Carpet cleaning composition

Claim 2

A water absorbent carpet cleaning composition comprising shreds of a hydrophilic, polyurethane foam having substantially closed cells, wherein the walls of said cells incorporate abrasive particles and an aqueous phase, and wherein said shreds are obtained from a friable foam bun having a tensile strength of less than about 10 psi.

Claim 3

The composition of claim 1 wherein said shreds have a density of about from 0.1-0.5 g/cc and a shred size of about 5-20 mesh.

Claim 4

The composition of claim 1 wherein said shreds incorporate about 30-95% by weight of said abrasive particles on a dry weight basis.

Claim 5

The composition of claim 1 wherein said cell walls further incorporate particles of an inorganic dispersing agent.

Claim 6

The composition of claim 1 wherein the aqueous phase comprises a nonionic surfactant and a cationic amine anti-static agent.

Claim 7

The composition of claim 5 wherein the anti-static agent comprises a quaternary ammonium salt.

Claim 8

The composition of claim 5 wherein the anti-static agent comprises the acid salt of an alkylamidoalkyl(dimethyl)amine.

Claim 9

The composition of claim 1 wherein the aqueous phase comprises a silicone fluid.

Claim 10

The composition of claim 1 wherein the aqueous phase comprises an organic solvent selected from the group consisting of tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol, meta-pyrol or mixtures thereof.

Claim 11

The composition of claim 1 wherein the aqueous phase comprises an odoriferous agent.

Claim 12

The composition of claim 1 wherein said foam shreds substantially have a structure selected from those shown in FIGS. 1-2.

Claim 13

A water absorbent carpet cleaning composition prepared by a process comprising: (a) foaming an aqueous reactant phase comprising about 45-70% of abrasive solid particles, about 0.1-5% by weight of a clay suspending agent, about 0.1-10% of a nonionic surfactant about 0.05-10% of a cationic amine anti-static agent, about 1-10% silicone fluid and about 15-65% water; (b) mixing said aqueous reactant phase with a water-foamable prepolymer resin which contains at least 2 free isocyanate groups per resin molecule so that the final mole ratio of water to total free isocyanate groups is within the range of about 5-100:1, thereby converting said resin into a hydrophilic, polyurethane foam bun; and (c) shredding said foam bun.

Claim 14

A water absorbent carpet cleaning composition prepared by a process comprising: (a) foaming an aqueous reactant phase comprising about 45-70% of abrasive solid particles, about 0.1-5% by weight of a clay suspending agent, about 0.1-10% of a nonionic surfactant about 0.05-10% of a cationic amine anti-static agent, about 1-10% silicone fluid and about 15-65% water; (b) mixing said aqueous reactant phase with a water-foamable prepolymer resin which contains at least 2 free isocyanate groups per resin molecule so that the final mole ratio of water to total free isocyanate groups is within the range of about 5-100:1, thereby converting said resin into a hydrophilic, polyurethane foam bun; and (c) shredding said foam bun.

Claim 15

The composition of claim 12 wherein said shredded foam has a density of about 0.1-0.5 g/cc and a shred size of about 5-20 mesh.

Claim 16

The composition of claim 12 wherein the aqueous reactant phase further comprises about 0.01-10% by weight of fragrance.

Claim 17

The composition of claim 14 wherein the aqueous phase further comprises about 0.5-15% of an organic solvent.

Claim 18

A water absorbent carpet cleaning composition prepared by a process comprising: (a) forming an aqueous reactant phase comprising about 20-55% by weight of water, about 0.1-10% of a nonionic surfactant, about 0.1-5% by weight of a cationic amine anti-static agent, about 1-10% by weight of a polysiloxane silicone fluid, about 1-15% of an organic solvent, about 25-60% of abrasive mineral particles, about 0.1-5% of a clay suspending agent, and about 0.01-10% fragrance; (b) mixing said aqueous reactant phase with a water-foamable prepolymer resin in a weight ratio of aqueous phase to prepolymer of about 20-1:1, said prepolymer resin comprising a toluene diisocyanate-capped polyalkoxylene ether polyol having a molecular weight within the range of about 1300-1400 and comprising about 1.5-2.5 mEq/g of isocyanate groups, so as to convert such resin into a hydrophilic, friable polyurethane foam bun having a tensile strength of less than about 8 psi; and (c) shredding said bun into foam shreds having a free-flow density of about 0.15-0.25 g/cc.

Claim 19

A water absorbent carpet cleaning composition prepared by a process comprising: (a) forming an aqueous reactant phase comprising about 20-55% by weight of water, about 0.1-10% of a nonionic surfactant, about 0.1-5% by weight of a cationic amine anti-static agent, about 1-10% by weight of a polysiloxane silicone fluid, about 1-15% of an organic solvent, about 25-60% of abrasive mineral particles, about 0.1-5% of a clay suspending agent, and about 0.01-10% fragrance; (b) mixing said aqueous reactant phase with a water-foamable prepolymer resin in a weight ratio of aqueous phase to prepolymer of about 20-1:1, said prepolymer resin comprising a toluene diisocyanate-capped polyalkoxylene ether polyol having a molecular weight within the range of about 1300-1400 and comprising about 1.5-2.5 mEq/g of isocyanate groups, so as to convert such resin into a hydrophilic, friable polyurethane foam bun having a tensile strength of less than about 8 psi; and (c) shredding said bun into foam shreds having a free-flow density of about 0.15-0.25 g/cc.

Claim 20

The composition of claim 16 wherein said aqueous phase is heated to about 60°-85° F. and mixed with said prepolymer resin which is heated to about 90°-110° F.

Claim 21

The composition of claim 16 wherein said aqueous phase and said resin phase are mixed in a ratio of about 10-2:1.

Claim 22

The composition of claim 16 wherein the nonionic surfactant comprises the condensation product of a polyoxypropylene ether and polyoxyethylene ether wherein the polyoxypropylene ether has a molecular weight of about 1500-3000 and the polyoxyethylene content is about 35-55% by weight of the surfactant molecule, and wherein the cationic anti-static agent comprises myrisalkonium chloride.

Claim 23

The composition of claim 16 wherein the abrasive mineral particles comprise about 45-55% by weight of the aqueous phase.

Claim 25

The method of claim 21 wherein said carpeting is soiled with aqueous soil.