US-12624305-B2 - Conveyor lubricants including emulsion of a lipophilic compound and an emulsifier and/or an anionic surfactant and methods employing them

Abstract

The present invention relates to conveyor lubricant compositions including an emulsion of a lipophilic compound and also including an emulsifier and/or an anionic surfactant. The present invention also relates to methods employing such lubricant compositions. In an embodiment, the method includes applying the present lubricant composition to a conveyor with a non-energized nozzle.

Inventors

• Stefan Seemeyer
• Eric D. Morrison
• Stephan Scharrenbach
• Claudia Caussin de Schneck
• Stefan Kupper
• Peter Rich
• Colin Court

Assignees

• ECOLAB USA INC.

Dates

Publication Date

20260512

Application Date

20230324

Claims (20)

1. 1 . A method for lubricating the passage of a container along a conveyor, comprising: applying a lubricant composition to at least a portion of a container-contacting surface of the conveyor or to at least a portion of a conveyor-contacting surface of the container; the lubricant composition comprising alcohol ethoxylate propoxylate, the lubricant composition having an alkalinity of 100 ppm of CaCO 3 or less, and the lubricant composition does not comprise amine or amine derivative lubricants, wherein applying comprises applying the lubricant composition for a first length of time and not applying the lubricant composition for a second length of time, and wherein the ratio of the first length of time to the second length of time is about 1 to greater than or equal to about 10, and wherein the lubricant composition is PET bottle compatible.
2. 2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the lubricant composition is free of silicone.
3. 3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein applying comprises spraying, brushing, wiping, dripping, or roll coating the lubricant composition onto the conveyor or the container.
4. 4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein applying comprises coating at least a portion of the conveyor with the lubricant composition.
5. 5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the lubricant composition further comprises an additional functional ingredient.
6. 6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the additional functional ingredient is selected from the group of antimicrobial agent, cracking inhibitor, antioxidant, and mixtures thereof.
7. 7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the lubricant composition creates a coefficient of friction on the conveyor of less than about 0.12.
8. 8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the container comprises polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene naphthalate, glass, paper, metal, or a combination thereof.
9. 9 . A method for lubricating the passage of a container along a conveyor comprising: applying a lubricant composition to at least a portion of a container-contacting surface of the conveyor or to at least a portion of a conveyor-contacting surface of the container, the lubricant composition comprising alcohol ethoxylate propoxylate, the lubricant composition having an alkalinity of 100 ppm of CaCO 3 or less, and the lubricant composition does not comprise amine or amine derivative lubricants, wherein the lubricant composition is free of silicone, wherein applying comprises applying the lubricant composition for a first length of time and not applying the lubricant composition for a second length of time, and wherein the ratio of the first length of time to the second length of time is about 1 to greater than or equal to about 10, and wherein the lubricant composition is PET bottle compatible.
10. 10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein applying comprises spraying, brushing, wiping, dripping, or roll coating the lubricant composition onto the conveyor or the container.
11. 11 . The method of claim 9 , wherein applying comprises coating at least a portion of the conveyor with the lubricant composition.
12. 12 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the lubricant composition further comprises an additional functional ingredient.
13. 13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the additional functional ingredient is selected from the group consisting of an antimicrobial agent, a cracking inhibitor, an antioxidant, and mixtures thereof.
14. 14 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the lubricant composition creates a coefficient of friction on the conveyor of less than about 0.12.
15. 15 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the container comprises polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene naphthalate, glass, paper, metal, or a combination thereof.
16. 16 . The method of claim 9 , the lubricant composition further comprising an emulsifier.
17. 17 . The method of claim 9 , the lubricant composition further comprising a surfactant.
18. 18 . The method of claim 9 , the lubricant composition further comprising a lipophilic compound.
19. 19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the lipophilic compound is present in the lubricant composition in an amount of about 0.1 to about 30 wt-%.
20. 20 . A method for lubricating the passage of a container along a conveyor comprising: applying a lubricant composition to at least a portion of a container-contacting surface of the conveyor or to at least a portion of a conveyor-contacting surface of the container, the lubricant composition comprising alcohol ethoxylate propoxylate, the lubricant composition having an alkalinity of 100 ppm of CaCO 3 or less, and the lubricant composition does not comprise amine or amine derivative lubricants, wherein the lubricant composition creates a coefficient of friction on the conveyor of less than about 0.15, wherein applying comprises applying the lubricant composition for a first length of time and not applying the lubricant composition for a second length of time, and wherein the ratio of the first length of time to the second length of time is about 1 to greater than or equal to about 10, and wherein the lubricant composition is PET bottle compatible.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 17/647,973, filed Jan. 13, 2022, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,685,875, issued Jun. 27, 2023, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 17/076,048, filed Oct. 21, 2020, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,254,894, issued Feb. 22, 2022, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/281,733, filed Feb. 21, 2019, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,844,310, issued Nov. 24, 2020, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/492,459, filed Apr. 20, 2017, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,273,430, issued Apr. 30, 2019, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/216,418, filed Mar. 17, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,783,760 on Oct. 10, 2017, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/854,237, filed Sep. 12, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,716,2000, issued May 6, 2014, which claims benefit of Provisional Application No. 60/825,546, filed Sep. 13, 2006, which applications are incorporated herein by reference. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to conveyor lubricant compositions including an emulsion of a lipophilic compound and also including an emulsifier and/or an anionic surfactant. The present invention also relates to methods employing such lubricant compositions. In an embodiment, the method includes applying the present lubricant composition to a conveyor with a non-energized nozzle. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In commercial container filling or packaging operations, the containers typically are moved by a conveying system at very high rates of speed. Typically, a concentrated lubricant is diluted with water to form an aqueous dilute lubricant solution (i.e., dilution ratios of 100:1 to 500:1), and copious amounts of aqueous dilute lubricant solutions are typically applied to the conveyor or containers using spray or pumping equipment. These lubricant solutions permit high-speed operation of the conveyor and limit marring of the containers or labels, but also have some disadvantages. First, dilute aqueous lubricants typically require use of large amounts of water on the conveying line, which must then be disposed of or recycled, and which causes an unduly wet environment near the conveyor line. Second, some aqueous lubricants can promote the growth of microbes. Third, by requiring dilution of the concentrated lubricant dilution errors can occur, leading to variations and errors in concentration of the aqueous dilute lubricant solution. Finally, by requiring water from the plant, variations in the water can have negative side effects on the dilute lubricant solution. For example, alkalinity in the water can lead to environmental stress cracking in PET bottles. When an aqueous dilute lubricant solution is used, it is typically applied at least half of the time the conveyor is running, and usually it is applied continuously. By running the aqueous dilute lubricant solution continuously, more lubricant is used than is necessary, and the lubricant concentrate drums have to be switched out more often than necessary. “Dry lubes” have been described in the past as a solution to the disadvantages of dilute aqueous lubricants. A “dry lube” historically has referred to a lubricant composition with less than 50% water that was applied to a container or conveyor without dilution. However, this application typically required special dispensing equipment and nozzles and energized nozzles in particular. Energized nozzles refer to nozzles where the lubricant stream is broken into a spray of fine droplets by the use of energy, which may include high pressures, compressed air, or sonication to deliver the lubricant. Silicone materials have been the most popular “dry lube”. However, silicone is primarily effective at lubricating plastics such as PET bottles, and has been observed to be less effective at lubricating on glass or metal containers, particularly on a metal surface. If a plant is running more than one type of container on a line, the conveyor lubricant will have to be switched before the new type of container can be run. Alternatively, if a plant is running different types of containers on different lines, the plant will have to stock more than one type of conveyor lubricant. Both scenarios are time consuming and inefficient for the plant. It has been observed in the field that traditional glass and metal lubricants do not work well (i.e. do not produce an acceptable low coefficient of friction) when run in a dry mode, that is when applied for a period of time, and then turned off for a period of time while containers and packages continue to be moved along the conveyor surface. Emulsions containing lipophilic oils including triglycerides have been shown to provide advantageous lubrication and cooling as a metal working fluid for processes such as rolling, forging, blanking, bending, stamping, drawing, stretch forming, milling, cutting, punching, spinning, extruding, coining, hobbing, swaging, and the l