Coating processes – Rumbling or tumbling
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-14
2001-07-03
Beck, Shrive (Department: 1762)
Coating processes
Rumbling or tumbling
C427S011000, C428S223000, C428S208000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06254932
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a fabric-treatment system comprising a vented plastic heat-resistant bag having an opening with a fastening system that enables closure of the bag, so as to enclose a flexible sheet impregnated with a liquid fabric-treating formulation, as well as a method for use of the bag and the related sheet. The invention particularly relates to a method for use of the fabric-treatment device to soften and/or otherwise treat fabrics, such as articles of clothing. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of fabric softening and/or treatment that can be carried out in a rotary clothes dryer.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Certain chemical compounds have long been known in the art to possess the desired quality of imparting softness to textile fabrics. The quality of “softness” or being “soft” is well defined in the art, and, as used herein, means that quality of the treated fabric whereby its handle or texture is smooth, pliable, and fluffy, and not rough or scratchy to the touch. Known generally as “fabric softeners,” these compounds have long been used by homemakers in the laundry, and by the textile industry to soften a finished fabric.
Additionally, many of these compounds act as antistatic agents to reduce the “static cling” of the treated fabrics. Static cling is generally the phenomenon of a fabric adhering to another object or to parts of itself as a result of static electrical charges induced on the surface of the fabric. It can also cause the adherence of lint, dust, and other undesired substances to the fabric. It is noticeably present in unsoftened fabrics that are freshly washed and dried in an automatic hot air dryer. By softening and reducing the static cling of a fabric, it is more comfortable when worn. Such treated fabrics additionally are easier to iron, and have fewer hard-to-iron wrinkles.
Perhaps the most common fabric softeners and anti-static agents known in the art are cationic compounds, especially amines such as quaternary ammonium and imidazolinium salts. These compounds are widely marketed for home use in the form of liquid emulsions. They must be added to the laundry in the rinse cycle, not the wash cycle, because cationic fabric conditioners interact with anionic substances present in laundry detergents such as anionic surfactants and builder salts, thereby rendering both relatively ineffective. A commercial fabric conditioner of this type is Downy® (The Proctor & Gamble Company, Cincinnati, Ohio).
“Another method of softening fabrics involves the utilization of impregnated nonwoven dry fabric softener sheets that are added to the dryer along with damp (wet) laundry. The ingredients are released largely in a nonuniform manner from the dry sheet into the laundry by the abrasive action of tumbling in contact with the laundry, moisture from the laundry and the heat of the dryer. In general, the composition coated on these sheets is composed of cationic softening agents, antistatic agents, dispersing ingredients to help provide a more uniform ingredient release and fragrance. A commercial dryer sheet of this type is Bounce® (The Proctor & Gamble Company, Cincinnati Ohio). The disadvantage with these dryer fabric softener sheets is their relative poor softening ability versus the liquid softeners that totally penetrate the laundry fabrics in the last rinse of the washing machine cycle.
It has previously been impossible to attain the benefits of a liquid fabric softener, i.e., greater softening ability and dispersibility, in the dryer using the dryer sheets. Moreover, using liquid fabric softeners in the washing machine last rinse cycle require all the articles in that laundry load to be softened. In some instances, the user may desire to control the softening of the clothing, in which case, the user must divide the laundry into those articles they desire to be softened and those they do not. This results in inconvenient expenditures of time in creating additional wash loads and drying time.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a method of softening fabric articles in the home automatic dryer with liquid fabric softener ingredients resulting in superior softening ability. It is a further object of the invention to provide a method of softening fabric articles without having to divide articles of clothing into multiple groups according to the softening and or treatment desired, thus such inconveniences and disadvantages mentioned above. Additional objects of the present invention will become readily apparent to persons skilled in the art from the following discussion.”
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a fabric-treatment system that imparts softening, antistatic and/or other desirable properties to laundered, i.e., moistened (wet), fabric articles. The fabric treatment system of the present invention comprises a bag sized for containment and treatment of a moistened fabric article which bag comprises an opening having a reversible fastening system. The bag is heat resistant and comprises means such as pores, holes, slits, and the like, to allow escape of the moisture. These moisture releasing means will be collectively referred to as “vents” herein. The system further comprises a flexible, textile sheet impregnated or coated with an effective fabric-treatment formulation. Preferably, the fabric-treatment formulation comprises a fabric softening agent or other fabric conditioning or treating agent, an organic solvent, a dispersing agent, and water. The fabric treatment formulation further comprises a surfactant to enhance the delivery of the formulation to the fabric articles. The present flexible sheets are dimensionally stable, so that they can be readily dispensed by the user and added to the bag of the present invention in discrete units, along with moistened clothing or other fabric articles to be treated.
Thus, it is preferred that the fabric-treatment formulation of the present invention is a gelled or thickened liquid comprising (a) an effective amount of a dispersing agent; (b) a liquid vehicle selected from the group consisting of water, a water-miscible organic solvent and mixtures thereof; (c) at least one fabric treatment agent; and (d) a surfactant. The fabric-treatment formulation of the present invention is released from the sheet upon physical contact with the fabric articles, e.g., as when the fabric articles and the sheet are tumbled together in the bag.
The present invention also includes a method for depositing fabric treatment agents, such as softening agents, on wet fabrics in a rotary hot air dryer. In this embodiment of the invention, the method comprises placing one or more wet fabric articles and a suitably sized, impregnated, flexible sheet into the bag, closing the bag, and then subjecting the bag to an amount of agitation and/or heat effective to release the fabric-treatment formulation from the flexible sheet upon contacting the fabric articles. The sheet “tumbles” among the fabric articles, thus dispersing the fabric treatment composition evenly onto them. Thus contacted, the fabric articles are softened or otherwise treated by the formulation and dried as the moisture escapes via the vents in the bag. In a preferred aspect of the invention, the closed bag, containing the flexible sheet and the moistened fabric(s), can be placed in a rotary hot air clothes dryer to provide the effective amount of heat and/or agitation, or tumbling. As used herein, the term “dryer” refers to a rotary hot air dryer, which tumbles the clothes in a drum with hot air, usually at a temperature of about 40°-90° C., preferably at about 50°-95° C., for preselected periods of time. For example, about 15-45 minutes of tumbling are sufficient to release the fabric-treating composition from the sheet interior surface of the bag at these temperatures and to dry the fabric articles. The term “fabrics” or “fabric articles” encompasses not only clothing, but other items which are commonly laundered, including sheets, draperies, rugs, upholstery coverings, towe
Kellett George W.
Smith James A.
Beck Shrive
Custom Cleaner, Inc.
Kolb Jennifer
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