EP0683262A1 - Dispositif distributeur et doseur - Google Patents

Dispositif distributeur et doseur Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0683262A1
EP0683262A1 EP94201439A EP94201439A EP0683262A1 EP 0683262 A1 EP0683262 A1 EP 0683262A1 EP 94201439 A EP94201439 A EP 94201439A EP 94201439 A EP94201439 A EP 94201439A EP 0683262 A1 EP0683262 A1 EP 0683262A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
sleeve
package
bag
ring
dosing
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP94201439A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Jacky Pierre Duquet
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Procter and Gamble Co
Original Assignee
Procter and Gamble Co
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Procter and Gamble Co filed Critical Procter and Gamble Co
Priority to EP94201439A priority Critical patent/EP0683262A1/fr
Priority to PCT/US1995/004695 priority patent/WO1995032329A1/fr
Priority to JP7530283A priority patent/JPH10500591A/ja
Priority to US08/737,941 priority patent/US5839298A/en
Publication of EP0683262A1 publication Critical patent/EP0683262A1/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
    • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • D06F—LAUNDERING, DRYING, IRONING, PRESSING OR FOLDING TEXTILE ARTICLES
    • D06F39/00—Details of washing machines not specific to a single type of machines covered by groups D06F9/00 - D06F27/00 
    • D06F39/02—Devices for adding soap or other washing agents
    • D06F39/024—Devices for adding soap or other washing agents mounted on the agitator or the rotating drum; Free body dispensers

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a dispensing and dosing device for granular detergent, said device being introduced with the laundry in the washing machine.
  • Dispensing devices for granular detergents which are to be introduced with the laundry in the washing machine, are well known in the prior art.
  • One of the reasons these dispensing devices have been introduced is to increase the solubilization of high density granular detergents, so-called "compact" detergents.
  • compact detergents dissolve poorely compared to regular detergents.
  • One of the main benefits of using compact detergents is that a lesser amount of detergents are needed for a washing.
  • EP-A-0 343 069 describes a process of washing laundry in a machine with a bag-shaped dispensing device.
  • Said device is made of a tissue-like material.
  • the lack of elasticity of the tissue-like material requires the attachement of a rigid frame inside the bag to prevent the collapsing and twisting of this tissue, as described in EP-A-0 343 070. Otherwise detergent can be trapped without dissolving in this twisted part.
  • said rigid frame needs an amount of volume which can not be reduced further. This illustrates the packaging space problem discussed hereinbefore. It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a dosing and dispensing device which solves this packaging space problem.
  • tissue-like material is too pliant to allow a dosing of the detergent amount necessary for a wash cycle in the dispensing device itself. Therefore, an extra measuring scoop is also necessary. Said extra measuring scoop does not only increase furthermore the total cost and volume of this dispensing device kit comprising the dispensing device and the spoon, but makes also the exact measuring of the detergent difficult. It is therefore another object of the present invention to provide a dosing and dispensing device which allows an easy dosing without the need for an extra scoop.
  • a collapsible dispensing device for liquid detergents with a bellows-shaped wall is described in EP-B-0 288 347.
  • the walls are made of a plastic material. Therefore, although this device collapses in the direction of the bellows, the wall does not deform perpendicular to this collapsing direction.
  • pliable walls can prevent that lumps of granular detergent can be formed onto the surface inside said device. These lumps are formed when said detergent contacts with water. Said lumps can eventually last through the whole wash cycle without being solubilized, therefore resulting in unnecessary residues and waste of detergent. It is therefore another object of the present invention to provide a collapsible and resilient dosing and dispensing device with pliable walls.
  • the present invention is a dispensing and dosing device for granular detergent.
  • Said device comprises a pliable bag-shaped sleeve and maintaining means.
  • Said sleeve extends around an opening which remains at least partially open during the washing.
  • the maintaining means plunges into the bag, of which one end is fastened in the region of the opening.
  • Said maintaining means are collapsible and resilient.
  • Figure 1 shows cross sectional view of an embodiment of the dosing and dispensing device according to the present invention.
  • Figure 2 shows a cross sectional view of another embodiment of the dosing and dispensing device according to the present invention.
  • Figure 3 illustrates the cross section of the ring (16) shown in Figure 2.
  • Figures 4 to 7 show various shapes of the maintaining means applicable to all embodiments of the dosing and dispensing device according to the present invention.
  • Figures 8 to 10 show various examples of masks applicable to all embodiments of the present invention.
  • vertical means a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the device (10), i.e. the perpendicular direction to the plane generally defined by the opening (18) of the device (10).
  • Said device mainly comprises a bag-shaped, pliable sleeve (12) and resilient and collapsible maintaining means (14).
  • the device herein comprises a bag-shaped pliable sleeve (12).
  • the material of said sleeve may be impermeable or not to water and to the washing medium.
  • the transfers of fluid in the direction towards the inside and the outside of said bag are made solely through the opening (18) of the bag.
  • Said material of the bag-shaped sleeve has to be sufficiently resistant to the temperatures of the washing medium reached during the washing. The temperatures can be up to 95° C.
  • Said material of the sleeve can be a woven or non-woven material made from natural or synthetic fibres or a mixtures of such fibres.
  • a sleeve consisting of pure cotton, in the form of a woven fabric having a mesh size smaller than 0.5 mm approximately.
  • Said cotton can also be in the form of a non-woven article having apertures ranging in particular from 0.5 mm to 0.8 mm.
  • Said bag may also be made from extruded or co-extruded films, provided with perforations. The dimensions of the perforations may vary within wide limits, depending on the nature and the particle size of the particulate product. As an indication, films having perforations of 380 ⁇ m may be used.
  • the material of the bag is not obligatorily a textile material.
  • the sleeve may also be made from a lattice of plastic material or from a sheet of paper or other porous, water resistant cellulosic material. If the material used for the bag does not itself have sufficient resistance to water, it may be provided with a coating making it water resistant.
  • the coating may consist of a latex based binder associated with a hydrophobic substance.
  • the device herein comprises collapsible and resilient maintaining means.
  • the simplest maintaing means is a spring (14), as illustrated in Figure 1.
  • Said spring can be replaced by any other elastic body or device that recovers its original shape when released after being distorted to accomplish the same functions of the maintaing means in the present invention.
  • Said spring (14) makes the device (10) collapsible and resilient. Applying a vertical force, the spring (14) can be folded on itself till the spiral arms (15) are brought to the nearest possible position from each other. In the collapsed or flat configuration the vertical height of the device is reduced to a minimum which is also helped by the fact that the sleeve (12) is pliable.
  • the spring is first inserted inside the bag (12) and then the sleeve is attached to the spring.
  • the attachement is made between the last top spiral arm (13) of said spring and the top portion (11) of said sleeve.
  • the simplest attachement consists of glueing said top portion onto said last top spiral arm, or sewing said top portion around said last top spiral arm or a combination thereof.
  • the spring (14) stretches and maintains the sleeve in its maximum volume, i.e. the sleeve is not loose around the maintaining means (14). This allows a good measurement of the amount of granular detergent necessary for a wash cycle, since the stretched sleeve defines always a constant volume.
  • the dosing lines may be on the outer and/or inner surface of the bag-shaped sleeve (12). Said dosing lines may be printed or indicated in some other manner. It is also possible to take the spiral arms (15) of the spring (14) as reference lines.
  • the spring (14) of the present invention is preferably made of elastomeric materials, such as polypropylene, polyethylene or polyesther. All these ensure enough compatibility with the wash solution and resistance to the temperatures mentioned above.
  • a metal spring can also be considered, provided that it is stainless steel or it is protected by a layer of plastic on the outside. Also aluminum is a suitable material.
  • the metal spring has the advantage that it allows an easier variation in shape of the spring itself.
  • Figures 4 to 7 are represented possible forms of the spring (14), plastic or metal. The form of the spring may be chosen by any person skilled in the art.
  • the dosing and dispensing device (10) is filled with the granular detergent.
  • the opening (18) of the bag (12) has to be kept at least partially open during the washing to allow the progressive release of aqueous solution of granular detergent.
  • the shape of said opening is preferably rounded to avoid to cause scratches in the fabrics through sharp edges.
  • the last top spring arm is sufficiently resistant to have the device (10) serving also as a scoop. In this manner, by scooping with the device (10) it is possible to directly convey the granular detergent into the bag-shaped sleeve (12) without the need of an additional scooping device.
  • a ring (16) is added around the opening (18) as shown in Figure 2. This improves the before mentioned scooping of the detergent into said device (10).
  • the ring (16) may be made of a material of widely varying hardness. The only conditions being that the opening (18) should be held open during the washing and that said ring resists at least at the same temperatures of the sleeve (12). The hardness of the ring (16) ensures that the lip of said ring is resistant enough to scoop the granular detergent inside the bag (12).
  • the material of the ring (16) may be any water resistant material, withstanding also the temperatures reached in the washing and/or dryer machines. For example it is possible to use plastic, such as polyethylene and polypropylene, or also metallic materials.
  • a deformable ring reduces the noise of the device (10) during the agitation in the drum of the washing mashine.
  • a resilient ring is to insure that the opening (18) is always held open as wide as possible during the washing.
  • a material is, for example, polyurethane (PU) or other elastomers.
  • the ring (16) may have any possible cross section, not only the preferred U-shaped one. This ring can also act as the sole attachement means between said sleeve and said maintaining means.
  • the fastening of the spring (14) with the ring (16) is illustrated in Figure 3 in a cross sectional view.
  • the last top spiral arm (13) and the sleeve are inserted into the hollow ring (16) and held by the transverse portion (17) of said ring.
  • the last top spiral arm is inserted by pushing into the hollow part of the ring using the elasticity of the material.
  • Other possible execution of the holding of the sleeve and the spring inside the ring can be considered by any person skilled in the art.
  • the ring is provided also with means to mask the opening (18) apart from predetermined orifices which allow the filling and dispensing of the dosing and dispensing device.
  • a top view of a mask (50) is shown in Figure 8.
  • Other examples are shown also in Figures 9 and 10.
  • the impellors (72) of mask (70) are in a helical form. Indeed said masks ensure the filling of the bag (12) with the granular detergent and the access in the interior and the exit from the interior of the bag (12) of washing medium.
  • the advantage of the masks (50) to (70) resides in the fact that they cut in smaller pieces the lumps of granular detergent breaked up from the interior of the device (10) before said lumps get on the laundry during the wash cycle. This means, that these masks (50) to (70) further contribute to the better dissolution of the granular detergent in an aqueous medium.
  • the flat configuration of the device (10) reduces to a minimum the space needed for a package comprising the detergent and the device (10).
  • Said device (10) in collapsed configuration can be easily put onto or inside said packages.
  • the device (10) being in flat configuration can be fastened outside or put inside the package in a fastened manner to hold the flat configuration. Fastened in this manner, the dosing and dispensing device does not prevent a stable stacking of said packages.
  • the packages comprising these devices have the same dimensions and occupy the same volume as those packages without said devices. Therefore, the packages containing the detergent together with the dosing and dispensing devices are not different from the packages containing only the refill of detergent.
  • the logistic and cost problems deriving from a strict differentiation are completely solved.
  • the packagings will comprise a greater amount of detergent, for a given package volume.
  • Means to fasten the dispensing device (10) on the refill bags or to hold the dispensing device (10) itself in flat configuration, when put inside the refill bags may be chosen by any person skilled in the art.
  • ligatures or adhesive tapes may be used.
  • shrinkable plastic film are possible.
  • Another important advantage of the collapsibility and pliability of the device (10) is the avoidance of residues.
  • the weight of the dry or wet laundry landing on said device (10) during the drying or washing cycle in the washing machine is sufficient to let said device (10) collapse and deform at least partially.
  • said spring (14) recovers quickly its original shape. This compression/springback action during the wash cycle helps to break up lumps of detergent formed on the inside of the walls and therefore obtaining a more effective dissolution of the detergent in the wash cycle.
  • the residues of detergent remaining after the wash process are therefore reduced to a minimum.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Textile Engineering (AREA)
  • Packages (AREA)
  • Detail Structures Of Washing Machines And Dryers (AREA)
EP94201439A 1994-05-21 1994-05-21 Dispositif distributeur et doseur Withdrawn EP0683262A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (4)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP94201439A EP0683262A1 (fr) 1994-05-21 1994-05-21 Dispositif distributeur et doseur
PCT/US1995/004695 WO1995032329A1 (fr) 1994-05-21 1995-04-18 Dispositif de dosage et de distribution
JP7530283A JPH10500591A (ja) 1994-05-21 1995-04-18 計量分配装置
US08/737,941 US5839298A (en) 1994-05-21 1995-04-18 Dispensing and dosing device

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP94201439A EP0683262A1 (fr) 1994-05-21 1994-05-21 Dispositif distributeur et doseur

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0683262A1 true EP0683262A1 (fr) 1995-11-22

Family

ID=8216896

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP94201439A Withdrawn EP0683262A1 (fr) 1994-05-21 1994-05-21 Dispositif distributeur et doseur

Country Status (3)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0683262A1 (fr)
JP (1) JPH10500591A (fr)
WO (1) WO1995032329A1 (fr)

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0846798A1 (fr) * 1996-12-06 1998-06-10 The Procter & Gamble Company Dispositif distributeur de tablettes
EP0875616A1 (fr) * 1997-05-01 1998-11-04 The Procter & Gamble Company Dispositifs distributeurs de produits de lavage du linge

Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0343070A1 (fr) * 1988-05-18 1989-11-23 The Procter & Gamble Company Procédé et dispositif pour le lavage du linge en machine avec un produit particulaire
EP0288347B1 (fr) * 1987-03-25 1991-08-28 THE PROCTER & GAMBLE COMPANY Conditionnement pour lessives liquides et procédé pour son utilisation

Family Cites Families (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE3903793A1 (de) * 1989-02-09 1990-08-23 Finke Robert Kg Verfahren und behaeltnis zur ausgabe eines fuellgutes
US5176275A (en) * 1989-03-27 1993-01-05 Bowie Stuart S Temperature release containers
US5388298A (en) * 1990-11-30 1995-02-14 The Procter & Gamble Company Device for the machine washing of clothes and the method of utilizing said device
FR2669943B1 (fr) * 1990-11-30 1994-02-11 Procter And Gamble Cy Equipement pour le lavage du linge en machine et son mode de mise en óoeuvre.
IT228562Y1 (it) * 1992-06-26 1998-04-27 Mira Lanza S P A Ora S R L Dosatore-erogatore per detersivo liquido per macchine lavatrici.

Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0288347B1 (fr) * 1987-03-25 1991-08-28 THE PROCTER & GAMBLE COMPANY Conditionnement pour lessives liquides et procédé pour son utilisation
EP0343070A1 (fr) * 1988-05-18 1989-11-23 The Procter & Gamble Company Procédé et dispositif pour le lavage du linge en machine avec un produit particulaire

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0846798A1 (fr) * 1996-12-06 1998-06-10 The Procter & Gamble Company Dispositif distributeur de tablettes
EP0875616A1 (fr) * 1997-05-01 1998-11-04 The Procter & Gamble Company Dispositifs distributeurs de produits de lavage du linge

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
WO1995032329A1 (fr) 1995-11-30
JPH10500591A (ja) 1998-01-20

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