Pressed, self-solidifying, solid cleaning compositions and methods of making them

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9862915-B2
Application number	US-201414517997-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 20, 2014
Priority date	Oct 18, 2007
Publication date	Jan 9, 2018
Grant date	Jan 9, 2018

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method of making a solid cleaning composition. The method can include pressing and/or vibrating a flowable solid of a self-solidifying cleaning composition. For a self-solidifying cleaning composition, pressing and/or vibrating a flowable solid determines the shape and density of the solid but is not required for forming a solid. The method can employ a concrete block machine for pressing and/or vibrating. The present invention also relates to a solid cleaning composition made by the method and to solid cleaning compositions including particles bound together by a binding agent.

First claim

We claim:

1. A method of making a stable solid cleaning block comprising:
providing a composition comprising a binding agent comprising: from about 5 wt-% to about 15 wt-% of water, from about 25 wt-% to about 80 wt-% of an alkalinity source, and from about 1 wt-% to about 30 wt-% of sequestrant;
putting the composition in a drawer or hopper;
transferring the composition from the drawer or hopper into a form;
pressing the composition in the form at an ambient temperature to produce a stable solid cleaning block; and
removing the stable solid cleaning block from the form, wherein the pressing comprises pressing the composition with a force of about 1000 psi to 4000 psi, the solid block weights about 1 kg to about 10 kg, and the solid block is suitable for multiple uses.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises vibrating the composition in the form.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein transferring the composition from the drawer into the form comprises:
providing the drawer disposed above the form, the drawer comprising a panel disposed between an interior of the drawer and the form;
laterally moving the panel to a position not between the interior of the drawer and the form;
whereby the composition drops into the form.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the form comprises a plurality of cavities and each cavity is configured to produce a solid cleaning block.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein removing the stable solid cleaning block from the form comprises raising the form with the stable solid cleaning block remaining on a pallet, wherein the pallet had formed the bottom of the form.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the composition comprises from about 5 wt-% water up to about 12 wt-% water.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the composition is free of phosphorous.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pressing comprises pressing the composition with a force of about 1000 psi to about 3000 psi.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the composition further comprises a secondary binding agent from about 5 wt-% to about 20 wt-%.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the secondary binding agent comprises stearic monoethanolamide, lauric diethanolamide, an alkylamide, a solid polyethylene glycol, a solid EO/PO block copolymer, water soluble starch, or a combination thereof.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the composition further comprises additional cleaning agents.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the composition further comprises a biodegradable aminocarboxylate.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the biodegradable aminocarboxylate is ethanoldiglycine; methylgylcinediacetic acid; iminodisuccinic acid; N,N-bis (carboxylatomethyl)-L-glutamic acid; [S—S]-ethylenediaminedisuccinic acid (EDDS); 3-hydroxy-2,2′-iminodisuccinate (HIDS), or salt thereof.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the composition comprises about 1% to about 20 wt-% of the biodegradable aminocarboxylate.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein the composition comprises: about 1 to about 20 wt-% of the biodegradable aminocarboxylate; about 5 wt-% to about 15 wt-% water; from about 1 wt-% to about 30 wt-% of builder; about 25 wt-% to about 65 wt-% sodium carbonate; and about 0.5 wt-% to about 10 wt-% surfactant.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the composition further comprises a hydrated carboxylate.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the carboxylate comprises a salt of a 1-12 carbon carboxylic acid comprising 1-3 carboxyl moieties.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the carboxylate comprises a salt of acetic acid, gluconic acid, malic acid, succinic acid, glutaric acid, adipic acid, tartaric acid, citric acid, or a mixture thereof.

19. The method of claim 16 , wherein the carboxylate comprises a salt of acetic acid, tartaric acid, citric acid, or a mixture thereof.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the composition comprises less than about 0.5 wt-% of phosphorous.

21. The method of claim 1 , wherein the composition comprises less than about 0.5 wt-% of nitrilotriacetic acid.

22. The method of claim 1 , wherein the stable solid block expands less than about 3% in any dimension when heated to 122° F. for one week.

23. The method of claim 1 , wherein the stable solid block is cured before being removed from the form for at least about 30 minutes.

24. The method of claim 1 , wherein the hopper and form are components of a turntable press; and
wherein the turntable press:
optionally vibrates the composition in the hopper or form;
presses the composition in the form to produce the stable solid cleaning block, vibrates the composition to produce the stable solid cleaning block, or combination thereof; and
removes the stable solid cleaning block from the form or hopper.

25. The method of claim 24 , further comprising curing the stable solid block for at least about 30 minutes at ambient temperature.

26. The method of claim 1 , wherein the binding agent further comprises an active oxygen compound.

27. The method of claim 1 , wherein the alkalinity source comprises sodium hydroxide.

28. The method of claim 1 wherein the alkalinity source comprises sodium silicate, sodium metasilicate, or a combination thereof.

29. A method of making a stable solid cleaning block comprising:
providing a self-solidifying solid comprising a binding agent comprising: from about 5 to about 15 wt-% water, from about 25 wt-% to about 80 wt-% of an alkalinity source, and from about 1 wt-% to about 30 wt-% of sequestrant;
placing the self-solidifying solid into a form;

the self-solidifying solid in the form by applying a pressure of about 1000 to 4000 psi at ambient temperature to produce a stable solid cleaning block, wherein the form comprises a packaging system from which the block will be stored or dispensed, the solid block weights about 1 kg to about 10 kg, and the solid block is suitable for multiple uses.

30. The method of claim 29 , wherein the stable solid cleaning block is cured at ambient temperature for at least about 30 minutes.

Assignees

• Ecolab Usa Inc

Inventors

• Stolte Roger L
• Dziuk Michael P
• Meinke Melissa C
• Porter Matthew C

Classifications

• C11D3/044 Primary

  Hydroxides or bases · CPC title

• C11D17/0047

  Detergents in the form of bars or tablets · CPC title

• C11D13/16 Primary

  in moulds · CPC title

• B28B1/04

  by tamping or ramming (followed by pressing B28B3/02) · CPC title

• C11D3/33

  Amino carboxylic acids · CPC title