Claims
- 1. A water-soluble film for packaging a non-liquid product, the film comprising:
a hydrolyzed copolymer of vinyl acetate and methyl acrylate in a range of from about 30 to about 95 percent by weight; modified starch in a range of from about 4 to about 30 percent by weight; plasticizer in a range of from about 5 to about 30 percent by weight; lubricant/release agent in a range of from about 0.0 to about 1.5 percent by weight; and surfactant in a range of from about 0.01 to about 1.5 percent by weight.
- 2. The composition of claim 1, wherein the modified starch comprises hydroxyethyl modified starch.
- 3. The composition of claim 2, wherein the amount of modified starch is about 4 to about 12 percent by weight.
- 4. The composition of claim 1, wherein the water-soluble film, at a thickness of about 1.5 mil (about 0.038 mm), dissolves in less than 60 seconds in water at a temperature of about 20° C. (about 68° F.) in accordance with MonoSol Test Method MSTM 205.
- 5. The composition of claim 1, wherein the hydrolyzed copolymer has a 4% solution viscosity in a range of about 5 to about 50 cps (about 0.005 to about 0.050 pascal seconds) at 20° C. (about 68° F.).
- 6. The composition of claim 5, wherein the hydrolyzed copolymer has a 4% solution viscosity in a range of about 8 to about 35 cps (about 0.008 to about 0.035 pascal seconds) at 20° C. (about 68° F.).
- 7. The composition of claim 6, wherein the hydrolyzed copolymer has a 4% solution viscosity in a range of about 15 to about 25 cps (about 0.015 to about 0.025 pascal seconds) at 20° C. (about 68° F.).
- 8. The composition of claim 1, wherein the copolymer film thickness is in a range of from about 0.1 to about 5.0 mils (about 0.0025 to about 0.127 mm).
- 9. The composition of claim 8, wherein the copolymer film thickness is in a range of from about 0.5 to about 3.0 mils (about 0.013 to about 0.076 mm).
- 10. The composition of claim 9, wherein the copolymer film thickness is in a range of from about 1.0 to about 2.0 mils (about 0.025 to about 0.050 mm).
- 11. The composition of claim 1, wherein the amount of plasticizer is in a range of from about 20 to about 30 percent by weight.
- 12. The composition of claim 1, further comprising a bleaching agent for controlling color drift in the film.
- 13. The composition of claim 12, wherein the bleaching agent is sodium metabisulfite.
- 14. The composition of claim 13, wherein the amount of sodium metabisulfite is in a range of from about 0.12 to about 1.0 percent by weight.
- 15. The composition of claim 14, wherein the amount of sodium metabisulfite is in a range of from about 0.4 to about 0.7 percent by weight.
- 16. The composition of claim 1, wherein the hydrolyzed copolymer initially comprises an amount of from about 1 to about 12 mol percent gamma lactone units, and wherein after treatment with a caustic soda the hydrolyzed copolymer comprises from about 1 to about 12 mol percent carboxylate groups and from about 0 to about 11 mol percent gamma lactone units.
- 17. The composition of claim 1, wherein the hydrolyzed copolymer initially comprises an amount of from about 2 to about 8 mol percent gamma lactone units, and wherein after treatment with a caustic soda the hydrolyzed copolymer comprises from about 2 to about 6 mol percent carboxylate groups and from about 0 to about 5 mol percent gamma lactone units.
- 18. The composition of claim 1, wherein the hydrolyzed copolymer initially comprises an amount of from about 4 to about 6 mol percent gamma lactone units, and wherein after treatment with a caustic soda the hydrolyzed copolymer comprises from about 3 to about 4 mol percent carboxylate groups and from about 1 to about 2 mol percent gamma lactone units.
- 19. A package for containing a non-liquid product, the package comprising at least one compartment comprised of a water-soluble film according to claim 1.
- 20. The package of claim 19, wherein the amount of modified starch is about 4 to about 12 percent by weight.
- 21. A unit dose of a non-liquid agent comprising:
a package according to claim 19, and a non-liquid agent contained within the package.
- 22. The unit dose of claim 21, wherein the amount of modified starch is about 4 to about 12 percent by weight.
- 23. A method for preparing a water-soluble copolymer film for packaging of a non-liquid product, the method comprising the steps of:
copolymerizing vinyl acetate and methyl acrylate to form a copolymer; hydrolyzing the vinyl acetate-methyl acrylate copolymer to form a vinyl alcohol-gamma lactone copolymer having a 4% solution viscosity in a range of from about 5 to about 50 cps at 20° C.; slurrying the hydrolyzed polymer with water; adding modified starch to the copolymer-water slurry in an amount of from about 4.0 to about 25.0 percent by weight; heating the hydrolyzed copolymer and starch slurry to form a solution; treating the solution with caustic soda to create a solution of a copolymer having from about 1 to about 12 mol percent carboxylate groups, from about 0 to about 11 mol percent gamma lactone units, and from about 88 to about 99 mol percent vinyl alcohol units; and casting the hot copolymer solution on a suitable surface to create a film having a thickness in a range of from about 0.1 to about 5.0 mils (about 0.0025 to about 0.127 mm).
- 24. The method of claim 23, further comprising the step of adding sodium metabisulfite in an amount greater than 0.12 percent by weight to prevent browning of the heated solution.
- 25. The method of claim 24, wherein the amount of sodium metabisulfite is in a range of from about 0.4 to about 0.7 percent by weight.
- 26. The method of claim 23, wherein the copolymer solution comprises from about 2 to about 6 mol percent carboxylate groups, from about 0 to about 5 mol percent gamma lactone units, and from about 92 to about 98 mol percent vinyl alcohol units.
- 27. The method of claim 23, wherein the copolymer solution comprises from about 3 to about 4 mol percent carboxylate groups, from about 1 to about 2 mol percent gamma lactone units, and from about 94 to about 96 mol percent vinyl alcohol units.
- 28. The method of claim 23, wherein the amount of modified starch used is about 4 to about 12 percent by weight.
- 29. The method of claim 28, wherein the modified starch comprises hydroxyethyl modified starch.
- 30. The method of claim 23, further comprising the step of forming the resulting film into a package for packaging a non-liquid product.
- 31. The method of claim 28, wherein the water-soluble film at a thickness of about 1.5 mil (about 0.038 mm) dissolves in water at a temperature of about 20° C. (about 68° F.) in less than 60 seconds in accordance with MonoSol test method MSTM 205.
- 32. The method of claim 23, wherein the water-soluble film at a thickness of about 1.5 mil (about 0.038 mm) dissolves in water at a temperature of about 20° C. (about 68° F.) in less than 60 seconds in accordance with MonoSol test method MSTM 205.
- 33. A method for preparing a water-soluble copolymer film for packaging of a non-liquid product, the method comprising the steps of:
providing a vinyl acetate-methyl acrylate copolymer; hydrolyzing the vinyl acetate-methyl acrylate copolymer to form a vinyl alcohol-gamma lactone copolymer having a 4% solution viscosity in a range of from about 5 to about 50 cps at 20° C.; slurrying the hydrolyzed polymer with water; adding modified starch to the copolymer-water slurry in an amount of from about 4 to about 25.0 percent by weight; heating the vinyl alcohol-gamma lactone copolymer and starch to form a solution; treating the solution with caustic soda to create a solution of a copolymer having from about 1 to about 12 mol percent carboxylate groups, from about 0 to about 11 mol percent gamma lactone units, and from about 88 to 99 mol percent vinyl alcohol units; casting the hot copolymer solution on a suitable surface to create a film having a thickness in a range of from about 0.1 to about 5.0 mils (about 0.0025 to about 0.127 mm).
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/367,050, filed Feb. 14, 2003.
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10367050 |
Feb 2003 |
US |
Child |
10722637 |
Nov 2003 |
US |