Unilever Home and Personal Care Usa, Division of Conopco, Inc.

Unilever Patent Holdings B.v.

Unilever Home & Personal Care USA

Henning Wagner

Jelles Vincent Boskamp

Marcel Van Der Kraan

Peter William Appel

Edwin Leo Lempers

Peter Willem Appel

James William Gordon

Christophe Michel Joyeux

Anshu Mali Gupta

Christophe Michel Joueux

Detergent tablets for use in fabric washing are made by mixing: (i) particles which contain non-soap organic surfactant and other materials, especially detergency builder, with (ii) material which is other than soap or organic surfactant and which has a solubility in water of at least 10 gm/liter at 20&deg; C., followed by compacting the mixture into a tablet or a region of a tablet using an applied pressure in a range from 3.0 to 35 MPa. Such a pressure, used with the specified mixture, leads to tablets with good strength which also disintegrates with satisfactory speed.

Process for the manufacture of tablet detergent compositions

Detergent compositions in the form of tablets used in fabric washing which incorporate most of the surfactants in particles which constitute a substantial part but not all the composition of the tablet. The organic surfactant in this particles provides a substantial part but not all of the weight of the particles. The mixture of anionic and nonionic detergent surfactants is employed wherein anionic is clearly in the majority. The balance of the composition contains a substantial proportion of material other than organic surfactant which is water-soluble.

Detergent compositions in tablet form

A detergent tablet having at least two discrete regions each compacted from particulate composition, wherein a first said region consists of a compacted particulate composition containing swelling disintegrant such that the region increases in volume on contact with water, and in at least one direction through said region is flanked on both sides by one or more other regions which swell to a lesser extent on contact with water than said first region.

Detergent compositions

A detergent tablet of compacted particulate composition which has a pair of opposite faces spaced apart from each other and joined by a peripheral surface of the tablet, wherein the tablet has a first region which provides a first part of a said face and a second region which provides an adjoining part of the face with a discontinuity at the junction of the said parts of the face; and apparatus adapted to make such a tablet.

Growing community of inventors

Vlaardingen, Netherlands

Henning Wagner