indexing notch 66. The plate 67 is rigidly attached to the bottom of the tray 50.

Preferably, a number of the metal trays 50 are attached to or mounted to a circular metal disk as shown schematically in Figure 7. In one preferred embodiment there are twelve metal trays 50 distributed evenly about the circumference of the disk which rotates about a vertical center shaft 86. In a preferred embodiment, the disk 84 is also made of aluminum having a thickness ranging between 3/8ths and 1/2 inch and a diameter or about 4 feet. In using a multicolor pad printer indicated generally at 90, it will be appreciated that the disk 84 rotates each metal tray 50 between two, three, four or more printing stations with one edible ink color being applied at each station. In the schematic illustration of Figure 7, there are three printing stations indicated at 92, 94 and 96 in dashed lines. The notch 66 is engaged by a moving member on the printer which ensures that the tray is correctly positioned for the printing step.

Although the use of a multicolor pad printer as described above is ideal for printing small and medium size volumes of dog chew products, an alternative printing process can be used for large production runs and this alternative printing process is illustrated in Figures 8 and 9. In this alternative process , a multicolor image is produced in a series on a strip of carrier material 102. The carrier material can be a known form of treated paper or Mylar. In a known manner, each side of the carrier is provided with a series of indexing holes 104 and 106. These holes engage two wheels which are part of an indexing unit or system indicated generally at 110. The carrier strip is generally provided in the form of a roll indicated at 112 in Figure 9. The carrier strip is fed between a part indexing fixture 114 and a heated platen on a hot stamping machine 116. The rawhide sheet 10 is held in the indexing fixture directly below the transfer carrier 102. The lowering of the heated platen 116 onto the top of the carrier strip causes the multicolor image 100 to be transferred to the rawhide sheet 10 in a single printing step. After the printing step occurs, the carrier strip with the images transferred therefrom is rolled up on a takeup spool 120. It will be appreciated that the indexing unit 110 causes the forward movement of the carrier strip 102 to be stopped momentarily for the printing of each rawhide sheet 10. The printed sheet is then moved to another location for further processing or packaging and a new sheet 10 moved into position below the heated platen 116. Using this printing process, it is possible to print a large number of rawhide sheets in a relatively short period of time.

It will be apparent to those skilled in this art that various modifications and changes can be made to the rawhide treat of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention. Accordingly, all such modifications and changes as fall within the scope of the appended claims are intended to be included in the invention.

Claims

WE CLAIM :

1. A rawhide treat device for animals comprising a generally flat sheet of bleached rawhide and a literary message printed on at least one side of said sheet, said message being printed with at least two edible inks.

2. A rawhide treat according to claim 1 including a decorative picture printed on said at least one side by means of edible inks of at least two colours.

3. A rawhide treat according to claim 2 wherein said sheet of rawhide is generally rectangular and has a maximum length not exceeding 9 inches and a maximum width not exceeding 6 inches .

4. A rawhide treat according to claim 3 wherein said sheet of rawhide is generally rectangular, has rounded corners and is dimensioned between approximately 6 and 7 inches in height and approximately 4 1/2 inches in width.

5. A rawhide treat according to claim 2 wherein each edible ink comprises an alcohol based ink.

6. A rawhide treat according to claim 5 including an envelope suitable for mailing and sized to receive said flat sheet of bleached rawhide .

7. A rawhide treat for a pet animal having the appearance of a greeting card, said treat comprising a substantially flat sheet of whitened rawhide and an illustration printed on one side of said sheet, said illustration being printed with at least two different colors of edible ink.

8. A rawhide treat according to claim 7 wherein a literary greeting is also printed on said one side of said sheet by means of an edible ink of at least one color.

9. A rawhide treat according to claim 8 wherein said sheet of rawhide is generally rectangular and has a maximum length not exceeding 9 inches and a maximum width not exceeding 6 inches .

10. A method of producing a rawhide treat for an animal such as a dog, said method comprising: bleaching a relatively large piece of rawhide; drying said piece in a stretched, flat state; cutting out one or more relatively small sheets of dried rawhide from said piece; supporting each dried, flat sheet in a support fixture for printing purposes; and printing a literary message on at least one side of said dried flat sheet using a pad printer and at least one edible ink.

11. A method of producing a rawhide treat according to claim 10 wherein a decorative design is also printed on said at least one side of said dried flat sheet using two or more edible inks.

12. A method of producing a rawhide treat according to claim 10 wherein the or each sheet is rectangular and has a maximum length not exceeding 9 inches and a maximum width not exceeding 6 inches .

13. A method of producing a rawhide treat according to claim 11 wherein said at least one edible ink is an alcohol based ink.

14. A method of producing a rawhide dog chew product for a dog, said method comprising: bleaching a relatively large piece of rawhide to produce bleached rawhide made from an inner layer of animal hide; drying the bleached inner layer in a stretched flat state to produce a dried, substantially flat piece; cutting out one or more relatively small sheets of dried rawhide from said dried, flat piece; mounting each dried sheet in a support fixture for printing purposes; and printing a decorative colored picture on at least one side of each dried sheet using at least two edible inks of different colors .

15. A method of producing a dog chew product according to claim 14 wherein a literary greeting is also printed on each dried sheet using at least one edible ink.

16. A method of producing a dog chew product according to claim 14 wherein each sheet is rectangular and has a maximum length not exceeding 9 inches and a maximum width not exceeding 6 inches .

17. A method of producing a dog chew product according to claim 14 wherein all edible inks used for printing said product are alcohol based inks .

18. A method of producing a dog chew product according to claim 14 wherein said support fixture includes a movable metal tray with a flat supporting surface, an open top, and means for correctly positioning the dried rectangular sheet on said supporting surface for printing purposes and wherein the printing step is carried out with a pad printer.

19. A method of producing a dog chew product according to claim 14 wherein said support fixture includes a rotatable circular disk and a number of metal trays mounted about the circumference of said disk, each metal tray having a flat supporting surface, an open top, and means for correctly positioning a respective dried rectangular sheet on said supporting surface, and wherein said printing step is carried out with a pad printer.

20. A method of producing a dog chew product according to claim 14 wherein the printing step is carried out by heat transferring a multicolor image from a movable carrier strip to each dried, rectangular sheet.