Litter box liner impregnated with baking soda

#The present invention relates generally to animal litter box liners, and, more particularly, to a cat litter box liner having sodium bicarbonate incorporated into the material thereof.

#The use of sodium bicarbonate (“baking soda”) to reduce or eliminate odors of various kinds, such as food odors, is well known. Previously, there have been trash can liners that have been coated with baking soda for reduction of garbage odors. Also, patents have issued for devices that use sodium bicarbonate for odor control generally. These include U.S. Pat. No. 5,254,401, issued to Kelch et al., which discloses a packaging material for controlled atmosphere packaging. The package is primarily directed at storage of produce and includes a blowing agent containing sodium bicarbonate in an adhesive layer of a liner.

#Other patents have issued related specifically to odors created by pets in their use of litter for purposes of defecation and urination. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,203,388, which issued to Cortigene et al, discloses an animal litter specifically incorporating sodium bicarbonate in the litter material as a deodorant.

#FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the process of forming the new liners.

#The litter box liners of the present invention are manufactured, in part, in keeping with conventional methods including melting plastic pellets and forming the liquid plastic into sheets of predetermined thickness, then cutting the sheets to a predetermined size. The method is illustrated schematically in FIG. 1. If desired a drawstring can be incorporated into a hem around the perimeter of the liner for use in facile closure of the liner after use is completed.

#The novel aspect of the new liners is the incorporation of baking soda directly into the plastic material (preferably polyethylene) before forming the sheets of material from which the liners are cut. This is accomplished by combining a predetermined amount of baking soda with an appropriate amount of plastic pellets. The mixture of sodium bicarbonate and plastic pellets is thoroughly melted and mixed, so as to be substantially homogenous prior to forming the plastic sheeting from which the liners are cut. Thus the liner material is thoroughly impregnated throughout its substance with sodium bicarbonate. The preferred amount of sodium bicarbonate is about 2% to about 12% by volume, with an especially preferred amount of about 7% to about 8% by volume. Though various methods may exist for combining the baking soda with plastic pellets and subsequently producing sheets therefrom, a preferred method is provided in the example below. Any other suitable method may be used.

#To produce sodium bicarbonate-impregnated plastic sheets for making litter box liners in accordance with the teachings of the present invention, 1400 kgs high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pellets were combined in a tank with 100 kgs sodium bicarbonate. The HDPE and sodium bicarbonate were thoroughly mixed and the resulting mixture fed into a heating drum and die for sheet making. The resulting sheet liners can be cut to any desired size.