|||||||| US005573756A United States Patent (19) 11 Patent Number: 5,573,756 Lambrechts (45) Date of Patent: Nov. 12, 1996 (54) SHAMPOO CONDITIONER AND SOFTGEL 5,089,269 2/1992 Noda et al. ............................. 424/456 FILLED THEREWITH OTHER PUBLICATIONS 75 Inventor: John Lambrechts, Burbank, Calif. "Cocamide DEA,”International Cosmetic Ingredient Dictio (73) Assignee: paper Pharmacaps Inc., Chatsworth, "PEG-Glycerylnary, Fifth Edition, Cocoate"International Washington, D.C. (1993), Cosmetic vol. Ingredient 1, p. 157. 1. Dictionary, Fifth Edition, Washington, D.C. (1993), vol. 1, p. 491. (21) Appl. No. 377,378 "Polyguaternium-10.” International Cosmetic Ingredient (22 Filed: Jan. 25, 1995 Dictionary, Fifth Edition, Washington, D.C. (1993), vol. 1, p. 571. (51) Int. Cl. ................... A61K 7/075; A61K9/48 52 U.S. Cl. .................. 424/70.24; 424/70.1; 424/70.22; Primary Examiner-Jyothsna Venkat 424/456 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Jeffer, Mangels, Butler & Mar (58) Field of Search ..................................... 424/456, 401, maro LLP 424/70.1, 70.22, 70.24 (57) ABSTRACT (56) References Cited An shampoo conditioner composition which is capable of U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS being stably encapsulated within a gelatin shell includes a concentrated surfactant, a cationic conditioner, and a carrier, 3,590,122 6/1971 Hutcheson et al. ....................... 424/70 and has an equilibrium relative humidity (ERH) of less than 3,808,329 4/1974 Bolich, Jr. et al. .... ... 424/70 about 65%. 3,816,616 6/1974 Anguillo et al. ....... ... 424/70 4,272,515 6/1981 Hofman et al..... ... 424/70 4,701,322 10/1987 Dixon et al. .............................. 424/70 19 Claims, No Drawings 5,573,756 1 2 SHAMPOO CONDITIONER AND SOFTGEL with water, working the composition through the hair, and FLLED THEREWITH rinsing the composition from the hair. Other objects, features and advantages of the present FIELD OF THE INVENTION invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art The present invention relates to an improved shampoo from the following detailed description. It is to be under conditioner formulation. More particularly, the invention stood, however, that the detailed description and specific relates to a shampoo conditioner formulation which is examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the suitable for use as a fill in a gelatin capsule. present invention, are given by way of illustration and not limitation. Many changes and modifications within the BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 10 scope of the present invention may be made without depart ing from the spirit thereof, and the invention includes all Contemporary standards of personal hygiene require such modifications. regular cleaning of the hair to maintain a presentable appear ance. Modern shampoo compositions effectively clean the DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE hair, by removing excess soil and sebum, and can also 15 PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS include additional ingredients such as conditioners. Exem plary conditioners and conditioning shampoo formulations As used herein, a "shampoo conditioner' denotes a sham are disclosed by Roberts et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,590,122; poo that includes a conditioning agent that is effective in Bolich et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,808,329; Angvillo et al., U.S. improving the appearance or manageability of hair, e.g., Pat. No. 3,816,616; Hofman et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,272,515; 20 making the hair easier to comb when wet. and Dixon et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,701,322. Applicant has discovered that shampoo conditioner com Shampoo and shampoo/conditioner compositions have positions that are useful in combination with soft gelatin hitherto been formulated for packaging and dispensing from shells can be prepared by limiting the amount of active, or conventional containers, such as plastic bottles, tubes, etc. "free", water in the composition. The low amount of free With the development of the soft gelatin capsule, or softgel, 25 water in the inventive compositions ensures that the com an alternative form of dispensing and applying shampoos positions do not adversely interact with soft gelatin shells, has become available. Encapsulation of a shampoo compo e.g., by migration of free water, surfactant, etc., into the sition in a softgel offers numerous advantages. For example, gelatin shells. In general, a composition according to the no additional packaging would be needed for the shampoo invention includes an excessive amount of free water if soft filled softgels. The shampoo could be prepared in pre 30 spots form in a gelatin shell within which the composition is measured quantities sufficient for cleaning the hair, thus encapsulated. minimizing shampoo waste. The shampoo could be dis More particularly, shampoo conditioner compositions pensed from the softgel while the user is showering, typi according to the invention preferably have a very low cally by squeezing or breaking the softgel, and the empty equilibrium relative humidity (ERH). The ERH is a measure softgel could then be disposed of simply and easily, for 35 of the amount of water in a composition that is free, or example by dropping it to the floor of the shower to dissolve. "active.' In most compositions containing water, at least a For practicable encapsulation within a softgel, however, a portion of the water molecules is strongly bound to various shampoo composition must be compatible with the softgel. sites, in particular polar sites, on the various chemical In particular, the shampoo composition must be formulated constituents of the composition. Such sites include hydroxyl such that it can be stably encapsulated in the softgel shell 40 groups, carbonyl groups, amino groups, and other sites that without dissolving the softgel. The shampoo composition are capable of binding water by hydrogen bonding, ionic should be formulated such that it is stable in encapsulated bonding, etc. Additional quantities of water molecules may form for extended periods of time at room temperature. be bound less strongly, yet still be effectively unavailable as A need exists for a shampoolconditioner composition that a solvent for the composition or for materials with which the is compatible with a softgel shell and can be encapsulated 45 composition comes into contact. The remaining water is stably in a softgel. unbound, that is, free. The ERH of a composition is measured by determining SUMMARY OF THE PREFERRED the humidity, in an enclosed volume, at which the vapor EMBODIMENTS 50 pressure of water contained in the composition is equal to In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the vapor pressure of water in the volume of air above the there is provided a shampoo conditioner composition which composition. ERH, and the related quantity of water activity is capable of being stably encapsulated within a gelatin shell. (obtained by dividing the measured ERH by 100), can Preferably, the inventive composition has an equilibrium readily be measured using instruments available commer 55 cially from, e.g., Rotronic Instrument Corp. (Huntington, relative humidity of less than about 65%. N.Y.). Various methods for measuring ERH and water In a preferred embodiment, the inventive composition activity are described in R. Marsili, "Water Activity: Why includes a cationic conditioner, and a carrier. Very prefer It's Important and How to Measure It," Food Product ably, the composition also includes a humectant. Design, December 1993, pp. 36-41, which is incorporated According to another aspect of the present invention, a herein by reference. hair care product includes a shampoo conditioner composi Compositions having an ERH of less than about 65%, tion as described above, encapsulated in a gelatin shell. more preferably between about 65% and 35%, have proven According to a further aspect of the present invention, a suitable for encapsulation according to the invention and are method of shampooing hair includes the steps of dispensing therefore preferred. a shampoo conditioner composition encapsulated in a hair 65 The inventive compositions preferably include a surfac care product as described above from its gelatin shell, tant, a cationic conditioner, and a carrier. The surfactant applying the composition to the hair, which has been wet preferably is a concentrated surfactant, i.e., a surfactant 5,573,756 3 4. which includes a reduced amount of water, and thus a ticularly those having a weight average molecular weight reduced amount of free water, Concentrated surfactants are from about 200 to about 800. Exemplary polyalkylene preferred in order to meet the requirement that the compo glycols useful according to the invention include polyeth sition is capable of being stably encapsulated in a softgel. ylene glycol 400 (PEG-8), commercially available from Preferably, the surfactant is concentrated to at least about Ashland Chemical. The carrier or combination of carriers 60% by weight. comprise the balance of the shampoo compositions, typi Useful surfactants according to the invention include cally about 35-60 wt % of the compositions. anionic surfactants having detergent action, preferably sul In a more specific preferred embodiment, the shampoo fonated and sulfated anionic detergents. Such surfactants conditioner includes a humectant or combination of humec include sodium, magnesium, ammonium and mono-, di- and 10 tants. Exemplary humectants include PEG-7 glyceryl triethanolamine salts of sulfated fatty alcohols and sul cocoate (commercially available as Cetiol HE from Henkel), fonated alkaryl compounds, preferably