Drug – bio-affecting and body treating compositions – Preparations characterized by special physical form – Biocides; animal or insect repellents or attractants
Reexamination Certificate
1995-04-10
2003-06-24
Levy, Neil S. (Department: 1616)
Drug, bio-affecting and body treating compositions
Preparations characterized by special physical form
Biocides; animal or insect repellents or attractants
C424S405000, C424S411000, C424S413000, C424S416000, C514S531000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06582714
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates generally to insect control and more particularly to insect control articles that are effective in killing or repelling mosquitoes within the air of a room or the volume of air in the vicinity of a person sitting on a patio, at a picnic table, or the like.
BACKGROUND ART
For certain applications, it is important to be able to control flying insects for six to ten hour or even longer periods within defined spaces such as the enclosed space of a bedroom. That duration of insect control is desirable, for example, to protect a sleeper occupying an unscreened room from mosquitoes for a single night. It is also useful to be able to deliver an insect controlling amount of active ingredient nightly for multiple nights in succession. Successful flying insect control is also useful in other living spaces, including even screened areas that for any reason are still subject to invasion by flying insects, as well as outdoor areas such as a patio, a picnic table, or the like.
Traditionally, articles or devices that dispense insecticide vapors to control such insects in such settings require heating or burning a liquid or solid substrate to evaporate the active ingredients. For example, conventional citronella candles have long been used for such purposes. Burning insect coils are also commonly used to achieve a night's insect control or to control mosquitoes or other insects for an outdoor party or picnic. The product sold by S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc. of Racine, Wis. under the mark “45 Nights®” is an example of a type of product known in the art for delivering insect control over repeated periods of use, such as a nightly use in an unscreened bedroom. The 45 Nights® product is an example of conventional heated, liquid evaporation insect control products.
The products referred to above all can be effective, within certain limits. However, products that require a heat source also require a safe burning site, in the case of insect coils, for example, and a safe location and source of house electrical current for typical heated evaporation products. Products exist that are designed to avoid some of these difficulties by employing passive evaporation of insect control active ingredients without the application of heat. However, they have problems and limitations of usefulness when compared to products and insect control strategies employing the application of heat.
For example, Regan, U.S. Pat. No. 339,810 uses a tobacco preparation as a repellent that is first soaked into cloth or paper and then dried. The repellent active ingredient is reported to evaporate from the substrate to repel insects. More recent technology has included the use of pyrethrum or pyrethroid materials as passively evaporated insect control active ingredients. For example, see Landsman, U.S. Pat. No. 3,295,246. Ensing, U.S. Pat. No. 4,178,384 employs pyrethroids as repellents applied to the locus to be protected.
Whitcomb, U.S. Pat. No. 4,130,450 describes an insecticide-impregnated, open, low-density web that provides an expanded surface that may be loaded with contact insecticides, including pyrethrum and synthetically prepared insecticides. Whitcomb prefers the use of micro-encapsulated pyrethrum to avoid pyrethrum instability when exposed to ultraviolet light and oxygen. Whitcomb mentions that the web may be hung to permit vaporization of the active ingredient to combat flies. Similarly, Chadwick et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,229,122 utilizes a mixture of micro-encapsulated and non-micro-encapsulated active ingredients, noting that any known pesticide may be used for the purpose. Pyrethrum or a pyrethroid equivalent are referred to as possible pesticides. The preparation is used to coat surfaces, although it is also noted that the vapor phase of the pesticides may be valuable.
Kauth et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,796,381, is an example of the use of paper or textile strips impregnated with insecticide that is allowed to evaporate to control insect pests. The Kauth et al. materials utilize pyrethroids and, in particular, vaporthrin, permethrin, and bioallethrin. However, the devices of Kauth et al. are designed to be hung in closets or placed in drawers, suggesting that they are understood to be inadequate to protect larger, more open spaces. Nothing in Kauth et al. suggests any ability of their paper or textile strips to control insects in relatively large air volumes when held within a moving air stream.
Samson et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,198,287 and 5,252,387 disclose a fabric for use in a tent, the fabric including a coating that contains evaporatable insecticides, and in particular, permethrin. Again, a confined space is being protected.
Aki et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,966,796, utilizes a pyrethroid insecticide on kraft paper, with additional layers of untreated kraft paper added to create a material useful for making an insect-resistive packaging material or bag.
Landsman teaches the use of an insecticide-soaked and then dried paper that is coated with resin to slow evaporation of the active ingredient. The resin coating is deemed important to make an insecticide product that will be effective over a usefully long period of time. Example formulations cited in Landsman include pyrethrins as active ingredients. The Landsman product is not intended to protect large volumes of air and is also an example of the difficulty known in the art of achieving protection over an extended period of time because of the evaporative rate of active ingredients.
Ronning et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,765,982 is an example of the use of micro-encapsulated active ingredients to achieve a sustained release insect control effect. Pyrethroids, either synthetic or “natural,” are cited as useful. The Ronning et al. insecticidal device may be hung in the open to achieve a repellent effect in a restricted locale to drive insects from a nest or the like.
Yano et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,091,183 and Matthewson, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,940,729 and 5,290,774 cite specific insecticidal compounds for volatilization. Yano et al. specifically discusses the use of impregnated papers for heatless evaporation of an insecticidal compound.
Clarke, U.S. Pat. No. 2,720,013, describes the use of a fabric material into which active ingredients are pressed or fused. Pyrethrum is cited as useful not by itself but as at least one element in a mixture of insecticides. The Clarke fabric material is designed to be adhered to the blades of an electric fan so that the insecticide will be directed into the area ventilated by the fan.
In overview, although passive evaporation of insecticides, including pyrethroids, is known in the art, the nature of those materials has been such that the attention of the art generally has been directed to their application to closely restricted spaces or to the area in the immediate vicinity of the materials. Within that context, the art has focused on the need to provide for artificially extending the longevity of insect control by use of a slow release structure or regimen of some sort, or the like. Heat and not passive evaporation has been the predominant means to achieve practical distribution of insecticide throughout a large volume of air, and heated evaporation from a liquid reservoir has been the practical means of achieving protection over a multiplicity of days.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The insect control article of the invention to control flying insects is summarized in that a substrate is impregnated with an active insect control ingredient that is available for passive evaporation. The active insect control ingredient is selected from the group consisting of transfluthrin, prallethrin,
0
tefluthrin, esbiothrin, and combinations thereof. Preferably, the active insect control ingredient includes at least one of transfluthrin and tefluthrin, and most preferably the active control ingredient includes at least transfluthrin.
The method of the invention for controlling flying insects is summarized in that it includes the initial step of providing an insect control article having a substrate that is impregnated wi
Emmrich Robert R.
Lajiness Thomas A.
Mikkonen John W.
Levy Neil S.
S. C. Johnson & Son Inc.
LandOfFree
Article for insert control by passive evaporation of an... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Article for insert control by passive evaporation of an..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Article for insert control by passive evaporation of an... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3112159