Soap with suspended articles

• US 6,403,543 B1
• Filed: 05/16/2000
• Issued: 06/11/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 05/16/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Original Bradford Soap Works, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Original Bradford Soap Works, Inc.
• Inventors: George, Edmund D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Gupta, Yogendra N.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Petruncio, John M.
• Application Number:
  US09/572,679
• Time in Patent Office: 756 Days
• Field of Search: 510/147, 510/143, 510/440, 510/483
• US Class Current: 510/147
• CPC Class Codes: C11D 17/0039 Coated compositions or coated components in the compositions, (micro)capsules
• CPC Class Codes: C11D 17/0095 Solid transparent soaps or detergents
• CPC Class Codes: C11D 17/04 combined with or containing other objects

Abstract

A soap bar with suspended articles dispersed in a random manner throughout the bar. The articles may contain various skin conditioning, fragrance, or other aesthetic elements that are appealing to the consumer. The process for making the disclosed soap bar is also disclosed. The process comprises forming a gel matrix into which the articles are suspended before being added to the primary soap mixture. The gel matrix of the present invention is formed with a suspending agent which is particularly advantageous when used in the present invention.

Claims

1. A solid soap bar comprising:

a transparent primary soap base; and

a plurality of bead articles containing an encapsulated material suspended by a pre-gel mixture in a the primary soap base.

2. The soap of claim 1, wherein the articles are randomly dispersed throughout the soap.

3. The soap of claim 2, wherein the encapsulated material is selected from the group consisting of jojoba oil, shea butter, sweet almond oil, avocado oil, sunflower oil, mineral oil, sesame oil, wheat germ oil, tee tree oil, petrolatum, fatty acids, triglycerides, silicones, fragrances, essential oil, triclocarban, triclosan, salicylic acid, isopropyl myristate, isopropyl palmitate, C12-15 alkyl benzoate skin conditioning emollient, butyl myristate, Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Vitamin B₅, Vitamin E, oil soluble pigments, and oil dispersible powders.

4. The soap bar of claim 1, wherein the primary soap base is translucent.

5. The soap bar of claim 1, wherein the encapsulated material is micro-encapsulated.

6. The soap bar of claim 1, wherein the soap bar pH is 8.0 or above.

7. The soap bar of claim 1 or claim 6, wherein the shell of the encapsulated material is stable under conditions of the soap bar, thereby avoiding unacceptable degradation of the encapsulated material before use.

8. The process of forming a suspended bead article soap bar according to claim 1 comprising the steps of:

preparing a gel matrix containing a plurality of articles;

preparing a transparent soap base;

mixing a sufficient amount of the gel matrix with the soap base to form a mixture; and

solidifying the mixture.

9. The process of forming a gel matrix for suspending bead articles in a soap base according to claim 8 comprising:

forming a pre-gel solution;

adding bead articles to the pre-gel solution; and

adding an electrolyte to the pre-gel solution.

10. The process of claim 9, wherein the pre-gel solution is a mixture of water, a suitable glycol, and a suspending agent.

11. The process of claim 9, wherein the electrolyte has a pH greater than 7.0.

12. The process of claim 9 wherein the electrolyte is sodium hydroxide.

13. The process of claim 10, wherein the suspending agent is a natural hectorite material.

14. The process of claim 10, wherein the suspending agent is a synthetic hectorite.

15. The process of claim 9, wherein the pre-gel solution comprises between about 45% and about 60% water, between about 15% and 35% glycol, and between about 1.5% and 3.0% suspending agent.