U.S. patent application number 10/504690 was filed with the patent office on 2006-08-10 for disk or pad-shaped fiber composite article.
Invention is credited to Rainer Mangold, Jana Michelmann, Angela Rompp.
Application Number | 20060178067 10/504690 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 27635262 |
Filed Date | 2006-08-10 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060178067 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Mangold; Rainer ; et
al. |
August 10, 2006 |
Disk or pad-shaped fiber composite article
Abstract
The invention relates to a disk or pad-shaped fiber composite
article (2) for the care and cleaning of human skin, comprising a
non-woven fiber layer (4) which forms one surface of the article
and a thermoplastic film layer (6) forming another surface thereof.
The invention is characterised in that in order to form a more
versatile fiber composite article, the thermoplastic film layer (6)
has a porous structure for receiving fatty components of human
skin.
Inventors: |
Mangold; Rainer;
(Herbrechtingen, DE) ; Rompp; Angela; (Zell,
DE) ; Michelmann; Jana; (Heidenheim, DE) |
Correspondence
Address: |
DREISS, FUHLENDORF, STEIMLE & BECKER
POSTFACH 10 37 62
D-70032 STUTTGART
DE
|
Family ID: |
27635262 |
Appl. No.: |
10/504690 |
Filed: |
February 17, 2003 |
PCT Filed: |
February 17, 2003 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/EP03/01551 |
371 Date: |
August 16, 2004 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
442/327 ;
428/292.1; 442/394 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B32B 27/12 20130101;
A61Q 19/00 20130101; A61F 13/36 20130101; A61K 8/0208 20130101;
A61Q 1/14 20130101; Y10T 442/674 20150401; D04H 1/4266 20130101;
A61Q 19/10 20130101; Y10T 442/60 20150401; A45D 2200/1018 20130101;
D04H 1/5412 20200501; Y10T 428/249924 20150401; D04H 1/593
20130101; D04H 1/5418 20200501; D04H 1/492 20130101; D04H 13/00
20130101; A45D 34/04 20130101; A45D 44/00 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
442/327 ;
442/394; 428/292.1 |
International
Class: |
D04H 13/00 20060101
D04H013/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Feb 20, 2002 |
DE |
102 07 721.5 |
Claims
1-14. (canceled)
15. A disk or pad-shaped fiber composite article for the care and
cleaning of human skin, the article comprising: a non-woven fiber
layer forming a first use surface of the article, said non-woven
fiber layer being at least one of thermally solidified with the
addition of thermoplastic fibers and containing synthetic
microfibers of a fiber strength of less than 1 dtex; and a
thermoplastic film layer forming a second use surface of the
article, said thermoplastic film layer having a porous structure to
accept fatty components of human skin.
16. The fiber composite article of claim 15, wherein said
thermoplastic polymer comprises at least one of a polyolefin,
polyethylene (PE), or polypropylene (PP).
17. The fiber composite article of claim 15, wherein said
thermoplastic film layer has a filler.
18. The fiber composite article of claim 17, wherein said filler is
inorganic.
19. The fiber composite article of claim 15, wherein said
thermoplastic film layer has pore sizes of 0.5 to 50 .mu.m.
20. The fiber composite article of claim 19, wherein said pore
sizes are 0.5 to 40 .mu.m.
21. The fiber composite article of claim 19, wherein said pore
sizes are 0.5 to 30 .mu.m.
22. The fiber composite article of claim 19, wherein said pore
sizes are 0.5-20 .mu.m.
23. The fiber composite article of claim 19, wherein said pore
sizes are 0.5 to 10 .mu.m.
24. The fiber composite article of claim 15, wherein said non-woven
fiber layer is disposed on a side of the article opposite to said
film layer.
25. The fiber composite article of claim 15, wherein said non-woven
fiber layer comprises non-woven cotton fibers.
26. The fiber composite article of claim 15, wherein said
thermoplastic fibers are bicomponent fibers.
27. The fiber composite article of claim 15, wherein said non-woven
fiber layer comprises 5 to 20 weight % of thermoplastic fibers.
28. The fiber composite article of claim 15, wherein said non-woven
fiber layer comprises 40 to 90 weight % of microfibers.
29. The fiber composite article of claim 15, wherein said non-woven
fiber layer comprises up to 95 weight % of cotton fibers.
30. The fiber composite article of claim 15, wherein said non-woven
fiber layer consists essentially of cotton fibers.
31. The fiber composite article of claim 15, wherein non-woven
fiber layer is solidified using water jets.
32. Use of a thermoplastic film layer as a surface layer in a fiber
composite article comprising a non-woven fiber layer, said
thermoplastic film layer having a porous structure for receiving
fatty components of human skin during skin cleaning or care.
Description
[0001] The present invention concerns a disk or pad-shaped fiber
composite article for the care and cleaning of human skin,
comprising a non-woven fiber layer which forms one surface of the
article and a thermoplastic film layer forming another surface
thereof.
[0002] Articles of this type are usually called cotton pads. A
cotton pad of the above-described type is disclosed e.g. in DE 200
05 170 U1. The thermoplastic coating of this conventional cotton
pad is provided with an abrasive surface by incorporating a solid
granulate into this thermoplastic film layer to facilitate removal
of skin impurities or skin particles thereby also using an
abrasive-free cleansing milk or peeling cream.
[0003] WO 00/33974 discloses a cotton pad comprising a non-woven
fiber layer and a joining barrier layer which may be formed from a
thermoplastic film or a paper coated with thermoplastic material.
This barrier layer borders a surface layer comprising a fold which
serves as a handle and which may be formed, in accordance with one
embodiment of the document, from "ADVANTECH 2000 Synthetic Paper",
which is a paper comprising polypropylene. Although this
surface-forming layer could be called a thermoplastic film layer,
it is not a usable layer but merely serves to hold the cotton
pad.
[0004] EP 0 527 779 B1 discloses a similar cotton pad. The gripping
strap as well as the barrier layer may be formed from a suitable
thermoplastic film material. In accordance with one embodiment, the
holding strap can be folded into its useable shape to expose a
surface region of the barrier layer disposed below which is covered
when the gripping strap is in the packaged position. Only the
opposite non-woven fiber layer thereby forms the side which is
defined for cleaning the skin. This document mentions that the
barrier layer should be impermeable to liquid and particles.
[0005] DE 199 16 640 A1 discloses a similar cotton pad.
[0006] A cosmetic product is also available on the market which
consists of one single thermoplastic fat-absorbing film layer. This
product may be used for skin care and cleaning.
[0007] Departing from the above-mentioned prior art, it is the
underlying purpose of the present invention to improve a fiber
composite article in the form of a so-called cotton pad such that
it can be used in many ways for human skin care and cleaning. It
should meet various requirements which exist in practice and depend
not only on the respective user but also on different applications,
such as e.g. removing of cosmetic substances, dirt, or fatty
components from the skin.
[0008] This object is achieved in accordance with the invention
with a cotton pad of the above-mentioned type in that the
thermoplastic film layer has a porous structure to receive fatty
components of human skin.
[0009] The invention proposes to use a porous thermoplastic film
layer in a cotton pad as a surface layer for wiping or cleaning
human skin, and not only as fluid barrier or grasping aid, thereby
providing a wider range of application for the cotton pad. The
surface-exposed non-woven fiber layer can be used in a conventional
fashion for application or removal of cosmetic substances and also
for cleaning the surface of the skin. The likewise surface-exposed
thermoplastic film layer may preferably be used to remove fatty
components from human skin. These fatty components are received by
the hydrophobic, i.e. lipophilic film layer and its pores. The
non-woven fiber layer may e.g. be initially used and the article
may subsequently be folded by folding the used non-woven fiber
surface together to be able to use the thermoplastic film layer on
the other side for subsequent removal of fatty components from the
skin. The film layer is preferably initially used to remove fatty
components. The make-up is subsequently corrected with the
non-woven fiber upper surface, e.g. to apply powder or the
like.
[0010] The use of polyolefin, in particular polyethylene (PE) or
polypropylene (PP) or a mixture thereof has proven to be
advantageous. It is also advantageous if the thermoplastic film
layer contains a preferably inorganic filler. To produce a
thermoplastic film layer which is suited to receive fatty
components, a thermoplastic polymer is mixed with a preferably
inorganic filler, wherein a film is conventionally produced from
the mixture which is then stretched thereby producing the
pores.
[0011] In an alternative manner, the filler-containing film is
provided with pores through calendering. The above-mentioned porous
film layer also refers to a film layer which has openings of a pore
size of less than 50 .mu.m, often called micropores, wherein the
film layer could also contain larger pores. A pore size of mainly
less than 50 .mu.m has proven to be advantageous, in particular 0.5
to 50 .mu.m or 0.5 to 40 .mu.m and preferably 0.5 to 30 .mu.m or
0.5 to 20 .mu.m, in particular 0.5 to 10 .mu.m.
[0012] Films of this type are known in the form of the
above-mentioned available product. Thermoplastic film layers may
also be used such as those described e.g. in EP 0 293 482 B1 or in
DE 33 06 843 A1 and in U.S. Pat No. 4,585,604 in the form of back
sheet materials for absorbing hygiene articles.
[0013] It is feasible and could prove to be advantageous, to
provide the non-woven fiber layer and the film layer on the same
side of the article, wherein each forms a part or a region of the
side of the article provided for cleaning the skin. The surface
regions concerned could be disposed next to each other and be flush
with each other. An embodiment is also preferred with which the
non-woven fiber layer is disposed on the side of the article
opposite to the film layer, as indicated above.
[0014] There are no particular restrictions for forming the
non-woven fiber layer. The use of a soft and smooth non-woven fiber
material has proven to be advantageous. Cotton is preferred, which
is advantageous and suitable in many respects. The non-woven fiber
layer may also comprise thermoplastic fibers and be thermally
solidified by melting the thermoplastic fibers. The integrity of
the non-woven fiber layer in a cotton pad of the relevant type is
of particular importance. Thermal solidification of cotton pads is
a feasible and advantageous method for the solidification of
non-woven material, in addition to other feasible compacting
methods such as calendering or water jet needling.
[0015] In one particularly advantageous composition, the non-woven
fiber layer comprises 5 to 20 weight % of thermoplastic fibers and
optionally, in particular, up to 95 weight % of cotton fibers.
[0016] In one particularly advantageous composition, the non-woven
fiber layer comprises synthetic microfibers, e.g. viscose or
polyester fibers, of a fiber thickness of less than 1 dtex, in
particular mixed with cotton fibers. The content of the microfibers
in the non-woven fiber layer is, in particular, between 40 and 90
weight %.
[0017] A non-woven fiber layer which consists of 100% cotton fibers
is also feasible and advantageous. The use of water jet
solidification from one or both sides of the non-woven fiber layer
is particularly suited in this case to solidify the non-woven fiber
such that it can be grasped and used without falling apart.
[0018] The weight per unit surface area of the non-woven fiber
layer is advantageously between 50 and 260 g/m.sup.2. A non-woven
material thickness of 1.2 mm to 5 mm has proven to be advantageous
under a test pressure of 0.5 kPa.
[0019] The present invention also concerns the use of a porous
thermoplastic film layer, known per se, as a surface layer in a
fiber composite article comprising a non-woven fiber layer, to
receive fatty components of human skin during skin cleaning and
care.
[0020] The surface densities of the thermoplastic film layer are
between 20 and 80 g/m.sup.2 and their thickness is between 30 and
70 .mu.m.
[0021] Further features, details and advantages of the invention
can be extracted from the enclosed claims and the drawing and the
following description of a preferred embodiment of the inventive
fiber composite article.
[0022] The FIGURE shows a perspective view of a cotton pad,
designated in total with reference numeral 2, comprising a
non-woven fiber layer 4 of e.g. 100 weight % of cotton or e.g. 85
weight % of cotton and 15 weight % of thermoplastic bicomponent
fibers. In the latter case, the fibers are homogenously mixed and
the resulting non-woven fiber layer is thermally solidified through
melting the surface component of the bicomponent fibers which has a
lower melting point than a core component. A non-woven fiber layer,
which consists essentially of cotton fibers, is preferably
solidified e.g. through water jet needling. The non-woven fiber
layer of both embodiments may have a surface design with grooved or
honeycomb pattern structure on its usable side (not shown in the
FIGURE).
[0023] A film layer 6 of a thermoplastic polymer, preferably on the
basis of polyolefin, e.g. PE or PP comprising an inorganic filler
is disposed on the side of the non-woven fiber layer 4 opposite to
the side of use.
[0024] The film layer may be joined to the non-woven fiber layer
e.g. using a hot-melt glue or through other means available to the
person skilled in the art.
[0025] The film layers are microporous films with pore sizes in the
region of preferably 0.5 to 40 .mu.m, in particular 0.5 to 30 .mu.m
and preferably 0.5 to 20.mu.m or 0.5 to 10 .mu.m. Their surface
density is between 20 and 80 g/m.sup.2 and their thickness is
between 30 and 70 .mu.m. In the present case, the surface 8 of the
film layer facing away from the non-woven fiber layer 4 forms a
further useful side which can be directly brought into contact with
the surface of the skin. When the surface of the skin is wiped,
fatty components of human skin are preferably received in the
porous structure of the film layer 6. The cotton pad can therefore
be used to remove fatty components from the skin, wherein
conventional use of conventional cotton pads is still and
additionally possible at the useful side of the non-woven fiber
layer 4.
* * * * *