CLEANING CLOTH

CHIFFON DE NETTOYAGE

English Abstract

Disclosed is a cleaning cloth (1) that is made of a planar textile structure
(2) and is provided with at least one cleaning surface (3), on at least some
parts of which a surface coating (5) is disposed. Said surface coating (5) is
embodied as a printed pattern (4) and contains abrasive agents (6).

French Abstract

L'invention concerne un chiffon de nettoyage (1) réalisé dans une structure textile plate (2) ayant au moins une surface de nettoyage (3) qui présente au moins partiellement un revêtement superficiel (5) ayant la forme d'un modèle d'impression (4). Le revêtement superficiel (5) présente un moyen d'action abrasive (6).

Claims

CLAIMS:
1. Cleaning cloth (1) made of a textile sheet (2), which includes at least one
cleaning
surface (3) on which at least partially a surface coating (5) formed as a
printed pattern (4)
is provided, characterized in that the surface coating (5) includes abrasive
agents (6).
2. Cleaning cloth according to claim 1, characterized in that the abrasive
agents (6)
are provided by abrasive particles.
3. Cleaning cloth according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the textile
sheet (2)
is made of a non-woven fabric.
4. Cleaning cloth according to claim 3, characterized in that the non-woven
fabric
consists of a fiber material (8) which is bonded by way of a binder (7) or by
hot melt
bonding.
5. Cleaning cloth according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that
the
abrasive agents (6) are provided by mineral and/or organic additives.
6. Cleaning cloth according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that
the
surface coating (5) includes polishing particles.
7. Cleaning cloth according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that
the ratio
of the thickness of the textile sheet (20) to the thickness of the surface
coating (5) is
between 40:1 and 3:1.
8. Cleaning cloth according to claim 7, characterized in that the ratio is at
most 10:1.
9. Cleaning cloth according to claim 7, characterized in that the ratio is at
least 20:1.
10. Process for the manufacture of a cleaning cloth (1) according to any one
of the
preceding claims, comprising the steps of:
manufacture of a textile sheet (2) from a fiber material (8);

6
bonding of the textile sheet (2) by application of a binder (7);
providing a printing paste;
printing of the printing paste onto the textile sheet (2) and application of
abrasive
agents (6), whereby the printing paste with the abrasive agents (6) hardens to
a surface
coating (5).
11. Process according to claim 10, characterized in that the printing paste is
mixed
with the abrasive agents (6) and the printing paste mixed with the abrasive
agents (6) is
printed onto the textile sheet (2).
12. Process according to claim 10, characterized in that the printing paste is
printed
onto the textile sheet (2) and the abrasive agents are strewn onto the still
wet printing paste
applied to the textile sheet (2).
13. Use of a cleaning cloth (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 9 as
disposable
cleaning cloth.

Description

CA 02577045 2007-02-13
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CLEANING CLOTH
Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a cleaning cloth made of a textile sheet which
includes at
least one cleaning surface, at least part of which is provided with a surface
coating in the
form of a printed pattern.
Background Art
Such cleaning cloths are known from DE 25 36 440. The known cleaning cloth is
made of a textile sheet, for example a non-woven fabric. To improve the wear
resistance,
the cleaning cloth is provided with a surface coating which is provided on the
surface of
the non-woven fabric in the form of a raised printed pattern. Liquids on a
surface can be
wiped off by the printed pattern and absorbed by the absorbent non-woven
fabric. The
removal of firmly adhered dirt is however difficult because of the smooth
surface of the
printed pattern and of the non-woven fabric of the cleaning cloth.
Summary of the Invention
It is an object of the invention to further improve the known cleaning cloth
so that
the removal of firmly adhered dirt is improved.
This object is achieved by the features of claim 1. Preferred embodiments are
dealt
with in the dependent claims.
The surface coating includes abrasive agents for the solution of this object.
The
abrasive agents are firmly connected with the surface coating and improve the
cleaning
action of the cleaning cloth by way of their scouring effect. The cleaning
action is
improved especially with respect to dirt which is firmly adhered to the
surface to be
cleaned. The abrasive agents can be formed by abrasive particles. The abrasive
agents can,
for example, also be formed by surface profiles or hard fibers.
The textile sheet can be made of a non-woven fabric. Non-woven fabrics are
simply and economically manufactured. Non-woven fabrics have a low surface
weight and
can be made to be absorbent.
The non-woven fabric can consist of a fiber material bonded by a binder.
Latex,
acrylate, phenolic resin, melamine resin or nitrilocaouchouc can be used as
binder. In a

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further embodiment, the fiber material can also be fixed by thermal fusion.
The sheet is
stabilized and the fibers bonded in the form of a sheet by way of the binder
and/or the
thermal fusion.
The abrasive agents can be formed by mineral and/or organic additives.
For example, quartz, aluminum oxide, silicone carbide, chalk or glass
granulate
can be used as mineral abrasive agents. Mineral abrasive agents are very
durable and cost
effective. Mineral abrasive agents have a high hardness and therefore provide
a scratching
scouring effect. Mineral abrasive agents are therefore especially suited for
the removal of
very strongly adhered dirt.
Non-mineral or organic abrasive agents are, for example, polyurethane, PMMA or
nutshells. Non-mineral or organic abrasive agents are easily processed and are
also cost
efficient. The non-mineral or organic abrasive agents have a lower hardness
than the
mineral abrasive agents. They therefore have a non-scratching scouring effect
and are
especially suited for the cleaning of sensitive surfaces.
The surface coating can include polishing particles. The polishing particles
can be,
for example, sylicia. With the polishing particles, a cleaning cloth is
achieved with only a
slight abrasive action. Such a cleaning cloth is especially suited for the
cleaning and
polishing of sensitive objects, for example cutlery.
The ratio of the thickness of the textile sheet to the thickness of the
surface coating
can be between 40:1 and 3:1. A thin cleaning cloth results from these ratios,
which can be
economically manufactured and is space saving.
In one embodiment, the ratio is at most 10:1. Cleaning cloths manufactured in
this
range are especially suited for abrasively active cleaning cloths.
In another embodiment, the ratio can be at least 20:1. Cleaning cloths
manufactured in this range are especially suited for polishing cleaning
cloths.
The object of the invention is further achieved by a process for the
manufacture of
a cleaning cloth which includes the steps of:
manufacturing a textile sheet of a fiber material;
bonding of the textile sheet by application of a binder;
printing of a printing paste onto the textile sheet and application of
abrasive agents,
whereby the printing paste with the abrasive agents hardens into a surface
coating.

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The manufacture of the cleaning cloth requires only few process steps and is
therefore simple and cost efficient. The printing paste can include a binder
which can
include latex, acrylate, phenol resin, melamine resin or nitrilocaouchouc.
In one embodiment of the process, the abrasive agents can be mixed with the
printing paste, whereby the printing paste mixed with the abrasive agents is
printed onto
the textile sheet. The abrasive agents are thereby evenly distributed in the
printing paste.
In another embodiment of the process, the printing paste can be printed onto
the textile
sheet and the abrasive agents strewn onto the still wet printing paste applied
to the textile
sheet. The abrasive agents are thereby fixed in the region of the surface of
the surface
coating.
Use of a cleaning cloth according to any one of claims 1 to 6 as disposable
cleaning cloth.
The cleaning cloth is easily and cost efficiently manufactured and requires
little space
because of its low thickness. It is therefore especially suited for use as
disposable cleaning
cloth.
Brief Description of the Drawings
Exemplary embodiments of the cleaning cloth in accordance with the invention
are
further described in the following by way of the figures. The drawings show in
respectively schematic illustration in
FIGURE 1 the cleaning cloth in accordance with the invention in a top view;
and
FIGURE 2 the cleaning cloth in accordance with the invention in cross-section.
Embodiments of the invention
Figure 1 shows a cleaning cloth I which is made of a textile sheet 2. The
textile
sheet 2 has a cleaning surface 3 on which a surface coating 5 is provided
which is applied
in the form of a printed pattern 4 onto the cleaning surface 3. A multitude of
design
possibilities exist for the surface coating 5 by way of the printed pattern 4.
For example,
different geometrical shapes such as diamonds, bars or triangles can be
printed, even in
combination, onto the cleaning surface 3. The surface coating 5 includes
abrasive agents 6
which can be formed by mineral or non-mineral additives. Furthermore,
polishing particles
can be used as abrasive agents 6.
The cleaning cloth 1 can be used as a disposable cloth.

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Figure 2 shows a cleaning cloth according to Figure 1 in cross-section.
Abrasive
agents 6, in this embodiment abrasively active particles, are bonded into the
surface
coating 5. The surface coating 5 covers the cleaning surface 3 only partially
and is printed
in geometric patterns onto the cleaning surface 3. This results in a further
improvement of
the cleaning action of the cleaning cloth 1. The textile sheet 2 is made from
a non-woven
fabric. The fabric material 8 of the non-woven fabric is bonded with a binder
7. The binder
7 can be latex, acrylate, phenolic resin, melamine resin or nitrilocaouchouc.
The ratio of
the thickness of the textile sheet 2 to the thickness of the surface coating 5
is 10:1. The
amount of abrasive and/or polishing means is between 4 and 20% of the total
weight of
cleaning cloth 1. The portion of the printed paste is thereby between 10 and
40%. The
application amount of the coating is between 15 and 100 g/m2.
For the manufacture of a cleaning cloth 1 in accordance with the invention, a
textile sheet 2 made of a fiber material consisting of natural or synthetic
fibers is first
produced. The textile sheet 2 is bonded by application of a binder 7, for
example a latex
emulsion or by thermal fusion using melt bonding fibers. A printing paste is
mixed with
abrasive particles for the manufacture of the surface coating 5. This printing
paste is
applied in a geometric printing pattern on the textile sheet 2. In a last
process step, the
printing paste hardens to the surface coating 5 mixed with the abrasively
active particles 6,
which can be achieved by heat treatment of the coated cleaning cloth 1.

Representative Drawing