WO2010128372A1

WO2010128372A1 - A device for protecting pets from allergy

Info

Publication number: WO2010128372A1
Application number: PCT/IB2010/000983
Authority: WO
Inventors: Gianfranco Cipriani; Patrizia Tognotti
Original assignee: Allergosystem S.R.L.
Priority date: 2009-05-08
Filing date: 2010-04-30
Publication date: 2010-11-11

Abstract

The protection of pets from allergies and parasites is achieved by the use of a textile material having gram weight of between 70 and 180 g/m², anti-mite properties and Kainka permeability of between 40 and 2000 in the form of a cover for the pet bedding. The textile material can be combined with a fibre or microfibre padding material for washing up to 80-90°C.

Description

"A DEVICE FOR PROTECTING PETS FROM ALLERGY"

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Field of the invention

The present invention relates to the protection of pets from allergies and parasites. More specifically, the invention concerns protection of pets against allergies caused by mites, fleas and the like.

It is known that pets, in particular dogs and cats, can suffer from allergies and allergic dermatitis; fleas, pollen and mould are cited in patent literature as allergy sources. Background to the invention

Various types of topical products are known, for example cortisone-based, for treating the allergies of said animals, products which must be applied on the animal's body. JP6179625 describes a lotion for topical treatment based on algae oil. For canine allergies, immunoglobulins and antibodies have recently been developed, such as in WO 03060080. WO0058349 describes a peptide for use as a canine allergy vaccine. These products are costly, of doubtful effectiveness and not yet safe; furthermore, products for topical use entail problems of administration as the animal tries to remove the product from its body, thus requiring the use of impediment collars. Summary of the invention

It has now been discovered that also dust mites (in particular those belonging to the Pyroglyphidae, Acaridae, Chortoglyphidae and Glycyphagidae families) can be responsible for allergies in dogs and cats. It is therefore necessary to provide a new product to combat canine allergies and pet allergies in general, free from the problems mentioned above. At the same time there is the need to combat pet parasites such as fleas, ticks and the like.

The object of the present invention is to effectively and inexpensively solve the problems discussed above relating to pet allergies. A further aim is to protect pets from parasites such as fleas and the like. Said object is achieved by means of the present invention, which concerns the use of a textile product characterised according to claim 1 to protect pets from allergies and/or parasites.

According to the invention, the textile product, i.e. a woven or non-woven fabric, has Kainka permeability interval between 20 and 4000, more preferably between 40 and 1000 and even more preferably between 40 and

400.

Expressed in another way, the textile material has a permeability according to the EN 1822-3:1988 standard to dust or particles with dimensions 0.5-10 μm (determined aerodynamically) with ISO 12103-1 A2 test dust (PTI or SAE fein) such that the textile material which functions as a filter in a current of 5 cm/second retains at least 54% of the particles with dimensions equal to or greater than 1 μm, preferably at least 60% of particles >= 1 μm and more preferably at least 70% of said particles. A further subject of the invention is the use of a textile material as defined above with the Kainka test to protect pets from allergies and/or parasites.

The complete text of the EN 1822-3:1988 standard can be obtained from various sources, for example from IHS Standards Store.

The textile material is preferably a non-woven fabric made of fibres of thermoplastic material, with gram weight between 50 and 190 g/m². A preferred gram weight is 100-170 g/m². Other equivalent materials in weft and warp fabric can also be used, for example coated fabric to obtain the above characteristics of permeability.

The textile material preferably has a permeability to water vapour measured with DIN 53122-1 that is included in the interval between 2000 and 10,000 g/m²*24h, preferably between 4500 and 8100 g/m²*24h. Permeability to the air measured with DIN EN ISO 9237 is preferably included in the interval between 25 and 95 l/dm^2*min, more preferably between 30 and 85 l/dm²*min and even more preferably between 35 and 80 l/dm²*min. Textile materials suitable for use in the present invention are commercially available and are for example those known for protection against mites, made of coated fabric or preferably non-woven fabric. Suitable materials are those that pass the allergy tests "TL)V PROOF Kriterienkatalog - Fur Allergiker geeignet - fϋr Bett-, Kissen- und Matratzenuberzuge, Stand 04/2005" of TUV Rheinland Produkt und Umwelt GmbH (KoIn). The characteristics listed above are to be applied at least to the new textile material.

Preferable materials are non-woven fabrics obtained by spunbonding or spunlacing, from extrusion of thermoplastic filaments which are then stretched in a current of air and deposited on a mobile support to form a non- woven fabric. The filaments thus obtained are then bonded between each other, preferably with jets of water at high pressure (jetbonding). In the preferred embodiment 100% polypropylene filaments (more precisely monofilaments) are used.

An example of a textile product of this type is known and commercially available for use as a mattress cover or pillowcase cover for human use. For example, said non-woven fabric is produced by Texbond SpA and is marketed under the name Softbond or Ultrabond.

Filaments obtained from coextrusion of different materials (e.g. polyester and polyamide) arranged side by side to form different segments of one single filament are also suitable for use in the present invention; when subjected to the high pressure jets of water as above, the filaments split to give a plurality of sub-filaments which generate an intricate "labyrinth" structure of microfibres with dimensions that reach 0.15 dtex. The structure remains the same even when the gram weights are changed or any finishes are added. Preferably polyester and polyamide are used in a ratio of 70/30 or 50/50.

The textile material used is preferably suitable for withstanding high washing temperatures of 60⁰C and 80⁰C, preferably also up to 9O⁰C, for better cleaning and sterilisation, particularly useful in the case of pets. An example of a product manufactured as above is marketed by Freudenberg under the name Evolon ® or by Orsa under the name Micro-Jet Orsa; non-woven fabrics are preferred with gram weight between 100 and 190 g/m², preferably between 100 and 170 g/m² and even more preferably 130 g/m².

Machines for obtaining these types of filaments and fabrics are commercially available for example from Fare SpA (IT) and Reifenhauser (DE). An example of a process for producing a suitable product is described in US 6815382 and in WO2008072278.

Alternatively fabrics having the above-mentioned characteristics can be used; examples of said fabrics are fabrics made of cotton coated with Dicrylan or Teflon on at least one side. Thus, for example, the device, which is used as a cover for a pet bed, mattress or blanket, has a fibre structure which allows fleas and other parasites and their eggs that come off the animal to be trapped on the outer surface of said device. Frequent washing of the device at high temperature will destroy the parasites and, above all, their eggs. The same effect is obtained with dust mites, which are trapped on the inner surface of the device and are likewise destroyed by washing.

It has been discovered in fact that bedding for pets made of textile products that can be classified as above, in particular non-woven fabrics, provide effective protection of the pet and a significant reduction at least in the symptoms if not in the allergic pathology.

The invention concerns the use of textile material as described above, for protection of pets from allergies, in particular allergies caused by mites, and parasites of the animals themselves. Use of the textile material of the invention as a cover for pet beds in general, i.e. folding beds, mattresses and padded items in general, blankets and quilts and analogous elements used for pet bedding, allows them to be kept cleaner. In fact, the characteristics of the textile material prevent the passage of parasites from the animal to the bedding and vice versa; washing of the device, preferably frequent and at high temperature, destroys the parasites and their eggs, thus eliminating the biggest source of allergies for the animal. Furthermore, due to its characteristics, the textile material, especially if made of microfibre, helps to keep the animal clean as it captures at least partly the particles of dirt and dust that is present on the animal's hair. The invention furthermore concerns bedding for pets, in particular pets kept for company and more specifically dogs and cats, characterised as claimed in claim 6.

The bedding comprises a first portion obtained from a textile material as defined above; said textile material can be used in various forms. In one example, it is in the form of a re-closable container, with dimensions suitable for containing the cushion, the mattress or padding which acts as the bedding for the animal; in a second embodiment, the container has dimensions suitable for housing a blanket or quilt. In another embodiment, the device is in the form of a sheet sewn in the shape of a parallelepiped; in a further variation, the device is in the form of a sheet provided with a central flap and a plurality of free flaps which can be secured to one another. In the embodiment in the form of a mattress, the device has an outer portion made of a textile material of the type defined above and an inner padding made of staple fibres or synthetic microfibres (or thermoplastic material). Preferably the outer portion or wrapping is of the type obtained by jetbonding of polyester and polyamide coextruded fibres (for example Evolon® or Micro- Jet®); the inner portion, providing the padding, is obtained from staple fibres or microfibers or spheroidal cores and is generally quilted together with the outer portion. In this embodiment the first and the second portion, or the outer sheet and the inner padding, are integral with and non-separable from each other. The staple fibres or microfibers or cores of the padding are hydrophobic, for example treated with suitable products (for example silicone-coated) and are generally obtained from polyester fibres. The fibres are preferably hollow fibres and microfibres, have low cohesion (<6N) and are resistant to washing even at high temperatures, up to 90⁰C. Suitable fibres are, for example, those described in EP 1717192 or in US 4618531 and the fibres marketed under the name Comforel® or Dacron® by Advansa AV.

The advantage of this embodiment is the extreme simplicity of maintenance; in fact it is possible to wash at high temperatures, and if necessary disinfect during washing, all the bedding, i.e. both the first and the second portion. As mentioned above, the present invention eliminates or drastically reduces the allergic symptomatology of pets (which use a bed or similar bedding), avoiding or drastically reducing medical treatment of the pets. Brief description of the drawings

These and other advantages will be illustrated in the following description with reference to the examples and figures attached for illustrative non- limitative purposes, where:

- fig. 1 is a schematic view of an embodiment of the device according to the invention;

- fig. 2 is a schematic view of a further embodiment of the invention; - fig. 3 is a schematic view of a further embodiment of the invention;

- fig. 4 is an enlarged view of a non-woven fabric which can be used in the present invention;

- fig. 5 is a perspective view, partially in section, of a further embodiment according to the present invention; - fig. 6 is a schematic view in cross section of a padded bed according to the invention;

- figures 7-10 are perspective views of further bedding which can be produced according to the present invention. Description of preferred embodiments With reference to figure 1 , a schematic perspective view of a possible embodiment of a bed or bedding according to the invention is shown. The bedding is for example obtained from a non-woven fabric in Evolon® which has EN 1822-3 dust permeability equal to a retention of at least 70% of particles >= 1 μm, gram weight between 100 and 170 g/m², DIN 53122-1 vapour permeability between 4500 and 8100 g/m²/24h and permeability to the air measured with DIN EN ISO 9237 included in the interval between 35 and 85 I/dm^2*.

Preferably the non-woven fabric used has a gram weight of between 100 and 170 g/m² and is resistant to washing up to 90⁰C.

As mentioned above, the bedding comprises a portion made of a textile product as defined in claim 1 and a second portion which acts as a support or padding for the first portion.

In fig. 1 the bedding 1 comprises a first portion T obtained from a textile material as defined above, cut into flaps 2-4 and sewn along the sides 5 and 6 to form a roughly parallelepiped element which can be placed over a folding bed or pet bed which comprises a frame 7 to which a sheet 14 is fixed which forms the second portion of the bedding, or the supporting portion of the first portion T. Preferably, said fibres or microfibres are silicone-coated; in one embodiment, the padding fibres 18 have biocidal properties, as for example in US 6037057, or insecticidal or anti-mite properties. Fig. 2 shows another embodiment in which the bedding comprises a first portion T formed of a sheet having a central flap 2A and two pairs of lateral flaps 3A and 4A. This device is applied to a folding bed such as the one discussed above with reference to fig. 1 or to a mattress 10, shown in fig. 2, which forms the second portion of the bedding. The central flap 2A of the first portion T is positioned on the upper side of the folding bed 7 or mattress 10, to form the supporting surface for the animal; the flaps 3A and 4A are folded below the folding bed or mattress 10, on its lower face. To keep the flaps in position and guarantee the best possible closure of the device 1 around the bedding 7 or 10, at least two of the flaps 3A and 4A are provided with means for securing said flaps to each other. In the embodiment shown, the flaps 4A are provided with portions of Velcro®, 8 and 9, which can be adjusted according to the thickness and extension of the object to be encased (folding bed 7, mattress 10 or other type of bedding). Other types of device can obviously be used, for example elastic bands which extend below the sheet 14 and join opposite sides of the first portion T. With the second portion S in the form of a mattress 10 of fig. 2, or equivalent padded bedding element, a device produced in the form of a container, in which the mattress 10 can be inserted, can also be used. Fig. 3 shows a container device 11 with dimensions suitable for containing a blanket, quilt or similar element that can be used as or together with a bed for a pet; for said purpose the device 11 has a reduced height, while the width and length are to permit the housing of a blanket, after inserting it through the zip opening 12. An analogous container for the mattress 10 or for a pillow or any other bedding element of any form and dimension will have dimensions proportional to the mattress to be contained. An example of said embodiment is shown in fig. 7.

Figures 5 and 6 show a further embodiment in which the first and the second portion, T and S, of the bedding are integral with each other. More specifically, in this embodiment the first portion T is formed of a non-woven fabric able to resist washing up to 9O⁰C and forming a container having an upper wall 15 and a lower wall 16 inside which the second portion S of the bedding is positioned, here formed of a staple fibre, or microfibre, identified by reference 18. The (micro )fibres 18 are hydrophobic and have reduced cohesion, with values below at least 7 N, preferably below 4 N.

The walls 15 and 16 are secured to each other in a known way, for example by means of stitching lines 19 which can for example form a quilt stitching pattern as can be seen in Fig. 5. Flaps 17 extend from the padded portion to secure the bedding to the frame of a folding bed 7. The same structure shown in Fig. 6, but without the flaps 17, can form the basis for numerous further embodiments in which a padding is used obtained with an outer textile material and a padding material as defined above. Examples of use of the padding are shown in figures 8, 9 and 10. As mentioned above, the fabrics suitable for use as containers in the present invention are those that can be classified as having a permeability of up to 4000 particles, preferably between 20 and 4000, in the Kainka test. The Kainka test is a method for assessing the permeability of a fabric to solid particles with pre-set dimensions. This test permits assessment and classification of woven and non-woven fabrics independently of the dimensions of the free portions between the fibres, said portions being difficult to quantify, especially in non-woven fabrics and coated fabrics.

Fig. 4 shows an example of non-woven fabrics suitable for the invention, in which the complexity of the fabric labyrinth structure can be seen. A detailed description of the test can be found in Pneumologie, vol. 51 (1997), pp. 2-9 and in AllergoJoumal, 9 (2000), pp. 261-270. These publications are included here via reference and a summary of the test is described below. As regards the present invention, in the Kainka test particles with dimensions between 1 and 5 microns were taken into consideration. The test can be described as follows. The tests are performed in a dust chamber measuring 5 m³. The material to be tested was uniformly distributed via a continuous control dust generator. By means of a pump with gate with power of 6 m³ per hour, air containing fine coal dust was sucked for one hour through the head of the filter with the respective test material and the polycarbonate filter. The one-hour duration of the test was sufficient for the emission of particles and in order to obtain repeatable results.

A circular sample of the test material with diameter of 47 mm is fixed on a filtering device. Behind the test material there is a polycarbonate membrane filter with 0.4 μm diameter pores. A certain volume of air is sucked through the test material and the filter. The original volumetric flow rate of the pump is 6 m³/hour; with the membrane filter the flow rate is reduced to 0.9 m³/hour and the test is performed for one hour. A continuous flow of test particles is directed onto the test material. The test particles consist of particles of coal, which are generated by the mechanical grinding of an element produced from coal dust compressed at high pressure. The diameter of the test particles varies from 0.1 to 20 μm. The test particles are emitted from the dust emitter 1 and permeate the test material, i.e. they are not stopped by the material being tested, and they accumulate on the polycarbonate membrane filter. The number of test particles located on the filter is quantified by means of a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and is used as an index of the permeability of the test material to the fine particles.

The number of particles deposited on the membrane filter are quantified at a magnification of 5,000 x. In total, the number of particles in the range between 1 and 5 μm located in 30 fields of 17.1 x 17.1 μm with a total area of 8,750 μm² is determined.

Each test includes the examination of two samples of test material and two calculations of 30 fields according to the procedure described above. The mean of the number of particles / 8750 μm² is used as an index of the permeability of the test material to the particles. For the purposes of the invention, textile products (both woven and non- woven fabrics) are used with permeability to particles measuring 1-5 μm of between 20 and 4000, preferably between 20 and 2000, more preferably between 40 and 1000 and even more preferably between 40 and 400. The Kainka test can be performed for example at "HYGIENE-INSTITUT DES RUHRGEBIETS", GELSENKIRCHEN (DE).

Expressed in another way, the textile material has a permeability according to the EN 1822-3:1988 standard to dust or particles with dimensions of 0.5- 10 μm (ISO 12103-1 A2 test dust, formerly SAE fein) such that the fabric functioning as a filter in a current of 5 cm/second retains at least 54% of the particles with dimensions equal to or greater than 1 μm, preferably between at least 60% of particles >= 1 μm, more preferably at least 70% of said particles.

The textile material preferably has a permeability to water vapour measured with DIN 53122 included in the interval between 2000 and 10,000 g/m²*24h, preferably between 4500 and 8100 g/m²*24h. Permeability to the air measured with DIN EN ISO 9237 is preferably between 25 and 95 l/dm²*min, more preferably between 30 and 85 l/dm²*min and even more preferably between 35 and 80 l/dm^2*min.

The gram weight is in the interval between 50 and 150 g/m², preferably between 60 and 130 g/m² and more preferably between 70 and 130 g/m². A preferred gram weight is between 100 and 130 g/m².

The materials that can be used are thermoplastic fibres such as polypropylene, polyethylene, polyamides and polyesters; it is also possible to use fibres obtained by coextrusion, for example by coextrusion of a recycled material with a virgin material. The suitable non-woven fabrics can be obtained according to the processes known in the art, for example from staple, or by spunbonding or spunlacing, from extrusion of thermoplastic filaments which are then stretched in a current of air and deposited on a mobile support to form a non-woven fabric. The filaments thus obtained are then secured to one another, preferably with jets of water at high pressure (jetbonding). In the preferred embodiment, filaments from coextrusion of different materials are used (e.g. polyester and polyamide) arranged side by side to form different segments of one single filament; when subjected to the high pressure jets of water as above, the filaments split to give a plurality of sub-filaments which remain the same even when the gram weights of the material or any finishes are changed. The filaments of Polyester (PES, 70% in weight) have a roughly triangular section with two sides that measure from 6.5 to 7.5 μm and one side of approximately 3 μm (-0.20 dTex). The filaments of Polyamide (PA, 30% in weight) are also triangular with two sides that measure from 6.5 to 7.5 μm and one side of 2 μm (-0.10 dTex). An example of a product produced in this way is commercially available from Freudenberg under the name Evolon ® or from Orsa under the name Micro-Jet Orsa 60°. Said material is furthermore preferably resistant to washing up to 95°C. The preferred material for the textile product to be used in the invention is a monofilament microfibre fabric preferably with gram weight between 70 and 130 g/m². Fabrics suitable for the invention and commercially available are for example:

EVO 60, 80, 100 and EVO 130 or 170 g/m² by Freudenberg, Ultratex and

Ultrabond by Texbond, Micro-Jet by Orsa.

The dimensions are not critical for achievement of the purpose of the invention; in fact, said dimensions are calculated according to the dimensions of the type of bedding, i.e. the type of folding bed, mattress, pet bed or blanket to which the protection device will be applied.

The device can be easily printed with decorations or messages and in a preferred embodiment it bears said decorations or messages, for example an advertisement for pet products. Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 show a decoration and a message, indicated generally by reference 13, positioned in fig. 2 on the exposed face of the central flap 2A.

Claims

1. Textile material with permeability, according to the EN 1822-3:1988 standard, to an ISO 12103-1 A2 test dust such that in an air flow of 5 cm/second it retains at least 54% of the particles with dimensions equal to or greater than 1 μm for use in the protection of pets from allergies and/or parasites.

2. Textile material as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said permeability corresponds to a retention of at least 60% of particles equal to or greater than 1 μm, more preferably at least 70% of said particles.

3. Textile material which has a permeability, measurable with the Kainka test, to solid particles with dimensions between 1 and 5 μm included in the interval between 20 and 4000, preferably between 40 and 2000 and more preferably between 40 and 400 for use in the protection of pets from allergies and/or parasites.

4. Textile material for use as claimed in one of the preceding claims, with permeability to the air measured with DIN EN ISO 9237 in the interval between 25 and 95 l/dm^2*min, more preferably between 30 and 85 l/dm²*min and even more preferably between 35 and 80 l/dm²*min.

5. Textile material for use as claimed in one of the preceding claims, comprising a non-woven fabric with gram weight between 100 and 170 g/m².

6. Bedding (1) for pets characterised in that it comprises at least one first portion (T) made of a textile material as defined in any one of the claims from 1 to 5.

7. Bedding as claimed in claim 6, wherein said textile material is a non- woven fabric.

8. Bedding (1) for pets as claimed in claim 6 or 7, furthermore comprising a second portion (S) providing support or padding for said first portion, said second portion being positioned below or inside said first portion (T), and means for securing said first and second portion to each other.

9. Bedding (1 ) for pets as claimed in one of the claims from 6 to 8, wherein said first portion (T) comprises a central flap (2) and a plurality of lateral flaps (3, 4) which can be folded and at least partly secured (5; 8-9) to one another and around a frame.

10. Bedding as claimed in one of the claims from 6 to 9, wherein said second portion (S) comprises staple fibres or microfibres (18) and said first and second portion (T, 15, 16; S, 18) are secured to each other by means of stitchings (19) which form a mattress in which said first portion (T) is in the form of a container and said staple fibres (19) are inside said container.

11. Bedding as claimed in claim 10, wherein said padding (micro )fibres (18) are hydrophobic.

12. Bedding as claimed in claim 10 or 11 , wherein said (micro )fibres (18) have reduced cohesion, with values below at least 7 N, preferably below

4 N.

13. Bedding as claimed in one of the claims from 6 to 13, wherein said textile material bears decorations or messages.

14. Use of a textile material as defined in one or more of the claims from 1 to

5 for the production of bedding as claimed in one of the claims from 6 to 13.