JPS5949960B2 - rinse aid - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to compositions suitable for use as rinse aids in automatic dishwashing machines.

Specifically, the present invention relates to a rinsing composition that is substantially non-toxic, leaves substantially no stains or spots on tableware surfaces, and is storage stable. 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, hotels and restaurants in Europe and the United States, as well as commercial and institutional tableware handling places, have been equipped with automatic dishwashers, and a rational, economical, and hygienic method of washing and managing tableware has been adopted.

In recent years, even in Japan, this method of washing tableware has been ignored, and the number of places with automatic dishwashers is rapidly increasing. Generally, in standard automatic dishwashers, pre-washing (pre-rinsing) is carried out at a temperature of 40 to 50 degrees Celsius, followed by main washing at a temperature of 60 to 70 degrees Celsius with a washing solution of about 0.2%.
The cleaning process is completed by rinsing with hot water at 85-90°C. Typically, the final rinse takes about 10 to 15 seconds, and a high temperature of 85 to 90° C. is desired for hygiene reasons and the need for rapid drying.

In addition, the final rinsing water contains a surfactant as the main ingredient and a very small amount of rinsing aid dissolved in it to promote wetting of the tableware surface and cause a thin film of water to flow on the tableware surface. At the same time, insoluble substances such as calcium and magnesium contained in the rinsing water adhere to the surface of the dishes. It is necessary to prevent stains, spots, etc. from remaining on the tableware surface after cleaning is completed, and also to increase the rate at which water flows away and to shorten the drying time. or,
Since the final rinse uses water containing a rinse aid, some of the surfactant and other components in the rinse aid remain on the surface of the dishes.

It is easy to imagine that the final residue of such substances on the items to be washed would have undesirable effects in terms of hygiene and toxicity.

Furthermore, a very small amount of a rinsing aid mainly composed of a surfactant is added to the final rinsing water for the purpose mentioned above, but conventionally, many rinsing aids have been used as surfactants. The Pluronic surfactants that have been used condense from the rinsing water and adhere to the surfaces of dishes because the final rinse is carried out at high temperatures, resulting in noticeable spots on the surfaces of dishes, especially glass dishes, after washing is complete. Easy to get dark spots,
Therefore, it has the disadvantage of giving a feeling of uncleanness or discomfort.

In addition, various rinsing aids using food-grade emulsifiers such as zorbitan fatty acid ester and sucrose fatty acid ester instead of the above-mentioned pluronic surfactant have been proposed, and some of these rinsing aids are commercially available. When rinsing is performed using a dishwasher, bubbles tend to form and the bubbles do not disappear easily, so various bubble troubles tend to occur in automatic dishwashers, causing various problems.

The present inventor has addressed the above-mentioned problems of toxicity of conventional rinsing aids, the problem of stains and spots on the surface of dishes after washing, and the problem of foam trouble caused by rinsing aids in automatic dishwashers. In order to solve this problem, the present invention was completed as a result of various studies. The first objective of the present invention is to create a composition containing only permitted food additives that, even if they remain on the items to be washed, are considered to have almost no toxicity and will not have any effect even if they enter the human body. However, the object of the present invention is to provide a rinsing aid composition that does not leave any substances other than those permitted as food additives on the items to be washed.

The second object of the present invention is to overcome the drawbacks that Pluronic surfactants, which have been commonly used as surfactants for rinsing aids, have, namely, the problem of condensation in high-temperature water, especially on glass tableware. It is an object of the present invention to provide a rinsing aid composition which eliminates the phenomenon of increased formation of noticeable spots and stains and has an extremely excellent rinsing effect. The third object of the present invention is to produce a good flow of water in the form of a thin film on the surface of the object to be washed, and to do so in a short period of time without leaving any stains or spots on the surface of the object after washing. To provide a 3-component rinsing aid composition that satisfies the necessary and sufficient conditions as a rinsing aid, such as being able to be rinsed with water and requiring only a short drying time, and also having excellent storage stability.

The fourth purpose of the present invention is to solve various foam problems in automatic dishwashers caused by rinsing aids, so that foam is difficult to form during rinsing and even if foam is formed, it disappears quickly. An object of the present invention is to provide such a four-part rinse aid composition.

The rinse aid composition of the present invention contains as an essential component a partial ester 1 of a polyhydric alcohol selected from the group consisting of sorbitan, sorbitol, sorbite and sucrose and a fatty acid having 6 to 10 carbon atoms. Features.

Examples of the above-mentioned fatty acids having 6 to 10 carbon atoms include caproic acid, chifururic acid, and chipurinic acid.

In addition, the above-mentioned partial ester refers to a polyhydric alcohol in which at least one hydroxyl group is not esterified and remains in a free state, and a particularly preferable partial ester is one in which half or more of the hydroxyl groups in the polyhydric alcohol are esters. It remains in a free state without being oxidized.

Specific examples of such preferable partial esters include sorbitan monoester, sorbitan diester, sorbitol monoester, sorbitol diester, sorbite monoester, sorbite diester, and the like.

Further, these partial esters can be used alone or in the form of a mixture, and can also be used in the form of a mixture with partial esters other than these. The rinsing aid of the present invention may be composed only of a partial ester of a polyhydric alcohol and a fatty acid as described above, but preferably contains a monohydric or polyhydric alcohol, and further contains a fatty acid or the like. Even though
It may be diluted with water.

As mentioned above, examples of monohydric or polyhydric alcohols that can be added to the rinse aid composition of the present invention include those exemplified as polyhydric alcohols constituting the above partial ester, as well as polyhydric alcohols such as propylene glycol and glycerin. Monohydric alcohols such as alcohol and ethyl alcohol can also be used, and fatty acids include lauric acid, myristic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, etc. in addition to those listed above as fatty acids constituting the partial ester. A variety of fatty acids can be used. By containing a monohydric or polyhydric alcohol in the rinsing aid of the present invention, the viscosity of the rinsing aid is lowered, the solubility of the rinsing aid in rinsing water is improved, and the rinsing aid is solidified at low temperatures. can be prevented.

In addition, by containing fatty acids, the rinsing aid can be adjusted to a desirable range, improving the rinsing performance of the rinsing aid, and at the same time controlling the viscosity of the rinsing aid to a range suitable for use, making it possible to adjust the rinsing aid to a desirable range. , a rinsing aid that does not separate and returns to a homogeneous, transparent solution or emulsion once it is returned to room temperature, even if it solidifies when left outdoors. It does not bring about various favorable effects.

There are various types of rinsing agents of the present invention, and apart from those consisting only of partial esters, those having the following compositions are particularly preferred when they contain other components. That is, in a rinse agent consisting of partial ester I and water, when a partial ester of zorbitan or sucrose is used as partial ester I, it is preferable that the partial ester is 30% or more and the water is 70% or less. Furthermore, in a rinsing agent consisting of partial ester I and monohydric or dihydric alcohol, no matter what kind of partial ester I is, the partial ester is
Preferably, the monohydric or dihydric alcohol content is 0% or more and 70% or less. Furthermore, in a rinsing agent composed of partial ester I, monohydric or dihydric alcohol, and water, the partial ester is 30% or more and the monohydric or polyhydric alcohol is 30% or more.
% or less, preferably 70% or more of water. Further, when fatty acids are to be included in the rinse aid, these fatty acids may be added in an amount of 10% or less, preferably 5% or less, to the rinse aid having the composition as described above.

If the rinsing aid of the present invention has a composition ratio outside the above range, the rinsing agent may have poor low-temperature stability, have a high viscosity and be unsuitable for use, or have poor solubility in rinsing water. It is not preferred as a rinsing agent because it has poor rinsing performance, leaves stains or spots on the surface of the items to be washed, or takes a long time to dry the items to be washed. Furthermore, by further containing a fatty acid, the rinse aid of the present invention has the effect of further increasing the rinse performance, increasing the stability of the rinse aid, and controlling its viscosity within a range suitable for use. In particular, in terms of stability, if fatty acids are not added, if you try to heat the rinse aid that has solidified at low temperatures to return it to a liquid state, phase separation will occur and it will not return to its original stable liquid state. Adding fatty acids at a specific ratio has the effect that even if the rinse aid solidifies at low temperatures, it returns to its original stable liquid state when heated, especially if it is stored in a way that is exposed to the outside air in the winter. This is particularly useful in cases where

The rinsing agent of the present invention is in a liquid state and is very stable in the temperature range of -5 to 40°C, has sufficient fluidity, does not solidify, is uniform, and does not exhibit abnormalities such as separation and precipitation, agglomeration, etc. do not have.

In particular, the rinsing agent composition of the present invention containing fatty acids has good storage stability at low temperatures, and even if it solidifies in winter, it can be returned to its original stable liquid state by heating. It does not reduce the product value. When using the rinse aid composition of the present invention, the rinse aid composition should be 5,000 to 20,000 times, preferably 10,0 times
Dilute 00 to 15,000 times, rinse liquid temperature 85 to 9
Just rinse for 10 to 15 seconds at 0°C, which will provide a sufficient rinsing effect and shorten the drying time.
Moreover, almost no stains or spots remain on the washed items after washing is completed. Practical Examples 1 to 5 and Comparative Example 1 Using an automatic dishwasher, glass cups, melamine dishes,
After cleaning tableware such as ceramic plates with an alkaline detergent, rinse with boiling water at 80'C (rinsing aid concentration) in which a predetermined amount of a rinsing aid having the composition shown in Table 1 has been dissolved. The foaming properties during treatment, the quick drying of the tableware after treatment, the gloss of the tableware surface, and the finish (presence or absence of spots on the surface) were evaluated.

The properties of the rinse aid, such as cold resistance and viscosity, were also evaluated. The evaluation results are shown in Table 1. In addition, when the hot water in which the above-mentioned rinse aid was dissolved was tested in accordance with the method stipulated by the Ministry of Water Quality Standards (May 6, 1972, Atsushi 11), it was found to conform to the standards stipulated in the above-mentioned ministerial ordinance. Ta.

However, in Table 1, ◎○△× indicates the following.

The same applies to Table 2 as well.

Leprosy Examples 6-10 and Comparative Example 2 Examples 1-1 rinse aids having the compositions shown in Table 2
When the properties and rinsing performance were evaluated in the same manner as in Example 5, the results shown in Table 2 were obtained.

In addition, the hot water in which the above-mentioned rinsing aid was dissolved passed the above-mentioned quality standards. The foaming power of the rinse aid having the composition shown in Table 4 was tested using the following measuring method, and Tables 3 and 4 were obtained.

(Measurement method) Pour 701% hot water into a dishwasher (IHI-JWD6 model), dissolve the above composition to a concentration of 10,000%, and then run the washer for 1 minute.

**Measure the height of the bubbles immediately after stopping. Actual Foam Example 13 and Comparative Examples 9 to 11 Table 5 shows the results of a rinsing test of the rinsing aid having the composition shown in Table 5 using the following measuring method.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A rinsing aid characterized by containing as an essential component a partial ester of a polyhydric alcohol selected from the group consisting of sorbitan, sorbitol, sorbite and sucrose and a fatty acid having 6 to 10 carbon atoms.