We claim:
1. A cleaning composition comprising:
a non-polymer thickening medium including:
a. a sparingly water soluble surfactant, and
b. an organic solvent including an OH group, an ether group, or both an OH group and an ether group;
a source of alkalinity; and
a polar carrier.
2. The cleaning composition of claim 1, wherein the polar carrier comprises water.
3. The cleaning composition of claim 1, wherein the organic solvent is an at least moderately water soluble solvent.
4. The cleaning composition of claim 1, wherein the organic solvent has an HLB value in the range of about 5 to about 8.
5. The cleaning composition of claim 4, wherein the organic solvent has an HLB value in the range of about 7 to about 8.
6. The cleaning composition of claim 1, wherein the organic solvent has an OHLB value in the range of about 12 to about 20.
7. The cleaning composition of claim 1, wherein the organic solvent has an OHLB value in the range of about 14 to about 18.
8. The cleaning composition of claim 1, wherein the organic solvent includes an OH group and an ether group.
9. The cleaning composition of claim 1, wherein the organic solvent comprises a glycol ether.
10. The cleaning composition of claim 9, wherein the organic solvent comprises a propylene glycol ether or an ethylene glycol ether.
11. The cleaning composition of claim 10, wherein the organic solvent comprises propylene glycol phenyl ether, ethylene glycol phenyl ether, tri propylene glycol-n-butyl ether, di propylene glycol-n-butyl ether, propylene glycol-n-butyl ether, tri propylene glycol-n-propyl ether, di propylene glycol-n-propyl ether, propylene glycol-n-propyl ether, ethylene glycol-n-butyl ether, di ethylene glycol-n-butyl ether, or mixtures or derivatives thereof.
12. The cleaning composition of claim 11, wherein the organic solvent comprises tri propylene glycol-n-propyl ether, di propylene glycol-n-propyl ether, propylene glycol-n-propyl ether, ethylene glycol-n-butyl ether, di ethylene glycol-n-butyl ether, or mixtures or derivatives thereof.
13. The cleaning composition of claim 1, wherein the organic solvent comprises ethylene glycol-n-butyl ether.
14. The cleaning composition of claim 1, wherein the organic solvent comprises benzyl alcohol, or a derivative thereof.
15. The cleaning composition of claim 1, wherein the sparingly water soluble surfactant has a water solubility in the range of about 0.001 to about 30 weight percent.
16. The cleaning composition of claim 1, wherein the sparingly water soluble surfactant comprises an anionic surfactant.
17. The cleaning composition of claim 1, wherein the sparingly water soluble surfactant includes a sulfonate group.
18. The cleaning composition of claim 1, wherein the sparingly water soluble surfactant comprises a linear or branched, substituted or unsubstituted alkyl benzene sulfonate, or a derivative thereof.
19. The cleaning composition of claim 1, wherein the sparingly water soluble surfactant comprises a linear alkyl benzene sulfonate.
20. The cleaning composition of claim 19, wherein the linear alkyl portion of the linear alkyl benzene sulfonate includes in the range of 4 and 18 carbon atoms.
21. The cleaning composition of claim 1, wherein the sparingly water soluble surfactant comprises linear dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid.
22. The cleaning composition of claim 1, wherein the sparingly water soluble surfactant comprises a branched alkyl benzene sulfonate.
23. The cleaning composition of claim 22, wherein the branched alkyl portion of the branched alkyl benzene sulfonate includes in the range of 4 and 18 carbon atoms.
24. The cleaning composition of claim 1, wherein the sparingly water soluble surfactant comprises a linear or branched, substituted or unsubstituted alkyl benzene sulfonate including a cationic portion that includes an alkali metal ion, an alkali earth metal ion, an ammonium ion, a protonated amine ion, or a protonated alkanolamine ion.
25. The cleaning composition of claim 1, wherein the sparingly water soluble surfactant comprises isopropylamine dodecyl benzene sulfonate.
26. The cleaning composition of claim 1, wherein the sparingly water soluble surfactant comprises compound of the formula:
2
wherein R1-R5 are the same or different, and are each independently hydrogen, or C1 through C18 linear or branched, unsubstituted or substituted alkyl; and
X is a cation.
27. The cleaning composition of claim 26, wherein R1, R2, R4, and R5 are hydrogen, and C3 is a linear or branched, unsubstituted or substituted alkyl having in the range of 1 and 18 carbon atoms.
28. The alkali cleaning composition of claim 1, wherein the source of alkalinity comprises an alkali metal salt, an alkali earth metal salt, an ammonium, a protonated amine, a protonated alkanol amine, or combinations or mixtures thereof.
29. The alkali cleaning composition of claim 1, further comprising one or more additional functional ingredients.
30. The cleaning composition of claim 29, wherein the one or more additional functional ingredients comprise an enzyme, an enzyme stabilizing system, an additional surfactant, a chelating agent, a sequestering agent, a bleaching agent, an additional thickening agent, a solubility modifier, a detergent filler, a defoamer, an anti-redeposition agent, a threshold agent or system, an aesthetic enhancing agent, or combinations or mixtures thereof.
31. The cleaning composition of claim 1, wherein the composition has a viscosity in the range of about 10 to about 2,000 centipoises.
32. A non-polymer thickening medium for use in an aqueous composition, the thickening medium comprising:
a sparingly water soluble surfactant; and
an organic solvent including an OH group, an ether group, or both an OH group and an ether group;
wherein when the thickening medium is included in an aqueous composition, at least some of the sparingly water soluble surfactant and at least some of the organic solvent interact with each other within the aqueous composition to thicken the composition.
33. The non-polymer thickening medium of claim 32, wherein the interaction between the sparingly water soluble surfactant and the organic solvent includes hydrogen bonding.
34. The non-polymer thickening medium of claim 32, wherein the interaction between the sparingly water soluble surfactant and the organic solvent includes long range hydrogen bonding.
35. The non-polymer thickening medium of claim 32, wherein the thickening medium also acts to enhance the cleaning capacity of the aqueous composition.
36. The non-polymer thickening medium of claim 35, wherein the thickening medium also acts to enhance the capacity of the aqueous composition to clean grease.
37. The non-polymer thickening medium of claim 32, wherein the organic solvent includes both an OH group and an ether group.
38. The non-polymer thickening medium of claim 32, wherein the organic solvent comprises a glycol ether.
39. The non-polymer thickening medium of claim 38, wherein the organic solvent comprises propylene glycol phenyl ether, ethylene glycol phenyl ether, tri propylene glycol-n-butyl ether, di propylene glycol-n-butyl ether, propylene glycol-n-butyl ether, tri propylene glycol-n-propyl ether, di propylene glycol-n-propyl ether, propylene glycol-n-propyl ether, ethylene glycol-n-butyl ether, di ethylene glycol-n-butyl ether, or mixtures or derivatives thereof.
40. The non-polymer thickening medium of claim 32, wherein the organic solvent comprises tri propylene glycol-n-propyl ether, di propylene glycol-n-propyl ether, propylene glycol-n-propyl ether, ethylene glycol-n-butyl ether, di ethylene glycol-n-butyl ether, or mixtures or derivatives thereof.
41. The non-polymer thickening medium of claim 32, wherein the organic solvent comprises ethylene glycol-n-butyl ether.
42. The non-polymer thickening medium of claim 32, wherein the organic solvent comprises benzyl alcohol, or a derivative thereof.
43. The non-polymer thickening medium of claim 32, wherein the sparingly water soluble surfactant has a water solubility in the range of about 0.001 to about 30 weight percent.
44. The non-polymer thickening medium of claim 32, wherein the sparingly water soluble surfactant comprises an anionic surfactant.
45. The non-polymer thickening medium of claim 32, wherein the sparingly water soluble surfactant includes a sulfonate group.
46. The non-polymer thickening medium of claim 32, wherein the sparingly water soluble surfactant comprises a linear or branched, substituted or unsubstituted alkyl benzene sulfonate, or a derivative thereof.
47. The non-polymer thickening medium of claim 32, wherein the sparingly water soluble surfactant comprises a linear alkyl benzene sulfonate.
48. The non-polymer thickening medium of claim 47, wherein the linear alkyl portion of the linear alkyl benzene sulfonate includes in the range of 4 and 18 carbon atoms.
49. The non-polymer thickening medium of claim 32, wherein the sparingly water soluble surfactant comprises linear dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid.
50. The non-polymer thickening medium of claim 32, wherein the sparingly water soluble surfactant comprises a branched alkyl benzene sulfonate.
51. The non-polymer thickening medium of claim 32, wherein the branched alkyl portion of the branched alkyl benzene sulfonate includes in the range of 4 and 18 carbon atoms.
52. The non-polymer thickening medium of claim 32, wherein the sparingly water soluble surfactant comprises a linear or branched, substituted or unsubstituted alkyl benzene sulfonate including a cationic portion that includes an alkali metal ion, an alkali earth metal ion, an ammonium ion, a protonated amine ion, or a protonated alkanolamine ion.
53. The non-polymer thickening medium of claim 32, wherein the sparingly water soluble surfactant comprises isopropylamine dodecyl benzene sulfonate.
54. An aqueous degreaser composition comprising:
a non-polymer thickeningcleaning medium including:
a. a sparingly water soluble surfactant having a water solubility in the range of about 0.001 to about 30 weight percent; and
b. an organic solvent containing an OH group, an ether group, or both an OH group and an ether group, and having an HLB value in the range of about 5 to about 8;
a source of alkalinity; and
water.
55. The aqueous degreaser composition of claim 54, wherein:
the sparingly water soluble surfactant comprises in the range of about 0.5 to about 20% by weight of the total solution;
the organic solvent comprises in the range of about 1 to about 20% by weight of the total solution;
the source of alkalinity comprises in the range of about 0.5 to about 90% by weight of the total solution; and
the water comprises in the range of about 10 to about 90% by weight of the total solution.
56. The aqueous degreaser composition of claim 54, wherein
the sparingly water soluble surfactant comprises a linear or branched, substituted or unsubstituted alkyl benzene sulfonate, or a derivative thereof;
the organic solvent including both an OH group and an ether group, and having an HLB value in the range of about 5 to about 8; and
the source of alkalinity comprises an alkali metal salt, an amine, an ammonium, or combinations or mixtures thereof.
57. A method of producing a cleaning composition, the method comprising:
admixing the following ingredients:
a sparingly water soluble surfactant, and
an organic solvent including an OH group, an ether group, or both an OH group and an ether group;
a source of alkalinity; and
a polar carrier;
wherein the at least some of the sparingly water soluble surfactant and at least some of the organic solvent interact with each other within the composition to thicken the composition.
58. A cleaning composition produced according the method of claim 57.
59. The method of claim 57, wherein the polar carrier comprises water.
60. The method of claim 57, wherein the organic solvent has an HLB value in the range of about 5 to about 8.
61. The method of claim 60, wherein the organic solvent has an HLB value in the range of about 7 to about 8.
62. The method of claim 57, wherein the organic solvent includes an OH group and an ether group.
63. The method of claim 57, wherein the organic solvent comprises a glycol ether.
64. The method of claim 63, wherein the organic solvent comprises a propylene glycol ether or an ethylene glycol ether.
65. The method of claim 57, wherein the organic solvent comprises propylene glycol phenyl ether, ethylene glycol phenyl ether, tri propylene glycol-n-butyl ether, di propylene glycol-n-butyl ether, propylene glycol-n-butyl ether, tri propylene glycol-n-propyl ether, di propylene glycol-n-propyl ether, propylene glycol-n-propyl ether, ethylene glycol-n-butyl ether, di ethylene glycol-n-butyl ether, benzyl alcohol, or mixtures or derivatives thereof.
66. The method of claim 57, wherein the sparingly water soluble surfactant has a water solubility in the range of about 0.001 to about 30 weight percent.
67. The method of claim 57, wherein the sparingly water soluble surfactant comprises an anionic surfactant.
68. The method of claim 57, wherein the sparingly water soluble surfactant includes a sulfonate group.
69. The method of claim 57, wherein the sparingly water soluble surfactant comprises a linear or branched, substituted or unsubstituted alkyl benzene sulfonate, or a derivative thereof.
70. The method of claim 57, wherein the sparingly water soluble surfactant comprises a linear alkyl benzene sulfonate, and wherein the linear alkyl portion of the linear alkyl benzene sulfonate includes in the range of 4 and 18 carbon atoms.
71. The method of claim 57, wherein the sparingly water soluble surfactant comprises linear dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid.
72. The method of claim 57, wherein the sparingly water soluble surfactant comprises a linear or branched, substituted or unsubstituted alkyl benzene sulfonate including a cationic portion that includes an alkali metal ion, an alkali earth metal ion, an ammonium ion, a protonated amine ion, or a protonated alkanolamine ion.
73. The method of claim 57, wherein the sparingly water soluble surfactant comprises isopropylamine dodecyl benzene sulfonate.
74. The method of claim 57, wherein the sparingly water soluble surfactant comprises compound of the formula:
3
wherein R1-R5 are the same or different, and are each independently hydrogen, or C1 through C18 linear or branched, unsubstituted or substituted alkyl; and
X is a cation.
75. The method of claim 57, wherein the cleaning composition further comprises one or more additional functional ingredients.
76. A method of cleaning a soil from a surface, the method comprising:
providing a cleaning composition comprising:
a non-polymer thickening medium including:
a. a sparingly water soluble surfactant, and
b. an organic solvent including an OH group, an ether group, or both an OH group and an ether group;
a source of alkalinity; and
a polar carrier;
applying the cleaning composition to the surface; and
removing at least some of the cleaning composition at least some of the soil from the surface.
77. The method of claim 76, wherein at least a portion of the soil comprises grease.
78. A method of thickening an aqueous cleaning composition, the method comprising:
providing an aqueous cleaning composition;
adding a non-polymer thickening medium to the aqueous cleaning composition, the non-polymer thickening medium including:
a sparingly water soluble surfactant, and
an organic solvent containing an OH group, an ether group, or both an OH group and an ether group.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method of customizing a user interface, the method comprising:
recording a use count for a user interface element for each user in a group of users;
obtaining a use weight for the user interface element based on the use counts for the group of users; and
modifying the user interface element for each user in the group of users based on the use weight.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
defining the group of users to include a plurality of users; and
associating a server with the group of users.
3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:
obtaining the use count from each user at the server; and
resetting the use count for each user.
4. The method of claim 2, further comprising requesting the use count from each user.
5. The method of claim 2, further comprising obtaining the use weight from the server at each user.
6. The method of claim 2, further comprising requesting the use weight from the server during initialization of the application.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the use weight comprises one of: a neutral value, a positive likelihood value, and a negative likelihood value.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the use weight comprises a byte.
9. The method of claim 1, further comprising configuring the user interface element to incorporate use data.
10. A method of customizing a user interface, the method comprising:
defining a group of users to include a plurality of users;
associating a server with the group of users;
obtaining a use count for a user interface element for each user in the group of users at the server;
calculating a use weight for the user interface element based on the use counts for the group of users at the server; and
modifying the user interface element for each user in the group of users based on the use weight.
11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:
recording the use count at a user device for each user;
communicating the use count from each user device to the server; and
communicating the use weight from the server to each user device.
12. A system for customizing a user interface, the system comprising:
a definition system for defining the group of users;
a communication system for obtaining a use count for a user interface element for each user in a group of users; and
a calculation system for calculating a use weight for the user interface element based on the use counts for the group of users.
13. The system of claim 12, further comprising a modification system for modifying the user interface element for each user in the group of users based on the use weight.
14. The system of claim 12, further comprising a recordation system for recording the use count for each user.
15. The system of claim 12, further comprising a configuration system for configuring the user interface element to incorporate use data.
16. The system of claim 12, wherein the communication system further communicates the use weight to a user device for each user.
17. A program product stored on a recordable medium for customizing a user interface, which when executed comprises:
program code for defining the group of users;
program code for obtaining a use count for a user interface element for each user in a group of users; and
program code for calculating a use weight for the user interface element based on the use counts for the group of users.
18. The program product of claim 17, further comprising program code for modifying the user interface element for each user in the group of users based on the use weight.
19. The program product of claim 17, further comprising program code for recording the use count for each user.
20. The program product of claim 17, further comprising program code for configuring the user interface element to incorporate use data.