WO2004060338A1

WO2004060338A1 - A topical skin-care formuation (tsf) and dipped elastomeric rubber polymer articles produced utilising the tsf

Info

Publication number: WO2004060338A1
Application number: PCT/AU2003/001351
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kwong Ann Lew; Leslie Martin Barclay; Ah Kiew Wong; Sarala Devi Jayaraman; Letchemy Muthu; Teck Yee Soh
Original assignee: Wrp Asia Pacific Sdn. Bhd.; Ip Organisers Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2003-01-03
Filing date: 2003-10-13
Publication date: 2004-07-22
Also published as: EP1583513A1; JP2006516959A; AU2003269587A1; EP1583513A4

Abstract

The present invention provides a Topical Skin-Care Formulation (TSF), the said TSF including effective amounts of Vitamins A, B and E, a-lipoic acid, eucalyptus, jojoba and carrier such as an emollient cream, a dipped elastomeric rubber polymer article produced from the TSF, a method of manufacturing the dipped elastomeric rubber polymer article produced using the TSF and a use of a carrier to enable the TSF to be applied on the dipped elastomeric rubber polymer article's surface. The coating for dipped elastomeric rubber polymer articles, such as rubber gloves and condoms, has the ability to provide the user with the benefits of added protection due to the coating materials such as moisturising, protective and antiseptic properties and also improved comfort due to soothing and cooling effects. Non-sterile dipped elastomeric rubber polymer articles coated with the said ingredients have been shown to have lower bacterial counts than similar uncoated dipped elastomeric rubber polymer articles. The coating material does not impair the physical properties of the dipped elastomeric rubber polymer articles.

Description

A TOPICAL SKIN-CARE FORMULATION (TSF) AND DIPPED ELASTOMERIC RUBBER POLYMER ARTICLES PRODUCED UTILISING

THE TSF

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a Topical Skin-Care Formulation (TSF) and dipped elastomeric rubber polymer articles produced utilising the TSF. More particularly, the present invention relates to the TSF and dipped elastomeric rubber polymer gloves produced utilising the TSF.

BACKGROUND ART

During the wearing of disposable rubber gloves, especially prolonged wearing, the natural reaction of sweating of the hands occurs inside the glove. Such a moist environment provides an ideal environment for skin irritation to occur. If there are any bacteria or fungus on the skin, these can multiply and also, the moisture can cause extraction of materials from the inner surface and body of the glove, such as surfactants, chemical residues and protein. The net result of this is skin irritation. The ideal coating material for the gloves must provide protection against skin irritation and improve the overall comfort for the wearer.

The use of approved powders, such as absorbable starch, can improve comfort for the wearer by absorbing the moisture, but this does not solve the problem for prolonged wearing. Wearers may apply some form of antiseptic or barrier cream before donning and, in other cases, gloves have been produced, coated with various lotions or additives. The use of Aloe Vera, using a solution from prepared Aloe Vera, applied to the inner surface of natural rubber and nitrile rubber gloves has been described in US Patent 6,274,154. Aloe Vera has been part of folk medicine and is best known for its healing ability for scalds, scrapes and burns (from heat or radiation). Fresh Aloe Vera used immediately from the plant gives best protection, since Aloe Vera deteriorates after exposure to air, even if stabilisers are added to the extract (Nutrition Almanac, 4^th Ed., G.J. Kirschmann & J.D. Kirschmann, McGraw-Hill).

The majority of gloves used are the low cost disposable medical examination gloves and ideally, the additives used to improve comfort and hygiene for the wearer, must be economically realistic. In other words, they must be low cost materials, or be effective at very low levels, so that the skin-care coated glove can be marketed at viable prices.

An important aspect of any applied coating is that it does not have any significant adverse effect on the integrity of the glove. The coating must not cause increase in pin-hole levels or have any significant effect on the physical properties of the glove, either before or after prolonged storage. Additionally, the coating material should not have any tendency to bacterial or fungal attack itself, which can occur with some types of plant extracts and this could then lead to infection of gloves during storage. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, there is provided a Topical Skin-Care Formulation (TSF), the said

TSF including effective amounts of Vitamins A, B and E, α-lipoic acid,

eucalyptus, jojoba and carrier, wherein the TSF is coated on the surface of a dipped elastomeric rubber polymer article such as a glove or a condom to protect and soothe the human's skin which is in contact with the said surface of the dipped elastomeric rubber polymer article.

Further, there is also provided a dipped elastomeric rubber polymer article such as a glove or a condom, the said dipped elastomeric rubber polymer article is provided with a layer of Topical Skin-Care Formulation (TSF), said TSF

including effective amounts of Vitamins A, B and E, α-lipoic acid, eucalyptus,

jojoba and moisturising carrier on the surface of the said dipped elastomeric rubber polymer article, wherein the said TSF protects and soothes the human's skin which is in contact with the said surface of the dipped elastomeric rubber polymer article.

Also provided a method of manufacturing a Topical Skin-Care Formulation (TSF) coated dipped elastomeric rubber polymer article such as a glove or a condom, comprising the steps of preparing the TSF, the said TSF including

effective amounts of Vitamins A, B and E, α-lipoic acid, eucalyptus, jojoba and

carrier, said carrier enables the TSF to be applied on a surface of an elastomeric rubber polymer article either by dipping the elastomeric rubber polymer article into the TSF during the final stages of the dipped elastomeric rubber polymer article manufacture or by an off-line coating application process so that the surface of the elastomeric rubber polymer article is in contact with the TSF, transferring the dipped TSF coated elastomeric rubber polymer article to a drying process which causes water in the portion of the TSF to evaporate and form a substantially evenly distributed layer of TSF on the surface of the dipped TSF coated elastomeric rubber polymer article and cooling the dipped

TSF coated elastomeric rubber polymer article to room temperature.

There is further provided a use of a carrier to enable a Topical Skin-Care Formulation (TSF), the said TSF including effective amounts of Vitamins A, B

and E, α-lipoic acid, eucalyptus, jojoba and carrier to be applied on a surface of

a dipped elastomeric rubber polymer article such as a glove or a condom.

The present invention consists of certain novel features and a combination of parts hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that various changes in the details may be without departing from the scope of the invention, or sacrificing any of the advantage of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention relates to a Topical Skin-Care Formulation (TSF) and dipped elastomeric rubber polymer articles produced from the TSF. More particularly, the present invention relates to the TSF and dipped elastomeric rubber polymer gloves produced incorporating the TSF.

Hereinafter, this specification will describe the present invention according to the preferred embodiments of the present invention. However, it is to be understood that limiting the description to the preferred embodiments of the invention is merely to facilitate discussion of the present invention and it is envisioned that those skilled in the art may devise various modifications and equivalents without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

The invention described is of a coating material, termed as the Topical Skin- Care Formulation (TSF), which can be applied to the donning surface of a disposable rubber glove, manufactured from any of the commonly known rubbers, such as natural rubber, various synthetic rubbers or blend of these rubbers.

The typical composition of the TSF that is applied to the surface of the dipped elastomeric rubber polymer articles before drying is given in Table 1. After drying, the water evaporates off and is not present on the furnished dipped elastomeric rubber polymer articles. TABLE 1

Vitamins A, B and E and the α-lipoic acid are known for their anti-oxidant

character, which protects against oxidative ageing of the skin. The eucalyptus is a well-known antiseptic in many preparations and also gives a cooling effect whilst jojoba imparts moisturising and a soothing effect.

Various methods of application of the coating on to disposable powder-free rubber gloves, which can be manufactured by a number of different processes, are mentioned briefly herein. Also, the coating can be applied to powdered disposable gloves.

Once coated with the TSF, the coating material is released from the inner surface of the glove to the contacting skin of the wearer's hand via moisture from the hand. When this occurs, the wearer can feel a soothing sensation and also, the TSF can release its moisturising, protective and antiseptic properties.

As mentioned above, the present invention also provides a use of a carrier to enable the TSF. The carrier is necessary to ensure homogeneity of all the components of the TSF to provide uniform distribution of the components when coated onto a dipped elastomeric rubber polymer articles such as gloves and condoms. An emollient cream is selected as a carrier for the components of the TSF and also as a moisturising cream to provide more comfort and softness for the skin.

Following is a description by way of examples of the method of producing skin- care coated rubber gloves. EXAMPLE 1

Gloves are manufactured by conventional processes to produce "powdered" gloves. These gloves, which may be made from natural rubber, nitrile rubber, polyisoprene rubber, polychloroprene rubber, or any blend of these rubbers, would be subjected to a process of chlorination. This process is normally carried out off-line in specially designed machines and during the process, the powder is removed from the gloves and the chlorine reacts with the rubber surfaces. The process may be that of a single chlorination cycle or that of two chlorination cycles, in which the gloves are inverted after the first chlorination cycle. In the single chlorination process it is usual for the gloves to have the donning surface on the outside of the gloves and only at a later stage, are the gloves inverted, either before or after final drying.

It is normal in such a process, that during the last stages of the process, the chlorinated gloves are subjected to a number of water rinsing cycles to remove unwanted chemicals from the gloves. The water-based dispersion of the TSF may then be included in the final rinse cycle, by adding the correct concentration of the TSF to the water and allowing the gloves to be thoroughly and uniformly coated with the TSF.

Following this immersion in the aqueous dispersion of the TSF, excess dispersion is removed by drainage and gentle centrifugation of the glove. The final stage involves drying of the gloves in an appropriately designed air-drying

machine for about 1 hour at 50 to 90°C. EXAMPLE 2

Gloves may be coated by an on-line dipping process, in which the gloves will be dipped into an aqueous dispersion of the TSF after completing all post-cure

leaching. The gloves would then be dried on-line at temperatures up to 120°C,

then cooled and stripped. For such gloves, it would be normal to use a powder- free coagulant system, so that the gloves will not require any off-line processing, other than drying. Such gloves can be coated with polymer by an on-line process or be subjected to an on-line chlorination process and dried, prior to dipping in the aqueous dispersion of the TSF. After dipping in the TSF, the gloves would pass through a drying oven at a temperature in the range 80 -

120°C before being stripped.

EXAMPLE 3

Gloves may also be coated with the TSF on-line, by dipping into aqueous polymer dispersion, containing the TSF, followed by similar processing steps as in EXAMPLE 2.

EXAMPLE 4

Gloves may be coated with the TSF on-line, by dipping into a tank containing an aqueous dispersion of the TSF after the final rinse process of an on-line chlorination process. In this example, the gloves would not be dried prior to dipping in the TSF dispersion. After emerging from the TSF dispersion, the gloves would pass through a drying oven at a temperature in the range 80 - 120⁹C, cooled and finally stripped. EXAMPLE 5

Gloves may be coated by spraying a fine mist of aqueous dispersion of the TSF on to gloves in a tumbler drier. If the gloves are inverted during this process, then the donning surface will be on the outside and will become coated with the

TSF. The temperature in the drier may be in the range 50 to 90°C. This method

can be applied to either powdered or powder-free gloves.

EXAMPLE 6

Powdered gloves may be produced, which also have a coating of the TSF. The coating of the TSF may be applied by incorporating the TSF dispersion in the final wet-powder slurry, so that the donning surface will be coated with powder and the TSF, at the same time.

Employing any of the above methods can produce gloves having a uniform coating of the TSF on the donning surface of the rubber gloves, which are essentially a uniform residual coating on the surface of the gloves, after the water in the dispersion has evaporated during drying processes. During the wearing of the gloves, some of the TSF will be released from surface of the glove and will contact the skin of the wearer's hands, imparting a soothing effect and a degree of protection against bacteria and skin irritants. Extensive testing of gloves coated with the TSF has shown that the material has no measurable adverse effect on the integrity of gloves, made from natural rubber, nitrile rubber, polychloroprene rubber, polyisoprene rubber, or any blend of these rubbers. Various types of gloves and processes which can utilise the benefits of coating glove inner surfaces with the TSF has been described herein before. This does not necessarily include all methods of manufacturing coated gloves and there are likely to be other individual manufacturing techniques in this widespread glove industry.

While in the foregoing specification this invention has been described in relation to certain preferred embodiments thereof, and many details have been set forth for purpose of illustration, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention is susceptible to additional embodiments and that certain of the details described herein can be varied considerably without departing from the basic principles of the invention.

Claims

1. A Topical Skin-Care Formulation (TSF), the said TSF including effective

amounts of Vitamins A, B and E, α-lipoic acid, eucalyptus, jojoba and carrier,

wherein the TSF is coated on the surface of a dipped elastomeric rubber polymer article such as a glove or a condom to protect and soothe the human's skin which is in contact with the said surface of the dipped elastomeric rubber polymer article.

2. A TSF as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the carrier is an emollient cream such as a moisturising cream.

3. A TSF as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the TSF is applied on the inner surface of the said dipped elastomeric rubber polymer article.

4. A TSF as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the percentage of Vitamins A, B and

E, α-lipoic acid, eucalyptus and jojoba in the TSF is between 0.5 to 10%, the

percentage of the carrier in the TSF is between 10 to 50% and demineralised, deionised, purified or distilled water is added to make up to 100%.

5. A dipped elastomeric rubber polymer article such as a glove or a condom, the said dipped elastomeric rubber polymer article is provided with a layer of Topical Skin-Care Formulation (TSF), said TSF including effective amounts

of Vitamins A, B and E, α-lipoic acid, eucalyptus, jojoba and moisturising carrier on the surface of the said dipped elastomeric rubber polymer article, wherein the said TSF protects and soothes the human's skin which is in contact with the said surface of the dipped elastomeric rubber polymer article.

6. A dipped elastomeric rubber polymer article as claimed in claim 5, wherein the moisturising carrier is an emollient cream such as a moisturising cream.

7. A method of manufacturing a Topical Skin-Care Formulation (TSF) coated dipped elastomeric rubber polymer article such as a glove or a condom, comprising the steps of: a) preparing the TSF, the said TSF including effective amounts of Vitamins

A, B and E, α-lipoic acid, eucalyptus, jojoba and carrier, said carrier

enables the TSF to be applied on a surface of an elastomeric rubber polymer article either by dipping the elastomeric rubber polymer article into the TSF during the final stages of the dipped elastomeric rubber polymer article manufacture or by an off-line coating application process so that the surface of the elastomeric rubber polymer article is in contact with the TSF; b) transferring the dipped TSF coated elastomeric rubber polymer article to a drying process which causes water in the portion of the TSF to evaporate and form a substantially evenly distributed layer of TSF on the surface of the dipped TSF coated elastomeric rubber polymer article; and c) cooling the dipped TSF coated elastomeric rubber polymer article to room temperature.

8. A method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the carrier is an emollient cream such as a moisturising cream.

9. A method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the TSF is coated on the inner surface of the dipped elastomeric rubber polymer article.

10. A method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the percentage of Vitamins A, B

and E, α-lipoic acid, eucalyptus and jojoba in the TSF is between 0.5 to

10%, the percentage of the carrier in the TSF is between 10 to 50% and demineralised, deionised purified or distilled water is added to make up to

100%.

11.A use of a carrier to enable a Topical Skin-Care Formulation (TSF), the said

TSF including effective amounts of Vitamins A, B and E, α-lipoic acid,

eucalyptus, jojoba and carrier to be applied on a surface of a dipped elastomeric rubber polymer article such as a glove or a condom.

12. A use as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the carrier is an emollient cream such as a moisturising cream.

13. A use as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the TSF is applied on the inner surface of the said dipped elastomeric rubber polymer article.

14. A use as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the percentage of Vitamins A, B and

E, α-lipoic acid, eucalyptus and jojoba in the TSF is between 0.5 to 10%, the percentage of the carrier in the TSF is between 10 to 50% and demineralised, deionised purified or distilled water is added to make up to

100%.