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
  • C11D3/02—Inorganic compounds ; Elemental compounds
  • C11D3/04—Water-soluble compounds
  • C11D3/046—Salts
• • 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
  • C11D17/0039—Coated compositions or coated components in the compositions, (micro)capsules
• • 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
  • C11D3/40—Dyes ; Pigments

Definitions

• This invention relates to a packaged concentrated particulate detergent composition with high visual appeal.
• a product used at low dosage levels for example less than 40g dose per wash.
• concentrated particulate detergent compositions formed by extrusion and coating particularly to those formed by extrusion of a dried surfactant blend, cutting of the extrudates into particles having a diameter of at least twice their thickness and coating the particles so formed by spraying on of an aqueous solution of an inorganic salt in a fluid bed and drying to form a hard shell.
• Compact or concentrated compositions offer the advantage that pack size is reduced which is environmentally desirable.
• shelf-impact at point-of-sale retail outlets e.g. on crowded shelves in supermarkets may also be reduced as a result of the small product size.
• Visual appeal can be improved by enlarging the packaging, but this counter productive from an environmental point of view.
• EP2166077A1 discloses a particle for use in a composition
• a particle for use in a composition comprising a first coating layer comprising a coating material selected from a surfactant, surfactant precursor, builder, film-forming polymer and mixtures thereof, and a core, at least a portion of said core being coated by said coating wherein the particle additionally comprises a hueing dye.
• a packaged particulate detergent composition contained in a package according to claim 1.
• the particulate product is coloured but the colourant, the dye, has greater photostability versus visible light, and can be stored in transparent packaging thereby improving the stability of the very feature providing shelf standout.
• transparent means that its light transmittance is greater than 25% at wavelength of about 410-800 nm.
• the transparent layer of the package according to the invention preferably has a transmittance of more than 25%, more preferably more than 30%, more preferably more than 40%, more preferably more than 50% in the visible part of the spectrum (approx. 410-800 nm).
• absorbency of transparent layer may be measured as less than 0.6 (approximately equivalent to 25% transmitting) or by having transmittance greater than 25% wherein % transmittance equals: 1 10 absorbancy ⁇ 100 %
• absorbency of the opaque layer may be measured as more than 0.6.
• absorbency of the opaque layer may be measured as more than 0.6.
• the container is considered to be transparent.
• Suitable materials for the transparent inner layer of the package include, but are not limited to: polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), polycarbonate (PC), polyamides (PA) and/or polyethylene terephthalate (PETE), polyvinylchloride (PVC); and polystyrene (PS).
• the container may formed by extrusion, moulding e.g. blow moulding from a preform or by thermoforming or by injection moulding.
• absorbency of bottle may be measured as less than 0.6 (approximately equivalent to 25% transmitting) or by having transmittance greater than 25% wherein % transmittance equals: 1 10 absorbancy x 100% and corresponding absorbency levels for the remaining preferred levels above.
• the dye is added to the surfactant mix in the core, preferably the dye is dissolved in the surfactant before the core is formed.
• Dyes for use in the current invention are selected from anionic and non-ionic dyes
• Anionic dyes are negatively charged in an aqueous medium at pH 7.
• anionic dyes are found in the classes of acid and direct dyes in the Color Index (Society of Dyers and Colourists and American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists).
• Anionic dyes preferably contain at least one sulphonate or carboxylate groups.
• Non-ionic dyes are uncharged in an aqueous medium at pH 7, examples are found in the class of disperse dyes in the Color Index.
• the dyes may be alkoxylated.
• Alkoxylated dyes are preferably of the following generic form: Dye-NR 1 R 2 .
• the NR 1 R 2 group is attached to an aromatic ring of the dye.
• R 1 and R 2 are independently selected from polyoxyalkylene chains having 2 or more repeating units and preferably having 2 to 20 repeating units. Examples of polyoxyalkylene chains include ethylene oxide, propylene oxide, glycidol oxide, butylene oxide and mixtures thereof.
• a preferred alkoxylated dye for use in the invention is:
• the dye is selected from acid dyes; disperse dyes and alkoxylated dyes.
• the dye is a non-ionic dye.
• the dye is selected from those having: anthraquinone; mono-azo; bis-azo; xanthene; phthalocyanine; and, phenazine chromophores. More preferably the dye is selected from those having: anthraquinone and, mono-azo chromophores.
• the dye is added to the coating slurry and agitated before applying to the core of the particle.
• Application may be by any suitable method, preferably spraying on to the core particle as detailed above.
• the dye may be any colour, preferable the dye is blue, violet, green or red. Most preferably the dye is blue or violet.
• the dye is selected from: acid blue 80, acid blue 62, acid violet 43, acid green 25, direct blue 86, acid blue 59, acid blue 98, direct violet 9, direct violet 99, direct violet 35, direct violet 51, acid violet 50, acid yellow 3, acid red 94, acid red 51, acid red 95, acid red 92, acid red 98, acid red 87, acid yellow 73, acid red 50, acid violet 9, acid red 52, food black 1, food black 2, acid red 163, acid black 1, acid orange 24, acid yellow 23, acid yellow 40, acid yellow 11, acid red 180, acid red 155, acid red 1, acid red 33, acid red 41, acid red 19, acid orange 10, acid red 27, acid red 26, acid orange 20, acid orange 6, sulphonated Al and Zn phthalocyanines, solvent violet 13, disperse violet 26, disperse violet 28, solvent green 3, solvent blue 63, disperse blue 56, disperse violet 27, solvent yellow 33, disperse blue 79:1.
• the dye is preferably a shading dye for imparting a perception of whiteness to a textile.
• the dye may be covalently bound to polymeric species.
• a combination of dyes may be used.
• Each particle has perpendicular dimensions x, y and z, wherein x is from 0.2 to 2 mm, y is from 2.5 to 8 mm (preferably 3 to 8 mm), and z is from 2.5 to 8 mm (preferably 3 to 8 mm).
• the amount of coating on each coated particle is advantageously from 10 to 45, more preferably 20 to 35% by weight of the particles.
• the number percentage of the packaged composition of particles comprising the core and coating is preferably at least 85%.
• the coated particles preferably comprise from 0.001 to 3 wt % perfume.
• the core of the coated particles preferably comprises less than 5 wt%, even more preferably less than 2.5 wt% inorganic materials.
• the coating is preferably sodium carbonate, optionally in admixture with a minor amount of SCMC and further optionally in admixture with one or more of sodium silicate, water soluble fluorescer, water soluble or dispersible shading dye and pigment or coloured dye.
• the particles are desirably oblate spheroids with diameter of 3 to 6 mm and thickness of 1 to 2 mm.
• At least some, and preferably a major portion by number of the particles may be coloured other than white, as this can enhance the coloured particles.
• Multicoloured, e.g. some blue and some white, particles have also been found to provide even higher visual definition for the optimum control of dose.
• the measuring device may be a cap. Most preferably, it is a screw cap as that provides for more reliable protection against ingress of large amounts of water due to the cap being incorrectly replaced in use.
• composition may be manufactured according to the process described in PCT/EP2010/055256 and PCT/EP2010/055257 i.e. comprising the steps of:
• the cooled dried output from the evaporator or drier stage (b) comprising at least 95 wt% preferably 96 wt%, more preferably 97 wt%, most preferably 98 wt% surfactant to be transferred to a mill and milled to particles of less than 1.5 mm, preferably less than 1 mm average diameter before it is fed to the extrusion step (c).
• a powdered flow aid such as Aerosil®, Alusil®, or Microsil®, with a particle diameter of from 0.1 to 10 ⁇ m may be added to the mill in an amount of 0.5 to 5 wt%, preferably 0.5 to 3 wt% (based on output from the mill) and blended into the particles during milling.
• step b or the intermediate milling step, if used, is fed to the extruder, optionally along with minor amounts (less than 10 wt% total) of other materials such as perfume and /or fluorescer, and the mixture of materials fed to the extruder is extruded to form an extrudate with a diameter of greater than 2 mm, preferably greater than 3 mm, most preferably greater than 4 mm and preferably with a diameter of less than 7 mm, most preferably less than 5 mm, while periodically cutting the extrudate to form hard detergent particles with a maximum thickness of greater than 0.2 mm and less than 3 mm, preferably less than 2 mm, most preferably less than about 1.5 mm and more than about 0.5 mm, even 0.7 mm.
• the invention also encompasses other cross sections such as triangular, rectangular and even complex cross sections, such as one mimicking a flower with rotationally symmetrical "petals".
• the invention can be operated on any extrudate that can be forced through a hole in the extruder or extruder plate; the key being that the average thickness of the extrudate should be kept below the level where dissolution will be slow. As discussed above this is a thickness of about 2 mm. Desirably multiple extrusions are made simultaneously and they may all have the same cross section or may have different cross sections. Normally they will all have the same length as they are cut off by the knife.
• the cutting knife should be as thin as possible to allow high speed extrusion and minimal distortion of the extrudate during cutting.
• the extrusion should preferably take place at a temperature of less than 45°C, more preferably less than 40°C to avoid stickiness and facilitate cutting.
• the extrudates according to the present process are cut so that their major dimension is across the extruder and the minor dimension is along the axis of the extruder. This is the opposite to the normal extrusion of surfactants. Cutting in this way increases the surface area that is a "cut" surface. It also allows the extruded particle to expand considerably along its axis after cutting, whilst maintaining a relatively high surface to volume ratio, which is believed to increase its solubility and also results in an attractive biconvex, or lentil, appearance. Elsewhere we refer to this shape as an oblate spheroid. This is essentially a rotation of an ellipse about its minor axis.
• the LAS containing surfactant blends can be extruded to make solid detergent particles that are hard enough to be used without any need to be structured by inorganic materials or other structurants as commonly found in prior art extruded detergent particles.
• the amount of surfactant in the detergent particle can be much higher and the amount of builder in the detergent particle can be much lower.
• the blend in step (a) comprises at least about 60 wt%, most preferably at least about 70 wt% surfactant and preferably at most about 40 wt%, most preferably at most 30 wt% water, the surfactant part consisting of at least 51 wt% linear alkyl benzene sulphonate salt (LAS) and at least one co-surfactant;
• LAS linear alkyl benzene sulphonate salt
• the co-surfactant is chosen from the group consisting of: SLES, and nonionic, together with optional soap and mixtures thereof.
• SLES SLES
• nonionic the upper limit for the amount of nonionic surfactant has been found to be 20 wt% of the total surfactant to avoid the dried material being too soft and cohesive to extrude because it has a hardness value less than 0.5 MPa.
• the surfactant blend is dried in step (b) to a moisture content of less than 1.2 wt%, more preferably less than 1.1 wt%, and most preferably less than 1 wt%.
• Drying may suitably be carried out using a wiped film evaporator or a Chemithon Turbo Tube® drier.
• the extruded hard detergent particles may be coated by transferring them to a fluid bed and spraying onto them up to 40 wt% (based on coated detergent particle) of inorganic material in aqueous solution and drying off the water.
• the coating material is not contributing to the wash performance of the composition then it is desirable to keep the level of coating as low as possible, preferably less than 35 wt% even less than 30 wt%, especially for larger extruded particles with a surface area to volume ratio of greater than 4 mm -1 .
• the detergent composition preferably comprises at least 85 wt% of coated particles. However, compositions with up to 100 wt% of the particles are possible when basic additives are incorporated into the extruded particles, or into their coating.
• the composition may also comprise, for example, an antifoam granule.
• Particles of different colours may be used in admixture, or they can be blended with contrasting powder.
• particles of the same colour as one another may also be used to form a full composition.
• the coating quality and appearance is very good due to the excellent surface of the cut extrudates onto which the coating is applied in association with the large particle size and S/V ratios of the preferred particles.
• the detergent particles comprise perfume.
• the perfume may be added into the extruder or premixed with the surfactant blend in the mill, or in a mixer placed after the mill, either as a liquid or as encapsulated perfume particles.
• the perfume may be mixed with a nonionic material and blended. Such a blend may alternatively be applied by coating the extruded particles, for example by spraying it mixed with molten nonionic surfactant.
• Perfume may also be introduced into the composition by means of a separate perfume granule and then the detergent particle does not need to comprise any perfume.
• Surfactant blends that do not require builders to be present for effective detergency in hard water are preferred. Such blends are called calcium tolerant surfactant blends if they pass the test set out hereinafter. Thus, it may be advantageous if the extruded core is made using a calcium tolerant surfactant blend according to the test herein described. However, the invention may also be of use for washing with soft water, either naturally occurring or made using a water softener. In this case, calcium tolerance is no longer important and blends other than calcium tolerant ones may be used.
• LAS can be at least partially replaced by MES, or, less preferably, partially replaced by up to 20 wt % PAS.
• the surfactants are mixed together before being input to the drier. Conventional mixing equipment is used.
• scraped film devices may be used.
• a preferred form of scraped film device is a wiped film evaporator.
• One such suitable wiped film evaporator is the "Dryex system" based on a wiped film evaporator available from Ballestra S.p.A..
• Alternative drying equipment includes tube-type driers, such as a Chemithon Turbo Tube® drier, and soap driers.
• the hot material exiting the scraped film drier is subsequently cooled and broken up into suitable sized pieces to feed to the extruder. Simultaneous cooling and breaking into flakes may conveniently be carried out using a chill roll. If the flakes from the chill roll are not suitable for direct feed to the extruder then they can be milled in a milling apparatus and /or they can be blended with other liquid or solid ingredients in a blending and milling apparatus, such as a ribbon mill. Such milled or blended material is desirably of particle size 1 mm or less for feeding to the extruder.
• Particulate material with a mean particle size of 10 nm to 10 ⁇ m is preferred for use as a milling aid.
• materials there may be mentioned, by way of example: aerosil®, alusil®, and microsil®.
• the extruder provides further opportunities to blend in ingredients other than surfactants, or even to add further surfactants.
• all of the anionic surfactant, or other surfactant supplied in admixture with water; i.e. as paste or as solution, is added into the drier to ensure that the water content can then be reduced and the material fed to and through the extruder is sufficiently dry.
• Additional materials that can be blended into the extruder are thus mainly those that are used at very low levels in a detergent composition: such as fluorescer, shading dye, enzymes, perfume, silicone antifoams, polymeric additives and preservatives.
• Solid additives are generally preferred. Liquids, such as perfume may be added at levels up to 2.5 wt%, preferably up to 1.5 wt%. Solid particulate structuring (liquid absorbing) materials or builders, such as zeolite, carbonate, silicate are preferably not added to the blend being extruded. These materials are not needed due to the self structuring properties of the very dry LAS-based feed material. If any is used the total amount should be less than 5 wt%, preferably less than 4 wt%, most preferably less than 3 wt%. At such levels no significant structuring occurs and the inorganic particulate material is added for a different purpose, for instance as a flow aid to improve the feed of particles to the extruder.
• the output from the extruder is shaped by the die plate used.
• the extruded material has a tendency to swell up in the centre relative to the periphery.
• An advantageous variant of the process takes the sliced extruded particles and coats them. This allows the particles to be coloured easily. It also further reduces the stickiness of the hygroscopic surfactant core to a point where the particles are free flowing. Coating makes them more suitable for use in detergent compositions that may be exposed to high humidity for long periods.
• the thickness of coating obtainable by use of a coating level of say 5 wt% is much greater than would be achieved on typically sized detergent granules (0.5-2mm diameter sphere).
• the extruded particles can be considered as oblate spheroids with a major radius "a” and minor radius "b".
• this surface area to volume ratio must be greater than 3 mm-1.
• the coating thickness is inversely proportional to this coefficient and hence for the coating the ratio "Surface area of coated particle" divided by "Volume of coated particle” should be less than 15 mm-1.
• any known coating may be used, for instance organic, including polymer
• An aqueous spray-on of coating solution in a fluidised bed may also generate a further slight rounding of the detergent particles during the fluidisation process.
• Suitable inorganic coating solutions include sodium carbonate, possibly in admixture with sodium sulphate, and sodium chloride. Food dyes, shading dyes, fluorescer and other optical modifiers can be added to the coating by dissolving them in the spray-on solution or dispersion.
• Use of a builder salt such as sodium carbonate is particularly advantageous because it allows the detergent particle to have an even better performance by buffering the system in use at an ideal pH for maximum detergency of the anionic surfactant system. It also increases ionic strength, which is known to improve cleaning in hard water, and it is compatible with other detergent ingredients that may be admixed with the coated extruded detergent particles.
• the amount of coating should lie in the range 3 to 50 wt% of the particle, preferably 20 to 40 wt% for the best results in terms of anti-caking properties of the detergent particles.
• the coated particles dissolve easily in water and leave very low or no residues on dissolution, due to the absence of insoluble structurant materials such as zeolite.
• the coated particles have an exceptional visual appearance, due to the smoothness of the coating coupled with the smoothness of the underlying particles, which is also believed to be a result of the lack of particulate structuring material in the extruded particles.
• the coated detergent particle is curved.
• the size is such that y and z are at least 3 mm, preferably 4 mm, most preferably 5 mm and x lies in the range 1 to 2 mm.
• the coated laundry detergent particle may be shaped as a disc.
• the core is primarily surfactant. It may also include detergency additives, such as perfume, shading dye, enzymes, cleaning polymers and soil release polymers.
• the coated laundry detergent particle comprises between 50 to 90 wt% of a surfactant, most preferably 70 to 90 wt%.
• a surfactant most preferably 70 to 90 wt%.
• the nonionic and anionic surfactants of the surfactant system may be chosen from the surfactants described " Surface Active Agents" Vol. 1, by Schwartz & Perry , Interscience 1949, Vol. 2 by Schwartz, Perry & Berch , Interscience 1958, in the current edition of "McCutcheon's Emulsifiers and Detergents” published by Manufacturing Confectioners Company or in " Tenside Taschenbuch", H. Stache, 2nd Edn., Carl Hauser Verlag, 1981 .
• the surfactants used are saturated.
• Suitable anionic detergent compounds that may be used are usually water-soluble alkali metal salts of organic sulphates and sulphonates having alkyl radicals containing from about 8 to about 22 carbon atoms, the term alkyl being used to include the alkyl portion of higher acyl radicals.
• suitable synthetic anionic detergent compounds are sodium and potassium alkyl sulphates, especially those obtained by sulphating higher C8 to C18 alcohols, produced for example from tallow or coconut oil, sodium and potassium alkyl C9 to C20 benzene sulphonates, particularly sodium linear secondary alkyl C10 to C15 benzene sulphonates; and sodium alkyl glyceryl ether sulphates, especially those ethers of the higher alcohols derived from tallow or coconut oil and synthetic alcohols derived from petroleum.
• anionic surfactants are sodium lauryl ether sulphate (SLES), particularly preferred with 1 to 3 ethoxy groups, sodium C10 to C15 alkyl benzene sulphonates and sodium C12 to C18 alkyl sulphates. Also applicable are surfactants such as those described in EP-A-328 177 (Unilever), which show resistance to salting out, the alkyl polyglycoside surfactants described in EP-A-070 074 , and alkyl monoglycosides. The chains of the surfactants may be branched or linear.
• the fatty acid soap used preferably contains from about 16 to about 22 carbon atoms, preferably in a straight chain configuration.
• the anionic contribution from soap may be from 0 to 30 wt% of the total anionic. Use of more than 10 wt% soap is not preferred.
• At least 50 wt% of the anionic surfactant is selected from: sodium C11 to C15 alkyl benzene sulphonates; and, sodium C12 to C18 alkyl sulphates.
• the anionic surfactant is present in the coated laundry detergent particle at levels between 15 to 85 wt%, more preferably 50 to 80wt%.
• Suitable non-ionic detergent compounds which may be used include, in particular, the reaction products of compounds having a hydrophobic group and a reactive hydrogen atom, for example, aliphatic alcohols, acids, amides or alkyl phenols with alkylene oxides, especially ethylene oxide either alone or with propylene oxide.
• Preferred nonionic detergent compounds are C6 to C22 alkyl phenol-ethylene oxide condensates, generally 5 to 25 EO, i.e. 5 to 25 units of ethylene oxide per molecule, and the condensation products of aliphatic C8 to C18 primary or secondary linear or branched alcohols with ethylene oxide, generally 5 to 50 EO.
• the non-ionic is 10 to 50 EO, more preferably 20 to 35 EO. Alkyl ethoxylates are particularly preferred.
• the non-ionic surfactant is present in the coated laundry detergent particle at levels between 5 to 75 wt%, more preferably 10 to 40 wt%.
• Cationic surfactant may be present as minor ingredients at levels preferably between 0 to 5 wt%.
• surfactants are mixed together before being dried. Conventional mixing equipment may be used.
• the surfactant core of the laundry detergent particle may be formed by roller compaction and subsequently coated with an inorganic salt.
• the core is calcium tolerant and this is a preferred aspect because this reduces the need for a builder.
• Surfactant blends that do not require builders to be present for effective detergency in hard water are preferred. Such blends are called calcium tolerant surfactant blends if they pass the test set out hereinafter. However, the invention may also be of use for washing with soft water, either naturally occurring or made using a water softener. In this case, calcium tolerance is no longer important and blends other than calcium tolerant ones may be used.
• the surfactant blend in question is prepared at a concentration of 0.7 g surfactant solids per litre of water containing sufficient calcium ions to give a French hardness of 40 (4 x 10-3 Molar Ca2+).
• Other hardness ion free electrolytes such as sodium chloride, sodium sulphate, and sodium hydroxide are added to the solution to adjust the ionic strength to 0.05M and the pH to 10.
• the adsorption of light of wavelength 540 nm through 4 mm of sample is measured 15 minutes after sample preparation. Ten measurements are made and an average value is calculated. Samples that give an absorption value of less than 0.08 are deemed to be calcium tolerant.
• Suitable calcium tolerant co-surfactants include SLES 1-7EO, and alkyl ethoxylate non-ionic surfactants, particularly those with melting points less than 40°C.
• a LAS/SLES surfactant blend has a superior foam profile to a LAS Nonionic surfactant blend and is therefore preferred for hand washing formulations requiring high levels of foam.
• SLES may be used at levels of up to 30%.
• a LAS/NI surfactant blend provides a harder particle and its lower foam profile makes it more suited for automatic washing machine use.
• the main component of the coating is the water soluble inorganic salt.
• Other water compatible ingredients may be included in the coating.
• fluorescer SCMC
• additional dyes e.g. shading dyes, pigments, silicate.
• the water soluble inorganic salts are preferably selected from sodium carbonate, sodium chloride, sodium silicate and sodium sulphate, or mixtures thereof, most preferably 70 to 100 wt % sodium carbonate.
• the water soluble inorganic salt is present as a coating on the particle.
• the water soluble inorganic salt is preferably present at a level that reduces the stickiness of the laundry detergent particle to a point where the particles are free flowing.
• the amount of coating should lay in the range 1 to 40 wt% of the particle, preferably 20 to 40 wt%, even more preferably 25 to 35 wt% for the best results in terms of anti-caking properties of the detergent particles.
• the coating is applied to the surface of the surfactant core, by crystallisation from an aqueous solution of the water soluble inorganic salt.
• the aqueous solution preferably contains greater than 50g/L, more preferably 200 g/L of the salt.
• An aqueous spray-on of the coating solution in a fluidised bed has been found to give good results and may also generate a slight rounding of the detergent particles during the fluidisation process. Drying and/or cooling may be needed to finish the process.
• the thickness of coating obtainable by use of a coating level of say 5 wt% is much greater than would be achieved on typically sized detergent granules (0.5-2 mm diameter sphere).
• this surface area to volume ratio must be greater than 3 mm -1 .
• the coating thickness is inversely proportional to this coefficient and hence for the coating the ratio "Surface area of coated particle" divided by "Volume of coated particle” should be less than 15 mm -1 .
• a preferred calcium tolerant coated laundry detergent particle comprises 15 to 100 wt% anionic surfactant of which 20 to 30 wt% is sodium lauryl ether sulphate.
• the coated detergent particle comprises from 70 to 100 wt%, more preferably 85 to 90 wt%, of a detergent composition in a package.
• the coated detergent particles are substantially the same shape and size by this is meant that at least 90 to 100% of the coated laundry detergent particles in the in the x, y and z dimensions are within a 20%, preferably 10%, variable from the largest to the smallest coated laundry detergent particle in the corresponding dimension.
• the particle preferably comprises from 0 to 15 wt% water, more preferably 0 to 10 wt%, most preferably from 1 to 5 wt% water, at 293K and 50% relative humidity. This facilitates the storage stability of the particle and its mechanical properties.
• ingredients described below may be present in the coating or the core.
• the coated laundry detergent particle preferably comprises a fluorescent agent (optical brightener).
• fluorescent agents are well known and many such fluorescent agents are available commercially. Usually, these fluorescent agents are supplied and used in the form of their alkali metal salts, for example, the sodium salts.
• the total amount of the fluorescent agent or agents used in the composition is generally from 0.005 to 2 wt%, more preferably 0.01 to 0.1 wt%. Suitable Fluorescers for use in the invention are described in chapter 7 of Industrial Dyes edited by K. Hunger 2003 Wiley-VCH ISBN 3-527-30426-6 .
• Preferred fluorescers are selected from the classes distyrylbiphenyls, triazinylaminostilbenes, bis(1,2,3-triazol-2-yl)stilbenes, bis(benzo[b]furan-2-yl)biphenyls, 1,3-diphenyl-2-pyrazolines and courmarins.
• the fluorescer is preferably sulphonated.
• Preferred classes of fluorescer are: Di-styryl biphenyl compounds, e.g. Tinopal (Trade Mark) CBS-X, Di-amine stilbene di-sulphonic acid compounds, e.g. Tinopal DMS pure Xtra and Blankophor (Trade Mark) HRH, and Pyrazoline compounds, e.g. Blankophor SN.
• Di-styryl biphenyl compounds e.g. Tinopal (Trade Mark) CBS-X
• Di-amine stilbene di-sulphonic acid compounds e.g. Tinopal DMS pure Xtra and Blankophor (Trade Mark) HRH
• Pyrazoline compounds e.g. Blankophor SN.
• Preferred fluorescers are: sodium 2 (4-styryl-3-sulfophenyl)-2H-napthol[1,2-d]triazole, disodium 4,4'-bis ⁇ [(4-anilino-6-(N methyl-N-2 hydroxyethyl) amino 1,3,5-triazin-2-yl)]amino ⁇ stilbene-2-2' disulfonate, disodium 4,4'-bis ⁇ [(4-anilino-6-morpholino-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl)]amino ⁇ stilbene-2-2' disulfonate, and disodium 4,4'-bis(2-sulfostyryl)biphenyl.
• Tinopal® DMS is the disodium salt of disodium 4,4'-bis ⁇ [(4-anilino-6-morpholino-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl)]amino ⁇ stilbene-2-2' disulfonate.
• Tinopal® CBS is the disodium salt of disodium 4,4'-bis(2-sulfostyryl)biphenyl.
• the composition comprises a perfume.
• the perfume is preferably in the range from 0.001 to 3 wt%, most preferably 0.1 to 1 wt%.
• CTFA Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association
• Many suitable examples of perfumes are provided in the CTFA (Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association) 1992 International Buyers Guide, published by CFTA Publications and OPD 1993 Chemicals Buyers Directory 80th Annual Edition, published by Schnell Publishing Co .
• compositions of the present invention it is envisaged that there will be four or more, preferably five or more, more preferably six or more or even seven or more different perfume components.
• top notes are defined by Poucher (Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists 6(2):80 [1955 ]).
• Preferred top-notes are selected from citrus oils, linalool, linalyl acetate, lavender, dihydromyrcenol, rose oxide and cis-3-hexanol.
• the coated laundry detergent particles do not contain a peroxygen bleach, e.g., sodium percarbonate, sodium perborate, and peracid.
• a peroxygen bleach e.g., sodium percarbonate, sodium perborate, and peracid.
• the composition may comprise one or more further polymers.
• further polymers are carboxymethylcellulose, poly (ethylene glycol), poly(vinyl alcohol), polyethylene imines, ethoxylated polyethylene imines, water soluble polyester polymers polycarboxylates such as polyacrylates, maleic/acrylic acid copolymers and lauryl methacrylate/acrylic acid copolymers.
• One or more enzymes are preferably present in the composition.
• the level of each enzyme is from 0.0001 wt% to 0.5 wt% protein.
• enzymes include proteases, alpha-amylases, cellulases, lipases, peroxidases/oxidases, pectate lyases, and mannanases, or mixtures thereof.
• Suitable lipases include those of bacterial or fungal origin. Chemically modified or protein engineered mutants are included. Examples of useful lipases include lipases from Humicola (synonym Thermomyces), e.g. from H. lanuginosa (T. lanuginosus) as described in EP 258 068 and EP 305 216 or from H. insolens as described in WO 96/13580 , a Pseudomonas lipase, e.g. from P. alcaligenes or P. pseudoalcaligenes ( EP 218 272 ), P. cepacia ( EP 331 376 ), P. stutzeri ( GB 1,372,034 ), P.
• lipase variants such as those described in WO 92/05249 , WO 94/01541 , EP 407 225 , EP 260 105 , WO 95/35381 , WO 96/00292 , WO 95/30744 , WO 94/25578 , WO 95/14783 , WO 95/22615 , WO 97/04079 and WO 97/07202 , WO 00/60063 , WO 09/107091 and WO09/111258 .
• Preferred lipase enzymes include LipolaseTM and Lipolase UltraTM, LipexTM (Novozymes A/S) and LipocleanTM.
• the method of the invention may be carried out in the presence of phospholipase classified as EC 3.1.1.4 and/or EC 3.1.1.32.
• phospholipase is an enzyme that has activity towards phospholipids.
• Phospholipids such as lecithin or phosphatidylcholine, consist of glycerol esterified with two fatty acids in an outer (sn-1) and the middle (sn-2) positions and esterified with phosphoric acid in the third position; the phosphoric acid, in turn, may be esterified to an amino-alcohol.
• Phospholipases are enzymes that participate in the hydrolysis of phospholipids.
• phospholipases A1 and A2 which hydrolyze one fatty acyl group (in the sn-1 and sn-2 position, respectively) to form lysophospholipid
• lysophospholipase or phospholipase B
• Phospholipase C and phospholipase D release diacyl glycerol or phosphatidic acid respectively.
• proteases include those of animal, vegetable or microbial origin. Microbial origin is preferred. Chemically modified or protein engineered mutants are included.
• the protease may be a serine protease or a metallo protease, preferably an alkaline microbial protease or a trypsin-like protease.
• Suitable protease enzymes include AlcalaseTM, SavinaseTM, PrimaseTM, DuralaseTM, DyrazymTM, EsperaseTM, EverlaseTM, PolarzymeTM, and KannaseTM, (Novozymes A/S), MaxataseTM, MaxacalTM, MaxapemTM, ProperaseTM, PurafectTM, Purafect OxPTM, FN2TM, and FN3TM (Genencor International Inc.).
• the method of the invention may be carried out in the presence of cutinase. classified in EC 3.1.1.74.
• the cutinase used according to the invention may be of any origin.
• cutinases are of microbial origin, in particular of bacterial, of fungal or of yeast origin.
• Suitable amylases include those of bacterial or fungal origin. Chemically modified or protein engineered mutants are included. Amylases include, for example, alpha-amylases obtained from Bacillus, e.g. a special strain of B. licheniformis, described in more detail in GB 1,296,839 , or the Bacillus sp. strains disclosed in WO 95/026397 or WO 00/060060 .
• Suitable amylases are DuramylTM, TermamylTM, Termamyl UltraTM, NatalaseTM, StainzymeTM, FungamylTM and BANTM (Novozymes A/S), RapidaseTM and PurastarTM (from Genencor International Inc.).
• Suitable cellulases include those of bacterial or fungal origin. Chemically modified or protein engineered mutants are included. Suitable cellulases include cellulases from the genera Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Humicola, Fusarium, Thielavia, Acremonium, e.g. the fungal cellulases produced from Humicola insolens, Thielavia terrestris, Myceliophthora thermophila, and Fusarium oxysporum disclosed in US 4,435,307 , US 5,648,263 , US 5,691,178 , US 5,776,757 , WO 89/09259 , WO 96/029397 , and WO 98/012307 .
• Cellulases include CelluzymeTM, CarezymeTM, EndolaseTM, RenozymeTM (Novozymes A/S), ClazinaseTM and Puradax HATM (Genencor International Inc.), and KAC-500(B)TM (Kao Corporation).
• Suitable peroxidases/oxidases include those of plant, bacterial or fungal origin. Chemically modified or protein engineered mutants are included. Examples of useful peroxidases include peroxidases from Coprinus, e.g. from C. cinereus, and variants thereof as those described in WO 93/24618 , WO 95/10602 , and WO 98/15257 . Peroxidases include GuardzymeTM and NovozymTM 51004 (Novozymes A/S).
• Any enzyme present in the composition may be stabilized using conventional stabilizing agents, e.g., a polyol such as propylene glycol or glycerol, a sugar or sugar alcohol, lactic acid, boric acid, or a boric acid derivative, e.g., an aromatic borate ester, or a phenyl boronic acid derivative such as 4-formylphenyl boronic acid, and the composition may be formulated as described in e.g. WO 92/19709 and WO 92/19708 .
• a polyol such as propylene glycol or glycerol
• a sugar or sugar alcohol lactic acid, boric acid, or a boric acid derivative, e.g., an aromatic borate ester, or a phenyl boronic acid derivative such as 4-formylphenyl boronic acid
• Sequestrants may be present in the detergent particles.
• a coated detergent particle colour were created containing Acid Violet 50 in the core.
• the particles weighed ⁇ 0.013g each.
• the Particle appeared a gorgeous violet to the eye
• the extruded product was cut after the die-plate using a high speed cutter set up to produce particle with a thickness of ⁇ 1.1 mm.
• the coating solution was fed to the spray nozzle of the Strea 1 via a peristaltic pump (Watson-Marlow model 101U/R) at an initial rate of 3.3g/min, rising to 9.1g/min during the course of the coating trial.
• a peristaltic pump Wood-Marlow model 101U/R
• the Fluid bed coater was operated with an initial air inlet air temperature of 55°C increasing to 90°C during the course of the coating trial whilst maintaining the outlet temperature in the range 45-50°C throughout the coating process.
• L* a* b* Particle Dye in the Core 76.2 2.9 -7.9 L* is the lightness, as objects become coloured L* drops a* is the red-green axis with +ve values indicating a red colour and -ve a green colour b* is the yellow-blue axis with +ve values indicating a yellow colour and -ve a blue colour
• the particle is clearly violet with a negative b* value.

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