Fibrous structures having a contact surface
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Solution Overview
Problem
Pre-moistened fibrous structures, such as floor cleaning pads, exhibit high friction due to hydrogen bonding, leading to flipping, chattering, and excessive user effort during cleaning, as their flat contact surfaces do not effectively manage friction levels for efficient soil removal without causing consumer negatives like flipping or over-exertion.
Innovation Solution
The development of fibrous structures with a micro protrusion surface pattern, featuring a contact surface comprising micro protrusions that reduce friction while maintaining sufficient contact area for effective soil removal, achieved through the creation of macro protrusions with integrated micro protrusions on their surfaces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If a flat contact surface is used, then the total surface area contacts the surface being cleaned, but high friction occurs due to hydrogen bonding causing flipping and chattering
Solution Approach 1:
The contact surface is segmented into multiple discrete micro protrusions rather than a continuous flat surface. This segmentation reduces the actual contact area between the fibrous structure and the surface being cleaned, thereby reducing hydrogen bonding and friction while maintaining sufficient contact points for effective cleaning.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from a two-dimensional flat contact surface to a three-dimensional micro protrusion surface. By adding vertical dimensionality with micro protrusions having specific heights and diameters, the contact surface area is effectively reduced while maintaining overall footprint, solving the friction problem.
2Ease of operation
If macro protrusions are created to reduce contact surface area, then friction is reduced, but the protruding surfaces remain flat and insufficient friction reduction occurs
Solution Approach 1:
Each macro protrusion surface is further segmented into multiple micro protrusions. This double-level segmentation (macro protrusions on the fibrous structure surface, and micro protrusions on each macro protrusion surface) creates sufficient reduction in contact area to effectively reduce friction and prevent flipping and chattering.
Solution Approach 2:
The micro protrusions are specifically positioned on the macro protrusion surfaces that contact the surface being cleaned. This local modification ensures that friction reduction occurs precisely where needed at the contact interface, while maintaining the overall structural integrity and cleaning function of the fibrous structure.
3Ease of operation
If micro protrusions are created on macro protrusion surfaces, then friction is sufficiently reduced, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention defines specific parameter ranges for the micro protrusions (height 1-1000 μm, diameter 1-100 μm) and macro protrusions (height 1-10 mm, diameter 1-100 mm) to optimize the balance between friction reduction and manufacturing feasibility. These parameter specifications guide the molding process to achieve the desired surface structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The molded surface structure with macro and micro protrusions serves multiple functions simultaneously: it reduces friction through reduced contact area, maintains structural integrity for effective cleaning, and provides a reproducible manufacturing process through injection molding or similar techniques that can mass-produce the complex surface geometry.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The micro protrusion surface pattern reduces friction and prevents flipping, allowing for efficient cleaning with reduced user effort by optimizing the contact surface area for effective soil removal without excessive friction, thereby enhancing the usability of pre-moistened fibrous structures.
Implementation Method 1
exhibit unacceptable friction for a user during use due to phenomenon known as hydrogen bonding
Data Source
AI summary
Fibrous structures, for example pre-moistened fibrous structures, having a novel contact surface (micro protrusion surface) and methods for using the fibrous structures and making the fibrous structures are provided.