Patent Application
20230054322
N/A.
The present invention relates generally to the field of training pads for pets and children, and more particularly to methods and systems for training pads with urine indication and diagnostic functions.
Current training pads for pets are made and used for the sole purpose of house breaking pets, and do not include any methods or devices for diagnosing disease conditions or even determine whether the pad has been used by the pet.
Additionally, while infections and illness are common in pets, such conditions may go undetected for extended periods of time, and most cases will remain undiagnosed until the pet is examined by a veterinarian.
As such, considering the foregoing, it may be appreciated that there continues to be a need for novel and improved devices and methods for the possible detection of illness or disease in domestic animals, elderly humans, and juvenile humans.
The foregoing needs are met, to a great extent, by the present invention, wherein in aspects of this invention, enhancements are provided to the existing model of house pet training pads.
In an aspect, a training pad system for urine indication and diagnostics can include:
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, certain embodiments of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof herein may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional embodiments of the invention that will be described below and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of embodiments in addition to those described and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. In addition, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein, as well as the abstract, are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
Before describing the invention in detail, it should be observed that the present invention resides primarily in a novel and non-obvious combination of elements and process steps. So as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will readily be apparent to those skilled in the art, certain conventional elements and steps have been presented with lesser detail, while the drawings and specification describe in greater detail other elements and steps pertinent to understanding the invention.
The following embodiments are not intended to define limits as to the structure or method of the invention, but only to provide exemplary constructions. The embodiments are permissive rather than mandatory and illustrative rather than exhaustive.
In the following, we describe the structure of an embodiment of a training pad 110a, 110b for absorbing and diagnosing illness in juvenile human and dog urine with reference to
In an embodiment, as shown in
In a related embodiment, as shown in
In a further related embodiment, the at least one diagnostic zone 120 can be indicated with a first printed line (or alternatively a first printed surface area) on a top surface of the training pad 110a, 110b, wherein the first printed line indicates an outer edge of the at least one diagnostic zone 120, and wherein the first printed line for example can be a colored line (or colored surface area), which indicates a location of the diagnostic test areas(s) 122.
In a yet further related embodiment, the at least one diagnostic test area 122 can be indicated with a second printed line (or alternatively a second printed surface area) on a top surface of the training pad 110a, 110b, within the at least one diagnostic zone 120, wherein the second printed line indicates an outer edge of the at least one diagnostic zone 120, and wherein the second printed line for example can be a colored line (or colored surface area), which indicates a location of the diagnostic test areas(s) 122.
In a related embodiment, as shown in
In a further related embodiment, the at least one diagnostic test area 122 can be configured (by predetermined calibration) with a calibrated concentration of the reactive agent 123 of the at least one diagnostic test area 122, such that the concentration of the reactive agent 123 is calibrated for exposure of the urine 240 until drying of the urine 240 has completed, such that exposure of urine 240 with a negative diagnostic condition will result in a color intensity up to or less than a negative threshold signal 446, and exposure of urine 240 with a positive diagnostic condition will result in a color intensity of at least or more than a positive threshold signal 448, wherein the positive threshold signal 448 is more color intense (i.e., has a stronger color) than the negative threshold signal 446. Note that conventional multi-panel test strips are typically calibrated for limited time exposure, such as 20 or 30 seconds, which generally permits more accurate reading and can distinguish an increased number of test value readings (rather than just negative or positive). The reduced accuracy of testing with increased length exposure (i.e. until completion of drying) means that the tests can normally be considered as only indicating a risk of disease, which warrants more accurate diagnostic testing to permit an actual diagnosis.
In another related embodiment, as shown in
In an embodiment, as shown in
In a related embodiment, all or at least portions of an upper surface of the top layer 310 of the training pad 110a, 110b, can further include:
In a related embodiment, the urine indicator composition 312 can be a pH-indicating solution to provide a visually detectable color transition at a predetermined pH level, such that the urine indicator composition 312 changes from a base color to a signal color, such as red, when the urine indicator composition 312 is exposed to urine 240, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,019,062, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
In an embodiment, as shown in
In another related embodiment, the middle layer 320 of the training pad 110a, 110b can include an absorbent pad material 322, such as a foam, gel or granulate, to absorb the urine from the house pet 182 or juvenile human 184, after seeping through the top layer 310 and its diagnostic zone 120.
In a further related embodiment, the bottom layer 330 can be made from a material 332, such as a plastic sheet, to prevent any leakage (i.e., of urine) from escaping the bottom layer 330 and potentially staining or damaging the underlying floor surface 170.
In an embodiment, the training pad 110a, 110b can be configured to absorb urine 240, indicate possibility for infection or illness, and indicate exposure (or saturation) of urine by a color signal.
In an embodiment, the training pad 110a, 110b can be configured to identify if the domestic pet 182 or juvenile human 184 may potentially have an underlying disease or illness, indicate, and absorb urine at the time of initial contact (i.e., exposure) of urine with the training pad 110a, 110b.
In an embodiment, the training pad 110a, 110b can include urine reagent tests on the top layer 310, which can include at least one or a plurality of diagnostic test areas 122, such as 1-14 diagnostic test areas 122, which are configured to test respectively 1 to 14 parameters. The diagnostic test areas 122 can for example be configured to test, individually or jointly, at least one or a combination of: Ketone, pH, Leukocytes, Urobilinogen, Microalbumin, Protein, Bilirubin, Glucose, Ascorbic Acid, Specific Gravity, Nitrite, Creatinine, Blood, and Calcium, in urine deposited on the chemical pads. Such diagnostics are well-known and commercially available reagent diagnostic tests 122 may have a variety of product specifications, with variant color transitions and required reaction times.
In a further related embodiment, the top layer 310 of the training pad 110a, 110b can include urine reagent tests, comprising at least one diagnostic test area 122, which is selected from the group consisting of:
In an embodiment, a training pad 110b, which is configured with a pad cutout 212, as shown in
In an embodiment, as shown in
In a related embodiment, as shown in
In a further related embodiment, the diagnostic decoding chart 130 can further include a symbolic legend 450, which graphically, symbolically and/or textually describes locations of each numbered 442 diagnostic test area 122 within a diagnostic zone 120. The symbolic legend 450 can be separate, as shown in
In a related embodiment, as shown in
In a related embodiment, as shown in
In a further related embodiment, the antimicrobial agent 324 can include a quaternary ammonium salt, silver particles, copper particles, other well-known antimicrobial agents, and compositions thereof; and can for example be formulated as a powder or granulate.
In various related embodiments, the training pad 110a, 110b can alternatively be described such that the training pad 110a, 110b can include:
Here has thus been described a multitude of embodiments of the training pad system 100a, 100b, and methods related thereto, which can be employed in numerous modes of usage, including for absorbing urine, indicating urine, and diagnosing potential disease.
The many features and advantages of the invention are apparent from the detailed specification, and thus, it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such features and advantages of the invention, which fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.
Many such alternative configurations are readily apparent and should be considered fully included in this specification and the claims appended hereto. Accordingly, since numerous modifications and variations will readily occur to those skilled in the art, the invention is not limited to the exact construction and operation illustrated and described, and thus, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.
