CLEANING ARTICLE HAVING AN ABSORBANT BASE MATERIAL

Abstract

The invention relates to a cleaning article (100) having an absorbent base material formed from a flat material, with a first (102) and a second side surface, a coating (112) being provided on at least the first side surface (102) and conferring to said first side surface (102) of the cleaning article (100) a higher frictional force than that of an uncoated first side surface (102), characterised in that the coating (112) comprises a plurality of coating lines (114), said coating lines having a ratio of coating line width to coating line height of at least 2, the coating line width being 0.2-1.5 mm, and the coating line height being no more than 0.8 mm.

Claims

1. A cleaning article (100) having an absorbent base material formed by a flat material having a first side face (102) and a second side face, wherein a coating (112) which has been provided on at least the first side face (102) imparts elevated abrasiveness to the first side face (102) of the cleaning article (100) compared to an uncoated first side face (102), and wherein the coating (112) comprises a multitude of coating lines (114) and wherein the coating lines have a ratio of coating line width to coating line height of at least 2 and the coating line width is 0.2-1.5 mm and the coating line height is at most 0.8 mm.

2. The cleaning article of claim 1, wherein the ratio of coating line width to coating line height is 2-15.

3. The cleaning article of claim 1 wherein the coating (112) has a basis weight of 5-50 g/m.sup.2.

4. The cleaning article as claimed of claim 1 wherein the base material has a basis weight of not more than 150 g/m.sup.2 and at least 30 g/m.sup.2.

5. The cleaning article of claim 1 wherein when an imaginary grid (200) of parallel, equidistant lines running at right angles to one another and having an edge length of 20 mm of each grid square (206) is placed over the first side face (102) of the cleaning article (100), the first side face (102) does not have any grid square free of coating.

6. The cleaning article of claim 1 wherein the distance of any coating line (114) from at least one adjacent coating line (114) in any desired direction is not more than 20 mm.

7. The cleaning article of claim 1 further comprising wherein there are at least 5 interfaces (208) of any coating lines (114) over an area of 25 cm.sup.2.

8. The cleaning article of claim 5 wherein there is at least one interface (208) and at most 30 interfaces (208), in at least 50% of the grid squares (206).

9. The cleaning article of claim 1 wherein there is a coherent structure of coating lines (114) across the coating (112) from one lateral edge (122a) of the cleaning article to the opposite lateral edge (122b) at least in sections.

10. The cleaning article of claim 9 wherein the coating lines (114) are arranged in such a way that there are no interruptions between the coating lines (114) at least in sections in a cross direction (212) of the cleaning article.

11. The cleaning article (100) of claim 1 wherein the coating (112) has or has been formed from a multitude of individual patterns (120) formed from coating lines (114).

12. The cleaning article (100) of claim 11, wherein at least one individual pattern (120) takes the form of a group of patterns (124) comprising at least two pattern elements (126) formed from coating lines (114).

13. The cleaning article (100) of claim 12, wherein a first pattern element (126) encircles at least regions of a second pattern element (126) or further pattern elements (126), and/or in that a first pattern element (126) is assigned to and arranged in contact with a second pattern element (126) or further pattern elements (126) alongside one another.

14. The cleaning article (100) of claim 1 wherein the first side face (102) has a degree of coverage by the coating (112) of at least 6% and at most 50%.

15. The cleaning article (100) of claim 1 wherein the coating lines (114) take the form of continuous lines and/or lines that are interrupted at least in regions where the interruption is not longer than 10 times the line width of the line adjacent to this site of interruption.

16. The cleaning article (100) of claim, 1 wherein the coating (112) is polymer-based and formed from materials having a Shore A hardness of at least 30 and of at most 95.

17. The cleaning article (100) of claim 1 wherein the first side face (102) having the coating (112) has a dynamic coefficient of friction in accordance with ASTM D1894-01 of at least 0.2, and not more than 1.0.

18. The cleaning article (100) of claim 1 wherein the article is usable for cleaning of hard surfaces.

19. The cleaning article of claim 5 further comprising wherein all grid squares (206) have a degree of coating coverage of at least 5% and at most 45%.

Description

[0095] Further features and details and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the drawings and description of the cleaning article of the invention which follows. The figures show:

[0096] FIG. 1 a diagram of a detail of a first side face of a cleaning article of the invention,

[0097] FIG. 2 a diagram of a detail of a first side face of a further cleaning article of the invention,

[0098] FIG. 3 a diagram of a detail of a first side face of a further cleaning article of the invention,

[0099] FIGS. 4a-c) various individual patterns and various configurations of coating lines,

[0100] FIGS. 5a-b) a diagram of the determination of the grid squares and

[0101] FIG. 6 a schematic diagram, not to scale, of a detail of a Shore A hardness measuring instrument.

[0102] FIG. 1 shows a top view of a detail of the first side face 102 of a cleaning article 100 of the invention, in the configuration of a cloth for dishware cleaning, wherein the first side face 102 faces the dishware on use for cleaning of dishware. The cleaning article 100 preferably consists of a base material composed of nonwoven materials, and in this case consists of a mixture of cellulose-based fibers, such as cotton or viscose, and synthetic fibers, such as polyester or polypropylene.

[0103] The single-ply base material of the cleaning article has a base ply having a grammage of preferably not more than 150 g/m.sup.2, preferably of 40-80 g/m.sup.2.

[0104] As FIG. 1 shows, a coating 112 composed of coating lines 114 is provided on the first side face 102 of the cleaning article 100. The coating 112 serves to remove residues of food etc. in dishware cleaning. The coating lines 114 are polymer-based. The material of the coating preferably has a Shore A hardness of 30-95. The coating lines are applied via gravure printing by means of a gravure method, wherein the cleaning article 100 is conducted between a gravure roll with depressions set out therein containing coating material, and an opposing roll. The width of the coating lines 114 in the present case is 0.5-0.7 mm. The height of the coating lines is preferably 0.2-0.3 mm, such that the multitude of narrow hard coating lines achieves a good cleaning effect. The ratio of coating line width to coating line height is 2-4. The coating lines 114 run continuously from one lateral edge 122a to another lateral edge not shown here, and do so in a coherent and crossing arrangement incorporating uncoated regions 116. The arrays of coating lines cross here at the points of intersection 208. The coating lines are arranged here in the form of a rhombus pattern. The distance of any coating line from at least one adjacent coating line here is not more than 20 mm. A degree of coverage of coating lines on the first side face of 20-40% is achieved here.

[0105] Different arrangements of the coating lines are conceivable, as shown further by way of example in FIGS. 2 and 3. FIGS. 2 and 3 likewise show a top view of a section of the first side face 102 for a cleaning article 100 of the invention. FIG. 2 shows an arrangement of coating lines 114, likewise in a coherent arrangement of the coating lines that crosses at the points of intersection 208, in the configuration of a rhombus pattern of greater dimensions.

[0106] The coating 112 shown in FIG. 3 has a multitude of individual patterns 120 formed by coating lines 114. In the case shown, each individual pattern 120 is preferably formed by groups of patterns 124, where the groups of patterns here consist of at least 3 pattern elements 126, composed here of concentric circles, and no coating composition has been applied between the individual pattern elements 126 of every single group of patterns that forms an individual pattern, i.e. there is an uncoated region 116 therein. In this way, the coating lines 114 overall achieve a degree of coverage on the first side face of about 20-30%. By virtue of the individual elements 120 as such, an overall area coverage of 60-70% of the first side face 102 is obtained, meaning that the clear areas outside the individual patterns 120, i.e. the outer uncoated regions 118 surrounding the individual patterns, take up about 30-40% of the first side face 102. The distance here between one coating line and at least one adjacent coating line is not more than 20 mm, more particularly not more than 15 mm. The coating lines have a line width of 0.5-0.7 mm and a line height of 0.2-0.3 mm. In this way, by virtue of the multitude of fine lines, additionally with a small distance from one another, it is possible to configure the abrasion power of the cleaning article 100 on dishware, for example, in an advantageous manner.

[0107] In addition, a coating in which the individual patterns 120 can intersect, overlap or touch one another, and wherein each individual pattern can still be seen, as shown by way of example in FIG. 3 or else FIG. 5, but the individual patterns merge into one another such that the coating lines 114 are arranged at least in sections from one lateral edge 122a of the cleaning article to an opposite lateral edge 122b of the cleaning article such that there is no occurrence of interruptions between the patterns, has the advantage that there are firstly no preferential directions. In this way, however, the strengths of the cleaning article or of the base material are secondly advantageously improved in that direction. Especially advantageously, the continuity of coating lines runs especially in cross direction 212 of the cleaning article 100 or of the base material, i.e. the direction running at right angles to the production and machine direction 210 of the base material.

[0108] The coherence of the structure of coating lines (114) at least in sections across the coating from one side 122a to the other side 122b is shown by way of example in FIG. 5b, the pattern of which corresponds to that of FIG. 3, in schematic form by means of an imaginary line 214 drawn in bold.

[0109] A coherent structure of coating lines is also shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

[0110] The edges of the cleaning article 100 are considered in each case to be two opposite edges of the cleaning article 100. In this way, the abrasive properties and stability and hence also the lifetime of the cleaning article can be improved in the respective direction.

[0111] Particular preference is given to a coating in which, owing to the configuration of the individual patterns 120, at least one individual pattern 120, preferably at least 20% of the individual patterns 120, on the first side face, more preferably every individual pattern 120, has a section or region 128 that runs at right angles, i.e. with an angle 132 of 90, to any direction 130 in the surface of the cleaning article 100, as shown in schematic form in FIG. 4a. In this way, any direction can be faced by a proportion that runs at right angles thereto and hence has the optimal abrasion effect for this direction of movement.

[0112] Further individual patterns are shown by FIGS. 4a-4c, it being possible both for different individual patterns to be combined with one another, as shown by FIGS. 4a-4b, and additionally also for the individual patterns to have a difference with regard to the formation of the coating lines both in terms of the height thereof and in terms of the width thereof. Furthermore, it is also conceivable to execute the coating lines not in a continuous, sustained manner but in an interrupted manner, such as a dotted, dashed-and-dotted or dotted manner, as shown, for example, in FIG. 4a, provided that this does not lead to dissolution of the overall pattern in that the patterns as such can no longer be seen. The individual patterns 120 formed from coating lines may also consist entirely of coating lines composed of a continuity of dots, as shown by way of example in FIG. 4c.

[0113] If an individual pattern 120 is composed of multiple pattern elements 126 as a group of patterns 124, these may, as shown in FIGS. 4a and 4b, encircle one another at a distance over the full circumference, but may also encircle one another such that there are points of contact. In addition, it is also possible that the individual pattern elements of a single pattern 120 are arranged to form regions of contact or intersection, as shown, for example, by FIG. 4c. The individual patterns according to FIGS. 4a to 4c may also be formed analogously to FIG. 3 such that the individual patterns intersect, touch or overlap with one another.

[0114] The dynamic coefficient of friction of the coated side face of the cleaning article according to FIG. 1, 2 or 3, measured in accordance with ASTM D 1894-01, is 0.4-0.7.

[0115] In the execution of a cleaning article with a base material (nonwoven material) composed of 30% by weight of viscose and 70% by weight of polyester and having a basis weight of 50 g/m.sup.2, the uncoated base material has a strength in machine direction of 40-50 N/25 mm and in cross direction of 5-10 N/25 mm. With a coating composed of coating lines according to FIG. 1 and an application of coating of 20 g/m.sup.2, the cleaning article has a strength in machine direction of 65-80 N/25 mm and in cross direction of 10-15 N/25 mm.

[0116] The distribution of the degrees of coating on the first side face of a cleaning article is judged using an imaginary grid. The determination is elucidated in detail with reference to FIGS. 5a-b:

[0117] FIG. 5a shows, by way of example, a detail of a cleaning article 100 of rectangular dimensions with the top view of the first side face with a coating 112 distributed over the entire extent of the first side face, as already shown in FIG. 2, and an imaginary grid 200 placed thereon.

[0118] The imaginary grid 200, formed from an arrangement of lines, wherein a first array 202 of parallel, equidistant lines is intersected by a second array 204 of parallel, equidistant lines to form right angles, consists of grid squares 206, each having an edge length of 20 mm. The grid 200 may be placed in any desired manner over a cleaning article and its coating 112. The individual grid squares 206 and the degree of coverage present in each are ascertained. Although the grid 200 in FIG. 5a is provided with the arrays of lines at an angle of 45 to the edge 122 in the case of a rectangular cleaning article, no preferential direction for placement of the grid is intended for the judgement. For the evaluation of the degree of coverage of the coating in relation to the respective grid squares, it is possible to use any desired evaluation methods, for example computer-assisted graphic and drawing programs. In the evaluation, exclusively grid squares that are completely within the region of the cleaning article are used for the determination. Grid squares that are intersected by the boundary line (edge) 122 of the cleaning article 100 remain out of consideration for the evaluation of the degrees of coverage per grid square. As can be seen in FIG. 5a, each grid square has a coating. There is no grid square 206 free of coating. More particularly, every grid square used for evaluation has a degree of coverage of coating of 5-15%.

[0119] In the case of a cleaning article 100, it may additionally advantageously be the case that at least five points of intersection between any coating lines are provided per 25 cm.sup.2. The maximum distance of any coating line from at least one adjacent coating line is not more than 20 mm. More particularly, at least one point of intersection 208 is present for every grid square 206 of edge length 20 mm, and especially 1-3 points of intersection 208 are present, as indicated schematically and by way of example in FIG. 5a. This form of evaluation can be undertaken in any cleaning articles irrespective of the dimensions and geometric shape thereof, for example round, oval, angular or any other shape, and also independently of the configuration of the coating. Thus, FIG. 5b shows, by way of example, the evaluation of the coating from FIG. 3. A degree of coverage of the grid squares 206 of edge length 20 mm averaging 20-35% is apparent here. The number of points of intersection 208 of the coating lines of the touching individual patterns is between 1 and 4 per grid square.