U.S. patent number 3,922,723 [Application Number 05/382,208] was granted by the patent office on 1975-12-02 for methods and articles for deodorizing using ion exchange manufacture.
Invention is credited to Karel Popper.
United States Patent |
3,922,723 |
Popper |
December 2, 1975 |
Methods and articles for deodorizing using ion exchange
manufacture
Abstract
Deodorizing is accomplished by contacting odorant, such as that
exuded by humans, with solid, essentially non-fluid anion exchanger
material in substantially extended form. Articles used in the
method are typically those worn on the body or used to envelop or
wipe odoriferous substances and contain anion exchange cotton.
Inventors: |
Popper; Karel (Danville,
CA) |
Family
ID: |
26803844 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/382,208 |
Filed: |
July 24, 1973 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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106610 |
Jan 14, 1971 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
2/113; 2/53;
2/239; 2/409; 422/5; 604/359 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A41B
9/06 (20130101); A41B 2400/36 (20130101); A41B
2400/34 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A41B
9/00 (20060101); A41B 9/06 (20060101); A41B
009/06 (); A61K 007/32 () |
Field of
Search: |
;2/53,54,55,58,61,78R,78B,109,113,114,DIG.7 ;8/116.2,120 ;424/76,79
;21/55 ;57/140,14BL,149,153 ;106/15 ;128/284,296 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Other References
Guthrie "Ion Exchange Cottons" Industrial and Engineering Chemistry
Vol. 44 No. 9 pp. 2,187-2,189. .
Berch et al., "Wet Soiling of Cotton," Part III, Textil Research
Journal Vol. 34 No. 1 pp. 29-34 Jan. 64. .
Beninate et al., "Influence of Fiber Swellability in Selected
Fabrics" American Dyestuff Reporter pp. 26-30 Sept. 30,
1963..
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Primary Examiner: Schroeder; Werner H.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Klein, Jr.; Paul M.
Parent Case Text
This is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 106,610
filed Jan. 14, 1971, now abandoned
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A deodorant manufacture configured into a shaped article
constituting a garment comprising anion exchange material, said
garment being so fabricated and customarily so worn that its anion
exchange material contacts odorant from a region of the body that
commonly exudes an odor relatively strongly noticeable to
humans;
said anion exchange material comprising weak base anion exchange
fabric;
said anion exchange material being in non-fluid and essentially
nondispersible, substantially extended form and having anion
exchange sites capable of substantially sorbing anions from said
odorant at the pH existing in the region of contact between said
material and said odorant;
any components of said material that are endowed with anion
exchange sites and are grossly discernible as distinct from one
another being, when considered as a group, constrained against any
significant flowing so that these components as a group exhibit the
characteristic of being non-fluid and essentially
non-dispersible;
said garment having a body portion provided with armholes
sufficiently high on said body portion so that the part of said
garment adjacent to the armholes, including that region of the body
portion adjacent to, and in part forming the boundary of, said
armholes normally contacts the axilla of the wearer of the garment
when said garment is worn by a wearer of the size of which the
garment is intended, the configuration of the garment being such
that material of the garment is in contact with a substantial
portion of the axilla;
the effective surface area of that portion of the garment material
which contacts the axilla being sufficiently large to contact a
substantial portion of the area of the axilla which exudes odorant;
and
those portions of the garment which contact the axilla including
anion exchange sites.
2. The manufacture of claim 1 wherein said article is an
undergarment.
3. The manufacture of claim 1 wherein said article is a
T-shirt.
4. The manufacture of claim 1 wherein said fabric comprises
aminated cotton.
5. The manufacture of claim 2 wherein said fabric comprises
aminated cotton.
6. The manufacture of claim 3 wherein said fabric comprises
aminated cotton.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to methods of deodorizing by the use of a
particular ion exchange manufacture and more particularly to such
methods using that ion exchange manufacture embodied in particular
articles and to those particular articles.
The literature of the prior art, such as the reference book "Ion
Exchangers in Organic and Biochemistry" by Calmon and Kressman,
published by Interscience Publishers, Inc., New York, copyright
1957, records attempts at deodorizing by the use of ion exchangers.
Typically, as for example, by Ikai in the Journal of Investigative
Dermatology, Vol. 23, pp. 411 ff. (1954), such attempts were
reported as employing ion exchange material in the categories of
ion exchange resins ground into powders and used as powders, per
se, or as powders mixed with a vehicle to constitute an oily or
liquid preparation which was more or less sticky. The literature
also reports attempts deodorizing by use of a catamenial pad having
a cavity enclosing a quantity of bentonite, known to have ion
exchange properties. U.S. Pat. No. 3,016,327 discloses biocidal
compositions in which colloidal particles of anion exchange resin,
described not as having any deodorant effect but only as the
activating germicidal principle, are included in solid or liquid
soap compositions, detergents, cosmetics, deodorants and the
like.
For reasons clear from the following discussion, none of these
prior art methods of deodorizing have proven practical. To
deodorize an odorant involves rendering essentially imperceptible
the odor from, or rendering negligible the disagreeableness of a
malodor from, the odorant. To position, in contact with odorant
emitted from a source, a quantity of ion exchange material
sufficient to deodorize the odorant and to maintain that material
in position to, and continuing to, deodorize for a period of time
of practical length in those instances where the source continues
to emit odorant, has not, with the forms of material used in prior
art attempts at deodorizing, been possible to accomplish with
efficacy, ease, comfort, and convenience of handling, positioning,
and maintaining in position, nor with the ability to regenerate the
material conveniently and economically in those instances where
this ability would be especially desirable. That is, the prior art
attempts at deodorizing with ion exchangers were not practically
effective. Certain of the reasons for this will be apparent from
the following exemplary discussion.
In attempts to deodorize the odorants issuing from the human
axilla, finely powdered ion exchange resins were dusted thickly
over the axillary skin. Obviously, a single grain or particle of
such powder being exceedingly small, i.e. of negligible dimensions,
rather than substantially extended would not deodorize effectively
since it would not contain an appreciable number of ion exchange
sites. The mass of powder, taken as a whole, being made up of a
plurality of components grossly discernible as separate from one
another, namely, the grains or particles, with each element free to
move independently of its immediate neighbor essentially an
indefinite distance apart from that neighbor, constituted a fluid.
In other words, these components are, in normal use, dispersible.
The deodorant effect of this fluid, i.e., the mass of powder, did
not last long because of the washing away of the powder by sweat
produced by the axilla and hence this method was impractical. In
other words, in normal use, the ion exchange powder components are
in fact dispersed by the washing away effected by the sweat and
thus cannot and do not remain in contact with the odorant for a
practical length of time.
When, in an attempt to improve adhesion of the material to the skin
of the armpit, the powder was mixed variously with such vehicles as
petrolatum, ointments, surface active agents, mucilages and
mixtures thereof, the resulting products still remain fluid and
suffered additionally from other disadvantages contributing to
ineffective deodorizing such as blocking of the sweat from the
resin by the hydrophobic petrolatum, lack of adhesion encouraged by
some of the other ingredients, and uncomfortable sensation by the
user.
In the case of the aforementioned catamenial pad, the amount of
bentonite required even to approach adequate deodorizing of the
user's excretion for a practical length of time rendered the pad
impractically bulky. Furthermore, the mass of bentonite as a whole
being fluid, it tended to run down to the lower end of the cavity
in the pad and there accumulate as an inconvenient bulge.
As for the colloidal anion exchange resin particles of U.S. Pat.
No. 3,016,327, reported only as germicidal and not deodorant, the
disclosed embodiments all render them, in normal use, fluid and
hence dispersible, as is seen from the following. Soap and
detergents in solid form, i.e. cake or powder or chip, must, in
normal use, to accomplish their intended function, be moistened
with a liquid, typically water, and hence in normal use their
ingredients are fluid. Liquid soap compositions and liquid
detergents are obviously fluid. The colloidal resin particles
embodied (for germicidal purposes only, according to the above
mentioned patent), in cosmetics or deodorants constituted as
pastes, or sticks which are in effect pastes, or liquids are
obviously, in normal use, fluid and dispersible since the
embodiments as a whole are fluid. Those masses of particles of
resin which might be embodied in cosmetics or deodorants applied as
powders are also, in normal use, fluid and dispersible, as
previously pointed out in the discussion of powdered resins applied
to the axilla.
An object of the invention is to provide, using particular types of
ion exchange materials and more particularly certain articles
embodying those materials, methods of deodorizing which are
effective over a practical length of time, comfortable, convenient,
and economical to use, and are especially applicable on the human
body.
Another object of this invention is to provide those certain
articles, embodying those particular types of ion exchange
materials, especially useful in carrying out the methods of the
invention.
Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this
invention will be apparent from the following description taken in
connection with the drawing.
This invention comprehends the discovery that practical, effective
deodorizing is accomplished by contacting an odorant with solid,
substantially extended material endowed with anion exchange sites
capable of sorbing anions from odorant at the pH existing in the
region of contact, the material being, in normal use, essentially
non-fluid and, essentially, non-dispersible, any components of the
material that are endowed with anion exchange sites and are grossly
discernible as distinct from one another being, when considered as
a group, constrained against any significant flowing so that these
components as a group exhibit the characteristic of being non-fluid
and thus non-dispersible.
Since the concept of the invention involves the employment of anion
exchange material which is non-fluid, and elements of which bearing
ion exchange sites are, therefore, in normal use, essentially
non-dispersible, it is apparent that in the practice of the method
of the invention the ion exchange sites of the material can be held
in contact with odorant for any desired practical length of time.
For the same reason it is apparent that an article of the invention
designed for one-time use will retain its ion exchange sites in the
locations determined by the original placement of the article in
use until the article is moved. Likewise an article of the
invention designed for repeated use will thus remain intact in the
sense that in normal use it retains all of its ion exchange sites
since they are not dispersed.
The word "extended," as here applied to the forms of ion exchange
material and as also used in the prior art (Calmon and Kressman
op.cit.p.188), means having appreciable dimensions. It thus
excludes forms such as particles, granules, grains of powder, etc.
which are regarded as being of negligible dimensions. It includes
such forms as rod, sheet, fiber, filament, roving, yarn, thread,
silver, linters, fabric, and the like, both when such items are
intrinsically provided with ion exchange sites and when such items
are provided with ion exchange sites essentially extrinsically.
This latter situation is exemplified by constructions in which
ordinary granular ion exchange materials or the like are retained
by a base or substrate. The granules or particles can be affixed
by, for example, gluing them to a sheet of any suitable substance
such as paper, plastic, or cloth; they can be imbedded into a
plastic matrix; they can be tethered to nappy fabric by gluing them
to the projecting fibers or threads of the pile of the fabric; they
can be tightly quilted into, or otherwise secured against flowing
within, pockets or cavities in base material.
By describing the material, or those elements thereof which are
endowed with ion exchange sites, as being essentially
non-dispersible in normal use in meant that the portions of the
material bearing ion exchange sites cannot in normal use flow or
move indefinitely far away from one another, i.e. disperse. Of
course, with any material subject to friction there will always be
some minute rubbing off of part thereof as dust which can
technically be named dispersion of the material as the dust
particles scatter away from one another. Such attritive ablation,
or dispersion, of the material of this invention is not required
by, and hence not essential to, the material's normal execution of
its intended function. The dispersion, if any, would be only
incidental to the normal use of the material and would, in any
case, involve an exceedingly minor amount of material. Thus, the
material is fairly defined as essentially non-dispersible. In
contrast, dispersibility is an attribute completely necessarily
inherent in, implicit in, required by, and essential to the
mechanism by which the soap in normal use carries out its normal
function. The soap is obviously essentially dispersible since it is
only by substantially unlimited separation of the particles of the
soap from the cake and from each other, either by solution or by
friction, that the soap can accomplish its normal use of being
applied to a surface to be cleaned. The same characteristic of
being essentially dispersible is obviously implicit in such items
as conventional liquid, stick, and paste cosmetics and deodorants
since it is only by dispersion that these materials can be applied
in their normal use to a surface intended to be coated by them.
The invention additionally includes manufactures configured into
shaped articles. To understand this part of the inventive concept
it must be appreciated that a "shaped article" herein means an
article fabricated for a particular use per se and shaped and
finished in a manner to suit it to that use. It contrasts with and
excludes, in general, material in bulk whose usual "use" is only to
be subdivided into smaller portions (dimensioned for the proper
size of a contemplated shaped article) to be fabricated, shaped,
and finished into "shaped articles." Thus, for example, sheeting is
bulk material whereas "a sheet," in the sense of an item of
bedclothes, is a "shaped article." having been cut from the
sheeting to shape it to the dimensions of a particular size bed and
finished as by hemming. Likewise a bolt of cloth is bulk material
whereas a washcloth made from the cloth is a "shaped article"
having been shaped, by cutting it to proper size from the bulk
cloth, and, typically, finished as by hemming or taping the edges.
Within the purview of the invention, the shaped articles of the
invention are further limited to the type which are normally placed
in contact with, or juxtaposed to, an odorant to be deodorized, as
contrasted with bulk material such as sheeting or a bale of linters
which only by sheer accident would find themselves in contact with
odorant to be deodorized.
Having thus defined these terms, it is now stated that the
invention further comprehends manufactures, especially adapted to
carry out the methods of the invention and defined as configured
into shaped articles comprising this aforementioned material and
normally juxtaposed to either a primary source of odorant or a
secondary source of odorant or both with anion exchange material in
contact with odorant and typically the articles being ordinary
articles of commerce or substantial copies thereof used to
accomplish their usual prior art functions and altered only in that
they have components endowed with active ion exchange sites. This
aspect of the invention involves the realizations that ion exchange
is subject to the law of mass action; that all odorants in a
livable environment are present in only very high dilutions; and
therefore even an odorant substance that exhibits only a very low
affinity for a particular ion exchanger will be quantitatively
sorbed when the gas carrying it contacts the ion exchanger.
Economically and conveniently the invention thus typically
achieves, without the need for a separate deodorant article or
substance, the important feature of deodorizing as a new additional
function incident to the ordinary use of an ordinary article of
commerce while accomplishing its ordinary intended prior art
functions, and this without the need for essentially any gross
structural changes to the article of a major or intolerable nature.
Within this defined class of manufactures of the invention is a
preferred group of articles especially useful: those articles
normally juxtaposed to a body and in contact with odorant when so
juxtaposed.
As used herein, a primary source of odorant means one where the
odorant is either inherent or is, in effect, being generated.
Examples are a substance, such as butyric acid, that by nature
exhibits an odor and an infected wound where odorant is being
generated from normally relatively odorless tissue by decomposition
or other chemical action. As used herein a secondary source of
odorant means an odoriferous region of atmosphere immediately
adjacent to, and disposed to flow into, or out of, a confined
space. An example is odoriferous air which enters a window or duct
leading into a room, building, chamber or the like, or which enters
the respiratory passages of an animal or human. As used in the
context herein-above, "normally" juxtaposed means that for the
purpose of carrying out its customary intended functions and/or
when carrying them out, the article is juxtaposed as indicated.
Since typically, the invention contemplates the convenient,
economical, regeneration of the ion exchange sites used in the
articles of the invention, the invention involves the use of weak
base anion exchangers as a preferred group. These can be
regenerated conveniently and inexpensively and without undue hazard
requiring special precautions or commercial facilities since all
that is required to regenerate them is ordinary soap, or detergent,
or any other substance which, as they do, gives a basic reaction to
litmus.
From another point of view the invention comprehends practical
articles of wear (including, especially, articles of wearing
apparel) fabricated of components comprising anion exchange
material such, for example, as aminated cotton (also sometimes
called aminized cotton). Within this concept of the invention is
the discovery that such articles embodying such anion exchange
material, although typically constructed in the same configurations
in which they customarily appear in the prior art made of cotton or
other usual fabrics will, without the need of additional material
causing undesired bulkiness, provide enough anion exchange sites to
deodorize for a practical length of time. Also within this concept
of the invention is the discovery essential to a practical
innovation, that such articles comprised of aminated cotton, which
substance is already known in the prior art in various raw material
forms (e.g. Textile Research Journal, Vol. 23, p.523ff. and
p.527ff.) can be quite easily adequately washed (and simultaneously
regenerated) by commonly used laundering processes, although to
fabricate with aminated cotton such articles, which are typically
made of materials specially selected to resist soiling and wash
easily, is directly contrary to the teaching of the prior art that
aminated cotton is more easily soiled and retains soil more
tenaciously than ordinary cotton. The invention includes the
realization, confirmed by repeated tests, that to achieve wholly
satisfactory cleaning of the typically reusable articles of the
invention by even such simple laundering as washing by hand or in a
home type washing machine it suffices merely to insure that the
soap or detergent used is selected from the commonly available
group that is at least weakly alkaline.
Further to complete the notion of the practicality of these
articles, the invention comprehends the discoveries that such
articles comprised of material such as aminated cotton exhibit an
acceptable hand and tests have failed to show any reduction in the
lives of these articles when subjected to normal usage and washings
as compared to the lives of similar articles comprised of ordinary
cotton.
A detailed description of the invention follows, in part with
reference to the drawing, the single FIGURE of which shows
schematically a conventional T-shirt embodying anion exchanger
material.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Methods of the Invention
In carrying out the contacting of odorant with anion exchange
material to deodorize according to the invention, several methods
are involved, each being applicable to its respective
situations.
Deodorizing is accomplished by juxtaposing an article of the
invention embodying the anion exchange material used in the
invention to a source of odorant so that the anion exchange
material is in contact with the odorant. A primary source of
odorant would be, for example, the body of an animal, such as a
dog, or the body of a person, either of which may typically exude
odorant, due quite commonly to excretions. Other primary sources
would be, for example, fish, onions, and garbage. A secondary
source of odorant would be, for example, the atmosphere or air
whichcarries the odorant from, typically, a primary source. In case
the source of odorant is a body, the juxtaposition is done by the
use in the normal manner of such items as bedclothing (e.g. sheets,
pillow cases, blankets), upholstery and furniture slip covers
comprising the ion exchange material so that the items readily
contact odorant exudate of the user and deodorizing is achieved by
pickup of anions from the odorant by the ion exchange material.
Also, this juxtaposition can be done by the use, in the normal
manner, namely the wearing by the odoriferous body, of wearable
articles comprising the ion exchange material. Wearable articles
are not only those items conventionally regarded as wearing apparel
but also include other articles hereinafter illustrated by
examples, worn so as to contact odorant emitted by the wearer.
Especially important is the wearing of wearable articles which
contact odorants most noticeable to humans, e.g. those emanating
from the human axillae, feet, and crotch.
In the case of an odorous substance being considered the primary
source of odorant as, for example, fish, onions, and garbage, the
juxtaposition can be achieved by enclosing it in the ion exchanger
material as by wrapping it in ion exchange wrapping paper or
plastic wrap or closing it up in a bag made of the ion exchange
material. This method of deodorizing is also significant in
preventing the uptake of odorant from an odoriferous substance by
other substances such, for example, as foods, located nearby.
In the case of such a primary source as food in a cooking utensil,
for example, the juxtaposition involves placing on the utensil a
lid embodying the ion exchange material such as aminated cotton.
This serves to deodorize such malodorous emanations as those,
believed due to sulfur, arising during the cooking of, for example,
cauliflower and cabbage.
Especially when it may not be practical to deodorize at the primary
source of odorant, the invention involves deodorizing by
juxtaposing an ion exchange material to the secondary source, i.e.
that region of the odoriferous atmosphere which would carry the
odorant into a confined space such as a room, tent, chamber, or the
nose of a recipient. Thus, for example, the ion exchange material
of the invention can be embodied in a screen or filter and placed
to filter the atmosphere entering through a window, duct or the
like of a room or building where deodorizing is desired. Similarly
the deodorizing can be accomplished by juxtaposing the ion exchange
material to the nose of the recipient of the atmosphere by
embodying it in a breathing mask, such, for example, as a surgical
mask worn by the recipient. If the breath of a wearer of such a
breathing mask constitutes a primary source of odorant, then the
wearing of the mask deodorizes this source and the method of the
invention being practiced is essentially the same as with the
aforementioned wearing of apparel embodying the ion exchange
material. If, simultaneously, the mask wearer is in an odoriferous
ambient atmosphere and if his own breath is odorous, then the mask
is seen to be simultaneously juxtaposed to both a primary and a
secondary source of odorant.
The ion exchange material used according to the invention is itself
maintained deodorized as well as deodorizing the odorants it
contacts. Thus, embodying the ion exchange material in such
articles as collars, combs, and hairbrushes, which tend to pick up
odors and remain odorant when placed in contact with odorants
emitted by persons or animals on which the articles are used,
serves to deodorize the articles and maintain them deodorized.
Wiping or scrubbing such odorous sources as knives and cutting
boards recently used for fish, onions, etc., with a dishcloth,
washcloth, paper or cloth towel, or the like embodying the ion
exchange material achieves the contacting with the odorant required
to deodorize.
Regeneration of the ion exchange material, when appropriate, can be
done using well-known prior art teaching in any convenient way.
With the exception of those articles typically discarded after a
single use, such as wrapping paper and garbage bags, the articles
of the invention used in carrying out the methods of the invention
can, for example, by simply laundered with ordinary alkaline soap
or detergent available on the home market to regenerate the ion
exchange sites occupied by the sorbed odorant anions so that these
sites will again be available for deodorizing.
Articles of the Invention
The articles of the invention, as previously suggested, are defined
as deodorant articles comprising anion exchange material and
normally juxtaposed to a source of odorant of at least secondary
status with said ion exchange material in contact with the odorant,
the anion exchange material being in non-fluid, substantially
extended form and having anion exchange sites capable of
substantially sorbing anions from the odorant at the pH existing in
the region of contact between the material and the odorant, any
components of the material that are endowed with anion exchange
sites and are grossly discernible as distinct from one another
being, when considered as a group, constrained against any
significant flowing so that these components as a group exhibit the
characteristic of being non-fluid. An especially preferred group of
the articles of the invention is those articles normally juxtaposed
to a body human or animal, and in contact with odorant when so
juxtaposed.
Particularly significant among the articles of the invention are
articles applicable to a body and hence most are normally
juxtaposed to a primary source of odorant. Included in this
category are such articles as combs and brushes, typically having
transient association with the body, as well as, by way of example
only: articles of bedclothing such as blankets, sheets, pillow
cases, mattress pads, and the like; articles of wear or attire;
articles used for wiping(both bodies and other sources of odorant)
such as dishcloths, washcloths, towels, etc.; and articles used to
enclose, envelop, or contain, such as bags, wrappers, and the
like.
Articles of wear or attire include those articles usually
designated as wearing apparel and also those other wearables which
may be called acccouterments. By way of example only, certain
articles are listed hereinafter. Among accounterments are, for
example, suspenders; garters; catamenial pads or devices; diapers;
veils; breathing masks such as surgical masks; belts, including
sanitary belts; athletic supporters; wristwatch bands; neckwear,
including scarfs (sometimes worn also on the head) and neckties;
sweatbands, typically used by sportsmen, chefs and others exposed
to profuse perspiration on the wrist, arm, head, etc.; toupees,
wigs, and hairpieces; underarm sweat shields, commonly called dress
shields; sanitary panties and shields, including such items as
skirt shields chafe guards; gloves; wallets and pocket purses.
Articles of wearing apparel include garments, footwear, and
headgear. Of garments, typically undergarments are those worn
usually next to the skin and include: underwear, both the one-piece
type and the two-piece type, which latter has drawers, pants,
panties, shorts, or briefs and jackets, vests, undershirts, and the
like, especially T-shirts; corsetry, including brassieres,
braslips, girdles, corsets, panty girdles; leotards, tights, and
pantyhose. Examples of other articles of wear often, if not always,
worn next to the skin are: slips; nightclothes, including
nightgowns and pajamas; shirts, dresses, blouses, skirts, sweaters,
sweatshirts, coats, jackets, trousers; and hosiery, including socks
and stockings. Examples of footwear are canvas shoes, commonly
called tennis shoes or sneakers, shoes of other materials; and
insoles, shoe linings. Examples of headgear include: caps and hats,
and sweatbands in these articles.
Also significant among the articles of the invention are a pot or
pan lid embodying, for example, aminated ion exchange cotton,
fashioned, for example, analogously to, or in combination with, the
well-known mesh of a common anti-splatter lid and used for
deodorizing the odorant arising from the cooking of cauliflower,
cabbate, fish, etc.; items used for wiping odorous surfaces such as
dishcloths, washcloths, and towels; and items used for enclosing
odorous substances such as wrapping paper or wrapping plastic,
envelopes, and bags. Articles in these categories also are thus
normally juxtaposed to a primary source of odorant. Typically these
articles are juxtaposed to the body of a user when the user is
wiping an odorous surface, wrapping or enclosing odorous substances
or transporting a wrapped or enclosed odorous substance.
Among those articles of the invention principally regarded as
normally juxtaposed to a secondary source of odorant are screens
and filters for windows, ducts, and the like for contacting
odoriferous atmosphere entering or leaving a room, chamber, or the
like and breathing masks and veils which perform the same function
as regards the nose of a wearer. These latter are also, of course,
normally juxtaposed to the body of the wearer.
Especially important embodiments of the articles of the invention
applicable to a body are those which in use are in contact with
odorant from a region of the body that commonly exudes an odor
relatively strongly noticeable to humans, e.g. the axilla, crotch,
and foot and a festering wound or the like. These embodiments, by
way of example only, obviously include one-piece underwear,
undershirts, and the like; dress shields, shirts, sweaters and
blouses, dresses, certain corsetry, certain nightclothes, and the
like having a region close to the armpit; underpants, tights,
leotards, pantyhose, sanitary panties and shields, catamenial
devices, and shorts and briefs; hosiery and footwear; gauze
bandages and similar medical dressings.
According to the invention, the articles of the invention comprise
the above-described anion exchange material chosen in species
adapted to the article which is to embody it. These species and the
methods of manufacturing them do not form part of this invention
but are adapted from the prior art. Because it is simple and
relatively inexpensive to make, anion exchange cotton, such as
described, for example, in the articles by Guthrie entitled "Ion
Exchange Cottons" in Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, Vol. 44,
p. 2187, Sept. 1952, is a preferred substance for use in many of
the articles of the invention. particularly preferred is aminated
cotton (called aminized cotton in that article) since it quite
adequately performs the desired functions and is easier to make
than, for example, aminated-iminated cotton (called
aminized-iminized cotton in that article) and more readily
regenerated than, for example, quaternary aminated cotton (called
in that article quaternary aminized cotton). More detailed
instructions for the making of such cotton than those in the
aforementioned article appear in, for example, the Textile Research
Journal, Nov. 1947 beginning on page 625, under the title
"Introduction of Amino Groups into Cotton Fabric by use of
2-Aminoethylsulfuric Acid" by Guthrie. Other substances that can be
similarly endowed with anion exchange sites by known methods are,
for example, paper pulp and finished paper, many synthetics such as
polystyrene or nylon or viscose rayon, the activation of which
latter with ion exchange sites is described in the last-cited
publication. For making such articles as combs and bristles of
brushes and the like, synthetics such as activated polystyrene or
the like are used. For typical wearing apparel articles and wiping
or scrubbing articles fabrics comprising activated cotton or the
like are used.
For wrappers and bags and envelopes activated paper or plastic are
used. These latter would be made in the manner of the prior art to
be essentially imperforate and relatively non-porous so as to
adequately retain such odorant substances as moist garbage, fish,
etc.
To meet the criteria of the invention the material must be capable
of substantially sorbing anions of odorant at the pH existing in
the region of contact between the material and the odorant. The pH
requirement means, for example, that if cotton is aminated and then
dyed with a type of acid dye that is strongly bound to, and thus
occupies, essentially all the active anion exchange sites, these
sites would not be available at the pH of human perspiration, for
example, to sorb the anions of the perspiration odorants. To render
such dyed cotton useful in the invention it would simply have to be
reprocessed after dyeing (i.e. aminated again) to endow it with
additional anion exchange sites free of the dye and hence available
for anion exchange action at the pH of perspiration.
The requirement for substantial sorption of anions means that
enough anion exchange sites are available to achieve deodorizing of
the intended odorant for a practical length of time before the
active ion exchange sites are exhausted and the article must be
discarded or the sites regenerated. In the practice of the
invention the determination of what constitutes a practical length
of time becomes readily apparent from the nature and use of the
article under consideration. For example, underwear such as a
T-shirt would typically be expected to be worn for a day or two
before laundering and such a length of time would thus be desired
as practical for it to deodorize the perspiration odorant it is
intended to sorb. On the other hand a dishcloth or the like is
usually usually used to wipe or scrub odorous surfaces for a period
of only minutes, if not just seconds, before it it subjected to a
soapy rinse which will regenerate it and thus a practical length of
time of such an article to be expected to deodorize the food
odorants etc. for which it is intended before all its ion exchange
sites are exhausted need be no more than minutes.
In the case of an article comprising material not made of separate
strands or fibers, such as plastic sheet, it is usually practical
to endow the entire material with active ion exchange sites
although the article may not require such a profusion for its
expected use. Although in the case of a fabric article, for
example, it may be convenient to endow the entire fabric with anion
exchange sites, it is often possible to achieve adequate
deodorizing with fabric made of a mixture of anion-exchange-site
strands or fibers and other strands or fibers which are not
activated or indeed may be endowed with cation exchange sites.
Cation exchange cottons are described in "Phosphorylated Cotton
Cellulose as a Cation-Exchange Material" by Jurgens, Reid and
Guthrie, in the Textile Research Journal, January 1948, pp. 42-44,
and "Studies on the Partial Carboxymethylation of Cotton" by Daul,
Reinhardt, and Reid in the Textile Research Journal, Dec. 1952 pp.
787-792. Also substantial sorption can be achieved with a wiping or
scrubbing article structured similar to the well-known pot cleaner
"Golden Fleece" and thus having granules of anion exchange resin or
plastic tethered to an unactivated nappy cloth base by gluing or
otherwise affixing them to the ends of the pile loops, for example,
of ordinary terry cloth. Such an article further illustrates
conformance with the definition of the invention: although the
individual resin particles constituting distinct components endowed
with active sites can move to some extent by virtue of their
tethering, they cannot, as a group, flow.
Differing from them only by virtue of being endowed with the anion
exchange sites required in the practice of the invention, the types
of substances used to comprise the respective articles are
generally similar to the substances used conventionally to make the
articles when the latter are not deodorizing, typically:felted
fabric for some hats, knitted fabric for undershirts, woven fabric
for some shirts, non-woven fabric for some wiping cloths, paper or
woven cloth for towels. In the case of suspenders, for example,
there is typically elastic material, such as rubber, covered by
cotton, for example. By endowing this cotton covering with anion
exchange sites the suspenders can be deodorized and maintained
deodorized against the odorant from perspiration for a practical
length of time and thus constitute a deodorant article. In like
manner combs and hairbrushes of activated nylon, for example,
deodorize themselves from body odorant they tend to pick up in
normal use. A catamenial device can comprise, for example, cotton
in the form of bulk cotton, padding or linters enclosed in a fabric
wrapping. The nature of the fibers prevents any flowing of
material. Any or all of the components can be activated, i.e.
endowed with anion exchange sites. Also a catamenial device can
comprise, for example, anion resin exchange powder or granules
tightly quilted into pockets of a base fabric which may itself, but
need not, be activated. The tight quilting prevents flow of the
resin. Window screens, filters for air ducts, andthe like can be
made of, for example, synthetics such as polystyrene activated not
only with anion exchange sites but also cation exchange sites to
achieve more effective deodorizing in some situations. Wrappers,
envelopes and bags can typically comprise materials such as more or
less conventional relatively non-porous wrapping paper or plastic
sheeting endowed in each case with anion exchange sites by any
convenient process known in the art (e.g. Calmon and Kressman op.
cit. Chaps, 9, 30). The substances used in components of the
article of the invention can generally be endowed with active ion
exchange sites while in their crude or raw material form, e.g.
fibers, thread yarn, or while in their partially finished form,
e.g. cloth, or when in their final form in the article itself.
Following are several specific examples of the practice of the
invention.
EXAMPLE 1
A pair of non-mercerized cotton socks were immersed for about five
minutes at room temperature in a solution of 25 percent sodium
hydroxide and 10 percent 2-aminoethylsulfuric acid, baked for 40
minutes at 208.degree.F. and washed in plain water through two
cycles of a home washing machine. One of these socks was worn on
one foot by a test subject suffering from foot perspiration and
odor while a non-treated control sock was worn on the other foot.
Examination carried out every two hours revealed that while
perceptible odor was present after the first two hours in the
control, no odor was detected even after sixteen hours in the shoe
or on the sock or foot in the case of the treated sock. The treated
sock was then laundered in a home washing machine using an ordinary
commercially available detergent providing an alkaline solution
containing Na.sup.+ and OH.sup.- ions.
The experiment was repeated for thirty days with daily launderings
of the socks and with the same result. Subsequently the daily
wearing and laundering of both treated socks was undertaken. Tests
over a prolonged period of time have failed to show any diminution
in the deodorizing effectiveness of the treated socks nor any
evidence of abnormal deterioration of wear of the fabric of the
treated socks indicating any shorter wearing life for the treated
socks compared with the normal wearing life of their untreated
counterparts.
Perhaps the most widely emphasized source of odorant for which
deodorizing is sought is the human axilla. For achieving this
deodorizing this invention includes a class of garments comprising
anion exchange material and characterized in that they are
fabricated and configured so that when they are normally worn the
anion exchange material of the garment contacts the odorant from
the axilla, typically because the garment is worn next to the body
so that the garment anion exchanger material is in direct contact
with the axilla. The ideal situation is for the anion exchanger
material to be in direct contact with the entire area of the axilla
from which odorant is exuded. This can be accomplished if a portion
of the garment is placed in contact with, and spans the entire area
of the axilla during the wearing of the garment and this material
is essentially imperforate, such as plastic sheeting. However, an
adequate result can be obtained if the material, being not
imperforate, exhibits a relatively tight or close mesh or weave
such as is common among such diverse garments as knitted T-shirts
and woven outer shirts. A garment which will deodorize the axilla
must, in order to achieve the aforementioned contact with odorant,
be configured so that the body portion of the garment has high
enough armholes that the region of the body portion of the garment
adjacent to, and in part forming the boundary of, the armholes and,
if the garment has sleeves, that region of the sleeves adjacent to
the armholes where the sleeves join the body of the garment
normally contact the axilla of the wearer of the garment when the
garment is worn by a wearer of the size for which the garment is
intended.
Typically to insure contact of the anion exchanger material with
the entire odorant-emitting area of the axilla the garment would be
one which provides a snug fit of close mesh fabric or the
equivalent in direct contact with the entire area of the axilla
during entire normal wearing of the garment. This normally implies
a garment with sleeves. Examples of such a garment usually worn
next to the body are union suits, with either short or long
sleeves, long or short sleeve undershirts of the type commonly worn
with drawers (often as thermal underwear), and ordinary
conventional T-shirts, which have short sleeves. The muscle shirt
and the sleeveless T-shirt both usually have a high enough armhole
(and sometimes appear to have even what might be called a
rudimentary or vestigial sleeve) so that they present some material
in contact with the axilla. All of the aforementioned are standard,
commonly-marketed items such as shown, for example, in the current
Montgomery Ward catalog for western U.S.
Not useful for axillary deodorizing would be the conventional
athletic undershirt distinguished by a deep armhole presenting, in
normal use, no material in contact with the axilla. The effective
surface area of the axilla-contacting material is the surface area
of the solid matter of the material, e.g. the threads or fibers, in
contact with the axilla and not the holes or gaps in the weave or
mesh. Thus the net-type undershirts exemplified by the Norwegian
string undershirt generally do not meet the criteria of the
invention because the net-type material used in them does not
present sufficient effective surface of material in contact with
the axilla to deodorize effectively inasmuch as the mesh of the
material is too coarse or open.
There is considerable variety among individuals as to the
profuseness and odoriferousness of perspiration. There is also
considerable variety of these characteristics with the same
individual under different circumstances. Because of the variety it
is impossible to determine the minimum requirements under all
conditions for the axillary contact portion of a satisfactorily
deodorizing garment. However, the invention comprehends garments of
such a configuration that they present anion exchanger material in
contact with a substantial portion of the axillary surface,
typically achieved by means of a high armhole and, most commonly,
with sleeves in addition. The garment must also present an
effective surface area of that portion of the anion exchanger
material of the garment which contacts the axilla sufficiently
large to contact a substantial portion of the area of the axilla
which exudes odorant, this being achieved by making that
axilla-contacting portion of the garment either of imperforate
material or of knitted or woven material or the like of relatively
tight weave or close mesh, such as typically found, for example, in
a conventional T-shirt or a broadcloth outer shirt.
It should be noted that although snug-fitting, sleeved garments
which provide essentially constant contact of their material with
the axillary surface during all normal attitudes of the wearer
certainly serve the purpose excellently, nevertheless effective
deodorizing can be achieved with garments providing somewhat
intermittent contact of their material with the axilla. For
example, a certain T-shirt has been found effectively deodorant for
a certain wearer even though its armholes and those portions of the
sleeves adjacent to the armholes are so large relative to proximal
section of upper arm of that wearer that axillary contact of the
shirt material occurs only when the upper arm is adducted and not
when it is abducted.
Other garments meeting the criteria of the invention are too
numerous to record and are self-evident in view of the ease of
testing them against the criteria. Obviously included are garments
customarily worn as outer garments (some of which are so named
simply because they are socially acceptable when worn in public
view), but frequently worn so as to present material in contact
with odorant emitted from the axilla either because they are worn
with no undergarment beneath them; or because the undergarment worn
beneath them itself has because of its configuration, little or no
axillary-contacting material and therefore allows direct contact of
the outer garment with the axilla; or because of the fit and
material of the undergarment and the fit of the outer garment the
odorant from the axilla is caused to permeate to and contact the
outer garment. Obviously included in garments meeting the inventive
criteria are T-shirts designed to be and worn as outer garments
with no undergarment, polo shirts, ordinary woven and knitted
shirts, sweaters, sweatshirts, jackets, various uniforms, both
civilian and military, blouses, robes, bodices and coats.
A conventional T-shirt, i.e. a T-shirt with obvious short sleeves,
quite apparently more than meets the aforementioned two criteria
for an axillary-deodorizing article of the invention. The single
figure of the drawing shows schematically such a T-shirt whose body
portion 1 has regions 2 adjacent to sleeves 3. The region of each
sleeve adjacent the body portion is designated by numeral 4. As is
well known, but nevertheless shown in the drawing to facilitate
envisioning it, the region 2 of the body portion and the adjacent
region 4 of the sleeve, the former serving to form the armhole and
the latter being usually sewn to the body portion along the
boundary of the armhole, combine to present an effective material
surface in contact with essentially 100% of the axilla when
normally worn by a wearer of the size for which the garment is
intended. Thus the ordinary T-shirt easily meets the requirement
for contact over a substantial portion of the odorant-emitting
axillary area. Because of the closeness of the normal, ordinary
T-shirt knit the criterion for effective surface area of material
contact is also easily satisfied. The T-shirt is hence chosen as
another example.
EXAMPLE 2
A man's ordinary T-shirt undergarment was made into an anion
exchanger in the same manner as described in Example 1. Under
conditions producing profuse sweating it was worn by a subject
whose axillary regions habitually produce prominent odor. Not until
after three days of wearing the undershirt did axillary
perspiration odor start to become perceptible from the body and on
the garment. The T-shirt was washed by hand in ordinary alkaline
detergent solution as in Example 1 and tested again in the same way
with the same result. Continued prolonged use of the garment with
laundering following each two-day wearing period has failed to
reveal any diminution in deodorizing effectiveness or any evidence
of wear at a faster rate than that of similar untreated
T-shirts.
According to the earlier mentioned article by Guthrie in Industrial
and Engineering Chemistry of September 1952, aminated cotton
exhibits an anion exchange capacity of 0.6 meq. per gram. Since the
conventional aforementioned T-shirt and socks effectively
deodorized for a practical length of time, it appears that the
ordinary knit of these items provides sufficient material in
contact with the odorant to provide enough ion exchange sites to
accomplish the desired deodorizing when the anion exchange capacity
of the material is of the order of 0.6 meq. per gram. The same can
be said for the towel, cheesecloth and insole cloth hereinafter
described.
EXAMPLE 3
A cotton towel was made into an anion exchanger in the same manner
as described in Example 1. It was then used to wipe water-wetted
hands soiled with sardine oil. Olfactory examination of the wiped
hands revealed absence of odor. The same experiment was repeated
with hands soiled with onion and garlic and the same results were
obtained.
EXAMPLE 4
A surgical mask was fashioned from layers of aminated cheesecloth.
The mask was worn and the atmosphere over open bottles of butyric
acid, feces, crushed garlic, and parboiled cabbage was sniffed. No
odor was detected.
EXAMPLE 5
A sandwiched shoe insole was fashioned from layers of anion and
cation exchange cloth made, respectively, of aminated cotton and
partially carboxymethylated cotton. This insole was placed in one
shoe of a pair and, as a control, an insole of untreated layers of
cotton was placed in the other shoe of the pair. The shoes were
worn by a subject who wore ordinary untreated socks and whose feet
characteristically produced noticeable malodor. At various
intervals the feet, shoes, and insoles were smelled. No malodor was
detected on the treated insole nor on the foot or shoe associated
therewith, whereas the malodor was readily apparent on their
control counterparts. The deodorant capability lasted for from two
to three days after which the treated insole was regenerated by
ordinary laundering restoring the ion exchangers to the Na.sup.+
and OH.sup.- forms.
From the foregoing it is apparent that the articles of the
invention endowed with active ion exchange sites are applied to
their normal use in the same manner as their un-endowed
counterparts and deodorize incident to their other usual functions.
Ordinary laundering with common alkaline detergent or soap serves
the usual purpose of cleaning those anion exchange articles
normally washed and re-used and simultaneously regenerates the
exhausted anion exchange sites. Those articles such as window
screens, endowed with both anion exchange sites and cation exchange
sites, are regenerated by rising with solutions containing NaOH,
Na.sub.2 CO.sub.3, or NaHCO.sub.3, or the like.
* * * * *