Dispensing – Plural sources – compartment – containers and/or spaced jacket – With discharge assistant for each source
Reexamination Certificate
2001-07-16
2003-05-06
Jacyna, J. Casimer (Department: 3751)
Dispensing
Plural sources, compartment, containers and/or spaced jacket
With discharge assistant for each source
C222S001000, C222S145100, C222S145400, C222S145700, C134S095100, C134S099100, C068S01700R
Reexamination Certificate
active
06557732
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention is in the field of detergents, in particular it relates to detergent packs for use in conjunction with a washing machine and which includes two or more detergent or auxiliary products with different functionalities. The detergent packs are especially useful in dishwashing for the removal of cooked-, baked- and burnt-on soils from cookware and tableware.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Dishwashing loads are usually characterised by including articles made of different materials (i.e. stainless steel, glass, plastic, wood, ceramic, china, porcelain, etc) and soiled with different food residues (i.e. proteinaceous, carbohydrates, grease, starch, carotenoids, etc). The removal of all the soils from the dishwashing load usually requires a combination of several detergent ingredients. However, in many cases not all the ingredients are compatible with one another and it can be a difficult or impossible task to combine and stabilise them into a single composition.
Cooked-, baked- and burnt-on soils are amongst the most severe types of soils to remove from surfaces. Traditionally, the removal of cooked-, baked- and burnt-on soils from cookware and tableware requires soaking the soiled object prior to a mechanical action. Apparently, the automatic dishwashing process alone does not provide a satisfactory removal of cooked-, baked- and burnt-on soils. Manual dishwashing processes may require a tremendous rubbing effort to remove cooked-, baked- and burnt-on soils and this can be detrimental to the safety and condition of the cookware/tableware.
The use of cleaning compositions containing solvent for helping in the removal of cooked-, baked- and burnt-on solids is known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,102,573 provides a method for treating hard surfaces soiled with cooked-on, baked-on or dried-on food residues comprising applying a pre-spotting composition to the soiled article. The composition applied comprises surfactant, builder, amine and solvent. U.S. Pat. No. 5,929,007 provides an aqueous hard surface cleaning composition for removing hardened dried or baked-on grease soil deposits. The composition comprises nonionic surfactant, chelating agent, caustic, a glycol ether solvent system, organic amine and anti-redeposition agents. WO-A-94/28108 discloses an aqueous cleaner concentrate composition, that can be diluted to form a more viscous use solution comprising an effective thickening amount of a rod micelle thickener composition, lower alkyl glycol ether solvent and hardness sequestering agent. The application also describes a method of cleaning a food preparation unit having at least one substantially vertical surface having a baked food soil coating. In practice, however, none of the art has been found to be very effective in removing baked-on, polymerized soil from metal and other substrates.
The use of solvents in the automatic dishwashing context is also known. JP-A-10,017,900 discloses an automatic dishwashing auxiliary composition comprising non-ionic low foaming surfactant, organic solvent and water. The composition delivers detergency and drying benefits. JP-A-11,117,000 discloses a cleaning assistant composition for automatic dishwashing machines comprising surfactant, organic high-molecular polyelectrolyte, water-soluble solvent and water. The claimed assistant composition helps in the cleaning of stubborn dirt such as that due to oil or lipstick.
Multi-compartment dispensing devices are used for the storage of chemical systems which require two or more components to be kept separate before their use. There are many examples of such devices in the art, for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,678,103 and 4,730,381 disclose plural-chambered, gravity-activated dispensing devices for two or more flowable products at a substantially constant, predetermined ratio; WO-A-00/61712 and WO-A-00/61713 disclose liquid cleaning compositions comprising bleach and bleach activators which are held separate from each other in a single container. These multi-compartment dispensing devices can deliver a predetermined ratio of the multiple compositions however the total amount delivered needs to be measured by the consumer. Moreover maintaining a constant ratio can be difficult in the case of gel-form compositions or products delivered at a high ratio relative to one another.
There is a need for a detergent pack capable of delivering all the chemistry necessary, in a physically stable form, to clean any washing or dishwashing load, even those loads having extremely problematic soils such as cooked-, baked- and burnt-on soils. The pack should provide maximum convenience and minimum effort for the user by automatically delivering a predetermined dose of detergent.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a detergent pack for use in conjunction with a washing machine and which comprises two or more detergent or auxiliary products, storage means comprising separate but associated portions of the two or more products, and means for delivering quantities of the two or more products into the same or different cycles of a washing machine. Preferably the means for delivering quantities of the two or more products comprises means for dispensing quantities of the two or more products, and means for controlling the relative dispensing rate of the two or more products from the storage means.
The pack can, for example, be a multi-compartment bottle-shaped storage container containing different products in the different compartments, the products being simultaneously delivered at a predetermined ratio into the washing machine. The pack can be hand-held whereby the two or more products are manually dosed into the washing machine dispenser as required by the user. Alternatively, the pack can be built-into or accommodated as a replaceable unit in a washing machine, whereby the two or more products are automatically delivered into the washing machine under program control in accordance with the requirements of the user on the wash process parameters. The packs of the invention allow the inclusion of products incompatible with one another into the same storage means and the delivery of the different products in a fixed relative ratio. The packs of the invention simplify the process of delivering different and incompatible compositions into the washing machine.
In a preferred embodiment the pack comprises at least two product containers for separate storage of the two or more detergent or auxiliary products. By auxiliary product is understood to be a product which is capable of improving the result of the washing process over that achieved when using the detergent product alone. Suitable product containers include for example rigid or semi-rigid bottles made of plastics material. Although there is no theoretical limitation as to the size and shape of the product containers, the containers will normally have, for practical reasons, capacities of from about 0.11 to about 5 1 preferably from about 0.21 to about 1.51 by volume. The storage means can include means for refilling thereof, such as for example reclosable opening in each of the product containers or the storage means can be removed or replaced as a unit for the purpose of recharging the pack with fresh product. The pack is normally constructed to include an outer shell which provides at least part of the external framework of the pack, the storage means being adapted to fit wholly or partly within the outer shell. In a preferred embodiment the outer shell and the storage means together form the exterior framework of the pack, this facilitating the refilling and replacement of the storage means when required by the user.
In preferred embodiments the storage means comprises two or more product containers mounted in an inverted orientation with corresponding outlets directed in a generally downward direction to provide gravitational-assisted dispensing therefrom. Inverted orientation is particularly suitable in cases in which the two or more detergent or auxiliary product
Alam Elizabeth Ann
DeNome Frank William
Lynde Kenton Ray
Song Brian Xiaoqing
Van Rompuy Tanya Cecile Corneel
Jacyna J. Casimer
The Procter & Gamble & Company
Waugh Kevin L.
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