Patent Application
20070136967
The present invention relates to an adhesive wipe. Particularly, the present invention relates to an adhesive wipe with a strand adhered to the adhesive of the wipe, where the wipe is attached to a mop for cleaning a surface.
Cloths and other wiping products are used in cleaning. Most wiping products, or wipes, are made from either a woven or nonwoven sheet, and are used either by hand or attached to a tool like a mop handle to move dirt and dust in a desired direction. Typically, most wiping products do not have the ability to effectively capture and retain small and large particles of dirt and debris. During cleaning, when the dirt or dust has been collected, the wipe may be scrunched up by the user to try to capture the dirt or sand that has been collected so that it can be shaken out in the trash. This process is repeated during cleaning and often requires a user who is attempting to pick up larger particles such as sand to repeat the process several times to pick up all the sand or heavier particles that have been collected. Many times a user will pickup the debris with a broom and dust pan once it has been gathered into a pile with the wipe.
An adhesive sheet may be used to clean a surface. Additionally, adhesive may be incorporated into a wipe to assist with retaining both small and large particle of dirt and debris within the wipe. However, adhesive may adhere to the surface being cleaned. Therefore, sufficient spacing between the surface being cleaned and the adhesive layer is necessary to provide sufficient glide of the wipe while still providing sufficient pick-up of the dirt and debris.
An adhesive wipe for cleaning a surface is disclosed. The adhesive wipe includes a partially exposed adhesive for assisting in retaining small and large particles while still allowing for the adhesive wipe to glide on the surface to be cleaned.
In one embodiment, the adhesive wipe comprises a backing having a working surface that is substantially planar, adhesive on at least a portion of the working surface of the backing, and at least one spacer strand independently arranged on the adhesive on the working surface. At least a portion of the adhesive is covered by the spacer strand and at least a portion of the adhesive is exposed.
In another embodiment, the adhesive wipe comprises a backing having a working surface that is substantially planar and includes a first edge and second edge opposite the first edge, adhesive on at least a portion of the working surface of the backing, and at least one spacer strand independently arranged on the adhesive on the working surface and extending continuously from the first edge of the working surface to the second edge. At least a portion of the adhesive is covered by the spacer strand and at least a portion of the adhesive is exposed.
In another embodiment, the adhesive wipe is for cleaning a surface by attachment to a cleaning tool having a head with a substantially planar working face. The adhesive wipe comprises a backing having a working surface in contact with the surface to be cleaned and an opposite surface for contact with the planar working face of the head of the cleaning tool, the working surface including a first edge and a second edge opposite the first edge, adhesive on at least a portion of the working surface of the backing, a plurality of spacer strands independently arranged on the adhesive. Each spacer strand continuously extends from the first edge of the working surface to the second edge. Each spacer strand comprises a multifilament structure. At least a portion of the adhesive is covered by the spacer strand and at least a portion of the adhesive is exposed to the surface to be cleaned.
While the above-identified drawings and figures set forth embodiments of the invention, other embodiments are also contemplated, as noted in the discussion. In all cases, this disclosure presents the invention by way of representation and not limitation. It should be understood that numerous other modifications and embodiments can be devised by those skilled in the art, which fall within the scope and spirit of this invention. The figures may not be drawn to scale.
The working surface 220 is at least partially covered with adhesive 230.
Attached to the adhesive is a spacer strand 260. Once the spacer strand 260 is attached to the adhesive 230, a portion of the adhesive 230 is covered by the spacer strand 260, but a portion of the adhesive 230 remains exposed for picking up and retaining dirt and debris. In this embodiment, the adhesive 230 covers substantially the entire working surface 220 of the adhesive wipe 200.
In the embodiment shown in
The spacer strand 260 covers a portion of the adhesive 230 and preferably does not entirely cover all of the adhesive 230. In one embodiment, the spacer strand 260 covers less than 75% of the adhesive. Further, the spacer strand 260 covers less than 50% of the adhesive.
The spacer strand 260 provides vertical spacing between the adhesive 230 and the surface to be cleaned. Whether the strand is compressible or rigid, preferably the spacer strand provides at least 5 mils of vertical spacing between the adhesive 230 and the surface to be cleaned.
Preferably, the spacer strand 260 is a compressible and deformable material without sharp or rough edges that may damage hard surfaces such as tile, wood, glass or laminates. Preferably, the spacer strand is a continuous material having a generally uniform composition from a first end of the spacer strand to a second end of the spacer strand. In one embodiment, the spacer strand comprises a single strand. In another embodiment, the spacer strand comprises a plurality of strands which may or may not be twisted together. (see
The spacer strand may be made of a natural or synthetic material. Examples of material that may be used are a woven strand, a sponge strand, an extruded strand that may be a plastic, or combinations thereof. Woven strands include such materials as natural and synthetic threads, yarns, string. Sponge strands may be natural or synthetic sponges applied or extruded.
For an extruded strand, a continuous strand of plastic applied in a molten, dissolved, or reactive form may be used as the spacer strand. The cross section of the spacer strand may be shaped such as round, oval, star shaped, rectangle, or hollow (i.e., capillary). The plastic may be foamed to make it lighter or more flexible. Preferable material that would be extruded for the spacer strand include polypropylene, polyethylene or olefin copolymers and other thermoplastics. The spacer strands may be applied continuously or intermittently.
The spacer strand 260 spaces the exposed adhesive 230 from the working surface to allow the adhesive wipe 200 to easily glide across the surface to be cleaned, which may include wood, tile, laminates, or the like. Without sufficient spacing, the exposed adhesive 230 may adhere too strongly to the surface to be cleaned creating drag and preventing sliding of the adhesive wipe. The dirt and debris have a profile extending above the surface to be cleaned so are captured and retained by the spacer strand 260 and the exposed adhesive 230. The spacer strand 260 has a sweeping effect on the surface to be cleaned in that it helps capture the dirt and debris and direct it to the exposed adhesive. In the embodiments where the spacer strand 260 includes a plurality of twisted individual strands 268, and each strand and the space between the strands assists in retaining particles and creating a “dam” to prevent particles from passing through the spacer strand 260.
In each of the embodiments shown above, the spacer strand 260 is only on the working surface 220 and not on the first wing 240 or the second wing 250. It is possible to include the spacer strand 260 on the entire surface of the adhesive wipe 200, including the wings.
The working surface 220, as well as the adhesive wipe 200, are shown to be generally rectangular. The rectangular shape is typically used because the head 120 of the mop 110 is generally rectangular. However other shapes of the adhesive wipe 200 and working surface 220 are within the scope of the present invention such as but not limited to square, round, and triangular. Typically, the shape of the wipe 200 and working surface 220 will match the shape of the head 120 of the mop 110.
The first and second wings 240, 250, if included, can be of the same material as the working surface 220. However, it is possible to construct the first and second wings 240, 250 of a different material, from that disclosed below, than the working surface 220.
Examples of suitable material for adhesive wipe backing include woven, nonwoven, paper, polymeric and plastic film materials including polyolefins such as polyethylene, polypropylene, copolymers of ethylene or propylene, halogenated polymers such as poly(vinyl chloride) and poly(vinylidene chloride), polyesters such as polyethylene terephthalate, polyurethanes, and poly(vinyl acetate) and vinyl acetate copolymers. Polypropylenes can include monoaxially oriented polypropylene, biaxially oriented polypropylene, simultaneously biaxially oriented polypropylene, and untensilized polypropylene including untensilized isotactic polypropylene. Various types of nonwoven synthetic polymeric materials including spun-bond polyethylene could be used. The adhesive wipe 200 can be compostable or degradable, can be colored, can be printed, can be of different surface textures or embossed, can include pigments, fragrance, or other additives.
Suitable adhesives for the layer of adhesive 230 include hot melt-coated formulations, transfer-coated formulations, solvent-coated formulations, and latex formulations. Preferably, the layer of adhesive is a pressure-sensitive adhesive. General categories of pressure-sensitive adhesives can be based on natural rubber, styrene butadiene, butyl rubber and polyisobutylene, styrenic block copolymers, ethylene-vinyl acetate and related copolymers, poly-alpha olefins, acrylic adhesives, silicone, butadiene-acrylonitrile, polychloroprene, polybutadiene, atactic polypropylene, or repulpable pressure-sensitive adhesive. [(From the Handbook of Pressure Sensitive Adhesive Technology, Third Edition, Edited by Donatas Satas, Satas & Associates, 1999.)] However, other pressure-sensitive adhesives may be used for adhesive layer 320, such as those with the properties described in Adhesion and Adhesives Technology an Introduction, p. 216, Alphonsus V. Pocius, Hanser Gardner Publications, Inc., 1997. The Pressure-Sensitive Tape Council has defined pressure-sensitive adhesives as materials with the following properties: 1) aggressive and permanent tack; 2) adheres with no more than finger pressure; 3) requires no activation by any energy source; 4) has sufficient ability to hold onto the adherend; and 5) has enough cohesive strength to be able to be removed cleanly from the adherend.
Examples of adhesives useful for the layer of adhesive 320 include those based on general compositions of polyacrylates; polyvinyl ethers; diene-containing rubbers such as natural rubber, polyisoprene, and polyisobutylene; polychloroprene; butyl rubber; butadiene-acrylonitrile polymer; thermoplastic elastomers; block copolymers such as styrene-isoprene and styrene-isoprene-styrene block copolymers, styrene-diene type block copolymers such as SBS, SIBS, SEBS, and SEPS, or styrene-ethylene-butylene, hydrogenated SBS, hydrogenated SIS, styrene-ethylene-propylene-styrene, ethylene-propylene-diene polymers, and styrene-butadiene polymer; poly-alpha-olefin; amorphous polyolefins; silicones; ethylene-containing copolymers such as those prepared from ethylene vinyl acetate, ethylacrylate, and ethyl methacrylate; polyurethanes; polyamides; epoxies; polyvinylpyrrolidone and vinylpyrrolidone copolymers; polyesters; and mixtures of the above. Additionally, the adhesives can contain additives such as tackifiers, plasticizers, fillers, antioxidants, stabilizers, pigments, diffusing particles, curatives, fragrance, and solvents.
Each wipe may include a textured adhesive surface having raised portions and recessed portions. A textured adhesive surface is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,865,765 the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference.
All the adhesive wipes 200 disclosed with reference to FIGS. 2 to 6 include a first wing 240 and second wing 250. As shown in
Although
To use the adhesive wipe a user will attach the adhesive wipe to a mop similar to that shown in
Although typically the adhesive wipe will be applied to a cleaning tool, a user may use the wipe without applying the adhesive wipe to a cleaning tool. In such a case, the user would user his or her hand and extend the adhesive wipe across the surface to be cleaned for picking up dust, dirt and debris.
To make the adhesive wipe 200 a finished tape such as 3M Masking Tape or 3M Micropore Surgical Tape, both available from 3M of St. Paul, Minn. can be fed into a process line. Multiple thread from a creel are fed through a guide comb on the traversing/oscillating arm just before the entry side of the common nip rolls while the adhesive coated backing is simultaneously fed to the nip. Oscillation of the transverse bar creates the sinusoidal pattern of the spacer strands attached to the surface of the adhesive coated backing with uniform machine direction and cross direction spacing.
Alternately, a backing such as a polyester/rayon non-woven backing available from Ahlstrom as product number 17029, can be fed to chilled nip rolls. An adhesive film die is then used to extrude hot-melt PSA adhesive film to the backing just prior to the traversing arm/spacer strand combination at the entry side of the nip rolls. The preferred adhesive is an acrylic hot-melt adhesive as it is heat and oxidation resistant. All the components are then combined into an integral structure similar to the one described above. The advantage of this structure is reduced cost, simplicity, and no release treatment is necessary to the non-woven to allow for the final product to be made in roll form.
Although specific embodiments of this invention have been shown and described herein, it is understood that these embodiments are merely illustrative of the many possible specific arrangements that can be devised in application of the principles of the invention. Numerous and varied other arrangements can be devised in accordance with these principles by those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the structures described in this application, but only by the structures described by the language of the claims and the equivalents of those structures.
