Patent Application
20240398179
The present invention is directed generally to a nonwoven rolled product, and more specifically, to a fibrous web or nonwoven rolled product that contains perforation patterns that facilitate a consumer selecting the size of a portion of the product.
Nonwoven rolled products are well known. In some instances, a nonwoven rolled product may include a liquid that has particular characteristics and properties, such as for cleaning or disinfecting a surface. The nonwoven rolled product may be a plurality of interconnected sheets or wipes. Current rolled products that are dispensed from a canister or container do not provide consumers with any flexibility as to the amount of the product that is dispensed.
There is a need to provide a user with an option to select a particular size of a product that is dispensed from a container.
The present invention relates to a single rolled product that includes two different types of separate perforation patterns on the rolled product. A manufacturing process utilizing a machine that creates or forms the two different separate perforation patterns according to the present invention is contemplated. The perforation patterns extend in the cross direction of the rolled product. In some embodiments, the rolled product is a nonwoven product. In other embodiments, the rolled product can be any type of rolled product, and is not limited to a nonwoven product. In one embodiment, the nonwoven rolled good or product is a cleaning or disinfecting wipes.
The alternating perforation patterns include alternating stronger and weaker series of perforations to allow for consumers to determine the amount of the rolled product to be dispensed during use. There may be a variety of repeating and/or alternating perforation patterns (e.g., strong, weak, strong; strong, weak, weak, strong; strong, weak, weak, weak, strong; etc.). Different perforation patterns exist with varying quantities of tabs, varying widths of tabs, varying spacing of tabs, or any combination of those three characteristics throughout a single nonwoven roll good. Conventional rolls of nonwoven goods (i.e., paper towel) utilize a single perforation pattern throughout the roll.
The present invention provides an opportunity for a new wipe size offering for consumers in the wipes space. This invention provides the ability to produce a “smaller sheet” without requiring all consumers to switch to the smaller size.
In one embodiment of the invention, a wet wipe roll utilizes multiple lines of alternating perforations. The lines of alternating perforations have different strength perforations as compared to other lines. The relative strength difference between the lines of perforations can be characterized by a % relation to overall material tensile strength. The present invention also relates to the concept of dispensing wet nonwoven material as two combined wipes using a single hand from a canister. Also, the interaction of the wipes with the dispensing feature of the container or canister is described below. One type of perforation is a dispensing perforation that is easy to tear during dispensing of a wipe. The other type of perforation is a consumer perforation that is torn by a user when desired. The present invention also relates to the use of two wet wipes that stay together during use as a single wipe, but consumer has ability to separate them.
In one aspect of the present disclosure, a system for dispensing a nonwoven rolled product comprises a container, and a nonwoven rolled product disposed in the container, the nonwoven rolled product having alternating rows of a first type of perforations and a second type of perforations, the first type of perforations having a first tensile strength, the second type of perforations having a second tensile strength, the second tensile strength being different from the first tensile strength, wherein the nonwoven rolled product is selectively dispensed from the container.
In one embodiment, each row of the first type of perforations is located between rows of the second type of perforations.
In another embodiment, each row of the second type of perforations is located between rows of the first type of perforations.
In a different embodiment, the nonwoven rolled product has a cross direction and a machine direction, and the alternating rows of the first type of perforations and the second type of perforations are oriented in the cross direction.
In yet another embodiment, a pair of rows of the first type of perforations define opposite ends of a sheet of the nonwoven rolled product.
In another embodiment, each row of the second type of perforations is located between a pair of rows of the first type of perforations, the pair of rows of the first type of perforations defining opposite ends of a sheet of the nonwoven rolled product.
In an alternative embodiment, each of the second type of perforations has a higher tensile strength than each of the first type of perforations.
In yet another embodiment, each row of the second type of perforations defines a partial sheet with an adjacent row of the first type of perforations.
In another aspect of the present disclosure, a nonwoven rolled product for use with a dispensing container comprises a plurality of sheets coupled together by rows of a first type of perforations, each of the plurality of sheets including a row of a second type of perforations located between rows of the first type of perforations defining a particular sheet, the rows of the first type of perforations and the second type of perforations being arranged in an alternating manner, the first type of perforations having a first tensile strength, the second type of perforations having a second tensile strength, and the second tensile strength being different from the first tensile strength.
In one embodiment, the nonwoven rolled product has a cross direction and a machine direction, and the rows of the first type of perforations and the second type of perforations are oriented in the cross direction.
In another embodiment, rows of the first type of perforations define opposite ends of a sheet of the nonwoven rolled product.
In an alternative embodiment, each of the second type of perforations has a higher tensile strength than each of the first type of perforations.
In another embodiment, the nonwoven rolled product has a cross direction and a machine direction, and the rows of the first type of perforations and the second type of perforations are oriented in the cross direction.
In an alternative embodiment, each row of the second type of perforations defines a partial sheet with an adjacent row of the first type of perforations.
In yet another embodiment, the nonwoven rolled product has a cross direction and a machine direction, and the rows of the first type of perforations and the second type of perforations are oriented parallel to each other in the cross direction.
In another aspect of the present disclosure, a nonwoven rolled product comprises a plurality of sheets having a plurality of rows of a first type of perforations and a plurality of rows of a second type of perforations, each of the plurality of rows of the first type of perforations is located between adjacent rows of the plurality of rows of the second type of perforations, each of the plurality of rows of the second type of perforations is located between adjacent rows of the plurality of rows of the first type of perforations, adjacent rows of the first type of perforations defining a particular sheet of the plurality of sheets therebetween, the first type of perforations having a first tensile strength, the second type of perforations having a second tensile strength, and the second tensile strength being greater than the first tensile strength.
In one embodiment, the plurality of sheets has a cross direction and a machine direction, and rows of the first type of perforations and rows of the second type of perforations are oriented in the cross direction.
In another embodiment, each row of the second type of perforations defines a partial sheet with an adjacent row of the first type of perforations.
In yet another embodiment, the plurality of sheets has a cross direction and a machine direction, and rows of the first type of perforations and rows of the second type of perforations are oriented parallel to each other in the cross direction.
In an alternative embodiment, distances between adjacent rows of the first type of perforations and rows of the second type of perforations are substantially the same.
The present invention is described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.
Referring to
An exemplary removable lid 100 for use with a container body 102 so as to form a container 104 that may form a portion of a wipes dispenser or system 106 according to the present invention is illustrated. The removable lid 100 may include a hinged cover (not shown), which closes over landing member 118 and secondary aperture 134. Container body 102 and removable lid 100 of wipes dispenser 106 form an interior region 108, e.g., within hollow container body 102, capped by removable lid 100. As shown in
A container aperture 112 may be defined through an exterior wall of container 104. For example, container body 102 may be generally cylindrical in shape, with a hollow interior region 108. The bottom 114 of container body 102 may be closed, while the top 116 of container body 102 may be open, so as to define container aperture 112. A portion of container aperture 112 may be covered by removable lid 100. The container may be a soft or rigid material. In one embodiment, a flexible refill pouch may hold the product to be placed within the container.
Removable lid 100 may include a landing member 118 that may be formed from a rigid material. Rigid landing member 118 is part of lid 100, and covers a portion of container aperture 112 by extending from top rim 116 of container body 102 inwardly toward a middle (e.g., defined by a longitudinal axis A) of interior region 108 of container 104. Landing member 118 may include one or more features configured to enhance the ability of a user to pull wipes from container in a substantially vertical direction, while limiting any tendency of the interconnected wipes to “rope,” to disengage from gripping channel 122 and fall back into container 104, or both. Where an entrance and a threading portion is provided in landing member 118 through which the wipes may be slid, a plurality of fingers 132 may be defined (e.g., on either side of the entrance and the threading portion).
Such an angled or downwardly curved configuration advantageously decreases any tendency of the interconnected wipes to “rope” as they are pulled from wipes dispenser 106, through a gripping channel 122 in landing member 118, particularly where the wipes are pulled in a generally vertical orientation, as users are prone to do so.
In one embodiment, there is a gripping channel 122 in landing member 118 communicates with interior 108 of container 104 through container aperture 112 such that individual wipes of the plurality of wipes are removed from container 104 by being pulled through gripping channel 122. Gripping channel 122 is configured to separate a lead wipe from a following wipe as the lead wipe is pulled through gripping channel 122. As illustrated in
Referring to
In
The series of perforations 205 can be referred to as dispensing perforations because they are utilized during the dispensing of wipes or sheets from a canister. The perforations 205 are designed to withstand a particular level of force as the lead wipe is pulled through the gripping channel 122 of the container 104. The perforations 205 have to be sufficiently strong to enable the leading wipe to be pulled outwardly from the container 104 and at the same time, pull the second wipe connected thereto from the donut roll of wipes and into the gripping channel 122. In one embodiment, the wipes may be pulled out of the center of the donut roll. In another embodiment, the wipes may be pulled from the exterior of the donut roll. As that second wipe starts passing through the gripping channel 122, the gripping channel 122 applies a tensile force on the second wipe. Continued pulling by a user on the leading wipe results in the leading wipe separating from the second wipe as the perforations 205 are torn and separate. Referring to
In the illustrated embodiment, wipe or sheet 210 has two parts or portions 212 and 214 that collectively form wipe 210. The parts or portions 212 and 214 can be referred to as split sheets that form a larger full sheet 210. Wipe 210 can be used by a user with parts or portions 212 and 214 coupled together via a series or row of perforations 215, which can be referred to as consumer perforations. During normal dispensing, perforations 215 remain connected as the sheet is dispensed, but allow for separation if a consumer wants a smaller sheet. If a user wants to use less than a full-sized sheet 210, the user can separate portion 212 from portion 214 by tearing or separating the perforations 215 between portions 212 and 214. The user can separate the perforations 215 either when the sheet 210 is being pulled through the gripping channel 122 of the container 104 or when the sheet 210 has been removed from the container 104 and separated from any leading or trailing sheet that was coupled to sheet 210.
In the illustrated embodiment, the tensile strength of the consumer perforations 215 is greater than the tensile strength of the dispensing perforations 205. Accordingly, as sheet 210 is being dispensed or pulled from the container 104, sheet portions 212 and 214 do not separate from each other because when sheet 210 is pulled from the container 104, perforations 205 between sheet 210 and sheet 220 separate before the perforations 215 between sheet portions 212 and 214. In that case, sheets 210, 220, and 230 are separated from each other as they are pulled through gripping channel 122 and dispensed from the container 104, and none of the pairs of sheet portions 212 and 214 and sheet portions 222 and 224 is separated. Thus, as mentioned above, a user can manually separate the perforations 215 between sheet portions 212 and 214 either as sheet 210 is in the gripping channel 122 or after it has been dispensed from the container 104. However, when the rolled product remains in the container 104, the rolled product remains saturated with the desired liquid and does not dry out. Accordingly, ideally, a user can separate the portions of a sheet 210 along the consumer perforations 215 while the sheet 210 is in the gripping channel 122, thereby allowing the non-desired portion of the sheet 210 to remain in the container 104 for future use.
In addition, the consumer perforations 215 are designed to be strong enough to withstand normal usage as a single, full sheet wipe, and are designed to separate only when a consumer purposefully tears the sheet along the consumer perforations 215.
In one embodiment, distances between adjacent rows of the first type of perforations 205 and rows of the second type of perforations 215 are substantially the same.
A paper towel roll is unrolled from the outside perpendicular to the roll as a dry material, with consumers dictating the dispensing amount and tearing of individual or multiple sheets. In the present invention, the sheets or wipes are dispensed upward from enclosed canister as a wet material, dosed with liquid between two to six times the weight of the dry material, and are designed to “pop-up” when dispensed to allow for single dispensing. The direction in which the wipes are dispensed (pulled upward) is along the longitudinal axis of the rolled product. Unlike paper towels which are dispensed in a direction tangential to the cylinder roll and generally perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the roll, the wipes for this product are dispensed parallel to and along the longitudinal axis of the roll.
This concept may not be able to be applied to every wet material, because the material machine direction (MD) tensile strength for certain materials, such as a wet paper towel, would be too low to enable two separate perforations with different perforation tensiles or tensile strengths that would be noticeably different to a user. The perforations would either be too close in strength to have no useable differentiation, or one, or both, would be too strong and would not separate upon tearing at the tear strip, but would instead tear at various non-perforated locations of the material itself.
Referring to
Referring to
In the data in table 500, the dispensing perforations range from 0.015″-0.040″ in tab size, the spacing is between 0.25″ to 1″ between tabs, and the perforation tensile strengths are between 5% and 50% of material MD tensile strength. In addition, for the consumer perforations, the tab sizes are in the range of 0.025″-0.070″, the spacing is between 0.15″ and 0.75″ between adjacent tabs, and the perforation tensile strengths are between 25% and 75% of material MD tensile strengths. As a result, the consumer perforations have between two to eight times as much sheet material connected at the tabs than the dispensing perforations of that sheet, thereby making the consumer perforations much stronger. In some embodiments, the consumer perforations have between three to five times as much sheet material connected at the tabs than the dispensing perforations of that sheet.
In one embodiment of the present invention, a testing method used to generate the data involved performing perforation tensile testing on a constant elongation tester. A sheet of material 4″ wide by 6″ long is placed between two 4″ clamps that are started 3″ apart and moved apart 12 inches per minute. The peak force withstood by the sheet without tearing perforations during test is recorded as the “perforation tensile” of the material and perforation pattern.
The different materials used for the nonwoven product affect the strength of the wipes or sheets. As shown in the lower table 510 in
The table 600 in
Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the specification and relevant art and should not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein. Well-known functions or constructions may not be described in detail for brevity and/or clarity.
As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. As used herein, phrases such as “between X and Y” and “between about X and Y” should be interpreted to include X and Y. As used herein, phrases such as “between about X and Y” mean “between about X and about Y.” As used herein, phrases such as “from about X to Y” mean “from about X to about Y.”
It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “on”, “attached” to, “connected” to, “coupled” with, “contacting”, etc., another element, it can be directly on, attached to, connected to, coupled with or contacting the other element or intervening elements may also be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being, for example, “directly on”, “directly attached” to, “directly connected” to, “directly coupled” with or “directly contacting” another element, there are no intervening elements present. It will also be appreciated by those of skill in the art that references to a structure or feature that is disposed “adjacent” another feature may have portions that overlap or underlie the adjacent feature.
Spatially relative terms, such as “under”, “below”, “lower”, “over”, “upper”, “lateral”, “left”, “right” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. It will be understood that the spatially relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is inverted, elements described as “under” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “over” the other elements or features. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the descriptors of relative spatial relationships used herein interpreted accordingly.
It will also be understood that, as used herein, the terms “alternative,” example,” “exemplary,” and derivatives thereof are intended to refer to non-limiting examples and/or variants embodiments discussed herein, and are not intended to indicate preference for one or more embodiments discussed herein compared to one or more other embodiments. The invention being thus described, it will be apparent that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are to be included within the scope of the following claims.
This U.S. non-provisional patent application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/504,859, entitled “Alternating Perforation Patterns on a Rolled Product,” filed May 30, 2023, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/505,007, entitled “Alternating Perforation Patterns on a Rolled Product,” filed May 30, 2023. The entire disclosure of each of the above-identified U.S. provisional patent applications is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63504859 | May 2023 | US | |
| 63505007 | May 2023 | US |
