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
  • C11D17/00—Detergent materials or soaps characterised by their shape or physical properties
  • C11D17/04—Detergent materials or soaps characterised by their shape or physical properties combined with or containing other objects
  • C11D17/049—Cleaning or scouring pads; Wipes
• • 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
  • C11D17/04—Detergent materials or soaps characterised by their shape or physical properties combined with or containing other objects
  • C11D17/041—Compositions releasably affixed on a substrate or incorporated into a dispensing means
• • 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
  • C11D17/04—Detergent materials or soaps characterised by their shape or physical properties combined with or containing other objects
  • C11D17/041—Compositions releasably affixed on a substrate or incorporated into a dispensing means
  • C11D17/046—Insoluble free body dispenser
• • 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
  • C11D3/39—Organic or inorganic per-compounds
• • 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
  • C11D3/395—Bleaching agents

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a detergence article.
• a first approach consists of the use of carriers in the form of sachets or fabric, impregnated, laminated or covered with a layer of detergent and/or additive, not soluble in water.
• the possibilities of formulation for this type of article also depend on requisites of an aesthetic nature, as the carrier cannot obviously be impregnated over certain values as the end-product must not be wet or sticky.
• the article on the other hand should neither be too hard or fragile, to allow its easy use for the user.
• the second type of approach envisages the use of carriers soluble in water.
• the enzymes require complex stabilizing systems, whereas in the case of solid components it is in any case necessary to use particular enzymes or stabilizing systems, due to the oxidizing environment.
• An object of the present invention therefore relates to a detergence article comprising a flexible carrier, not soluble in water, at least one detergent component and at least one bleaching agent.
• a further object of the present invention relates to the use of a detergence article comprising a flexible carrier, not soluble in water, at least one detergent component and at least one bleaching agent, for washing by hand, in washing machines, in dishwashers, for the cleaning of hard surfaces, such as, for example, plates, glasses, cutlery, etc.
• the support acts as a carrier of the detergent component and bleaching agent. Furthermore the carrier can have a coadjuvant mechanical cleaning action.
• the detergent component is in the form of a powder, paste, gel or aqueous solution, containing a detergent selected from non-ionic surface-active agents, amphoteric surface-active agents and/or cationic surface-active agents, anionic surface-active agents and mixtures thereof.
• Non-ionic surface-active agents which can be used for the purposes of the invention are non-ionic surface-active agents, in particular linear or branched aliphatic alcohols, having a chain containing from 8 to 15 carbon atoms condensed with from 3 to 12 moles of alkylene-oxide per mole of alcohol, and/or amphoteric surface-active agents, in particular alkyl-betaine, alkylamido-betaine or alkylamino-oxides.
• the non-ionic surface-active agents are preferably linear or branched aliphatic alcohols having a chain containing from 8 to 15 carbon atoms condensed with from 3 to 12 moles of ethylene-oxide and/or from 3 to 12 moles of a mixture of ethylene-oxide/propylene-oxide per mole of alcohol.
• non-ionic surface-active agents are present in the detergent component according to the present invention in a quantity varying from 3 to 40% by weight, and preferably from 4 to 30% by weight, even more preferably from 6 to 15%, with respect to the total weight of the detergent component and bleaching agent.
• a preferred detergent component according to the present invention contains linear or branched C 8 -C 14 ethoxylated (3-8 EO) alkyl alcohols in a quantity ranging from 1 to 20% by weight and linear or branched C 8 -C 15 ethoxylated or ethoxyl-propoxylated (5-12 EO/PO)) alkyl alcohols in a quantity ranging from 2 to 30% by weight, with respect to the total weight of the detergent component and bleaching agent.
• a detergent component for the article according to the present invention contains linear or branched C 8 -C 11 ethoxylated (3-8 EO) alkyl alcohols in a quantity ranging from 1 to 16% by weight, and linear or branched C 8 -C 15 ethoxylated or ethoxyl-propoxylated (5-12 EO/PO)) alkyl alcohols in a quantity ranging from 6 to 28% by weight, with respect to the total weight of the detergent component and bleaching agent.
• linear or branched C 8 -C 11 ethoxylated (3-8 EO) alkyl alcohols in a quantity ranging from 1 to 16% by weight
• linear or branched C 8 -C 15 ethoxylated or ethoxyl-propoxylated (5-12 EO/PO)
• amphoteric surface-active agents are preferably selected from alkyl-betaine having the following formula RR' 2 N (+) CH 2 CO 2 (-) wherein R represents a linear or branched, saturated or unsaturated, alkyl chain having from 9 to 20 carbon atoms and R' is a C 1 -C 3 alkyl group.
• amphoteric surface-active agents are preferably selected from alkylamido-betaine having the following formula R-CONH- (CH 2 ) n R' 2 N (+) CH 2 CO 2 (-) , wherein R represents a linear or branched, saturated or unsaturated alkyl chain, having from 9 to 20 carbon atoms, R' is a C 1 -C 3 alkyl group and n is an integer ranging from 2 to 6, preferably equal to 2 or 3.
• Amphoteric surface-active agents suitable for detergent components according to the present invention are also alkylamino-oxides of the type RR' 2 NO, wherein R represents a linear or branched, saturated or unsaturated, alkyl chain, having from 10 to 20 carbon atoms, R' is a C 1 -C 3 alkyl group.
• amphoteric surface-active agents can be present in the detergent component according to the present invention in a quantity varying from 0.01 to 20.0% by weight, more preferably from 0.1 to 10.0% by weight, with respect to the total weight of the detergent component and bleaching agent.
• the detergent component according to the present invention can also comprise cationic surface-active agents, preferably quaternary ammonic salts.
• the quaternary ammonium salts have the following formula R' 2 R"R"'N (+) X (-) wherein R', R", R"' are linear or branched, saturated or unsaturated, C 1 -C 20 alkyl chains, or Ar(CH 2 ) n arylalkyl groups wherein n is an integer ranging from 1 to 12 and Ar is a group selected from phenyl and substituted phenyl.
• R' is preferably a methyl group
• R" is an Ar (CH 2 ) n group wherein n is an integer ranging from 1 to 6, preferably equal to 1, Ar is a phenyl group, R"' is a linear or branched, saturated or unsaturated, alkyl chain, having from 8 to 20 carbon atoms and X is an anion, preferably selected from chloride, sulfate, methylsulfate, acetate or propionate.
• the cationic surface-active agents are present in the detergent component according to the present invention in a quantity varying from 0.01 to 2.0% by weight, more preferably from 0.1 to 0.6% by weight, with respect to the total weight of the detergent component and bleaching agent.
• the detergent component according to the present invention can also comprise anionic surface-active agents, preferably sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate, sodium alkanesulfonates, alkyl sulfates, alkylether sulfates, sulfonated alpha-olefins and mixtures thereof, alcohol-ether sulfates, alkylsulfosuccinates, etc.
• anionic surface-active agents preferably sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate, sodium alkanesulfonates, alkyl sulfates, alkylether sulfates, sulfonated alpha-olefins and mixtures thereof, alcohol-ether sulfates, alkylsulfosuccinates, etc.
• the anionic surface-active agents are present in the detergent component in a quantity varying from 1 to 70% by weight, preferably from 2 to 40%, even more preferably from 2 to 20 %, with respect to the total weight of the detergent component and bleaching agent.
• the detergent component of the article according to the present invention also comprises enzymes such as further detergent agents.
• the enzymes present in the detergent component according to the present invention are selected from amylase, protease, cellulase and mixtures thereof. They are present in the detergent composition in a quantity varying from 0.1 to 4% by weight, preferably from 0.5 to 2% by weight with respect to the total weight of the detergent component and bleaching agent.
• the detergent component of the article according to the present invention can also comprise phosphonates, polycarboxylates, cmc, optical bleaches, soaps, antifoam agents, perfumes, etc.
• the preferred detergent component for the article according to the present invention includes sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate, as anionic surface-active agent, polyethoxylated alcohol 7 moles EO, as non-ionic surface-active agent, and vegetable soaps.
• the bleaching additive of the article according to the present invention is a compound selected from perborates, percarbonates, organic peracids, TAED-percarbonate (tetra-acetylenediamine), DADHT (1,5-diacetyl-2,4-dioxohexahydro-1,3,5-triazine), DOBA (decanoyloxybenzoic acid), cyanomethyltrialkylammonium salts, PAP (phthalimidoperoxyhexanoic acid), SNOB.
• the preferred bleaching additive for the detergence article according to the present invention is selected from TAED-percarbonate and PAP. PAP is even more preferred.
• the bleaching agent is present in the article according to the present invention in a quantity ranging from 1 to 60% by weight, more preferably from 2 to 30% by weight, even more preferably from 3 to 15% by weight, with respect to the total weight of the detergent component and bleaching agent.
• the detergent article according to the present invention has a quantity of surface-active agent which is greater than the quantity of bleaching agent
• the article according to the present invention is a detergent product to be used directly as the sole detergent agent.
• the article according to the present invention is a bleaching product to be used as additive combined with a further detergent product.
• an article which comprises a detergent component in a lower quantity with respect to the bleaching agent, preferably PAP: for this type of use, the article is however a detergent and not an additive.
• the carrier of the article according to the present invention is flexible, non-soluble in water, solid or substantially solid.
• the carrier can be single-layered or multi-layered, it can have any form and dimension such as, for example, a handkerchief, a piece of cloth, a bag, a sachet.
• the carrier preferably has the form of a handkerchief or a sachet.
• It can have a dense or open structure and examples of material suitable for the carrier of the article according to the present invention are porous sheets, sponges, paper, fabric and/or non-woven fabric. Included in the scope of the present invention are substrates characterized by an absorption capacity range, thickness, density of the fibres, which are such as to guarantee the wet carrier a sufficient resistance for maintaining its structural integrity until the complete washing cycle and/or cycle of use has been completed.
• the carrier is preferably a woven fabric or non-woven fabric.
• the woven fabric or non-woven fabric are natural and/or synthetic fabrics.
• the carrier can be any carrier of the cellulose type such as paper, a natural material such as cotton or a synthetic material.
• the carrier is preferably a natural and/or synthetic non-woven fabric, more preferably a synthetic non-woven fabric.
• Non-woven fabrics which can be conveniently used are spunlaced, spunbonded, thermobonded, airlaided non-woven fabrics, where said terms spun-laced, spunbonded, thermo-bonded, airlaided indicate both the non-woven fabrics and the techniques used for obtaining them, well known in the art.
• the fibres preferably used for obtaining these non-woven fabrics are polyester (PE) fibres, polypropylene (PP) fibres, polylactic (PLA) fibres, polyethylenesulfone (PES) fibres, acrylic polymers, regenerated cellulose, polyamidic fibres, cotton, viscose or mixtures thereof.
• the carrier can also consists of 100% regenerated cellulose, for example: lyocell ® (i.e. regenerated cellulose fibre, obtained with a dissolution and spinning process in an organic solvent) or tencell ® .
• the carrier preferably has a weight ranging from 150 g/m 2 to 50 g/m 2 , more preferably from 100 g/m 2 to 60 g/m 2 .
• the fibres of the carrier preferably have dimensions ranging from 0.5 dtex to 5 dtex, preferably from 1 dtex to 2 dtex.
• the carrier of the article according to the present invention can be dense or it can have an open cell structure and therefore have a high volume of empty spaces which represent the space of the carrier which is not occupied.
• Substrates consisting of multilayer paper structures comprise layers having protuberances, whose ends are melted and welded.
• This paper structure has empty spaces between the protuberant portions of the folds, as also between the same fibres of the layers of paper.
• a non-woven fabric also has these empty spaces between the fibres.
• the empty spaces in the carrier can be varied by modifying the density of the fibres of the carrier. In general, substrates with a high quantity of empty space have a low fibre density, whereas substrates with a low quantity of empty space have a high fibre density.
• the carrier is selected so as to have a sufficient charge capacity with the detergent component and bleaching additive.
• the correct charge can be determined in relation to the dimensions of the final carrier sheet and quantity of detergent to be released. There are no particular limitations in the dimensions. Non-woven fabrics with high charge capacities generally also have higher costs and consequently this aspect must also be taken into account in selecting the most suitable carrier.
• the application of the detergent component, in the form of an aqueous solution, gel, paste or powder, to the carrier in the article according to the present invention can be effected according to many different methods.
• a typical example is by the application of a coating by impregnation, slit die extrusion, inverse roll coating, by means of immersion or wringing, by calendering, or by means of any other method in which the carrier is left a sufficient amount of time for being completely saturated with the detergent coating solution.
• the elimination of the water, when necessary, can be effected through one or more drying passages according to the known art.
• the application of the detergent component by calendering is effected by depositing the detergent component in the form of a paste, gel or aqueous solution, by means of two coupled cylinders, the first which rotates in a clockwise direction and the second which rotates in an anticlockwise direction.
• the distance between the two cylinders determines the quantity of detergent component which is deposited on the non-woven fabric carrier which runs beneath the same cylinders.
• the application by calendering can be effected by means of a preparation phase of a very dense mixture (with a consistency similar to honey) of the detergent component, obtained by adding the thickener selected from polyacrylates, carragenin, xanthan rubbers, cellulose polymers, etc., under stirring.
• the quantity of dense mixture of the detergent component which is applied to the carrier ranges from 30 to 600 g/m 2 referring to the carrier, preferably from 65 to 550 g/m 2 .
• the bleaching additive can be applied directly as a coating on the carrier before impregnating the carrier with the detergent component, so that the detergent component forms a coating which covers the bleaching agent.
• Two different supporting strips can also be envisaged, the first impregnated according to known methods with the detergent component and the second with the bleaching agent, subsequently coupled to form a multilayer carrier.
• the carrier consisting of non-woven fabric already covered with the detergent component can be printed serigraphically with the bleaching agent.
• the process comprises a preparation phase of a very dense mixture (having a consistency similar to honey) of the bleaching additive obtained by dispersing the bleaching additive in water and adding the thickener selected from polyacrylates, carragenin, xanthan rubbers, cellulose polymers, etc., under stirring.
• the process also preferably comprises an addition phase to the mixture of the dispersing agent to stabilize the compound.
• the compound based on the bleaching agent has been prepared in a suitable solution or in a composition with the further ingredients mentioned above, said compound is applied to the carrier of non-woven fabric by means of application methods known in the field such as, for example, impregnation, spreading, calendering or printing, as described in detail below.
• the product, object of the present invention can be obtained by combining, in any way, one of the carriers listed above with the detergent component and the bleaching additive.
• the preferred end-product comprises the carrier made of non-woven fabric to which at least one detergent component based on sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate, vegetable soaps and ethoxylated alcohols, preferably polyethoxylated alcohol 7moles EO, which has the function of detergent and at least one bleaching agent, PAP, which has the function of cleaning and bleaching, are fixed.
• a further object of the present invention therefore relates to a process for the preparation of a detergence article comprising a flexible carrier, not soluble in water, at least one detergent component and at least one bleaching agent.
• Said process comprises the following passages:
• An object of the invention in fact, also relates to a process for the preparation of a detergence article comprising a flexible carrier, not soluble in water, at least one detergent component and at least one bleaching agent, which comprises the following passages:
• passages from b) to e) are preferably effected by means of impregnation, spraying, calendering, printing and/or plating techniques which are all known in the art.
• detergent component additive and carrier
• absorption hydrogen bond
• electrostatic forces for example ion/ion or ion/dipole interactions
• incorporation chemical or physical bond, etc.
• phase b) comprises the application on the carrier of a detergent component or of a solution containing the bleaching additive at a suitable concentration.
• the impregnating solution is an aqueous solution containing the bleaching compound or the detergent component and caustic soda.
• the "torpedo" method envisages a phase b) comprising a first rinsing of the carrier, contact with an aqueous solution of the detergent or bleaching agent, heating to a temperature ranging from 40° to 70°C. Said heating preferably takes place gradually by 1°C per minute up to the preferred temperature of 50°C. contact is left for 15 minutes, after which NaOH is slowly added (over approximately 10 minutes). The solution is maintained for a period ranging from 1 minute to 60 minutes, preferably from 1 minutes to 20 minutes, more preferably about 10 minutes.
• passage c) When passage c) is effected with the Pad-Batch technique, the carrier passes into a tank with the solution, where it is impregnated; the elimination of the excess detergent or bleaching additive comprises the passage of the carrier for example through two or more rolls and wringing (foulard technique).
• the wringing pressure depends on the quantity of detergent or additive to be left in the end-material and on the concentration of the detergent solution or additive applied in passage a).
• the wet carrier is left to rest for a period ranging from 30' to 24 hours, preferably from 3 to 4 hours, possibly wound and in rotation.
• Passage b) can also be effected at room temperature.
• the carrier is dried, preferably in an oven, at a temperature ranging from 70°C to 200°C, preferably from 100°C to 170°C, more preferably around 120°C for a time which depends on the quantity of additive and solvent present, the temperature and efficiency of the drying system.
• the bleaching additive is added in a quantity directly proportional to the weight of said fabric.
• the weight of the carrier is 100 g/m 2 and a quantity of additive of 2% by weight is required, the quantity of additive to be added is 2 grams.
• An oven is preferably used in which the carrier of non-woven fabric is suspended in the heated chamber so as not to touch parts of the oven itself.
• equipment of the RAM type can be used, which is completely conventional and which advantageously allows an excellent temperature control, substantially no contact with the oven, the possibility of controlling the stability of the carrier with respect to the height, elongation (stretching) and basis weight. All of this favours the stability and resistance of the carrier in washing-machines.
• the above parameters can be easily regulated by experts in the field in relation to the material to be obtained (i.e. more or less impregnated with detergent and/or additive) and machinery available. If the oven is extremely efficient, for example, the drying time can be considerably reduced and the whole process accelerated; if a foulard technique is adopted in which the wringing is effected with three cylinders, the pressure applied can be lower than that used in the case of 2-cylinder wringing, etc.
• Passage d) can be effected using any known method in the field such as, for example, impregnation, calendering, spreading and printing.
• the preferred method is calendering or printing and, in particular serigraphic printing.
• a dense mixture comprising the bleaching agent and the thickener, as specified above.
• the dense mixture prepared for example as described above, can be applied by printing on the carrier coming from the drying passage c), preferably by serigraphic printing.
• the quantity of dense mixture which is applied to the carrier ranges from 30 to 200 g/m 2 referring to the carrier, preferably from 50 to 150 g/m 2 , even more preferably approximately 20 g/m 2 .
• the quantity of dense mixture and therefore of bleaching additive which can be applied to the carrier also depends on the different uses of the detergence article according to the invention, as indicated above.
• the carrier is dried at a temperature not higher than 120°C, preferably about 100°C.
• the passages a)-d) are preferably effected in continuous (torpedo method), i.e. the carrier made of non-woven fabric is subjected to impregnation, wringing and drying without intermediate passages or pauses (for possibly allowing a better binding of the additive to the carrier) between one treatment and another. All this is possible as the additive has a high affinity for the carrier and consequently the desired quantity of additive is bound to the carrier almost instantaneously and it is not necessary to leave the carrier in impregnation for a long period of time.
• the semi-processed product can be rolled up and passed to another machine where it is unrolled and subjected to passages d) and e).
• the semi-processed product of passage c) is not rolled up, but is sent immediately for the application of the detergent component (passage d) and then the drying (passage e)) and is then rolled up.
• the production process can be carried out in continuous, with a single machine, from passage a) to passage e), or batchwise by effecting passages a)-c) with one machine and passages d)-e) with a second machine.
• the detergence article according to the present invention is normally inserted into conventional or professional washing-machines or dish-washers before the beginning of the washing cycle.
• the thickener or detergent dissolves in water releasing the bleaching agent which, when it is dissolved in water, exerts its bleaching and cleaning function, whereas the detergent component exerts its detergent function.
• the number of sheets of the detergence article according to the present invention which are used for each washing depends on the weight of the laundry or quantity of dishes and their dirtiness.
• the detergence article according to the present invention can also be used for hand washing and the cleaning of hard surfaces, after dampening with water.

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• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
• Oil, Petroleum & Natural Gas (AREA)
• Wood Science & Technology (AREA)
• Organic Chemistry (AREA)
• Inorganic Chemistry (AREA)
• Detergent Compositions (AREA)
• Mechanical Treatment Of Semiconductor (AREA)

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Cited By (5)

Citations (4)

• 2006
  • 2006-05-22 IT ITMI20060999 patent/ITMI20060999A1/it unknown
• 2007
  • 2007-05-21 EP EP07108527A patent/EP1860177A1/de not_active Withdrawn

Patent Citations (4)

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