Cleaning compositions for solid surfaces – auxiliary compositions – Cleaning compositions or processes of preparing – With oxygen or halogen containing chemical bleach or oxidant...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-11
2002-05-21
Gupta, Yogendra N. (Department: 1751)
Cleaning compositions for solid surfaces, auxiliary compositions
Cleaning compositions or processes of preparing
With oxygen or halogen containing chemical bleach or oxidant...
C510S372000, C510S375000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06391840
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to liquid bleaching compositions consisting of at least two partial compositions which are stored separate from each other in a single container comprising at least two chambers, and which are mixed on use, one partial composition comprising a peroxygen bleach compound.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In household and fabric cleaning and in many other areas there is a need for agents which bleach unsightly stains on surfaces or fabric and/or disinfect surfaces. Common agents for this purpose are those which contain active chlorine, the most common being sodium hypochlorite, which is widely used in cleaning compositions to decolourise soils or stains, remove mould stains, assist in cleaning through reaction with soils and to kill microorganisms.
One problem with said compositions is that hypochlorite has an unpleasant odour and, when accidentally mixed with an acidic product can liberate toxic amounts of chlorine gag. Therefore there is a need for alternative bleaching agents.
Other bleaching agents are known, particularly many kinds of peroxygen bleaching compounds such as peracids and their salts and peroxides. However, the bleaching power of peroxygen bleaching compounds as such generally falls short of that of hypochlorite and therefore they are often used in conjunction with oxygen transfer or bleach activator agents. Such agents generally operate by reacting with the peroxygen bleach compound to form an oxidative bleaching species which subsequently reacts with the substrate to be bleached, cleaned or disinfected.
Peroxygen bleaching compounds, like hypochlorite, are most effective at alkaline pH, particularly at pH 9 and above.
Recently, imine compounds wherein the nitrogen is relatively electron deficient have been disclosed to be very efficient bleach activator agents, as are the corresponding oxaziridines. Typical examples of such compounds are the sulfonimines and sulphonyloxaziridines, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,045,223, 5,041,232 and 5,047,163, (=EP-A-0 446 982) and the quaternary imine salts (imine quats) and quaternary oxaziridine salts, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,360,568, 5,360,569, 5,478,357 and WO 95/13351. These imine and oxaziridine compounds have all been shown to be good oxidants in combination with a large variety of peracids and peracid precursors. Additional examples of imine quats are described in WO 97/10323, WO 98/16614 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,710,116. All these documents exemplify the efficiency of the imine compounds by adding them to alkaline solutions of a standard washing powder, immediately followed by washing standard pieces of stained cloth in the wash liquor thus obtained. However, these documents do not contain any long term stability data of detergent products containing imine compounds.
In WO 96/40855 bleach systems are described comprising sulfonimines and imine quats, hydrogen peroxide and transition metal catalysts. The compositions are broadly described as being useful for cleaning and bleaching fabrics and household hard surfaces. Again the bleaching power is described by admixing imine compound and hydrogen peroxide with a solution of a powdered laundry detergent followed by washing pieces of stained cloth, and again no long term stability data bleaching products containing the imine compounds are given.
WO 98/23717 discloses that bleaching systems containing a peroxyacid or a peroxyacid precursor system such as TAED/perborate in combination with an imine quat have limited efficiency at high pH because of instability of the oxidising species formed by reaction of the peroxyacid with the imine quat. It is further disclosed in this document that this problem may be solved by using hydrogen peroxide (or a compound generating hydrogen peroxide on contact with water) instead of a peroxyacid. In the examples it is shown that freshly prepared solutions of hydrogen peroxide and imine quat do indeed clean soiled household hard surfaces better and can be used at higher pH than freshly prepared solutions of peracids and imine quat. However, again no long term stability data of such products are given.
Most laundry detergent products containing bleach are sold as solids and the same holds for most machine dish wash products. In such products long term storage stability of bleach activators in combination with other components of the product is of limited relevance because of the very limited possibility of chemical reactions between the components of the product.
Household hard surface cleaning products, on the other hand, are generally aqueous liquids and the same holds for specialized laundry bleaching products. In such products chemical incompatibility of the various components may be a problem which can limit long term storage stability. Therefore in liquid cleaning compositions containing a peroxygen bleach compound and an imine bleach activator long term storage stability may be a problem, particularly at the alkaline pH at which peroxygen bleach compounds show their greatest activity.
For various products containing peroxygen compounds the problem of storage stability of the peroxygen compound itself has been solved by storing the peroxygen compound separately from an alkaline component whereupon the two components are mixed just before use. Thus, toothpastes and peroxide-based hair bleaching compositions have been formulated as weakly acidic peroxide solutions or gels which are mixed with separate weakly alkaline solutions or pastes just before use. The known advantage of this form of product is that under acidic conditions the peroxide is more stable to decomposition, but is more effective as a bleaching agent under alkaline conditions.
Other two-part peroxide based compositions are disclosed in JP-A-60/038497 (LION BRANDS), which relates to a foaming, two-part drain cleaning composition which comprises:
a) 0.5-50% wt hydrogen peroxide,
b) alkali, having an alkalinity 0.1-50% based on sodium hydroxide,
c) surface active agent in (a) or (b), and,
d) terpene alcohol/cyclic terpene alcohol in (a) or (b).
The compositions (a) and (b), including the surfactants and terpene are sequentially or simultaneously dosed into a toilet bowl and pass into the drains where the composition produces a body of foam which acts to clean or if necessary unblock the drain.
Other forms of simultaneous delivery of two components are known. Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 3,760,986 discloses a dispensing bottle for dispensing two separate fluids to a common point. Such a bottle is formed with an opening at the top and a divider extending through the interior of the bottle to define two compartments which provide dual reservoirs for fluids. The apparatus disclosed further comprises a pump means to simultaneously withdraw fluid from each compartment, via separate draw tubes, and discharge the fluid to a common point. This device enables an alkaline and an acid material to be stored separately and sprayed from a single unit to a common point.
WO 95/16023 discloses a container comprising two chambers or reservoirs, one containing a liquid acid or neutral composition comprising a peroxide compound and the other containing a liquid alkaline composition. The container is provided with a spray system able to either produce a single spray of a mixture of the two components or two simultaneous sprays of each component directed to the same point on a surface whereafter the components mix on the surface.
WO 97/31087 discloses a container comprising two chambers or reservoirs, one containing a liquid composition comprising a peroxygen bleach and the other containing a liquid composition comprising a builder or chelating agent and at least one of these liquids containing a pH adjusting agent which on mixing of the liquids brings the pH of the mixture to a value at which the peroxygen bleach is effectively cleaning as well as stable. Preferably the peroxygen bleach is either a peracid or a persalt and the pH is between 9.0 and 11.5. The two liquid compositions are mixed on delivery to the surface, preferably by a spray sy
Thompson Katherine Mary
Thornthwaite David William
Gupta Yogendra N.
Petruncio John M
Unilever Home & Personal Care USA , division of Conopco, Inc.
LandOfFree
Multiple component bleaching compositions does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Multiple component bleaching compositions, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Multiple component bleaching compositions will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2883658