Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
.
r~8 invent,on rel~tes to the ma~ufactuxe of matches.
~xiction matche~ con~0ntionally compIise a match stem or aplint
impregn~ted or coated wlth ~ filel, e.g. paraffin wax a~d carrying
a head form~d from a match head composition whioh is i~liteble by
striking on a ~uitable ~nrface.
Match splints have to meet a num~ax of ~iffex~nt require~ents
in order to be conmlarcially acceptable. Pbr example, they have to
be s,ufficien-tly rigid to permit tha match to be Btr~Ck whilqt holding
the match soms way away from the match head~ the~r ~e to have a
degree of tough~ss~ qo that they do not break easily, they ha~e to
have quf~icient porosity to ~orb a~d retain the ~ax or other ~uel
which is u~ed to fuel the flame~ ~nd moreovex a porosity whicn
~5 permits the fuel t~ migrate through the p-,res during the bul~ ng
process to ~uel the ~la e, but without allowing dreplets of fuel to
drop from the burni~g m~i;æh, and they must a~so preser~e a lax~e
me,asure of their strengt~ and tonehness throughout t~e burni~g pxocess
~ BO that hot or possibl~ still burn~g ember~ do not bre~ or drop
-' o~f.
hough non-wooden 3plint9 ha~e ba~n uEad ~ld ara usad exten-
si~ely in certain speoial ~pplicatio~s, e.g. st~ips of oard, parti-
culf~rly in the so~called bcok macches, a~d wa~. lmpre~nated paper
I ~pllnts~ and although many pxopo6al~ have been m~d- for 3ynthetic
or non-wooaen splintF, wooden F,plint6 a~a s',;ill extensively used
in the matoh industry beoause of theix u~ique combinatio~ of ri~idit~v.
tou~hros~ and porosity. Econonio pressure~ in the tLmber i-ndustr~
e,re,, howefver, creating a demamd ~or a ohe,ap F,ubsti~ute for th~s wooden
match splint, a demand wbich ha not ~c, far sati~ ao'corily bean met
by ~is~ci~S propoFal3 ~r æyntheJcic or aubstitut;e woode~ ~,plints.
i~he variOUE, propoaals for synthetic or æub~titute wooden matoh
splinta inolude:
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;v Pat.^r.ts ~os~ 959575~ ~,647,04a ~rJd 3J185~5~2 all of
~rhich ~ cloue p~per ox bo~ra 8plint9 stifiened b~J impregna-
tion with resinous or plastic~ materials of variouE3l~ind~;
- Japanese Patent ~ublications NosO 7~-21 042, 74-21 043 and
74-21 0~4 which disclose pla~tics match aplints coMprising a
plastio~ bini~!r in combination with various filler~;
Japanese Patent Publioation~ Ilos. 7~-38 ~6 ~nd 7~-59 157
which ai~close matoh~ticks formed from a moulded cellulose
`~ material;
~~ 10 U~Ko Patent NoO 862~9~2 which clisclo~es match ~plints composed
,., -- .
~, of an extruaed combu~tible mixhlre of finely divided ve~etable
ma~erial eOg. paper pulpg wood pulp, sawdust ~ith a ~rnthetic
-~ , mater.ial ~uch as cellulose acetate, with or without additional
~ .
agglutinants, impxegnating a~ents aad ~illers; ~na
j 15 U.K. Patent ~o. 882,713 which discloses match sp~ints composed
, of rm ou'er combustible ~hell a~d an inner at least p~rtly
i combustible core, the shell and the core both beLng for~ed from
j oombustible mater~als such as wood pulp, papsr, sawdust, if
~ neces~ary with an a~lutinant such as starch or glue ~rhich bi~ds
¦ 20 the particulate material together to form a substantially rigid,
sel:~-supporting structure.
The pxesent invention differs from the foregoing proposals in
divorcing the functions of rigidity and porosity aMd s based on the
i ~urprising discove~y that if a mixture o~ low melting point sol-d
fuel e~g. paraffin wax and a finel~ divided particulate or fibrous
f~ller, additionall~ containing either a volatile solvent for the fuPl
or ~ water-soluble or water-dispersible adhesive or a mixture of the
two, i~ applied as an aqueous di~persion to the surface of the mat~h
etem, which may be no~-combustible and substantially non-porous, and
allo~Jed to d~y tb.~reoh nrior to .fn2~ation o.~ 1;hQ me~t.^h head9 a match
2~4
: ' .
iB obta~ ea.wr~ n b~ w~ at ~ controllea rate7 and ~Soreover bv,-~n3
without -the format.ion of d~ople'v~ of` molten WQX. r~US~ the preaen
; inventl,~ provide~ for co~trolled fuelli~ of the fleme divorced from
the poro~it3r of o~her~ise of the ~te-~ itselt`. This i~ention there-
fore opens up the possibili.t3~ of u~ing a wide xange of cheap
natural or synthet:.c materials as match sp'lint~ which have hitherto
been ruled out becell~e the poro~ity charactcristics of the mate~al
have not been acceptable even though suitable in other respect6.
In accordance with the present inventicn therefore, there i~
provided a method for the manufacture of match splinl6, which com-
prise~ applying to the splint, for e~ample~ b~ dipping, paillt~ng or
sprayin~, ~n aqv.eous disper~ior!. compri~inSr i) a solid low ,mr,:lting
point,solld fuel, e.g. a hydrocarbon fuel such as para~fin Wa~3
ii) a finely divided particulate or fi~roll6 filler, and iii) either
a water-immisoible solven-t for the fuel or a water-so~ubl~ or water-
diæpersible adlesi~a or both and allowinO~ the dispersion to dry
I thereon, thereby to form a surface coating comprisillg the fuel and
,~ the filler,in ad~ixture and o;r,tionally containing said adhesive7 said
coating extending alon~ at lea~t a portion of the leng~th of the splint
adjacent one end thereof. ~lhereafter, the head c~n be fo~med on the
~ coated splint in a con~entional ma~ner, e.~. by dipping the coated
.
, end of the splint in a~ aqueous match~head composition7 there~y to
form a bulb of the friction ignitable match head co~po ition on the
,j .
,~ end of the splint.
'~he particulate or fibrou~ material used in the coating layer
¦ ma,y be of a combus~ible or non combustible material and may be
porous or ~ubsta~tially non-porou~. Porou~ fillers ~re howevcx
prefexred e.g. ibrou3 filler materials such as chopped nswsprint,
cotton, jute, cardboer~ and chopped synthetic fibre. ~ne prefexred
i 30 particulate filler is ungelatinized ~tarch~ but other fillers, e.g~
,' ground peat, sawdust, t~lc and china cla,v ma,v also be u~ed.
,.
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In tl-!e case o~ thc- pre~erred fibrou~ i:illers~ ~vch as choppca
; ~ew~pxint, cotton rag or jute, fibre leng~.. hs may range _rom 0~1 to
; 1.0 mm and diameters from 5-80 llm, out the~e ~Limen~ion~ are not
~- cr.itical. Likewise, t;he particle sifie nf the part;iculate materialF
is not cxitical and m.ly range from 1 - 200 IJm.
In order to di~perse the ~uel in the aqueous medi.~n, a ~ur~ac-
tal~t, usually an anionic or noxl-ionic surfactant, ~11 u~uall~ be
xequired, as will reaaily be apparerl~ to the skilled reader.
, ~ variet~ of solid, low-meltin~ point, water-diqpersible fuals
j 10 may be used, but usual-y9 and as i9 customary in the art, the ~uel
of choioe will be a ~ydroc~rbor.~a~ e.g. paaaffi}l ~ax of m.p. _n tke
:cc~nge ~5~70 C. ~ong ohain ,t.a'Jt~ acid~ (14 - 20 carbon. atom~) e g
~ stearic acid, may c~lso be used, optionally in admixture with p~raffin-
,~ wa~. A particuJ.æly Dreferred fuel is a ~i,Y'tUl'e of paraffin wax ~ld
stearic acid, sin~e it .s fourld t11at the.pressnce of such a long
ohain ~atty acid subs,tantially increases the subsequen" adhesion of
the match head to the ~plin-t. Mixtur~ ratios of lon~ chai~ fatty
,acid to para.~in wax may range from 10-90 to 90alO~ preferably about
j 50:50. 0-ther methods of promoting head adhesiorl a~e available7 e~g.
¦ 20 by roughening the surface of the splLnt before dipping in -the match
~¦ head composition or b~ buildi-n~ up the head by a multiple, e.~.
double9 ~ipping process.
¦ ~he third essential eo~ponent of the a~ueous dispersions used
~¦ in this .invention, apart from water, is a water-immisciblc ~ola-tile
¦ 25 Eolvent for the fuel or~ alter~atively, a wate~-soluble or water-
~! diBper8ible adheEi~e. The water-iDmiscible volatile sol.~ent$ which
may be a liquid h~drocarbon ~u.ch as x~lene, or a petroleum distillate
e.g. kerosene or white spirit, ~e~es aæ a coale~cinO agent for the
disper~ed fuel partiGles during the drying process theraby to ohtain
a coherent coating of "he fuel on the splintO Al-tern~,;i~el~ thele
': : . '- ' .:
Z~4
can be used a l.7ater-dispersible or wat~3r-~oluble adhesive ~o serve
as a ~inder for the deposited ruel par1;icles and the finely di~rided
fibrous or partic~late fil?~r.
The -type of adheaive is not critic~., althou~h ~lhesives ~iving
; 5 of~ ~oxlous odours on burning sl1ould b~ ~voided. ~later-based
adhe~ives such as starch or modified ~tarch a~hesive~9dextrins a~d
oarboxymethyloellulose are prefexred, or'inorganic ~:ilicates depend-
ing~qn the material of the .ore a~d on the ¢ompo~ition of the
particles or fibrous material ~orming the surface layer.
~.
If desired7 a coa'escing agent9i~. the wa~er-immiscible volatile
,l ~olvent9 can be used in con,junc~ion with a water-soll1ble or wate~-dis-
', persible adhesive.
,~ Coa-'ing wei~ht alld thickne3s will be determi~lea by a nt~mber of
~, factors eOg. the dimensions of the splint and the type of coating
:,i , . :
~, 15 material9 bub more partictlarly the type and amount of fuel t~hich is
to be applied. On a splint of con~entional match dimensions, such
~ as, fore~ample a l.9 mm square, ¢oating weight3 will prsferab~y be
;~ .
such as tQ provide about 15 mg of fuel per cm of the coated ~plint
¦ ' length. Howc~er7 it i~ a particular eattlre of this invention tha~
high fuel loadings can be obtained provided that a ~ufficie~tly high
~¦ proportion of filler i~ pr~sent to prevent drop foxmation d~rin~ the
burning procés~.
me léngth OI the splint covered ~ the 3urfar~e Goating will be
~¦ ~ariable dependin~ on the dimen~ion3 of the ~te~ itselî, -the thiGkne3s
of the coating and the quanti.ty of wax or o-ther fuel that it iB
de~ired to provide on the 3plint. 'J~he coating m~y exte~d the whole
- length of the. 3plin-t or only along part of itB length adjacent one
end~ e.g. the len~th of ~plint covered by the coating ma~r ollly be
- 1 - 2 cm on a ~plint of convenl;ional length of 3 - 4 cms.
A varie1iy of material~ ma~ be u3ed a~3 the splin-t. p~ovided that
-- 6 --
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they ha.re ~;he :L~9UiSi~ StreOgrt~l ~.nd ~,Oli~InC13.',9 e.~';. wlJod9 ~la~,
metal, plS~5 ;lcs. Xowe.~rer, 2.3 alre~dy pointed out, i t. -Lf3 a pa~
cula3c advant~e o. thi~ in~entior~ thqt the porosity OL' khe spli~t
il3 :in~mat2rial ~nd tl)a., su.hsta.ntially no~E,orou~ m~teri~l~ can b~ -
5 used, or ~aterials l;rhich lua~y not h3.~e the requiste radi~J 9 ap, well
a~3 ~cial porosi.ty, l,th:ich har3 hil;herto been s?f~enti~ in matcll
Dpl.inkf3 to pe:rmit the impre~ ;ted fuel to mi~,rate both 8~iall,^~ ahd
radiall~r of the splint duri~g -the burning proceDs in order to
provide ~ f3tead~r flo~,r of :E~uel to the fla~ne, iihereby en~urin,3~ a ,3~lb
sts~tially cons-,a~t Xl2me height. Ef3peciall~ preferrad b,y ~eason of
ow C0~3t ~lr9 CorQpo~ .ite mQterial c:omp:rising a fi~Drous fi7 1er 33~;.ch a~3
chopped ne~!rsprint9 cctSon wa~t3e or jul;e~ in admixture wit~
adhesive or re~3in binder which can be e2truded or othex~ e shaped
into eplin-t3 of the appropria:~e leng~th.
In depo3~iting the fue1/filler co3 ting on the ~3p~ .Lt9 the aqueous
aispersl~n l,ril~ genera;Lly contaiIl, on a voiume basi~3, 20-75D~o water,
preferably 20-30~; 15-3~J ~uel~ pref`erably 20-~0 '; and 10-605b fill~3r~
preferably 2C-50~ th3 c:~33e of dispexsions empleyin~ a volatile
solvent, this will generall~ be u~ed in amount~ ~p, o 2~90 by wei~lt,
baaea on the wei~ht of the fuel, preferably 10-203~o. In the case of
disper~ionf3 employing ~ adh0sive, this will generally b0 used in
J amouIlt~, o~ a volum0 ba~is, OI 1~10,~, preIerably 1-5f~. Surfe~tant
concentrations will generall~r be in the ran~e 0~1 to .~.0~0 by volume,
prefera~ly 0~1 to l.O~o. Particularly useful îolmul~;tlons e~plo~in~
a) an adhe~ive ~d b~ a volatile solvent are aE3 follow8~ the percen-
tar~33 a~e on a vol)~e ba3is:
25% pa;raffirl wa~ 37% paraffin ~ax
25% water 3r~o w2.ter
:~0 3~tarch r~l a~- e3~ive 1~% mai~e ~larch (~iller)
~ 47% flbrov.~ flller 15/o 1!rhite spirit
l~o ~L~ri`~t~nt* ~o surfactc~llt~
*~r~ ionic ~.xfactant conta:ining ~0~' acti-v33 in~redient, ~oc3.i~13i al~-l
n~;D~ll;b.alen~ ?~ e
'~he a~ueo~ diF~i)f.~.)..on containi.ng "he fuel, the f.iller and
the ~olve~, or c~lhS~i.ve m-~y be applied to the ~plint by any ~ita731e
techuLi~ue e.g. by painti.ng or 8pra~ing7 but most u~v.~ and con~
veniently by dipping~ 'rhe quc~tlty appli.ed ~ill va~y w;dsly
depending on the poro~ity of the ~plint, the overall d;~en~ioncl
and the type of fuel. ~or the conventlona.lly r~lzed ~a~ch ~lin~,
e.~. 2.~ x 2.3 mm 1.n cro~ ect:ion~ the amount oi paraffin wax
- applied mc~y ~uitably range from 5 mg to 40 mg of wax par oentimetre.
of coating len~kh, pre.ferabl~ a~out, 15 mg6
~ollowin~ applicatio~ of the coating, the match head compo~ition
may be appl.ied in a conYentiona~. m~ner~ r~uch a~ by dipping. The ~: :
~, .
compositiQn~ a~d te¢hrique~ o~ doing thi~ are ~uite conventional
and form no part of -this in~e~-tlonO ~hey therefore clo not need to be
' described ~brther.
typical match manufactured ln accordan¢e ~Jith tbi~ inventiGn
is lllustrated in the accompanying drawing.
~l ~he ma-tch compri~es a splint 1 aecordirJg -to this ~vention haYi~g
a head ~ foxmed thexeon of a conventional match head composition
hich may either be o~ the safety or strike al~rw~A~ere t~pe~
~he splint itself comprise~ a rigid core or stem 3 which exte~d3
~ ~he l~ngth of the ~p'li~t a~d the end of which is embedded in the match
;7 head compo~ition. '~he c~re 3 i~ of any suitabl~ rigid and tough1 material, e,g. wood , ,dlastics, glas~ or ~ compo~i~e ~a~el al such
i ' as sa,wdust9 chopped ne~/sprint~ chopped cotton ragO jute or any other
~, 25 wa~te fibrous material bonded with a ~uitahle bonding ~ent e~
¦ ~ ~tarch or a ~ynthetic plastic~ resin, and extr~ded or othexwise
~h~ped to provide a, ~u~tably ~ized ~ore.
i A paxtisularly prefe~red materi~l for the core is a ~ood substi-
tute compo~ition comprisil.g a bler~d of h~dxophilic and hy~rophobic
fibres bonaed together ~nd oriente~ cilon~ ca cvmmon axi~ in this case~
9Z~4
,
tha axir OI '~he ~ ci~, tem9 .i.n a r~atrix. of ~r:e~ul~ur sta-rch and a
hydropi-~llc poly~er b-ind~r ana containi~g ~l aaditio2~ p -to 6% ~y
weight (~y solids l)a~) of` a cross~lir~;in~ agent c~pable of
Cti~lg i21 an acid catai~r~ed :L~eaotion with the starch corr.ponent
of the ~atrix ~nd tile~eby to insolubiliY.e the ~tarch~
; rnhe f:ib~e blt`- d 5021~titUte~ from 30~~6 by wei~lt~ d ~ solid~
basis, of tha total cor~position w~l-th the 1~-dropilllic fi~res cons~ri-
tuting the major proportion, pre.i'erabl~J 90-99.~' by wei~ht of the
blend. r~he preferred fibrous ble~d i~ a ble.id of waste cellvlo6ic
3 10 fibres ~ch a~ chopped paper9 n~wspr.int, baga3se, at.-~aw, ~a-~dust or
cot;ton wit~ 8~ ~hetio h~ropho~ic fibrea s-uah sa polyolefin9 pûl~ile7
or polyester ~ibrea~ r~he preferred hyarophilic ~inders ar~ na~ural
1 polymers ~uch aa ~lvten, zein~casein and sol~ble starch or solu-
bilized ~tarch derivatl~es inoluding mecha~icall~ da~a~ed starch
1~ granulesO Preferred cross-li~ lng agents are fo~mald-n~Ae and
paraformaIde~yd~ in ~mo~untc of ~rom 1~ by weightO ~he preferred
matrix for the fibre blend comprises a gxanu]ar starch and a natural
hydrophili~ polymer deri~ed fr;~ a ¢ommon souxce preferably from æ
cereal flour or a root crop flour.
~djacent the head end of the matoh~ the surface of the core is
coated wi-th a coating 4 formed by dipping the splin-t3 before fo~m~
tion of the head~ in an af~eou.q di~per~ion of the uel9 e.g. paraffln
¦ uax7 and the filler, e.g. china cla~, ~nd ¢on-taining either a water~
`~ immifJcible volatile ~olvent, e.g. wbite spirit~and/or the adhesive9
e.g. ~ta~ch,
I ~atches produccd in aocordance with thic i~ventio~ have a~van-
~! tagec of cheapn0~s as the~ can bo produced largely from ~rast~ ma~fri21
by gimple ma~s production techni~ue~. ~Ioreove-r, by suitable selectio~
of the material~ u~ed ~1 the coatin~ ~uel upt~ie can be clo~ely
~o controlled to give optimum bur~ing characteristics e.g. '~ei~lt of
- - 9 ~
flarne and b-u~ning t~-ne without de-tr.i.mer;t to other f~CtC'J-.7S S~l.C~h as
rigiciity~ stren~h ar~.d tGuc;h~e&s of the core.
Of cour,se, a vaxiety of additives ~onventionil ill the Match
; making ar-t D.~a~ be aaded e.ither to the core or to the coatin~ or to
the fuel. for el~ecific purpose~. ~ox example, fire retardantq ma,Y
be incorporated in t~e core or i.n the coatirlg~ to reduce af-ter glo~r,
metal sal-ts can b~ added to give coloured fla e~, and dyes or other
colouxants ma~ be usea to.ccolour c~ or all of the components of the
match, and microcr~stalline or other w~xes o~ Qolymers ma~ be added
to the paraffin wa~ or other fuel to moaif,y the propertie~ thereof
g. viscosit~ a~d me~ting poirlt a~lcl hardne.s3, as mc~y ~e de,sired~
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