CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of United States Provisional Application No. 62/476,118, filed March 24, 2017, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a method for delivering a mixed solution to a lactating animal's teat, wherein the mixed solution is formed by mixing an antimicrobial teat dip with an anti-foaming agent at the point of use to provide more uniform coverage of the dip to the teat after milking to reduce the incidence of mastitis in lactating animals.

Lactating animals in the context of the present invention include dairy animals such as cows, goats, sheep, buffalo, camels or other mammals that are milked commercially. Their teats are often treated before or after milking with an antimicrobial teat dip, sometimes referred to as a pre-dip and post-dip, respectively.

Many teat dips foam when subjected to the introduction of air or placed under pressure during the application process. This is particularly true in installations where the teat dip must flow through tubes over long distances before being applied to a teat, such as in robotic milking installations or other automated teat dipping apparatus. In some applications, this is deleterious to the function of the teat dip. For example, placing a foamed teat dip onto a lactating animal's teat can result in reduced coverage and thereby reduced efficacy in reducing mastitis. This is particularly important for a post-dip application.

Many teat dips foam because of the components that are in the teat dip. Often these components are surfactants that are susceptible to foaming. In some cases, it is impractical to remove these agents because the surfactants stabilize the antimicrobial agent in the dip. Removing the surfactant can result in the teat dip being unstable, which could reduce the efficacy of the dip. In some cases, it is preferred to have these foaming components present in the teat dip to solubilize or complex the active ingredients. In some cases, alternative stabilizing, solubilizing or complexing with lower susceptibility to foaming components can be used, but these are usually not cost effective and are difficult to formulate.

In some applications, the presence of foam or the potential to foam is not problematic. For example, foaming teat dip from a conventional dip cup or a conventional sprayer is not an issue. However, in some automated systems like the GEA Dairy Pro Q or the GEA Monobox (available from GEA Farm Technologies, Inc. 1880 Country Farm Drive, Naperville, Illinois 60563), the potential for the teat dip to foam can be problematic. Most automated systems use relatively high pressure air to force teat dip through a small diameter tube to deliver the teat dip to a milker unit.

In some automated systems, the teat dip is applied into a milker unit teat cup liner after the animal has been milked, but before the teat cup is detached. When teat dip is delivered to the liner, there is a rapid decrease of pressure as the dip exits the tube and is exposed to lower pressure in the liner, which can cause foaming in some teat dips. This can have two unwanted consequences. First the teat dip coverage is poor because the foam does not uniformly cover the teat when the teat is removed from the liner. Second, the foaming dip left behind in the liner requires a longer rinsing cycle between milkings thereby increasing turn around times before the next cow can be milked. Third, a foaming teat dip applied inside a milker unit liner just after milking is more prone to being wiped off the teat by the liner when the teat cup and liner are being detached from the teat. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The terms "defoamer" and an "antifoaming agent" are used interchangeably herein. Defoaming agents are any material that can reduce the foaming characteristics of a teat dip. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the defoaming agent is preferably suitable for use in food applications because of its use in a dairy harvesting facility. Dip application to a teat for the present invention is particularly relevant when the teat dip is applied while the animal's teat is still in a liner of milking cup in a milker unit.

The present invention is directed to a method for delivering a mixed solution to a lactating animal's teat wherein the mixed solution is formed by mixing a teat dip containing an antimicrobial agent and an anti-foaming agent. The mixed solution can be delivered to the teat through a teat cup liner on a milker unit.

The teat dip formed by the method can contain an antimicrobial selected from the group including: of iodine, iodine complex, chlorhexidine, hypochlorite, hydrogen peroxide, glyoxal, chlorous acid, lactic acid, glycolic acid, chlorine dioxide, acidified sodium chlorite, gluconic acid, peracetic acid, glutamic acid, amines, quat, glutaraldehyde, alpha hydroxyl acids, biguanide, bronopol, fatty acids, benzoic acid, sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate, methylene blue, salicylic acid, benzoic acid, Choramine T, performic acid, anionic surfactants, dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid, linearalkylbenzene sulfonate, electrolyzed water, hypochlorite and combinations thereof.

The method can be used with an anti-foaming agent selected from a group including: silicones, oils, fatty alcohols, hydrophobic waxes, EO/PO defoamers (polyethylene glycol/polypropylene glycol copolymers), alkyl polyacrylates, fatty acid soaps, glycol esters, and combinations thereof. The method for mixing the solution can be performed just prior to delivery to the teat; and/or automatically using a mixing device or multiple mixing devices prior to delivery to the teat. The anti-foaming agent can be mixed with the teat dip in an amount from about 0.001% to about 10% by weight of composition, and preferably in an amount from about 0.01% to about 1.0% by weight of composition. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Attempts have been made to formulate an effective amount of defoamer into traditional teat dips to reduce the foaming aspects of the teat dip. A product that foams less than about 100 ml foam is considered to be generally acceptable for the present invention. As shown in Table 1 , not all defoaming agents resulted in a reduction of the level of the inherent teat dip foaming character. In most cases, the foaming can be reduced by adding a defoaming agent. However, in all cases tested, the mixed solution that was made by combining the teat dip and the defoaming agent, separated into two phases within 24 hours at 25°C. Thus, some defoaming agents that were successful in reducing foaming in teat dips, resulted in teat dip composition that were unstable after defoamer addition. Teat dips preferably show product stability for at least 3 months at room temperature if they are to be considered acceptable for commercialization through a normal distribution network. The addition of traditional defoaming agents into teat dips, as shown in Table 1 , did not result in an acceptably long term stable product.

Table 1. Level of foaming and stability character of Teat Dip with an addition of 0.2% defoamer. Foam testing was conducted using 50 ml of a 20% solution of each test solution placed into a 250ml graduated cylinder and shaken vigorously by hand 20 times. The foam heights were measured and recorded.

0.5% Iodine Suppressor 1341 0.1% 2 ml foam Two Phases

1.0% Iodine Suppressor 1341 0.1% 2 ml foam Two Phases

1.0% Iodine 3569 0.2% -110 ml foam Two Phases

1.0% Iodine 376K 0.2% (Water based) -110 ml foam Two Phases

1.0% Iodine 3583 0.2% (Water based) -70 ml foam Two Phases

1.0% Iodine 3110 0.4% (Silicone based) -110 ml foam Two Phases

1.0% Iodine 3120 0.4% (Silicone based) -90 ml foam Two Phases

1.0% Iodine 3130 0.4% (Silicone based) -80 ml foam Two Phases

1.0% Iodine Suppressor 1723 0.1% -90 ml foam Two Phases

(Silicone based)

1.0% Iodine Antifoam GN I IP 0.5% -250 ml foam One Phase

(non ionic surfactant)

1.0% Iodine Antifoam GN HL 550 0.5% -190 ml foam One Phase

1.0% Iodine Suppressor 3101 0.5% (pure Product would not form a single phase at 0

silicone dioxide) Hours

As a result of the inability to develop a stable defoamed formulated teat dip, the present invention was devised to circumvent the stability problems found when trying to formulate using standard practices. In preferred embodiments, the mixed solution of the present invention foams less than the teat dip prior to adding the anti-foaming agent. This is particularly advantageous for delivery applications where a reduction of foam is preferred when the mixed solution is pumped through the milking liner to be applied to the teat. This in-liner teat dip delivery may be used with a standard milking parlor (for example the Apollo teat dip application system sold by GEA Farm Technologies, Inc., 1880 Country Farm Drive, Naperville, Illinois 60563) or it may be incorporated into an automated robot parlor (for example the Dairy Pro Q robot sold by GEA Farm Technologies, Inc., 1880 Country Farm Drive, Naperville, Illinois 60563).

Teat dips that can be used with the present invention may contain active ingredients selected from a group including: iodine, iodine complex, chlorhexidine, hypochlorite, hydrogen peroxide, glyoxal, chlorous acid, lactic acid, glycolic acid, chlorine dioxide, acidified sodium chlorite, gluconic acid, peracetic acid, glutamic acid, amines, quats, glutaraldehyde, alpha hydroxyl acids, biguanide, fatty acids, bronapol, sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate, methylene blue, salicylic acid, benzoic acid, Choramine T, performic acid, anionic surfactants, dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid, linearalkylbenzene sulfonate, electrolyzed water, hypochlorite and combinations thereof.

The anti-foaming agent can be mixed into the teat dip by hand or automatically just prior to delivering the mixed solution. In one embodiment the anti-foaming agent is added to the teat dip at its point of use. It is preferred to perform this mixing just before applying the mixed solution to the teat to ensure optimum stability. Generally, the time frame is within 24 hours prior to use. In one embodiment the time is extended by installing a periodic or continuous mixing device that maintains the unstable solution of teat dip and anti-foaming agent mixed. By mixing these two components just prior to use, the mixed solution stays substantially mixed and results in its lower foam characteristic. If the product is mixed by hand it should be used before there is any substantial separation of the anti-foaming agent and the teat dip. Preferred anti-foaming agents can be selected from the group including: silicones, oils, fatty alcohols, hydrophobic waxes, EO/PO defoamers (polyethylene glycol/polypropylene glycol copolymers), alkyl polyacrylates, fatty acid soaps, glycol esters, short chain alcohols and combinations thereof.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the production of the mixed solution is done in an automated mixing system. This system may contain pumps to produce small batches of mixed solution that are used quickly (for example the mixer produced by GEA labeled "IntelliBlend"). In another preferred embodiment, the means to mix the teat dip and anti-foaming agent is a venturi system. In yet another preferred embodiment, the means to produce the mixed solution is to use a proportional mixer like a Dosatron made by Dosatron International, Rue Pascal, 33370 Tresses, France or Dosmatic made by Dosmatic USA, 1230 Crowley Circle, Carrollton, Texas 75006. Another preferred mixing system is manufactured by Hydroblend, 5301 Sawyer Avenue, Boise, Idaho 83714. Another preferred mixing system is Venturi Hydromaster manufactured by Hydrosystems, 3798 Round Bottom Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45244.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the addition of the defoaming agent to the teat dip is performed in line immediately before the presence of a mixing means. In a preferred embodiment the mixing of the teat dip and anti-foaming agent occurs immediately before the mixing device at the point of use. This mixing means may be a specially designed chamber that causes a substantial mixing of the teat dip and the defoaming agent. Alternatively a static mixer may be used for this purpose. Examples of static mixers that can be inserted directly into the tubing immediately after addition of the defoaming agent are manufactured by Koflo, 309 Cary Point Drive, Cary IL 60013 and Stamixco, Samstagernstrasse 57, CH-8832 Wollerau, Switzerland.

The present invention can be used with most if not all commercially available teat dips. This is advantageous since teat dips are usually government registered products, and registering new teat dips is expensive and time consuming. By using existing defoamers added to a registered teat dip prior to application to the teat, a new registration is not necessary in many countries. This allows the use of a currently registered teat dip without having to reformulate the teat dip to a lower foaming alternate, performing all of the stability and efficacy testing and re-registering the teat dip.