Coreless roll of absorbent sheet and method for manufacturing the same

Abstract

A coreless roll of an absorbent sheet product such as napkins, toilet paper, towels, etc., is provided made of a spirally wound continuous web of absorbent material having a first end and a second end, wherein a coating composition comprising a nonionic cellulose ether is coated onto the second end. The coreless roll has excellent stiffness and resistance to collapsing, as well as sufficient flexibility and elasticity. Moreover, the coreless roll has excellent disintegrability in water and can be used up over its whole length. A process for the manufacture of the coreless roll is also provided.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A coreless roll of an absorbent sheet product made of a spirally wound continuous web of absorbent material having a first end and a second end, the web of absorbent material being wound such as to define an axial hollow passageway centrally positioned relative to the coreless roll and extending from one edge to another edge of the coreless roll and such that the first end is located on the outer side of the roll and the second end is located at the axial hollow passageway;
 wherein the second end of the continuous web of absorbent material comprises a coating composition comprising a nonionic cellulose ether.   
     
     
         2 . The coreless roll of  claim 1 , wherein the coreless roll is obtained by applying the coating composition to the second end of the continuous web of absorbent material. 
     
     
         3 . The coreless roll of  claim 1 , wherein the nonionic cellulose ether has a number-average molecular weight of 1,000 to 1,000,000, preferably of 2,000 to 500,000, more preferably of 3,000 to 200,000, more preferably 5,000 to 100,000. 
     
     
         4 . The coreless roll of  claim 1 , wherein the nonionic cellulose ether has a viscosity-average molecular weight of 5,000 to 2,000,000, preferably of 10,000 to 1,500,000, more preferably of 30,000 to 1,000,000. 
     
     
         5 . The coreless roll of  claim 1 , wherein the nonionic cellulose ether has a solubility in water at 25° C. of at least 40 g/l. 
     
     
         6 . The coreless roll of  claim 1 , wherein the nonionic cellulose ether is an alkyl cellulose ether such as methylcellulose or ethylcellulose. 
     
     
         7 . The coreless roll of  claim 1 , wherein the nonionic cellulose ether is a hydroxyalkyl cellulose ether such as hydroxyethyl cellulose or hydroxypropyl cellulose. 
     
     
         8 . The coreless roll of  claim 1 , wherein the nonionic cellulose ether is a combination of an alkyl cellulose ether and a hydroxyalkyl cellulose ether. 
     
     
         9 . The coreless roll of  claim 1 , wherein the coating composition comprises:
 (a) at least 50 wt.-%, preferably at least 65 wt.-%, more preferably at least 80 wt.-% of the nonionic cellulose ether;   (b) not more than 50 wt.-%, preferably not more than 35 wt.-%, more preferably not more than 20 wt.-% of further additives such as plasticizers, reinforcing agents, fragrance, and dyes;   each based on the total solids content of the coating composition.   
     
     
         10 . The coreless roll of  claim 1 , wherein the coating composition is applied as an aqueous solution, wherein the aqueous solution preferably contains the nonionic cellulose ether in an amount of at least 0.1 wt.-%, more preferably at least 0.5 wt.-% based on the total weight of the aqueous solution. 
     
     
         11 . The coreless roll of  claim 1 , wherein the coating composition is free of polyether polyol and/or free of other saccharides than the nonionic cellulose ether. 
     
     
         12 . The coreless roll of  claim 1 , wherein the axial hollow passageway has a circumference and the coating composition is circumferentially applied and is preferably applied such that the resulting coating covers at least 50% of the second end, preferably at least 75%, more preferably at least 95% of the second end. 
     
     
         13 . The coreless roll of  claim 1 , wherein the coating composition is applied continuously in the machine and axial direction or intermittently in the machine and/or axial direction. 
     
     
         14 . The coreless roll of  claim 1 , wherein the second end consists of at least one turn, preferably of at least two turns, preferably at least three turns, for instance 3 to 50 turns, for instance 3 to 30 turns or 4 to 40 turns, preferably 3 to 30 turns, a turn being one circumvolution of the spirally wound continuous web about the axial hollow passageway. 
     
     
         15 . The coreless roll of  claim 1 , wherein the second end consists of at least 5%, preferably at least 10%, more preferably at least 15% of the entire length of the continuous web of absorbent material in the machine direction. 
     
     
         16 . The coreless roll of  claim 1 , wherein the amount of nonionic cellulose ether is from 0.001 to 20 g/roll, preferably 0.005 to 10 g/roll, more preferably 0.005 to 5 g/roll, in particular 0.01 to 2 g/roll. 
     
     
         17 . The coreless roll of  claim 1 , wherein the web of absorbent material is composed of 1 tissue paper ply or 2 to 6, in particular 2 to 5 superposed tissue paper plies. 
     
     
         18 . The coreless roll of  claim 1  being in a compressed form. 
     
     
         19 . The coreless roll of  claim 1 , which is an absorbent product chosen among the group comprising napkins, towels such as household towels, kitchen towels or hand towels, toilet papers, wipes, handkerchiefs, and facial tissues, wherein this absorbent product is preferably a toilet paper. 
     
     
         20 . A manufacturing method for manufacturing a coreless roll of an absorbent sheet product comprising the steps of:
 conveying a continuous web of absorbent material having a first end and a second end, which is preferably composed of 1 tissue paper ply or 2 to 6, in particular 2 to 5 superposed tissue paper plies;   optionally severing the continuous web of absorbent material substantially transversally to the machine direction to produce single but coherent sheets;   applying a coating composition as defined in  claim 1  to the second end;   spirally winding the continuous web of absorbent material so as to produce a log of web of absorbent material, the web of absorbent material being wound such as to define an axial hollow passageway centrally positioned relative to the log and extending from one edge to another edge of the log and such that the first end is located on the outer side of the log and the second end is located at the axial hollow passageway; and   cutting the log into multiple coreless rolls.   
     
     
         21 . The manufacturing method of  claim 20 , comprising the further step of
 subjecting the coreless roll to compression in a direction perpendicular to the axial hollow passageway to produce a coreless roll in a compressed form.   
     
     
         22 . (canceled)