Patent Application
20200002073
The use of premeasured doses for cleaning applications has seen adoption in laundry and dishwashing applications. These packets provide the consumer with a prepared amount of agent to place in the machine, avoiding the potential for mess and/or error associated with pouring and transferring the agent.
The accompanying drawings illustrate various examples of the principles described herein and are a part of the specification. The illustrated examples do not limit the scope of the claims.
Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers designate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements. The figures are not necessarily to scale, and the size of some parts may be exaggerated or minimized to more clearly illustrate the example shown. The drawings provide examples and/or implementations consistent with the description. However, the description is not limited to the examples and/or implementations shown in the drawings.
The use of single dose packets for cleaning has seen increasing adoption by consumers. Single dose packets do not require measuring of the materials. Single dose packets are easier to handle and pickup in the event of spills.
There can be mismatch between the amount of agent in a single dose packet and load to be washed. It is not unusual for a consumer to occasionally need to wash a small load of material. In such cases, using the amount of agent for a full load may be excessive and/or wasteful. With powders and liquids, consumers could adjust the amount of agent they provided to match the demands of the load. More agent could be used with heavily soiled loads. Less agent could be used with lightly soiled loads. This flexibility has not been availability in single dose packets.
As used in this specification and the associated claims, an “agent” is a chemical which is added to a solvent to perform a process. An agent may be a detergent, a brightener, a bleach, a perfume, a dye, an enzyme, a builder, a chelator, a pH modifier, etc. The type of agent depends on the process to be performed. An agent may be a liquid and/or solid. An agent may be an emulsion, a colloid, and/or other more complex state. An “agent composition” may include the agent alone and/or the agent with other active and/or inert materials.
This specification, among other examples, describes single dose packets which may be separated into smaller units, for example, to run partial loads. In an example, the single dose packet is hand separatable into two packets with equivalent amounts of agent. The use of a single dose packet that may be used “as is” for the majority of loads minimizes the amount of work adjustment for the consumer. However, the consumer retains the ability to rapidly modify the amount of agent to be used by tearing the packet along a prepared zone. The prepared zone may be a set of perforations, a thinned region, a notched/cut zone, etc. The prepared zone allows separation both pieces without compromising the integrity of compartments on either piece.
As used in this specification and the associated claims, the term equivalent describes two items that are functionally similar and within 10% of each other as assessed by the relevant parameter, such as volume, mass, length, etc.
Among other examples, this specification describes an agent dose delivery system which includes: a first water-soluble film; a second film adhered to the first film; a first compartment and second compartment formed by the first and second films; a first agent composition in the first compartment; a second agent composition in the second compartment; and a perforated tear line between the two compartments allowing separation of the two compartments by hand without opening either compartment.
This specification also describes an agent dose delivery system which includes: a first strip of water-soluble film; a second strip of water-soluble film adhered to the first strip of water-soluble film; a plurality of compartments of a first size formed by the first and second strips of water-soluble film, the plurality of compartments containing a first agent composition; and a plurality of weakened areas located between the compartments such that the weakened areas may be used to separate adjacent compartments without rupturing either adjacent compartment.
Among other examples, this specification also describes an agent dose delivery system including: a first sheet and second sheet of water-soluble polymer; a first compartment and second compartment formed between the first and second sheets of water soluble polymer; a first quantity of agent in the first compartment and second quantity of agent in the second compartment, wherein the first quantity and the second quantity are equivalent; and a separation zone between the first compartment and the second compartment, the separation zone allowing manual separation of the first compartment from the second compartment without compromising an integrity of either compartment.
Turning now to the figures,
The system (100) is an agent dose delivery system (100). The system allows a single packet to be provided for a full and/or normal load of material to be cleaned. The system (100) also allows the packet to be divided, for instance, when a smaller amount of cleaning agent is desired.
The first film (110) is a water-soluble film. The first film (110) contains the agent during shipping and storage. However, when placed into a volume of water, the first film (110) dissolves and releases the agent. In an example, the film dissolves in a washing machine. The first film (110) may be substantially flat. The first film (110) may be shaped to form non-flat portions of the compartments (130). The water-soluble film (110) may be polylactic acid (PLA). The water soluble film (110) may be polyglycolic acid (PGA). The water soluble film (110) may be an acrylate. The water soluble film (110) may be another water soluble polymer.
The second film (120) may be a water-soluble film. The second film may water stable. In an example, the second film (120) has the same composition as the first film but is thicker. The compartments are shaped in the second film, filled and then the first film is attached over the tops of the compartments (130). This approach allows the thinner first film (110) to control the time to release. Since the first film (110) may be maintained more uniform in thickness, reduced variation in time to release is achieved.
The second film (120) may be a recyclable material. The second film may be selected from a material that resists transfer at temperatures used for drying. The second film (120) may be formed to include holes and/or other features to increase attachment between the first film (110) and second film (120). In an example, the second film may include a lip around the edge of the compartments (130) and multiple holes on the side of the lip away from the compartment. The water-soluble first film may be heated and pressed through the holes to form a mechanical interlock between the first film (110) and second film (120).
The first film (110) and second film (120) form the walls of the compartments (130). The compartments (130) may have similar shapes and dimensions as shown in
The compartments (130) may be the same depth. The compartments (130) may be of different depths (130). The compartments may include secondary, tertiary, etc. compartments to hold multiple agent compositions. In an example, a first compartment is designed to release material at a first time point after immersion and another compartment (130) is designed to release material at a second time point after immersion. For example, the first compartment (130) may open at 5 minutes after immersion and the other compartment (130) may open at 18 minutes.
The first agent may be the same as the second agent. The first agent and second agents may be different agents. The agent compositions may include a detergent. The agent compositions may include surfactants, including anionic, cationic, non-ionic, and/or zwitterion (amphoteric) surfactants. The agent compositions may include a dye, a perfume, and/or other adjuvant. The agent compositions may include a builder, a chelator, and/or an enzyme. The agents may be a pH adjuster, water hardness modifier, shock, and/or other component to adjust the composition of a pool, spa, or similar. The agents include bath salts. The agent compositions may include a dye. For example, the first agent may provide a base dye composition and the second agent modify the first composition to a produce a second color dye.
The first compartment (130-1) and the second compartment (130-2) are separated by a perforated tear line (140). The perforated tear line (140) allows the first and second compartments to be separated by hand without a tool. The perforated tear line (140) should not compromise the integrity of the compartments when the perforated tear line (140) is used to separate the compartments (130). The perforated tear line may have a very low tear force. In an example, the force to tear the perforated tear line is greater than 0.1 lbf and less than 5 lbf. The force to tear the perforated tear line (140) may be greater than the weight of either portion of the system (100). The force to separate may be optimized based on the expected handling of the system (100) and the expected user profile. The force to separate should be high enough to keep the parts of the system (100) together during handling, including transportation, shipping, loading, etc. The force to separate should be low enough to be readily accomplished by a wide variety of users without difficulty and/or effort. The use of mechanical features to concentrate the force may reduce the force used. The modification of thickness and material properties of the films may be used to change the force to separate the parts of the system (100). The size and shape of the perforations may also be used to modify the separating force.
The perforated tear line (140) may pass through the first film (110), the second film (120), and/or both films (110, 120). In an example, the area with the perforated tear line (140) is through an area with both films (110, 120) adhered and/or joined together. In an example, one of the films is present only near the compartments (130) and is not present between the compartments (130) on the perforated tear line (140). One of the films (110, 120) may be sliced through and/or separated over the perforated tear line (140) such that the other film (110, 120) holds the parts of the system (110) together.
In an example, the perforated tear line (140) may have a higher force to initiate tearing and a lower force to propagate the tear. This may be a result of using non-uniform sized and/or shaped perforations. This may be the result of modifying the shape of the end perforations. This may be the result of modifying the thickness of the film (110,120) near the perforations. Having a higher initiation force may reduce accidental tears. Another approach is to increase the force as the tearing propagates. This can be accomplished by using varying size perforations and/or modifying the spacing of the perforations. Similarly, the material may be modified to make the layer thicker, thinner, harder, stiffer, softer, etc. as desired.
The system (100) may be a sheet comprising rows and columns of separatable dose units. Each dose unit comprising a compartment (130). A dose unit may comprise multiple compartments (130).
The compartments (130) may be organized into any number of clusters, each cluster able to be separated using a perforated tear line (140). In an example, the system may be manually separated without tools and/or other equipment into two equivalent fractions. The system (100) may be separatable into thirds, fourths, and/or other distributions, such as ⅓ and ⅔. Allowing more separations allows more flexibly in dosing but also increases the amount of clutter as fractions remain between loads. Accordingly, there is a tradeoff between allowing more customization and simplicity of design. The perforated tear line (140) may be located between a secondary component and a main component. For example, one set of compartments (130) may include a detergent and the other set of compartments may include a bleach for use with whites. One side may include a fragrance, allowing use or non-use of the fragrance by the user.
The agent dose delivery system (100) forms a strip with multiple compartments (130) holding agent. Weakened areas (340) are positioned to allow separation of the compartments (130) as needed. In an example, each weakened area (340) is similar. In an example, alternating weakened areas (340) have different tear profiles. The weakened areas (340) may include a perforated tear line (140). In an example, there is a weakened area (340) between each pair of adjacent compartments (130). In an example, there is a weakened area (340) between every other pair of adjacent compartments (130). The weakened areas (340) may be used to define clusters of compartments (130) for a consumer to use. The weakened areas (340) may have a different structure than the adjacent areas of the film (110, 120). In an example, the weakened areas are allowed to crystallize while the adjacent areas are amorphous in order to facilitate crack propagation in the weakened area (340) compared with an adjacent non-weakened area.
The system (100) is a strip formed from a first strip of water-soluble film (110) and a second strip of water-soluble film (120). The compartments (130) in the strip contain an agent composition.
The roll (450) allows for convenient, organized storage of the system (100) of
The dispenser (460) contains the roll (450). The dispenser may be rectangular. The dispenser (460) may have the top corners removed as shown in
The dispenser (460) includes an opening (462). The opening may be sealed during shipment/sale. The seal may be removed by a consumer, for example, by tearing a perforation and/or removing a covering. The opening (462) allows an end of the roll (450) to extend from the dispenser (460). The opening (462) may have a same width as the roll (450). The opening (462) may be slightly narrower than the roll (450) to provide some friction to passage of the strips (110,120) forming the roll (450) through the opening (462).
The dispenser (460) may include a cutting edge (464). The cutting (464) edge may be at the opening (462). The cutting edge (464) may be on a top edge of the opening (462). The cutting edge (464) may be on a bottom (lower) edge of the opening (462). The cutting edge (464) may be on a side of the opening (462). The cutting edge (464) may be located inside the dispenser (460). The cutting edge (464) need not extend over an entire edge of the opening (462). For example, the cutting edge (464) may be located in a corner of the opening (462). The cutting edge (464) may serrated, for example, similar to the cutting edges on a package of foil. The cutting edge (464) may be a straight edge and/or curved edge.
The weakened areas (340) may be narrower width than the adjacent areas of the strip. For example, the weakened areas (340) may have a notch (560) on one and/or both sides of the strip. The weakened areas (340) may be narrowed without a notch to reduce the amount of material to tear when separating the compartments (130). In an example, one or more openings are formed in the weakened area (340) to reduce the tear force to separate the compartments (130). The one or more openings may be perforations. The one or more openings may be a slot oriented widthwise. In an example, the opening of the dispenser includes a tab that catches the slot as the strip advances. This may facilitate one-handed separation of the compartments (130). Similar engagement approaches can be imagined for other features in the weakened area (340). For example, the opening of the dispenser may have a first width near a top and/or center and a second, narrower width toward the bottom. The second width may correspond to a width of the strip in the weakened area (340) when the weakened area (340) has notches (560) on one and/or both sides. A user may lift the strip up into the wider portion of the opening and advance the strip, and then lower the strip to detach the desired portion.
The weakened area may have a thinned area, for example, formed by pressing a heating element onto the two sheets (110, 120). The weakened area (340) may have multiple parallel thinned areas as shown in
The separation zone (670) may use a notch (560) to aid separation. The separation zone (670) may be thinned compared to adjacent portions of the first sheet (110) and second sheet (120). The separation zone (670) may be perforated to facilitate separation. The separation zone (670) may include both the first sheet (110) and the second sheet (120). The separation zone (670) may contain a single sheet (110, 120) selected from the first sheet (110) and the second sheet (120). The separation zone (670) may include slots, gaps, and/or other modification to facilitate separation.
The separation zone (670) allows the first and second compartments (130) to be separated by hand without the use of a tool. The separation zone (670) may have a cut at the edge of the separation zone (670) to aid in separating the system (100). The thickness profile in the separation zone (670) may be formed, for example, under heat and/or pressure to encourage tearing along the separation zone (670) and reduce lateral tearing into the compartments (130). In an example, a thicker border of water-soluble material separates the separation zone (670) from the first and/or second compartments (130). Such a thicker border may serve to redirected lateral tearing into the desired direction by providing local stiffness which in turn concentrates stretching (and tearing) in a thinner portion of the separation zone (670).
In an example, the separation zone (670) includes a plurality of parallel impressions in the first (110) and second sheets (120) of water-soluble polymer, the parallel impressions running between (so as to separate, not to connect) the first compartment (130-1) and the second compartment (130-2) to channel tearing of the sheets (110, 120) of water-soluble polymer.
The first water-soluble sheet (110) and the water-soluble sheet (120) may be separated from each other in a portion of the separation zone (670). The first sheet of water-soluble polymer (110) and the second sheet of water soluble polymer (120) may be separated from each other over the entire separation zone (670).
The separation zone (670) may include a notch (560) in an edge of a sheet (110,120).
The width of the first water-soluble sheet (110) may be narrower in the separation zone (670) than in an adjacent portion of the first water-soluble sheet. Width may be the longest axis of the separation zone (670). Width may be the direction separation propagates in the separation zone (670).
Similarly, while the compartments (130) in
It will be appreciated that, within the principles described by this specification, a vast number of variations exist. It should also be appreciated that the examples described are only examples, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or construction of the claims in any way.
