WO1994011127A1

WO1994011127A1 - Cleaning method

Info

Publication number: WO1994011127A1
Application number: PCT/AU1993/000584
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jimmy Paltidis; Tina Martinov
Original assignee: Phlorides, Peter, George; Campisi, Sebastion; Paltidis, Areti; Martinov, Anthony
Priority date: 1992-11-16
Filing date: 1993-11-16
Publication date: 1994-05-26

Abstract

There is provided a method for cleaning a container. The method includes placing a mixture of granules and liquid within a container and agitating the container to create relative motion between the container and the mixture such that the granules impinge against the interior surface of the container and thereby clean the surface. The granules also include a dissolvable portion, which enables the release of an agent which enhances the cleaning of the container.

Description

CLEANING METHOD

This invention relates to a method for cleaning containers, or articles enclosed in a container. Various methods are known for cleaning containers. Domestically, containers such as babies feeding bottles, condiment containers, salt and pepper containers and the like, are cleaned simply by inserting a sponge, scourer or cleaning cloth into the container and wiping the inside surfaces. Alternatively, or in addition to, a cleaning brush may be used, especially where hard-to-reach surfaces must be cleaned. It is common practice to also use cleaning agent, such as a detergent, to enhance the cleaning effect. While the above cleaning products are suitable for removing the majority of unwanted material from the inside surfaces of a container, they are sometimes not entirely effective in cleaning hard-to-reach areas or removing stubborn material, to achieve an acceptable level of cleanliness.

Industrially, similar problems occur in cleaning large containers and to overcome these problems, environmentally harsh chemicals are sometimes used. Alternatively, the soiled containers may simply be discarded, as the effort to clean the container is not financially justified. Scientific apparatus particularly is subject to very stringent cleaning requirements and much equipment is rendered useless by an inability to sufficiently remove soiled surfaces from the apparatus. It is an object of this invention to provide a method for cleaning containers which overcomes or alleviates at least some of these problems.

According to the present invention there is provided a method for cleaning a container, said method including placing a mixture of granules and liquid within a container and agitating said container to create relative motion between said container and said mixture such that said granules impinge against the interior surface of said container to clean said surface, wherein said granules include a dissolvable portion which enables the release of an agent which enhances the cleaning of said container.

The term "granules" as used in this specification is to encompass any form of balls, pellets or the like, which may be applicable to the method according to the invention. The size and shape of granule may depend in one aspect on the size of the container to be cleaned and on another aspect on the type of soiling which is to be removed. Therefore, the term "granule" is to be understood as including balls, pellets or the like of any suitable size and shape and of any suitable material, as deemed appropriate for the particular application to which the cleaning method is applied.

Granules for domestic use may be an elongated cylindrical shape, the length of which will be in the order of 3 to 4mm long. Each end of such a shaped and sized granule may be angled to form a point, such that the force of a granule on the inside surface of a container will be highly concentrated. For industrial use, an elongated cylindrical granule of up to 4cm or more in length may be used, with a proportional increase in the cylindrical diameter. In another application, the granules may be in the form of a powder, the powder essentially comprising tiny granules. The powder may be formed into larger granules where applicable, or may simply be used in the cleaning method in its powder form.

The granules themselves may be formed of any suitable material, with appropriate forms of plastic being applicable. However, it may be desirable in certain applications, to manufacture the granules to be dissolvable, so that they dissolve during the cleaning operation. The granules may be manufactured to dissolve over different time periods, to satisfy the needs of different users. A slow dissolving granule may not be fully dissolvable after one use and may allow repeated use, while a faster dissolving granule may be for once-off use. A fast dissolving granule may be convenient in that the liquid and the dissolved granule may simply be drained out of the container and dispensed with once the cleaning operation is complete. A slow dissolving granule may be desirable where a succession of containers is to be cleaned and the cleaning mixture can be transferred from one container to the next.

In a preferred embodiment,, the granules may be partially or fully formed by a detergent or antiseptic. Detergent/antiseptic based granules are envisaged as being particularly applicable for use where hygiene is of utmost importance ie. in the field of medicine or in scientific laboratories.

As a further alternative, the granules may be formed with a non-dissolvable plastic or other suitable core and a detergent or antiseptic based outer shell. The plastic core may enable the granule to exert a higher impact force against the inner surface of a container, than otherwise may be effected with a granule made fully from a dissolv- able material, however by maintaining the outer shell of detergent or antiseptic, the cleaning and hygiene advantages of such a granule are maintained.

The liquid to be used with the granules, may simply be tap water, although if desired, detergents or antiseptics may also be added, or used exclusively. However, under tests conducted to date, plastic granules and tap water have proved sufficient to remove the majority, if not all, of the soiling of dirty containers, under domestic conditions. The cleaning method is suitable not only for sealable containers, but . also for open-ended containers such as drinking glasses, as the granules may simply be placed inside the glass and a hand placed over the open end to seal the glass during the agitation step. Alternatively, the granules may be supplied with a universal-type sealing cap, suitable for use with a range of open-ended containers. The cap may simply be a flexible rubber-type material, which is held over the open end of the container, either by a suitable strapping means or by hand. Industrially, a metallic or other appropriate cap may be supplied with a suitable clamping mechanism.

In most domestic instances, the agitation step may be accomplished simply by shaking the container by hand. Alternatively, an agitation machine may be used, which accepts the container and agitates it for a period to be determined by the user. This latter method is likely to be more applicable in industrial applications i.e. hospitals, scientific laboratories, factories etc.

The present invention may also provide a method for cleaning an article placed within a container, whereby the granules impinge against the article to clean its surface.

The container may contain locating means for locating the articles inside the container, to prevent them from moving with the granules during the agitation step. This method is ideal for cleaning articles such as jewellery, coins, cutlery etc., which may be otherwise difficult to clean.

In order to assist in arriving at an understanding of the present invention, a preferred embodiment is illustrated in the attached drawing. However, it should be understood that the following description is illustrative only and should not be taken in any way as a restriction on the generality of the invention as described above. Figure 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a container containing a cleaning mixture.

Figure 2 shows a cross-sectional view of a granule according to one embodiment of the invention.

In Figure 1, a baby's milk bottle 1 is generally shown. The container comprises a cap 2 and a body 3, which are shown to be in threaded connection. A teat 4 is shown, connected between the cap 2 and the body 3. Having finished feeding the baby, the bottle will contain a milk residue which must be removed to ensure hygiene. The normal method is to wash the bottle using a detergent and a brush. Once clean, the bottle is then sterilised, either by boiling the bottle in water, or rinsing it with an antiseptic.

Using the method of the present invention, an amount of water or cleaning solution 5 is placed in the bottle.

Granules 6 are then added to the liquid 5 and the bottle 1 is closed in the usual manner. The bottle 1 is then shaken by hand, causing the granules 6 to impinge against the inside surface of the bottle 1, and by this action, the milk residue is removed. The cap 2 may then be removed and the liquid 5 and the granules 6 drained out. If solid, non-dissolvable granules have been used, then the mixture may be drained through a mesh or colander to retain the granules for later re-use, however, if the granules are . dissolvable, then it may be possible to simply drain away the mixture of the liquid 5 and the dissolved granules 6. For slowly dissolvable granules, it is likely that these will not be fully dissolved after one use and will be suitable for repeated use for a limited period of time. The person using the product will be able to determine when the granules are sufficiently dissolved and have ended their useful life such that they need to be replaced.

Although the method of the present invention has been described particularly in relation to domestic use, it is also applicable to many industrial uses. For example, it is envisaged that the method could be used in mass cleaning operations, i.e. recycling of beverage bottles or cleaning of scientific beakers. The method may be automated, such that the mixture of liquid and granules may be added to the bottle or container, then sealed and a vibrating machine used to create the agitating motion. Once clean, the mixture may be drained out, with the liquid being disposed of and the granules being retained for re-use. Alternatively, if fully dissolvable one-use granules are used, the entire mixture may simply be disposed of.

A cross-sectional view of a suitable granule according to the invention is shown in Figure 2. The granule is generally indicated by the numeral 7 and comprises an inner core 8 of any appropriate, non-dissolvable material eg. plastic, and an outer shell of any appropriate detergent or antiseptic composition. The outer shell 9 is secured to the inner core 8 by any suitable means.

The dimension and shape of the core 8 and the shell 9 may change depending on the use to which the granule is to be put. Further, in many applications the core 8 can be dispensed with and the granule formed from the one material, be that dissolvable or non-dissolvable. The present invention provides an efficient and highly effective cleaning method which may be used for a variety of cleaning operations in both the domestic and industrial fields. The granules used in the method can be tailored to suit the use to which they are put and may vary between non-dissolvable and fully dissolvable.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that there may be many variations and modifications of the method described herein which are within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for cleaning a container, said method including placing a mixture of granules and liquid within a container and agitating said container to create relative motion between said container and said mixture such that said granules impinge against the interior surface of said- container to clean said surface, wherein said granules include a dissolvable portion which enables the release of an agent which enhances the cleaning of said container.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein said container is substantially sealed prior to its agitation.

3. A method according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein said dissolvable portion is a cleaning agent or an antiseptic agent.

4. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein said granules include a non-dissolvable core and said dissolvable portion is an outer shell.

5. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said granules are fully dissolvable.

6. A method according to claim 5, wherein said dissolvable portion is fast dissolving such that it is substantially dissolved at the completion of the agitation of the container.

7. A method according to claim 5, wherein said dissolvable portion is slow dissolving such that the granule may be removed from the container at the completion of the agitation of the container and retains a sufficient amount of the dissolvable portion such that it may be reused.

8. A method according to any preceding claim wherein said liquid includes a cleaning agent or an antiseptic agent.

9. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 5 or 7 or 8, including the step of straining the mixture of granules and liquid from the container after the completion of the agitation of the container, so as to collect the granules for reuse.

10. A method according to any preceding claim wherein the step of agitating said container is by a mechanical agitator.

11. A method according to any preceding claim wherein an open-ended container is sealed by a cover before it is agitated.

12. A method according to claim 11, wherein said cover is a cap which may be fixed to the open end of the container.

13. A method according to claim 11 wherein said cover is a flexible material which may be held over the open end of the container by hand.

14. A method of cleaning an article, said method including placing said article in a container, placing a mixture of granules and liquid within said container, substantially sealing said container and agitating said container to create relative motion between said container and said mixture such that said granules impinge against said article to clean its surface, wherein said granules include a dissolvable portion which enables the release of an agent which enhances the cleaning of said article.

15. A method according to claim 14 wherein said container includes locating means to fix said article in position within said container.

16. A method according to any preceding claim sub- stantially as herein described with reference to Figures 1 and 2.