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  Post conversion nonwovens processingUSPTO Application #: 20080014818Title: Post conversion nonwovens processing Abstract: A method of treated a nonwoven substrate after the normal conversion process to generate modification to the Z dimension. The method can be accomplished either before or after placing the substrate in a consumer container. The method can be accomplished by the consumer. The treatment can be the application of heat to increase the thickness of the substrate. The result can be a product combination of a canister containing a roll of wipes where the thickness of the wipes is enhanced prior to loading with a cleaning formulation. (end of abstract) Agent: The Clorox Company - Oakland, CA, US Inventors: Marc Privitera, David Jackson Lestage, Gregory van Buskirk, Jason White USPTO Applicaton #: 20080014818 - Class: 442213 (USPTO) The Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20080014818. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001]1. Field of the Invention [0002]The present invention relates generally to manufacturing post-treatment of nonwoven substrates. The present invention relates generally to consumer post- treatment of nonwoven substrates. The invention also relates to treatment of nonwoven substrates in consumer packaging containers. The invention also relates to cleaning substrates, cleaning heads, cleaning pads, cleaning sponges and related systems. [0003]2. Description of the Related Art [0004]U.S. Pat. App. 2004/0106345 to Zafiroglu discloses a laminated multilayer textured composite formed by a simultaneous pressure embossing and thermal laminating process. U.S. Pat. No. 6,809,048 to Jacobs discloses a heating process for forming a three-dimensional nonwoven laminate. U.S. Pat. No. 6,561,354 to Fereshtehkhou et al. describes a three-dimensional cleaning sheet formed when a contractable scrim material is heated and then cooled. U.S. Pat. No. 6,723,416 to Groitzsch et al. discloses a three-dimensional nonwoven formed from a heated shrinkage process. U.S. Pat. No. 6,774,070 to Kenmochi et al. discloses a nonwoven from core-sheath fibers. U.S. Pat. No. 6,187,699 to Terakawa et al. discloses nonwoven laminated by thermal fusion of the layers. U.S. Pat. No. 6,506,695 to Gardner et al. discloses a nonwoven web and film laminate with deformations in the film formed by heat and pressure. U.S. Pat. No. 6,270,875 to Nissing discloses a multilayer wipe that changes thickness when wetted. [0005]These processes generally form a textured substrate while the substrate is moving along the production line in a continuous fashion. The increase in texture comes at a sacrifice to line speed, since generally the line must run at a slower speed in order to control the texturing operation. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a nonwoven substrate that overcomes the disadvantages and shortcomings associated with prior art substrates and related systems. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0006]In accordance with the above objects and those that will be mentioned and will become apparent below, one aspect of the present invention comprises a product combination for delivering a nonwoven product to a consumer comprising; [0007]a. a consumer container; and [0008]b. a roll of nonwoven substrate; [0009]c. wherein the nonwoven substrate has a Z-dimension thickness A when placed in the consumer container; [0010]d. wherein the nonwoven substrate is treated in the consumer container to modify the Z-dimension thickness to give a Z-dimension thickness B. [0011]e. wherein the Z-dimension thickness B is greater than the Z-dimension thickness A as a result of the treatment operation; and [0012]f. wherein the treatment operation is not adding a liquid to the substrate in the consumer container. [0013]In accordance with the above objects and those that will be mentioned and will become apparent below, another aspect of the present invention comprises a method of increasing the Z-dimension thickness of a nonwoven substrate used for a cleaning wipe comprising: [0014]a. slitting the substrate; and [0015]b. heating the substrate resulting in a modification of the Z-dimension of the substrate. [0016]In accordance with the above objects and those that will be mentioned and will become apparent below, another aspect of the present invention comprises a method of modifying a specific attribute of a nonwoven substrate comprising: [0017]a. placing the substrate in a consumer container; and [0018]b. treating the substrate to modify the specific attribute; [0019]c. wherein the treatment is not adding a liquid to the substrate in the consumer container. [0020]Further features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of the detailed description of preferred embodiments below, when considered together with the attached claims. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [0021]Before describing the present invention in detail, it is to be understood that this invention is not limited to particularly exemplified systems or process parameters that may, of course, vary. It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments of the invention only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention in any manner. [0022]All publications, patents and patent applications cited herein, whether supra or infra, are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety to the same extent as if each individual publication, patent or patent application was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference. [0023]As used herein and in the claims, the term "comprising" is inclusive or open-ended and does not exclude additional unrecited elements, compositional components, or method steps. Accordingly, the term "comprising" encompasses the more restrictive terms "consisting essentially of" and "consisting of". [0024]It must be noted that, as used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an" and "the" include plural referents unless the content clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to a "surfactant" includes two or more such surfactants. [0025]Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the invention pertains. Although a number of methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice of the present invention, the preferred materials and methods are described herein. [0026]In the application, effective amounts are generally those amounts listed as the ranges or levels of ingredients in the descriptions, which follow hereto. Unless otherwise stated, amounts listed in percentage ("%'s") are in weight percent (based on 100% active) of the cleaning composition alone, not accounting for the substrate weight. Each of the noted cleaner composition components and substrates is discussed in detail below. [0027]As used herein, the term "substrate" is intended to include any material that is used to treat a surface, for example, to clean an article or a surface. A wide variety of materials can be used as the substrate. The substrate should have sufficient wet strength, abrasivity, loft and porosity. Examples of suitable substrates include, nonwoven substrates, wovens substrates, hydroentangled substrates, foams and sponges. The substrate can be attached to a cleaning implement, such as a floor mop, handle, or a hand held cleaning tool, such as a toilet-cleaning device. [0028]As used herein the term "polymer" generally includes but is not limited to, homopolymers, copolymers, such as for example, block, graft, random and alternating copolymers, terpolymers, etc. and blends and modifications thereof. Furthermore, unless otherwise specifically limited, the term "polymer" shall include all possible geometrical configurations of the material. These configurations include, but are not limited to isotactic, syndiotactic and random symmetries. As used herein the term "thermoplastic" or "thermoplastic polymer" refers to polymers that will soften and flow or melt when heat and/or pressure are applied, the changes being reversible. [0029]As used herein, "film" refers to a polymer film including flat nonporous films, and porous films such as microporous, nanoporous, closed or open celled, breathable films, or apertured films. [0030]As used herein, the term "fiber" includes both staple fibers, i. e., fibers which have a defined length between about 2 and about 20 mm, fibers longer than staple fiber but are not continuous, and continuous fibers, which are sometimes called "continuous filaments" or simply "filaments". The method in which the fiber is prepared will determine if the fiber is a staple fiber or a continuous filament. [0031]As used herein, where a nonwoven includes fibers, the terms "nonwoven" or "nonwoven substrate" means a substrate having a structure of individual fibers or threads which are interlaid, but not in an identifiable manner as in a knitted web. Nonwoven substrates also include films. Nonwoven substrates have been formed from many processes, such as, for example, meltblowing processes, spunbonding processes, and bonded carded web processes. The basis weight of nonwoven substrates is usually expressed in ounces of material per square yard (osy) or grams per square meter (gsm) and the fiber diameters useful are usually expressed in microns, or in the case of staple fibers, denier. It is noted that to convert from osy to gsm, multiply osy by 33.91. [0032]The term "denier" is defined as grams per 9000 meters of a fiber. For a fiber having circular cross-section, denier may be calculated as fiber diameter in microns squared, multiplied by the density in grams/cc, multiplied by 0.00707. A lower denier indicates a finer fiber and a higher denier indicates a thicker or heavier fiber. Outside the United States the unit of measurement is more commonly the "tex," which is defined as the grams per kilometer of fiber. Tex may be calculated as denier divided by 9. The "mean fiber denier" is the sum of the deniers for each fiber, divided by the number of fibers. Continue reading... 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