WO2000064324A1

WO2000064324A1 - Washing device

Info

Publication number: WO2000064324A1
Application number: PCT/EP2000/002867
Authority: WO
Inventors: Nikhileshwar Mukherjee; Earla Saikumar
Original assignee: Unilever Plc; Unilever Nv; Hindustan Lever Limited
Priority date: 1999-04-26
Filing date: 2000-04-03
Publication date: 2000-11-02
Also published as: AU4541400A

Abstract

An article (1) for scrubbing comprises a substantially flat flexible polymeric sheet having a first face (4) for scrubbing and a second face (5), which in use contacts a user's hand. The scrubbing face (4) includes a plurality of pockets (3), each pocket (3) having a mouth which is exposed on the scrubbing surface, each pocket (3) being dimensioned to receive a cleaning composition which during use is exposed through a mouth of at least some of said pockets and delivered onto a surface being treated. The invention also describes a process for cleaning hard surfaces using a scrubbing article according to the invention, and a kit comprising an abrasive composition and one or more scrubbing articles according to the invention.

Description

WASHING DEVICE

The present invention relates to an article for scrubbing hard surfaces. More particularly the invention relates to an article for scrubbing which is suited for cleaning hard surfaces including utensils, crockery, glassware, kitchenware and like articles of metal, china clay, glass and the like.

Scrubbers are usually used for cleaning surfaces and often act as applicators for cleaning compositions. In use the cleaning composition is loaded on the surface of the scrubber by rubbing the scrubber on the cleaning composition which may be in the form of bar, paste, powder and the like. The scrubber is gently rubbed on the hard surface and the cleaning composition is delivered onto the surface and the soils on the surface are removed by the rubbing action. Higher pressure is applied while cleaning stubborn soils.

The commonly available applicators/scrubbers are nylon thread applicators, sponge and scrub pads. The sponge applicators are quite soft and provide a cushioning effect in use which acts to inhibit the transfer of cleaning composition applied on the applicator to the substrate and as such therefore are not very effective for burnt on tough soil. The scrub pads are not gentle to handle and do not easily reach the contoured surfaces of vessels. Due to these drawbacks the nylon applicators are by far the most widely used applicators for direct application cleaning operations.

The nylon applicators basically comprise overlying layers of nylon woven nets shaped to give the scrubber rounded surfaces and capable of being gripped in the palm. Examples of such devices are disclosed in WO 95/34239 (Corazzi) and US 4,355,067 (ANVAR) . The nylon nets have spacing between them, which is enough for the abrasive materials contained in the composition to partly sink into the spaces. Due to this inherent design weakness a part of the product enters inside the pores (open space) of the scrubber particularly when the product is pressed between the scrubber and substrate and is not available for cleaning. This phenomenon encountered while cleaning using a nylon applicator leads to product wastage very significantly. This apart, since nylon scrubbers do not provide any continuous surface to the abrasive particulate which are added in the formulation to make the product abrasive have little contact with the substrate .

It is an object of the invention to overcome at least some of the above mentioned problems. STATEMENTS OF INVENTION

Accordingly, the invention provides an article for scrubbing comprising a substantially flat flexible polymeric sheet having an first face for scrubbing and a second face which in use contacts a users hand, the scrubbing face having a plurality of pockets, each pocket having a mouth which is exposed on the scrubbing surface, each pocket being dimensioned to receive a cleaning composition which during use is exposed through a mouth of at least some of said pockets and delivered onto a surface being treated.

The portions of the scrubbing surface in between the pockets ideally provide projections, which aid the cutting action of the soil on the substrate aided by abrasives in the cleaning composition.

The pockets in the scrubber may be of any suitable shape such as square, circular, diamond and like. A preferred pocket will have a square or rectangular mouth with a minimum diameter of between 0.5 and 5mm, preferably about lmm. Typically the mouth of each pocket will have a surface area of between 0.00000025m² and 0.000025m², preferably about 0.000001m². Ideally a depth of the pocket will be between 0.5 and 2 mm preferably about 0.8mm. The pockets may be arranged in any formation on the scrubbing surface. Typically the pockets have a sidewall and base which are non-porous and as such prevent the composition from being absorbed into the sheet. This non-porosity is generally a characteristic of the polymeric material used to form the sheet. According to a preferred embodiment the pockets will be arranged in a matrix of rows and columns. Ideally the mouths of the pockets will collectively comprise between 30 to 80% of the scrubbing surface area, typically between 40 and 60 %. Likewise the projections may have different shapes e.g. cubic, pyramid, dome and the like.

The scrubber is moulded or fabricated from polymeric materials such as poly olefins, PVC, LDP or any other polymer having sufficient flexibility; it could also be made from elastomer or naturally occurring rubber. The scrubber should be flexible enough to be bent to reach the contoured surfaces of vessels, yet the polymer should be sufficiently resilient to prevent complete flattening of the pockets during a scrubbing operation. Preferably the polymer should have a Shore Hardness in the range of between A40 to A70. The scrubber may be in the form of a square, rectangle, circular or other shape. The scrubber may also be in the form of a glove, mit or finger cap.

The abrasive materials and other components present in the cleaning compositions are not too gentle on the hands and the scrubber according to the invention eliminates the possibility of the hands being exposed to the abrasives and other components which are not very mild to the skin. The invention also describes a process for scrubbing an object such an eating utensil or a pot or pan, the process employing an article according to the invention and comprising the steps of:

- applying a cleaning composition onto a scrubbing surface of the scrubbing article such that the cleaning composition is deposited into at least some of the pockets thereon; and

- rubbing the object with the article such the composition exposed at the mouths of the pockets comes into contact with dirt on the surface of the object.

The invention also describes a kit comprising one or more articles according to the invention in combination with an abrasive cleaning composition such as an abrasive detergent paste .

DETAILED DESCRITION OF THE INVENTION

The scrubber according to the invention will be more clearly understood from the following description of an embodiment thereof, given by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: -

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a scrubber according to the invention; and

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the scrubber of Figure 1.

Referring to Figs 1 and 2 there is illustrated a scrubbing article according to the invention and indicated generally by the reference numeral 1, the article comprising a square flexible sheet of PVC having a scrubbing surface 4 and a bottom surfaces 5. The scrubbing surface 4 includes a matrix of pockets 3 arranged in rows and columns.

The thickness of the flexible sheet as shown in fig. 2 is about 1.6mm. A top part of the cloth having the pockets 3 has a thickness of 0.8 mm while the bottom portion 5 is also about 0.8 mm thick. A mouth of each pocket 3 is square and has an area of approximately 0.000001m². The depth of each pocket is about 0.8mm. The bottom surface 5 is the backing layer and the user's hand is contact with the bottom surface 5, which does not come in contact with the cleaning composition in use. Thus the fingers or any other portion of the hand of the user does not come in contact with the cleaning composition during a scrubbing operation. Therefore the scrubber may be used as applicator for compositions having higher abrasive content or for formulations not very mild to the skin and obtain enhanced cleaning.

The scrubber according to the invention may be in different forms e.g. gloves, finger caps and the like. The depressions and projections may also have varied shapes and sizes.

The performance of the scrubber according to the invention was evaluated against a conventional nylon scrubber using a machine, which simulates a washing operation. Two experiments were designed by varying the product dosage per swipe but keeping the efforts constant. Results are determined on using a panel of four people. The results are shown in Tables 1 and 2. Experiment 1: (Effort : Constant ; Load 1kg on applicator)

Table 1

The experiments clearly demonstrate higher cleaning efficiency of the scrubber of the invention over a conventional nylon scrubber.

Experiment 2: (Effort : Constant ; Load 2kg on applicator)

Table 2

The advantages of the scrubber according to the invention includes the following: The abrasive particles come in contact with the substrate in a manner which is far superior to that achieved by the known scrubbers. This improvement is due to the pockets on the scrubbing surface which hold cleaning composition and particularly abrasive particle and in use bring them into contact with the surfaces to be cleaned. In addition, the flexible nature of the scrubber allows to reach contoured surfaces and crevices in the vessels. Furthermore, use of an article according to the invention eliminates the possibility of the hands being exposed to the cleaning compositions. The scrubber does not wear out fast and there is no stress cracking of the scrubber and it requires much less effort in use compared to known scrubbing articles. In addition, the scrubbing article of the invention provides for optimum use of abrasives in cleaning compositions and therefore low product wastage compared to scrubbing articles of the prior art .

Claims

1. An article for scrubbing comprising a substantially flat flexible polymeric sheet having an first face for scrubbing and a second face which in use contacts a users hand, the scrubbing face having a plurality of pockets, each pocket having a mouth which is exposed on the scrubbing surface, each pocket being dimensioned to receive a cleaning composition which during use is exposed through a mouth of at least some of said pockets and delivered onto a surface being treated.

2. An article as claimed in claim 1 in which the scrubbing face includes a matrix of pockets, ideally arranged in rows and columns .

3. An article as claimed in claimed in claims 1 or 2 wherein the mouths of the pockets comprise at least between 40 and 60% of a total surface area of the scrubbing face .

4. An article as claimed in any preceeding claim in which the sheet is sufficiently resilient to prevent flattening of the pockets when the article is rubbed against a surface to be treated.

5. An article as claimed in any preceeding claim formed into a glove or mit, wherein the scrubbing surface of the article is exposed on an exterior of the glove or kit.

5. A process for scrubbing an object such an eating utensil or a pot or pan, the process employing an article according to any of claims 1 to 5 and comprising the steps of:

- applying a cleaning composition onto a scrubbing surface of the cleaning article such that the cleaning composition is deposited into at least some of the pockets thereon; and

7. A kit comprising one or more articles as claimed in any of claims 1 to 5 in combination with an abrasive cleaning composition such as an abrasive detergent paste .