CPC Definition - Subclass C11D
This place covers:
- Detergent compositions used for cleaning or washing. Fabric softening compositions.
- Detergent compositions based essentially on surface-active compounds, such as anionic, cationic, amphoteric or nonionic surfactants;
- Compounding ingredients for such compositions, e.g. compounds such as carbonate, animal products or polymer;
- Compounding ingredients characterised by their effect or property;
- Detergent compositions based essentially on non-surface active compounds, which means no surfactant is present;
- Detergent compositions based essentially on soap;
- Use of single substances, such as surface-active compounds, as detergents;
- Detergent compositions based on more than one type of compound;
- Methods of preparing compositions containing mixtures of detergents;
- Special cleaning and washing methods;
- Making soap or soap solutions in general;
- Making resin soap or soaps derived from naphthenic acids, and compositions thereof;
- Detergent materials or soaps characterised by their physical properties;
- Recovery of glycerol from a saponification liquor.
Cosmetic preparations comprising surfactants are classified in A61K 8/00, A61Q 5/00 and A61Q 19/00; they include washing the hair, cleaning the teeth or mouth, cleansing the body (e.g. shower preparation).
General cleansing compositions which are usually liquid are classified in A61K 8/00, A61Q 5/00 and A61Q 19/00.
Liquid soaps, soap bars (solid cleansing compositions) and syndet bars are only classified in C11D.
Examples of places where the subject matter of this place is covered when specially adapted, used for a particular purpose, or incorporated in a larger system:
Cosmetic or similar toilet preparations | |
Preparations for care of the hair, preparations for care of the skin | |
Special washing compositions for cleaning semi-permeable membranes |
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Disinfectants as such | |
Cloth, pads, sponges containing cleaning ingredients | |
Methods or apparatus for disinfection or sterilisation | |
Anti foam compositions | |
Microcapsules | |
Method of cleaning | |
Organic compounds | |
Refining glycerol | |
Polymers | |
Chemical paint or ink removers | |
Polishing compositions | |
Use of substances as emulsifying, wetting, dispersing or foam-producing agents | |
Enzymes | |
Cleaning or degreasing metallic material by chemical methods other than electrolysis in the industry | |
Devices for adding washing or cleaning ingredients into the washing or dishwashing machine | |
Bleaching or washing of fibres, raw textiles (in the textile industry); dry cleaning of fibres, fabrics | |
Treating fibres or fabrics with chemicals | |
Stripping of photoresist material | |
Chemical treatment or cleaning of semiconductor | |
Cleaning or polishing of printed circuits |
Each relevant compound/composition is classified according to the rules in the most appropriate place.
When classifying in the mixture groups of this subclass, any individual ingredient of a composition which is not identified by such classification, and which itself is determined to be novel and non-obvious, must also be classified in groups C11D 1/00 - C11D 9/00. The individual ingredient can be either a single substance or a composition in itself.
Any ingredient of a composition which is not identified by the above classification, and which is considered to represent information of interest for search, may also be classified in groups C11D 1/00 - C11D 9/00.
In groups C11D 1/02 - C11D 1/94, C11D 3/02 - C11D 3/39, C11D 7/02 - C11D 7/46 and C11D 9/06 - C11D 9/42, in the absence of an indication to the contrary, classification is made in the last appropriate place.
To decide whether a composition/compound is classified in C11D 3/00 or in C11D 7/00 the whole document is taken into account to find out if surfactants are present or not.
Documents classified in the mixture groups C11D 1/37, C11D 1/645 - C11D 1/655, C11D 1/825 - C11D 1/86, C11D 1/94 - C11D 1/945, C11D 10/04 - C11D 10/047 are also classified with additional symbols from C11D 1/00 - C11D 1/92 to provide information on the individual surfactant.
Compositions comprising solvent mixtures or a list of alternatives are classified in C11D 3/43 or C11D 7/50 and the single components are classified with additional symbols from C11D 3/00 or C11D 7/00.
In case of mixture or a list of alternatives in the groups C11D 3/2003, C11D 3/2006, C11D 3/2041, C11D 3/34, C11D 3/3905 and C11D 3/3907, individual compounds are classified with additional symbols of C11D 3/2003, C11D 3/34 and C11D 3/3905.
Polymers are only classified in the group C11D 3/37 in rare cases; dependent claims, examples and description should be taken into account and then the specific polymers should be classified.
For example, in claim 1 a polymer is claimed, in the description and dependent claims polyacrylate and carboxymethylcellulose are disclosed, the polymer is therefore classified in C11D 3/3757 and C11D 3/225.
The same is applied to per compounds and bleaching compounds in C11D 3/39 and C11D 3/395.
Carboxylic acid mixtures or alternatives are classified in C11D 3/2075; if specific acids are claimed they can be classified in the specific groups.
Block copolymers such as EOPO are classified in C11D 1/008 when they are used as surfactants; if they are not used as a surfactant, they are classified in C11D 3/3707.
In C11D 3/0005 the compounds / compositions are characterised by their effect or properties. Documents classified therein are also classified in other groups of C11D according to the chemical nature of the compounds.
In compositions comprising an unspecified surfactant and carbonates, only the carbonates are classified in C11D 3/10.
In compositions comprising ethoxylated alcohol surfactant and carbonates, both the specific surfactant and the carbonates are classified in C11D 1/72 and C11D 3/10.
Polymers, enzymes, per compounds, bleaching agents, dyes, brightening agent and disinfecting, antibacterial, microbicidal agents in compositions without surfactants are classified in C11D 3/00.
In this place, the following terms or expressions are used with the meaning indicated:
Amphoteric surfactant | Amphoteric surfactants contain both acidic and basic groups in their molecule, and can act as cationic or anionic detergents, depending on the pH of the solution, or as both cation and anion. Betains are included. |
Anionic surfactant | Anionic surfactants have a negatively-charged surface-active ion. An example is sodium alkylbenzene sulfonate. |
Cationic surfactant | Cationic surfactants may have a positively-charged cation; typical are the quaternary ammonium salts; they may also be amides or amines. |
Compounding ingredients | The non-surface-active ingredients in a detergent composition, e.g. builder, water-softening agents, solvent. |
Detergents | Detergents are basically any cleaning materials. Such materials may or may not contain surfactants. The term "synthetic detergent" is also used as a synonym for "surfactant" (excluding soaps, which are not considered synthetic), which is a compound, or a mixture of compounds, whose molecules have two distinct regions – one that is hydrophilic and has an affinity for water, and another that is hydrophobic, with little (if any) affinity for water. These compounds can aid in the solubilisation of hydrophobic compounds in water. See examples below of particular types of surfactant (detergent). |
Nonionic surfactant | Non-ionic surfactants are synthetic surface active agents which are such that the molecules do not ionise in aqueous solution. Examples are ethoxylated fatty alcohols and amine oxides. |
Resin soap | A yellow soap containing resin, used for bleaching. It is made by adding a certain quantity of resin (rosin or colophony), as much as 50 % and more of the fat employed, to the mass in the soap boiler towards the end of the process. |
Syndet bars | Piece of hard soap made from synthetic surfactants. |
Soaps | Soaps have the same properties as those mentioned above for surfactants, but in general soaps are not considered as synthetic detergents. Soap is a particular type of surfactant derived from oils and fats, and is created through the saponification process whereby the ester linkage in a vegetable oil or fat is hydrolytically cleaved using an alkali or (NaOH or KOH) or ammonia or amine yielding glycerol and crude soap. Soaps usually consist of the alkaline salts of fatty acids such as palmitic, stearic or oleic acids. Soft soaps contain the potassium salts, whereas the sodium salts are hard soaps. Soaps are examples of anionic surfactants. |
Surface-active compounds/agents (surfactants) | Substances which have the effect of reducing the surface tension of a solvent, an example being a detergent/surfactant or soap dissolved in water. These substances, also known as wetting agents, contain a combination of polar (hydrophilic) and non-polar (hydrophobic) parts which serve to bind oil and water together. They locate at the phase boundary between the water phase and the organic phase, or if there is no room there, they will congregate together and form micelles. Both synthetic detergents and soaps are surfactants. |
Surfactants | See "Surface-active compounds/agents". |
This place covers:
Detergents compositions based on surfactants, surface active agents
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Cationic compounds being N-containing polycondensation products | |
Non-ionic compounds being carbohydrates or derivatives | |
Non-ionic compounds being synthetic resins containing no nitrogen |
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Sulfonation products derived from fatty acids or their derivatives, e.g. esters, amides |
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Sulfonium or phosphonium compounds |
This place does not cover:
Carboxylic amides (R1-CO-NR2R3), where R1, R2 or R3 are polyalkoxylated |
This place covers:
A mixture with three or more compounds being anionic, cationic and non-ionic.
This place covers:
Components of detergent compositions that are not classified in C11D 1/00, i.e. not surface-active components comprised in a mixture of surfactant and non-surfactant compounds, e.g. mixture of zeolithes and surfactants.
In groups C11D 3/02 - C11D 3/39, the last place priority rule is applied, i.e. at each hierarchical level, in the absence of an indication to the contrary, a compound is classified in the last appropriate place.
A mixture of surfactants, soaps with/without zeolithes is classified in C11D 10/00
Documents classified in the subgroups C11D 3/0005 - C11D 3/0094 are also classified in other groups of the C11D subclass according to the chemical nature of the compounds as such.
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Disinfecting contact lenses | |
Mechanical cleaning |
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Compositions of detergents, not provided for by one single preceding group |
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Graft polymers |
This place does not cover:
Organic compound of detergent composition containing Si | |
Organic compound of detergent composition containing a carbon-carbon triple bond | |
Organic compound of detergent composition containing borium | |
Organometallic compound or organometalic complexes of detergent composition |
Sulfur containing compounds are classified according to last place rule priority and individual functional groups of the compounds are classified with additional symbols from C11D 3/3409 - C11D 3/349
This place does not cover:
Polymeric surface-active agents | |
Polysaccharides |
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Preparations containing chemically modified or immobilised enzymes | |
Microorganisms or enzymes |
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Micro-organisms or enzymes |
Bleach activators or bleach catalysts are classified according to the last place rule priority.
In case of mixtures or a list of alternatives, it is classified in C11D 3/3905 or C11D 3/3907 and the individual alternatives are classified with additional symbols from C11D 3/3907 - C11D 3/3932.
In the subgroups C11D 7/5004 - C11D 7/5095, classification is made in the first appropriate place.
This place covers:
Compositions of detergents with major component being soap, soap being considered as non-synthetic detergent (see definition in glossary of terms)
This place does not cover:
Compositions containing resin soap |
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Detergents compositions based on carboxylic acids or salts |
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Superfatting agents |
This place covers:
Mixtures of soap and non soap surfactants
This place covers:
Any specific features related to processes for preparing compositions containing mixtures of detergents.
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Special methods for preparing compositions containing mixture of detergents in the form of blocks, bars or tablets |
This place covers:
Soap or making soap or soap solutions
Apparatus therefor
This place does not cover:
Resin soap |
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Slicing soap on the cooling drum |
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Ovens, Furnaces |
This place covers:
Resin soaps and making them
This place covers:
Detergents products characterised by shape, physical properties
This place does not cover:
Shaping soap |
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Soaps |
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Packaging of disintegrable, dissolvable or edible materials |
This place does not cover:
Floating soaps |
This place covers:
Recovery of glycerol
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Refining of glycerol |