Patent Application
20250025011
This non-provisional patent application does not claim priority to any previously filed patent application.
The present invention generally concerns a cleaning product having two parts. More specifically, the invention includes a sponge that, when moist, nests and friction fits against the inner walls of a similarly shaped tray. The sponge, Part A, is an absorbent material. The tray, Part B, is made from abrasive fibers. In a first configuration both parts fit together to wipe clean and scour surfaces like a dual action sponge. In a second configuration the sponge is removed from the tray, thereby converting the tray into a crumb catching device. The sponge is used to push debris from surfaces into the tray's open receptacle. Such waste is then emptied from the tray into a trash bin. The invention saves a user's hands from unwanted touching of discarded waste.
Most people use sponges every day to absorb spills and to keep things neat and tidy, but their history and continued innovation is an afterthought. The modern kitchen sponge is historically linked to the Japanese loofah. From 1895 to the early 1940's, the Japanese cultivated and grew Luffa cylindrica Roem, a gourd like fruit that, when it dries, has flesh that becomes a skeletal network of spiney fibers, which one will recognize, and can use, as a common scrubbing sponge.1, 2 The natural loofah was an important export for Japan. This early commerce made loofahs the preferred and most commonly available sponge in many corners of the world.
Then, the war broke out. Pearl Harbor was bombed, and all exchange with Japan was halted. The war brought an embargo on the import and sale of Japanese loofahs in the United States. This created a need for alternative sponge materials. It is strange that today's use of cellulose sponges is due to the natural loofah being politicized. The war's effect on international trade made it hard to get loofahs from Japan. But, the embargo created work arounds. Other territories were explored for the cultivation of Luffa cylindrica Roem,1 and, coincidentally, Dupont filed some of the first patent applications claiming methods of making cellulose sponges.
In the years following the war, cellulose, polyurethane, melamine, and scouring fibers have become common materials for making today's cleaning sponges. U.S. Pat. No. 2,280,022 to Banigan et. al (the '022 patent) was issued to Dupont in 1942 and discloses a method for making sponges via cellulose regeneration. Today, when one buys a sponge, seven out of ten times, cellulose is the preferred material being packaged and sold. Cellulose is a natural material extracted from the walls of plant cells. The cellulose sponge is typically made from pulped wood fibers, but manufacturers may also use cellulose-based sources like hemp and flax fibers.
The '022 patent discloses mixing a viscose solution of vegetable fibers and sodium sulfate decahydrate crystals. The vegetable fibers can be jute, hemp, or some other wood fibers prepared by xanthating alkali cellulose at 5.0% to 10.0% of the total viscose mixture. The sodium sulfate decahydrate crystals are added at differing sizes to give a hodge podge of pores in the final cellulose material. Note that vegetable fibers can be roughly 0.50% to 3.0% of the sponge mixture.
The viscose material is kneaded and transferred into an extruder, which forces the mixture under pressure through a nozzle and flange into a mold. The mixture, including the mold, is immersed in a hot salt bath to coagulate the solution. When the mixture hardens, it is removed from the mold, washed, dried, and subjected to other treatments, such as being dyed for colors and then being cut into blocks. This is a general method for making a regenerated cellulose material that can be used as a sponge and is hereby incorporated by reference for an embodiment of the present invention, where the sponge portion is made of cellulose.
U.S. Pat. No. 10,986,979 to Sullivan et. al (the '979 patent) describes some basic properties of a cellulose sponge made of wood fibers and cut into a block shape, being water absorbent, and often associated with a scrim of an abrasive fiber on one side. Cellulose sponges are easily saturated with water and can be squeezed by hand to remove most of that saturation. Then, one would use the moistened sponge to wipe surfaces. The abrasive scrim is used to remove hardened materials from a surface by more forceful scouring.
A cleaning sponge can also be made from polyurethane, one of the most readily used and versatile synthetic materials on earth. In its initial state, polyurethane is a hydrophobic foam. First invented in 1937, the material took some time to refine for use as a dependable sponge.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,920,983 to Bugosh, J. (the '983 patent) is one of the earliest written testaments of converting polyurethane into a more efficient hydrophilic material. The '983 patent discloses methods for increasing the porosity of the material to compete with regenerated cellulose as a commercial sponge. Bugosh teaches a process that includes: creating a hydrophobic polyurethane foam, then immersing said foam in an aluminum sulfate bath for a time, and then subjecting the foam to a drying period. Although this is an abbreviated retelling of Bugosh's process, one of ordinary skill in the art can easily follow Bugosh's specification to use this early account to convert a polyurethane foam into a hydrophilic material for commercial uses.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,224,899 to Wilson, C. L. (the '899 patent) discloses a process for increasing the wettability of a polyurethane foam by having finely divided silica being absorbed into the foam's surfaces, thereby increasing porosity and the articles. Silica particle sizes, and by proxy the resulting sponge pore sizes, range from 0.07-0.022 microns.
Like the '899 and the '983 patents, U.S. Pat. No. 3,508,953 to Simon, J. G. et. al (the '953 patent) discloses a hydrophilic polyurethane sponge with increased wettability. The '953 patent discloses a method for making polyurethane foams and then subjecting said foam to natural particles. Here, Simon et. al submerge the foam material in a slurry containing at least one montmorillonite clay, where the resulting sponge is reported to have the clay at about 0.02%-0.05% of the sponge's total weight.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,171,820 to Volz, R. A. (the '820 patent) discloses a sponge made from a reticulated polyurethane foam. The '820 patent was issued in 1965 and teaches the removal and reassembly of a polyurethane mass to make hydrophilic foams. The process includes subjecting an open-cell polyurethane foam to the hydrolytic action of water in the presence of a hydrolysis catalyst. This combination accelerates the water substantially to remove a great deal of the polyurethane membranes. The resulting skeletal network is recovered and assembled into a more porous and hydrolytic foam construct. Volz uses a process to reticulate polyurethane membranes to make the foams more porous, with improved softness and compliance, more resistance to humidity, improved hydrophilicity, and with a greater tensile and tear strength.
Melamine foam resin is yet another popular sponge type material, as they are classified as erodible foams. These materials are fashioned into household like sponges to erase tough stains and marks from hard surfaces. The chemical structure of melamine is an open-cell foam, microporous, somewhat hard in its construct, and is like an ultra-fine sandpaper.
Although melamine-based sponges are not as hydrophilic as either cellulose or altered polyurethane sponges, erodible foams, like the Procter & Gamble Co.'s Mr. Clean Magic Eraser®, are adequate at wiping surfaces when dampened and crumble when rubbed against hard surfaces having tough spots or stains that need removing. The eraser styled sponge is meant to be slightly dampened with water or a mild liquid detergent but not totally drenched like the other two materials. There are chemical additions to the base melamine to achieve optimal consistency for repeated use as a household eraser.
U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2007/0061991 as filed by Gonzales, D. et. al (the '991 publication) describes one of the many ways one can make melamine materials for eraser sponges. The '991 publication gives a method, the materials, and physical properties for heat compressed melamine as a cleaning implement. Briefly, a chemical formulation includes a blend of formaldehyde, a blowing agent, a catalyst, an emulsifier, and, of course, melamine. This formulation is then injected into a mold, where foaming and curing is brought about by heat or irradiation.
The '991 publication is highly detailed on listing the amine monomers, the type of blowing agents, the amount and time of irradiation, and temperatures and times for heat compression. Molar ratios of melamine to formaldehyde in the initial formulation is given to be about 1:1.5 to about 1:4, particularly preferably about 1:2 to about 1:3.5 in melamine:formaldehyde.
U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2014/0230847 as filed by Pung, J. D. (the '847 publication) discloses a series of melamine foams and methods of making such materials via U.S. Pat. No. 6,608,118 to Kosaka, Y. et. al. (the '118 patent). Kosaka et. al gives a very similar process of making melamine foam sponges to the '991 publication, where melamine and formaldehyde are initially blended with a blowing agent, a catalyst, an emulsifier, and subsequent injection into a mold followed by a curing cycle of heat and irradiation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,334,971 to Mahnke, H. et. al also gives a method for creating melamine foams via an aqueous solution, which includes a melamine-formaldehyde condensation product having an emulsifying agent, an acidic curing agent, and a blowing agent, where the curing of the melamine-formaldehyde condensate happens at elevated temperatures.
Melamine foam sponges can be purchased under Procter & Gamble Co.'s Mr. Clean-Magic Eraser brand, HDX's all-purpose easy eraser sponge, or they can be bought in generic bulk from online warehouses like Amazon.com or ebay.com, where a google keyword search for melamine sponge will return many buying options.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,958,593 to Hoover, H. L. et. al (the '593 patent), which issued in 1960, introduces an abrasive material, that is a low density open non-woven fiber, and a method for making the same. The '593 patent is designed to be an alternative for steel wool. This material is characteristic of, if not functionally the same as, the green abrasive scrim found on one side of most commercial dual action cellulose sponges. This is an early 3M patent and is an inspiration for many 3M commercial cleaning products having a synthetic abrasive element (see U.S. Pat. Pub. 2020/0180112 as filed by Truong, M. T. et. al). As such, these materials can be purchased at your local hardware store or at any general merchandise retailer like Target or Wal-Mart in their home cleaning aisle.
Hoover et. al teach forming a base web component from synthetic fibers of nylon and polyesters or from natural fibers such as silk or horsehair, where these materials retain their physical properties when subjected to water and oils. The fibers are fed through a “Rando-Webber” machine to form a 40-inch light weight open non-woven air laid web. The machine is adjusted to create a random web having a weight of 18-20 grains per 4 in. by 6 in. section. The web is then sprayed with an abrasive and binder slurry. The abrasive can be aluminum oxide, possibly alumina titanium dioxide, silicon carbide, flint, or natural corundum, where the size of the abrasive may vary from fine to coarser grit sizes. The complete recipe for the slurry can be found in the '593 patent in either of their Examples I-III. The material is dried in an oven and the process is repeated for the other side. The result is a translucent material with an open non-woven skeletal structure that can be used for many scrubbing and scouring events. This fibrous material is often mated to a cellulose sponge, thereby creating a dual action cleaning product.
U.S. Pat. No. 11,230,801 to Endle, J. P. et. al (the '801 patent) discloses a great many things about the methods of making these scouring materials known in the art, from the nature of the fibers used for open non-woven webs, the various webbed patterns of the resulting scrim, to the abrasive particles incorporated therein, and the like. Endle et. al disclose that the fibrous article can be made by methods known in the art, including but not limited to: a melt-blown web, air-laid web (see Hoover et. al), a melt-spun web, a carded web, a stitch-bonded web, a wet-laid web, and the like.
Although it is intended for the sponge material of the present invention to be sourced from a commercial vendor and to be used as is, if one of ordinary skill in the art wanted to actually make cellulose, polyurethane, melamine, or open nonwoven scouring materials to use herein, then U.S. Pat. No. 2,280,022 to Banigan et. al, U.S. Pat. No. 10,986,979 to Sullivan et. al, U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2009/0110890 as filed by Garza et. al, U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2016/0000292 as filed by Calderas et. al, U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2014/0230847 as filed by Pung, J. D., U.S. Pat. No. 6,608,118 to Kosaka, Y. et. al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,334,971 to Mahnke, H. et. al, U.S. Pat. No. 2,920,983 to Bugosh, J., U.S. Pat. No. 3,224,899 to Wilson, C. L., U.S. Pat. No. 3,508,953 to Simon J. G. et. al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,171,820 to Volz, R. A., WO Pat. Pub. No. 2105/123635 as filed by Endle, J. P. et. al, are all herein fully incorporated by reference to aid in the use and construction of Part A and Part B of the present invention.
However, none of the art claims, teaches, or discloses a modular dual action sponge being two separable parts for cleaning surfaces and catching crumbs in a portion thereof. And, with that, there is a need for the present invention.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a cleaning product with two configurations being a sponge that is nested and held within a receptacle of a similarly shaped tray for a first configuration, and a second configuration that includes the sponge being removed from its receptacle to convert the tray into a debris or crumb catching device.
It is an object of the present invention, wherein the first configuration includes the sponge and the tray being used together making a dual sided sponge, wherein the top surface of the sponge is less abrasive and can absorb fluids and the walls and underside of the tray's floor are more abrasive and can scour tough stains.
It is an object of the present invention, wherein the sponge, when moist, nests in a receptacle of a similarly shaped tray by friction fit due to the inner walls of the similarly shaped tray having inner dimensions that are slightly smaller than the total dimensions of the moist sponge.
It is an object of the present invention, wherein the sponge is made from a list of materials selected from the group of: cellulose, polyurethane, melamine, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl acetate, low density polyether, acrylates including methacrylates, methacryloyloxybenzophenone (MABP), polystyrene, urea-formaldehyde, polyester, including co-polymers, and any combinations thereof.
It is an object of the present invention, wherein the tray is made of an open non-woven fiber selected from a list of materials including: horse hair, silk, cotton, wool, jute, hemp, polyester, polyethylene terephthalate, coconut shell fibers, agave fibers, henequen fibers, sisal fibers, olefin fibers, polyethylene and polypropylene, carbon fibers, nylon, hexamethylene adipamide, polycaprolactam, walnut shell fibers, acrylic, cellulose acetate, polyvinylidene chloride-vinyl chloride copolymers, glass fibers, rayon, vinyl chloride-acrylonitrile copolymers, metal fibers, or any combinations thereof.
It is an object of the present invention, wherein the open non-woven fiber is bound to abrasive particles selected from the group of: talc, calcium, flint, garnet, calcium carbonate, melamine formaldehyde, calcium silicate, pumice, kaolins aluminum oxide (including ceramic aluminum oxide, heat-treated aluminum oxide, and white-fused aluminum oxide), silicon carbide, topaz, tungsten carbide, alumina zirconia, diamond, ceria, cubic boron nitride, cerium oxide, nepheline syenite, clay, zirconium oxide, titanium oxide, fused alumina-zirconia, boron nitride, tungsten carbide, silicon nitride, garnet, crushed natural materials, crushed nut shells, methacrylate, methylmethacrylate, polyamide, polyester, polyvinyl chloride, polymethacrylic acid, polymethylmethacrylate, polycarbonate, polystyrene, melamine-formaldehyde condensates, and any combinations thereof.
It is an object of the present invention, wherein the abrasive particles are bound to the open non-woven fibers by resins selected from the group of: acrylic resin, phenolic resin, nitrile resin, ethylene vinyl acetate resin, polyurethane resin, polyurea or urea-formaldehyde resin, isocyanate resin, styrene-butadiene resin, styrene-acrylic resins, vinyl acrylic resin, aminoplast resin, melamine resin, polyisoprene resin, epoxy resin, ethylenically unsaturated resin, bismaleimide binders, vinyl ether resins, beta unsaturated carbonyl groups, acrylate resins, acrylated isocyanurate resins, isocyanurate resins, acrylated urethane resins, acrylated epoxy resins, alkyd resins, hide glue, varnish, and radiation cured crosslinked acrylate binders, nitrile rubbers, epoxies, surfactants, polyethylene glycol, polyvinylpyrrolidones, polylactic acid (PLA), polyvinylpyrrolidone/vinyl acetate copolymers, polyvinyl alcohols, carboxymethyl celluloses, hydroxypropyl cellulose starches, polyethylene oxides, polyacrylamides, polyacrylic acids, cellulose ether polymers, polyethyl oxazolines, esters of polyethylene oxide, and polypropylene oxide copolymers, urethanes of polyethylene oxide, and any mixtures thereof.
It is an object of the present invention, wherein the open non-woven fibers are bound to mildly abrasive particles with Mohs Hardness from about 1 to 7 and a preferred average particle size of 160 micrometers.
It is an object of the present invention, wherein the open non-woven fibers are bound to harder abrasive particles with Mohs Hardness greater than 8 and a preferred average particle size of 45 micrometers or finer.
It is an object of the present invention wherein the open non-woven fibers are manufactured as scrims and are 0.25″ thick to about 0.50″ thick.
It is an object of the present invention, wherein the sponge and the similarly shaped tray can be a shaped as a rectangle, a square, an oval, a circle, an s-shaped, a star, a flower, or other decorative shapes that will reasonably allow nesting of the sponge within the similarly shaped tray.
It is an object of the present invention, wherein the similarly shaped tray has notches cut into each opposing side walls at each of their top center most edge.
From
These are instructions for the making and using the present invention without undue experimentation, where the following definitions are used as a guide.
The terms “sponge” or “household sponge” generally refer to a cleaning article having a connected natural or synthetic fibrous cell structure, being highly, or slightly, hydrophilic, and can possibly absorb and retain at least ten times its weight in fluids. The typical kitchen sponge is semi-hard when dry or soft, flexible, and porous when wet. The sponge can be used to wipe or clean surfaces, absorb spilled liquids, or act as a household foam eraser.
The term “Part A” generally refers to a sponge made from an absorbent, or an erasable/erodible, material. Part A nests within the receptacle of a crumb catching tray.
The terms “Part B,” “tray,” “fibrous tray,” or “crumb catching tray” generally refer to a tray made from open non-woven fabrics having an open receptacle as defined by the interconnection of a pair of side walls, a pair of end walls, and a bottom floor. When Part A is joined to Part B, the sponge nests within the tray's receptacle, making the invention a dual action sponge, and, when separated, the tray becomes a crumb or debris catching device.
The term “hydrophilic” generally means having a strong affinity for water or water loving.
The term “hydrophobic” generally means having a weak affinity for water or water repelling.
The term “foam” generally refers to a material that has been treated, or that exists naturally, to have an air-filled matrix structure within its solid component. In an open-celled foam there are very few intact bubble remnants and only the boundary edges for each individual bubble remain, giving a material that, when wet, is soft, flexible, and easily saturated by a fluid. A closed-cell foam has its solid component tightly packed with fully intact bubble remnants giving a more hydrophobic and rigid material. Both open and closed cell foams have wide and varied uses, including but not limited to: cleaning sponges, scrubbers, sound absorbing foams, thermal insulation for rockets, material used to make puppets, bed mattress, sofa cushions, insulation for plumbing, cosmetic applicators, and on and on.
The term “open non-woven fiber” generally refers to non-woven fabrics made by processes that include but are not limited to: melt-blown fabrics, spun-bond fabrics, carded fabrics, wet-laid fabrics, and air-laid fabrics. These methods create a webbed like material being individual fibers or filaments randomly, or unidirectionally, interlaid in a mat-like fashion. The fibers are associated with abrasive particles and are used as abrasive scrims on one side of commercial sponges.
The term “cellulose” generally refers to an absorbent base material for sponges that is extracted from the walls of plant cells, wherein said material may be sourced from, including but not limited to, wood fibers, hemp, or flax fibers. Cellulose is a polysaccharide and is extremely hydrophilic, having three thousand or more glucose units that give a quasi-elastic nature when exposed to water or other fluids. Its industrial designation is an open-celled foam that easily absorbs water but is not easily degraded by it.
The term “polyurethane” generally means a synthetic resin material that can be created by combining organic toluene diisocyanate (TDI), aliphatic polyester, water, a possible blowing agent, and at least one catalyst. The organic polymer is characterized by a cellular structure that allows for some degree of compression and resilience and is highly hydrophobic. Polyurethane can be made to be hydrophilic by chemical treatments of acid, alkali, oxidizing agents, and the like to make the solid material a softer foam that is more porous and able to absorb fluids.
The term “melamine” generally refers to an open-cell foam of a durable organic solid being a trimer of cyanamide, with a 1,3,5-triazine skeleton. Chemical processes combine this structure with formaldehyde and other resins to give a base construct that is an eraser or erodible type sponge, similar to Mr. Clean® Magic Eraser. Because of its hard texture, a melamine type sponge works more like a fine microparticle sandpaper against surfaces needing stain or scum removal.
The term “scrim” generally means a swath, or an amount of a material, composed of open non-woven fibers adhered to abrasive particulates that are meant for scouring surfaces.
The terms “nested,” “nesting,” or “nests” are takes on the word “nest” or “to nest” generally mean the ability of the sponge to rest and be held within the receptacle of the similarly shaped tray via a friction fit.
The term “viscose” generally refers to a viscous solution made by treating cellulose with caustic alkali solution and carbon disulfide to yield regenerated cellulose.
The term “xanthation” generally refers to a manufacturing step to make viscose.
The term “dual action sponge” generally refers to a sponge that is associated with a scrim of an abrasive fabric on one of its sides for a scouring action.
The term “Moh Hardness” generally refers to a hardness scale from 1 to 10 that measures the ability for a hard material to scratch a softer one.
Returning to either of
Methods for making a cellulose sponge 11 are well known within the art and have become industry standard. Again, these methods have been incorporated herein by reference as listed above. However, one can easily buy cellulose in sheets, or blocks, from companies, including but not limited to: Industrial Commercial Supply (Akron, OH), Spontex Industrial Products (Worcester, UK), and Foam Spirit (Henan, China). One can also purchase large quantities of cellulose from various wholesalers that act as a go-between for larger retailers that mass produce commercial sponges. In the alternative, individual cellulose sponges can be bought from companies like 3M (Scoth-Brite™ Ocelo, Sponge A21, C31 Large Commercial Sponge), ACME (Duro-Cel® Swift brand), Walgreen's (Complete Home™ EveryDay Sponge), or the like. A simple internet search will also return sellers for bulk quantities of polyurethane and melamine.
Natural cellulose is a polysaccharide having β-D-glucopyranose joined by β(1→4).3 Due to the large number of unevenly dispersed hydroxyl groups, cellulose is hydrophilic, having a high affinity for binding water molecules. Not to be bound by theory, but it is believed that cellulose is a network of celled pores that are chained and randomly bundled to efficiently hold large amounts of water.4 These cells can expand by sliding against one another without breaking or weakening when saturated.4 This makes cellulose highly flexible and resistant to water degradation.
Even after viscose xanthation, regenerated cellulose retains the ability to expand with increased flexibility when it absorbs water, making it an ideal cleaning sponge. Because regenerated cellulose retains these characteristics, wrenching an overly saturated sponge only removes most of the water. van der Waals effects ensure that some water molecules remain until the sponge is fully dried.
I take advantage of the stacked nature of cellulose molecules, which allows the sponge 11 to absorb from ten to fifteen times its weight in water and can be compressed to roughly ten percent of its original size. The increased flexibility is due to the sliding nature of cellulose molecules when bound to water. This gives cellulose compression characteristics that are ideal to friction fit my sponge 11 within the smaller dimensions of a similarly shaped fibrous tray 12.
To that end, it is an embodiment of the present invention wherein the cellulose sponge 11 can be hand sized, i.e., being able to fit comfortably in an average human sized hand. Most commercial cellulose sponges 11 are typically rectangular blocks sold in a hermetically sealed package with some amount of moisture and antimicrobials, as dry sponges are not as appealing to the consumer. A typical cellulose sponge 11 has dimensions: from about 4.5″ (inches) to about 7.5″ (inches) in length, from about 2.37″ (inches) to about 4.5″ (inches) in width, and from about 0.4″ (inches) to about 0.9″ (inches) in height. But, it is an embodiment of the present invention wherein the cellulose sponge 11 can be a shaped as a rectangle, a square, an oval, a circle, s-shaped, a star, a flower, or any decorative shape that will reasonable allow nesting of the sponge 11 within a similarly shaped tray 12.
Commercial sponges are associated with additives in their base structure, including but not limited to: antimicrobials, biocides, pigments, perfumes, and dyes. These improvements are well known in the industry and are now common practice. It is an embodiment of the present invention wherein the cellulose sponge 11 of the present invention is premade and purchased having at least one additive from this list.
As mentioned, a fully wrenched cellulose sponge can retain a good number of water molecules for long periods of time. These dampened conditions invite and promote the growth of harmful bacteria, viruses, fungus, molds, and/or mildew. Prior art addresses this problem by associating sponges with antimicrobial metals including but not limited to: alkali metal salts in combination with quaternary ammonium compounds, as well as treating the sponge with alkali metal montmorillonite clays, chelating metal ion polymers, potentiators, and/or metal dialkyl dithiocarbamates.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,042,877 to Lyon, Keith, R. et. al. (the '877 patent) discloses methods for treating sponges with an antimicrobial solution. The '877 patent is one of many documents for incorporating these inhibitors within the framework of a sponge. Briefly, Lyon et. al disclose a metal ion solution with a chelating polymer being deposited onto a sponge, which is then dried. A potentiator solution is then added to the precoated material to give a long-lasting anti-microbial sponge. Their list of metal ions includes, but is not limited to: Zn+2, Zr+2, Fe+2, and Cut. Each metal ion is a water-soluble salt being, for example, an acetate, a chloride, or a sulfate salt, which can include each of their hydrate forms thereof.
The '877 patent lists the chelating polymer as polyglucosamine, ethylene acrylic acid copolymer, polycarboxylic acid, alkyleneimines and polyamine. The chelating agent is dissolved in a suitable solvent along with an acid. Other optional additives can be included in the recipe. The mixture is then applied to the sponge by any number of means, including but not limited to: roll coating, spraying, knife coating, spin coating, or immersion coating. The initial antimicrobial metals are then bound to another antimicrobial, a potentiator, being an additional metal that binds to the first.
The '877 patent also discloses associating antimicrobials with open non-woven fibers, the abrasive scrims adhered to one side of cellulose sponges. The same antimicrobial solution, being an ion/polymer mixture, is introduced in the binder coating step for open non-woven fibers. After the composite solution of the ion/polymer-binder is applied to the sponge, the entire construct is dried. An additional potentiator (biocide) might be added by spraying or submerging the pretreated sponge in a different solution that includes compounds selected from alkyl dithiocarbamates, thiazoles, imidazoles, pyrithione or mixtures thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,541,233 to Roenigk, Karl, F. (the '233 patent) discloses an antimicrobial sponge, wherein the sponge is treated with at least one metal ion, a potentiator, and a chitosan, a chelating polymer. Roenigk, after forming a viscose cellulose sponge, adds sodium sulfate decahydrate to the mixture. A transition metal ion and a potentiator are then added. The entire mixture is heated to form, essentially, an antimicrobial sponge. The '233 patent gives very detailed examples of forming an antimicrobial sponge and is herein incorporated in full by reference into the present application.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,304,454 Truong, Myhanh, T. (the '454 patent) discloses an antimicrobial sponge and a method for making the same. The process includes taking an anionically functionalized sponge, absorbing an amount of a biguanide aqueous solution thereto, bonding the cationic biguanide to the anionic sponge, and then hermetically sealing the coated sponge in a package. Biguanide is an antimicrobial and is present at about 0.02% weight of the entire sponge when dried. There are other additives, but there is no chelator or potentiator due to the natural polar attraction of the cationic antifungal and the anion sites of the cellulose, which gives effective long-lasting inhibition of microorganisms. The '454 patent gives a thorough account of the method of binding biguanide to cellulose and, as such, the use of biguanide as an antifungal agent is herein incorporated by reference.
Now that the sponge is detailed, I turn to the crumb catching tray and its multifunctionality. The heart of my invention is the relationship between the tray and the different ways it interacts with the sponge. From
Note that each opposing side wall 15b, 15g has notches 15c, 15f cut into their top center most edge. Each notch 15c, 15f curves down just to the edge of the adjoining floor 15e but is not cut into such floor 15e, meaning there can be some amount of the side wall's 15b, 15g original material remaining between the floor 15e and the bottom curve of each notch 15c, 15f. Although shown as having a crescent type shape, each notch 15c, 15f can be any decorative cut that exposes a small section of the sponge's side walls 15b, 15g, thereby giving a user a better grip to pull the sponge from the nested position.
These fabrics are unidirectionally interlaid in a mat-like fashion. There is no identifiable pattern. Non-woven fabrics can be made in a number of ways known within the art, including but not limited to: the melt-blown process, the spun-bond process, the wet-laid process, and the air-laid process. Each method creates a different type of randomly laid fabric, but all methods include the basic concepts of a polymer or natural fiber being fed into a web laying or hot extrusion machine, the resulting web having a certain thickness and area weight, coating the resulting fabric with a binding resin, and adding abrasive particles and other optional additives to form an abrasive scrim.
Molten thermoplastics are the base materials for the melt-blown process. Thermoplastics are extruded as molten threads through circular die capillaries by a heated gas. Thereafter, the fabric is formed when the melt-blown fibers are deposited by a hot gas stream on a collection surface in random arrangements. A more recent melt-blowing process is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,607,624 to Berrigan, M. R. et al.
The wet-laid process includes creating fabric sheets via a slurry containing fibers, water, and a water-miscible organic solvent. The slurry is placed in a mold or deposited layers, where the water is removed to form a sheet and then the sheet is dried. One can add a polymeric binder to the dispersion and/or abrasive particles. The resulting fibers may be bonded together via various means, including for example, application of a spray adhesive.
Open non-woven fibers made by the spun-bonded process are typically small in diameter and are formed by extruding molten thermoplastic polymers as filaments from a plurality of fine, usually circular, capillaries of a spinneret with the diameter of the extruded fibers being rapidly reduced. A spun-bonding process is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,802,817 to Matsuki, M., et. al.
The air-laid process is detailed above in the '593 patent to Hoover et. al is incorporated herein by reference.
Both natural and synthetic materials are used to make open non-woven fabrics. These materials are readily disclosed on the internet, in U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2009/0110890 as filed by Garza, N., et. al (the '890 publication), and U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2016/0000292 as filed by Calderas, J. J., et. al (the '292 publication). They include but are not limited to: horse hair, silk, cotton, wool, jute, hemp, polyester (e.g., polyethylene terephthalate), coconut shell fibers, agave fibers, henequen fibers, sisal fibers, olefin fibers (e.g. polyethylene and polypropylene), carbon fibers, nylon (e.g., hexamethylene adipamide, polycaprolactam), walnut shell fibers, acrylic (formed from a polymer of acrylonitrile), cellulose acetate, polyvinylidene chloride-vinyl chloride copolymers, glass fibers, rayon, vinyl chloride-acrylonitrile copolymers, metal fibers, and/or any combinations thereof.
Abrasive particles are bound to non-woven fibers by at least one resin binder to enhance the crumb catching tray's 15 scouring properties. These particles can be further defined as soft abrasives, hard abrasives, or a mixture thereof according to the Mohs Hardness Scale. Soft abrasives have a Mohs hardness in the range of about 1 to 7 and provide my crumb catching tray 15 with mildly abrasive properties. Harder abrasives have a Mohs hardness greater than about 8 to provide a more aggressive crumb catching tray 15. Particle sizes for the abrasive can range from about 200 micrometers to about 45 micrometers or finer.
It is a preferred embodiment of the present invention wherein the non-woven fibers are bound to mildly abrasive particles with Mohs Hardness from about 1 to 7 and a preferred average particle size of about 160 micrometers for scouring more sensitive surfaces without harmful scratching. It is a preferred embodiment of the present invention wherein the non-woven fibers are bound to harder abrasive particles with Mohs Hardness greater than 8 and a preferred average particle size of about 45 micrometers or finer for scouring tougher surfaces, like pots and pans, without harmful scratching.
The abrasive particles bound to these fibers may include without limitation: talc, calcium, flint, garnet, calcium carbonate, melamine formaldehyde, calcium silicate, pumice, kaolins aluminum oxide (including ceramic aluminum oxide, heat-treated aluminum oxide, and white-fused aluminum oxide), silicon carbide, topaz, tungsten carbide, alumina zirconia, diamond, ceria, cubic boron nitride, cerium oxide, nepheline syenite, clay, zirconium oxide, titanium oxide, fused alumina-zirconia, boron nitride, tungsten carbide, silicon nitride, garnet, and combinations thereof. Suitable abrasive materials also include softer, less aggressive, materials such as polymeric particles and crushed natural materials (for example, crushed nut shells). Suitable polymeric materials for the abrasive particles include methacrylate, methylmethacrylate, polyamide, polyvinyl chloride, polymethacrylic acid, polyester, polymethylmethacrylate, polycarbonate, polystyrene, and melamine-formaldehyde condensates.
Binding resins, being both non and water soluble, may include without limitation: acrylic resin, phenolic resin, nitrile resin, ethylene vinyl acetate resin, polyurethane resin, polyurea or urea-formaldehyde resin, isocyanate resin, styrene-butadiene resin, styrene-acrylic resins, vinyl acrylic resin, aminoplast resin, melamine resin, polyisoprene resin, epoxy resin, ethylenically unsaturated resin, bismaleimide binders, vinyl ether resins, beta unsaturated carbonyl groups, acrylate resins, acrylated isocyanurate resins, isocyanurate resins, acrylated urethane resins, acrylated epoxy resins, alkyd resins, hide glue, varnish, and radiation cured crosslinked acrylate binders, nitrile rubbers, epoxies, surfactants, polyethylene glycol, polyvinylpyrrolidones, polylactic acid (PLA), polyvinylpyrrolidone/vinyl acetate copolymers, polyvinyl alcohols, carboxymethyl celluloses, hydroxypropyl cellulose starches, polyethylene oxides, polyacrylamides, polyacrylic acids, cellulose ether polymers, polyethyl oxazolines, esters of polyethylene oxide, and polypropylene oxide copolymers, urethanes of polyethylene oxide, and, where chemically possible, mixtures thereof.
These fibers are typically sold at your local store as scouring pads under the non-limiting brands being: Scotch-Brite® Heavy Duty Scour Pad, Scotch-Brite™ Heavy Duty Scour Pad 86, Scotch-Brite™ Light Duty Scrubbing Pad 9030, Scotch-Brite™ Light Duty Cleansing Pad 98, Scotch-Brite® Greener Clean Non-Scratch Scour Pad, Scotch-Brite™ Extra Heavy Duty Pot 'n Pan Scour Pad 88, Scotch-Brite™ General Purpose Scour Pad 96, Scotch-Brite™ All Purpose Scouring Pad 9000, Scotch-Brite™ General Purpose Scouring Pad 105, Scotch-Brite™ Big Blue Scour Pad 80 CC, Scotch-Brite™ General Purpose Scrub Pad 9650, Scrub-it Natural Scouring Pads, Neat-Nut™ as sold by Full Circle LLC, and AIRNEX Bio-Degradable Scrubbing Pads.
Returning to
The floor 15e is cut to match the exact rectangular shape of the sponge. Two scrims are cut to make each opposing side wall 15b, 15g such that they match the exact length of the sponge. Two additional scrims are cut to make each opposing end wall 15a, 15d such that they match the exact width of the sponge. Each side wall 15b, 15g is then orientated in an upright position along each longest edge of the floor 15e and bound thereto by an adhesive. Each end wall 15a, 15d is then orientated in an upright position along each shortest edge of the floor 15e and bound thereto by an adhesive. The ends for each opposing side wall 15b, 15g only connect to the ends for each opposing end wall 15a, 15d and are joined and bound by an adhesive to create four butt-type joints. The interconnection of the side 15b, 15g and end 15a, 15d walls forms an open space about the floor 15e area between the opposing side walls 15b, 15g and the pair of opposing end walls 15a, 15d. The space is meant to receive and hold the sponge in a nested position or for holding and carrying crumbs or debris when the sponge is unnested. And, this is how I made the initial crumb catching tray 15.
It is an embodiment of the present invention wherein the scrims are bound one to another to form the crumb catching tray by glues and hot melt adhesives known within the industry, including but not limited to: ethyl 2-cyanoacrylate moisture cured polyurethane, non-reactive ethylene vinyl acetate hot melt, non-reactive polypropylene hot melt, polyurethane hot melts, polyamide, polyester, polyacrylate, polyolefin, polycarbonate and epoxy resin, ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), polyethylene, polyamide, polyolefin and ethylene-methyl acrylate (EMA), [a mixture of isocyanic acid, polymethylenepolyphenylene ester, polymer with 1,2-ethanediamine, 2-methyloxirane and 1,2-propanedioand and diphenylmethane-diisocyanate], epoxies, poly(meth)acrylates and derived adhesives, thermoplastic polymers like silicone (e.g., silicone polyureas), and combinations thereof. Any hot melt adhesive that needs curing may be done so via moisture curing, thermal curing, and actinic radiation curing, whichever is recommended or needed for a specific adhesive.
Any one of
From
Returning to
Although the present invention can take many decorative forms, the substantially rectangular shape of the crumb catching tray 15 is a non-limiting example. I chose this shape for my initial prototype because most commercial sponges in my local store are rectangular.
The above invention includes various non-limiting aspects of a cleaning product with two configurations: a sponge that is nested and held within a receptacle of a similarly shaped tray to act as a dual action sponge and the sponge being removed from the receptacle to convert said tray into a crumb catching device. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination for purposes of describing the invention, but one of ordinary skill in the art may recognize that many further combinations are possible. Accordingly, the aspects described herein are intended to embrace any and all such alterations. modifications, and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of my claims.
