Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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SCOURING BODY
Description
Technical Field
The invention relates to a scouring body including a textile sheet which is
provided with a scouring agent composition, whereby the scouring agent
composition
includes a binder and scouring particles, whereby the textile sheet has a
cleaning
surface with a relief pattern.
State of the Art
The scouring body is known from DE 298 02 421 U1 which includes as carrier
material a textile sheet that is provided with a scouring agent composition.
The textile
sheet consists of a non-woven material which was mechanically consolidated by
needling or water jets. A scouring agent composition is applied to the sheet
which
includes a chemical binder and abrasive particles. The known scouring body is
suited
for the take-up or absorption of aqueous substances and the loosening of
strongly
adhered soiling on the basis of the abrasive action of the scouring agent
composition.
It is a disadvantage of a thin, flexibly constructed scouring body that the
transfer of force is limited because of limited gripping options. Furthermore,
the force
transfer occurs mainly only at that location at which pressure is exerted onto
the
scouring body.
Description of the Invention
It is an object of the invention to provide a scouring body with an effective
force transmission.
This object is achieved with the features of claim 1. Preferred embodiments
are dealt with in the dependent claims.
For the achievement of this object, the sheet is provided with a sponge body.
The textile sheet is thereby constructed as a non-woven fabric made of
artificial fibers
and preferably consolidated by water jets. The thickness of the sheet is
between 0.8
and 3 mm and the surface weight is between 50 and 200 g/mm2. Such sheets have
a
low surface weight and a low density and simultaneously a high tensile
strength. The
sponge body forms a carrier body which offers a plurality of gripping options.
In this
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manner, a force can be effectively transferred in different manner onto the
sheet
provided with the scouring agent composition, so that a good cleaning
performance is
achieved with respect to strongly adhered soiling. The relief pattern further
improves
the cleaning effect of the scouring body. The relief pattern can thereby be
formed by a
nub structure, whereby the nubs are hexagonally positioned. It can be avoided
with
this that dirt packs the abrasive surface, since the dirt accumulates in the
recesses
between the nubs and thereby does not influence the scouring process.
The sponge body can be formed of an open porous plastic foam or a natural
sponge. The foam can thereby be made especially of polyurethane or rayon.
Foams
made of these materials are cost efficiently manufactured and have good
mechanical
properties so that they can be easily gripped and can transmit forces. Rayon
has a high
water absorption capacity.
A further textile sheet can be positioned on the sponge body. The scouring
body is preferably shaped as a rectangular prism and has two main surfaces.
The sheet
with the scouring composition is thereby positioned on a first main surface.
The
further textile sheet is positioned on the second main surface located
opposite the first
main surface. This sheet preferably also consists of a non-woven fabric with
artificial
fibers, whereby the non-woven fabric is constructed such that the second sheet
has a
high water absorption. The second main surface is useful for the after
treatment of
surfaces which were already cleaned with the first main surface and for the
take-up of
liquids.
The further sheet can include microfibers. Microfibers have a fiber diameter
which is smaller than one m. The sheets of microfibers which are used have a
high
absorptive capacity for liquids such as water and fats.
The scouring agent composition can include granular glass. Granular glass has
a high hardness and is especially suited for the cleaning of glass or ceramic
surfaces,
for example ceramic glass cooking surfaces or fireplace windows.
The binder can be latex, phenolic resin and/or acrylate-based. A phenolic
resin-based binder has a high hardness and a high abrasion resistance. In
another
embodiment, the binder can be acrylate. Acrylate-based binders have a pleasing
hand.
Latex-based binders have a high elasticity. Mixtures of the latex and phenolic
resin
binders have, because of the phenolic resin, a high torsional rigidity,
whereby the
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torsional rigidity is lowered by the latex portion to such a degree that the
scouring
body can be well wrung out. In a further embodiment, the binder consists of a
mixture
of acrylate and phenolic resin. The properties of both binder materials then
influence
the hand and the hardness of the material. The binder can then be formed on
the sheet
in such a way that the sheet is essentially water impermeable. A film of
cleaning
liquid thereby remains between the sheet with the scouring agent composition
and the
surface to be cleaned. Dirt is dissolved in the cleaning liquid and a gentle
and
effective cleaning of the surface to be cleaned is achieved. The binder can
also be
formed in such a way that the sheet is flexurally resistant. This results in
an especially
good force transmission and an improved cleaning effect with respect to
strongly
adhered dirt. Further possible binders are melamine resin, nitrile caoutchouc
,
polyurethane or compositions of all mentioned binders.
The sponge body can be rectangular, whereby the edges have a wavy contour.
Hard to reach locations can thereby be effectively cleaned. A multitude of
possible
gripping options result.
The mutually opposingly positioned edges can be congruent to one another.
The scouring body is mostly produced from a web-based pre-product by stamping
out. By way of this shaping, a loss-free and thereby cost efficient
manufacture of
scouring bodies with wavy edge shape is achieved.
The scouring body can have a thickness of 2 to 5 cm. Many gripping options
and a good force transmission result especially with a thickness of the
scouring body
of 4 cm.
The prescribed scouring body is suitable because of its advantageous
construction especially for the use of the cleaning of glass and/or ceramic
surfaces.
Brief Description of the Drawings
Several embodiments of the scouring body in accordance with the invention
are in the following further described by way of the Figures. They
respectively
schematically illustrate:
Fig. 1 shows a scouring body in perspective illustration;
Fig. 2 shows a scouring body according to Figure 1 in a side view.
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Embodiment of the Invention
Figure 1 shows a scouring body 1 especially for the cleaning of glass and/or
ceramic surfaces. The scouring body 1 consists of a textile sheet 2 which
forms a
cleaning surface 6 with a relief pattern 7 formed by protruding nubs. The
sheet 2 is
positioned on a sponge body 8 and directly connected therewith by an adhesive
bond.
The sponge body 8 is formed in this embodiment of an open-celled polyurethane
foam. The scouring body 1 is rectangularly shaped and the edges 10,11, 12, 13
of the
scouring body I have a curved contour, whereby the usually opposingly located
edges
and 11 as well as 12 and 13 are respectively congruently shaped to one
another.
10 The scouring body 1 has a thickness of 4 cm. A textile sheet 9 which has
microfibers
with a fiber diameter of less than 1 gm is positioned on the side of the
sponge body 8
which lies opposite the cleaning surface 6. The further sheet 9 is also
directly
connected with the sponge body 8 by adhesive bonding.
Figure 2 shows the scouring body 1 according to Figure 1 in another view.
The sheet 2 consists of a water jet consolidated non-woven material of
artificial fibers
with different surfaces weights between 15 and 200 g/m2. The sheet 2 is
provided
with a scouring agent composition 3 which itself includes a binder 4 and
scouring
particles 5. The binder 4 consists in this embodiment of a composition of
latex and
phenolic resin. The scouring particles 5 consists of glass granulate. The
composition
of the binder 4 is selected such that the sheet 2 is water impermeable and
stiff to bend
and can be well wrung out. The properties of binder 4 can be achieved by a
downstream heat treatment. The total thickness of the sheet 2 is between 0.9
and 2
mm.
For the manufacture of the scouring body 1, a textile sheet 2 formed of a non-
woven material is first manufactured from a fiber material. The consolidation
of the
textile sheet 2 occurs by way of water jet consolidation. The shaping of the
cleaning
surface 6 occurs in the same process step. The relief pattern 7 with the nubs
is also
produced by water jet consolidation. The scouring agent composition 3 is
produced by
mixing of the binder composition 4 with the scouring particles 5 of glass
granulate.
The scouring agent composition 3 is applied by spraying onto the cleaning
surface.
The sheet 2 can be heat treated in an oven for the hardening of the scouring
agent
composition 3. The sheet 2 is subsequently glued onto a pre-product web
consisting of
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an open-celled polyurethane foam. In other embodiments, the sponge body 8 can
also
consist of rayon. A further sheet 9 is glued onto the oppositely located side.
The
scouring body 1 with the curved edges 10, 11, 12, 13 is subsequently stamped
out of
the web-shaped pre-product.
