Patent Application
20080092434
In the present method, it has been discovered that an additive made from carboxylic acids having from about 6 to about 40 carbon atoms, or in other embodiments, about 8 to about 34, or about 12 to about 22 carbon atoms, and a partially hydrogenated oil or fat with an iodine value from about 0.1 to about 30, or in other embodiments, about 0.2 to about 20, or about 0.6 to about 5.0 and a melting point between about 100° and 200° F., when added to a wax and a liquid enhancing oil helps prevent, retard, mitigate, reduce, control, delay or inhibit the separation, removal, division, isolation, severance, or partition of the enhancing oil from the wax at room temperature and at higher temperatures, such as during summertime storage and shipment.
As noted, when enhancing oils are included with waxes, they will often separate from the wax when the object is held at room temperature or above, even for relatively short periods of time (less than twenty-four hours).
The term “inhibiting” is used herein in a broad and general sense to mean any improvement in preventing, controlling, delaying, reducing or mitigating the separation, partitioning and/or removal of liquid components, especially liquid enhancing oil components in any manner, including, but not limited to, by dissolution, by breaking up, other mechanisms, or any combination thereof.
Although the term “inhibiting” is not intended to be restricted to the complete prevention of liquid separation, it may include the possibility that separation of any liquid is entirely prevented.
The nature of the paraffin wax used in the practice of this invention should be a paraffin with a melt point above about 120° F., and where at least about 50% of the wax is comprised of normal paraffins (alkanes).
With respect to the enhancing oil, the invention is effective with respect to most, if not all enhancing oils typically added to waxes, where the enhancing oil is liquid at ambient or higher temperatures, such as during summertime shipping and storage.
These liquid enhancing oils include, but are not limited to, essential oils, fragrances, oil-based dyes, mineral oils, UV inhibitors, and liquid oils used to provide other benefits in properties or appearance such as mottling, and the like. An essential oil is a volatile oil derived from the leaves, stem, flower, or twigs of plants, and usually carries the odor or flavor of the plant. Of course, more than one liquid enhancing oil may be used simultaneously, and often is in candles where a fragrance and a dye are employed together. In one non-limiting embodiment of the invention, the liquid enhancing oils are used in a total amount, based on the total weight of the object, in proportions ranging from about 0.1 to about 20 wt percent, more preferably from about 0.1 to about 15 wt %, and most preferably from about 0.1 to about 12 wt %.
The carboxylic acids used in this additive may be selected from the group of carboxylic acids having from about 6 to 40 Carbon atoms. In an embodiment, combinations of two or more carboxylic acids are used.
These carboxylic acids are combined with any partially hydrogenated oil or fat with an iodine value from about 0.1 to 30 and a melting point between about 1000 and 200° F.
In one non-limiting embodiment, palmitic and stearic acid are blended with partially hydrogenated soybean oil.
Optimization within the skill of the art may be necessary to specify with accuracy the proportion of additive to be used in a particular wax formulation to inhibit separation of the enhancing oil. The proportion of additive in a particular wax formulation depends upon a number of complex, interrelated factors including, but not necessarily limited to, the nature of the wax, the proportion and nature of the liquid enhancing oil additives, and the processing of the wax object, including, but not necessarily limited to, the initial melt temperature and the rate of cooling, among other factors.
In some non-limiting embodiments, the amount of partially hydrogenated oil or fat in the additive is from about 10.0 wt % to about 90.0 wt %, based on the total additive weight, and the amount of carboxylic acids range from about 10.0 wt % to about 90.0% wt., based on the total additive weight.
In other non-limiting embodiments, the carboxylic acids are palmitic and stearic acid in the ratio of about 55% palmitic acid to about 45% stearic acid, and the partially hydrogenated oil of the additive is partially hydrogenated soybean oil with an iodine value from about 0.6 to 5.0 and a melting point of about 170 to 190° F.
The additive is added to the wax in a range from about 0.1 wt % to about 10.0 wt % and most preferably about 1%, based on total weight.
It will be appreciated that a typical temperature for combining the components of wax objects within the method of this invention may range between about 150 and about 200° F., and most preferably about 180° F.
It will further be appreciated that in one non-limiting embodiment of the invention, it is not necessary that the separation of the enhancing oil from the wax is prevented, stopped or totally inhibited or controlled. The invention is considered to be successful and effective if separation is inhibited as compared with an otherwise identical wax object where the only difference is the absence of the additive.
The combining of the additive with the wax and enhancing oil may be achieved by a number of techniques, including, but not necessarily limited to, mixing or blending with mechanical mixing equipment, stationary mixing equipment, magnetic mixing equipment, or other suitable equipment known to one skilled in the art, and combinations thereof to provide adequate contact and/or dispersion of the components of the mixture. The various components of the composition may be added and mixed in any order.
In general, it has been demonstrated that this additive can be used in a candle application, particularly a mottled candle application using common commercial fragrances that yielded a final product that has none or significantly reduced migration of the enhancing oil to the surface of the wax. As noted, fragrance loads of candies have been typically limited due to oil bleed. Improved mottling and retention of the enhancing oil occurs with the addition of about 1% to 10% by weight of the additive, based on total candle weight.
Bleeding of the enhancing oil decreases and mottling improves as the percent of the additive is increased to about 1%. Above about 1%, the improvement in retention of the enhancing oil and mottling effect is modest up to about 10%. Beyond about 10%, no additional improvements are observed.
Without wishing to be bound by any theory of the mechanism by which the additive works, in one non-limiting explanation, the polar head groups of the carboxylic acids, along with the length of their non-polar tails, and some unsaturated fatty acids from the partially hydrogenated oil or fat interact to form a crystal lattice which traps and uniformly distributes the fragrance and/or coloring throughout the candle, and improves the mottling effect.
These additive ingredients also have melting points below or within the range of a burning candle, thereby allowing the uniform release of the oils.
It will be appreciated that the inventive method may be used to make other wax objects containing an oil where it is desired to prevent separation of the oil from the wax, for example in surfboard waxes, waxes used by in-line skaters and skateboarders on edges of structures used in tricks, and other waxes.
The additive was prepared by mixing 70% by weight of a partially hydrogenated soybean oil in flake form (iodine value=0.6, melt point=159° F.) with a 30% by weight mixture composed of 55% palmitic acid and 45% stearic acid at 180° F. About 1% by weight of this additive was then mixed with IGI 1274A paraffin (from The International Group, Inc., Ontario, Canada) which had been melted to 200° F., and contained 0.06% by weight Spiced Pumpkin dye (from French Color & Fragrance Co., Englewood, N.J.) and 1% by weight UV inhibitor (from French Color & Fragrance Co.), and 10% by weight Pumpkin Pie fragrance (from French Color & Fragrance Co.). The mixture was placed in a candle mold and allowed to cool at room temperature resulting in a candle having a mottled appearance and exhibiting less bleeding than commercially available candles. Twenty other examples were prepared and are summarized in the tables below. In all cases, the method used was the same as in the example above, but different waxes, colors and fragrances were used. All colors and fragrances are from French Color & Fragrance Co., Englewood, N.J. The waxes used include Calwax 140-M for the first through fourth examples, available from the Calwax Corporation, Irwindale, Calif.; Accu-Blend AB-150 for the fifth through eighth examples, from the Accu-Blend Corporation, South El Monte, Calif.; Calwax 1010 for the ninth through twelfth examples; and IGI 1274 for the thirteenth through twentieth examples, from the International Group, Incorporated, of Ontario, Canada. “Drops per candle,” refers to drops from a standard medicine dropper, and “bloom,” is defined as a mottled white coating. As will be appreciated from these examples, when the additive is used, the degree of bleeding is greatly reduced and the aesthetic properties are enhanced.
Many modifications may be made in the composition and implementation of this invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof that are defined only in the appended claims. For example, exact combinations of liquid enhancing oils and the additive may be different from those exemplified here. Further carboxylic acids/partially hydrogenated oil or fat combinations different from those discussed and exemplified are also expected to be useful in the inventive method and products.
This application claims the benefit of Provisional Application No. 60/30,073, filed on Oct. 25, 2005, on behalf of applicants Robert Milofsky and Bruce Neal Stevens.
