Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47K—SANITARY EQUIPMENT NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; TOILET ACCESSORIES
  • A47K10/00—Body-drying implements; Toilet paper; Holders therefor
  • A47K10/24—Towel dispensers, e.g. for piled-up or folded textile towels; Toilet-paper dispensers; Dispensers for piled-up or folded textile towels provided or not with devices for taking-up soiled towels as far as not mechanically driven
  • A47K10/32—Dispensers for paper towels or toilet-paper
  • A47K10/42—Dispensers for paper towels or toilet-paper dispensing from a store of single sheets, e.g. stacked
  • A47K10/421—Dispensers for paper towels or toilet-paper dispensing from a store of single sheets, e.g. stacked dispensing from the top of the dispenser
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D83/00—Containers or packages with special means for dispensing contents
  • B65D83/08—Containers or packages with special means for dispensing contents for dispensing thin flat articles in succession
  • B65D83/0894—Containers or packages with special means for dispensing contents for dispensing thin flat articles in succession the articles being positioned relative to one another or to the container in a special way, e.g. for facilitating dispensing, without additional support
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
  • B65H2701/00—Handled material; Storage means
  • B65H2701/10—Handled articles or webs
  • B65H2701/11—Dimensional aspect of article or web
  • B65H2701/112—Section geometry
  • B65H2701/1123—Folded article or web
  • B65H2701/11232—Z-folded
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
  • B65H2701/00—Handled material; Storage means
  • B65H2701/10—Handled articles or webs
  • B65H2701/18—Form of handled article or web
  • B65H2701/182—Piled package
  • B65H2701/18271—Piled package of folded sheet material
  • B65H2701/18272—Z-folded

Definitions

• the invention relates to the field of dispensing substantially flat articles such as wipes out of a pack.
• Wipes are substantially flat articles commonly used to help cleaning and removing residues from soft or hard surfaces such as floors or parts of the human body. Wipes are conventionally provided with a composition, for example a cleansing lotion, intended to facilitate the intended action of the wipe. Wipes are generally provided as stacks of multiple wipes enclosed in an envelope (i.e. a hard container or a flexible pouch). A dispensing orifice allows for the wipes to be dispensed individually.
• a composition for example a cleansing lotion
• the users can encounter a - variety of problems.
• the first wipe of the stack can be difficult to reach and to dispense out of the pack.
• Conventionally the issue can be partially solved by interfolding the wipes in the stack so as to have a first wipe of the stack lifting a portion of a second wipe of the stack.
• the lifted portion so called “exposed leading portion” is easy to reach.
• the exposed leading portion of a wipe can be difficult to grip as it stands-out without the support of the underneath wipes. This is especially important when the wipes are provided with a liquid composition that softens the material, making it less rigid, hence more difficult to grip.
• the stack of wipes can be subject to significant evaporation.
• the so-called "dry-out" of the stack of wipes has a direct negative influence on the performance of the wipes. This problem is conventionally addressed by provided a dispensing orifice having a relatively small area of opening.
• the present invention provides for a pack of wipes.
• the pack of wipes comprises a plurality of wipes arranged in a stack and an external envelope enclosing the stack.
• the external envelope comprises a dispensing orifice.
• Each of the plurality of wipes is folded, each of the folded wipes comprises a leading panel, a central panel, a trailing panel, a leading fold and a trailing fold.
• the leading fold separates the leading panel from the central panel and the trailing fold separates the central panel from the trailing panel.
• the stack has a first wipe and a second wipe.
• the first wipe is a wipe disposed proximate the dispensing orifice and the second wipe is positioned sequentially adjacent and in contacting engagement with the first wipe.
• the first wipe remains in contacting engagement with the second wipe during removal of the first wipe through the dispensing orifice.
• the removal of the first wipe through the dispensing orifice induces a portion of the central panel of the second wipe and a portion of the leading panel of the second wipe to protrude from the dispensing orifice.
• Figure 1 is a perspective view of a pack of the invention with the exposed leading edge of a wipe protruding from the dispensing orifice.
• Figure 2 is a schematic section of the pack of Figure 1 through the line A-B showing the wipes interfolding configuration.
• Figure 3 is a schematic representation of the folding of wipes of the pack of Figure 1.
• Figure 4 is a perspective view of a pack of the invention, the pack being a hard walled container.
• Figure 5 is a dispensing opening of a pack of the invention.
• Figure 6 is a dispensing opening of a pack of the invention.
• Figure 7 is a dispensing opening of a pack of the invention.
• Figure 8 is a schematic representation of another possible folding and stacking configuration of the wipes of pack of Figure 1.
• Figure 9 is a schematic representation of the interfolding configuration for a pack of wipes according to the invention.
• Figure 10 is a schematic perspective view of a wipe as used by the invention.
• Figure 11 is a schematic representation of prior art pack of wipes and stacking configuration.
• wipes are articles comprising a substantially flat substrate.
• Conventionally wipes are articles used for cleaning, treating and/or and removing residues from surfaces.
• the surfaces may include hard surfaces (such as the surface of a piece of furniture or a floor) or soft surfaces, including parts of a human body.
• Certain wipes include baby, children and adult wipes conventionally used for cleaning the anal area of adults or children.
• other wipes includes articles for cleaning floors, kitchen surfaces, windows or office surfaces.
• Other typical wipes include tissues (e.g. facing cleansing tissues), paper handkerchiefs (to clean the nasal area of the human body), kitchen towels and toilet papers.
• the substrate of the wipes is usually soft and flexible.
• the substrate can include synthetic fibers, natural fibers or mixtures thereof.
• Most common body cleaning wipes are made of a polyethylene/polypropylene substrate.
• the wipes are generally impregnated with a composition.
• the composition conventionally facilitates the removal of residues and/or delivers an active ingredient to the treated surface.
• the composition is conventionally fluid or semi-fluid at ambient temperature.
• the wipes are generally characterized by a width 17 and a length 18.
• the width 17 of the wipe is conventionally measured edge to edge, transverse to the dispensing direction of the wipes.
• the length 18 of the wipes is conventionally measured parallel to the dispensing direction of the wipes. Wipes are typically rectangular or quadratic. For most rectangular wipes, the length 18 is greater than the width 17.
• Folded wipes Because wipes are generally larger than the pack from in which they are provided, the wipes are often folded.
• a conventional folding configuration creates 2 folds and 3 panels. As shown for example in Figures 3 and 9, a leading panel 6, 6a, 6b articulates around a leading fold 7 to a central panel 8, 8a, 8b.
• the wipes are folded in a way that divides their length (i.e. the folding lines are transverse to the dispensing direction, parallel to the width of the wipes). The length 18 of the wipes is measured edge to edge, unfolded.
• Stack of wipes are conventionally provided in selling units comprising multiple wipes.
• the wipes are conventionally folded and stacked one over the other to form a stack of wipes 13.
• Stacks of wipes can be made of interfolded wipes and non- interfolded wipes.
• the stack of wipes 13 of Figure 2 is interfolded whereas the stack of wipes 13 of Figure 8 is not interfolded.
• interfolded stacks at least a portion of a second wipe in the stack is located in between portions of two panels of a first wipe in the stack 13.
• First and second wipes are defined as being the most external wipes in the stack (first wipe) and the next wipe in row (second wipe), when considering the intended order of dispensing.
• Figure 3 shows a portion of the central panel 8b and of the leading panel 6b of the second wipe in the stack being located in between a portion of the central panel 8a and of the trailing panel 10a of the first wipe in the stack.
• the manner the wipes are folded can create an overlap 19 between two consecutive wipes.
• the overlap 19 is the portion of the two consecutive wipes that overlap with each other at the leading 7 and trailing 9 folds.
• a corner gap 20 may be created when the leading/trailing folds of two consecutive wipes do not touch each other.
• the dimension of the corner gap 20 added to the dimension of the overlap 19 is equal to the dimension of the respective trailing 1 or leading 6 panels.
• External envelope Stacks of wipes are conventionally enclosed in an external envelope.
• the external envelop can serve as a protective envelope and/or a selling unit and/or a dispensing device.
• the external envelope can be made of a flexible film (for example polyethylene or polypropylene or mixture thereof) to a refill pouch or a flexible pack convenient for traveling.
• the external envelope can be made of a rigid material to form rigid envelopes, a rigid container or tub. Typical materials for rigid tubs comprise polymeric resins. Others can comprise metals, ceramics, wood or other rigid materials.
• Dispensing orifice External envelopes generally comprise a dispensing orifice through which the enclosed wipes can be dispensed.
• Conventionally dispensing orifices 4 can have a variety of form and dimensions.
• Figures 5, 6, and 7 show some conventional dispensing orifices 4, respectively of oval, round and rectangular shape.
• the dispensing orifices 4 are characterized by a length 11 and a width 12.
• the length 11 is the maximum dimension of the dispensing orifice 4 in a direction that is substantially parallel to the leading edge 14 of the wipes.
• the width 12 of the dispensing orifice 4 is the maximum dimension of the dispensing orifice 4 in a direction orthogonal to the length 11 of the dispensing orifices 4.
• the pack of wipes of the invention comprises multiple wipes 3 forming a stack of wipes 13, and an external envelop 2 having a dispensing orifice 4.
• Upon dispensing of the first wipe of the stack a portion of the central panel 8 and a portion of the leading panel 6 of the next wipe on the stack is lifted from the stack such as to protrude from the dispensing orifice 4. This protruding part of the wipe 3 is called the exposed leading portion 5.
• the pack of wipes of the present invention is different in that the exposed leading portion 5 of the second wipe comprises both a portion of the leading panel 6, 6a and a portion of the central panel 8, 8a of the second wipe. These portions are left unfolded during the dispensing of the first wipe. In the exposed leading portion 5 of the second wipe, the portion of the leading panel 6, 6a contacts the portion of the central panel 8, 8a and these portions stay in contact after dispensing of the first wipe. The configuration of these portions is an unfolded U-fold, and the exposed leading portion 5 is then at least partially dual-layer of the second wipe.
• the contact surface can be over the whole width 17 of the wipe. Alternatively, the contact surface can be limited to an amount lesser than the entire width 17 of the wipe, such as, for example, about 1 A, about 1 A or about 1/10 of the width 17 of the wipe or to an equivalent area. Importantly, the contact surface is sufficient to induce or improve grip-ability of the wipe.
• the contact area of the contact surface can be at least about 1 cm 2 , at least about 3 cm 2 , or at least about 10 cm 2 .
• the exposed leading portion 5 is not a dual-layer but a single layer, and i.e. it is substantially or completely unfolded.
• the exposed leading portion 5 of the pack of wipes of the invention can comprise a partial dual layer of material (portions of leading and central panels contacting each other).
• the dual layer exposed leading portion of the invention e.g. 5 in Figures 2 and 8
• the exposed leading portion of the wipe may then be easier to grip and induce a more convenient dispensing of the wipes. Such a better grip allows for a relatively smaller length of the exposed portion (smaller length of material exposed).
• a shorter exposed portion can reduce the drying out effect of the pack of wipes, as illustrated in Tables Ia and Ib.
• the beneficial effect of the invention is based on the fact that a relatively short and rigid dual layer exposed leading portion induces less dry-out than a relatively long and floppy single layer exposed leading portion, while preserving an adequate grip of the first wipe.
• Table Ia describes the frequency of the various lengths in mm of the exposed leading portions 5 in a typical pack of wipes of the invention.
• the normalized frequency of occurrence for each length range of the exposed leading portion is reported (measured from the edge of the dispensing orifice to the highest point of the fold 7).
• the data reported are frequencies over the measurement of 5 packs of 48 dispensed wipes.
• the packs of wipes of the inventions measured are those described in table 2a (with a round dispensing orifice 30mm in diameter).
• the prior art wipes have a material compositions as described in table 2b. However, they have a folding configuration as in Fig. 11 (prior art).
• the length 11 of the dispensing orifice is between about 5mm and about 120mm or between about 20mm and about 100mm.
• the length 11 can alternatively be between about 30mm and about 75mm. In one embodiment, the length 11 of the dispensing orifice is about 75mm and the width 17 of the wipes is about 110mm.
• the width 17 of the wipes is between about 50mm and about 150 mm, alternatively between about 60mm and about 130mm or between about 80 mm and about 120 mm. In an embodiment the width 17 of the wipes is about 110 mm.
• the length 11 of the dispensing orifice is about 20% to about 70% of the width of the wipes. Alternatively, the length 11 of the dispensing orifice is about 30% to about 50% of the width 17 of the wipes.
• the overlap 19 between two consecutive wipes is between about 15mm and about 30mm for a wipe length 18 of about 150mm, and the corner gap between about 3 and about 5 mm.
• the wipes have a corner gap 20 that is a constant throughout the stack.
• a variable corner gap 20 trailing panel length 10 and thus the resulting overlap 19 can induce some dispensing advantages.
• a corner gap 2 that is between about 8 and about 10mm for the first 10 wipes of a stack of 48 and that is then between about 3 and about 4mm for rest of the wipes in the stack has been shown to provide advantages for the dispensing (i.e. more uniform and reliable dispensing).
• variable corner gap and trailing panel length can vary step by step throughout the height of the stack or can continuously (e.g. linearly) vary between two extreme values. This has also been shown when the variable corner gap and trailing panel length is combined with the present invention.
• the external envelop 2 of the pack of wipes 1 of the invention can be a flexible film, as illustrated in Figure 1.
• the external envelope can be a rigid container as illustrated in Figure 4.
• the dispensing orifice can be reversibly covered by a lid 16.
• the central panel 8 of the wipes of the pack of the present invention can be a single panel as illustrated in Figures 2, 3 and 9.
• the central panel 8 can comprise a fold and hence comprise more than one panel.
• Figure 2 shows the interfolding configuration of the wipes in a stack of Figure 1.
• the interfolding configuration is further illustrated in more details by Figures 3 and 9.
• a portion of the leading panel 6b and a portion of the central panel 8b of the second wipe is located in between a portion of the central panel 8a and of the trailing panel 10a of the first wipe in the stack.
• Other interfolding configurations are however possible and within the scope of the invention.
• the characteristics of the wipes and the dimensions of the dispensing orifice dimensions are as shown in Table 2a.
• Figure 8 shows an embodiment of the invention where the wipes 3 are not interfolded.
• the characteristics of the wipes e.g. substrate material of the wipes, impregnating composition
• the dispensing of the first wipe in the stack induces the lift of a portion of the leading panel 6a and of a portion of the central panel 8b of the second wipe. It creates an exposed leading portion comprising both a portion of the leading panel 6b and a portion of the central panel 8a, both portions 6a and 8a contacting together upon dispensing.
• the characteristics of the wipes and the dimensions of the dispensing orifice dimensions are as shown in Table 2b.
• the separation force between the wipes is between about 0.05 N and about 5N or between about 0.1N and about 2N. hi a particular embodiment, the separation force is about 1.15N.
• the separation force is measured as described hereafter. Without desiring to be bound by the theory, it is believed that separation forces within the cited range, possibly associated with the cited dimension of the dispensing orifice and the overlap area 19, induce the correct forces to create an exposed leading portion comprising a portion of the leading and a portion of the central panel of the second wipe contacting together upon dispensing of the first wipe. Measurement method for Separation force:
• the reported separation force is the maximum (peak) force observed during the vertical separation of two consecutive wipes in the stack (One pair of wipes is removed from the stack and fixed in the tensile tester for measurement).
• the separation force is measured with a tensile tester (ZWICK Roell Tensile Tester, type BTC-FR2, Zwick GmbH & Co. KG, UIm, Germany).
• the tester is used according to manufacturer instructions.
• the operation parameters are as follows : start distance clamps: 270mm, clamps with flat rubber surface, width 60mm, pre-force: 0.05N, pull-speed: 300 mm/min, load-cell: 10-20N with resolution of 0.01N.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Public Health (AREA)
• Containers And Packaging Bodies Having A Special Means To Remove Contents (AREA)
• Cleaning Implements For Floors, Carpets, Furniture, Walls, And The Like (AREA)
• Sanitary Thin Papers (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (2)

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• 2006
  • 2006-09-01 US US11/515,281 patent/US20070062966A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2006-09-15 WO PCT/US2006/036068 patent/WO2007035502A1/fr active Application Filing
  • 2006-09-15 DE DE602006013332T patent/DE602006013332D1/de active Active
  • 2006-09-15 EP EP06814756A patent/EP1928772B1/fr not_active Ceased
  • 2006-09-15 AT AT06814756T patent/ATE462670T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2006-09-15 CA CA2622659A patent/CA2622659C/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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