Films including a water-soluble layer and a vapor-deposited inorganic coating

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11208246-B2
Application number	US-201916565599-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 10, 2019
Priority date	Jun 22, 2017
Publication date	Dec 28, 2021
Grant date	Dec 28, 2021

Abstract

Films including a water-soluble polymeric material and a vapor-deposited inorganic coating are disclosed. The water-soluble polymeric material may comprise polyvinyl alcohol. The vapor-deposited inorganic coating may include a metal oxide. The vapor-deposited inorganic coating may include a plurality of microfractures. The films may form part of a package and/or a water-soluble unit dose article.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A package for a consumer product, comprising:
a film comprising:
a layer of water-soluble polymeric material; and
a vapor-deposited inorganic coating disposed on a surface of the layer, wherein the inorganic coating comprises a metal oxide, and wherein the inorganic coating comprises a plurality of microfractures therein, wherein the microfractures define a plurality of discrete regions, each of the discrete regions having a largest linear dimension of about 150 microns or less, and wherein the plurality of microfractures enable the dissolution of the package;

wherein the water-soluble polymeric material comprises polyvinyl alcohol.

2. The package of claim 1 , wherein the inorganic coating consists essentially of the metal oxide.

3. The package of claim 1 , wherein the metal oxide comprises one or more of aluminum oxide, silicon oxide, magnesium oxide, and titanium oxide.

4. The package of claim 1 , wherein the inorganic coating is directly attached to the surface of the layer of water-soluble polymeric material.

5. The package of claim 1 , wherein the surface of the layer of water-soluble polymeric material is at least partially ablated.

6. The package of claim 5 , wherein the surface of the layer of water-soluble polymeric material is ablated by a helium-oxygen plasma.

7. The package of claim 5 , wherein the surface of the layer of water-soluble polymeric material is ablated by an argon-oxygen plasma.

8. The package of claim 1 , wherein each of the microfractures has an overall length of from about 5 microns to about 50 microns.

9. The package of claim 1 , wherein each of the microfractures has an overall width of about 1 micron or less.

10. The package of claim 1 , wherein each of the microfractures extends entirely through the inorganic coating.

11. The package of claim 1 , wherein each of the microfractures extends only partially through the inorganic coating.

12. The package of claim 1 , wherein each of the discrete regions has a largest linear dimension of about 100 microns or less.

13. The package of claim 1 , wherein each of the discrete regions has a largest linear dimension of about 35 microns or less.

14. A water-soluble unit dose article, comprising:
a first compartment;
a second compartment, wherein the first compartment and the second compartment overlap; and
a film comprising:
a layer of water-soluble polymeric material; and
a vapor-deposited inorganic coating disposed on a surface of the layer, wherein the inorganic coating comprises a metal oxide, and wherein the inorganic coating comprises a plurality of microfractures therein, wherein the microfractures define a plurality of discrete regions, each of the discrete regions having a largest linear dimension of about 150 microns or less, and wherein the plurality of microfractures enable the dissolution of the water-soluble unit dose article;

wherein the water-soluble polymeric material comprises polyvinyl alcohol;
wherein the film forms at least a portion of the first compartment and/or the second compartment;
wherein the first compartment encloses a first composition;
wherein the second compartment encloses a second composition; and
wherein the first composition is different than the second composition.

15. The water soluble unit dose article of claim 14 , wherein the inorganic coating consists essentially of the metal oxide.

16. The water soluble unit dose article of claim 15 , wherein the metal oxide comprises one or more of aluminum oxide, silicon oxide, magnesium oxide, and titanium oxide.

17. A water-soluble unit dose article comprising:
a first compartment;
a second compartment, wherein the first compartment and the second compartment are disposed side-by-side; and
a film comprising:
a layer of water-soluble polymeric material; and
a vapor-deposited inorganic coating disposed on a surface of the layer, wherein the inorganic coating comprises a metal oxide, and wherein the inorganic coating comprises a plurality of microfractures therein, wherein the microfractures define a plurality of discrete regions, each of the discrete regions having a largest linear dimension of about 150 microns or less, and wherein the plurality of microfractures enable the dissolution of the water-soluble unit dose article;

wherein the water-soluble polymeric material comprises polyvinyl alcohol;
wherein the film forms at least a portion of the first compartment and/or the second compartment;
wherein the first compartment encloses a first composition;
wherein the second compartment encloses a second composition; and
wherein the first composition is different than the second composition.

18. The water soluble unit dose article of claim 17 , wherein the inorganic coating consists essentially of the metal oxide.

19. The water soluble unit dose article of claim 18 , wherein the metal oxide comprises one or more of aluminum oxide, silicon oxide, magnesium oxide, and titanium oxide.

Assignees

• Procter & Gamble

Inventors

• Boswell Emily Charlotte
• Mirle Srinivas Krishnaswamy
• Shanov Vesselin Nikolov
• Malik Rachit
• Mcconnell Colin William

Classifications

• C23C14/5886 Primary

  Mechanical treatment (involving removal of material C23C14/588) · CPC title

• C23C14/20

  on organic substrates · CPC title

• B65D65/46 Primary

  Applications of disintegrable, dissolvable or edible materials · CPC title

• B65D75/321

  Both sheets being recessed · CPC title

• C08J2329/04

  Polyvinyl alcohol; Partially hydrolysed homopolymers or copolymers of esters of unsaturated alcohols with saturated carboxylic acids · CPC title