Cleaning compositions for solid surfaces – auxiliary compositions – Cleaning compositions or processes of preparing – For cleaning a specific substrate or removing a specific...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-20
2001-08-14
Kopec, Mark (Department: 1751)
Cleaning compositions for solid surfaces, auxiliary compositions
Cleaning compositions or processes of preparing
For cleaning a specific substrate or removing a specific...
C510S223000, C510S230000, C510S413000, C510S414000, C510S426000, C510S434000, C510S477000, C510S501000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06274539
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to liquid or gel dishwashing detergent compositions suitable for use in manual dishwashing operations. These compositions contain detergent surfactants, suds boosters, pH control agents, thickening agents and other adjuvants which in combination serve to impart consumer preferred food soil cleaning and sudsing characteristics to such dishwashing detergent products.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Light-duty liquid CDL) or gel detergent compositions useful for manual dishwashing are well known in the art. Such products are generally formulated to provide a number of widely diverse performance and aesthetics properties and characteristics. First and foremost, liquid or gel dishwashing products must be formulated with types and amounts of surfactants and other cleaning adjuvants that will provide acceptable solubilization and removal of food soils, especially greasy soils, from dishware being cleaned with, or in aqueous solutions formed from, such products.
Heavily soiled dishware can present special problems during manual dishwashing operations. Articles such as plates, utensils, pots, pans, crockery and the like may be heavily soiled in the sense that relatively large amounts of food soils and residues may still be found on the dishware at the time such soiled dishware is to be manually washed. Dishware may also be heavily soiled in the sense that food soil residues are especially tenaciously adhered or stuck to the surfaces of the dishware to be cleaned. This can result from the type of food soils present or from the nature of the dishware surfaces involved. Tenacious food soil residues may also result from the type of cooking operations to which the soiled dishware had been subjected.
When heavily soiled dishware is to be manually cleaned, very often highly concentrated, or high concentrations of, dishwashing detergent products are used. Frequently, this will involve direct application to the soiled dishware of a liquid or gel product in its undiluted or neat form. During such applications, the pH characteristics of the dishwashing composition can have a significant effect on the ability of the composition to solubilize and remove food soils such as greasy soils. Product pH furthermore can determine the effectiveness of conventional aqueous dishwashing solutions in removing greasy soils from dishware. In general, aqueous dishwashing solutions that are more alkaline in nature are more effective at removing such soils.
Also, when highly concentrated or neat detergent products are applied directly to soiled dishware, it is important that the dishwashing composition have Theological characteristics which keep it from too quickly running off of the soiled dishware. Product rheology, however, should not interfere with product dispensibility or with the ability of the product to readily dissolve in water to form conventional aqueous dishwashing solutions.
Finally, in addition to being useful for cleaning dishware, LDL or gel compositions will also desirably possess other attributes that enhance the aesthetics or consumer perception of the effectiveness of the manual dishwashing operation. Thus, useful hand dishwashing liquids or gels should also employ materials that enhance the sudsing characteristics of the wash solutions formed from such products. Sudsing performance entails both the production of a suitable amount of suds in the wash water initially, as well as the formation of suds which last well into the dishwashing process.
Given the foregoing, there is a continuing need to formulate manual dishwashing liquids and gels that provide an acceptable and desirable balance between cleaning performance, in both concentrated direct application and aqueous washing solution contexts, product rheology and product aesthetics. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide light-duty liquid or gel dishwashing compositions which are especially effective at removing food soils from dirty dishware when such compositions are used in the context of a manual dishwashing operation.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such compositions having desirable pH characteristics for use in either a direct application to dishware context or in an aqueous dishwashing solution context.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such compositions having desirable Theological characteristics for use in either a direct application to dishware context or in an aqueous dishwashing solution context.
It is a further object of the present invention to realize such compositions that provide suitable and desirable sudsing performance.
It has been found that certain selected combinations of surfactants, suds boosters, pH control agents and other adjuvants can be made to provide dishwashing compositions that achieve the foregoing objectives. The elements of these selected combinations of ingredients are described as follows:
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to controlled pR aqueous light-duty liquid or gel detergent compositions having especially desirable soil removal and sudsing performance when such compositions are used to clean heavily soiled dishware. Such compositions comprise A) from about 20% to 40% of a specific type of a anionic surfactant component; B) from about 3% to 10% of a certain type of nonionic surfactant component; C) from about 2% to 6% of a suds booster/stabilizer; D) from about 50% to 75% of an aqueous liquid carrier; E) from about 0.2% to 6% of a pH control agent, such as sodium or potassium carbonate, which is effective for maintaining pH of a 10% aqueous solution of the composition within the range of from about 9 to 11, and F) from about 0.2% to 2% of a thickener which is an associative, anionic copolymer of ethyl acrylate, steareth-20 and acrylic or methacrylic acid.
The anionic surfactant component essentially comprises alkyl ether sulfates containing from about 8 to 18 carbon atoms in the alkyl group. These alkyl ether sulfates also contain from about 1 to 6 moles of ethylene oxide per molecule.
The nonionic surfactant component essentially comprises C
8-18
polyhydroxy fatty acids amides. In the nonionic surfactant components such polyhydroxy fatty acids amides may also be combined with from about 0.2% to 2% of the composition of a nonionic co-surfactant. This nonionic co-surfactant is selected from C
8-18
alcohol ethoxylates having from about 1 to 15 moles of ethylene oxide, ethylene oxide-propylene oxide block co-polymer surfactants and combinations of these nonionic co-surfactants.
The suds booster/stabilizer utilized in the compositions herein are selected from betaine surfactants, hydroxy-free fatty acid amides, amine oxide semipolar nonionic surfactants and C
8-22
alklypolyglycosides. Combinations of these suds booster/stabilizers may also be utilized.
The foregoing essential components, as well a number of additional optional ingredients, can be combined in conventional manner to form the light-duty liquid or gel dishwashing detergent products of this invention. One type of ingredient which has typically been employed in dishwashing detergent products, but which should not be utilized in the relatively high pH compositions of this invention, comprises any source of calcium or magnesium ions.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The light-duty liquid or gel dishwashing detergent compositions of the present invention contain five essential components. These components are:
(1) a certain type of anionic surfactant;
(2) certain nonionic surfactants;
(3) certain suds boosters/stablizers;
(4) an aqueous liquid carrier,
(5) a pH control agent; and
(6) a certain acrylic copolymer thickener.
A wide variety of optional ingredients can also be added to compliment the performance and/or aesthetics characteristics of the compositions herein.
The essential and optional components of the instant light duty liquid or gel dishwashing detergents are described in detail as follows, along with composition preparation and use. In describing the compositions of the present invention, it shoul
Allouch Fouad Safooh
Kacher Mark Leslie
Wallace Deborah Pancheri
Kopec Mark
Miller Steven W.
Mruk Brian P.
The Procter & Gamble & Company
William Zerby Kim
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