Cleaning compositions for solid surfaces – auxiliary compositions – Cleaning compositions or processes of preparing – For cleaning a specific substrate or removing a specific...
Reexamination Certificate
2001-07-23
2003-10-21
Douyon, Lorna M. (Department: 1751)
Cleaning compositions for solid surfaces, auxiliary compositions
Cleaning compositions or processes of preparing
For cleaning a specific substrate or removing a specific...
C510S352000, C510S438000, C510S446000, C510S498000, C510S509000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06635610
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION
In order to meet consumer needs a detergent should not only provide good cleaning but the product should for example also have good aesthetics, good flow properties, good dispensing and good dissolution in the wash water. Furthermore, it is important that the same quality product and cleaning is delivered throughout the life of the product, and thus, that the product is not only stable, but also that it can be dosed uniformly in each usage.
It has been found that a more uniform dosage of detergent actives can be achieved if the actives are present in granules of a similar particle size. It has also been found that this contributes to the overall appearance of the product. In particular, it has been found that when the number of granular components of a composition is reduced and that thus for example various detergent components are incorporated in the same granule, an improved uniform dosage to the wash is obtained.
However, the inventors have found that certain detergent ingredients which are required to deliver a good cleaning performance can cause problems when mixed together in the same granule. They found in particular that the product tends to gel and leave fabric and machine residues when generally used detergent actives are mixed together to form a granule or tablet.
They found surprisingly that this occurs in particular when anionic sulphate surfactant and anionic sulphonate surfactants are formulated together. Granules containing mixtures of these surfactants tend to form gels which do not dispense or dissolve well. This not only leads to fabric residues and residues in the washing machine, but also causes that the surfactants are not efficiently or completely delivered to the wash and also that other detergent actives can become entrapped in the gelling surfactant mixture and thus not delivered to the wash effectively or completely.
The inventors have now found that when only small quantities of anionic sulphate surfactant and anionic sulphonate surfactant are mixed, or preferably not mixed at all, these problems are reduced or can even be avoided. Then, the anionic sulphonate and sulphate surfactants can both be employed in the formulations, as may be required for an improved cleaning performance and sudsing profile. They found that this can be most effectively done by formulating a detergent granule comprising different particulate components with a reduced degree of mixing of sulphonate and sulphate surfactant, or even whereby most preferably no component comprises both anionic sulphate surfactant and anionic sulphonate surfactant.
Moreover, the inventors have found that other detergent ingredients such as water-insoluble builders, inorganic salts and polymeric builders can also cause dispensing or dissolution problems depending on how they are mixed in the formulation. In particular zeolite, carbonate salts and polymeric polycarboxylates were found to cause problems. The inventors also found a way to formulate these potentially troublesome ingredients into the component of the detergent granule to optimise the dispensing, dissolution and performance of the individual detergent actives.
Thus, the present invention provides an improved method of formulating a known detergent actives, to provide overall an improved product performance, delivery, dosage and appearance.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a detergent granule which comprises an anionic surfactant system, comprises an anionic sulphate surfactant and/or an anionic sulphonate surfactant, and other detergent active ingredients, the granule comprising at least a first and a second particulate component and optionally a binding agent, characterised in that the ratio of anionic sulphate surfactant to anionic sulphonate surfactant in the particulate components and in the optional binding agent is less than 1:4 or more than 4:1, preferably even less than 1:5 or more than 5:1.
Preferably, no anionic sulphate and sulphonate surfactant is intimately mixed with another in the same particulate component, and thus preferably the detergent granule comprises no particulate components containing both anionic sulphate surfactant and anionic sulphonate surfactant.
This granule has been found to cause less gelling problems or less dispensing or dissolution problems and less residue problems.
The invention also provides detergent granules which comprise specific particulate components containing specific ratio's of anionic sulphonate surfactant to polymeric builder material and/or to water-insoluble builder material and the invention also provides granules comprising components comprising specific ratio's of anionic sulphate surfactant to inorganic carrier salts and/or polymeric builder material.
The invention also provides processes for making the granule of the invention and detergent compositions which substantially consist of the granule.
The components as described herein may also be present in a detergent tablet. By reducing the degree of mixing of anionic sulphate surfactant and anionic sulphonate surfactant in the components of the tablet reduced gelling and fabric residue and improved dissolution or dispensing of the tablet in the wash is achieved.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The detergent granule or tablet of the invention comprises at least two particulate components, which comprise at least two detergent active ingredients. The particulate components can be defined as pre-formed particulate components, formed from the (at least two) detergent actives therein.
Suitable pre-formed particulate components may have been formed by a spray-drying, agglomeration, marumerisation extrusion or compaction process all of which methods for combining detergent ingredients are well known in the art. It may be preferred to pre-process certain ingredients via spray drying and others via agglomeration or extrusion thus, it may be particularly preferred that at least one of the pre-formed particulate components is a blown powder particle obtained from spray-drying processes, and at least one component is an agglomerate or extrudates.
Suitable spray-drying processes for forming such preformed particulate components are described for example in EP-A-763594 or EP-A437888. Suitable processes for forming pre-formed particulate components which are agglomerates are described for example in WO93/25378, EP-A-367339, EP-A420317 or EP-A-506184 and suitable processes for forming pre-formed particulate components by extrusion are described for example in WO91/02047.
For the purpose of the invention, the ingredients in one individual particulate components may thus be considered in an intimate mixture with another, whilst for the purpose of the invention, the ingredients from one particulate component are considered not to be in an intimate mixture with the ingredients from another particulate component.
The granule or tablet may also comprise particles which are not preformed particle components as defined herein, but for example particulate raw materials. In may be preferred that the granule or tablet comprises particulate builders, such as organic or inorganic salts or acids, in particular particulate polymeric or monomeric or polycarboxylic acids or salts thereof, silicates inorganic salts, such as alkalinity sources and filler salts and builder salts, organic and inorganic bleaching particles such as percarbonate salts and perborate salts, bleach activators, and also enzymes and perfumes. Also included are preferably effervescence components, such as organic acids and carbonate salts. However, it may be preferred that the perfumes, enzymes, but also the bleach activators and effervescence components are present as one or more pre-formed particulate components, thus containing more than one ingredient. The granule or tablet may also comprise liquid components, which can also be useful as binding agent, as described herein.
The particulate components and optionally other particulate ingredients, or raw materials (which contain no more than to active ingredients) can be fo
Bohlen David Scott
Gabriel Steven Matthew
Hartshorn Richard Timonthy
Hidalgo Noe Ongcoy
Katsuda Rinko
Corstanje Brahm J.
Douyon Lorna M.
Glazer Julia A.
The Procter & Gamble & Company
Zerby Kim W.
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