Cleaning compositions for solid surfaces – auxiliary compositions – Cleaning compositions or processes of preparing – Liquid composition
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-06
2001-02-27
Gupta, Yogendra (Department: 1751)
Cleaning compositions for solid surfaces, auxiliary compositions
Cleaning compositions or processes of preparing
Liquid composition
C510S337000, C510S340000, C510S533000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06194373
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a liquid detergent composition comprising a surfactant and an aminopolycarboxylic acid-based organic builder. More specifically, the present invention relates to a high concentration liquid detergent composition having excellent compatibility with a surfactant, superior resistance against white turbidity and good biodegradability.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In liquid detergents, particularly in liquid detergents used as a house detergent, a nonionic surfactant and/or an anionic surfactant are used as the surfactant and a builder of various types is added to increase detergency. Various types of organic or inorganic builders can be used but almost all builders have a Na salt structure.
In recent years, from the standpoint of environmental conservation, studies are aggressively being made on the use of an aminopolycarboxylic acid having excellent biodegradability, particularly an amino acid diacetic acid-type chelating agent, as the builder. Aminopolycarboxylic acids including amino acid diacetic acid chelating agents are used in the form of a synthetic reaction solution as it is on account of the cost. Therefore, in almost all cases, these are Na salts which assume strong alkalinity. For example, JP-A-10-25494 (the term “JP-A” as used herein means an “unexamined published Japanese patent application”) discloses a liquid detergent for dishes, comprising an aspartic acid diacetic acid builder, where an alkali metal salt is used. JP-A-10-36888 discloses a liquid detergent comprising an aminopolycarboxylic acid builder, where an amine salt is disclosed on the same level with an alkali metal salt and in Examples, a Na salt is used. Moreover, the maximum concentration of the surfactant in this composition is as low as 10 wt %, thus, the problem of white turbidity on the high concentration side is not solved.
The use of a builder has a problem in that the solubility or clouding point of the surfactant as the main agent decreases and thereby the compatibility is deteriorated to cause, for example, white turbidity or separation of the white turbidity into two layers with the elapse of time. In order to prevent these, a technique of diluting the liquid detergent composition with water to reduce the concentration of the surfactant or a technique of adding a solubilizing agent has been heretofore used. However, the former case of diluting the liquid detergent composition with water inevitably results in an increase in the cost of transporting the detergent and this is commercially disadvantageous. In the latter case, it is known to newly add a surfactant as a solubilizing agent or add a urea, an ether alcohol or a lower alcohol. However, the effect is not sufficiently high for obtaining a high concentration liquid detergent composition.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to obtain a liquid detergent which has excellent biodegradability, which does not assume strong alkalinity, which has excellent compatibility even if the surfactant concentration is increased, and which is free of white turbidity.
As a result of extensive investigations to solve the above-described problems, the present inventors have found that in where a nonionic surfactant and/or anionic surfactant is used at a high concentration as the main surfactant of a liquid detergent and an aminopolycarboxylic acid chelating agent is used as a builder, by using an amine salt or an alkali metal-amine mixed salt as the counter ion of the builder and at the same time, adding an alcohol thereto, the compatibility is increased and the white turbidity can be prevented. The present invention has been accomplished based on this finding.
The present invention relates to the liquid detergent composition described below.
In one embodiment, the invention provides a liquid detergent composition comprising:
(A) one or more surfactants selected from the group consisting of a nonionic surfactant and an anionic surfactant,
(B) one or more builders selected from the group consisting of an amine salt and an alkali metal-amine mixed salt of an aminopolycarboxylic acid chelating agent, and
(C) one or more solubilizing agents selected from the group consisting of alcohols,
with component (A) being present in a concentration of 20 wt % or more.
In another embodiment, the invention provides a liquid detergent composition comprising:
(A) from 20 to 60 wt % of one or more surfactants selected from the group consisting of a nonionic surfactant and an anionic surfactant,
(B) from 0.1 to 15 wt % of one or more builders selected from the group consisting of an amine salt and an alkali metal-amine mixed salt of aminopolycarboxylic acid chelating agent,
(C) from 0.5 to 30 wt % of one or more solubilizing agents selected from the group consisting of alcohols, and
(D) the balance of water.
A further embodiment comprises a liquid detergent composition as described in (1) or (2), wherein the aminopolycarboxylic acid is an amino acid-N,N-diacetic acid.
An even further embodiment is a liquid detergent composition as described in (1) or (2), wherein the aminopolycarboxylic acid is glutamic acid-N,N-diacetic acid, &agr;-alanine-N,N-diacetic acid, &bgr;-alanine-N,N-diacetic acid, aspartic acid-N,N-diacetic acid, glycine-N,N-diacetic acid or serine-N,N-diacetic acid.
Additionally, another embodiment is a liquid detergent composition as described in any one of (1) to (4), wherein the alcohol is a glycol.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The surfactant used as component (A) in the present invention is one or more selected from a nonionic surfactant and an anionic surfactant. Among these, a nonionic surfactant has a higher solubility than an anionic surfactant, accordingly, it is suitable for preparing a high concentration liquid detergent composition. The surfactant is used at a concentration of 20 wt % or more in the liquid detergent composition.
Examples of suitable nonionic surfactants include polyoxyethylene alkyl ether, polyoxyethylene alkyl phenyl ether, fatty acid diethanolamide, amine oxide and amidoamine oxide. Examples of appropriate anionic surfactants include alkyl sulfate, alkylpolyoxyethylene sulfate, alkylbenzenesulfonate, &agr;-olefinsulfonate, fatty acid salts, ether carboxylates and monoalkylphosphates. A number of these may be commercially available.
The aminopolycarboxylic acid-based chelating agent used in the builder as component (B) of the present invention is a chelating agent containing one or more, preferably one or two amino groups and two or more, preferably three or four carboxyl groups, and having a chelating action. The amino group may be a secondary amino group or a tertiary amino group. The chelating agent is preferably an amino acid-N,N-diacetic acid.
An amino acid-N,N-diacetic acid is a compound represented by the following formula (1)
A-N-(CH
2
COOH)
2
(1)
wherein A-NH
2
represents an amino acid, and —N represents an amino group in the amino acid.
Examples of amino acid-N,N-diacetic acids include glutamic acid-N,N-diacetic acid, &agr;-alanine-N,N-diacetic acid, &bgr;-alanine-N,N-diacetic acid, aspartic acid-N,N-diacetic acid, glycine-N,N-diacetic acid and serine-N,N-diacetic acid. These amino acid-N,N-diacetic acids may be synthesized by a known Strecker reaction using, for example, an amino acid as the raw material or may be synthesized from a monochloroacetic acid.
Other than the amino acid-N,N-diacetic acid, examples of aminopolycarboxylic acid chelating agents include ethylenediaminedisuccinic acid and iminodisuccinic acid. These may also be synthesized by a known method and used. Examples of preferred aminopolycarboxylic acid chelating agents are shown below by their structural formulae.
On account of the cost, amino acid-N,N-diacetic acids and other aminopolycarboxylic acid-based chelating agents are generally obtained as an aqueous solution where all carboxyl groups have an Na salt as the counter ion. However, in the present invention, the aminopolycarboxylic acid for use in the builder as component (B) is used in the form
Furukawa Masanori
Nambu Nobuyoshi
Saito Makoto
Yamamoto Tohru
Gupta Yogendra
Petruncio John M
Showa Denko K.K.
Sughrue Mion Zinn Macpeak & Seas, PLLC
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