The present invention relates to a closure, particularly to a closure suitable for a container for placement in a washing machine such as a dishwasher.

Closures for bottles and other containers are well known. Typical closures may comprise a screw cap, a cork or a crimped cap. These closures are conventionally removed (manually or with the aid of a tool such as a bottle opener) so that the contents of the bottle or container may be accessed.

A further class of closures are those which seal a bottle or container and which are not removed before use, but instead are removed in the medium in which the contents of the container are to be dispensed. This type of clo¬ sure has been found to be beneficial where the contents of the container are potentially harmful to a user, thus the contents are kept separate from the user and only al¬ lowed to be released in the medium of use. In this way the closure can be used to ensure the contents are re¬ leased at the correct point in time in the medium.

In order to form such a closure the closure material re¬ quires several properties.

Firstly the closure has to be resilient enough to provide a seal until the contents are required by a user. As the contents of containers sold for domestic use typically comprise aqueous based compositions the selection of

suitable closure materials is usually limited to those materials which have a low solubility in water.

Additionally the closure has to be able to be dispersed in the medium in which the contents are required. As the contents of containers sold for domestic use are typi¬ cally sold for use in a domestic washing / dishwasher ma¬ chine the material has been selected such that it may be dispersed (by dissolution / melting) at the usual tem- perature of operation of such machines (around 20-80 ⁰ C) .

These factors together with cost considerations have dic¬ tated that wax has been used as the closure material : wax is insoluble in water and has an appropriate melting point . An example of a container having such a closure is a machine cleaner for placing within a dishwashing ma¬ chine comprising a bottle having a wax closure.

It is an object of the present application to provide an improved closure.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a closure for a container, the closure comprising a channel which extends therethrough, the channel being filled with a composition capable of being dispersed in an aqueous medium at an elevated tempera¬ ture, wherein the dispersible composition comprises a fragrance.

Most preferably the container is used to retain a compo¬ sition to be dispersed into an automatic washing machine. Thus according to a second aspect of the present

invention there is provided a container holding an auto¬ matic washing formulation, the container having a closure which comprises a channel extending therethrough, the channel being filled with a composition capable of being dispersed in an aqueous medium at an elevated tempera¬ ture, wherein the dispersible composition comprises a fragrance.

In use the closure of the present invention has been found to be surprisingly advantageous. One of the main advantages of having a fragrance separated from the re¬ mainder of the formulation in the container and also ad¬ jacent to the exterior of the formulation packaging is that the impact of the fragrance upon a consumer, when selecting the product in a shop, is heightened.

Furthermore the impression of the fragrance on the con¬ sumer when using the formulation in the container is en¬ hanced throughout the whole washing cycle. This is espe- cially useful in the context of automatic dishwashing as a pleasing waft of fragrance is noticed by a consumer both during dishwasher operation and when opening the dishwasher at the end of the wash cycle.

With both of these advantages it has been noticed that a small amount of fragrance is needed in the closure / con¬ tainer of the present invention to achieve the desired fragrance effect. The amount required is much smaller than that which would be needed if the fragrance were present in the composition. This is exceptionally sig¬ nificant: of all of the components present in an auto¬ matic washing formulation fragrances (although generally

present at low concentration) are probably the most ex¬ pensive. Thus anything that is able to reduce the amount of fragrance needed has a large effect on the price of the overall formulation.

A further advantage is that of safety, more chiefly child safety. As the fragrance is separate from the automatic washing formulation it has been found that the odour of the automatic washing formulation is much less attractive (although not in use - see above) . Indeed the odour of the formulation is much more 'chemical-like' (i.e., smelling of chemicals) rather than smelling of pleasant fragrance odours such as flowers or fruit. As a result, the formulation becomes considerably less attractive to children. Thus the danger of ingestion of the formula¬ tion by a child is greatly lessened, without the need for a 'child-resistant-closure' .

Normally around 0.5 - 2.0 grams of dispersible composi- tion is used in the closure, more preferably 0.8 - 1.5 grams and most preferably 1.0 - 1.2 grams. Generally the closure comprises between 1 to 40wt% of fragrance (e.g. about 5wt% or about 20wt%) .

The dispersible composition may incorporate one or more other components usually found in an automatic washing formulation.

In a preferred embodiment (for an automatic dishwasher formulation) the dispersible composition incorporates an anti-foam agent. This has found to be particularly ad¬ vantageous when the automatic washing formulation in the

container is aqueous as often anti-foam agents are hydro¬ phobic due to their hydrophobicity the anti-foam agents can be difficult to integrate into an aqueous formulation (often turbidity or separation/settling is observed.

Where present the anti-foam agent may comprise from 40- 75% of the dispersible composition

Preserved examples of anti-foam agents include silicones.

The dispersible composition may comprise a plurality of separate / individual compositions. These may be present as an admixture or may be arranged adjacent one another, e.g. in a layer or concentric structure. The channel may have a number of separate portions or associated retain¬ ing recesses to retain the separate / individual composi¬ tions.

Most preferably the dispersible composition disperses by melting. The dispersible composition preferably dis¬ perses at the temperature of operation of an automatic washing machine, usually around 20-80 ⁰ C, more preferably around 50 ⁰ C. This is particularly useful for an auto¬ matic dishwasher. The container can be placed in the automatic dishwasher without the consumer having to open the container and expose themselves to the often aggres¬ sive formulation contained therein. During the operation of the dishwashing machine when the temperature therein exceeds 50 ⁰ C the dispersible composition becomes dis- persed and the formulation is released. This means that release of the composition into the pre-wash (which

typically operates at a temperature lower than 50 ⁰ C) is avoided.

The dispersible composition most preferably comprises a paraffin wax. The paraffin wax dispersible composition preferably has a melting point of around 50 ⁰ C. As the fragrance typically reduces the melting point of the wax, generally a wax having a melting point higher than 50 ⁰ C is employed to ensure that the overall composition has this melting point. The 'pure' wax preferably has a melting point of about 55°C.

For protection, e.g. in storage / transport, the closure may have an additional sealing means. Generally the dis- persible composition is covered by a removable sticker (e.g., an aluminium / paper / plastic sticker) before use. The sticker may be peeled away by the consumer be¬ fore placing the container in the dishwasher. Other ad¬ ditional sealing means may comprise a screw cap.

Clearly the container and thus the size of the closure can be varied to suit the requirements of use. Generally the container is sized to accommodate around 250 cm ³ of an automatic machine formulation.

Most preferably the formulation in the container is an automatic dishwashing formulation. Generally the auto¬ matic dishwashing formulation is a drain cleaner/machine cleaner formulation. Such as drain/machine cleaner gen- erally incorporates components such as acid, builder, surfactant, preservative, dye, stabiliser and thickener.

A preferred example of a machine/drain cleaner formula¬ tion is below.

Component Wt%

Nonionic surfactant 0.1-20%

Citric acid 1-30%

UV stabilizer 0-0.1%

Dye 0-0.1% NaCl 0-5%

NaSO4 0-5%

PEG 0-5%

Water balance

This may be a bi-phase formulation.

A further example of a machine/drain cleaner formulation is below.

Component Wt%

Cationic surfactant 1-5%

Nonionic surfactant 0-1%

Cumene sulfonate 3-5% Citric acid 5-30%

Dye 0-0.1%

Water balance

This may be a bi-phase formulation.

A further example of a machine/drain cleaner formulation is below.

Component Wt%

Nonionic surfactant 0-5% Citric acid 5-30%

Monopropylene gycol 0-5% Cumene sulfonate 0-10%

Water balance

This may be a bi-phase formulation.

The invention is further illustrated in the following figures, wherein: -

Figures 1 and 2 are cross-sectional views of a closure in accordance with the present invention.

Fig 1 shows a first embodiment of a closure 1. The clo¬ sure 1 comprises a channel 2. The channel 2 is circular and comprises a wider upper section 2a and a narrower lower section 2b. Disposed within the channel 2 is a dispersible material 3, comprising a fragrance. The dis- persible material 3 is preferably a water insoluble wax, such as paraffin wax.

The closure 1 has a dependent curtain 4 for attachment to a bottle (not shown) . The dependent curtain 4 may com¬ prise a screw thread for screwing onto a bottle. Alter¬ natively the curtain 4 may comprise a ^x snap-fit' mecha- nism for attachment to a bottle.

Fig 2 shows a second embodiment of a closure 1. This closure 1 has all of the features of the first closure. In addition disposed around the channel 2, the closure 1 comprises a groove 5. The groove 5 may be used to con- tain a second dispersible material 3a, in addition to the primary dispersible material 3 disposed in the channel 2.

In use the closure 1 is exposed to an aqueous medium such as the washing liquor of an automatic dishwashing machine (not shown) . The dispersible material 3 (and 3a where present) remains intact until the temperature of the aqueous medium is high enough to initiate melting of this material 3. When this occurs any contents of the bottle are exposed to the aqueous medium and may be released from the bottle.