WO1999009873A1

WO1999009873A1 - Personal cleansing sponge

Info

Publication number: WO1999009873A1
Application number: PCT/US1998/016827
Authority: WO
Inventors: Emily Charlotte Boswell; Joseph Arthur Huesman
Original assignee: The Procter & Gamble Company
Priority date: 1997-08-26
Filing date: 1998-08-13
Publication date: 1999-03-04
Also published as: EP1018921A1; CN1268031A; JP2003522546A; GB9718009D0

Abstract

A method for the production of a size-reduced personal cleansing sponge (1) comprising: providing a polymeric mesh (2) personal cleansing sponge in a form suitable for use as a hand held cleansing implement, providing sealable non-air permeable sheet material (9), then placing the sealable non-air permeable material around the sponge (1), and evacuating air from the sponge (1), and then sealing the sealable non-air permeable material (9) around the sponge to form a sealed bag.

Description

PERSONAL CLEANSING SPONGE

The present invention relates to methods for the provision of a size-reduced

personal cleansing sponge, the size-reduced sponge products and kits containing

them.

It is known to provide personal cleansing sponges of a form suitable for use

as a hand held cleansing implement, which are made of lightweight polymeric mesh

(often diamond mesh polyethylene). These are used in applications for which

conventional sponges are known, for instance for applying liquid cleanser such as

shower gel. Production of these is described in for instance US 5,144,744, which

explains the resilience to stretching of the diamond mesh. This document explains

that the diamond mesh polyethylene netting sponges are superior to conventional

sponges in that they are easier to clean.

WO95/00116 also describes the use of such sponges. This document

explains the advantages of sponges of the polymeric diamond mesh type for use with

moisturising cleansers. The sponges give a very good lather, in particular in

comparison with conventional sponges. However, due to the nature of the

product, the sponges tend to be rather voluminous. This leads to problems in

providing efficient packaging. The amounts of packaging material required can be

large. Further, transportation and storage space may be required to be large. One

application in which this presents an especial problem is sampling of the products to

consumers. In the known form they are too large to be sent by ordinary mail in some countries, and in particular are too large to be posted through letter boxes of

standard size for these countries.

Due to the nature of the material from which the sponges are formed, it has

generally been expected that any reduction of the size of the sponge would lead to a

loss of performance due to inability to regain its original shape.

It would therefore be desirable to provide a more efficient packaging system

for polymeric meshed personal cleansing sponge products without reducing their

performance.

According to a first aspect of the invention we provide a method of

producing a size-reduced personal cleansing sponge comprising

providing a polymeric mesh personal cleansing sponge in a form suitable for

use as a hand held cleansing implement,

providing sealable non-air permeable sheet material,

then placing the sealable non-air permeable material around the sponge, and

evacuating air from the sponge,

and then sealing the sealable non-air permeable material around the sponge

to form a sealed bag.

We have found surprisingly that it is possible to reduce considerably the size

of the polymeric mesh personal cleansing sponges by evacuating the air contained

within them, so as to provide for more efficient storage, transport and, in particular,

consumer sampling. Surprisingly, when the sealed, air-evacuated bag is opened the

sponge is capable of reforming and expanding into its original shape, and may even

do so rapidly and spontaneously after opening of the bag without any manipulation of the sponge by the consumer. This is contrary to the generally held expectations

discussed above. It also gives good lathering performance. These properties are

found even when the sponge has been subjected to high vacuum or high

compression or both and has been stored for long periods of time before reopening.

On opening the consumer observes that the sponge has been stored in

substantially airtight conditions and observes that the sponge has been protected

during storage and transportation from external contaminants.

The sponge is a polymeric meshed personal cleansing hand held sponge.

Normally it is made of lightweight polymeric material. Preferably the polymeric

material is such as to make the sponge hydrophobic. This hydrophobicity has the

advantages that it enables the sponge to give a rich lather from liquid cleansing

materials with which it is used.

The sponge is preferably formed from extruded tubular netting mesh which

has been prepared from strong and flexible polymeric material. Extruded tubular

netting mesh of this type, especially prepared from polyethylene, has been used in

other applications and is readily available.

The sponge is in a form suitable for use as a hand held personal cleansing

implement. Preferably it has a maximum diameter of from 5 to 20 cm, and

preferably from 7 to 13 cm.

The sponge preferably comprises a plurality of plys of an extruded tubular

netting mesh, the plys being folded upon themselves numerous times, often to form

a soft ball-like polymeric mesh sponge. Tubes or stripes of netted mesh polymer can

be used, securely attached by means of a nylon band or other suitable closure. Sponges of this type are thus often produced in the form of two lobes held together

by a band or knot at the centre of the sponge. Sponges of this type are described in

US 4,462,135.

Preferably the sponge has a ball-like shape. An example of a hand held ball-

like polymeric mesh sponge is disclosed in US 5,144,744, which describes a

diamond mesh polyethylene sponge obtained by providing a number of netting tubes

stretched over supports. These are joined and bound together at the centre and then

released from the supports to form the sponge.

Particularly preferred polymeric materials for forming the sponge are

polyethylene, in particular low density polyethylene (LDPE), LLDPE and mixtures

thereof. The sponge can however be formed from any suitable strong flexible

polymer, in particular addition polymers of olefin monomers and polyamides of

polycarboxylic acids and polyamines.

Additionally, the sponge may be of a non-ball-like shape and may for

instance be in the form of a rectangular glove.

In the invention commercially available polymeric mesh sponges may be

used which are sold by Zeca s.r.l., Piacenza, Italy and Bynum Concepts Inc.

Sponges may also be used as described in WO95/00116 and US 5,144,744. The

sponge corresponding to International Design Number DM/014662 can be used.

In the process we provide non-air permeable sheet material for formation into

a sealed bag. By non-air permeable material we mean material which prevents

passage of air into the sealed bag which is formed in the process to such an extent

that it can maintain a vacuum formed in the bag for the length of time which is required for the product being made, for instance at least a month, and in some cases

at least three or six months or even one year or more.

The sealable material is placed around the sponge which is to be size-

reduced. The material is in the form of a sheet or sheets. It may for instance be in

the form of a single sheet which is wrapped around the sponge and is then sealed at

the open edges so as to form a bag after evacuation of air. Alternatively the material

may be provided in the form of two sheets, one of which is placed under the sponge

and one of which is placed over the sponge so that the sheets can be sealed together

to form a bag after evacuation of air. Preferably the sheet material is in the form of a

preformed bag.

The sheet material must be sealable, and is preferably heat sealable. The

sheets may be formed wholly of material which is heat sealable. Alternatively a

discrete region may be provided which is heat sealable and which can form the bag

seal.

The sheet material may be formed of single layer polymeric material.

Alternatively it may be formed from multilayer polymeric material. Suitable

materials include those formed of a layer of polyamide (usually an external carrier

layer) and a layer of polyethylene (usually an internal sealing layer). Suitable

thicknesses for the polyamide layer include 10 to 30 microns, for instance about 20

microns. Suitable thicknesses for the polyethylene layer include 30 to 70 microns,

for instance about 50 microns. The sheet material may be metallised.

In the invention any sheet material may be used which is known for use in

vacuum packaging of materials. The optimum shape for the sealed bag which is produced in the process can

be found by experimentation within any given process. Preferably it is substantially

rectangular in shape. For optimum processing it is desirable to provide a sealed bag

of a size carefully chosen relative to the size of the sponge. Sealed bags which are

not large enough in relation to the sponge give results which are inferior to those of

sealed bags whose size has been optimised.

A particularly desirable shape for the sealed bag is rectangular with one pair

of sides of length 5 to 30, preferably 10 to 20, for instance about 13 cm, and the

other pair of sides of length about 10 to 30, for instance 15 to 25, in particular about

21 cm.

The shape of the sealed bag which is produced in the process is controlled by

choice of the shape of the sheet material. The sheet material may be in the form of a

bag, of a shape chosen to be suitable for the process in which it is used.

Alternatively a sheet or sheets of material may be provided in such a form that when

sealed they form a bag of the desired shape. For instance, if a rectangular bag is

required, a single rectangular piece of sheet material can be used which is folded

over on itself with the sponge placed in the fold. Alternatively two rectangular

pieces of sheet material may be provided one below and one above the sponge.

Either of these forms of sheet material can be sealed to provide a rectangular bag.

In the process the sheet material is placed around the sponge. That is, the

sponge is placed within a space defined by the sheet material.

If a preformed bag is used, it is formed in such a way that the sponge may be

placed within it before evacuation of air and sealing. Preferably the preformed bag is sealed on all sides except for one aperture through which the sponge may be

passed to place it in the preformed bag and through which air may exit the

preformed bag.

In the process the sponge is placed in the preformed bag, if used, or within

the space defined by the sheet material preferably in a position away from the

designated region for sealing. For instance, if one edge of a rectangular preformed

bag is designated as the region for sealing, the sponge is placed in contact with the

opposite edge of the preformed bag.

In such a preformed bag a sponge of the two-lobed shape discussed above

can be oriented in any desirable manner. However, if it is desired to obtain a size-

reduced sponge which is of particularly low thickness, the sponge is preferably

placed in the preformed bag flat with the lobes oriented along the centre line of the

preformed bag, with one lobe directed towards the edge to be sealed and one lobe

directed towards the opposite edge. It will be seen that similar principles can be

applied to the use of sheets of sealable material.

In the process evacuation of air from the sponge may take place before or

during positioning of the sealable sheet material around the sponge. Preferably

evacuation of air is carried out after the sheet material has been placed around the

sponge.

In the process air is normally evacuated from the space defined by the sheet

material, eg from within a preformed bag, if used. As a result air is evacuated from

the spaces within the sponge. This considerably reduces the size of the sponge. Surprisingly the sponge can undergo this size reduction and be stored at 25 °C for

several months without suffering any performance disadvantages.

Evacuation of air from the space defined by the sheet material may be by

compression only.

Alternatively evacuation may be effected by placing the sponge and sheet

material under vacuum. The vacuum may be at least -50 mmHg, preferably at least -

75 mmHg, for instance about -100 mmHg or greater.

In preferred processes both vacuum and compression are used. Subjecting

the sheet material and sponge to vacuum gives very efficient air removal.

Subjecting them to compression allows control of the final shape of the sponge in

size-reduced form.

The process can be controlled so as to impart various final shapes to the

sponge. The size-reduced sponge may for instance be substantially spherical (or

ball-like), or in the shape of a slightly flattened sphere, or substantially cylindrical,

but is preferably substantially flat and disc-like. When the sponge is of the two-

lobed shape and is oriented as discussed above it will be thickest at the centre, at the

position where the band or other holding means is provided to clamp together the

tubes of polymeric netting.

Preferably the maximum thickness of a substantially flat packaged sponge is

not more than 3 cm, preferably not more than 2.5 cm. It may even be not more than

2 cm. A flat shape is achieved by subjecting the sponge to compression between

two flat surfaces during vacuum evacuation. For instance it may be placed between

two board-like surfaces. In commercial use several bags containing sponges or several sets of sheet material plus sponge may be compressed between a single pair

of flat surfaces. It is preferred to provide two hinged board-like surfaces. The sheet

material and sponge are placed between the hinged surfaces, with the region of the

sheet material which is to be sealed preferably placed away from the hinge.

The shape of the sealable sheet material, particularly if it is provided as a

preformed bag, can also be used to control the shape of the final size-reduced

sponge. For instance, the shape of the size-reduced sponge can be controlled to be

substantially cylindrical or "sausage" shaped by providing an appropriately shaped

preformed bag or appropriately oriented sheet material.

The air is evacuated from the sponge for any suitable time. In some

circumstances it may be necessary to optimise the time for evacuation. An

evacuation time which is too short can result in a sponge which has not undergone

sufficient size reduction. An evacuation time which is too long can undesirably

affect the final appearance of the size-reduced product. For instance it may lead to

creases or wrinkles in the sealed bag. We have found that a time of from 1 to 30

seconds can be useful, for instance about 2 to about 10 seconds. In some processes

an evacuation time of about 5 seconds is particularly appropriate.

After sufficient evacuation of air from the sponge has been carried out the

sheet material is sealed, preferably by heat sealing to form a sealed bag. The sheet

material is sealed, sufficiently to prevent entry of air to the sealed evacuated bag.

Suitable sealing times for any particular bag and sponge system can be found

by experimentation. Normally a sealing time of at least 0.1 seconds up to about 10 seconds is appropriate, for instance from 0.5 to 2 seconds. We find that a sealing

time of about 1 second is often suitable.

Evacuation and sealing may be carried out using equipment known for

vacuum or compression packing available from for instance SIG, Klockner and

Swissvac.

After size reduction the size-reduced sponge may be stored for long periods

of time at room temperature, for instance at least one or three months and even up to

one year. It may also be stored (for at least two weeks) without significant loss of

properties at temperatures of 30 and 40°C and above, for instance about 50°C.

When required for use by the consumer the sealed bag is opened so as to

release the vacuum and the sponge expands to its original size. In some cases the

sponge expands rapidly and spontaneously upon opening of the sealed bag to take up

its original shape. In other cases, for instance if the size-reduced sponge has been

stored for a very long period of time (eg more than 6 months) or stored at a high

temperature (eg more than 35°C), the consumer may need to manipulate the sponge

to aid in returning it to its original shape. Particularly good return to original size is

obtained by immersing the reopened sponge in warm water, for instance 25 to 50°C,

preferably 30 to 45°C, in particular about 40°C.

The sealed bag may be opened in any suitable manner, for instance the seal

(or one of the seals) may be pulled open or the sealed bag may be cut open. The

sealed bag may be provided with a line of weakness to allow easy opening, for

instance attached to a tab. The sealed bag can be provided with a notch, optionally

associated with a line of weakness, to assist opening. The sealed bags may be coloured or printed if desired. Colouring or printing

may be achieved by providing precoloured or preprinted sheet material or by

printing or colouring after size reduction and sealing of the sponge.

According to a second aspect of the invention we provide a size-reduced

polymeric mesh personal cleansing sponge contained within a sealed bag formed

from non-air permeable material and from which air has been evacuated.

The sealed bag and sponge are such that air has been evacuated from them.

In particular, the sealed bag containing the sponge contains an amount of air such

that the pressure within it is below atmospheric pressure and in particular it contains

substantially no air.

According to a third aspect of the invention we provide a personal cleansing

kit comprising a size-reduced sponge produced by the process of the first aspect of

the invention or a sponge according to the second aspect of the invention together

with instructions for reforming the sponge to its original size. The instructions may

simply comprise directions to open the package and allow the sponge to expand.

The instructions may include instructions to manipulate the sponge to aid in

returning it to its original shape. For instance, the consumer may be instructed to

pull gently on the mesh forming the sponge to aid its expansion. Preferably the

instructions comprise directions to immerse the sponge in warm water, preferably

water at 25 to 50°C, more preferably 30 to 45°C, for instance about 40°C.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention we provide a personal cleansing

kit which comprises a size-reduced sponge produced by the process of the first

aspect of the invention or a sponge according to the second aspect of the invention together with a liquid cleansing composition, for instance shower gel. This can be a

conditioning composition, which preferably has an oil phase comprising an effective

amount of a skin conditioning ingredient and an aqueous phase comprising an

effective amount of a surfactant selected from soap and synthetic surfactants and

mixtures thereof.

In this aspect of the invention any of the liquid cleansers may be used which

are described in WO95/00116.

The invention will now be illustrated with reference to the attached Figures

and illustrative process, described below.

Figure 1 shows a preferred polymeric mesh sponge for use in the process of

the invention before size reduction.

Figure 2 shows a preferred compression system for use in the process of the

invention in cross-section.

Figure 3 shows a preferred size-reduced sponge of the invention in cross-

section.

Figure 4 shows the size-reduced sponge of Figure 3 from above.

In the process of the invention the sponge 1 shown schematically in Figure 1

is provided. The sponge, obtained from The Sponge Factory in the Dominican

Republic, comprises tubes of LDPE mesh 2 held together by a band 3 at a central

"knot". It thus (on separation of the tubes of mesh) has two lobes 5 and 7.

In the process of the invention the sponge is placed within sheet material

which is a bag 9 which is formed from a bilayer film formed from a 20 micron thick

layer of polyamide and a 50 micron thick layer of polyethylene, the polyamide layer forming an external barrier layer and the polyethylene layer forming an internal

sealing layer. The bag 9 is rectangular and has three sealed edges 11, 12 and 13 and

one open edge 15. The sponge is inserted into the bag through the opening 15 and

placed with lobe 5 adjacent to the sealed edge 12 and lobe 7 adjacent to the open

edge 15. The bag is then placed between two boards 17 and 19 which are joined

together at a hinge 21. The entire assembly is placed inside a vacuum apparatus (not

shown). Vacuum is then applied at the same time as compression which is applied

by reducing the angle between the boards 17 and 19. The vacuum applied is -100

mmHg and the vacuum and compression step lasts approximately 5 seconds. The

open edge of the bag 9 is then heat sealed to preserve the vacuum. Heat sealing

takes about 1 second. The resulting packaged size-reduced sponge is shown

schematically in Figure 3. The thickness A of the compressed sponge at its thickest

point is approximately 2 cm. The view of the packaged size-reduced sponge is

shown in Figure 4 from above.

Similar results can be achieved using, instead of a bag 9 which has three

sealed edges 11, 12 and 13, two identically sized pieces of the bilayer film. The first

piece of sheet material is placed on the board 19, the sponge is placed on the piece of

sheet material and the second piece of sheet material is placed on top of the sponge.

After evacuation and compression all four edges 11, 12, 13 and 15 are sealed.

Alternatively a single piece of bilayer film can be used folded so as to form a

single sealed edge 12. Edges 13, 15 and 11 are then sealed after compression and

evacuation of air.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A method for the production of a size-reduced personal cleansing sponge

comprising:

providing a polymeric mesh personal cleansing sponge in a form suitable for

use as a hand held cleansing implement,

providing sealable non-air permeable sheet material,

then placing the sealable non-air permeable material around the sponge, and

evacuating air from the sponge,

and then sealing the sealable non-air permeable material around the sponge

to form a sealed bag.

2. A method according to claim 1 in which the sealable non-air permeable sheet

material is in the form of a sealable bag.

3. A method according to claim 1 or claim 2 in which the sponge is formed

from a plurality of plys of extruded low density polyethylene mesh.

4. A method according to any preceding claim in which the sealed bag has a

substantially flat shape, preferably a substantially flat rectangular shape with one

pair of sides of length 5 to 30 cm and the other pair of sides of length 10 to 30 cm.

5. A method according to any preceding claim in which the air is evacuated

from the sponge under vacuum and compression.

6. A method according to any preceding claim in which the sponge and sheet

material are compressed between two substantially flat surfaces during evacuation of

air.

7. A method according to any preceding claim in which the evacuation of air

takes up to 10 seconds.

8. A size-reduced personal cleansing sponge obtainable by the method of any of

claims 1 to 7.

9. A size-reduced polymer mesh personal cleansing sponge contained within a

sealed bag formed from non-air permeable material and from which air has been

evacuated.

10. A personal cleansing kit comprising a size-reduced sponge according to any

of claims 1 to 9 together with instructions for reforming the sponge to its original

size.

11. A kit according to claim 10 in which the instructions comprise instructions to

open the sealed bag, remove the sponge and immerse the sponge in water at a

temperature of from 30 to 50┬░C.

12. A personal cleansing kit comprising a size-reduced sponge according to any of

claims 1 to 9 together with a liquid cleansing composition.