GB2473599A

GB2473599A - Article having anti-microbial properties

Info

Publication number: GB2473599A
Application number: GB0914111A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Adam Nathanial Dickinson; Zarak Lowe
Original assignee: Euro Packaging Ltd
Current assignee: Euro Packaging Ltd
Priority date: 2009-08-12
Filing date: 2009-08-12
Publication date: 2011-03-23
Also published as: GB0914111D0

Abstract

An article 10, such as a bag, apron or glove, has a contact surface 20. The contact surface 20 is printed with an ink which has an anti-microbial agent additive in a biocidally effective amount. A bag may have the ink printed around the mouth, on a tab extending from the mouth and on the handles. The glove may be printed with ink on the gripping surfaces. The anti-microbial agent additive may comprise an aqueous dispersion of silver chloride-coated titanium dioxide particles. The use of printing techniques can reduce the required amount of biocide and therefore reduce the cost of the articles.

Description

An Article Having Anti-Microbial Properties The present invention relates to articles having anti-microbial properties, particularly but not exclusively limited to plastics material articles such as disposable and "longer life" carrier bags and disposable hygiene articles.

In recent years with the increasing awareness of the effects of microbial infection, for example certain strains of the E.coli bacterium and the so-called "super bug" MRSA, an increased emphasis has been placed upon hygiene, particularly the sanitisation of infection-sensitive environments, for example patients rooms or clinical areas. This emphasis has even extended to home products and various products are available both domestically and commercially which include biocidal additives.

One such biocidal additive is marketed under the registered trade mark MIIRCOBAN which is a biocidal additive included in, for example, home products such as chopping boards and food storage, fabrics and domestic fixtures.

Although the biocidal additive is only required in low concentrates, making an entire article with the biocidal additive included can add significantly to the cost of the article. Such cost ramifications have meant that the products made including the additive tended to be limited to "non-disposal" items, i.e. those items that are intended for more than a single use.

The additional cost associated with the additive makes it difficult to economically provide a one use disposable article with the biocidal characteristics.

There is a demand, particularly in health care and catering industries to provide hygienic, single use articles.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved article with anti-microbial properties.

According to the invention there is provided an article having a contact surface, the contact surface being printed with an ink having an anti-microbial agent additive in a biocidally effective amount.

In that way, the anti-microbial properties are provided by the ink which is printed only in the area required. For example, where the article is a disposable apron for use by nursing staff when cleaning a patient area, only the outer surface of the apron need be printed with the ink having the anti-microbial additive. By providing the anti-microbial additive in an ink, articles can be printed appropriately so as to provide maximum effectiveness in terms of the anti-microbial action of the ink in the contact area without the need to cover the entire article.

The article is preferably formed from a plastics material. The article may be a refuse bag, a carrier bag, a disposable glove or a disposable apron. Where the article is a refuse bag only the upper portion of the bag around the mouth may be printed.

Where the bag has handles, only the handles need to printed. If the carrier bag has a tab to assist pulling of the bag from a stack of bags on an apparatus or if a pulling portion is defined by the mounting apparatus of a stack of bags, those surfaces can also be treated with the anti-microbial ink.

Where the plastics material article is a disposable glove, only the fingers of the glove need to treated. Alternatively, the entire front (palm) surface of the glove can be treated leaving the back surface untreated. In similar fashion, where the article is a disposable apron, only the front surface of the apron need be printed, leaving the rear unprinted.

The ink preferably includes 0.1 to 1% by weight of the anti-microbial agent additive, most preferably 0.1% by weight.

The anti-microbial agent additive preferably comprises an aqueous dispersion of silver chloride-coated titanium dioxide particles.

Articles in accordance with the invention will now be described in detail by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-Fig. 1 is an elevation of a refuse bag in accordance with the invention, Fig.2 is an elevation of the refuse bag of Fig. 1 shown full of refuse with the mouth closed by means of ties, Fig.3 is an elevation of a "vest-style" carrier bag, Fig.4 is a view similar to Fig.3 with a fold line defined along the carrier bag, Fig.5 is a view similar to Figs.3 and 4 with the exception that the vest-style carrier bag in Fig.5 further includes a central tab of known configuration to facilitate pulling of the bag from a stack of bags on an apparatus in a retail store, Fig.6 is a perspective view of an apron in accordance with the invention, and Fig.7 is a perspective view of a disposable glove in accordance with the invention.

In Fig. 1, a refuse bag 10 is generally rectangular in plan and is formed from two sheets of material which are joined at their sides 12, 14 and base 16 so as to form a bag having an open mouth end 18 opposite the base 16. Both the inside and outside surfaces of both layers of a bag 10 are treated by printing with ink having an anti-microbial agent additive in the portion 20 adjacent the mouth 18 and extending approximately one-quarter to one-third of the way towards the base, along the length of the bag towards the base 16. Thus in Fig.1, when the refuse bag 10 is arranged within a waste bin the parts of the bag that tend to protrude from the waste bin are the parts adjacent the mouth end. In the bag 10 of the present invention, those parts that protrude will be the parts coated with ink having an anti-microbial agent additive.

The anti-microbial agent additive comprises an aqueous dispersion of silver chloride-coated titanium dioxide particles dispersed within the ink at a proportion of 0.1% by weight. The anti-microbial agent additive is sold by ADMASTER under the trade mark BIOMASTER.

When the refuse bag 10 is full, the user will usually remove the bag from the waste bin by pulling the bag upwardly out of the bin, holding onto the upper part of the bag 10. Those upper parts are then tied in a knot to secure the refuse bag and prevent refuse from escaping. As shown in Fig.2, by applying the ink to the upper portion of all surfaces of the bag 10 the user can remove the bag from the bin and tie it securely without having to contact any surface not treated with the anti-microbial ink.

This means that the user benefits from the anti-microbial properties of the ink without having to pay either for the entire bag to be treated with the anti-microbial ink or alternatively for the bag material to include an anti-microbial agent additive.

Figs.3 to 5 illustrate various typical disposable carrier bag configurations.

Looking first at Fig.3, a typical disposable (single use) carrier bag of the type dispensed by retail stores at checkouts, is configured as a so-called "vest bag". The vest bag 22 in Fig.3 comprises two layers of material which are joined along the sides 24, 26 and the base 28 to define a bag body having closed sides 24, 26 and a closed base 28 with an open mouth 30. A pair of handles 32, 34 extend upwardly from the mouth 30 away from the closed base 28. This arrangement is well known. In the present invention the handles 32, 34 are printed with the ink having the anti-microbial agent additive as indicated by the hatched section in that figure.

Turning to Fig.4, in some dispensing systems of such single use carrier bags, a stack of the bags is arranged within a container and the stack is folded with only part of the stack exposed for picking and removal via an aperture in the container. In this case, a stack of bags is folded about fold line F shown in broken lines in Fig.4 and, when arranged in a container, part of the front face of the bag 22 is presented for picking by a user. In that case, the part of the front face that is presented for picking can be printed with the ink to provide a portion of the front which has anti-microbial properties in addition to the handle 32, 34.

Turning to Fig.5, another known form of vest-style bag 38 is similar to the bag 22 in Figs.3 and 4. Parts in Fig.5 corresponding to parts in Figs.3 and 4 carry the same reference numerals.

The bag 38 in Fig.5 is similar in most respects to those shown in Figs.3 and 4 with the exception that a tab 40 is provided extending from the mouth 30 of the bag between the handles 32, 34. The tab 40 is arranged to allow pulling of the bag from a stack of bags on a rack mounting the stack. In the Fig.5 vest bag arrangement, the tab 40 is treated with the ink containing the anti-microbial agent additive in addition to the handles 32, 34.

In Fig.6, a disposable plastics material apron 42 of conventional form is shown. In this case, the outer surface 44 of the apron is printed with the ink containing the anti-microbial agent additive. The inner or rear surface of the apron 46 remains untreated. Such aprons are typically used by health care workers when cleaning an area. By providing the outer surface of the apron with biocidal properties without incurring the expense of coating both surfaces or, alternatively, forming the apron from a material having the anti-microbial additive the working surface of the apron still has a biocidal factor at considerably lower cost.

Turning to Fig.7, a disposable glove 48 is shown. The disposable glove 48 is treated with the ink having the anti-microbial agent additive on the inner surfaces of the finger portion 50, the inner surface of the thumb portion 52 and the central portion of the palm 54. Depending upon the application in which the glove is to be used, a greater or lesser proportion of the finger portions, thumb portion and palm need to be treated. For example, it may be necessary only to treat the tips of the finger portions 50. Alternatively, it may be necessary to treat the entire palm 54. The reverse side of the glove 48 which covers the back of the hand is unlikely to need treatment with the anti-microbial ink.

Various anti-microbial additives are known. In the present invention, we envisage using an aqueous dispersion of silver chloride-coated titanium dioxide particles. Such an additive is marketed by the company ADDMASTER under the trade mark BIOMASTER TC300 alternatively BIOMASTER GC 100TM may be used.

Such biocidal products both kill existing harmful organisms and suppress growth of further such organisms. The manufacturers of these additives claim that the additives in the levels discussed herein actively inhibit bacterial growth and produce a 99.99% reduction of organism population within 24 hours. Typically the organism population is reduced by 95% within 2 hours of contact.

Although the articles described herein have tended to be single use articles, it may be appropriate to apply the printing of ink with the anti-microbial agent additive to articles intended for longer use. For example, so called "bag for life" carrier bags which are intended for re-use by shoppers may be printed with the ink in appropriate places. Likewise, other more permanent articles or re-useable articles may be printed where appropriate. Other known biocidal additives may be used.

The present invention provides the significant advantage that printing an article with ink provides a controlled application of a biocidal coating to a particular area on an article without the need to coat the entire article.

Claims

Claims 1. An article having a contact surface, the contact surface being printed with an ink having anti-microbial agent additive in a biocidally effective amount.
2. An article according to claim 1 in which the article is made from a plastics material.
3. An article according to claim 1 or 2 in which the article is a bag.
4. An article according to claim 3 in which the contact surface of the bag printed with the ink is a portion of the bag surrounding the mouth thereof.
5. An article according to claim 3 or 4 in which the bag has handles and the handles are printed with the ink.
6. An article according to any one of claims 3, 4, or 5 in which the bag includes a tab extending from the mouth of the bag, the tab being printed with the ink.
7. An article according to any of claims 3 to 6 in which the bag has a picking portion on one face thereof, the picking portion being printed with the ink.
8. An article according to claim 1 or 2 in which the article comprises a disposable glove.
9. An article according to claim 8 in which the fingers of the glove are printed with the ink.
10. An article according to claim 8 or 9 in which all of the gripping surface of the glove is printed with the ink.
11. An article according to claim 1 or 2 in which the article comprises a disposal apron, the outer surface of the apron being printed with the ink.
12. An article according to any preceding claim in which the ink has from 0.1% to 1% by weight of the anti-microbial agent additive.
13. An article according to claim 12 in which the ink comprises 0.1% by weight of the anti-microbial agent additive.
14. An article according to any preceding claim in which the anti-microbial agent additive comprises an aqueous dispersion of silver chloride-coated titanium dioxide particles.