HK1051818A - Foamed fragrancing and deodorizing gel - Google Patents

Description

Foam fragrancing and deodorizing gel

Background

The present invention relates to an air treating gel capable of emitting volatile fragrances without the need for an external heat source.

The odor problem has been associated with human civilization. Very few items have no odour associated with them. This odor often changes over time and the original or new odor is perceived as a malodor.

Flammable candles and incense sticks emit fragrance to mask this odor. Other systems rely on an electronic or gas heater to emit fragrance from a gel or other substance by external heat supply. See, for example, US5,928,605. The disclosure of this patent and all other patents cited herein are incorporated herein by reference.

For some uses, it is desirable to have a system that dispenses perfume/fragrance in a controlled manner without the need for external heating or combustion itself. Various gels have been developed which absorb fragrance temporarily but not permanently. See, for example, US 4,178,264.

It has also been proposed to form a foam-like fragranced gel to increase their volume and reduce perfume absorption. See, US 4,755,377.

In any event, systems that focus on vaporizing fragrances are generally not well suited for absorbing airborne malodors. They are more concerned with masking the odor than removing it. Therefore, such systems typically use strong fragrances (and/or require greater concentrations of fragrances) to be effective.

US 4,294,821 discloses that sodium bicarbonate, activated carbon, zinc ricinoleate, certain glycols such as ethylene glycol and certain other components can be used to absorb odors from air. However, such systems often do not expel sufficient malodor from the air, absorb the malodor too slowly, allow the malodor to be released from the substrate again once it has been absorbed, or have other drawbacks.

Attempts are also being made to combine gel fragrancers with odor absorbers. This includes the inclusion of activated carbon in the fragrancer gel. However, the density of the matrix in the gel increases the price per unit volume of the product and the product has reduced volatility.

Therefore, it can be seen that there is a need for an improved gel-type dispenser.

Summary of The Invention

In one aspect, the present invention provides a foamed gel composition for treating air. It contains at least 50% (by weight) water, 1 to 15% (by weight) soap surfactant, volatile perfume and at least 0.1% (by weight) carbon (as elemental carbon). A foam stabilizer also comprising a surfactant.

The water is preferably deionized water in the range of 70 to 90% by weight, more preferably in the range of 80 to 90% by weight.

Soap surfactants are the reaction products of fatty acids or fatty acid esters with bases (sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide). The fatty acid is a 4 to 22 carbon (and/or mixtures thereof) fatty acid. The most preferred fatty acid for forming such soaps is C₁₂-C₂₀Sodium stearate is the soap of choice.

Many different volatile fragrances/perfumes such as essential oils derived from leaves, flowers, fruits, roots, stems, seeds and trees can be included in these gels. Such as rose oil, lime oil, pine oil, wintergreen oil, citronella oil, cinnamon oil, almond oil, and sandalwood oil. Synthetically derived fragrance materials such as alcohols, esters, aldehydes and ketones may also be used as perfume ingredients, typically in mixtures of natural substances. Synthetically obtained compounds also include the synthetically prepared essential oil fragrance actives. Perfume ingredients are typically complex mixtures of essential oils and/or synthetic fragrance materials.

Carbon is the elemental carbon. Preferred forms are coke, charcoal and activated carbon. In any event, it is highly desirable to expose at least some of the carbon (preferably most of the carbon) to the exterior surface of the fragrancer.

To prevent carbon and other ingredients from destabilizing the foam, it is preferred to include some form of foam stabilizer. While various nonionic, anionic, cationic or amphoteric surfactants are useful in this regard, particularly advantageous are nitrogen-containing foam stabilizers, especially those of amine oxide, amide or betaine (e.g., C)₈-C₂₀Betaines such as those containing carboxylate or sulfate anions). Our experiments have selected laurylamine oxide (obtained from Stepan Chemical as Ammonyx LO) and 101-CG (obtained from Rhone-Poulenc).

To avoid syneresis, polyvinyl alcohol or pyrrolidone may be added.

In another aspect, the present invention provides a method of forming the above-described composition block. The water, soap surfactant, fragrance and foam stabilizer are stirred at a temperature suitable to form a soap solution, and then stirred at a temperature between 28 ℃ and 43 ℃. Thereafter, the composition is formed into a block and carbon is added (e.g., to the outer surface). Mixing in the range of 28 ℃ to 43 ℃ results in a stable foam. The mixing step may be facilitated by the use of glycols or other materials that may aid in the formation of a gel/foam matrix.

The present invention also provides a method of fragrancing and at least partially deodorizing indoor air. Exposing the cake to room air and diffusing the fragrance into the air. At the same time, the odor binds to the mass.

It has now been found that carbon in these foamy gels is capable of binding off-flavors without significantly interfering with foam formation, stability or fragrance volatilization ability. This effect is most effective when most of the carbon on the surface of the mass is exposed to air.

Advantages of the present invention include providing the above various compositions:

(a) of sufficient size for the consumer, but using a reduced amount of material;

(b) the room can be deodorized and fragrant, and no extra heat or energy supply is needed; and is

(c) The cost is relatively low.

These and other advantages of the invention (e.g., providing methods of making and using the compositions) will be apparent from the description that follows. The following description is of the preferred embodiments only. The claims should be looked to in order to understand the full scope of the invention.

Detailed description of the invention

Preferred preparation method

This batch of compositions was prepared using the following procedure. Water, propylene glycol, sodium hydroxide and foam stabilizing surfactant were first heated to 62-66 deg.C and mixed using moderate to slow agitation (300-. Then, stearic acid was added with stirring, and the composition was stirred and reacted for 15 to 20 minutes. The resulting mixture was clear without stearic acid flakes.

The dye was added under vigorous stirring (600 and 800 RPM). After about 5 minutes, the composition was uniform in color. The composition is then removed from the heater and water is added to compensate for the water loss from evaporation.

The composition was then charged to a heater and the temperature was raised to 62 ℃. The composition was removed from the heater, the fragrance was added and vigorous stirring was continued. When the composition was lowered to about 59 ℃, the agitation was increased to 1000 RPM. When the temperature dropped to about 56 c, the composition was poured into a container, creating a large amount of foam, and stirring was continued until the temperature dropped to about 32 c. Activated carbon was then added at the end of sample skinning.

Preparation

The following formulations of the present invention were prepared according to the above-described method.

Composition (I)	R72-1	R72-2	R72-3	R72-4	R72-5	1006
							Deionized water	83.2494	82.7494	86.2494	83.9394	80.0394	82.6860
Propylene glycol	3.0000	3.0000	0.0000	1.0000	3.0000	0.0000
							Sodium hydroxide (50%)	1.7500	1.7500	1.7500	2.0600	2.0600	2.3040
Amonyx L0	0.0000	0.0000	0.0000	0.0000	1.8000	0.0000
							Rhone Poulenc101-CG	0.0000	0.5000	0.0000	0.0000	0.0000	0.0000
Stearic acid 67%	6.0000	6.0000	6.0000	7.0000	7.0000	8.0000
							Perfume	4.0000	4.0000	4.0000	4.0000	4.0000	4.0000
Kathon CG-ICP	0.0000	0.0000	0.0000	0.0000	0.1000	0.0000
							Activated carbon Vapure612	2.0000	2.0000	2.0000	2.0000	2.0000	2.0000
Dye material	0.0006	0.0006	0.0006	0.0006	0.0006	0.0100
							Polyvinyl alcohol	0.0000	0.0000	0.0000	0.0000	0.0000	1.000
Total of	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00

Testing of Compounds

Testing of the compounds of the present invention was performed with a panel of consumers compared to a competitive negative gel scent dispenser (which was used in a similar manner to the usual use of competitive products). The reaction of the product for four weeks is shown. A large batch of products is placed in a room. After four weeks, the viewer is interviewed and asked about the effect of the product. The present invention was evaluated to be superior in odor removal.

It will be appreciated that the present invention provides a more efficient method of emitting fragrance without the need for an electric heater or burner. Not only the odor was masked, but some of the odor was also removed. Less material needs to be used for a product of a given size.

The invention is not limited by the specific embodiments described above. Other modifications are also within the scope of the invention. For example, instead of propylene glycol, mono-, di-, tri-, and polyhydric alcohols and diols may be used as processing aids.

In addition, antibacterial agents may also be used. Hardening and/or weighting agents such as calcium carbonate, calcium sulfate, magnesium carbonate, talc, synthetic and natural clays, silica and borax may also be included. Natural gelling agents such as guar gum, gum arabic, locust bean gum, carrageenan, and synthetic gelling agents such as carboxymethylcellulose, hydroxymethyl and propylcellulose, and Kelco Gel may be used. Synthetic clays such as laponite (laponte) and optigel can also be used. The claims should therefore be looked to in order to judge the full scope of the invention.

Industrial applicability

The present invention provides compositions for fragrancing and deodorizing air, methods of making the compositions, and methods of using the compositions.

Claims (10)

1. A foamed gel composition for treating air comprising:

at least 50% (by weight) water;

1 to 15% (by weight) soap surfactant;

a volatile fragrance; and

at least 0.1% (by weight) carbon.

2. The air treating foamed gel composition of claim 1 further comprising a foam stabilizer.

3. The air treating foam gel composition of claim 2, wherein the foam stabilizing agent is a nitrogen containing surfactant.

4. The air treating foamed gel composition of claim 3, wherein the foam stabilizing agent is selected from the group consisting of amine oxides, amides, and sugar beets.

5. The air treating foam gel composition of claim 1, wherein the soap surfactant is a stearate.

6. The air treating foamable gel composition of claim 1, wherein the carbon is selected from the group consisting of charcoal, activated carbon and coke.

7. The air treating foam gel composition of claim 1, wherein the composition is in the form of a bun and a majority of the carbon is on an outer surface of the bun.

8. The air treating foam gel composition of claim 1 further comprising polyvinyl alcohol.

9. A method of forming the bar composition of claim 2, comprising:

agitating the water, soap surfactant, fragrance, and foam stabilizer at a temperature sufficient to provide a soap solution;

then stirring water, soap surfactant, perfume and foam stabilizer at 28 deg.C and 43 deg.C to form foamed gel matrix; and is

Forming the mixture into a mass and applying carbon to at least one outwardly exposed surface of the mass.

10. A method of fragrancing and at least partially deodorizing the air of an odoriferous room, comprising:

exposing a bar of the composition of claim 1 to the air of a room and allowing the fragrance to diffuse from the bar to the air and allowing a portion of the malodor to bind to the bar.