Cleaning compositions for solid surfaces – auxiliary compositions – Cleaning compositions or processes of preparing – Liquid composition
Reexamination Certificate
2001-02-05
2002-08-27
Boyer, Charles (Department: 1751)
Cleaning compositions for solid surfaces, auxiliary compositions
Cleaning compositions or processes of preparing
Liquid composition
C510S119000, C510S130000, C510S242000, C510S421000, C510S426000, C510S405000, C510S427000, C510S127000, C510S128000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06440924
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to aqueous, multiphase, liquid surfactant-containing cleaning compositions, which can be temporarily emulsified by shaking and which may be used for cleaning hard surfaces, and to a process for their production.
Universal cleaner for hard, wet-or damp-wipe surfaces in the domestic and institutional sectors are known as so-called multipurpose cleaners and are predominantly neutral to mildly alkaline, aqueous liquid products which contain 1 to 30% by weight of surfactants, 0 to 5% by weight of builders (for example citrates, gluconates, soda, polycarboxylates), 0 to 10% by weight of hydrotropes (for example alcohols, urea), 0 to 10% by weight of water-soluble solvents (for example alcohols, glycol ethers) and optionally inter alia skin-care ingredients, dyes and perfumes. Multipurpose cleaners are generally used in the form of a ca. 1% solution in water and, for local stain removal, may even be used in undiluted form. In addition, ready-to-use multipurpose cleaners are commercially available as so-called spray cleaners.
Aqueous liquid cleaners of the type in question are normally present as homogeneous stable solutions or dispersions. However, the effect of using certain, more especially hydrophobic, components in such cleaning compositions can be that this homogeneity is lost and inhomogoneous compositions with little chance of acceptance by the consumer are obtained. In cases such as these, there is a need for the alternative formulation of compositions which, despite their inhomogenelty, have a defined external appearance and form of use acceptable to the consumer.
European patent application 116 422 describes a liquid hair or body shampoo with two aqueous phases which can be temporarily dispersed in one another by shaking, the two phases being miscible with water in any ratio. The upper phase contains 8 to 25% by weight, based on the composition as a whole, of at least one surfactant while the lower phase contains at least 6% by weight, based on the composition as a whole, of dissolved sodium hexametaphosphate corresponding to formula I:
in which n stands for an average value of about 12. Other builder salts may optionally be present in the lower phase. Anionic, cationic, amphoteric and/or nonionic surfactants may be present as surfactants, at least one anionic surfactant preferably being present.
The problem addressed by the present invention was to provide high-performance storage-stable compositions for cleaning hard surfaces in a defined inhomogeneous, easy-to-handle and consumer-acceptable form.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In a first embodiment, the present invention relates to an aqueous, liquid, multiphase, surfactant-containing cleaning composition with at least two continuous phases which comprises at least one lower aqueous phase I and an upper aqueous phase II immiscible with the lower phase I and which can be temporarily converted into an emulsion by shaking, characterized in that it contains 0 to 5% by weight of sodium hexameta-phosphate.
Sodium hexametaphosphate in the context of the present invention is a mixture of condensed orthophosphates corresponding to formula I, in which n stands for an average value of about 12.
In the most simple case, a composition according to the invention consists of a lower continuous phase, which consists of the entire phase I, and of an upper continuous phase which consists of the entire phase II. However, one or more continuous phases of a composition according to the invention may also contain parts of another phase in emulsified form so that, in a composition such as this, phase I for example is partly present as continuous phase I, which represents the lower continuous phase of the composition, and is partly emulsified as discontinuous phase I in the upper continuous phase II. The same applies to phase II and other continuous phases.
In the context of the present invention, temporary means that 90% of the separation of the emulsion formed by shaking into the separate phases takes place over a period of 2 minutes to 10 hours at temperatures of about 20° C. to about 40° C., the remaining 2% of the separation into the phase state before shaking taking place over another 15 minutes to 50 hours.
In a second embodiment, the present invention relates to the use of an aqueous, liquid, multiphase surfactant-containing cleaning composition with at least two continuous phases, which comprises at least one lower aqueous phase I and an upper aqueous phase II immiscible with the lower phase I and which can be temporarily converted into an emulsion by shaking, for cleaning hard surfaces. Insofar as the following observations relate to the compositions according to the invention, they apply equally to the compositions of the use according to the invention.
The compositions according to the invention are distinguished by an unusually high cleaning performance against persistent fatty soil when used in undiluted form. In addition, the compositions show favorable residue behavior. The individual phases in the composition remain stable for long periods without forming deposits, for example, and the conversion into a temporary emulsion remains reversible even after frequent shaking. In addition, the separation of ingredients Into separate phases can promote the chemical stability of the composition.
The present invention also relates to a process for the production of a composition according to the invention by mixing directly from its raw materials, subsequent further mixing and, finally, leaving the composition to stand in order to separate the temporary emulsion.
In one preferred embodiment of the invention, continuous phases I and II are separated from one another by a clearly defined phase boundary.
In another preferred embodiment of the invention, one or both of the continuous phases I and II contain(s) parts, preferably 0.1 to 25% by volume and more preferably 0.2 to 15% by volume, based on the volume of the particular continuous phase, of the other phase as dispersant. In this embodiment, the continuous phase I or II is reduced by that part by volume which is distributed as dispersant in the other phase. Particularly preferred compositions are those in which phase I is emulsified into phase II in quantities of 0.1 to 25% by volume and preferably in quantities of 0.2 to 15% by volume, based on the volume of phase II.
In another preferred embodiment of the invention, part of the two phases—In addition to the continuous phases I and II—is present as an emulsion of one of the two phases in the other phase, this emulsion being separated from those parts of phases I and II which are not involved in the emulsion by two clearly defined phase boundaries, namely an upper and a lower phase boundary.
The compositions according to the invention contain phase I and phase II in a ratio by volume of 90:10 to 10:90, preferably 75:25 to 25:75 and more preferably 65:35 to 35:65.
In one particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention, the compositions contain one or more hydrophobic components. Suitable hydrophobic components are, for example, dialkyl ethers containing the same or different C
4-14
alkyl groups, more particularly dioctyl ethers; hydrocarbons with a boiling range of 100 to 300° C. and more particularly 140 to 280° C., for example aliphatic hydrocarbons with a boiling range of 145 to 200° C., isoparaffins with a boiling range of 200 to 260° C.; essential oils, more particularly limonene, and the pine oil extracted from pine roots and stumps; and also mixtures of these hydrophobic components, more especially mixtures of 2 or 3 of the hydrophobic components mentioned. Preferred mixtures of hydrophobic components are mixtures of different dialkyl ethers, of dialkyl ethers and hydrocarbons, of dialkyl ethers and essential oils, of hydrocarbons and essential oils, of dialkyl ethers and hydrocarbons and essential oils and of these mixtures. The compositions contain hydrophobic components in quantities, based on the composition, of 0 to 20% by weight, preferably 0.1 to 14% by weight, more
Benoit Marc
Ditze Alexander
Jeschke Rainer
Katowicz Ryszard
Meine Georg
Boyer Charles
Harper Stephen D.
Henkel Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien
Murphy Glenn E. J.
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