Colloid systems and wetting agents; subcombinations thereof; pro – Continuous liquid or supercritical phase: colloid systems;... – Having discontinuous gas or vapor phase – e.g. – foam:
Reexamination Certificate
2001-06-28
2003-07-15
Metzmaier, Daniel S. (Department: 1712)
Colloid systems and wetting agents; subcombinations thereof; pro
Continuous liquid or supercritical phase: colloid systems;...
Having discontinuous gas or vapor phase, e.g., foam:
C446S015000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06593375
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a solution for making bubbles.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A bubble may be defined as a small volume of gas contained within a thin liquid spherical envelope. Bubble-making toys and devices are well known, and numerous toys and related products of this type are available commercially due to the popularity of these devices with children. A common operating principle of these toys or devices is that one or more openings is provided, such as the ring-end of a wand device upon which a soapy bubble-forming solution film is formed by immersion or other means. Surface tension causes the bubble solution to form the film across the opening, and upon application of a sufficient force or gas pressure upon one side of the film, a bubble is formed and expelled from the opening in the direction in which the force is exerted.
Bubble-forming devices can range from the most basic, such as the above-described wand having the ring at one end for dipping into a bubble solution, to more sophisticated devices such as mechanized bubble-producing toys that may include pumps or other features designed to facilitate production of bubbles by the user. Examples of mechanized or complex bubble-producing devices are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,024,623, 5,908,057, 5,879,218, 5,746,636, 5,704,821, 5,695,379, 5,613,890, and 5,603,651, to name but a few. Other bubble-producing toys, for example a bubble-forming lawn mower-style device sold by Fisher-Price®, are also available commercially.
Improvements in the art of bubblemaking toys to date have focused on modifications to the bubblemaking device itself rather than to the bubblemaking solution. For example, the device described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,024,623 includes a frustoconical surface having a precise upward angle of about 30 degrees to prevent bubbles exiting the aperture from contacting the handle and bursting prematurely. The problem of bubble bursting immediately upon contact with a solid object or surface including that of the device itself can therefore necessitate specific product design efforts to minimize the undesirable effect. This leads to increased product development cost, increased design complexity, and increased tooling and manufacturing costs.
A typical toy bubble solution contains water mixed with one or more soaps. The soap has the effect of decreasing the surface tension of the water so that when a ring or similarly apertured surface is immersed or otherwise contacted with the solution, a film is formed across the opening. A gas, generally air, is pushed or forced against one surface of the film, which displaces the film from the apertured surface and produces a free-floating bubble.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an aqueous bubble solution. The solution has at least a surfactant that produces micelles in an aqueous solution, along with an ionic, hydrophobic or hydrogen bonding agent that interacts with the surfactant. When the bubble solution is formed into a bubble the bubble provides a first predetermined effect other than just being formed and popping.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The bubble solution of the present invention forms bubbles having good integrity and that are relatively long-lasting. Unlike prior art formulations, when bubbles produced according to this invention burst the resulting product is an integral or cohesive strand, drop, or sheet. The resulting product provides an interesting and unique appearance to the user. These drops, strands, or sheets may have anywhere from a white appearance to a transparent one, with the color depending on factors such as the presence of water remaining in the bubble at the time of rupture and/or the presence and concentration of other ingredients in the bubble solution. The improved bubbles also tend to opacify and phase change from a liquid (phase) bubble to a solid (phase) bubble without bursting. The use of the term “solid” in the preceding statement and as used below is meant to describe the phase change, or reverse phase change, that occurs with some liquids. For example, when a Pluronics F127 solution is heated, it gels rather than to a gas as with most liquids. The transition may alternatively be described as from a liquid bubble to a solid plastic. This solid bubble sometimes bursts and creates a “parachute” effect.
The bubble solution of the invention may be used with any simple or complex bubblemaking device, machine, or other bubblemaking apparatus to produce bubbles having the improved characteristics and appearance.
In one embodiment, a bubble solution according to the invention includes water and a soap or mixture of soaps, for example, each soap having a carbon chain of from about 12 to about 18 carbon atoms and including a water-soluble polar end such as —COONa or SO
3
Na and a non-polar, oil-soluble end. The bubble solution further includes a water-soluble polymer of 500 daltons or more or polymer surfactant having a molecular weight of 500 daltons or more and having both hydrophilic and hydrophobic portions.
The water-soluble polymer may comprise one or more of the following polymers: poly(N,N-dimethyl acrylamide (pDMA)), poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (pHEMA)), poly(glycerol methylacrylate), poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylamide), polyethleneglycol, poly(methacrylic acid), poly(acrylic acid), poly(N-vinyl pyrolidone) (PVP), poly(N-vinyl-N-methyl acetamide), poly(N-vinyl-N-ethyl acetamide), poly(N-vinyl-N-ethyl formamide) and poly(N-vinyl formamide). The polymers can also be copolymers or terpolymers or the like, that is, polymers composed from the monomeric unit of the polymers just described.
The surfactant can be selected from a cationic, anionic, zwitterionic, or nonionic surfactant or combinations thereof, and can be either polymeric or non-polymeric. The polymer surfactants have hydrophilic and hydrophobic portions; co-(ethylene oxide, proplene oxide) (Pluronics® polymer by BASF), co-(ethylene oxide, proplene oxide)-ethylenediamine (Tetronics® polymer by BASF). A polymer as described above may be present with or without the surfactant.
The water soluble polymer preferably comprises from about 1% to about 90% by weight but most preferred 10-50% by weight or surfactant component preferably comprises from about 1% to about 90% by weight but most preferred 10-30% in the bubble solution.
The bubble solution optionally includes suitable viscosity-inducing components, thickening agents, or emulsions that include hydrophobic molecules, including but not limited to glycerin, water-soluble natural gums, and cellulose-derived polymers and the like. For example, the presence of glycerin in the solution has been noted as contributing to extending the life of a bubble, such as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,613,890.
Useful natural gums include guar gum and gum traganth and the like. Useful cellulose-derived polymers include hydroxypropyl cellulose, hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose, carboxymethyl cellulose, methyl cellulose, and hydroxyethyl cellulose, and the like. The viscosity-inducing or thickening agent is preferably selected from cellulose derivatives (polymers) and mixtures thereof.
Useful polymer surfactants suitable as the surfactant component in the bubble solution according to the invention include those described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,177,165, as follows.
The terms “(meth)acrylate” or “(meth)acrylamide” denote methyl substitution and therefore includes both methyl acrylate and methyl methacrylate, while N-alkyl (meth)acrylamide includes both N-alkyl acrylamide and N-alkyl methacrylamide.
Surfactant copolymers useful in the invention are prepared by copolymerizing at least one ethylenically unsaturated hydrophobic monomer and at least one ethylenically unsaturated hydrophilic monomer in the presence of a functional chain transfer agent. Preferred copolymers have the formula:
C[A
x
B
y
]
wherein A is at least one ethylenically unsaturated hydrophilic monomer, B is at least one ethylenically unsaturated hydrophobic monomer, C is a functional chain transfer agent, y is
Heliogenesis, Inc.
McCarthy Kevin D.
Metzmaier Daniel S.
Roach Brown McCarthy & Gruber P.C.
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