Treatment for fabrics

Details Treatment for fabrics Treatment for fabrics

2001-04-05

2003-01-14

Hardee, John (Department: 1751)

Bleaching and dyeing; fluid treatment and chemical modification

Chemical modification of textiles or fibers or products thereof

C510S470000, C510S473000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06506220

ABSTRACT:

The present invention relates to an ingredient for laundry cleaning or treatment products, for deposition onto fabric during a washing, rinsing or other treatment process. It further extends to compositions containing such an ingredient and methods of fabrics treatment using these compositions.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Repeated washing of garments, particularly those comprising cotton or other cellulosic fibres, causes gradual loss of material from individual fibres and the loss of whole fibres from the fabric. These processes of attrition result in thinning of the fabric, eventually rendering it semi-transparent, more prone to accidental tearing and generally detracting from its original appearance.
Hitherto, there has been no way of minimising this kind of damage except by employing less frequent washing and use of less harsh detergent products and/or wash conditions, which obviously tends to less effective cleaning.
In laundry cleaning or treatment products, it is essential for some ingredients to be deposited onto and adhere to the fabric for them to deliver their beneficial effects. Typical examples are fabric conditioners or softeners. Nevertheless, the benefits conferred by such conventional materials do not include rebuilding the fabric.
It has now been found possible to include in laundry products, agents which deposit cellulose or cellulose-like materials onto the fabric to at least partially replace the lost material of the fibre.
EP-A-0 084 772 discloses a graft polymer dispersion comprising a vinyl-containing organopolysiloxane, an organopolysiloxane with unsubstituted silicon atom and polymerised units of vinyl monomers. Aqueous emulsions of these materials are used as water repellents to be applied to textiles during manufacture, whilst also endowing a softening and smoothing effect. Unlike conventional silicones they are said to offer the advantage of retaining elasticity and “recovery” of the weave. There is also a disclosure of strengthening of textiles during manufacture by application of acrylates, polyacrylates and polymetacrylates. However, there is nothing in this reference to suggest use of a material during a laundry process, for rebuilding the material of the fabric.
EP-A-0 025 255 discloses laundry wash or softening agents and shampoo compositions, containing a complex of an arylamine and a fatty acid or phosphate ester. The heat of the wash/rinse water softens the solid particles of this material to enhance its deposition. However, again, there is no suggestion of this agent being able to rebuild cellulose-type fibres.
EP-A-0 266 324 discloses fabric conditioners which are amine-anionic surfactant ion pair complexes. Thus, these are not polymeric, nor do they aid fabric rebuild.
WO-A-98/00500 discloses detergent compositions comprising a peptide or protein deposition aid having a high affinity for fibres or a surface, and having a benefit agent attached/absorbed to the deposition aid. There is no disclosure of use for these materials as fabric rebuild agents. Moreover, the peptide/protein material is significantly more costly than the polysaccharides used in the present invention.
WO-A-98/29528 discloses cellulose ethers in which some substituents are (poly)alkoxylated, analogues of the latter in which the (poly)alkoxylated groups are terminated with a cationic moiety in the form of a quaternary ammonium group, and cellulose ethers in which some substituents are carboxylic acids in the salt form (i.e. the materials are essentially carboxymethylcellulose variants). None of these substituents in any variant is of a kind which would undergo a chemical change to enhance fabric
WO-A-99/14245 discloses laundry detergent compositions containing cellulosic based polymers to provide appearance and integrity benefits to fabrics. These polymers are cellulosic polymers in which the saccharide rings have pendant oxygen atoms to which substituents ‘R’ are bonded, i.e. they are attached to the rings via an ether linkage. The groups ‘R’ can be hydrogen, lower alkyl or alkylene linkages terminated by carboxylic acid, ester or amide groups. Optionally, up to five alkyleneoxy groups may be interspersed between the groups are the respective oxygen atom. At least some of these groups may undergo a chemical change such as hydrolysis, in the wash liquor. However no such change would result in an increased affinity for the fabric. On the contrary, because the “ester” group is configured with the carbonyl group closer to the polysaccharide than the oxygen atom (i.e. esters of carboxyalkyl groups), any hydrolysis will result in free acid substituents which will actually result in an increase in solubility and therefore, a decrease in affinity for the-fabric.
WO-A-99/14295 discloses structures analogous to those described in WO-A-99/14245 but in one alternative, the substituents ‘R’ together with the oxygen on the saccharide ring, constitute pendant half-esters of certain dicarboxylic acids. A single example of such a material is given. The dicarboxylic acid half-esters would tend to hydrolyse in the wash liquor and thereby increase affinity of the material for a cotton fabric. However, first, this mechanism of action or behaviour is not mentioned. Second, the hydrolysis rate of such dicarboxylic acids half esters is not as great as that of esters of monocarboxylic acids (which are not disclosed or claimed in WO-A-99/14295). Third, the degree of substitution for this variant is specified as being from 0.001 to 0.1. This is so low as to make the enhancement of fabric affinity too low to be worthwhile for this mechanism of action. Fourth, the structures described and claimed insofar as they have such half ester substituents, must also have substituents of the type which are carboxyalkyl groups or esters thereof, i.e. of the type also described in WO-A-99/14245. In the latter (ester) case, these would hydrolyse to the free acid form. The degree of substitution of the latter (0.2 to 2) is considerably higher than for the half-ester groups and the resultant increase in solubility would easily negate any enhanced affinity for the fabric by hydrolysis of the half-ester groups.
Definition of the Invention
Thus, a first aspect of the present invention now provides a laundry treatment composition comprising a water-soluble or water-dispersible rebuild agent for deposition onto a fabric during a treatment process wherein the rebuild agent undergoes during the treatment process, a chemical change by which change the affinity of the rebuild agent for the fabric is increased, said chemical change resulting in the loss or modification of one or more groups covalently bonded to be pendant to a polymeric backbone of the rebuild agent via an ester linkage, the ester-linked group(s) being selected from monocarboxylic acid esters.
In compositions according to the first aspect of the invention, the polymeric backbone of the rebuild agent preferably comprises cellulose units or other &bgr;-1,4 linked polysaccharide units. Moreover, the average degree of substitution of all pendant group(s), i.e. all the group(s) which undergo the chemical change plus any other groups per saccharide rings for the totality of saccharide rings in the rebuild agent is preferably from 0.3 to 3, more preferably from 0.4 to 1, still more preferably from 0.5 to 0.75 and most preferably from 0.6 to 0.7.
Throughout this specification, “average degree of substitution” refers to the number of substituted pendant groups per saccharide ring, averaged over all saccharide rings of the rebuild agent. Each saccharide ring prior to substitution has three —OH groups and therefore, an average degree of substitution of 3 means that each of these groups on all molecules of the sample, bears a substituent.
By ester linkage is meant that the hydrogen of an —OH group has been replaced by a substituent such as R′—CO—, R′SO
2
— etc to form a carboxylic acid ester, sulphonic acid ester (as appropriate) etc together with the remnant oxygen attached to the saccharide ring. In some cases, the group R′ may for example contai

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