JPS6315394B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a method for fabric softening/antistatic agents in automatic clothes dryers that includes a flexible substrate carrying a fabric softening/antistatic agent (hereinafter referred to as a "fabric conditioner"). This invention relates to a method for manufacturing articles for conditioning.

The use of such fabric conditioning articles to impart softness and antistatic benefits to fabrics in washer dryers has been described in the art literature. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,442,692 (dated May 6, 1969) describes conditioning the fabric in a washer/dryer by subjecting the fabric to co-tumbling with a flexible substrate carrying a conditioning agent. has been done. The conditioning agent is transferred to the rotating fabric, resulting in fabric conditioning that could otherwise only be done with inconvenience by processing, for example during the rinse cycle of a laundry operation. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 3,686,025 (August 22, 1972) describes an article for conditioning fabrics in a washer dryer. The article consists of an absorbent substrate impregnated with a fabric softener to provide fabric softening benefits with minimal tendency to stain.

In the articles described in the prior art and currently available on the market, the fabric conditioner is uniformly dispersed in the substrate. As a result, when visually inspecting a used article, it is difficult to determine whether the article has previously been used to condition fabrics in a dryer. That is, the article has a uniform appearance before use and remains uniform after a period of use in the dryer.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for making a dryer fabric conditioning article whose appearance indicates whether it has been previously used.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the present invention, a flexible web substrate and a fabric conditioning composition are provided on the substrate to provide an article having areas that visually contrast with each other. A non-uniformly disposed dryer addition fabric conditioning article is provided. Preferably, these visually contrasting areas form a pattern. During the use process, the degree of contrast will be
It decreases as the conditioning composition is depleted from the substrate. This difference in appearance between the original article provides a means of visually distinguishing used articles from unused articles.

In a method embodiment, the present invention also provides for applying a fabric conditioning agent to a flexible woven or non-woven web substrate between areas of high concentration of the fabric conditioning composition and areas of low concentration of the fabric conditioning composition. The present invention includes a method for manufacturing a dryer additive fabric conditioning article having a non-uniform distribution of material contrast, and is characterized in that the method includes the following steps.

A. A first portion of the fabric conditioning composition is applied uniformly in molten state to the obverse face of the substrate.

B. Cooling the substrate to solidify the composition.

C. Pass the cooled substrate through the nip formed by the impression roll and printing roll of a rotary printing station. However, this station is equipped with the following:

an impression roll, a rotogravure printing roll having a surface with a patterned concave area that is desirable to be printed on a substrate, a mechanism for supplying a molten fabric preparation composition to the rotogravure roll, from the surface of the rotogravure roll. A mechanism (eg, a doctor blade) for scraping off the molten fabric conditioning composition, but leaving it in the recessed areas of the face of the roll.

Thereby printing a second portion of the fabric conditioning composition on some of the areas of the substrate in a pattern corresponding to the recessed areas of the rotogravure roll.
In this case, each amount of fabric conditioning composition applied to the substrate in steps A and C is such that the total composition to substrate ratio is approximately
0.5:1 to 5:1, and the concentration of the fabric conditioning composition per unit area of the substrate in the substrate portion defined by the pattern is the concentration of the fabric conditioning composition per unit area of the substrate portion not defined by the pattern. in an amount such that it is at least 1.25 times
The second portion of the fabric conditioning composition comprises a pigment in a sufficient amount such that the concentration of pigment in the total amount of fabric conditioning composition in the areas defined by the pattern is from about 0.05 to about 10%. .

D. Cool the substrate to solidify the fabric conditioning composition. At this point, it may be useful to define certain terms and concepts used herein in describing the present invention.

"Fabric conditioner" means an organic substance that can impart fabric softening or antistatic effects to fabrics.

"Fabric conditioning composition" means a composition that includes one or more fabric conditioning agents.

"Substrate" means a sheet-like woven or non-woven web structure.

"Obverse side" means the side of the substrate to which the fabric conditioning composition is applied in the manufacture of the articles of the present invention.

"Back surface" means the surface of the substrate that is the back side of the substrate from this front surface.

"Area" means the space defined by dimensions on the front surface of a substrate, encompassing the entire thickness of the substrate below said space ("bottom" means the front surface lying horizontally facing upwards) (used in reference to substrate). So for example width 25cm, length 25cm and thickness 0.01
cm nonwoven web substrate has a total area of 625 cm ² for purposes of describing the invention.

It should be understood that the substrates used in the articles of the present invention can be relatively porous and absorbent. Therefore, with respect to a portion of the space on the front surface of the substrate occupied by the fabric conditioning composition, a portion of the composition will be located within the substrate and in said portion for impregnation and penetration into the porous absorbent structure. It can be present on the back side of the underlying substrate. Therefore, within the context of the present invention, the amount of fabric conditioning composition that is "placed" on a portion of an area of the substrate is defined as the amount present in the front surface space defined by the dimensions of that portion as well as the amount present in the front surface space defined by the dimensions of that portion. Includes the amount present within the substrate and on the back surface of the substrate immediately below the front dimension of the portion. For example, consider a square porous nonwoven web substrate with front dimensions of 25 cm x 25 cm and a thickness of 0.01 cm.
A 15 cm diameter circle (177 cm ² ) centered at the center of the front face of the substrate is defined on the front face. Apply 2 g of the molten fabric conditioning composition to the front area defined by the circle (eg, by rotogravure printing as described below). Due to the porosity of the substrate, a portion of the composition penetrates the substrate and reaches its back side opposite the front circle. The circle is 28.3 of the base area (defined above)
% (177 cm ² ÷ 625 cm ² ×100%), so 100% of the fabric conditioning composition is placed on 28.3% of the substrate area. The weight per unit area of the composition in the high concentration region is about 0.011 g/cm ² and in the low concentration region it is 0 g/cm ² . Therefore, the weight ratio of the composition per unit area of the high concentration area to the low concentration area is infinite.

In this example, 50% of 2g of fabric conditioning composition
(i.e. 1.0 g) is applied uniformly to the entire front surface area of the substrate, and then the remaining 50% (i.e. 1.0 g) is applied to the portion of the front surface defined by the circle, resulting in 64.1% of the fabric conditioning composition. [(1.0g×0.283)+1.0g]×100%/2g is placed on 28.3% of the substrate area. in this case,
The weight per unit area of the composition in the high concentration region is 0.0072 g/cm ² , and the weight per unit area of the composition in the low concentration region is 0.0016 g/cm ² .
The weight ratio of the composition per unit area of the high concentration area to the low concentration area is 4.5:1.

In articles of the invention, the areas of high concentration of fabric conditioning composition generally occupy from about 5 to about 50% of the total substrate area, while the remainder of the total substrate area consists of areas of low concentration of fabric conditioning composition. . The high concentration region is about 15% to about 50% (most preferably about 25% to about 45%) of the total substrate area.
%), with the remainder of the total substrate area comprising regions of low concentration of fabric conditioning composition.

In the articles of the present invention, it is preferred that the fabric conditioning composition be present in both high and low concentration regions.

Desirably, the non-uniform distribution of the fabric conditioning composition in the high and low concentration areas of the substrate is in a pattern that is aesthetically pleasing and/or informative to the user of the article. Thus, printing techniques such as rotogravure printing or rotary screen printing use non-uniform distribution of fabric conditioning compositions to form decorative patterns such as geometric designs, flowers, lace, bells, and clouds. or can be used to form language such as product trademarks.

Fabric Conditioning Composition The fabric conditioning composition used in the articles of the present invention includes:
Any fabric softening and/or antistatic agents (ie, fabric conditioning agents) commonly used in dryer addition fabric softening articles can be included. These modifiers can be used separately or in mixtures.

Such softening/antistatic agents are organic compounds having at least one relatively long hydrocarbon group that serve to provide a lubricating and/or antistatic effect. Such groups include alkyl groups having at least 8 carbon atoms, preferably 12 to 22 carbon atoms. Suitable fabric conditioning agents include cationic, anionic, nonionic or zwitterionic compounds. The cationic fabric conditioner is
It is a preferred fabric conditioner for use in the present invention. Such modifiers include cationic nitrogen-containing compounds such as quaternary ammonium compounds having one or two linear organic groups having at least 8 carbon atoms. Preferably they have 12 carbon atoms
It has one or two of ~22 such groups. Preferred cationically active softener compounds include quaternary ammonium softener compounds of the following formula.

[In the formula, R is hydrogen or an aliphatic group having 12 to 22 carbon atoms, R ₁ is an aliphatic group having 12 to 22 carbon atoms,
R ₂ and R ₃ are each an alkyl group having 1 to 3 carbon atoms, and X is a halogen, acetic acid group (acetate), phosphoric acid group (phosphate), nitric acid group (nitrite)
and methyl sulfate. Methyl sulfate is a preferred anion. ] Due to its excellent softening effect and ease of incorporation, preferred cationic softener compounds of the present invention are dialkyldimethylammonium salts (especially methyl sulfate salts) in which the alkyl group has 12 to 22 carbon atoms. be. Alkyl groups are usually derived from long chain fatty acids such as hydrogenated tallow fatty acids. As used herein, alkyl is intended to include unsaturated compounds such as those present in aliphatic groups derived from natural fatty oils. "Tallow" refers to fatty alkyl groups derived from tallow fatty acids. Such fatty acids yield quaternary softener compounds in which R and R ₁ are primarily 16 to 18 carbon atoms. "Palm"
refers to a group of fatty acids derived from coconut oil fatty acids. Coconut alkyl R and _R1 groups have about 8 to about 18 carbon atoms and are primarily _C12 - _C14 alkyl groups.
Representative examples of the fourth softener of the present invention include tallow trimethyl ammonium methyl sulfate, ditallow dimethyl ammonium methyl sulfate, dihexadecyl dimethyl ammonium chloride,
Di(hydrogenated tallow)dimethylammonium methylsulfate, dioctadecyldimethylammonium methylsulfate, diicosyldimethylammonium methylsulfate, didocosyldimethylammonium methylsulfate, di(hydrogenated tallow)diethylammonium methylsulfate, Dihexadecyl diethylammonium methyl sulfate, dihexadecyl diethylammonium methyl sulfate, dihexadecyl dimethyl ammonium acetate, ditallow dipropylammonium phosphate, ditallow dimethyl ammonium nitrate, di(coco-alkyl) dimethyl ammonium chloride are listed. It will be done.

Other suitable cationically active softener compounds include quaternary
It is an imidazolinium salt. Preferred salts are salts corresponding to the following formula.

[In the formula, R ₆ has 1 to 4 carbon atoms, preferably 1 to 4 carbon atoms.
2, R ₇ is an alkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms or a hydrogen group, R ₈ is an alkyl group having 8 to 22 carbon atoms,
preferably at least 15 alkyl;
R ₅ is hydrogen or alkyl of 8 to 22 carbon atoms, preferably at least 15 carbon atoms, and X is an anion, preferably methyl sulfate. Other suitable anions include those described above with reference to the cationic quaternary ammonium fabric softeners]. Particularly preferred are imidazolinium compounds in which R ₅ and R ₈ are both alkyls having 12 to 22 carbon atoms, such as 2-heptadecyl-1,1-methyl[(2-stearoylamido)ethyl]imidazolinium methylsulfate.

Other cationic quaternary ammonium fabric softeners useful in the present invention include, for example, alkyl (C ₁₂ -
_C22 )-pyridinium methylsulfate, alkyl( _C12 - _C22 )-alkyl( _C1 - _C3 )-morpholinium methylsulfate and quaternary derivatives of amino acids and amino esters.

As anionic fabric conditioning agents, various surfactant anionic fabric softening and antistatic agents such as higher fatty alcohol sulfates, higher fatty alcohol ether sulfates, higher fatty alcohol sulfonates, linear higher alkylbenzene sulfonates, higher fatty acyl tau Mention may be made of the agreed alkali metal or ammonium salts of lides and isethionates. Generally, the cation of such compounds will be an alkali metal or other water-solubilizing group. The hydrophobic portion of such compounds will normally contain 10 to 22 carbon atoms. Alkali metal and ammonium soaps of fatty acids having 10 to 22 carbon atoms can also be used, including sodium or potassium palm or tallow soaps.

Suitable nonionic fabric conditioning agents that can be used are polyoxyalkylene glycols, higher fatty alcohol esters of polyoxyalkylene glycols. Ethoxylates of long-chain alcohols having from 8 to 22 carbon atoms, such as ethoxylates of tallow alcohols having from 10 to 40 mol of ethylene oxide, are also suitable. Other nonionic compounds include amides such as alkanolamides such as higher fatty amides and higher fatty acids mono- and di-lower alkanolamides in which the long chain hydrophobic group has about 10 to 22 carbon atoms.

A particularly useful class of nonionic fabric conditioners are fatty acid esters of sorbitan and ethoxylates of such esters. These materials as well as cationic fabric conditioning agents are described in U.S. Pat.
4022938 (dated May 10, 1977) (cited in the text for reference). Other suitable sorbitan esters are sorbitan tristearate, sorbitan dipalmitate, sorbitan monolaurate and sorbitan monostearate and mixtures of sorbitan esters, such as mixtures of mono-, di- and tristearate esters of sorbitan. Particularly preferred fabric conditioning compositions for use in articles of the invention are from about 15 to about 85%
% (preferably from about 20 to about 80% by weight) of a cationic fabric conditioner such as ditallow dimethyl ammonium methyl sulfate and from about 85 to about 15% (preferably from about 80 to about 20% by weight) of sorbitan. _C10 - _C26 fatty acid esters such as sorbitan monostearate. All composition percentages herein are by weight unless otherwise specified.

Other suitable softeners include zwitterionic compounds of the formula below.

[In the formula, R ₁₀ and R ₁₁ are methyl, ethyl,
n-propyl, isopropyl, 2-hydroxyethyl or 2-hydroxypropyl, R ₉
is an alkyl or alkenyl having 12 to 22 carbon atoms having 0 to 2 hydroxy substituents, 0 to 5 ether bonds and 0 to 1 amide bond;
R ₁₂ is an alkylene group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms and having 0 to 1 hydroxyl substituent. _R9 is 0-2
Particularly preferred are compounds having a carbon chain of 14 to 18 carbon atoms selected from the group consisting of alkyl having hydroxyl substituents. Specific examples of particularly preferred compounds of this type include 3-(N-hexadecyl-N,
N-dimethylammonio)-2-hydroxypropane-1-sulfonate, and 3-(N-octadecyl-N,N-dimethylammonio)-propane-1-sulfonate.

Other examples of modifiers suitable for articles of the invention are U.S. Pat. No. 3,686,025, column 5, line 51 to column 14;
This is detailed in line 6 (this description is cited in the text for reference).

Fabric conditioning agents will generally include mixtures of fabric conditioning agents to obtain the optimum balance of conditioning performance. Cationic fabric conditioners generally make up at least about 10%, preferably about 20%, by weight of such mixtures. However, cationic agents are generally not used in conjunction with anionic agents due to chemical interactions.

The amount of fabric conditioning composition applied to the substrate to produce the articles of the present invention is an amount sufficient to provide the desired conditioning effect without substantial excess. Generally, the amount used is sufficient to provide a modifier:substrate weight ratio of about 0.5:1 to about 5:1, preferably about 1:1 to about 3:1.

The fabric conditioning compositions of the present invention contain about 85-100% fabric conditioning agent.

In addition to fabric conditioning agents, the conditioning compositions can contain additives such as pigments, fragrances, insect repellents, fungicides, fabric brighteners, viscosity modifiers, such as clays and rubbers.

Pigments are particularly useful additives for the fabric conditioning compositions of this invention. In a preferred aspect of the invention, the portion of the fabric conditioning composition located in the high concentration area of the fabric conditioning composition in the article of the invention is between about 0.05 and
Contains about 10% by weight (preferably about 0.1 to about 7%) pigment. The percentage of pigment is based on the total weight of the fabric conditioning composition (ie, pigment plus other composition components) that is placed in the high concentration area of the fabric conditioning composition. The pigment present in the portion of the composition that is located in the high density area emphasizes the visual difference between the high and low density areas. In the absence of pigment, the fabric conditioning composition is generally translucent and has a grayish or yellowish color in the solid state.

If colored pigments are used, they must be used in sufficiently small quantities to avoid fabric contamination in the dryer.

Any particulate material from about 6 to about 100 microns in size that is inert to the other ingredients of the fabric conditioning composition and insoluble in the molten composition is suitable for use as a pigment in the present invention. Pigments are incorporated into the composition by incorporating them into a molten mixture of other composition components. Examples of suitable pigments are titanium dioxide,
These are calcium carbonate, calcium sulfate, magnesium oxide, clay, ultramarine blue, phthalocyanine blue, Monastral Fast Blue, permanent peacock blue, Monastral Fast Green, and Pigment Green B.

Substrate The substrate component of the articles of the present invention is a woven or non-woven flexible web substrate carrying a fabric conditioning agent. Such substrates include paper (eg, paper towels), woven or nonwoven fabrics made from natural or synthetic fibers, and expanded plastic materials such as polyurethane foam sheets. The use of flexible webs as substrates for carrying fabric conditioners for dryer applications is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,442,692 (May 6, 1969);
(dated July 15, 1975) and No. 3686025 (dated August 22, 1972) (these patents are cited in the text as reference). Numerous examples of flexible web substrates are disclosed in these publications.

The web substrate is preferably absorbent to provide a good appearance to the fabric conditioning article and to evenly release the fabric conditioning composition to the garment in the dryer. “Absorbency” refers to an absorption capacity of 4 to 25 (i.e.
A parameter representing the ability of the substrate to absorb and retain water). Suitable paper and woven and non-woven fabric absorbent substrates are disclosed in US Pat. No. 3,686,025, dated Aug. 22, 1972, incorporated herein by reference. As described in this patent specification, the absorption capacity value is determined by the following modification of the capacity test method described in U.S. Federal Standard UU-T-5956 (which is incorporated herein by reference). It is done by using.

(1) Use tap water instead of distilled water, (2) Soak the sample for 30 seconds instead of 3 minutes, (3) Drain time for 15 seconds instead of 1 minute, (4) Drain the sample for 15 seconds instead of 1 minute. Immediately weigh on a torsion balance with a pan with a curved edge.

Next, the absorption capacity value is calculated using the formula shown in this standard. Based on this test, a single layer high density bleached paper (e.g. kraft or bond paper with a basis weight of about 7.9 Kg per 100 m ² ) has an absorption capacity of 3.5-4. Commercial single ply household towel paper has a value of 5 to 6, and commercial two ply household towel paper has a value of 7 to about 9.5.

When the substrate to be used is paper or woven or non-woven fabric rather than a foamed plastic material, the absorption capacity is preferably between 4 and 12, most preferably between 5 and 7. For foamed plastic materials, such as foam polyurethane, the preferred absorption capacity is about 15-22.

The thickness of the substrate used in the present invention ranges from about 0.005 to
It can be about 0.5cm. Generally, paper and woven or non-woven fabric substrates have a
It will have a thickness of 0.02cm.

Preferred substrates for use in the present invention can be defined as adhesively bonded fibrous or filamentary products that generally have a web or carded fiber structure (the fiber strength is suitable for carrying out carding). or the fibers or filaments are distributed in random or random rows (i.e. the fiber arrangement of carded webs where there is often a partial orientation of the fibers as well as a completely random distribution orientation) or the fibers are substantially aligned. It is a nonwoven fabric substrate that includes a shaped mat. The fibers or filaments may be natural (e.g. wool, silk, jute, hemp, cotton, linen, sisal or ramie) or synthetic (e.g. rayon, cellulose esters, polyvinyl derivatives, polyolefins,
(polyamide or polyester).

Methods of making nonwoven fabrics form no part of the present invention, are well known in the art, and are therefore not discussed in detail here. Generally, however, such fabrics are manufactured by air-laying or water-laying, in which the fibers or filaments are first cut to the desired length from a long strand, flowed into a water or air stream, and then deposited on a screen through which the fiber-carrying air or water passes. It is made by the ing method. The deposited fibers or filaments are then bonded together with an adhesive, dried, cured, and optionally subjected to other treatments to form the nonwoven fabric. Non-woven fabrics made from polyester, polyamide, vinyl resin and other thermoplastic fibers are
Can be spunbonded,
That is, the fibers are stretched over a flat surface and bonded (melted) together by heat or chemical reaction.

The absorption properties preferred in the present invention are particularly easily obtained with non-woven fabrics, simply by increasing the thickness of the non-woven fabric, i.e. by increasing the thickness of a plurality of carded webs or mats to sufficient thickness to obtain the required absorption properties. Obtained by overlapping or by depositing fibers of sufficient thickness on a screen. Fibers of any diameter or denier (generally up to about 10 denier) can be used as long as they provide free space between each fiber that makes the fabric porous and is directly related to the absorbent capacity of the fabric.

The choice of binder resin used in the production of nonwoven fabrics can result in substrates having a variety of desirable characteristics. For example, the absorbent capacity of a nonwoven fabric can be increased by using a hydrophilic binder resin, a hydrophobic binder resin, or a mixture thereof in the fiber bonding step, respectively.
can be reduced or controlled. Additionally, hydrophobic binder resins, when used alone or as the primary compound in a hydrophobic-hydrophilic mixture, provide nonwoven fabrics that are particularly effective as substrates when the softened article is used with wet fabrics in an autodryer.

If the substrate of the softened article is a nonwoven fabric made from fibers deposited on a screen in a haphazard or random arrangement, the article will have excellent strength in all directions and will be suitable for use in automatic fabric dryers. Not easy to tear or separate when exposed.

Preferably, the nonwoven fabric is water laid or air laid and is made from cellulose fibers, especially regenerated cellulose or rayon. Such nonwovens can be lubricated with any standard textile lubricant. The fibers are 0.45 to 5 cm long and 1.5 to 5 cm long.
Preferably it is 5 denier. The fibers are at least partially randomly oriented, especially substantially randomly oriented, and adhesively bonded with a hydrophobic or substantially hydrophobic binder resin, especially a nonionic self-crosslinking acrylic polymer. is preferred. Preferably, the nonwoven fabric consists of about 70% by weight fiber and 30% by weight binder resin polymer and has a basis weight of about 17-29 g/ ^m2 .

The fabric softening articles of the present invention are preferably constructed for maximum compatibility with conventional washer/dryer designs. Although articles of the invention are preferably used in automatic washer/dryers, other equivalent machines may be used, in some cases omitting heat or drying air for part or all of the cycle. I can do it. Generally, however, heated air will be used and such air will often be circulated through a dryer. Normally, the drying air in the dryer drum changes about 5 to 50 volumes per minute;
Moves at 3.5 to 5 m ³ /min. These varying air volumes create a drawing or suction effect that can cause the articles to be washed, such as socks, handkerchiefs, etc. or fabric preparation articles, to be placed on the surface of the air outlet of the dryer, especially for small cloth inputs. A typical fabric input of about 5-7 pounds dry weight will fill about 10-70% of the volume of most dryers and usually presents little difficulty.

Normally, there will be a sufficient number of pre-rinsed articles tumbling to prevent the articles to be washed from being drawn into or exiting the exhaust outlet.
However, if it were to happen that the fabric softening article was positioned to block the passage of air with respect to the air outlet, an undesirable temperature increase could occur. For fabric conditioning articles, the fabric conditioning composition substantially melts under thermal conditions and the article tends to stick to the exhaust outlet.

The problem of occlusion is solved by providing an opening in the article in the manner described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,944,694, dated March 16, 1976 and U.S. Pat. (Both patent specifications are cited in the text as reference). More specifically, slits or holes are cut in the substrate to allow air to freely pass through.

The slit opening serves two main purposes. Importantly, the slit allows air to pass through when the article is placed in a closed relationship with the air outlet. Additionally, the slit openings provide flexibility or elasticity to the extent that the article wrinkles or shrinks. Such a wrinkling effect is that when a softened article is carried to the outlet by a moving air stream, only a portion of the air outlet is swamped by the article. Additionally, wrinkled articles are more easily removed by rotating the cloth than if the articles were placed in a flat relationship with the vent.

The type and number of slit openings can vary considerably and will depend on the nature of the substrate material, its inherent flexibility or stiffness, the nature of the fabric conditioning composition and the degree to which increased air passage is desired. Will. For example, a single straight or wavy slit or multiples thereof can be used that is confined within the area of the sheet and extends close to the opposite end of the article. By providing a rim around all edges of the article, the desired degree of flexibility and surface area available for rolling fabric can be maintained. For example, although a straight slit can cut completely to the edge of a softened article, if the convenience of packaging the softened article in rolls is desired, it is preferable to confine the slit within the area of the article, i.e. will better maintain its structural integrity when handled by the user.

According to one preferred embodiment of the invention, there is provided a sheet of fabric softening article having a plurality of linear slits extending in one direction, the machine direction of the web substrate, and in substantially parallel relationship. .
The slits can be aligned or in a staggered relationship. A preferred embodiment will have 5 to 9 such slits extending to within about 5 cm, preferably 2.5 cm, of the edge of the web material, such as a 22.9 cm x 27.9 cm sheet. Generally, the greater the number and the longer the slits, the greater the effect of preventing airflow restriction. Such an article allows the individual panel areas or sections within the straight slits to bend or move independently of each other and out of the plane of the sheet. This bending minimizes the likelihood that such an article will align itself in a flat and closed relationship with the outlet. The article's inherent tendency to shrink or wrinkle allows the article to contact the air outlet in a manner that leaves at least a portion of the air outlet uncovered. Furthermore, the rotating fabrics within the dryer collide with wrinkled articles and cause them to be removed from the vent. Removal is easily accomplished due to the protrusion of the wrinkled article, which makes it more effective for contact with the rotating input of fabrics in the dryer.

The slit openings of the softened articles of the present invention can be of various shapes and sizes, as will be readily appreciated. In some cases, the slit opening is C-
It may be desirable to provide it as a U- or V-shaped slit. Such slits arranged in a continuous or regular or irregular pattern are
This is desirable from the standpoint of allowing a gate-like or flap structure to allow air to pass through.

Manufacture of Articles The articles of the present invention involve melting the fabric conditioning composition, dispersing it over the front portion of the substrate to form the desired visual pattern, and then cooling to solidify the fabric conditioning composition. Manufactured by A preferred embodiment provides for a portion of the total fabric conditioning composition applied to the substrate (generally from about 20 to about 80% by weight) to be uniformly distributed over the entire front surface of the substrate and then cooled so that this portion of the composition is The remaining 80-20% by weight of the fabric conditioning composition is then placed in specific areas of the front surface to form areas of high concentration of fabric conditioning composition, thereby creating the desired visual contrast areas. This is an embodiment in which The parts of the composition applied in two stages can be parts of the same composition or can be parts of two different compositions. Preferably, the portion of the fabric conditioning composition that is uniformly disposed on the substrate is pigment-free, and the portion that is disposed in a particular area to form a high concentration area is a pigment-free portion of the fabric conditioning composition that is disposed uniformly on the substrate. from about 0.05 to about 10% by weight (preferably about
0.1 to about 7% by weight). The "total amount of fabric conditioning composition" in areas of high concentration includes the initially unpigmented composition initially placed in those areas as well as any added pigmented composition.

In articles of the invention, the weight ratio of total fabric conditioning composition to substrate should range from about 0.5:1 to 5:1, preferably from about 1:1 to about 3:1; The conditioning composition is disposed non-uniformly on the substrate to create the desired visual contrast effect between areas of high density and areas of low density. As previously mentioned, the non-uniform arrangement of the fabric conditioning composition is desirably in a pattern that is aesthetically pleasing and/or informative to the user.

A suitable means of manufacturing articles of the invention is rotogravure printing. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing how an article of the invention can be manufactured using such a method.

The substrate 2 unwound from the roll 1 is at a temperature of approximately 38 to 80°C.
heated metal rollers 3 and 3a maintained at a temperature of
The top is pulled. Next, the base body has an idler roller 4,
4a and 4b and over a coating head 5, which is a closed container with a narrow slit opening at the top. The slits are arranged perpendicular to the direction of movement of the substrate and have a length equal to the width of the substrate.
The molten fabric conditioned composition (maintained at a temperature of about 10 to about 40 degrees Celsius above the melting point of the composition) is pumped from the reservoir 6 to the substrate 2 via a pump 7 through a slit in the coating head 5. positive pressure (140
~1400 g/cm ² ) to the coating head 5, thereby applying a uniform treatment of the fabric conditioning composition to the front surface of the substrate 2 (the pressures indicated in the text are consistent). gauge pressure). The substrate 2 then moves between the nip between distribution rolls 8 and 8a and over distribution roll 8b, all of which are maintained at a temperature of about 55 DEG to about 80 DEG C. The function of the distribution roll is to evenly distribute the composition throughout the thickness of the substrate. The pressure between the nips of distribution rolls 8 and 8a is maintained at approximately 2500-15000 g/linear cm. Next, the substrate 2 is about 1 to about 25
Moving over cooling rolls 9 and 9a maintained at a temperature of 0.degree. C., the fabric conditioning composition applied by coating head 5 solidifies. The substrate 2 is then passed under an idler roll 10 and between the nips of an impression roll 11 and a rotogravure roll 12. On the rotogravure roll 12,
Molten fabric conditioning composition is deposited from print pan 13, which is supplied via pump 15 from reservoir 14. The fabric conditioning composition in the print pan is at least 10°C below the melting point of the composition.
(preferably from about 10°C to about 40°C). The rotogravure roll 12 has depressions on its surface which are the desired pattern to be printed on the substrate 2. The recess has a depth of about 0.009 cm to about 0.030 cm based on the surface of the roll. Preferably, the recess is comprised of a plurality of individual cells at a density of about 60 to about 600 cells per cm ² of recess area. After obtaining the fabric conditioning composition from the print pan 13, the rotogravure roll 12 contacts the doctor blade 16;
Excess fabric conditioning composition is removed from rotogravure roll 1.
2, leaving the fabric conditioning composition in the recesses of the roll. The rotogravure roll 12 has a base 2 pressed between the impression roll 11 and the rotogravure roll 12.
come into contact with. The pressure applied by the impression roll 11 (preferably about 2500 to 15000g/
The fabric conditioning composition moves from the recess of the rotogravure roll 12 to the front surface of the substrate 2 by a straight line cm),
The desired pattern of composition is thereby printed on the substrate. Next, the substrate 2 is heated by cooling rolls 17, 17a and 17b maintained at a temperature of about 1 to about 25°C.
As the composition moves over the substrate 2, it solidifies. Finally, the substrate 2 passes through idler rolls 18 and 18a and is wound up onto a roll 19.

FIG. 3 shows an alternative arrangement of an open print pan for applying a molten fabric conditioning composition to a rotogravure roll. The device is a pressure applicator head that is compatible with a rotogravure roll and delivers the fabric conditioning composition to the roll under pressure. The head is a back wall 20, a doctor blade 21
and a top wall consisting of a doctor blade holder 22, a bottom wall consisting of a doctor blade 23 and a doctor blade holder 24, and side walls 25 and 26. Doctor blade retainer 2
4 has supply ports 27, 27a, 27b and 27c for pumping molten fabric conditioning composition from a reservoir (not shown) to the applicator through supply channels 28, 28a, 28b and 28c. In use, the open front surface of the applicator defined by the curved ends of doctor blades 21 and 23 and side walls 25 and 26 is engaged with the surface of a rotogravure roll. The applicator head is filled with molten fabric conditioning composition maintained at a pressure of about 140-2000 g/cm ² . As the rotogravure roll rotates in the direction of arrows 29 and 30, the roll acquires fabric conditioning composition from within the applicator head. As the rotogravure roll rotates past the doctor blade 23, the doctor blade scrapes excess fabric conditioning composition from the surface of the roll, leaving the fabric conditioning composition in the recesses of the roll.

FIG. 4 shows a vertical section of a pressure applicator head in contact with a rotogravure roll 39, which is a modification of the type shown in FIG.

The applicator head includes a metal casing 31 surrounding a chamber 32 on three sides, a plurality of inlet ports, one shown as 33, a lower doctor blade 35, an upper doctor blade retainer 36,
It has a lower doctor blade retainer 37 and a plurality of threaded holes 38, 38a, 38b, 38c and 38d for securing an end wall (not shown) to the end of the casing. A leak-tight seal between the end wall and the casing is achieved using a "Viton" quad ring gasket. The end of the doctor blade is in movable sealing contact with a "Teflon" end wall. This seal is achieved by pressing the blade against the "Teflon".
In use, the chamber of the applicator head is filled with molten fabric conditioning composition and placed under pressure (approximately 140-2000 g/cm ² ) by pumping the molten fabric conditioning composition into the chamber through the inlet port. will be maintained.
The fluid pressure of the composition in the chamber and the opposing force exerted on the doctor blade by the rotogravure roll 39 brings the blade into very intimate contact with the rotogravure roll. As the roll rotates in the direction of arrow 40, it acquires fabric conditioning composition from within the applicator head. As the rolls rotate past the doctor blade 34, the doctor blade scrapes excess conditioning composition from the surface of the rolls and cleans the rolls 41, 41a, 41b and 41
The fabric conditioning composition remains in the recessed portion c.

In the process, the temperature of the heating and cooling rolls is
It can be maintained by circulating frozen or heated liquid inside the roll.

The final article material on the wind-up roll 19 can then be unwound and cut into individual sheets for packaging and sale. Instead of individual sheets, the final material can be cut into lengths with perforated tear lines at predetermined intervals perpendicular to the length. These lengths can be placed on individual rolls and packaged so that the user can tear them into individual sheets of the appropriate size for use.

If it is desired to provide slits or other types of openings in the article, this can be done just before winding the final article material onto the take-up roll 19 or when it is unwound from said roll for cutting and packaging. .

Typically, individual use sheets of articles of the invention are designed to provide from about 1 to about 5 grams of fabric conditioning composition per sheet, with an area of about 130 to about 970 ^cm2 for each individual sheet. .

Items must weigh up to approximately 2 to 3 kg (approximately 5 to 7 pounds)
(based on dry weight) in the dryer with other fabrics.
It is used by rotating the article and fabric together during the drying cycle.

The invention is illustrated by the following examples.

Example 1 The article of the invention is manufactured by the method shown in FIG.

The substrate is a nonwoven fabric made from rayon fibers with an average length of about 4 cm and a denier of about 3. The fibers are bonded together by an ethyl acrylate binder system. The binder comprises about 30% to about 35% by weight of the substrate. The substrate thickness is 0.008 cm and the substrate weight is 21 g/m ² . The substrate has an absorption capacity of 6 g of water per gram of substrate.

The portion of the fabric conditioning composition that is applied uniformly to the front surface of the substrate by the coating head 5 is 70% by weight.
of sorbitan monostearate (SMS) and
It consists of 30% by weight ditallow dimethylammonium methyl sulfate (DTDMAMS) applied to the substrate in an amount such that the composition:substrate ratio is 0.97:1. The part of the composition applied by the rotogravure roll is in the molten state
100 parts of the DTDMAS composition was mixed with 11 parts of titanium dioxide and 1 part of "Bentrite L" clay (montmorillonite clay purchased from Southern Clay Products) to give a composition of 26.8% by weight.
It is prepared by forming a composition consisting of DTDMAS, 62.6% by weight SMS, 9.8% by weight titanium dioxide and 0.8% by weight clay. Clay thickens the mixture and also gives color. The colored portions of this composition are printed onto the substrate (to which the pigment-free composition has already been uniformly applied) as a decorative "cloud" design created by depressions in the surface of the rotogravure roll. The printed design is
Covering 36% of the substrate area, the amount of pigmented composition added by printing increases the total fabric conditioning composition:substrate ratio to 1.5:1 and covers the fabric present in the substrate area defined by the printed design. Weight % of pigment (titanium dioxide + clay) present in the total amount of the preparation composition
is 6.4%.

In preparing the article by the method shown in Figure 2,
Metal rollers 3 and 3a are maintained at approximately 70°C and the composition in coating head 5 and print pan 13 is maintained at approximately 65°C. The coating head pressure is maintained at approximately 350 g/cm ² . Distribution rolls 8, 8a and 8b are maintained at approximately 70°C;
Cooling rolls 9 and 9a are maintained at approximately 13°C.
The concave portion of the rotogravure roll 12 is cell-shaped,
It has a depth of about 0.02 cm and a cell density of about 140 cells per cm ² of recessed area. Roto gravure roll 12
And the temperature of the impression roll 11 is approximately
Maintained at 80℃. Cooling rolls 17, 17a and 17b are maintained at approximately 1°C.

After cooling and rolling up, the printed substrate is cut into individual 22.9 x 27.9 cm rectangular articles. A series of six 12.7 cm slits are cut lengthwise into the article approximately 2.5 cm apart, with the series of slits concentrated within the article (see US Pat. No. 3,944,694). The articles each contain about 2.1 grams of fabric conditioning composition, with a composition:substrate ratio of about 1.5:1. In these articles, 58% by weight of the fabric conditioning composition is 36% by weight of the substrate.
% and 42% by weight of the fabric conditioning composition is placed on the remaining 64% of the substrate area.

One of these items is placed in an automatic washer/dryer along with approximately 2 Kg (5 lbs) (on a dry weight basis) of damp cloth. Run the dryer on a regular heating set for 45 minutes. The fabrics and articles are then removed from the dryer and it is observed that the pattern has disappeared from the articles. The fabric is softer and has less electrostatic adhesion than a similarly dried fabric without the addition of the fabric conditioning article to the dryer. Depending on the conditions of use, the pattern on the article does not necessarily completely disappear during use. However, in any event, the pattern will exhibit a substantially different appearance after use compared to before use, thereby providing an easy means of distinguishing between used and non-used articles.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1A shows an article of the invention before use;
High concentration areas of the fabric conditioning composition are printed on the substrate to form the word "brand" and Figure 1B shows the appearance of the article as the visual pattern begins to fade during use in the dryer. 1C is a diagram showing the appearance of the article after the visual pattern has completely disappeared, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an apparatus for manufacturing the article of the present invention by rotogravure printing, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of a pressure applicator head that can be used to apply a rotogravure printing roll to a rotogravure printing roll; FIG. FIG. 1... Roll, 2... Base, 3, 3a... Metal roll, 4, 4a, 4b... Idle roll, 5...
Coating head, 6... Reservoir, 7... Pump, 8, 8a... Distribution roll, 9, 9a... Cooling roll, 10... Idle roll, 11... Impression roll, 12... Rotogravure roll , 13...print pan, 14...storage vessel, 1
5...Pump, 16...Doctor blade, 1
7, 17a, 17b...cooling roll, 18, 18
a... Play roll, 19... Winding roll, 2
0...Back wall, 21...Doctor Blade, 22...
...Doctor blade retainer, 23...Doctor blade, 24...Doctor blade retainer, 2
5, 26...Side wall, 27, 27a, 27b, 27
c... Supply port, 28, 28a, 28b, 28
c... Supply route, 31... Metal casing, 32
... Chamber, 33 ... Inlet port, 34, 35 ... Doctor blade, 36, 37 ... Doctor blade holder, 38, 38a, 38b, 38c, 38
d...Threaded hole, 39...Rotogravure roll, 41, 41a, 41b, 41c...Recessed portion of roll.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Applying a fabric conditioning agent to a flexible woven or non-woven web substrate in a relatively high concentration area of a fabric conditioning composition and fabric conditioning, characterized by comprising the following steps: A method of manufacturing a sheet-like dryer addition fabric conditioner article, which is non-uniformly arranged to create a visual contrast between areas of relatively low concentration of the composition. A. A first portion of the fabric conditioning composition is applied uniformly in the molten state to the front surface of the substrate. B. Cool the substrate to solidify the composition. C. Pass the cooled substrate through the nip formed by the impression roll and printing roll of the rotary printing station. This station is equipped with the following: an impression roll, a rotogravure printing roll having a patterned concave area on its surface that is desirable to be printed on a substrate, a mechanism for supplying a molten fabric conditioning composition to the rotogravure roll, and a surface of the rotogravure roll. A mechanism for scraping the molten fabric conditioning composition from, but leaving the fabric conditioning composition in the recessed areas of the face of the roll. Thereby printing a second portion of the fabric conditioning composition on some of the areas of the substrate in a pattern corresponding to the recessed areas of the rotogravure roll. In this case, each amount of fabric conditioning composition applied to the substrate in steps A and C has a total composition to substrate ratio of about 0.5:1 to
5:1 and the concentration of fabric conditioning composition per unit area of the substrate in the portion of the substrate defined by the pattern is at least as high as the concentration of fabric conditioning composition per unit area of the substrate in the portion of the substrate not defined by the pattern. 1.25 times, such that the second portion of the fabric conditioning composition has a pigment concentration of about 0.05% to about 10% of the total amount of the fabric conditioning composition in the area defined by the pattern. It contains a sufficient amount of pigment such that D. Cool the substrate to solidify the fabric conditioning composition. 2 About 20 to about 80% of the total amount of the fabric conditioning composition is applied to the substrate in Step A, and about 80 to about 80% of the total amount of the fabric conditioning composition is applied to the substrate in Step A.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein about 20% is printed onto the substrate in step C. 3. The recessed area on the surface of the rotogravure printing roll consists of a plurality of individual cells, the density of which cells in the recess is about 1 cm ² of the recessed area.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the number of cells is between 60 and 600 cells. 4. The substrate is selected from the group consisting of woven or non-woven fabrics and has an absorbent capacity of about 4 to about 12 and about
4. The method of claim 3, having a thickness of 0.005 to about 0.02 cm. 5. A cationic fabric conditioning agent in which the fabric conditioning composition is 15 to about 85% by weight of a methyl sulfate salt; and
5. The method of claim 4, containing from 85 to about 15% by weight of _C10 - _C26 fatty acid esters of sorbitan. 6. The pigment concentration in the total amount of the fabric conditioning composition in the area defined by the pattern is about 0.1 to about 7%.
The method according to claim 2.