Classifications

• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C11—ANIMAL OR VEGETABLE OILS, FATS, FATTY SUBSTANCES OR WAXES; FATTY ACIDS THEREFROM; DETERGENTS; CANDLES
  • C11D—DETERGENT COMPOSITIONS; USE OF SINGLE SUBSTANCES AS DETERGENTS; SOAP OR SOAP-MAKING; RESIN SOAPS; RECOVERY OF GLYCEROL
  • C11D3/00—Other compounding ingredients of detergent compositions covered in group C11D1/00
  • C11D3/16—Organic compounds
  • C11D3/37—Polymers
  • C11D3/3703—Macromolecular compounds obtained otherwise than by reactions only involving carbon-to-carbon unsaturated bonds
  • C11D3/3707—Polyethers, e.g. polyalkyleneoxides
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C11—ANIMAL OR VEGETABLE OILS, FATS, FATTY SUBSTANCES OR WAXES; FATTY ACIDS THEREFROM; DETERGENTS; CANDLES
  • C11D—DETERGENT COMPOSITIONS; USE OF SINGLE SUBSTANCES AS DETERGENTS; SOAP OR SOAP-MAKING; RESIN SOAPS; RECOVERY OF GLYCEROL
  • C11D1/00—Detergent compositions based essentially on surface-active compounds; Use of these compounds as a detergent
  • C11D1/66—Non-ionic compounds
  • C11D1/72—Ethers of polyoxyalkylene glycols
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C11—ANIMAL OR VEGETABLE OILS, FATS, FATTY SUBSTANCES OR WAXES; FATTY ACIDS THEREFROM; DETERGENTS; CANDLES
  • C11D—DETERGENT COMPOSITIONS; USE OF SINGLE SUBSTANCES AS DETERGENTS; SOAP OR SOAP-MAKING; RESIN SOAPS; RECOVERY OF GLYCEROL
  • C11D17/00—Detergent materials or soaps characterised by their shape or physical properties
  • C11D17/0047—Detergents in the form of bars or tablets
  • C11D17/0065—Solid detergents containing builders
  • C11D17/0073—Tablets
  • C11D17/0086—Laundry tablets
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C11—ANIMAL OR VEGETABLE OILS, FATS, FATTY SUBSTANCES OR WAXES; FATTY ACIDS THEREFROM; DETERGENTS; CANDLES
  • C11D—DETERGENT COMPOSITIONS; USE OF SINGLE SUBSTANCES AS DETERGENTS; SOAP OR SOAP-MAKING; RESIN SOAPS; RECOVERY OF GLYCEROL
  • C11D3/00—Other compounding ingredients of detergent compositions covered in group C11D1/00
  • C11D3/02—Inorganic compounds ; Elemental compounds
  • C11D3/04—Water-soluble compounds
  • C11D3/10—Carbonates ; Bicarbonates

Definitions

• This invention relates to a tablet detergent which has improved solubility and is especially suitable for use in cleaning of clothing in electric washing machines.
• tablet detergents are prepared by blending an anionic surface active agent as the main washing surface active agent, but several tablet detergents in which a nonionic surface active agent is used as the main washing surface active agent have been disclosed, for instance, in U.S. Patent 3,231,506, U.S. Patent 3,247,123, U.S. Patent 3,331,780, U.S. Patent 3,344,076, U.S. Patent 3,417,024, U.S. Patent 4,370,250 and U.S. Patent 4,451,386.
• JP-A-63-135498 A tablet detergent in which a nonionic surface active agent is used as the main washing agent and an oil absorbent builder is blended with the washing agent and has been disclosed in JP-A-63-135498 (the term "JP-A” as used herein means an "unexamined published Japanese patent application”).
• These tablet detergents have the advantage of easy use in comparison with the aforementioned liquid and granule detergents. On the other hand, however, they are required to have certain specific properties such as a mechanical strength sufficient enough to protect the tablets from crumbling during handling and transportation, quick solubilization at the time of their use and the like.
• the strength of tablets can be improved by increasing the molding pressure used to form the tablets, but this generally results in the disadvantage of decreasing their solubility in water.
• JP-A-62-30198 discloses a process in which a carbonate and a solid acid are blended with a washing agent so that the resulting tablets quickly dissolve in water when used to generate carbon dioxide.
• JP-B-44-17745 and JP-A-47-27208 discloses a process in which a disintegrator as is commonly used in the field of pharmaceuticals is added to a detergent composition in such a way that the resulting tablets are easily disintegrated in water.
• JP-B as used herein means an "examined Japanese patent publication
• solubility of tablet detergents in water can be improved to some degree by any of these prior art processes, but not to a practically satisfactory level. It seems that in the case of tablets containing a large quantity of a surface active agent as a detergent, the surface active agent becomes highly viscous in water due to hydration thereof and this hinders the permeation of water into the tablets, thus resulting in insufficient solubilization of the tablets.
• the inventors of the present invention conducted intensive research and found that a tablet detergent having markedly improved solubility can be obtained by using a specific nonionic surface active agent as the main surface active agent and by blending it with potassium carbonate at a specified weight ratio.
• the present invention was researched has as a result of such research.
• a tablet detergent which comprises a nonionic surface active agent as the main surface active agent and potassium carbonate, wherein the nonionic surface active agent has an HLB value of from 8.0 to 16.0, and a weight ratio of potassium carbonate to the nonionic surface active agent ranges from 5/1 to 1/5.
• the present invention further provides, as another embodiment of the invention, a tablet detergent composition comprising the following components (1) to (4):
• the nonionic surface active agent used in the present invention has an HLB value of from 8.0 to 16.0, preferably from 8.2 to 14.0.
• HLB value hydrophilic-lipophilic balance; defined by J.T. Davies and E.K. Rideal, Interfacial Phenomena , p371-383 (1963) Academic Press, New York
• HLB value hydrophilic-lipophilic balance
• the a nonionic surface active agent to be used in the present invention may be selected from those containing an alkyl group having 8 to 18 carbon atoms and/or having a mean added ethylene oxide mol number per one molecule of from 4 to 8 and/or having a mean added propylene oxide mol number per one molecule of from 2 to 8.
• nonionic surface active agents include a polyoxyethylene alkyl ether, a polyoxyethylene alkylphenyl ether, a polyoxyethylenesorbitan fatty acid ester, a polyoxyethylenesorbitol fatty acid ester, a polyethylene glycol fatty acid ester, a polyoxyethylene polyoxypropylene alkyl ether, a polyoxyethylene castor oil, a polyoxyethylene hydrogenated castor oil, a polyoxyethylene alkyl amine, a glycerol fatty acid ester, a higher fatty acid alkanol amide, an alkyl glucoside, an alkylamine oxide and the like.
• a polyoxyethylene alkyl ether consisting of a straight or branched primary or secondary monohydric alcohol having 12 to 18 carbon atoms and ethylene oxide molecules with a mean added mol number of from 4 to 18 is preferably used, with a preferred example being a polyoxyethylene dodecyl ether having a mean added ethylene oxide mol number of 8.
• the nonionic surface active agent may be used in the tablet detergent composition of the present invention in an amount of from 5 to 40% by weight, preferably from 10 to 30% by weight based on the total weight of the composition.
• Potassium carbonate may be used in an amount as to give a weight ratio of potassium carbonate to the nonionic surface active agent of from 5/1 to 1/5, preferably from 3/1 to 1/3. If the weight ratio of potassium carbonate to nonionic surface active agent is less than 1/5 no significant solubility improving effect is encountered.
• Potassium carbonate may be used in the tablet detergent composition in an amount of from 1 to 40% by weight, preferably from 5 to 30% by weight, based on the total weight of the composition.
• the nonionic surface active agent and potassium carbonate may preferably be used in the detergent composition in a total amount of from 20 to 50% by weight based on the total weight of the composition.
• Sodium carbonate may preferably be used in combination with potassium carbonate.
• sodium carbonate is used in an amount to give a weight ratio of sodium carbonate to potassium carbonate of from 1/100 to 10/1, preferably from 1/20 to 3/1, and a total amount of sodium carbonate and potassium carbonate of from 10 to 40 % by weight based on the total weight of the composition.
• the tablet detergent composition of the present invention may be further mixed with a crystalline aluminosilicate (zeolite).
• zeolite crystalline aluminosilicate
• synthetic zeolites having a mean primary particle size of from 0.1 to 10 ⁇ m as typically exemplified by a type A zeolite and a type X zeolite are preferred.
• a crystalline aluminosilicate (or zeolite) is used in the from of zeolite powder or as aggregated and dried zeolite particles obtained by drying a zeolite slurry, and it may be used in the detergent composition of the present invention in an amount of from 10 to 60% by weight, preferably from 20 to 50% by weight, based on the total weight of the composition.
• the porous oil absorbent carrier may have a pore volume in the range of from 50 to 700 cm3/100 g as measured in the high pressure mercury porosimeter measurement as described in Barrett, E.P., Joyner, L.G. and Halenda, P.P., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 73 , p373 (1951), and a mean particle diameter in the range of from 5 to 200 ⁇ m, preferably from 10 to 100 ⁇ m.
• Preferred examples of the porous oil absorbent carrier are oil absorbing amorphous silica carriers, especially a carrier which contains 30% by weight or more of the amorphous silica (anhydrous basis) based on the total weight of the carrier.
• porous oil absorbent carriers include TOKUSIL AL-1 (pore volume: 280 cm3/100 g; SiO2 content: 94 % by weight), TOKUSIL NR (pore volume: 300 cm3/100 g; SiO2 content: 94 % by weight) and Florite RN (pore volume: 450 cm3/100 g; SiO2 content: 61 % by weight) (all trade names of Tokuyama Soda Co., Ltd.), Nipsil NA (trade name of Nippon Silica Co., Ltd.) (pore volume: 265 cm3/100 g; SiO2 content: 93 % by weight), Tixolex 25 (pore volume: 245 cm3/100 g; SiO2 content: 72 % by weight) and Tixosil 38 (pore volume: 300 cm3/100 g; SiO2 content: 90 % by weight) (trade names of Rhone-Poulenc), Carplex #100 (trade name of Shionogi & Co., Ltd.) (pore volume) (pore volume:
• the shelf life of the tablets of the present invention can be improved by further blending the detergent composition of the present invention with polyethylene glycol having a molecular weight of 2,000 to 30,000 in an amount of from 0.5 to 10% by weight, preferably from 1 to 7% by weight.
• muddy stain detergency of the tablet detergent composition can be improved by jointly using thereinto an ionic surface active agent.
• the ionic surface active agent suitable for use in the present invention include: anionic surface active agents such as an alkylbenzenesulfonate salt, an olefin sulfonate salt, an alkyl ether sulfate salt, a fatty acid salt, an ⁇ -sulfo fatty acid ester salt, an ⁇ -sulfo-fatty acid salt and the like, with preferred counter ions therefor being sodium and potassium; ampholytic surface active agents such as sulfobetaine, hydroxysulfobetaine and the like; and cationic surface active agents such as a quaternary ammonium salt and the like.
• anionic surface active agents are preferred, and, in particular, a sodium salt or a potassium salt of an alkylbenzensulfonate, a fatty acid or an alkyl ether sulfate each of which the alkyl group contains 8 to 20 carbon atoms are preferred, and those of which the alkyl group contains 12 to 18 carbon atoms are more preferred.
• the ionic surface active agent may be used in an amount of 0 to 50% by weight, preferably 0 to 30% by weight or less, based on the weight of the nonionic surface active agent.
• the tablet detergent of the present invention may be further mixed with divalent metal ion scavengers.
• divalent metal ion scavengers include sodium nitrilotriacetates, sodium ethylenediaminetetraacetates, sodium succinates, sodium malates, sodium citrates, and water soluble salt (e.g., sodium) of carboxylic acid-based polymers such as polymers of polyacrylic acid, of acrylic acid/maleic anhydride copolymers and of olefin/maleic anhydride copolymers.
• carboxylic acid-based polymers such as polymers of polyacrylic acid, of acrylic acid/maleic anhydride copolymers and of olefin/maleic anhydride copolymers.
• the divalent metal ion scavengers may preferably be used in the tablet detergent of the present invention in a total amount of from 10 to 60% by weight based on the total weight of the composition.
• the tablet detergent of the present invention may be mixed further with other additives which have been conventionally used in prior art detergents.
• additives include: alkali compounds such as sodium bicarbonate, potassium bicarbonate, sodium silicate and the like; extending agents such as sodium sulfate, potassium sulfate and the like; resoiling preventing agents such as carboxymethyl cellulose; bleaching agents such as sodium percarbonate, mono- or tetrahydrate of sodium perborate and the like; enzymes such as a protease, a lipase, a cellulase, an amylase and the like; enzyme stabilizers such as sodium sulfite; and other additives such as an antioxidant, a fluorescent dye, a perfume and the like.
• disintegrators which are commonly used in prior art tablet detergents, such as, for instance, starch, hydroxypropyl starch, carboxymethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl cellulose, crystalline cellulose, ⁇ -cellulose, carboxymethyl starch and the like.
• the inventive tablet detergent may easily be obtained, for example, by charging a batch kneader with predetermined amounts of potassium carbonate and other powder components (a crystalline aluminosilicate (e.g., type A zeolite), an oil absorbent carrier (e.g., TOKUSIL NR), and polyethylene glycol (e.g., polyethylene glycol having a molecular weight of 15,000), uniformly mixing these ingredients with gradually added or sprayed liquid nonionic surface active agent (e.g., polyoxyethylene dodecyl ether (the mean added ethylene oxide mol number of 8, the melting point of 15°C and the HLB value of 10.14)) in the kneader, transferring the thus uniformly mixed components into a cylindrical vessel, and subsequently molding the mixture into tablets by loading a pressure of 10 to 150 kg/cm2 from both the upper and lower parts of the cylindrical vessel onto the mixed components.
• a crystalline aluminosilicate e.g., type A zeolite
• the tablet detergent thus prepared was put into a double bucket type electric washer (GINGA 3.0 VH-300S1, by Toshiba Corp.) which had been filled with 30 l of 20°C tap water. Immediately thereafter, the washer was operated for 1 minute by setting its agitation power to "normal" as indicated on its control panel. After draining off the resulting tap water, the solubility of the tablet detergent was evaluated based on the amount of its residue in the wash bucket using the following criteria.
• the tablet detergent thus prepared was put into a double bucket type electric washer (GINGA 3.0 VH-300S1, by Toshiba Corp.) which had been filled with 30 l of 20°C tap water and charged with 1.5 kg of towels as test clothing to be washed. Immediately thereafter, the washer was operated for 3 minutes by setting its agitation power to "normal" as indicated on its control panel. After draining off the resulting tap water, the solubility of the tablet detergent was evaluated based on its reside in the wash bucket and on the towels using the following criteria, with the results being shown in Table 2.

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Cited By (12)

Citations (1)

• 1991
  • 1991-10-24 EP EP91118137A patent/EP0482627A1/fr not_active Withdrawn

Patent Citations (1)

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