SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DRAINING DETERGENT COMPOSITIONS
The present invention relates to a system and a method for continuous emptying of compositions that can be emptied, such as soaps, tablets of detergents and the like, and in particular to a system and method for the continuous emptying of such compositions involving solidification. Fast and efficient configuration during the course of the fusion through a series of molds. The articles configured based on soap or non-soap detergent are conventionally known to be produced as extrusion or emptying routes. The extrusion process usually involves an extruder to take care of the configuration of the article. By continuous extrusion of the soap / non-soap detergent through the extruder, the continuous production of logs or logs can be obtained, which can then be stamped or shaped into tablets or bars. As compared to the extrusion route discussed above, which favors a continuous operation for the production of soap articles or not soap, the emptying route is usually required to produce soaps with high formulation flexibility, such as transparent soaps and those with high liquid content, which can not be easily processed following the extrusion route. GB 597322 describes an improved method for making bars or soap bars by rapidly cooling 63% melted soap, in order to solidify the soap within a few seconds, and subsequently without subjecting it to a drying operation that extrudes the solidifying soap, where one or more steps are taken to increase the degree to which the soap mass is compacted during extrusion. Importantly, the above process shows that the solidification of the molten soap to be effected by rapid cooling in a matter of a few seconds, instead of by cooling rod, plate or frame. Such rapid cooling produces soap which is firm and hard, and possesses solidity and plasticity suitable for satisfactory extrusion and embossing. WO 03/01251 1 0 A1 discloses a continuous process for emptying soaps and the like, comprising the steps of: (i) filling a continuous tube of flexible material with a melting of the compositions that can be emptied, where the tube acts as a handle for the composition so that the desired cross-sectional area of the full sleeve is obtained, ie, independent of its perimeter, and (i) solidify and simultaneously configure the fusion by cooling the sleeve in or on a mold suitable. The process produces empty-in-sleeve strings that can be cut into logs / tablets and optionally wrapped in flow. It would be evident from the above that such emptying processes can be categorized under batch or better a semi-continuous operation, because the cooling of the filled package is proposed as a separate unit operation. Additionally, the separate configuration of the filled packing is required, which again is complex and is added to the production time. These operations are also found laborious and capital intensive as compared to the extrusion process. To overcome these difficulties in the prior art, our co-pending application 121 8 / MUM / 2003 describes a system and a process for the continuous emptying of melt-cast products, such as soaps, detergents and the like, comprising: i. a substantially vertical disposable mold unit for promoting solidification / emptying of the melt-flushed composition during an upstream movement through the mold unit; ii. the mold unit being operatively connected at its lower end to a supply source of the melt-flushed composition; iii. means for controlling the temperature of the melt in the mold unit to achieve the desired solidification and configuration during the course of the melt from the bottom of the mold towards the top thereof, which is adapted to expel the formed empty product. This co-pending application allowed a system and method greatly improved for compositions that can be emptied, emptied continuously, by traversing the molten composition in a stationary mold while achieving a uniform and complete filling of the mold free of dead regions and / or air bags, while having the much desired flexibility in manufacturing and high performance speeds. However, it was found that scaling the process to larger cross-sectional areas for the composition that can be emptied made the cooling and solidification of the composition that can be emptied increasingly difficult. With the use of molds of larger cross-sectional areas, which were cooled by cooling jackets, it was found that the portions of the composition near the jacket solidified faster while the core was still liquid. To overcome this problem, very long length molds were required to be provided to ensure complete solidification of the composition. The present invention provides a system and process for overcoming this problem, thus providing a fast and efficient method for cooling and solidifying the molten casting composition and / or providing much shorter mold lengths. In this way, the basic objective of the present invention is able to provide a simple and continuous system and process for emptying compositions that can be emptied, including soaps, detergent tablets, deodorant, sweets and the like, which avoid the limitations of batch process and / or the semi-continuous emptying processes currently available for the technique. Another object of the present invention is capable of providing a simple and effective system and method of continuous emptying and shaping of soap or detergent products, which would allow faster and more efficient methods for cooling and solidifying the molten casting composition in a continuous way.
Still another object of the present invention is to be able to provide a system and method for emptying and continuous configuration of products that can be emptied, such as soap, detergents and the like, which while providing fast and efficient cooling and solidification of the composition, minimize the overall length of the molds to ensure a compact manufacturing unit.
Thus, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for continuous emptying of products that can be emptied comprising: (i) more than one (eg, two to ten, conveniently two to three, four, five or six) mold units substantially coaxial and serially arranged; (ii) each mold unit has a larger cross-sectional area compared to the preceding unit; (I) the mold units operatively connected at their inlet ends to a molten cast-off composition supply source; and (iv) means for controlling the temperature of the mold units. A preferred aspect of the invention comprises substantially and vertically arranged mold units. The mold units as described above are further preferably adapted so that they, subsequent to the solidification / pouring upstream of the melt in their vertically disposed position, can be gradually brought to a horizontal direction to favor the ejection of the mold. solid product / emptying in the horizontal direction. Also the system for continuous emptying of melt-cast products may advantageously comprise a heat exchanger provided in front of the configuration molds to improve cooling efficiency and yield. According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, the system for continuous emptying of products that can be emptied, comprises: (i) more than one substantially co-axial and serially arranged mold unit; (ii) each mold unit has a larger cross-sectional area compared to the preceding unit; (iii) the mold units operatively connected at their lower end to a supply source for the melting of the composition; (iv) means for controlling the temperature of the molds, comprising cooling jackets in the molds having means for continuous supply of refrigerant therethrough. As for a preferred aspect of the system of the present invention, to favor effective cooling, the system is adapted to feed the coolant at the lower end of the cooling jacket and outlet at the upper end. According to a further preferred aspect of the present invention, the means for controlling the temperature of the molds, such that the cooling jacket is adapted to have different temperature zones to facilitate selective temperature control of the melt during its travel in the mold. Additionally, in order to facilitate the release of the formed product, while leaving the last mold unit, according to a further aspect, a heating zone is provided near the outlet of the last mold unit for improve the sliding of the bar and its performance. Importantly, the vertical arrangement of the molds is preferred due to the uniform filling of the molds with the composition flushed from the bottom of the mold to form the bars emptied free of air bag problems and thereby consistently achieve good products. quality. In the above system according to a further aspect, the coaxially and serically arranged jacketed molds, each of a larger cross-sectional area compared to the preceding mold, include means for selective injection of benefit / aesthetic agents into the formulation during the solidification / configuration process while traversing the mold units, which can not be achieved in the case of any conventional slip casting system as well as known batch. This aspect allows different types of benefit agents to be introduced in different cross sections of the composition. The viscosity of the cast soap material would vary along the direction of flow due to cooling, and therefore, the material injected with a wide range of viscosity can be used by properly choosing the injection point or points. According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for continuously emptying compositions that can be emptied, comprising: (i) supplying a molten, flushable composition through the inlet ends of each of the substantially coaxial and serially arranged mold units, each mold unit having a larger cross-sectional area compared to the preceding mold unit; (I) cooling and solidifying the melt as it proceeds through the mold; (iii) feeding the solid formed from the outlet end of a mold unit to the inlet end of the following mold unit; and (iv) ejecting the emptied product from the outlet end of the last mold unit. According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, in the above method for continuous emptying of products that can be emptied, the temperature of the mold units is controlled by regulating the temperature and / or flow rate of the refrigerant through jackets of the molds. Advantageously, in a preferred aspect of the process of the invention, the continuous production of pouring bars is achieved by means of controlled filling, vertically upwards, and cooling and solidification in stages of the solid product, starting with the core while more and more the cross sectional area is formed in the jacketed molds. As and when desired, the cross-sectional shape of the last mold is capable of being changed by mold alteration or releasably secured molds, to obtain shaped bars of the desired cross-section through a continuous process. This provides a simple mechanism for obtaining continuously configured bars of varied cross section through a simple route and with less labor involvement. The above method is simple, cost effective (avoids waste and recycled waste) and ensures the production of repeatedly configured bars and continuously avoids uneven bars and / or recycling of the product to meet the uniformity in manufacturing . In this way, the above method of continuous generation in bar line by sequentially increasing the cross section in a stepwise manner in serially arranged mold units, provides efficient cooling and solidification without the need for unduly long mold lengths. Furthermore, in the form of a possible selective injection mechanism, benefit / aesthetic agents, such as, for example, paste of coloring agents to provide strips and / or benefit agents, which can be introduced during the casting process in the mold units. This is never possible in the case of batch processes, or in the case of flexible sleeve emptying currently available as a continuous emptying method. Following the previous process of the invention, in continuous emptying a secondary material can be injected continuously into the main bar, while remaining segregated. The viscosity of the cast soap material will vary along the flow direction due to cooling, and therefore the material injected with a wide range of viscosity can be used by appropriately choosing the injection position during the course of the formulation of emptying through the mold cachaquetado. Using the above system and the method of the invention, the different products can be emptied, such as soaps, detergents, deodorants or sweets, including non-fast curing materials at high yield ratios. The process is particularly preferred for personal care and home care compositions, such as bars of soap and detergent.
Any conventional disposable detergent composition is suitable for the process of the invention. This would allow for desired high formulation flexibility in the manner of a controlled continuous emptying. The particularly preferred soap composition includes saturated fatty acid soap, detergent actives and possibly up to 60% water with or without other additives and benefit agents. Suitable detergent actives include any non-soap detergent active or unsaturated fatty acid salts. The detergent non-leavenable active ingredients are suitably selected from anionic, nonionic, cationic, amphoteric or zwitterionic surfactants or their mixtures. Beneficial / aesthetic agents that can be incorporated / injected during casting include: Liquid skin benefit agents or additives, including materials such as anti-aging compounds, emollients, humectants, sunscreens and any other known benefit agents . The solubilizers are suitable additives for use in the detergent composition include monohydric and polyhydric alcohols, such as, propylene glycol, sorbitol, glycerin, etc. The melt-cast formulation may also include other optional ingredients, such as hair conditioning agents, fillers, colors, perfume, opacifier, preservatives, one or more water-insoluble particulate materials, such as, talc, kaolin, polysaccharides and other ingredients conventional For solidification and selective configuration, the mold temperature can be regulated based on melting, which can be of any suitable temperature, such as up to 120 ° C, preferably between 40 ° C and 90 ° C. In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention, there is provided a system for continuous emptying of products that can be emptied, comprising: (i) more than one substantially parallel mold unit operatively connected to its inlet end to the supply source of fusion of a composition and means for controlling the temperature of the substantially parallel mold units; (ii) the substantially parallel mold units operably connected at their output ends to a mold unit, the mold unit operatively connected at its input end to a melt supply source of the composition and having means to control the temperature of the mold unit. A particularly desirable configuration of the substantially parallel mold units is that of a tube and shell type heat exchanger. The details of the invention, its objectives and advantages are hereinafter explained in more detail with reference to the accompanying non-limiting figures, wherein: Figure 1 is a schematic illustration of the front view of a system for the production in continuous line of soap bars according to the present invention; Figure 2 is a schematic illustration of the sectional view of the soap bar produced with the system of the invention as for Figure 1; - Figure 3 is a schematic illustration of the front view of another aspect of the invention, comprising substantially parallel mold units feeding into another series mold unit; and - Figure 4 is a schematic illustration of the sectional view of the soap bar produced with the system of the invention as for Figure 3.
As shown in Figure 1, the system for continuous emptying according to the present invention involves three jacketed molds (MLD1, MLD2, MLD3), which are substantially co-axial and serially disposed with respect to each other. The cooling jackets (CJ 1, CJ2, CJ3) are provided respectively in the units of three molds, which surround the oldes and are provided with cooling means through the respective coolant inlets (CE 1, CE2 and CE3) in the lower part and the coolant outlets (CO1, CO2, CO3) in the respective upper part. The three mold units as shown in Figure 1 are selectively vetically arranged to facilitate vertically upward feeding of the soap melt from the bottom of the mold for continuous pouring. To facilitate such feeding of the mode from the bottom for the emptying process, the soap melt is measured in the mode (MLD1) through the bottom through the inlet (MU) from a tank (FT) by the use of a measuring pump (P1). Similarly, inputs MI2 and MI3 are provided to measure the melting of soap to molds MLD2 and MLD3 through pumps P2 and P3, respectively. The system also includes injection means (I M) disposed in relation to the mold MLD3 to favor the selective injection of coloring / beneficial / aesthetic agents into the soap during its travel through that mold unit. In use, the soap melt is pumped up through mold MLD1 using pump P1 through the MU inlet medium. The soap melt cools and solidifies as it moves up through the mold MLD1 as the coolant is passed through the CJ 1 chaquea. A solid bar with cross section S1 as shown in Figure 2 is formed and enters mold MLD2. At this point, the soap melt is pumped into mold MLD2 through the inlet medium M I2 using pump P2. The soap melt cools and solidifies due to the coolant that is passed through jacket CJ2 and forms a soap bar with a cross-section of S2. The bar with cross section S2 thus formed enters the mold MLD2. At this point, the soap melt is pumped into the MLD3 mold through an MI3 inlet medium using the P3 pump. The soap melt cools around the bar with cross section S2 because the coolant is passed through the jacket CJ3. As the melt passes through the MLD3 mold, an esthetic agent, eg, color, is injected into the melt through the IM injection means and solidifies along with the melt to form a soap bar with a cross section of S3, which is ejected from the top of MLD3. As is evident from Figure 3, the cross-sectional shape of S1 and S2 may be different, for example, the cross-sectional shape of S1 and S2 may be circular, while the cross-sectional shape may be oval. In this illustration, the region between S2 and S3 is selectively colored, thereby giving the product a visual aesthetic appearance. As shown in Figure 3, the system for continuous emptying according to another aspect of the present invention involves two substantially parallel molds (MLD1 1, MLD1 2) arranged in a shell-and-tube heat exchanger type configuration. The molds MLD1 1 and MLD12 form the tubes, while the shell CJ 1 1 works as the cooling jacket provided with coolant inlet (CE1 1) in the lower part and the coolant outlet (CO1 1) in the upper part . The two mold units as shown in Figure 3 are selectively arranged vertically to facilitate vertically upward feeding of the soap melt from the bottom of the mold for continuous emptying. To facilitate such feeding of the molds from the bottom for the emptying process, the soap melt is measured in the molds (MLD1 1 and MLD12) through the bottom from a tank (FT2) by the use of a metering pump ( P21). The output of the molds MLD1 1 and MLD12 feed towards the mold MLD21 arranged serially with respect to the molds MLD1 1 and MLD12. The mold MLD21 is operatively connected at its inlet end to a melt supply source of another soap composition that can be emptied from the tank FT3 through the pump P22. The mold MLD21 is provided with a cooling jacket CJ21 that has a coolant inlet CE21 and coolant outlet CO21. When in use, the composition from the tank FT2 is measured to the molds MLD1 1 and MLD1 2 through the pump P21. The soap bars solidify as they pass upwards through the molds MLD1 1 and MLD21, due to the flow of refrigerant through the shell CJ1 1. The solid bars of MLD1 1 and MLD12 enter the mold MLD21. A different soap composition that can be emptied of FT3 is pumped using the P22 pump to the mold MLD21. The second castable soap composition solidifies in mold MLD21 around the bars formed in MLD1 1 and MLD12 to exit from the outlet end of MLD21. The cross-sectional view of the formed soap bar is shown in Figure 4. Importantly, the above system and method of the invention advantageously provides continuous pouring for soap / detergent bars and the like, wherein the cooling and solidification of the composition are achieved more quickly and efficiently with minimum length of the molds.