Cleaning compositions for solid surfaces – auxiliary compositions – Cleaning compositions or processes of preparing – Specific organic component
Reexamination Certificate
2001-06-11
2002-09-17
Hardee, John (Department: 1751)
Cleaning compositions for solid surfaces, auxiliary compositions
Cleaning compositions or processes of preparing
Specific organic component
C510S516000, C510S476000, C008S115600
Reexamination Certificate
active
06451756
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to hydrophobically modified polycarboxylate polymers and a method for promoting soil release from fabrics, particularly cotton and cotton-containing fabrics, by contacting the fabrics with compositions comprising said polymers.
Soil on laundry falls into two general categories; either i) clay soil comprising particles which generally comprise negatively charged layers of aluminosilicates and positively charged cations, for example Ca
++
, which are positioned between the aluminosilicate layers and hold them together; or ii) oil- or grease borne soils which are typically caused by spills of frying oil, grease, tomato or spaghetti sauce, human body sweat (sebum), and non-saponifiable oil stains such as used motor oil or petroleum oils. Oil-borne stains can usually be removed by dry cleaning but this is expensive. Previously, such oily soil would have been removed using very hot (typically 60-90° C.) wash conditions, however, the current trend is to save energy and use much lower washing temperatures in the region of 15-50° C.; unfortunately, however, oily soil is not easily removed at this temperature.
Very many soil release agents are known in the art for use in domestic and industrial fabric treatment processes such as laundering, stain guarding, fabric softening etc. For example, polyesters of terephthalic and other aromatic dicarboxylic acids having soil release properties are widely disclosed in the art, such as the so-called PET/POET polymers (polyethylene terephthalate/polyoxyethylene terephthalate), which have been known for over 20 years and the PET/PEG (polyethylene terephthalate/polyethylene glycol) polymers which are taught in, for example, Canadian Patent No. 1,100,262, U.S. Pat. No. 3,557,039 and United Kingdom Patent No. GB 1,467,098.
These PET/POET and PET/PEG polymers are known to be helpful to promote the release of oily soil particularly from synthetic fibres such as polyester. It is believed that their effectiveness is due to the affinity resulting from the similarity between the structure of the PET/POET and PET/PEG polymers and the polyester fibres. Over the last few years, the backbone and side-chains in the PET/POET and PET/PEG polymers have been modified to achieve a range of cost effective polyester soil release additives which can be formulated into liquid and solid (granular) detergents. The main drawback with these materials, however, is that they offer little or no benefit on cotton and cotton blend fabrics; a much larger quantity of polymer is required before any soil release effects are observed and the PET/POET materials, in particular, have low water solubility which makes them difficult to use.
Attempts have been made to use the same approach, that is, to find soil release agents which mimic the structure of cotton and cotton-blend fabrics which will give enhanced soil release on cotton/cotton-blend fabrics. For example, United Kingdom Patent GB 1,314,897 discloses hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose laundry aids for cotton fibre; U.S. Pat. No. 5,049,302 describes a detergent composition having soil release properties comprising an anionic surfactant, a hydrotrope, a graft copolymer of polyalkylene oxide and an ester monomer and a nonionic cellulosic agent for use on cotton and cotton-blend fabrics. Others have suggested permanently modifying the chemical structure of cotton fibres by reacting the substrate with a polysaccharide polymer backbone, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,897,026 discloses materials having improved soil release and stain resistance properties obtained by reacting the hydroxyl moieties of the cotton fibres with an ethylene/maleic anhydride co-polymer.
However, despite the extensive research activity in this field, there remains a need for a soil release additive which has superior soil release properties, especially oil- and grease borne soil, and which is highly effective on natural fabrics such as cotton, and cotton-blend fabrics at low temperatures under domestic laundry conditions. Accordingly, the present invention provides polymer of Formula 1:
wherein:
A is a polymerized residue of a monomer selected from one or more C
3
-C
8
monoethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acids;
B is a polymerized residue of a monomer selected from one or more C
3
-C
60
alkyl(meth)acrylates, ethoxylated C
1
-C
24
alkyl(meth)acrylates, and poly(alkylene glycol)(meth)acrylates, alkyl or aromatic ethers of poly(alkylene glycol) and the corresponding maleate mono and di-esters thereof;
C is a polymerized residue of a monomer selected from one or more ethylenically unsaturated monomers which are copolymerisable with the monomers in A and B;
A, B and C residues are randomly arranged in said polymer;
S and T are end groups;
m is the total number of A residues and is from 0 to 500;
n is the total number of B residues and is >0;
p is the total number of C residues and is from 0 to 500;
the sum of m and p is at least 1;
q is from 0 to 100; and
D is a polymerized residue of a monomer selected from poly(alkylene)oxide or alkylene oxide monomers
E is selected from C
1
-C
50
alkyl groups and C
6
-C
50
aromatic groups.
X is a functional group.
The term “A, B and C residues are randomly arranged in said polymer” means that the residue adjacent the end group S may be either an A, B or C residue, that the residue adjacent the residue adjacent the end group S may be either an A, B or C residue, and so on.
Preferably, the polymer of Formula 1 is formed by copolymerizing two or more monomers A, B and C wherein:
i) monomer A is selected from one or more monoethylenically unsaturated C
3
-C
8
monoethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid moieties;
ii) monomer B is selected from one or more C
3
-C
60
alkyl(meth)acrylates, ethoxylated C
1
-C
24
alkyl(meth)acrylates, poly(alkylene glycol)(meth)acrylates, alkyl or aromatic ethers of poly(alkylene glycol) and the corresponding maleate mono and di-esters thereof;
iii) monomer C is selected from one or more ethylenically unsaturated monomers which are copolymerisable with monomers A and B;
S and T are end groups;
m is between 0 and 500;
n is >0;
p is between 0 and 500;
q is from 0-100;
D is selected from poly(alkylene)oxide or alkylene oxide monomer units; and
E is selected from C
1
to C
50
alkyl and C
6
to C
50
aromatic groups
X is a functional group.
The present invention also provides a method of promoting the release of oily soil from fabric, comprising contacting the fabric with at least one polymer comprising:
formed by copolymerising two or more monomers A, B and C wherein:
i) monomer A is selected from one or more monoethylenically unsaturated C
3
-C
8
monoethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid moieties;
ii) monomer B is selected from one or more C
3
-C
60
alkyl(meth)acrylates, ethoxylated C
1
-C
24
alkyl(meth)acrylates, and poly(alkylene glycol)(meth)acrylates, alkyl or aromatic ethers of poly(alkylene glycol) and the corresponding maleate mono and di-esters thereof;
monomer C is selected from one or more ethylenically unsaturated monomers which are copolymerisable with monomers A and B;
S and T are end groups;
m is between 0 and 500;
n is >0;
p is between 0 and 500;
q is from 0-100; and
D is selected from poly(alkylene)oxide or alkylene oxide monomer units.
E is selected from C
1
-C
50
alkyl and aromatic groups.
X is a functional group.
Preferably, the molecular weight of the backbone, as measured on the polymer product after exhaustive hydrolysis, comprising polymerizedunits of A, B and C, is at least 500 and may be up to 500,000. Backbone molecular weights of from 500 to 150,000 are especially preferred.
The value m is preferably between 0 and 500. The ratio of m+p:n may be 100:1, preferably 50:1 and particularly preferred is a ratio of between 10:1 to 1:1.
Monomer A, may be selected from C
3
-C
8
monoethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid moieties. Suitable carboxylic acids include monoethylenically unsaturated monocarboxylic acids and monoethylenically unsaturated dicarboxylic acids. For example, monoethylenically unsaturated carboxyl
Creamer Marianne Patricia
Falcone Beth Ann
Kirk Thomas Cleveland
Schwartz Curtis
Shulman Jan Edward
Hardee John
Johnson Stephen E.
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