Claims
- 1. A method of cleaning animal bedding, the method comprising mechanically agitating contaminated animal bedding and removing contaminants from the agitated animal bedding in an air stream.
- 2. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising:
moving contaminated animal bedding from a target area into the air stream by mechanical agitation; separating contaminants from the contaminated animal bedding while the contaminants are in the air stream; and returning the animal bedding to the target area.
- 3. The method of claim 2, wherein separating the contaminants from the animal bedding while the contaminants are in the air stream comprises mechanically throwing the contaminated animal bedding against a surface by which the air stream passes and drawing the contaminants away from the animal bedding by vacuum pressure.
- 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating a turbulence zone within a shroud and separating the animal bedding from the contaminants at least in part by gravity separation.
- 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising destroying germs among the animal bedding through exposing the animal bedding to a disinfecting medium.
- 6. A method of cleaning animal bedding having a predetermined density, the method comprising:
mechanically moving the animal bedding into an air stream; and air vacuuming the animal bedding with a vacuum force sufficient to remove contaminants from the animal bedding but not remove the animal bedding.
- 7. The method of claim 6, further comprising throwing the animal bedding against a surface stationary with respect to a mechanical agitator moving the animal bedding after mechanically moving the animal bedding.
- 8. The method of claim 6, wherein mechanically moving the animal bedding comprises tossing the animal bedding with a rotary blade to enhance separation of the contaminants from the animal bedding.
- 9. The method of claim 6, wherein the predetermined density is greater than approximately 20 lb/ft3.
- 10. The method of claim 6, further comprising creating a turbulence zone within an enclosed shroud through simultaneous mechanical moving and vacuuming of the animal bedding.
- 11. A method of cleaning contaminated animal bedding for reuse, the method comprising:
mechanically agitating the contaminated animal bedding with a rotary blade; passing the agitated animal bedding through an air stream; separating contaminants from the animal bedding in the air stream; and destroying germs among the animal bedding while separating the contaminants from the animal bedding.
- 12. The method of claim 10, wherein destroying germs among the animal bedding comprises exposing the suspended animal bedding to a disinfecting medium.
- 13. The method of claim 10, wherein separating contaminants from the bedding comprises separating within an enclosed shroud.
- 14. The method of claim 10, wherein separating contaminants from the animal bedding comprises separating using cyclonic separation.
- 15. An animal bedding cleaning system for removing contaminants from animal bedding, the system comprising:
a mechanical agitator configured to direct animal bedding into an impact plate; and a vacuum coupled to the mechanical agitator and configured to create a vacuum-induced air stream adjacent to the impact plate, the air stream configured to draw contaminants from among the animal bedding into the vacuum.
- 16. The animal bedding cleaning system of claim 15, wherein the mechanical agitator comprises at least two agitator blades.
- 17. The animal bedding cleaning system of claim 15, further comprising a shroud surrounding at least a portion of the mechanical agitator and coupled to the impact plate.
- 18. The animal bedding cleaning system of claim 17, wherein the shroud comprises a continuous perimeter around the mechanical agitator and is open on a bottom side.
- 19. The animal bedding cleaning system of claim 15, wherein the vacuum unit is a cyclonic vacuum unit configured to separate contaminants from the air stream.
- 20. The animal bedding cleaning system of claim 19, wherein the vacuum unit is further configured to separate a first category of contaminants from a second category of contaminants.
- 21. The animal bedding cleaning system of claim 20, wherein the first and second categories of contaminants are categorized by density.
- 22. The animal bedding cleaning system of claim 15, wherein the mechanical agitator rotates about an axis substantially parallel to the impact plate.
- 23. An animal bedding cleaning system for removing contaminants from animal bedding, the system comprising:
a mechanical agitator at least partially housed in a shroud having an open bottom side, the mechanical agitator configured to move the animal bedding and contaminants from the open bottom side of the shroud to an impact plate; and a vacuum configured to create a vacuum-induced air stream within the shroud adjacent the impact plate, the air stream configured to draw contaminants from the animal bedding into the vacuum unit.
- 24. The animal bedding cleaning system of claim 23, wherein the mechanical agitator comprises at least two agitator blades configured to rotate about an axis substantially parallel to the impact plate.
- 25. The animal bedding cleaning system of claim 23, wherein the vacuum unit is a cyclonic vacuum unit configured to separate contaminants from the air stream.
- 26. The animal bedding cleaning system of claim 25, wherein the vacuum unit is further configured to separate a first category of contaminants from a second category of contaminants.
- 27. The animal bedding cleaning system of claim 26, wherein the first and second categories of contaminants are categorized by density.
RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. Utility patent application to William Opfel, Ser. No. 10/120,858, titled “ANIMAL LITTER AND METHODS OF FABRICATING SAME,” filed on Apr. 10, 2002, and is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 10/188,611, filed on Jul. 2, 2002, entitled “CLEANING SYSTEM FOR ANIMAL LITTER AND BEDDING” which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/371,783, filed on Apr. 10, 2002, entitled “CLEANING SYSTEM FOR ANIMAL LITTER”. This application also claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/431,106, filed on Dec. 4, 2002, entitled “CLEANING SYSTEM FOR ANIMAL LITTER AND BEDDING”.
Provisional Applications (2)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60371783 |
Apr 2002 |
US |
|
60431106 |
Dec 2002 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (2)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10188611 |
Jul 2002 |
US |
Child |
10411407 |
Apr 2003 |
US |
Parent |
10120858 |
Apr 2002 |
US |
Child |
10188611 |
Jul 2002 |
US |