Pet-medicine-capsule wrapper apparatus and method

Abstract

Methods and compositions for obscuring medicines formed as tablets, capsules, pills, and so forth may be presented in clean packaging, with built-in work space on a substrate, film layer. A flexible paste, gum, putty, or malleable and formable treat material may be folded without touching the actual treat composition on its outermost surface. A medicament set onto a location on a surface of the composition may then be folded inside by folding, molding, or otherwise manipulating the composition, thus forming a sealed morsel, leaving no residue (e.g., powder, scent, taste, etc.) of the medicament on the outer surface of the composition when administered to a pet.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by United States Letters Patent is: 
     
         1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . An apparatus capable of resisting transmission of at least one of taste and smell, the apparatus comprising:
 a wrapper as a morsel, having a composition edible by a mammal and capable of being shaped by force applied to the morsel;   a cover as a sheet having an area effective to enclose the morsel against contact with an outside environment, the cover being fabricated of a material and at a size capable of being opened, by a user, to uncover the morsel without direct contact between the user and the morsel;   the wrapper, capable of receiving a medicament thereon and permanently deforming to obscure the medicament against detection by at least one of direct visibility, taste, and smell; and   the cover, wherein the size and material thereof are selected to maintain structural integrity while supporting the deforming due to an application of force to the morsel by a bodily member of the user, while separating a bodily member of the user from the morsel at all times.   
     
     
         22 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , wherein the size and material of the cover render the cover capable of folding to completely enclose the wrapper enclosing the medicament after the deforming. 
     
     
         23 . The apparatus of  claim 22 , wherein the material of the cover is capable of resisting transmission therethrough of constituents making up the morsel. 
     
     
         24 . The apparatus of  claim 23 , wherein the material is impervious to passage therethrough by the constituents. 
     
     
         25 . The apparatus of  claim 23 , wherein the cover is formed from a sheet flexible at least in bending perpendicular to a surface of the sheet. 
     
     
         26 . The apparatus of  claim 24 , wherein the sheet is characterized as at least one of treated paper, film, plastic, and foil. 
     
     
         27 . The apparatus of  claim 26 , wherein:
 the cover is initially formed around the morsel in a configuration selected from a twist cover, a folded cover, and a “flow cover,” where a flow cover is a continuous enclosure extending in a longitudinal direction, cut and sealed at edges located longitudinally before and after the morsel, and sealed to itself along the longitudinal direction of the cover.   
     
     
         28 . The apparatus of  claim 26 , wherein the cover is formed of a size, material, and shape capable of being opened non-destructively, separating a bodily member of a user applying force to the morsel through the cover, and capable of being re-folded to cover the morsel containing the medicament for later administration thereof. 
     
     
         29 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , wherein:
 the cover is initially formed around the morsel in a configuration selected from a twist cover, a folded cover, and a “flow cover,” where a flow cover is a continuous enclosure extending in a longitudinal direction, cut and sealed before and after the morsel, and sealed to itself along the longitudinal direction of the cover.   
     
     
         30 . The apparatus of  claim 26 , wherein the cover is formed of a size, material, and shape capable of being opened non-destructively, separating a bodily member of a user applying force to the morsel through the cover, and capable of being re-folded to cover the morsel containing the medicament for later administration thereof.
 the cover is initially formed around the morsel in a configuration selected from a twist wrap, a folded wrap, and a “flow wrapper,” where a flow wrapper is a continuous enclosure extending in a longitudinal direction, cut and sealed before and after the morsel, and sealed to itself along the longitudinal direction of the cover.   
     
     
         31 . An apparatus, capable of reducing rejection of a medicament by an animal, comprising:
 a morsel of edible material, malleable by a user;   a cover, formed of a material capable of remaining intact during a manipulation of the morsel to surround the medicament;   the morsel, capable of obscuring at least one of sight, taste, and smell of the medicament by deforming to enclose the medicament therein in response to the manipulation; and   the cover, wherein the size and shape thereof are selected to separate the user from direct contact with the morsel at all times.   
     
     
         32 . The apparatus of  claim 31 , wherein a material, and the size and shape, of the cover are selected to re-enclose the morsel containing the medicament until administered later at a time remote from the manipulation. 
     
     
         33 . The apparatus of  claim 32 , wherein the material of the cover is capable of sealing the the morsel away from the user. 
     
     
         34 . The apparatus of  claim 33 , wherein the material of the cover is capable of maintaining structural integrity while transferring force, suitable to deform the morsel, from the user through itself. 
     
     
         35 . The apparatus of  claim 34 , wherein the material of the cover is impervious to constituents making up the morsel. 
     
     
         36 . The apparatus of  claim 35 , wherein the material of the cover is sufficiently flexible to follow the morsel during the deformation. 
     
     
         37 . The apparatus of  claim 36 , wherein the size of the cover is sufficient to re-wrap the morsel containing the medicament for later administration of the morsel to the animal. 
     
     
         38 . A method of rendering a medicament acceptable by a subject when administered by a user to the subject, the method comprising:
 providing a wrapper made of constituents formulated to be edible by the subject and capable of being deformed by the user into a morsel presentable to the subject;   providing packaging comprising a cover, configured to have a sheet-like aspect ratio of a thickness thereof to dimensions defining an area thereof, flexible in the direction of the thickness and formed of a material impervious to the constituents;   forming the cover, wherein the area is sized to be capable of enclosing the wrapper, opening to expose the wrapper, sufficiently strong to maintain structural integrity thereof while enclosing the medicament therein during deformation of the wrapper through the cover by the user, and sufficiently large to separate the user from the wrapper and morsel during the exposing, the deformation, and the administering to the subject.   
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 38 , wherein the area is sized to be sufficiently large to re-enclose the morsel containing the medicament, while continually separating the user from directly contacting the wrapper and the morsel. 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 39  wherein the cover is capable of:
 maintaining structural integrity against pressure applied by fingers of the user; 
 separating the constituents from contacting the fingers at all times; and 
 continuously covering, sealing, and isolating individually the wrapper from a plurality of other wrappers in a packaging process.