Animal husbandry – Body worn protective shield or apparel – Horn – spur – or claw shield
Reexamination Certificate
2002-11-15
2003-12-09
Jordan, Charles T. (Department: 3644)
Animal husbandry
Body worn protective shield or apparel
Horn, spur, or claw shield
Reexamination Certificate
active
06659047
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a protective device for animal toe nails. More particularly, the present invention relates to protective covers configured for and applied to, the toe nails of small, domesticated animals, such as birds, dogs and cats, providing protection for themselves, people or property.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4.962,731 describes a protective cover for animal toe nails. Similar covers are currently manufactured and marketed under the trademark “Soft Paws”. These covers are applied to animal toe nails in order to prevent the damage that animal nails can cause to people or property. Nail covers provide a humane alternative to declawing.
Applying protective covers is a significant and messy chore. The covers are attached to the animal's nails using a cyanoacrylate adhesive (for example under the trademark
Super Glue®
. Getting the proper amount of adhesive into the nail cover before application is quite tricky. It also requires two hands, one to hold the cover itself, and the other to manipulate the tube of adhesive.
As a result, applying protective covers usually requires two people, one to perform the actual installation, and another to restrain the, animal during the operation. Applying protective covers is sufficiently difficult that many consumers choose to have the covers applied by trained professionals.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improvement to the basic Soft Paws® cover design that makes the covers easier to apply. Specifically, it is an object of the present invention to make it possible to apply animal toe nail covers with one hand, thereby making it possible for one person to apply the covers without assistance.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention solves the problem in a simple and straightforward manner. The cyanoacrylate adhesive is injected into the toe nail cover during manufacture. A thin membrane prevents the adhesive from curing until the nail cover is applied. During application, the animal's nail pierces the membrane thereby releasing the adhesive.
Because it is no longer necessary for the consumer to apply adhesive to the nail cover as a separate step during application, the application process is considerably simplified. In fact, application now consists of a single step: the cover is pressed onto the animal's nails with sufficient force to pierce the protective membranes and release the adhesive. The strength of the membrane must be carefully controlled so that the amount of force required to pierce it is not excessive while still making the membrane strong enough to reliably contain the adhesive until application.
There are various ways of manufacturing the improved toe nail cover. One method is to mold the cover in two pieces, one of which contains a cavity that serves as a reservoir for the adhesive, while the other includes the protective membrane. These two pieces are then fused together, possibly using a small quantity of the very adhesive in the reservoir.
Another possible method of manufacture is to enclose a small quantity of adhesive entirely within a capsule having a thin flexible wall or membrane (rather like a tiny water balloon). The resulting sub-assembly is inserted into a nail cover which is manufactured in the usual way.
It is not necessary to perform the insertion step during manufacture. The product could be delivered to the end user as a quantity of unimproved nail covers and an approximately equal quantity of adhesive capsules or globules. This makes application slightly more complicated because the end-user must first insert the adhesive globules into the nail covers.
However, because the adhesive is not exposed to air until the cover is actually applied, the insertion of the adhesive globule can be performed well in advance of the actual application of the nail cover onto the animal. This is still a significant improvement over the current state of the art where there is a very short window of opportunity to apply the nail cover before the adhesive cures.
Other methods of manufacture are also possible.
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Jordan Charles T.
Kleinberg Marvin H.
Kleinberg & Lerner ,LLP
Lerner Marshall A.
Lofdahl Jordan
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