Artificial testing soil and method of testing

• US 20060160225A1
• Filed: 12/30/2005
• Published: 07/20/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/15/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SC Johnson & Son Incorporated
• Original Assignee: SC Johnson & Son Incorporated
• Inventors: Weitfeldt, John R., Gipp, Mark M.
• Granted Patent: US 7,871,821 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 436/18
• CPC Class Codes: C05G 1/00 Mixtures of fertilisers belonging individually to different subclasses of C05
• CPC Class Codes: E02D 29/0258 characterised by constructional features
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 19/06 Investigating by removing material, e.g. spark-testing
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 31/222 for investigating moisture content
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 436/10 Composition for standardization, calibration, simulation, stabilization, preparation or preservation; processes of use in preparation for chemical testing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 436/108331 Preservative, buffer, anticoagulant or diluent
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 436/109163 Inorganic standards or controls

Abstract

An artificial test soil comprises particulate, hair, and fiber components, wherein said particulate component consists of mineral, food, and plant materials, so chosen and proportioned as to correlate to a typical soil found in the home. The test soil may be used to test cleaning products by application of a known amount thereof to a surface, cleaning of said surface, and determination of the amount of said soil removed from said surface.

Claims

21. The simulated dust composition for use in evaluating the effectiveness of cleaning devices, the composition comprising:

A) a fibrous fraction including cotton fibers present in an amount of between about 70% and about 100% by volume of the fibrous fraction; and

B) a particulate fraction including skin cells present in an amount of between about 40% and about 70% by volume of the particulate fraction.

22. The composition of claim 21 wherein the weight ratio of the fibrous fraction to the particulate fraction is between about 1.25:

1 and about 1;

1.25.

23. The composition of claim 21 wherein the fibrous fraction is present in an amount of between about 45% to about 55% by weight of the composition, and the particulate fraction is present in an amount of between about 45% to about 55% by weight of the composition.

24. The composition of claim 21 wherein the fibrous fraction comprises:

A) cotton fibers;

B) synthetic fibers; and

C) hair fibers.

25. The composition of claim 24 wherein the fibrous fraction comprises:

A) cotton fibers are present in an amount of between 70% to about 100% by volume of the fibrous fraction;

B) synthetic rayon fibers are present in an amount of between about 10% to about 40% by volume of the fibrous fraction;

C) synthetic nylon fibers are present in an amount of between about 10% to about 40% by volume of the fibrous fraction; and

D) hair fibers are present in an amount of between about 1% to about 10% by volume of the fibrous fraction.

26. The composition of claim 21 wherein a particulate fraction comprises:

A) skin cells;

B) plant fragments;

C) construction material and soil;

D) starch;

E) low temperature combustion products; and

F) cotton.

27. The composition of claim 26 wherein the particulate fraction comprises:

A) skin cells present in an amount of between 40% to about 70% by volume of the particulate fraction;

B) plant fragments present in an amount of between 10% to about 40% by volume of the particulate fraction;

C) construction material and soil present in an amount of between about 10% to about 40% by volume of the particulate fraction;

D) starch present in an amount of between 1% to about 10% by volume of the particulate fraction;

E) low temperature combustion products present in an amount of between 1% to about 10% by volume of the particulate fraction; and

F) cotton present in an amount of between 1% to about 10% by volume of the particulate fraction.

28. The composition of claim 21 wherein the composition has a particulate size distribution of:

A) about 0% to about 1% of particles larger than 15 micrometers;

B) about 15% to about 20% of particles between about 10 micrometers and 50 micrometers;

C) about 35% to about 50% of particles between about 2.5 micrometers and about 10 micrometers; and

D) about 35% to about 50% of particles between about 0.3 micrometers and about 2.5 micrometers.

29. The composition of claim 21 comprising:

A) a fibrous fraction including cotton fibers present in an amount of between about 70% to about 100% by volume of the fibrous fraction, synthetic rayon fibers present in the amount of between about 10% to about 40% by volume of the fibrous fraction, synthetic nylon fibers present in an amount of between 10% to about 40% by volume of the fibrous fraction, and hair fibers present in an amount of between about 1% to about 10% by volume of the fibrous fraction; and

B) a particulate fraction including skin cells present in an amount of between about 40% to about 70% by volume of the particulate fraction, plant fragments present in an amount of between 10% to about 40% by volume of the particulate fraction, construction material and soil in an amount of between 10% to about 40% by volume of the particulate fraction, starch present in an amount of between 1% to about 10% by volume of the particulate fraction, low temperature combustion product present in an amount of between 1% to about 10% by volume of the particulate fraction, and cotton present in an amount of between 1% to about 10% by volume of the particulate fraction.

30. The composition of claim 21 wherein the composition has the following weight fractions for the fibrous fraction and particulate fraction for the individual components of each of the fibrous fraction and particulate fraction:

31. A method for forming a simulated household dust composition, the method comprising the steps of:

A) providing a first container and a second container;

B) introducing a number of fibrous fraction components into the first container;

C) mixing the fibrous fraction components in the first container;

D) introducing a number of particulate fraction components into the second container;

E) mixing the particulate fraction components in the second container; and

F) mixing the fibrous fraction components from the first container with the particulate fraction components from the second container.

32. The method of claim 31 wherein the fibrous fraction components include cotton fibers present in an amount of between about 70% to about 100% by volume of the fibrous fraction components.

33. The method of claim 32 wherein the fibrous fraction components include cotton fibers, synthetic fibers, and hair fibers.

34. The method of claim 33 wherein the cotton fibers are present in an amount of between about 70% to about 100% by volume of the fibrous fraction components, the synthetic fibers are present in an amount of between about 10% to about 40% by volume of the fibrous fraction components, and the hair fibers are present in an amount between about 1% to about 10% by volume of the fibrous fraction components.

35. The method of claim 31 wherein the particulate fibrous components include skin cells present in an amount of between about 40% to about 70% by volume of the particulate fraction components.

36. The method of claim 35 wherein the particulate fraction components include skin cells, plant fragments, construction material, soil, starch, low temperature combustion products, and cotton.

37. The method of claim 36 wherein the skin cells are in an amount between about 40% to about 70% by volume of the particulate fraction components, the plant fragments are present in an amount of between about 10% to about 40% by volume of the particulate fraction components, the construction material and soil are present in an amount of between 10% to about 40% by volume of the particulate fraction components, the start is present in an amount between about 1% to about 10% by volume of the particulate fraction components, the low temperature combustion products are present in an amount of between about 1% to about 10% by volume of the particulate fraction components, and the cotton is present in the amount of between about 1% to about 10% by volume of the particulate fraction components.

38. The method of claim 31 wherein the step of mixing the fibrous fraction components comprises mixing the fibrous fraction components until homogeneously mixed in the first container.

39. The method of claim 31 wherein the step of mixing the particulate fraction components comprises mixing the particulate fraction components until homogeneously mixed in the second container.

40. The method of claim 31 wherein the step of mixing the fibrous fraction with the particulate fraction comprises mixing the fibrous fraction and particulate fraction until homogeneously mixed.