Drying and gas or vapor contact with solids – Apparatus – Rotary drums or receptacles
Reexamination Certificate
2001-10-17
2003-08-26
Lazarus, Ira S. (Department: 3749)
Drying and gas or vapor contact with solids
Apparatus
Rotary drums or receptacles
C034S595000, C222S325000, C222S485000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06609311
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to a device for treating, fabrics inside a tumble dryer, in particular a device which is reusable and attaches to the inside of the tumble dryer door.
In the treatment of fabrics in a tumble dryer it is known to add one or more conditioning agents. For instance, for imparting a softening benefit to fabrics it is known from CA 1,005,204 to co-mingle fabrics in a tumble dryer with a flexible substrate carrying a normally solid fabric conditioning agent. The co-mingling of the fabrics with impregnated substrates requires the separation of the substrate from the fabrics after the completion of the tumble dryer treatment. Especially in using flexible substrates, this separation is often time-consuming in that the substrates cannot readily be located. Other disadvantages of such products include uneven product distribution following entanglement of the substrate with fabrics which can lead to greasy marks on fabrics (staining) and the tendency of such substrates to become positioned over the tumble dryer vent, thus giving virtually no benefit to the fabrics during a tumble drying cycle. Furthermore, these products are designed for single use only and therefore need to be replaced after every cycle.
For overcoming these problems it has been suggested, for instance in GB 2,066,309 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,634,947, to use conditioner dispensing articles, comprising means for attachment of the substrate to the tumble dryer wall. Other proposals, such as for instance disclosed in GB 1,399,728 involve the use of separate means for attaching the conditioning article to the tumble dryer wall.
EP-B-361593 concerns an alternative approach in which a fabric conditioning article comprises a combination of a substrate and a fabric conditioning composition, the substrate being a porous material with a specified void volume and cell count. The article of EP-B-361593 is designed to adhere to the tumble dryer wall.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved article suitable for treatment fabrics in a tumble dryer.
According to the present invention, there is provided a device for treating fabrics in a tumble dryer during multiple tumble drying cycles comprising: a reservoir for storing a fabric treatment composition, means to expose fabric treatment composition from the reservoir to airflow generated inside the tumble drier and/or to directly contact fabrics in the dryer, thereby transferring a portion of the fabric treatment component into contact with fabrics in the tumble dryer during a tumble drying cycle.
Preferably, the device has attachment means for attaching the device to the inside of the tumble dryer door. The provision of attachment means has a number of advantages over prior art devices. It is easier for a user to affix a device to the inside of the tumble dryer door, which swings open to face the user during loading and unloading of the tumble dryer, than it is to affix a device inside the tumble dryer drum as is the case with prior art devices. Once affixed to the inside of the tumble dryer door the device of the invention is clearly visible to the user during loading and unloading of the tumble dryer.
The device of the invention preferably comprises means for indicating to the user when the fabric treatment composition is used up, which has the advantage of enabling the user to determine when the fabric treatment composition or the device itself needs replacing. A further advantage of attachment of the device to the tumble dryer door is that it makes it easier to replace or refill the device when the fabric treatment composition is used up than is the case with prior art devices attached to the tumble dryer drum.
The device according to the invention may comprise a reservoir which is designed to be replaced when the fabric treatment composition is used up. For example, the reservoir may be provided in the form of a disposable plastic container e.g. bottle, carton or collapsible pouch which may have a peelable lid.
Alternatively, the reservoir may be designed to be recharged with a new fabric treatment composition when required. In this case the reservoir has an openable portion for charging and, if necessary, discharging the fabric treatment composition. For example, the reservoir may be provided in the form of an openable compartment into which may be placed a block or semi-permeable sachet of fabric treatment composition. Suitable materials for the reservoir include polypropylene.
Preferably the device is configured to present a smooth external profile when attached to a door or wall. This feature has the advantage that it prevents or at least can reduce the possibility of the device damaging the fabrics as they move through the dryer. It may not be important that the attachment part of the device is smooth, if this is not exposed when the device is fixed in place. In one embodiment the external profile is generally hemispherical.
The fabric treatment composition may be in the form of a liquid, solid or gel. The composition preferably comprises at least a perfume component and optionally water and may also comprise one or more perfume solubilisers. In this way the composition can act as a freshening composition.
Optionally the fabric treatment composition may also provide conditioning and/or other benefits to the fabrics inside the tumble dryer during a tumble drying cycle.
Suitable perfume solubilisers include surfactants, particularly nonionic surfactants such as alcohol ethoxylates, but also anionic, cationic, zwitterionic or amphoteric surfactants which may be used either alone or in combination with each other or with nonionic surfactants.
Other suitable perfume solubilisers include semi-polar solvents such as dipropylene glycol, butyl digol, polyethylene glycol, propylene glycol monobutyl ether and combinations thereof.
However, it is also possible to use soluble (e.g. water soluble) perfume in the fabric treatment composition, in which case it may not be necessary to use a perfume solubiliser.
Optional ingredients in the fabric treatment composition (which may provide conditioning or other benefits) include:
Antistatic Agents
e.g. surfactants, particularly cationic, phosphate esters, silicones, polymers
Garment Care Agents
Softening agents e.g. cationic, Quaternary salts, particularly Di long chain ester quats, nonionics, fatty acids, alcohols and amines, clays.
Shape retention e.g. thermoplastic elastomers, (e.g. PMMA—polymethylmethacrylic acid), cationic, quaternary salts, polymers, cross-linked polymers.
Easy Iron Agents
Anti wrinkle agents e.g. silicones, polyolefin dispersions, starch, hydrophilic polymers, cross-linked polymers
Iron glide agents e.g. silicones, ester oils, hydrocarbons, lubricants
Dispersing aids: e.g. organic compounds: fatty acids and fatty acid soaps, polyethylene glycols and esters of polyethylene glycol, fatty alcohols and fatty esters, particularly fatty esters of sorbitol among others. Some classes of inorganic compounds that can be used are clays such as the smectites and bentonites and colloidal silicas such as cab-o-sil (tradename).
Improved Cleaning Performance Agents
Anti redeposition agents e.g. SCMC (sodium carboxymethylcellulose), PVP (polyvinyl pyrrolidone, PET/POET (polyethylene terephthalate/polyoxyethylene terephthalate (e.g. Aquaperle)
Soil/stain agents release e.g. Cellulose ethers, SCMC, Fluorocarbons
Fluorescers e.g. Tinopal DMS-X-Tinopal CBS-X
Faster drying agents e.g. amino-silicones, hydrogels, organic solvents, vapour pressure modifiers (e.g. alcohols and poly-alcohols)
Colour Care Agents
Reduced fibrilation agents e.g. quaternary salts, cationic polymers, cellulosic polymers enzymes (e.g. cellulose type)
Anti Dye transfer agents e.g. PVP, PVI (polyvinyl imidazoline), PVP-NO (polyvinyl pyridine-N-oxide
Dye fixers e.g. amino functional polymers, polymeric quats, metal ions
Anti ash agents e.g. polyacrilates, sequestrants (e.g. EDTA (Ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid), EDDS (ethylene diamine disuccinic acid), EHDP (ethane 1-hydroxy,1,1-diphosphonic acid))
UV absorbants e.g. Parsol
Hagemann Uwe
Hayes Steven
Honey Raymond
Kerr Colin Watt
Lazarus Ira S.
O'Malley Kathryn S.
Stein Kevin J.
Unilever Home & Personal Care USA , division of Conopco, Inc.
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