Stock material or miscellaneous articles – Structurally defined web or sheet – Continuous and nonuniform or irregular surface on layer or...
Reexamination Certificate
1998-11-06
2004-06-22
Cole, Elizabeth M. (Department: 1771)
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
Structurally defined web or sheet
Continuous and nonuniform or irregular surface on layer or...
C428S156000, C428S187000, C442S123000, C442S408000, C015S104930, C028S105000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06753063
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to personal cleansing wipe articles which have superior softness, feel and cleansing properties. The personal cleansing wipes of the present invention comprise a single layer, nonwoven, hydroentangled substrate and an aqueous liquid cleansing composition coated onto or impregnated into the substrate.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Consumers have in the past used absorbent sheets impregnated with topical compositions for a variety of purposes. For example, wipes impregnated with cleansing compositions are frequently used to conveniently wash hands and face while traveling or in public or anytime when water and soap are not readily accessible. Such wipes are also frequently used on babies to clean up after a bowel movement.
Some consumers have indicated a desire that personal cleansing wipes, baby wipes or other wipes for use on human skin feel softer to the skin than wipes which are currently commercially available. Applicants have now found that softer wipes compositions can be provided by utilizing particular nonwoven, patterned substrates made from hydroentangled fibers in combination with an aqueous cleansing composition.
Substrates which are made from hydroentangled fibers are well known in the art. See, for example, Evans; U.S. Pat. No. 3,485,706; issued Dec. 23, 1969. Patterned substrates are also known in the art. The prior art describes two basis ways of forming a pattern on a nonwoven substrate: mechanical embossing and aperturing. Patterned substrates produced by these prior art methods are associated with consumer-negative. Mechanical embossing involves the application of force to a web through rigid members, such as protrusions on the periphery of a roll, to create areas of high density in the substrate, without changing the basis weight of the high density areas. Unfortunately, the mechanical embossing process can provide a pattern at the expense of other properties desired by the consumer. In particular, embossing can disrupt the bonds between fibers, thereby reducing the tensile strength of the web. Additionally, the pattern may not remain intact when the substrate is wetted. Aperturing involves the creation of a network of fiber bundles around a series of holes or apertures. These patterns are not three-dimensional, raised portions do not exist on the sheet. Although providing a visual effect, this type of pattern does not result in increased softness to the substrate.
It is an object of the present invention to provide wipes articles which arm impregnated with an aqueous cleansing composition which have superior softness, feel and cleaning properties compared to prior art compositions.
It is further an object of the present invention to accomplish superior softness, feel and cleansing without incurring consumer-negatives with respect to other aspects of the wipes article.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to personal cleansing wipes articles which have superior softness, feel and cleansing properties. The wipes of the present invention comprise a substrate and an aqueous liquid cleansing composition which is coated onto or impregnated into said substrate to the extent of from about 100% to about 400% by weight of the substrate. The substrate is a single-layer, nonwoven substrate which is formed from hydroentangled fibers. Upon a substantial portion of a base surface comprising the substrate there exists a three-dimensional pattern comprising a plurality of discrete, raised fibrous regions. The raised fibrous regions have a density which is substantially the same as the density of the base surface. The raised fibrous regions are joined to the base surface by a fibrous transition region. The aqueous liquid cleansing composition comprises an effective amount of a cleansing surfactant.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to personal cleansing wipes articles which have superior softness, feel and cleansing properties. As used herein, the term “personal cleansing wipes article” refers to products in which a sheet of porous or absorbent material has been impregnated with a personal cleansing composition for the purpose of rubbing the wipe product over a surface (e.g. skin) to clean the surface. The personal cleansing wipes articles of the present invention comprise a particular substrate and a liquid aqueous cleansing composition which is coated onto or impregnated into the substrate. The ingredients used to prepare the personal cleansing wipes articles of the present invention, as well as process for preparing them, are described in detail as follows:
I. Ingredients
A. The Substrate
The personal cleansing wipes compositions of the present invention comprise a single layer, nonwoven substrate formed from hydroentangled fibers. By “nonwoven” is meant that the substrate is comprised of fibers which are not woven into a fabric but rather are formed into a sheet, mat, or pad layer having suitable basis weight, caliper, absorbency and strength characteristics.
The fibers from which the substrate is formed can be natural, synthetic, or mixtures thereof. Suitable natural fibers from which to prepare the substrates herein include, for example, wood pulp, wool, silk, jute, hemp, cotton, linen, sisal, ramie and mixtures thereof. Suitable synthetic fibers from which the substrates herein can be prepared include rayon, cellulose ester, polyvinyl derivatives, polyolefins, polyamides, acetate, acrylic, modacrylic fibers, polyester, polyurethane foam, and mixtures thereof. Specific examples of some of these synthetic materials include acrylics such as acrilan, creslan, and the acrylonitrile-based fiber, orlon; cellulose ester fibers such as cellulose acetate, amel, and acele; polyamides such as nylons (e.g., nylon 6, nylon 66. nylon 610, and the like); polyesters such as fortrel, kodel, and the polyethylene terephthalate fiber, dacron; polyolefins such as polypropylene, polyethylene; polyvinyl acetate fibers; polyurethane foams and mixtures thereof. These and other suitable fibers and the nonwoven materials prepared therefrom are generally described in Riedel, “Nonwoven Bonding Methods and Materials,”
Nonwoven World
(1987);
The Encyclopedia Americana, vol.
11, pp. 147-153, and vol. 26, pp. 566-581 (1984); U.S. Pat. No. 4,891,227, to Thaman et al., issued Jan. 2, 1990; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,891,228 which are all incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.)
The substrate employed in the present invention is formed from hydroentangled fibers. One way to prepare a substrate from hydroentangled fibers is to position a web of fibers on a topographical support member comprising an essentially planar background surface with at least one recessed region significantly displaced from the background surface of the forming plate. Typically, the support member comprises a multiplicity of recessed regions, positioned as depressions is some predetermined array, that will form a desired pattern of raised portions on the nonwoven substrate. The fibrous web is presoaked or wetted out with water while on this support member to ensure that as it is treated it will remain on the support member. The support member with the fibrous web thereon is passed under a series of orifices from each of which a fluid, such as water, is ejected under high pressure and directed toward the upper surface of the fibrous web, i.e., that surface of the web which is out of contact with the topographical support member. Initially, these fluid forces “mold” the starting web to the three dimensional support member; as the process of applying fluid force continues, the fibers are entangled and locked together so as to provide a nonwoven substrate comprising a base surface and one or more discrete, raised fibrous regions which are permanently positioned with respect to one another. The water is then transported away from the support member, preferably using a vacuum. The fibrous web is de-watered. The de-watered formed substrate is removed from the support member. The formed substrate is passed over a series of drying drums
Evans Marcus Wayne
Hedges Steven Kirk
Lin Frank
Pung David John
Clay Cynthia L.
Cole Elizabeth M.
Dressman Marianne
Howell John M.
Pierce Jeremy R.
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