EP3019652B1

EP3019652B1 - Scouring pad for washing dishes

Info

Publication number: EP3019652B1
Application number: EP14823762.1A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Sang-Won EUN
Original assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Co
Current assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Co
Priority date: 2013-07-12
Filing date: 2014-07-09
Publication date: 2018-08-22
Anticipated expiration: 2034-07-09
Also published as: KR20150007830A; CN105358752A; MX2016000361A; EP3019652A1; MX356670B; US20160106291A1; EP3019652A4; WO2015006415A1; CN105358752B; KR102104135B1

Description

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a scouring pad for washing dishes. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a scouring pad for washing dishes, which contains a biodegradable polymer.

Background

A scouring pad for washing dishes is widely used for removing contaminants stained on dishes and the like. The scouring pad is generally formed of a polymer fiber. Accordingly, when the scouring pad is discarded after it is used, there may incur an environmental pollution problem according to processing of a waste polymer. In order to solve the problem, a scouring pad for washing dishes manufactured by using an environmentally-friendly polymer have been developed. An example can be seen in WO02/071914 .
Regarding the environmentally-friendly polymer, for example, Korean Patent Registration No. 10-0501468 discloses high intensity biodegradable polyester resin and manufacturing method thereof. Korean Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-2012-0114507 also teaches thermally adhesive co-polyester having excellent biodegradable feature, manufacturing method thereof, and binder fiber containing the same. However, the scouring pad products using the environmentally-friendly polymer in prior art have a problem that cleaning power is low, or bubble are not generated well. The aforementioned products may occur a problem of making scratches on surfaces of dishes which are cleaning targets.

Summary

The disclosed scouring pad provides an environmentally-friendly scouring pad for washing dishes, which exhibits excellent cleaning power and forms bubbles better, does not cause scratches of surfaces of dishes, by resolving the problems mentioned above.
An exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure provides a scouring pad for washing dishes comprising: (a) a plurality of degradable polyester divided yarns heat-treated at 120°C to 170°C and (b) a plurality of degradable polyester filament yarns, wherein the individual filament yarns are aligned in parallel to each other and the individual divided yarns are positioned between the adjacent two filament yarns and are connected to the adjacent two filaments.
The divided yarn may be the divided yarns heat-treated at 130°C to 160°C, preferably, poly-lactic acid heat-treated at 130°C to 160°C.
The divided yarn may have a thickness of 550 to 650 deniers, and may be formed of 23 to 30 filaments.
The filament yarn may be poly-lactic acid, and may have a thickness of 350 to 450 deniers. The scouring pad may have a border sewing line. The border sewing thread may be biodegradable polyester filament yarn, and preferably, may be poly-lactic acid.
The present disclosure also provides the scouring pad for washing dishes further comprising a sponge.
According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide an environmentally-friendly scouring pad for washing dishes, which exhibits excellent cleaning power and forms bubbles better even without abrasives, does not cause scratches of surfaces of dishes, and naturally degrades when being discarded.

Brief Description of the Drawings

FIG. 1 illustrates a structure of a scouring pad for washing dishes according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure in which the divided yarns are positioned between the adjacent two filament yarns and are connected to the adjacent two filaments;
FIG. 2 illustrates the scouring pad according to the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;
FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged picture of the scouring pad of FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 shows a picture of scouring pads according to an example and comparative examples 1 to 5, and partially enlarged pictures of the scouring pads;
FIG. 5 illustrates a result of a comparison of cleaning power of the scouring pads according to the example and comparative examples 4 and 5;
FIG. 6 illustrates a result of a comparison of scratch resistance of the scouring pads according to the example and comparative examples 1 to 5;
FIG. 7a shows a state in which oil is adsorbed to the sample according to the example when taken from a top, and FIG. 7b shows a state in which oil is adsorbed to the sample according to the example when taken from a side.

Detailed Description of the Invention

As illustrated in FIG. 1, a scouring pad for washing dishes according to the present disclosure comprises (a) a plurality of degradable polyester divided yarns 20 heat-treated at 120°C to 170°C and (b) a plurality of degradable polyester filament yarns 10, wherein the individual filament yarns 10 are aligned in parallel to each other and the individual divided yarns 20 are positioned between the adjacent two filament yarns 10 and are connected to the adjacent two filaments 10. In the structure, the filament yarns 10 correspond to basic frames of the pad, and the divided yarns 20 are positioned next to the filament yarns.
A fiber may be divided into cotton yarn and filament yarn according to a length and a manufacturing method thereof. The cotton yarn is manufactured by performing a cotton carding process of evenly engaging and arranging single fibers, such as cotton, linen, and wool, in a direction of a fiber axis several times, and twisting the single fibers at the last stage. Meanwhile, the filament yarn is manufactured by combining several strands of infinitely long fibers (filament yarn), such as a silk fiber or an artificial fiber, side by side, and twisting the fibers.
In the present disclosure, biodegradable polyester may be used as the filament yarn. The biodegradable polyester may be derived and obtainable from nature, such as biomass, and thus is a naturally degradable environmentally-friendly material.
For example, poly-lactic acid (PLA) may be used as the biodegradable polyester. The biodegradable polyester filament yarn may also be used for forming a basic frame of the scouring pad, but may be used for forming a border sewing thread. In this case, the border sewing thread formed of the biodegradable polyester filament yarn is more environmentally-friendly, compared to a border sewing thread formed of a non-biodegradable fiber, such as nylon.
When the filament yarn forms the basic frame, it is preferable to use the biodegradable polyester, particularly, poly-lactic acid, with a thickness of, for example, 350 to 650 deniers. When the thickness of the biodegradable polyester filament yarn has lower than 350 deniers, it is difficult to maintain an intensity of the biodegradable polyester filament yarn. When the thickness of the biodegradable polyester exceeds 650 deniers, the scouring pad is stiff, such that flexibility deteriorates.
When the filament yarn forms the border sewing thread of the scouring pad, it is preferable to use the biodegradable polyester, particularly, poly-lactic acid, with a thickness of, for example, 800 to 1200 deniers. When the thickness of the biodegradable polyester filament yarn has lower than 800 deniers, the intensity thereof is weak, so that there are concerns regarding unraveling of the sewing thread. When the biodegradable polyester filament yarn exceeds 1,200 deniers, cost is increased, thereby degrading economical feasibility, and the scouring pad becomes stiff, thereby degrading flexibility.
The divided yarn refers to filament yarn obtained by applying static electricity to the multifilament, and then opening the multifilament (spreading a bundle of fibers and making the spread fibers sparse) to be divided. It is more economical to make thread by dividing the multifilament as described above, compared to making thin thread from the beginning.
In the present disclosure, biodegradable polyester heat-treated at 120°C to 170°C, and preferably at 130°C to 160°C, may be used as the divided yarn. For example, poly-lactic acid heat-treated at 120°C to 170°C, preferably at 130°C to 160°C, may be used. There may incur a problem that the divided yarn may be broken when temperature of the heat treatment exceeds 170°C, and the divided yarn may not be hard under the heat treatment at the temperature lower than 120°C.
The biodegradable polyester used as the divided yarn provides excellent cleaning power, and exhibits an excellent effect of forming bubbles even without abrasives. The reason seems to be that many air-contact surfaces exist between the divided yarn fibers, and that bubbles are stored in the air contact surfaces, so that the bubbles are maintained for a longer time.
A thickness of the heat-treated biodegradable polyester is 550 to 650 deniers, and polylactic acid divided yarn with 23 to 30 fils is preferably used as the heat-treated biodegradable polyester. The divided yarn having the aforementioned thickness prevents foreign materials, such as rice paste, from being easily stuck in a scouring pad in a process of washing dishes, and allows the scouring pad to be easily dry and simultaneously prevents germs from easily living.
The scouring pad according to the present disclosure has the aforementioned divided yarn structure, thereby preventing minimal scratches on the surfaces of dishes, which are targets for cleaning. The reason is that the scouring pad according to the present disclosure does not include an abrasive film, contrary to the conventional scouring pad.
In the present disclosure, the filament yarn may be manufactured by a common method widely known to the field. For example, the filament yarn may be manufactured by spinning a PLA fiber extracted from corn. In this case, the filament yarn formed of 100% of poly-lactic acid may be manufactured. The filament yarn manufactured may have excellent durability and excellent biodegradability, thereby securing basic mechanical performance as a scouring pad. The manufactured filament yarn is formed of a natural component, so that the manufactured filament yarn may naturally degrade in land even when the manufactured filament yarn is discarded after it is used. The filament yarn is woven to a PLA mesh net by a spinning process. The divided yarn and the filament yarn are woven by a comed method, which is a method in which the divided yarns connect the filament yarns in a zigzag manner in a state that the filament yarns form a basic frame. The manufactured mesh net has a shape of a checkerboard having openings (see FIG. 3).
The scouring pad manufactured by the present disclosure may have one layer, or may have a structure in which two scouring pads enclose sponge in a sandwiched shape while having the sponge interposed therebetween. The sponge may be manufactured from bean produced from nature as a raw material. Accordingly, the scouring pad having the sandwiched shape may be an environmentally-friendly product.

Example

Filament yarn with 100% of poly-lactic acid was manufactured by spinning a PLA fiber extracted from corn. The manufactured filament yarn was woven to a PLA mesh net by a spinning process. Details of the manufactured PLA mesh net are represented in Table 1 below.

Table 1

Fiber	Material	Function and role	Denier
Filament yarn	100% PLA	Basic frame	400
Divided yarn	100% PLA	Strong cleaning power Form sufficient bubbles	600, 25 fils
Filament yarn	100% PLA	Sewing	1000

A full sized picture of the sample manufactured in the example is represented in FIG. 2, and a partially enlarged picture of the sample manufactured in the example is represented in FIG. 3.

Comparative Examples 1 to 5

Samples of comparative examples 1 to 5 were manufactured identically to the sample of the example. Main components of each sample are represented in Table 2 below.

Table 2

	Comp. 1	Comp. 2	Comp. 3	Example	Comp. 4	Comp. 5
First compone nt	PP fiber	Biodegrada ble PET fiber	PLA fiber (100%)	PLA fiber (100%)	PLA fiber	PLA fiber (100%)
Second compone nt	PET film			PLA divided yarn	PLA film
Sewing Thread	PP	PP	PLA	PLA	Nylon	PLA

Comp. 1: Scotch-Brite mesh net scouring pad (available from 3M Company)
Comp. 2: Biodegradable PET scouring pad (available from 3M Company)
Comp. 3: PLA mesh net scouring pad (available from 3M Company)
Comp. 4: PLA scouring pad (available from Seoryong Co., Ltd.)
Comp. 5: PLA scouring pad (available from Hankook Tamina Co., Ltd.)

A picture of the samples of the example and comparative examples 1 to 5 is represented in FIG. 4. In FIG. 4, the first row shows the full sized pictures of the respective samples, and the second row shows the partially enlarged pictures of the respective samples.

Evaluation test

1. Cleaning power test (rice removal test)

(1) Preparation of rice paste: 15g of cooked rice was put in 500 ml of water, and then mixed during 10 minutes by a mixer, to prepare rice paste.
(2) Preparation of coating panel: A rice paste solution was coated on a Sus 2 inches × 9 inches panel with a uniform thickness by using a #60 coater rod to prepare a coating panel.
(3) The coating panel was mounted on a crock meter. The scouring pad sample of the example, and the scouring pad samples of comparative examples 4 and 5 were sequentially mounted on a circular jig having a radius of 1 cm, to make the circular jig for 10 cycles reciprocate.
(4) After the reciprocation, a degree of cleaning was observed (qualitative analysis)
(5) Efficiency of cleaning may be digitized by measuring a weight before and after washing, as shown below. $Efficiency of cleaning (%) = \{(weight before cleaning-weight after cleaning) / (weight before cleaning)\} \times 100$

The result of the cleaning power test is represented in FIG. 5.
As illustrated in FIG. 5, it can be seen that the sample according to the example scrapes out rice paste to exhibit excellent cleaning power even without an abrasive, but rice paste left as it is in the samples of comparative examples 4 and 5.

2. Bubble forming performance test

(1) Preparation of detergent: A detergent solution of 5 ml of Na-DBS and 50 ml of water was put in a beaker, followed by being slowly stirred so as not to form bubbles.
(2) Bubble forming test: The scouring pad samples of the example and comparative examples 1 to 5 were folded by two or three layers and put in a circular jig having a radius of 5 cm, and fixed to a bottom of the circular jig, followed by making a plastic load with 2g pumping reciprocate upward and downward at 1,800 rpm by 100 cycles.
(3) A height of bubbles was calculated by measuring an uppermost height and a lowermost height of the bubbles formed by the pumping movement. $(Bubble height = uppermost height of bulbbles-lowermost height of bubbles)$

A result of the calculation of the bubble heights is represented in Table 3 below. Table 3

Comp. 1 Comp. 2 Comp. 3 Example Comp. 4 Comp. 5

Bubble height 3 cm 2 cm 1 cm 3 cm 1 cm 1 cm
As the result of the test, the sample according to the example exhibits excellent bubble forming performance, compared to the samples of comparative examples 2 to 5, and exhibits the same level of bubble forming performance as that of the sample of comparative example 1.

3. Scratch resistance test

(1) Preparation of acryl plate: A release paper was peeled off from a non-used acryl plate, and the acryl plate was cleaned with acetone one time, and was cleaned by using heptanes three times, to prepare the acryl plate.
(2) Non-Scratch Test: The acryl plate was fixed to a crock meter, and then the sample of the example and comparative examples 1 to 5 were mounted on a circular jig having a radius of 1 cm, followed by making the samples reciprocate 30 times.

The result of the test is represented in FIG. 6. As the result of the test, the sample according to the example exhibits little scratches compared to the samples of Comparative Examples 1 to 5.

4. Oil adsorption test

(1) Initial weights of the sample of the example and comparative examples 1 to 3 were measured.
(2) Next, each sample was soaked in an oil bath for two minutes.
(3) Each sample was dried on a holding stand for two minutes, and then a weight of each sample was measured again. $Oil adsorption ratio (g / g) = (weight after adsorption-weight before adsorption) / (weight before adsorption) (g)$

The result of the test is represented in Table 4 below.

Table 4

	Oil adsorption ratio
Example (20 × 22 cm)	400.4
Example (18 × 20 cm)	391.9
Comparative Example 1	221.5
Comparative Example 2	140.8
Comparative Example 3 (25 × 25 cm)	160.4
Comparative Example 3 (23 × 23 cm)	165.2

FIG. 7a shows a state in which oil is adsorbed to the sample according to the example when taken from a top. FIG. 7B shows a state in which oil is adsorbed to the sample according to the example when taken from a side.
As the result of the test, the sample according to the example exhibits an excellent oil adsorption ratio compared to the samples of comparative examples 1 to 3.

5. Others

A component of a sewing thread of the sample of comparative example 4 is nylon, so that the sample is not biodegradable. The sample of comparative example 4 is formed of the second component of the PLA film, but is not formed of the divided yarn, thereby having a problem of causing scratches.
The sample of Comparative Example 5 uses the PLA fiber which is not heat-treated, so that cleaning power deteriorates.

Claims

A scouring pad for washing dishes comprising:
(a) a plurality of degradable polyester divided yarns (20) heat-treated at 120°C to 170°C and

(b) a plurality of degradable polyester filament yarns, (10) wherein the individual filament yarns (10) are aligned in parallel to each other and the individual divided yarns (20) are positioned between the adjacent two filament yarns (10) and are connected to the adjacent two filaments.
The scouring pad of claim 1, wherein (a) the divided yarns are the divided yarns heat-treated at 130°C to 160°C.
The scouring pad of claim 1 or 2, wherein (a) the divided yarns are formed of polylactic acid.
The scouring pad of claim 1, wherein (b) the filament yarns are formed of polylactic acid.
The scouring pad of claim 1, having a border sewing line.
The scouring pad of claim 5, wherein the border sewing line is formed of biodegradable polyester filament yarns.
The scouring pad of claim 6, wherein the border sewing line is formed of polylactic acid.
The scouring pad of claim 1, wherein (a) the divided yarns have a thickness of 550 to 650 deniers, and is formed of 23 to 30 filaments.
The scouring pad of claim 1, wherein (b) the filament yarns have a thickness of 350 to 450 deniers.
The scouring pad of claim 1, further comprising a sponge.