EP1347089A1

EP1347089A1 - Non-woven fabric material with dust saturation indicator and duster made from said material

Info

Publication number: EP1347089A1
Application number: EP03005608A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Marco Maranghi
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2002-03-14
Filing date: 2003-03-12
Publication date: 2003-09-24
Also published as: ITMI20020544A0; ITMI20020544A1

Abstract

A non-woven fabric material with the capacity for developing an electrostatic charge suitable for attracting and retaining dust, a portion (7) of which has an electrostatic potential different from that of the remaining portion (8) of said material.

The non-woven fabric material of the invention is suitable for making a duster provided with an indicator of dust saturation of said cloth.

Description

The present invention concerns a new non-woven fabric, provided with an indicator able to indicate the state of saturation of this material as regards dust. The invention also extends to the duster made with this material.
The field of the invention is that of materials, usually in the form of cloths of fibres of non-woven fabric, used for dry cleaning of surfaces in general (such as the surfaces of furniture, floors and the like), such materials having a certain electrostatic charge, efficacious for attracting dust.
Materials of this type are, for example, those of non-woven fabric impregnated with auxiliary chemical agents, or those consisting of fibres having different deniers, in particular of the type described in prior patent No. EP 1 125 542 A1.
Materials of the type recalled above perform their action of attracting dust, through an electrostatic effect, only to a certain extent, beyond which saturation of said material occurs. Under these conditions this material is no longer able to attract and retain dust and must therefore be replaced.
The drawback of the known embodiments described above resides principally in the fact that these materials do not provide the user with an obvious indication of the state of saturation of the cloth. Thus it can happen that a cloth that is still effective for use is replaced in advance or, on the contrary, that a material already devoid of electrostatic capacity is used in conditions that are no longer suitable for use.
The principal object of the present invention is to create a new non-woven fabric material, and the duster obtained therewith, of the type for dry-cleaning of surfaces in general, that is able to indicate to the user the need for replacement because the state of saturation with respect to dust has been reached.
These and other objects are achieved with the material and the duster of independent claims 1 and 10, respectively. Preferred embodiments of the invention are apparent from the remaining claims.
With respect to materials of the prior art, that of the invention offers the important advantage of eliminating waste due to early replacement of a product that is still effective, whilst still ensuring an optimal cleaning efficiency. A further advantage, which is consequent upon the previous one, is represented by the fact that the above mentioned indication prevents the error of using duster that has already become ineffective for this purpose.
Further objects, characteristics and advantages are apparent from the description that follows of a preferred method of producing the material of the invention, illustrated, by way of non-limiting example, in the figures of the appended drawings, where

Figure 1 illustrates a block diagram of the manufacturing procedure of the material according to the invention,
Figure 2 illustrates an example of a duster, obtained with the procedure of Figure 1, and
Photographs 3, 4 e 5 illustrate, respectively, the duster of Figure 2 in the clean state prior to use, at a medium level of saturation and at a level of complete saturation.

According to the invention, a conventional non-woven fabric 1 for dry-cleaning of surfaces in general (treated with chemical agents capable of producing an electrostatic action, or made with fibres with different deniers, as described in patent No. EP 1 125 542 A1) is subjected to a procedure of flexographic, silkscreen or rotogravure printing or similar. This treatment serves to deposit on the surface of the cloth 1 a chemical agent suitable to create thereon a portion of surface provided with a different electrostatic potential with respect to the remainder of the surface of the cloth. This portion of the surface will preferably have a higher electrostatic potential than that of the remaining part thereof.
For this purpose, the starting non-woven fabric material of Figure 1, preferably of the type described in previous patent No. EP 1 125 542 A1, is subjected to flexographic printing in a printing unit 2. Said printing unit has, in particular, a roller assembly, roller 3 of which is provided with a cliché 4 suitable to be impregnated with a chemical agent 5 contained in a tank 6 of said printing unit 2. Said chemical agent 5 is of the type suitable for creating a specific electrostatic potential on the corresponding surface 7 of the fabric 1, preferably a greater electrostatic potential than that of the remaining portion 8 of the surface of said fabric.
As shown in Figure 2, the fabric 1 obtained with the printing procedure described, after a long period of use and having reached saturation, will exhibit the area 7 (namely that treated with the above described agent 5) with darker or more opaque colour than the remainder 8 of the fabric. In this manner the state of saturation of the material is indicated.
In the annexed photographs 3, 4 e 5 a cloth for dry-cleaning of the surfaces of objects, obtained with the above described materials, is illustrated in the following states:
Figure 3 clean cloth, before use
Figure 4 cloth at intermediate level of saturation
Figure 5 cloth in state of saturation
As is apparent from these photographs, as use of this cloth progresses, the zone 7 with a higher electrostatic potential tends to stand out from the rest of the surface of the cloth 1, assuming a darker colour (due to greater deposition of dust) with respect to the remaining part 8. When this difference in shade takes on very marked and clearly visible outlines, the cloth must be replaced.
Among the chemical agents 5 that can be employed, those which cause an increase in the electrostatic potential of the cloth are preferred. A chemical agent particularly suitable for the purposes of the invention is represented by white mineral oil, preferably pure.
Particularly for applications on non-woven fabric material with fibres of different deniers, in particular as described in the prior patent No. EP 1 125 542 A1, the application of white mineral oil is carried out in an amount of about 4g/m² for a fabric with a weight of 65 g/m². In this manner a saturation indicator effective for indicating the state of use of said cloth is created on the surface of said cloth.
As a variant with respect to the embodiment described above, said portion 7 presents a lower electrostatic potential than that of the remaining portion 8 of material. In this case the agent 5 may consist of a common surface active agent.
Furthermore, said portion 7 can assume any shape or pattern, such as a simple line or a trademark.

Claims

Non-woven fabric material with the capacity to develop an electrostatic charge, suitable for attracting and retaining dust on the surface of said material, characterised in that it has an indicator of dust saturation, said indicator having an electrostatic potential with a valve different from that of said material.
Material as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that said saturation indicator consists of a portion (7) of surface of said material (1) which forms an electrostatic differential with the remaining part (8) of said material.
Material as claimed in claim 2, characterised in that said portion of surface (7) has a higher electrostatic potential with respect to that of the remaining part (8) of said material.
Material as claimed in claim 2, characterised in that said portion of surface (7) has a lower electrostatic potential with respect to that of the remaining part (8) of said material.
Material as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims, characterised in that said saturation indicator consists of white mineral oil, applied to said portion (7) of material.
Material as claimed in claim 5, characterised in that said white mineral oil is in the pure state.
Material as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims, characterised in that said saturation indicator is applied by flexographic, silkscreen or rotogravure printing or the like.
Material as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims, characterised in that said non-woven fabric material is formed of synthetic fibres with different deniers.
Material as claimed in claim 8 with a weight of 65 g/m², characterised in that said indicator consists of 4 g/m² of white mineral oil.
Cloth for dry-cleaning of surfaces in general with the capacity to develop an electrostatic charge during use, characterised in that it is produced with the non-woven fabric material as claimed in any one of the preceding claims.