Dust extraction conducts and processes

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12473516-B2
Application number	US-202418757939-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 28, 2024
Priority date	Jun 30, 2023
Publication date	Nov 18, 2025
Grant date	Nov 18, 2025

Abstract

An example system comprises a water-soluble unit dose article comprising a water-soluble fibrous non-woven sheet and a granular laundry detergent. The water-soluble fibrous non-woven sheet is shaped to form a partially sealed internal compartment and has an air permeability comprised between 5 m 3 /m 2 /min and 200 m 3 /m 2 /min. The granular laundry detergent is comprised within said internal compartment and comprises a plurality of particles, wherein the plurality of particles comprises zeolite particles. The system comprises sealing jaws, wherein at least one of the sealing jaws is a heated sealing jaw, wherein a bottom seal of the internal compartment is sandwiched between the jaws. The jaws comprise a non-stick coating in contact with the bottom seal and a first dust extraction conduct to direct a gas flow away from an area surrounding a top section of the sealing jaws or away from a bottom section of the internal compartment.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A system comprising:
a water-soluble unit dose article comprising a water-soluble fibrous non-woven sheet and a granular laundry detergent, wherein the water-soluble fibrous non-woven sheet is shaped to form a partially sealed internal compartment, wherein the water-soluble fibrous non-woven sheet has an air permeability comprised between about 5 m 3 /m 2 /min and about 200 m 3 /m 2 /min, wherein the granular laundry detergent is comprised within said internal compartment, wherein the water-soluble fibrous non-woven sheet comprises a plurality of fibres, wherein the fibres comprise polyvinyl alcohol polymer, and wherein the granular laundry detergent comprises a plurality of particles, wherein the plurality of particles comprises zeolite particles; sealing jaws, wherein at least one of the sealing jaws is a heated sealing jaw, wherein a bottom seal of the internal compartment is sandwiched between the jaws, wherein the jaws comprise a non-stick coating in contact with the bottom seal; and a first dust extraction conduct to direct a gas flow away from an area surrounding a top section of the sealing jaws and away from a bottom section of the internal compartment.

2 . The system according to claim 1 further comprising a second dust extraction conduct facing the first dust extraction conduct, wherein ends of the dust extraction conducts proximal to the bottom seal define a funnel region, wherein the bottom section is nested in the funnel region.

3 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein the non-stick coating comprises a polymeric material.

4 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein the water-soluble fibrous non-woven sheet has a chute length comprised between about 0.5 m and about 1.5 m, the length being measured between the sealing jaws and a dosing device.

5 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of particles comprises between about 0.1 wt % and about 5.0 wt % of zeolite particles.

6 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of particles further comprises sodium carbonate particles.

7 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of particles further comprises starch encapsulated accord particles.

8 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein the end of the extraction conduct proximal to the bottom seal is at a distance of the bottom seal comprised between about 4.5 cm and about 12.5 cm.

9 . A process to operate the system according to claim 1 comprising:
forming a sleeve comprising the water-soluble fibrous non-woven sheet;
transversally sealing the sleeve by maintaining the sealing jaws closed across the sleeve to form the bottom seal;
in response to forming the bottom seal, filling the internal compartment with the granular laundry detergent;
opening the sealing jaws and letting the filled internal compartment slide between and beyond the open sealing jaws;
in response to the sliding of the filled internal compartment beyond the open sealing jaws,
transversally sealing the sleeve by maintaining the sealing jaws closed across the sleeve to form a top seal; and
extracting, with a dust extraction apparatus, at least a portion of the zeolite particles of the granular laundry detergent away from at least one of the area surrounding the top section of the sealing jaws and the bottom section of the internal compartment.

10 . The process according to claim 9 , wherein the extracting comprises directing the gas flow with a gas velocity comprised between about 0.2 m/s and about 10 m/s.

11 . The process according to claim 9 , wherein the extracting comprises directing the gas flow with a flow rate comprised between about 50 mm and about 200 mm.

12 . The process according to claim 9 , wherein extracting is performed continuously during the process.

13 . The process according to claim 9 , wherein extracting is performed during a time interval, the time interval being comprised between about 0.6 seconds and about 1.5 seconds.

14 . The process according to claim 13 , wherein extracting is performed after filling the internal compartment with the granular laundry detergent.

Assignees

• Procter & Gamble

Inventors

• Ahmed Ahmed Ibrahim Sayed
• Beder Fatema Amen Abdelhalem Mohamed
• Lang Helen Amy
• Mahdally Yara Tarek Mohamed
• Tantawy Hossam Hassan

Classifications

• C11D3/128

  Aluminium silicates, e.g. zeolites (C11D3/1253 takes precedence) · CPC title

• C11D3/10

  Carbonates {; Bicarbonates} · CPC title

• B65B65/06

  coated or treated with anti-friction or anti-sticking materials, e.g. polytetrafluoroethylene · CPC title

• B65B9/087

  the web advancing continuously · CPC title

• B65B1/28

  Controlling escape of air or dust from containers or receptacles during filling · CPC title