Patent Application
20250194645
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to any reproduction by anyone of the patent disclosure, as it appears in the United States Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
The field of this invention relates to an Edible Pet Chew.
Domestic pets, primarily dogs, have an instinct to chew which keeps their teeth healthy, exercises their jaws and teeth and keeps teeth clean. “Pet Chew” products have been introduced to the market for many years to accommodate that instinctive urge to chew in a healthy direction.
“Pet Chews” are intended to be chewed by a pet/dog for an extended period of time before being digested. A great part of pet chew products in the market are dried animal pizzel (traditional Bully Sticks) products welcome very much by dogs and consumers, which are made of natural bovine penis. Generally, foreskin of bovine penis is removed, cleaned and then dehydrated by for example heating or freeze-drying. It enjoys an inherent “good palatability” and “durability (after dehydrating process)” which makes it an outstanding successful product in the trade.
However, traditional dried animal pizzel (bully stick) products have some drawbacks, such as:
On the market, there is another popular product in a form of extruded product (such as a stick shaped product, or a product initially in a stick shape further be re-shaped to end product in a curved forms such as a curl, twist, ring, spiral, spring, pretzel, dual-stand braid, triple-strand-braid and knots), typically formulated by plant-based materials, enjoying a low-cost material. Also, it is a product with “durability” property which can provide a long chewing time for dogs. However, these kinds of product are sold by many distributors/retailers under a great competition. The competition is a homogeneous one, in which a product is hard to be well distinguished from another. A homogeneity product is hard to attract consumers to buy.
What is required is to provide a pet chew overcoming the drawbacks above-mentioned accompanying the existing dried animal pizzel (traditional bully stick) product and extruded products.
U.S. application Ser. No. 13/858,592 by Shrestha, filed on Apr. 8, 2013, disclosed a pet chew comprising a hardened cheese and a dry animal tissue such as bully sticks attached to the cheese piece. And it also disclosed a kind of animal tissue puff such as bully puff. However, the bully sticks or bully puff it attempted to apply as still is traditional bully sticks, no new matters. It still has the drawbacks of traditionally bully stick as aforementioned.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,479,687 by Anderson, filed on Feb. 14, 2007, disclosed a pet chew with rawhide and traditional bully stick (or steer penis) woven together. Since it's still a traditional bully stick product, it suffers the drawbacks of traditional bully stick aforementioned.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,074,609B2 by Grant Adkins, filed on Mar. 25, 2010, disclosed a rawhide pet chew with a traditional bully stick wrapped in. But since it's still a traditional bully stick product, it suffers the drawbacks of traditional bully stick aforementioned.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,677,203 by Stern, filed on Nov. 21, 2006, disclosed a pet chew with a plant-based outer casing and a chewy edible material positioned within the casing. However, it is silent about an intention to make a bully-stick-like product imitating bully stick. The products it disclosed have nothing to do with traditional bully stick, which doesn't have any features of imitating traditional bully stick. And also, it fails to disclose an extruded pet chew with pizzle ingredient.
U.S. application Ser. No. 14,295,009 by Doerr, filed on Jun. 3, 2014, disclosed a pet chew comprising an amylase filling and a collagen casing. Collagen casing in the trade or in a common sense refers to a type of thin, edible casings (sausage casing) made from animal collagen, primarily from the skin, bones, and connective tissues of cows or pigs. It serves as an alternative to traditional natural casings made from the intestines of animals.
An embodiment of the present invention is to provide a pet chew having an artificial dehydrated/dried pizzle component with plant ingredient and animal ingredient (typically meat and/or meat-by-product materials) imitating dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Stick) products which is very much welcome by dogs and consumers
Another embodiment of the present invention is to provide a pet chew having an artificial dehydrated/dried pizzle component including pizzle ingredient in formula imitating dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Stick) products.
Another embodiment of the present invention is to provide a pet chew with both “inherently good palatability” and “durability” simultaneously.
Another embodiment of the present invention is to provide an edible pet chew serving as an alternative to existing dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Stick) product by imitating the structure, and/or appearance, and/or size, and/or color, and/or texture, and/or flavor, and/or durability, and/or palatability of dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Stick).
Another embodiment of the present invention is to provide an edible pet chew incorporating two existing popular products into a single product, where the two existing products are plant-based extruded product (for example plant-based tooth-brush shaped chew,) and dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Stick) product.
Another embodiment of the present invention is to provide an edible pet chew with an outer layer and an inner member, wherein the outer layer is with good durability and strength, which imitate a feature of dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Stick).
Another embodiment of the present invention is to provide an edible pet chew having an artificial dehydrated/dried pizzle component with a cross-section outline shape similar to that of dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Sticks).
Another embodiment of the present invention is to provide an edible pet chew formed from a composition material.
Another embodiment of the present invention is to provide an Artificial Bully Stick (or Bully-Stick-LIKE) pet chew which is hugely cheaper than dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Stick).
Another embodiment of the present invention is to provide an Artificial Bully Stick pet chew which is raw-material-acquisition comparatively hugely easier than dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Stick).
Another embodiment of the present invention is to provide an edible pet chew having an artificial dehydrated/dried pizzle component with pizzle material. The artificial dehydrated/dried pizzle component is obtained by extruding process with an extruder, so as to achieve the “chewy” property of the pet chew products.
An embodiment of the present invention is to provide an edible pet chew with limited rawhide ingredient in the products or even without rawhide ingredient.
An embodiment of the present invention is to provide an edible pet chew including an Artificial Bully Stick chew member and an edible material member being assembled together.
Additional advantages and features of the invention will become apparent from the description which follows, and may be realized by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particular point out in the appended claims.
Still further objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description and drawings.
These and other objectives, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims.
The following description is disclosed to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the present invention. Preferred embodiments are provided in the following description only as examples and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art.
The general principles defined in the following description would be applied to other embodiments, alternatives, modifications, equivalents, and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
The term of “composition” or “composite” in the present disclosure generally may refer to a product of mixing or combining two or more ingredients or elements (or constituents, or materials), esp. a mixture of the ingredients (elements or materials). But it should be noted that, somewhere in the present disclosure, the term of “composition” may also refer to the ingredients (parts) of which something is composed or made of; constitution.
It should be noted the term of “rawhide sheet” or “rawhide” in the chew industry as a most popular material to form dog chews, generally refers to a layer of skin/hide obtained from slaughter of animals (especially the animals such as bovine, porcine, cattle, cow, water buffalo and pig), which is made of a by-product of the leather industry. The “rawhide” may not be exposed to tanning process or may be partially tanned and generally fur, meat and fat is removed. It may also be called traditional rawhide. As a typical process to prepare the rawhide, split the layer of skin to a number of more layers according to pre-determined thickness, soak the split layers in lime solution and clean (and bleach) the skins in rolling drums, have it sterilized with hydrogen peroxide, and dry the skin layers to a moisture content less than 30% or so. In the whole process, a range of chemicals, such as lime solution, NaOH, NH4Cl, are deployed. “Rawhide-free animal skin” refers to animal skin layer materials that are free of aforementioned rawhide. “Rawhide-free animal skin” or “animal skin free of rawhide” may include but not limited to the animal skin layer materials that are free of aforementioned rawhide and/or the aforementioned manufacturing process and does not fall into the definition of aforementioned rawhide. “Corium (dermis) layer of animal skin” or “innermost layer of animal skin” as employed in the present disclosure is an embodiment of the “rawhide-free animal skin”. Compared to rawhide material that is largely used in chew recipe for decades, since “corium (dermis) layer of animal skin” collagen material is made from much more natural sources, they are considered to be much less involved in adding chemicals in the process of hide manufacture or even free of the chemical additives (such as NH4CL, H2O2 and NaOH) commonly found in rawhide material production. What's more, rawhide may not be easily digestible and end up causing unnecessary digestive discomfort. The corium (dermis) layer of animal skin typically is made from natural sources of collagen, such as beef skin. Unlike rawhide, corium (dermis) layer of animal skin undergoes minimal processing, making them a more natural option. Since corium (dermis) layer of animal skin is made from natural sources, they are free of the chemical additives commonly found in rawhide manufacture. This makes it a more natural treat option.
The term of “starch” in the present disclosure generally refers to a carbohydrate food substance obtained from a plant. Some examples include starches derived from potato, sweet potato, mung bean, wheat, corn, tapioca, rice, pea, and mixtures thereof. The starch can be used in its native form, but it may also be physically or chemically modified before being applied. Of course, it is also possible to use combinations of native starch and modified starch, or combinations of different modified starches.
It should be noted that the term “plant” in the present disclosure generally refers to an edible part of a plant or an edible material derived from a plant, where the plant material includes, but not limited to: a plant material (such as potato, sweet potato, mung bean, wheat, corn, tapioca, rice, pea, soybean, peanut, almond, mushroom, legumes, beans, grains, chia seed, algae, seaweed, spirulina, cereals and mixtures thereof), a material of edible part of a plant, a plant derived material, a plant protein, a plant starch, a plant fiber, a vegetable material, a vegetable derived material, a vegetable protein, a vegetable starch and mixtures thereof.
“Animal ingredient” refers to the materials obtained from a slaughtered animal (such as vertebrate animal, livestock animal, bovine, porcine, ovine, caprine, poultry and fish), including meat, meat by-product (including animal skin) or a combination thereof, other than feather, horn, hair, teeth, hooves. The term of “meat” generally refers to the clean flesh derived from slaughtered animals (including but not limited to mammals, livestock, bovine, porcine, cattle, pig, poultry, chicken, duck, turkey and fish) and is limited to that part of the striate muscle which is skeletal or that part which is found in the tongue, in the diaphragm, in the heart or in the esophagus; with or without the accompanying and overlying fat, sinew, nerve and blood vessels which normally accompany the flesh. In other words, “meat” may refer to primarily the muscle tissue of an animal. Exemplary materials include poultry flesh, bovine flesh, ovine flesh, caprine flesh, turkey flesh, chicken flesh, beef, pork, and fish flesh. The term of “meat by-product(s)” in the present disclosure generally refers to (preferably non-rendered) clean parts, other than meat, derived from slaughtered animals (such as mammals, fish, and poultry), which includes, but is not limited to skin, cartilage, trachea, animal ear, poultry foot, esophagus, animal pizzle, ligament, pericardium, tendon, lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, livers, blood, bone, partially defatted low-temperature fatty tissue, stomachs and intestines free of their contents and a combination thereof. “Meat by-product” may also be a material selected from the group consisting of: corium (dermis) layer of skin, eggshell membrane, milk, milk powder, milk-derived material, cheese, cheese-derived material, whey, whey protein powder, whey-derived material, egg, and egg-derived material. Some other exemplary materials are chicken liver, bovine tendon, bovine lungs, porcine fat, beef bone powder and pig stomach.
It should be noted that the term “assemble” means to fit together all separate parts/members/components of a pet chew product. For example, several separate components of a pet chew are manipulated (such as knotting, wrapping, stuffing, rolling, folding, braiding, and twisting) by hand or by machine to have the components together form a pet chew product in a predetermined relationship.
The term of “collagen” in the present disclosure under a broader sense may refer to any form of collagen, in which the collagen may be present in the forms including but not limited to: a collagen molecule, a collagen chemical, a collagen compound, a collagen supplement (natural or synthetic), a compound consisting essentially of collagen molecule, a collagen composite consisting essentially of collagen molecule, collagen molecule/chemical/compound contained in a naturally-occurring material as a source of collagen, a collagen peptide (“collagen peptide” herein is derived from collagen through a process such as enzymatic hydrolysis process, which breaks down the large collagen molecules into smaller peptides and this enzymatic process results in collagen peptides with a low molecular weight, making them highly bioavailable and easily absorbed; “collagen peptide” may also be referred to as “hydrolyzed collagen” in some cases), a hydrolyzed collagen, extracted collagen molecule from animal natural parts and any combination thereof. “Collagen” may also include the material in the form of gelatin. Typically, the term of “collagen” in the present disclosure refers to any one of: a collagen molecule, a collagen chemical, a collagen supplement (natural or synthetic), a collagen peptide, a hydrolyzed collagen and any combination thereof. Some “collagens” in the present disclosure may be prepared by hydrolysis or extraction from natural Animal Parts such as cartilage, skin, and tendon. Regarding collagen extraction, collagen can be basically obtained by chemical hydrolysis and enzymatic hydrolysis. In some embodiments, “collagen” particularly refers to corium (dermis) part of animal skin treated by enzymatic method. Fibrillar collagen such as the corium (or dermis) layer of animal skin (such as bovine skin, porcine skin, beef hide, porkhide) may be of type I collagen as the most abundant fibrillar collagen in most tissues is type I collagen. Fibrillar collagen is primarily present in fibril surfaces and connective tissues of the skin and bones. “Collagen” is a protein that is crucial for dog's overall well-being. It makes up a significant part of the skin, bones, tendons, and other connective tissues.
As a contrast, “collagen” in a scientific definition in a narrower sense may refer to the fundamental elements of various connective tissues in animal bodies (such as skin, tendons, and ligaments), as one of the most abundant proteins in animal bodies produce, which may be made from three chains of amino acids arranged into a helix pattern that may be found in animal muscles, tendons, cartilage, skin and bones. Amino acid glycine may be present in most collagen chains, with proline and hydroxyproline also being common.
The term of “animal skin (esp. bovine skin, porcine skin)” may refer to a skin material composed of several layers, where the layers may include epidermis layer (epidermis may also be referred to as tough outer layer), dermis layer (dermis may also be referred to as corium). A hypodermis (flesh layer may be a part of the hypodermis) layer may also be mentioned, but in the industry, the hypodermis layer may not be considered a part of “animal skin”.
The term of “collagen-based” in the present disclosure may refer to a composition material containing any one of: at least 20% naturally-collagen-rich material by weight, at least 10% collagen (constituent, element, or ingredient) by weight and a combination thereof. Alternatively, a “collagen-based” material may additionally contain at least 20% plant ingredient or at least 20% starch ingredient. Typically, the “collagen-based” composition contains at least 25% (more typically, at least 30%) naturally-collagen-rich material by weight or at least 10% collagen (constituent, element, or ingredient) by weight, where “at least 25% naturally-collagen-rich material” in the composition may be in accordance with the “dinners, entrees, platters, nuggets, recipe and formulas” rule under existing AAFCO labeling requirement. In some embodiments, all naturally-collagen-rich material ingredient(s) existing in the “collagen-based” composition added together account for the number one proportion ingredient(s) in the material by weight, which is larger than any other individual (or single) ingredient existing in the material (such as corn starch, isolated soybean protein, chicken, chicken liver, glycerin, sugar, sorbitol, and vegetables). In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the “collagen-based” composition contains at least 50% naturally-collagen-rich material by weight, in which naturally-collagen-rich material may serve as a majority ingredient by weight in the constitution of the composition. To form the artificial dehydrated pizzle component, in some preferred embodiments, the “collagen-based” composition contains no greater than 90% naturally-collagen-rich material (or no greater than 80% collagen constituent) by weight, which may well accommodate the extrusion process requirements for extruding the composition and may produce a durable extrudate in final end product. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, typically the “collagen-based” composition contains at least 25% (more typically at least 30%) collagen (constituent, element, or ingredient) by weight in final end product, where “at least 25% collagen (constituent, element or ingredient)” in the composition may meet the “dinners, entrees, platters, nuggets, recipe and formulas” rule under existing AAFCO labeling requirement. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the “collagen-based” composition contains at least 50% collagen (constituent, element, or ingredient) by weight, in which collagen (constituent, element or ingredient) may serve as a majority constituent by weight in the constitution of the composition. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, to form the “collagen-based” composition, the naturally-collagen-rich material is any one of: corium (layer) part of animal skin (animal skin such as beef skin, pork skin, bovine skin, porcine skin), dermis (layer) part of animal skin (animal skin such as beef skin, pork skin, bovine skin, porcine skin), innermost layer of animal skin (animal skin such as beef skin, pork skin, bovine skin, porcine skin), inner layer of animal skin (animal skin such as beef skin, pork skin, bovine skin, porcine skin), cartilage, trachea, animal ear, poultry foot, esophagus, animal pizzle, ligament, pericardium, animal tendon, eggshell membrane and any combination thereof. The phrase of “-based” generally means: (in a composition material) containing something as an important feature (or important part) (e.g., lead-based paints, collagen-based composition). The term of “naturally-collagen-rich” (equal to “inherently-collagen-rich) material, mainly as a particular meat by-product, in the present disclosure generally refers to any one of: a naturally occurring animal material (or a natural Animal Part material, or a natural organ material) that inherently/naturally contains at least 50% collagen (where collagen constituent may exist as a majority constituent by weight in the material) on dried matter basis; an animal material that is derived from a naturally occurring animal material (or a natural Animal Parts material, or a natural organ material) that inherently/naturally contains at least 50% collagen without aid of added collagen (where collagen constituent may exist as a majority constituent by weight in the material); and any combination thereof. Some typical examples of these “naturally-collagen-rich” material includes: corium (layer) part of animal skin, dermis (layer) part of animal skin, innermost layer of animal skin, inner layer of animal skin, cartilage, trachea, animal ear, poultry foot, esophagus, animal pizzle, ligament, pericardium, animal tendon, eggshell membrane, and any combination thereof. Corium (layer) or dermis (layer) part of animal skin, commonly obtained from bovine skin, porcine skin, ovine skin or caprine skin and especially obtained from bovine skin or porcine skin, may be a preferred embodiment of the “naturally-collagen-rich” material employed in the present disclosure as it usually contains at least 70% collagen (an example of corium layer of cattle skin sourced from a supplier contains about 89% collagen) and is of easy acquisition from the market. Preferably, the corium layer of animal skin does not undertake the process that rawhide regularly is prepared by as described in the definition paragraph of “rawhide” in the disclosure. Corium layer may be referred to as split (grain) layer as well. The particular layer of skin for rawhide manufacture such as the epidermis layer may be particularly avoided due to the reasons mentioned somewhere in the present disclosure. The layer of “junction of epidermis and corium” may also be used as a “naturally collagen-rich” material to make a pet chew in conjunction of corium layer as a part of the corium layer while sometimes the layer of “junction of epidermis and corium” could be an inferior material choice. In some embodiments, the “collagen-based” material may refer to an “animal skin corium layer-based” material formed from a composition including 25%-90% (or typically 50%-90%) corium layer of animal skin ingredient by weight in formula, in which animal skin corium layer ingredient preferably accounts for the number one proportion ingredient by weight, which is larger than any other individual (or single) ingredient existing in the material (e.g. corn starch, isolated soybean protein, glycerin, chicken liver, sugar, sorbitol). Examples of “naturally-collagen-rich” material may also include non-rawhide animal skins such as poultry skin, turkey skin, ostrich skin, fish skin (they are not available for leather manufacture industry) while sometimes they could be of an inferior choice. Collagen content data of some specific meat by-products may be referred to as follows (actual collagen content may vary from these according to actual tested samples): corium layer of skin—89%, tendon—85%, intestine—19%, lung—18%, stomach—13%, animal bone—24%, kidney—5.2% and liver—2%. As for “meat” (muscle), it may contain less than 10% collagen. Other meat by-product materials (meat as well) that inherently contain less than 50% collagen may not be included in the scope of the definition of “naturally-collagen-rich” material because: applying the material in the aim of increasing the collagen content in a pet chew may ask for comparatively much more proportion of this material in the chew extrudate and the large proportion may not comply with other materials to produce an extrudate or not be adapted to the following extrusion process or even ruin the following extrusion process to produce a chewing-durable component to make an end product of a chew. (Notes: According to AAFCO, the “25%” or “dinner” rule applies to many canned and dry products. If the named ingredients comprise at least 25% of the product (not counting the water for processing), but less than 95%, the name must include a qualifying descriptive term, such as “Dinner” as in “Beef Dinner for Dogs”). Typically, a collagen-based composition material in the present disclosure has a chemical (e.g. humectant chemical such as glycerin, sorbitol) in the formula. In some embodiments, a collagen-based composition material in the present disclosure may have 2%-35% humectant (more typically 10%-25% humectants; humectants such as glycerin, sorbitol) ingredients as a kind of chemical in addition to naturally-collagen-rich material (or collagen constituent) ingredient.
It should be noted that the term of “Bully stick” refers to a pet chew product of dehydrated animal (especially but not limited to bovine animal, bovine especially refers to bull or steer) pizzle, or segment thereof, for dogs to chew on, where the pizzle is derived from a natural animal penis cut from slaughtered animals (especially bovine), typically with foreskin being removed. Bovine (especially bull or steer) penis, known in pet chew market as pizzles. This bully stick is so called dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Stick) made of dehydrated a natural part of an animal (especially bovine).
Pet chew having an artificial dehydrated/dried pizzle component of present invention is intended to work as an alternative to traditional GENUINE Bully Sticks aforementioned.
The term of “Artificial Bully Stick pet chew” (or say Bully-Stick-LIKE pet chew) in present invention refers a pet chew or a pet chew member in a shape of stick formed from a composition material, imitating the features of traditional GENUINE bully stick product including structure, and/or appearance, and/or size, and/or color, and/or texture, and/or flavor, and/or durability, and/or palatability, but it is not a traditional GENUINE bully stick.
It is known that a market-popular pet chew product should include two major factors, i.e. property of “chewy” (durability) and property of “inherently good palatability”. “Chewy” means a material that can endure a dog's chewing for a long time before its being ingested. “Good palatability” means a material with inherent attractant to dogs without adding additional artificial flavorings. A market-successful pet chew product is required to have both properties. Artificial Bully Stick pet chew disclosed by present invention is a product with both “inherently good palatability” and “durability”.
Before disclosing present invention, as a prior art, let's address a typical specification/structure and manufacturing process for these traditional GENUINE Bully Stick products as follows (from points 1 to 6):
All prior arts are silent with an intention to well imitate dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Stick) with a composition material replacing the natural animal pizzle products. This new product requires surprising invention, where a skilled person with ordinary skills in this art can't disclose it. Especially, all prior arts are silent to create a pet chew with features of the following as a whole: it is an extruded stick with meat/meat-by-product ingredient and plant ingredient, with a translucent hard outer layer and an inner member, with cross-section outline shape of “B”, or peanut, or “8” and with a groove extending longitudinally along its stick body on the surface.
It is also surprisingly disclosed by present inventor that, primary features of present invention are to imitate the properties/features/structure of dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Stick) aforementioned. It's disclosed by present inventor that, a pet chew product must necessarily bear at least one property/feature as described above (especially A, B and C), OR, the pet chew will fail to imitate dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Stick).
Artificial Bully Stick (or Bully-Stick-LIKE) Pet Chew of present invention imitating genuine bully stick is now being disclosed to serve as an alternative to traditional genuine Bully Sticks aforementioned, with significantly lower product cost, imitating some necessary properties or features (at least including appearance features) of dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Stick). Artificial Bully Stick Pet Chew disclosed by present invention is distinguished from dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Stick), where Artificial Bully Stick Pet Chew is typically formed from a stick-shaped extrudate or other alternative shaped extrudate (the extrude may be further curved into an end product configuration in curved-stick-form by manipulating or reshaping the initially-stick-shaped extrudate) and formed of a composition material with plant ingredient. As a contrast, dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Stick) is substantially a single ingredient product without being processed other than dehydrating process.
One advantage of the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle) pet chew of present invention is hugely cheaper material cost than dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Stick). The Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle) pet chew is extremely cheaper than dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Stick) which is made of substantially 100% bovine pizzle. The latter could be 4 times of the price of the former. Due to the natural scarcity property with the source of natural bovine pizzle, raw materials (bovine pizzle) for producing dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Stick) are sold at an extremely high price, which creates the final products, dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Stick), being sold to consumers at an extremely high price. Another advantage is, easier acquisition of raw material v.s. dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Stick) products. Producing dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Stick) products requires huge volume of natural animal pizzle. The Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle) pet chew of present invention is preferably formed from a composition with meat-by-product ingredient (for example pizzle). For example, the composition has 10% pizzle in formula (90% is non-pizzle ingredient which is extremely acquisition-easier material than pizzle), in which producing this product just requires one tenth of pizzle material to manufacture the same quantity of finished products v.s. dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Stick) products. Preparing the composition materials for production of Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle) pet chew is much easier than dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Stick).
Preferably, the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle) pet chew (or pet chew member) of present invention includes an outer layer and an inner member, where the former holds the latter by surrounding it, in a purpose to imitate a typical feature of dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Stick). Preferably, the thickness of the outer layer is substantially homogenous along the whole stick body, like dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Stick). Typical thickness of the outer layer is 0.3 mm-5 mm. Now refer to
Cross-section outline shape of the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle) pet chew of present invention resembles the cross-section outline shape of natural Bully Sticks, with a purpose to imitate Bully Sticks. Natural bully sticks have various cross-section outline shapes which are inherently determined by raw material of pizzles. Preferably, cross-section of the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle) pet chew of present invention is substantially with an outline shape similar to any one of: a capital letter “B” shape, or an Arabic numeral “8” shape, or a peanut shape, cashew shape, peanut icon shape, cashew nut icon shape, or heart icon shape, imitating a typical cross-section outline shape of dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Stick) as aforementioned. Refer to FIG. Now refer to
As shown in
The various cross-section profiles 1100A-1100R as shown in
Some other alternative outline shapes for the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle) pet chew can refer to the various ones that dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Stick) may feature with as described in
Preferably, Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle) pet chew (or pet chew member) of present invention has a (built-in) groove form running longitudinally along the whole chew body on the surface, with a purpose to imitate a typical inherent groove of dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Stick) products. There are various shapes/structures/appearance that genuine bull stick products possess, which makes it hard to identify a common structural feature. The present applicant surprisingly discloses that, “groove” is a key feature that the Artificial Bully Sticks ((artificial dried pizzle) products should possess to imitate genuine bully stick appearance although genuine bully stick have various shapes/structures and various cross-section shapes. This disclosure discloses a perfect and easy imitation method to imitate dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Stick) appearance. Typical groove depth (an average value of a single groove) of the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle) is at least 0.5 mm (more typically at least 1 mm) as genuine bully stick does. A normal groove depth (an average value of a single groove) of the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle) is about 2 mm-5 mm. Now refer to FIG. 1, 0100 is pet chew having an artificial dried pizzle component with groove 0103 along the stick body imitating natural Bully Sticks, which is formed by extruder die with pre-designed shape forming a groove in extruding process.
Preferably, inner member color of the artificial dried pizzle (artificial bully stick, or Bully-Stick-LIKE) pet chew is comparatively lighter than outer layer color, as GENUINE bully stick does. Now refer to
Preferably, complete body or partial body of the outer layer of the Artificial Bully Stick (or Bully-Stick-LIKE) pet chew of present invention is translucent where inner member inside is a bit visible through it, in a purpose to imitate a typical outer layer appearance of dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Stick). While observing genuine bully stick product, it's concluded that a pet chew having an artificial dehydrated/dried pizzle component with a completely transparent/clear outer layer or with a completely opaque outer layer fails to well imitate the appearance of genuine bully stick. Now refer to
In some embodiments of present invention, the Artificial Dried Pizzle component is formed from an extrudate by an extruder. The extrudate may initially be in a stick shape after leaving the extruder and later be reshaped by hand or machine into any desired end product form. In an embodiment, the stick-shaped extrudate is reshaped into a curved form, such as a curl, twist, ring, spiral, spring, helix, pretzel shape, dual-stand braid, triple-strand-braid and knots, knotted bone, heart icon shape, triangle, quadrangle, pentagon, peanut icon shape, shape of Arabic numeral “8”, curved lines, open curve, closed curve, open circle, closed circle.
It should be noted that, all prior arts are silent to create a pet chew with features of the following AS A WHOLE: it's an artificial bully stick, it is typically-stick-shaped extrudate (but it may finally reshaped to other alternative shapes in final end product such as a ring shape, a curl shape and a spiral shape) formed from a composition material with meat/meat-by-product ingredient and plant ingredient, with an inner member in lighter color than that of the outer layer, with an inner member and a translucent outer layer, with cross-section outline shape of “B”, or peanut, or “8” and with a groove running longitudinally along its stick body.
And preferably, the outer layer presents fiber-like texture, in a purpose to imitate a typical outer layer texture of dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Stick). The thickness of outer layer of the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle) of present invention is typically 0.3 mm-5 mm, imitating the thickness feature of dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Stick) products.
Preferably, inner member of the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle) pet chew of present invention has a hole, intended to imitate appearance/texture of inner part of dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Stick) that is formed by tissues of corpus cavernosum and/or spongiosum. Alternatively, there are edible-granule-configurationed materials appearing in the body of the inner member (creating visual illusion of hole-like forms), being intended to visually imitate appearance/texture of inner part of dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Stick) that is formed by tissues of corpus cavernosum and/or spongiosum. Preferably, these tiny holes or edible-granule-configurationed materials spread substantially homogeneously to the inner member body. Now refer to
Preferably, the Artificial Bully Stick (or Bully-Stick-LIKE) pet chew includes artificial pizzle flavor (or say bully stick flavor) or hydrolyzed pizzle ingredient (this can also provide strong pizzle flavor) in its formula, which further enhances its attraction to consumers.
In some embodiments of present invention, the outer layer hardness of the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle) pet chew is with a durometer value between 80 and 100. In other embodiments of present invention, the outer layer hardness of the edible pet chew is with a durometer value between 60 and 80. In other embodiments of present invention, the outer layer hardness of the edible pet chew is with a durometer value between 50 and 60. In other embodiments of present invention, the outer layer hardness of the edible pet chew is with a durometer value between 40 and 50.
Now to disclose formulas that alternatively forms the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle) pet chew.
Now to define the phrase of “on an as formulated basis” in present invention that may be used in following paragraphs. It is about a means to determine weight percentages of an ingredient in a product. “On an as formulated basis” is also a method that currently FDA (or AAFCO) organizations of USA usually utilize to determine weight percentage for an ingredient in a product. By the means of “on an as formulated basis”, the weight percentage of an ingredient in a food is determined as it is added in the formulation of the food, including its inherent water content, not counting the water added for processing. All weight percentage values of ingredients appearing in present invention apply this “on an as formulated basis” rule.
Preferably, the formula of the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dehydrated pizzle or Bully-Stick-LIKE) pet chew of present invention includes a specific meat by-products, pizzle (or animal penis) ingredient. The advantages of including this specific meat by-products, pizzle ingredient, in the formula go as follows (from point 1 to 4):
Preferably, the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dehydrated pizzle or Bully-Stick-LIKE) pet chew of present invention includes at least 3% pizzle (or animal penis) ingredient in formula. The reason why it has to be with “at least 3%” pizzle ingredients goes as follows (point 1 and 2):
In some embodiments, the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle or Bully-Stick-LIKE) pet chew (or pet chew member) includes 3%-50% pizzle ingredient.
In some embodiments, the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle or Bully-Stick-LIKE) pet chew (or pet chew member) includes 5%-65% (more typically 10%-25%) pizzle ingredient on an as formula basis in its formula. The Bully-Stick-LIKE pet chew (or pet chew member) with over 50% (especially over 65%) pizzle ingredient is considered too expensive, which could violate the initial intention of introducing this product. Also, the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle) pet chew (or pet chew member) with over 50% (especially over 65%) pizzle ingredient is considered to be able to ruin the “durability” of the pet chew. The reason is, the more an extruded pet chew contains meat (meat by-product), the less durability the extruded pet chew will be with. Pizzle is an animal source meat-by-product-ingredient. According to R&D findings by the inventor, 10%-25% pizzle ingredient in the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle) pet chew (or pet chew member) is an optimized one, which provides a balance between durability, material cost, sufficient inherent natural pizzle flavor and natural protein source.
We conducted palatability contrast tests to determine the starting percentage of pizzle ingredient to put into the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle) pet chew that can secure an absolute preference for dogs for the pet chew. The test interprets that when the pizzle percentage goes up to 10% or larger than 10%, an absolute preference appears v.s. plain extruded chews w/o pizzle ingredient. On the other hand, the more pizzle in a pet chew, the more expensive the pet chew will be. 10%-25% is a preferred pizzle percentage range in the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle) pet chew that can provide a balance between “palatability” and cost.
Preferably, the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle or Bully-Stick-LIKE) pet chew of present invention includes a plant ingredient in the formula. This Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle) pet chew product is an extruded product. Plant ingredient is an often-used material for extruded products with advantages of (point 1, 2, 3 and 4):
A typical material working as a plant ingredient is plant starch, such as (but not limited to) corn starch, sweet potato, sweet potato starch, tapioca starch and potato starch.
Preferably, the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle) includes at least 20% (for example 20%-90% plant, more typically 20%-50%) plant ingredient in weight on an as formulated basis.
It should be noted that the “plant” ingredient in present invention refers to all edible plant materials and edible-plant-derived materials, such as (but not limited to) vegetables, fruit, edible-plant-derived materials, vegetable-derived materials, fruit-derived materials, plant protein, vegetable protein, plant starch, vegetable starch, grains, cereals, corn, gluten-free edible plant and gluten-free vegetables. Gluten-free plant and gluten-free vegetables are preferred materials to form the “plant ingredient” since gluten materials are considered by experts in this industry as the ones that could potentially make dogs allergic. Examples of gluten-free plant material are tapioca, soybean, sweet potato, potato and carrot.
The reasons why it is preferred to be specifically larger than 20% plant ingredient in the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle) go as follows: 1. According to our outstanding research tests, 20% plant ingredient appearing in the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle) formula is the least one that can successfully facilitate recipe to make the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle) product with ideal durability/hardness which enables it to imitate this essential property of dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Stick). 2. Recipe with less than 20% plant ingredient fails to do that way with unsatisfactory durability product.
The reasons why it is preferred to be with “<50% plant ingredients” goes as follows:
Since dogs are carnivorous, plant material does not attract pets very much. A pet chew product with too high plant percentage (over 50%) existing in the formula is less attractive to dogs, since dogs do not prefer vegetal material. Our tests indicate that, in an extruded pet chew product, <50% plant ingredient by weight can achieve a good malleability and durability for an extruded piece. Too much plant ingredients in it will reduce the palatability or attraction of the pet chew significantly. Our tests indicate that, in a pet chew product, when plant ingredient being >50% by weight, plant ingredient will be an absolutely primary ingredient, which makes the pet chew NOT good in palatability performance and not attractive to dogs. Therefore, in a pet chew product, “>50% plant ingredient isn't a preferred option to form the extruded pet chew of the present invention.
Preferably, the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle, or Bully-Stick-LIKE) component of a pet chew is typically with a length of about 6″ or 12″, which is considered as most popular stick length welcome by consumers. Diameter of the component could be 1 cm to 5 cm.
Preferably, the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle or Bully-Stick-LIKE) pet chew member includes an animal ingredient (including meat and meat by-products) ingredient in the formula.
It should be noted that the “meat” ingredient in present invention is defined as the material selected from (but not limited to) the group consisting of: animal flesh, animal muscle, poultry meat, chicken, chicken breast, duck, goose, turkey, venison, porcine meat, pork, bovine meat, beef, mutton, lamb, goat meat, fish, meat meal, chicken meal, fish meal, hydrolyzed meat protein, hydrolyzed animal material, hydrolyzed animal protein, meat derived ingredient and poultry derived ingredient.
It should also be noted that the “meat by-product” ingredient in present invention is defined as the material typically selected from (but not limited to) the group consisting of: animal pizzle, porcine meat by-product, poultry by-product, bovine meat by-product, animal viscera, animal stomach, animal tongue, animal kidney, animal blood, animal bone, partially defatted low temperature fatty tissue, animal intestines, animal spleen, animal liver, animal lung, animal heart, animal pizzle, meat by-product meal, poultry by-product meal, hydrolyzed meat-by-product protein, hydrolyzed meat-by-product material, meat by-product derived ingredient, poultry by-product derived ingredient, gelatin, animal fat and animal oil. It should be noted that the “meat by-product” in present invention does not include rawhide material with the reasons of: A, rawhide does not have attractive flavor urging dogs to chew. B, manufacture of rawhide is relatively unregulated industry. It may create pollution to environment. H2O2 and NaOH chemicals that are used for rawhide manufacture and heavy metals may remain in finished products which harm dogs' health.
Animal ingredient (including Meat and Meat By-products) is an often-used material for extruded products with advantages of (point 1 and 2). “Animal ingredient” is defined as edible materials derived from slaughtered mammals. It includes (but not limited to) meat, meat by-products. It doesn't include hair, horns, teeth and hoofs.:
In some embodiments, the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle or Bully-Stick-LIKE) pet chew (or pet chew member) includes 3%-80% (typically 10%-50%) animal ingredient (meat ingredient and/or meat by-products) in its formula on an as formula basis.
The reason why it has to be with “at least 3% animal ingredient” goes as follows (point 1 and 2 below):
Preferably, in addition to animal ingredient, the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle or Bully-Stick-LIKE) pet chew further includes a chemical in formula. The chemical is introduced to provide the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle) pet chew sufficient rigidity/durability and strength in finished product. The chemical is selected from the group consisting of a thickener, a humectant, a stabilizer, an emulsifier, a gelatinizer, a binder, and a filler.
The thickener is selected from the group consisting of: glucose syrup, malt syrup, soy protein Isolate, wheat protein isolate, corn protein isolate, artemisia gum, linseed gum, deacetylated chitin, pectins, sodium alginate, xanthan gum, carrageenan; phosphated distarch phosphate, sodium lactate, diacetyl tartaric acid ester of mono(di)glycerides(DATAE), sesbania gum, polyglycerol esters of fatty acid (polyglycerol monostearate, polyglycerol monooleate), maltitol, sorbitol, propylene glycol, ablmoschus manihot gum, β-cyclodextrin, arabic gum, starch acetate, guar gum, potassium alginate, carob bean gum, gellan gum, sodium polyacrylate, distarch phosphate, gelatin, hydroxypropyl, distarch phosphate, hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose, agar, acid treated starch, sodium carboxy methyl cellulose, oxidized starch and oxidized hydroxypropyl starch.
The humectant is selected from the group consisting of: soy protein Isolate, wheat protein isolate, corn protein isolate, glucose syrup, malt syrup, sodium pyrophosphate, trisodium orthophosphate, sodium hexametaphosphate, sodium tripolyphosphate, phosphoric acid, calcium dihydrogen phosphate, sodium lactate, maltitol, sorbitol, propylene glycol, glycerin, sodium dihydrogen phosphate, sodium phosphate dibasic, potassium lactate, sodium lactate, acetylated distarch phosphate and acetylated distarch adipate.
The stabilizer is selected from the group consisting of: trisodium orthophosphate, potassium sorbate, sodium stearoyl lactylate, calcium stearoyl lactylate, phosphoric acid, hydroxypropyl starch, pectins, xanthan gum, carrageenan, sodium lactate, polyglycerol esters of fatty acid (polyglycerol monostearate, polyglycerol monooleate), maltitol, sorbitol, propylene glycol, propylene glycol esters of fatty acid and glucono delta-lactone.
The emulsifier is selected from the group consisting of: soy protein Isolate, wheat protein isolate, corn protein isolate, Sucrose esters of fatty acid, sodium hexametaphosphate, sodium stearoyl lactylate, calcium stearoyl lactylate, hydroxypropyl starch, pectins, carrageenan, diacetyl tartaric acid ester of mono(di)glycerides (DATAE), polyglycerol esters of fatty acid (polyglycerol monostearate, polyglycerol monooleate), maltitol, sorbitan monolaurate, sorbitol, propylene glycol, propylene glycol esters of fatty acid, polyoxyethylene xylitan monostearate, tripolyglyceryl monostearate, potassium stearate, mono-(di-,tri-)glyce rides of fatty acids, modified soybean phospholipid, sodium caseinate, citric and fatty acid esters of glycerol, lactic and fatty acid esters of glycerol, sodium starch octenyl succinate and acetylated monoand diglyceride (acetic and fatty acid esters of glycerol).
The gelatinizer is selected from the group consisting of: soy protein Isolate, wheat protein isolate, corn protein isolate, propylene glycol, glucono delta-lactone.
The binder is selected from the group consisting of: glutinous rice flour, gelatin, linseed gum, pectins, xanthan gum, carrageenan, sesbania gum, maltitol, sodium alginate, ablmoschus manihot gum, arabic gum, guar gum, Carob bean gum, gellan gum and agar.
The filler is selected from the group consisting of: a plant material, a plant derived material, a plant protein and a plant starch, saccharide, dextrin, lactose, mineral salt and fructose.
In some embodiments, the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle or Bully-Stick-LIKE) pet chew of present invention is free of rawhide materials with the concerns of drawbacks of rawhide mentioned in previous paragraph.
In some embodiments to form a composition for making the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle or Bully-Stick-LIKE) pet chew, in addition to animal ingredient, rawhide material is used. A small percentage of rawhide (for example <20%) may help strengthen the durability of the pet chew having an artificial dehydrated/dried pizzle component. But due to the disadvantages of rawhide material as mentioned in above
Paragraphs, rawhide material to be used to form the composition is required to be at a limited percentage by weight. It's anticipated that when rawhide percentage in the composition goes higher than 50%, rawhide material may be an absolute majority ingredients existing in the pet chew formula, which makes the pet chew product an rawhide based product. A pet chew product made from rawhide-based material is thought to significantly involve in an unhealthy product concern and environment harm concern. Therefore, it is optimal that in the embodiments that rawhide exists in the formula of the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle) pet chew, rawhide material account for less than 50% in weight in its formula. More typically, rawhide material account for 5%-20% in weight in its formula.
In some embodiments of present invention, the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle or Bully-Stick-LIKE) pet chew of present invention includes a plant ingredient (>20%) and an animal ingredient (typically meat or meat-by-product. remarks: meat-by-product includes pizzle) in the formula, forming a pet chew with a texture resembling that of dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Stick) product. All prior arts fail to disclose that plant and animal ingredients with a proper content percentage existing in a composition material can enable the composition material extrudate to obtain a finished product appearance/texture/rigidity resembling that of dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Stick) product.
In some embodiments of present invention, the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle or Bully-Stick-LIKE) pet chew of present invention is made of a collagen-based material. The artificial dehydrated pizzle component 1400A from
In some embodiments of present invention, the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle or Bully-Stick-LIKE) pet chew of present invention is made of a collagen-based material having at least 10% collagen or at least 20% collagen-rich material (such as corium layer of animal skin, turkey tendon and cartilage). The collagen-based material may additional have at least 20% plant ingredient.
In some embodiments of present invention, the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle or Bully-Stick-LIKE) pet chew of present invention is made of a collagen-based material having at least 20% collagen or at least 30% collagen-rich material (such as corium layer of animal skin, turkey tendon and cartilage). The collagen-based material may additional have at least 20% plant ingredient.
In some embodiments of present invention, the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle or Bully-Stick-LIKE) pet chew of present invention is made of a collagen-based material having at least 20% collagen or at least 50% collagen-rich material (such as corium layer of animal skin, turkey tendon and cartilage). The collagen-based material may additional have at least 20% plant ingredient.
In some embodiments of present invention, the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle or Bully-Stick-LIKE) pet chew of present invention includes a hydrolyzed animal protein ingredient and a plant ingredient (>20%) in the formula. The hydrolyzed animal protein (for example hydrolyzed meat protein) works as an attractant in the recipe.
In some embodiments of present invention, the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle or Bully-Stick-LIKE) pet chew of present invention includes a pizzle ingredient and a plant ingredient (>20%) in the formula.
In some embodiments of present invention, the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle or Bully-Stick-LIKE) pet chew of present invention includes a pizzle ingredient, a plant ingredient and a meat ingredient in the formula.
In yet some other embodiments of present invention, the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle) pet chew of present invention includes a plant ingredient (>20%) and a meat by-products ingredient in the formula.
In an embodiment of present invention, the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle or Bully-Stick-LIKE) pet chew of present invention includes 20%-50% plant ingredient, 10%-50% meat ingredient and a chemical.
In an embodiment of present invention, the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle or Bully-Stick-LIKE) pet chew of present invention includes 0.3%-5% hydrolyzed animal protein ingredient, 20%-90% plant ingredient, 5%-50% meat ingredient and a chemical.
In an embodiment of present invention, the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle or Bully-Stick-LIKE) pet chew of present invention includes 5%-25% pizzle, 50%-90% plant ingredient and a chemical.
In an embodiment of present invention, the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle or Bully-Stick-LIKE) pet chew of present invention includes 3%-25% meat by-products, 50%-90% plant ingredient and a chemical.
In an embodiment of present invention, the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle or Bully-Stick-LIKE) pet chew of present invention includes 5%-25% pizzle, 20%-50% plant ingredient, 10-50% animal-hide ingredient and a chemical.
Preferably, the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle or Bully-Stick-LIKE) pet chew is formed by extruding process with an extruder (typically co-extruding process). The reasons for a preference of extruding process include: A, Extruding process can achieve an outer layer texture imitating that of dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Stick). Extruding process is viewed as the best one. While being extruded, a pressure acts on the composition material which provides durability/texture to finished products; B, perfect for a stick shaped chew component (the initially-stick-shaped component may be further re-shaped to final end product configuration). C, Extruding is a very efficient process, which provides a low cost processing for making the products; D, Provides large capacity for a single workshop with limited scale. Co-extruding is a preferred process to produce this pet chew having an artificial dehydrated/dried pizzle component product because co-extruding process can well provide two separate pet chew members (outer layer and inner member) with different quality, which imitates dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Stick). Now refer to
In some embodiments of present invention, artificial dehydrated/dried pizzle component of the pet chew are formed by co-extruding process and the formula forming the outer layer is different from the one forming the inner member. The intention to apply different formulas to the outer layer and the inner member is to achieve different texture, and/or looking, and/or coloring, and/or durability/hardness, and/or density, etc., which could make one distinguished from the other, imitating dried animal pizzle (traditional Bully Stick) products.
As a preferred process for making the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle or Bully-Stick-LIKE) pet chew of present invention, it includes (from point A to D):
Here are some embodiments of present invention with various pet chew shapes/configurations.
Now refer to
Now refer to
Now refer to
Now refer to
Now refer to
Now refer to
The artificial dehydrated pizzle component 1400A from
In some embodiments of present invention, a new Edible Material member is applied together with a member of Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle) component 0100, where the edible material member and the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle) member are assembled together to form a pet chew. The Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle) component 0100 may be pre-shaped to a new shape before being assembled with the edible material member according to desired finished pet chew structure. Examples of the edible material includes: an animal pizzle material, a cartilage, a trachea, an animal ear, an esophagus, a ligament, a pericardium, an animal tendon, corium layer of animal skin, dermis layer of animal skin, innermost layer of animal skin and inner layer of animal skin.
In some embodiments of present invention, a member of animal hide (say rawhide-free animal hide) may be applied together with a member of Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle) 0100, where the animal hide (rawhide-free animal hide) member and the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle) member are assembled together to form a pet chew. The Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle) component 0100 may be pre-shaped to a new shape before being assembled with the animal hide member according to desired finished pet chew structure. Now refer to
In yet some embodiments of present invention, a member of Genuine Animal Pizzle material may be applied together with a member of Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle) component 0100, where the Genuine animal Pizzle material member and the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle) member are assembled together to form a pet chew.
As a formula embodiment to form the composition to produce the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle) component of a pet chew, the composition is consisting of: Rice flour (67.2%, classified as plant ingredient), vegetable glycerin (8%), gelatin (7%), fresh chicken breast (5% classified as meat ingredient), ground bovine tendon (3%, classified as meat-by-product ingredient), cellulose powder (2%, classified as plant ingredient), calcium carbonate (2%), sweet potato (2%, classified as plant ingredient), lecithin (1%), carrageenan gun (1%), hydrolyzed pizzle (0.5% classified as meat-by-product ingredient), brewers yeast (0.5%), titanium dioxide (0.4%), FD&C yellow 6 (0.2%), FD&C red 40 (0.1%), FD&C blue 1 (0.1%). In this formula, meat-by-product ingredient occupies 3.5% in the formula, plant ingredient totally 71.2%, and meat 5%. Vegetable glycerin, calcium carbonate and carrageenan gum are some chemicals.
As another formula embodiment to form the composition to produce the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle) component of a pet chew, the composition is consisting of: Rice flour (43.6%, classified as plant ingredient), fresh chicken breast (30%, classified as meat ingredient), vegetable glycerin (8%), gelatin (7%), chicken cartilage (2% classified as meat ingredient), cellulose powder (2%, classified as plant ingredient), calcium carbonate (2%), sweet potato (2%, classified as plant ingredient), lecithin (1%), carrageenan gum (1%), brewers yeast (1%), titanium dioxide (0.4%). In this formula, plant ingredient occupies totally 47.6% in the formula, and meat totally 32%. Vegetable glycerin, calcium carbonate and carrageenan gun are some chemicals.
As another formula embodiment to form the composition to produce the Artificial Bully Stick (artificial dried pizzle) component of a pet chew, the composition is consisting of: Fresh chicken breast (28.00%, classified as meat ingredient), tapioca starch (20.00%, classified as plant ingredient), ground pizzle (12.00%, classified as pizzle ingredient), gelatin (12.00%), vegetable glycerin (8.00%), beef skin (5.00%), sorbitol (3.60%), cellulose powder (3.00%, classified as plant ingredient), calcium carbonate (3.00%), sweet potato (2.00%, classified as plant ingredient), lecithin (1.00%), carrageenan gum (1.00%), brewers yeast (1.00%), titanium dioxide (0.40%). In this formula, pizzle ingredient occupies 12% in the formula, meat 28% and plant ingredient totally 25%. Vegetable glycerin, sorbitol, calcium carbonate and carrageenan gun are some chemicals.
One skilled in the art will understand that the embodiment of the present invention as shown in the drawings and described above is exemplary only and not intended to be limiting.
It will thus be seen that the objects of the present invention have been fully and effectively accomplished. The embodiments have been shown and described for the purposes of illustrating the functional and structural principles of the present invention and is subject to change without departure from such principles. Therefore, this invention includes all modifications encompassed within the spirit and scope of the following claims.
This application is a Continuation-in-par application of, and claims priority benefit to U.S. application Ser. No. 18/215,822 by Xu, entitled “ARTIFICIAL BUYLLY STICK OF EDIBLE PET CHEW”, filed on Jun. 28, 2023, Which is a Continuation-in-par application of U.S. application Ser. No. 17/481,302 by XU, entitled “ARTIFICIAL BULLY STICK OF EDIBLE PET CHEW,” filed Sep. 21, 2021, which is a continuation application of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/190, 118 by XU, entitled “EDIBLE PET CHEW OF ARTIFICIAL BULLY STICK,” filed Nov. 13, 2018, now issued U.S. Pat. No. 11,122,820, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/680,721 by XU, entitled “EDIBLE PET CHEW OF ARTIFICIAL BULLY STICK,” filed Aug. 18, 2017, now issued U.S. Pat. No. 10,159,266. This application is also a continuation-in-part application of U.S. application Ser. No. 17/931,540, filed on Sep. 12, 2022, Which is a Continuation-in-par application of U.S. application Ser. No. 17/478,986, filed on Sep. 20, 2021, which is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/190,118, filed on Nov. 12, 2018, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 11,122,820, which is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/680,721, filed on Aug. 17, 2017, now issued as U.S. Patent No. 10,159,266. This application also claims priority to CN application Ser. No. 20/171,0697772.9 filed Aug. 15, 2017.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 17481302 | Sep 2021 | US |
| Child | 18215822 | US | |
| Parent | 16190118 | Nov 2018 | US |
| Child | 17481302 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 18215822 | Jun 2023 | US |
| Child | 19031459 | US | |
| Parent | 15680721 | Aug 2017 | US |
| Child | 16190118 | US | |
| Parent | 17931540 | Sep 2022 | US |
| Child | 19031459 | US | |
| Parent | 17481302 | Sep 2021 | US |
| Child | 17931540 | US | |
| Parent | 17478986 | Sep 2021 | US |
| Child | 17481302 | US | |
| Parent | 16190118 | Nov 2018 | US |
| Child | 17478986 | US |
