Abstract:
An environmental friendly cleaning method is provided. The method comprises the step of cleaning an article using a composition comprising material extracted from the fruit of a plant of the genus  Garcinia , for example the fruit of the plant  Garcinia atroviridis.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to cleaning using a detergent whose ingredient is a fruit of a natural plant. 
     2. Background Art 
     An article (e.g., a mechanical component, device or souvenir) whose part or whole is made of ceramic, copper, brass, stainless, aluminum or the like is conventionally cleaned using a chemical agent. 
     For example, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication 2000-74731 discloses that when an Acceleration Responding Switch formed of several constituent components is assembled, the housing, which is one of the constituent components, is cleaned with diluted hydrochloric acid before assembling. When an electric contact point of such a switch is soiled, fault of electrical continuity occurs, so that the switch can not normally work. In addition, when stains, oil spots or rust of the articles are stubborn, manual work using the chemical agent and using cloth, a sheet of sandpaper or a diamond file is frequently performed for cleaning. 
     However, the chemical agent used in the conventional cleaning sometimes adversely affects the environment. In addition, some of the chemical agents have acrid smell, so that from a safety standpoint, they are not preferable for an operator which engages in cleaning work. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is directed to solve the problems discussed above, and it is an object of the invention to provide an environmental friendly cleaning method and detergent. To achieve the object, the cleaning method of the present invention uses the detergent whose ingredient is a natural plant. In addition, an article is immersed into the detergent, or the detergent is sprayed on the article. 
     Additional objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof, which are best understood with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic view showing a producing process of a detergent in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic view showing a cleaning operation in accordance with the exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view showing a cleaning apparatus in accordance with the exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Using a detergent of this invention, an environmental friendly cleaning method can be provided. A boiling condition that a fruit of a natural plant is boiled can be controlled, whereby the detergent can be produced at a certain pH value. A filter for filtering the detergent after cleaning an article can be provided, so that the detergent can be recycled. In addition, an effluents-treating section for neutralizing or diluting the detergent after cleaning an article can be provided, thereby draining effluents with a small environmental impact. The environmental impact means an impact applied by human activity against an environment, and is in danger of a cause of an obstacle to preserve the environment. 
     Features of the detergent of this invention are described hereinafter. The detergent is made of a fruit of a natural plant, and environmental friendly. An ingredient of the natural plant is eluted for a short time by boiling a fruit of citrus fruit base so as to produce the detergent. In addition, the detergent having a certain pH value can be easily obtained by controlling a boiling condition. Moreover, because the detergent is acid, a conventional cleaning condition for using an acid chemical agent can be used. 
     Among the natural plants, a  garcinia  is suitable for the environmental friendly detergent. A  garcinia  is a kind of citrus fruits, and a common plant in countries of the South Asia such as Malaysia, Cambodia or Thailand, so that it can be easily obtained. The fruit is strongly acid, but edible. A dried fruit of a  garcinia  can be also easily obtained. Besides, it is also strongly acid, edible and used for a seasoning. Extracted material from the  garcinia  is known as a medical supply, and its ingredient includes citric acids such as hydroxyl citric acid (HCA), malic acids or ascorbic acids. 
     Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are demonstrated hereinafter. 
     (Production of the Detergent) 
     A producing method of the detergent of the present invention is described hereinafter with reference to FIG.  1 . 
     First, the dried fruit of  Garcinia Atroviridis , which is an ingredient of detergent  10 , is cleaned with water before a producing process. 
     Second, as shown in  FIG. 1 , a power source of water tank  12  is turned on in preparatory process  111 . Purified water is supplied into water tank  12  having a heater in water supplying process  112 . A heat condition is set in heat-condition-setting process  113 , and the purified water in water tank  12  is heated in heating process  114 . 
     Third, the dried fruit of  Garcinia Atroviridis  is thrown into water tank  12  and boiled in boiling process  115 . The dried fruit of  Garcinia Atroviridis , which is the ingredient of detergent  10 , may be put in water tank  12  in advance. In that case, for example, a certain amount of the dried fruits are put in the water tank in the preparatory process. According to results of experiments, a ratio of the purified water to the dried fruit of  Garcinia Atroviridis  is preferably 22 liter to 10 grams. 
     In the present embodiment, detergent  10  is demonstrated to be produced from the dried fruit of  Garcinia Atroviridis , however, detergent  10  may be produced from a raw fruit thereof. 
     In boiling process  115 , the dried fruit of  Garcinia Atroviridis  is boiled for a certain time, whereby a solution is produced by eluting an ingredient of the fruit. The ingredient of the fruit is eluted for a short time by boiling. In this boiling process, when the solution indicates a certain pH value, the boiling work is finished. In the present embodiment, the boiling work is executed for approximately 20 minutes so as to obtain the solution of pH 2-pH 3. 
     If the solution does not indicate pH 2-pH 3 in boiling process  115 , the pH is conditioned at conditioning process  116 . If the solution is lower than pH 2, purified water is added, and if the solution is higher than pH 3, the dried fruit of  Garcinia Atroviridis  is added. 
     In filtering process  117  shown in  FIG. 1 , the solution is filtered with filter  14 , so that the detergent made of  Garcinia Atroviridis  solution is produced. 
     As discussed above, detergent  10  is produced by eluting the fruit of  Garcinia Atroviridis  which is a natural plant, so that if it is touched with empty hands or drunken, it does not adversely affect a human body, and its environmental impact is small. 
     In label attaching process  118 , the produced detergent  10  is poured into vessel  16  for storing, where a label, on which a producing date, a pH value or the like is noted, is attached on vessel  16 . Stored detergent  10  is taken out when an article is cleaned. 
     Commercial formulation extracted from  Garcinia Atroviridis  can be also used. In that case, the extracted material is put into purified water and dissolved to produce water solution which is used as detergent  10 . The detergent is also stored into the vessel where a label on which necessary items are noted is attached. 
     A pH value of the detergent preferably ranges from 1 to 5 for cleaning components. Articles such as electronic components are generally cleaned in a state where they are accommodated in a pallet. If the pallet is made of metal, the detergent of pH 1-pH 5 can be used. However, if the pallet is made of thermoplastic or the like and the pH value of the detergent is too much low, the pallet may be deteriorated. Therefore, the detergent is desirable to be conditioned from pH 2 to pH 3 for the thermoplastic pallet. Accordingly, when the components are accommodated in the pallet and cleaned therewith, the detergent of pH 2-pH 3 is suitable. 
     (Cleaning Method of Articles) 
     The cleaning method of the present invention is described hereinafter with reference to FIG.  2 . 
     Detergent  10  is poured into cleaning section  22  of cleaning apparatus  2  shown in FIG.  2 . Cleaning section  22  is an ultrasonic cleaning tank having an ultrasonic cleaning mechanism and a function for heating detergent  10 . The pH value of detergent  10  can be changed according to a desirable cleaning level, a kind or an amount of articles. In this embodiment, the articles are accommodated in the pallet and cleaned therewith, where the detergent is conditioned from pH 2 to pH 3. 
     Article  100  which is an object of cleaning is immersed into detergent  10  and cleaned. Cleaning time or a temperature of detergent  10  is set according to a desirable cleaning level of article  100 . Ultrasonic cleaning can shorten the cleaning time. A frequency of the ultrasonic cleaning is set according to a desirable cleaning level, a kind or an amount of articles. 
     Cleaning apparatus  2  shown in  FIG. 2  has cleaning section  22  and cleaning section  23 , both of which have similar functions. An identical or a different cleaning condition can be applied in cleaning sections  22  and  23 . When a large amount of articles are cleaned at once in the same condition, the same cleaning condition is set up in cleaning sections  22  and  23 . When preliminary cleaning and main cleaning are required, cleaning conditions of cleaning section  22  and cleaning section  23  are respectively set up according to the preliminary cleaning and main cleaning. Because a certain pH value of detergent  10  has to be kept in the preliminary and main cleaning processes, a pH value of detergent  10  is monitored. If the pH value deviates from the certain pH value, stored detergent  10  or purified water is supplied for controlling the pH value. 
     Next, article  100  after cleaning is taken out of cleaning section  22  and cleaning section  23 , and moved to rinsing section  24 . Then, detergent  10  on article  100  is removed by cleaning article  100  with purified water at rinsing section  24 . 
     After that, article  100  after cleaning is moved from rinsing section  24  to drying section  26 . Drying section  26  has an air blower, and dries water on article  100 . Then, article  100  is moved into heater  28  for heating, and completely dried. 
     Used detergent  19 , which has remained after cleaning at cleaning sections  22  and  23 , is neutralized and becomes pH 7 or diluted at effluents-treating section  30 . Then used detergent  19  is drained into ditch  35  such as a drainage ditch or a river. Similarly, liquid  29  which has remained after cleaning at rinsing section  24  is neutralized or diluted at effluents-treating section  30 , and then drained. Using this method, an environmental impact caused by the detergent is more reduced. 
     Used detergent  19 , which has remained at cleaning sections  22  and  23 , can be recycled. In this case, used detergent  19  is filtered with filter  40 , returned to cleaning section  22  with pump  50  or the like and used in a cleaning process again. 
     (Cleaning Apparatus) 
     The cleaning apparatus of the present invention is described hereinafter with reference to FIG.  3 . 
     Cleaning apparatus  60  in  FIG. 3  has the same structure as cleaning apparatus  2  in FIG.  2 . Cleaning tank  63  corresponds to cleaning section  22  or cleaning section  23 , and rinsing tank  64  corresponds to rinsing section  24 . Air blower  65  corresponds to drying section  26 , and heater  66  corresponds to heater  28 . Pallet  62  corresponds to article  100 . 
     Pallet  62  is used for holding an electronic component in a manufacturing process of an electronic component. A cleaning level of pallet  62  greatly affects non-defective percentages of the electronic component. The cleaning level indicates how cleanly the pallet  62  is cleaned. 
     Pallet  62  is held by jig  61 , and immersed in the detergent poured into cleaning tank  63  for cleaning. After cleaning, pallet  62  together with jig  61  is immersed in purified water poured into rinsing tank  64  for cleaning. Cleaned pallet  62  together with jig  61  is dried with air blower  65  and heater  66 . 
     In this embodiment, the article is immersed in the detergent for cleaning, however, the detergent can be sprayed onto the article for cleaning. In this case, some articles are cleaned by spraying the detergent at one time. Other articles are cleaned by showering the detergent sequentially according to a desirable cleaning level. In addition, according to this embodiment, the article after cleaning is immersed in purified water for rinsing. However, the article can be rinsed by directly spraying water onto the article. 
     In this embodiment, the fruit of  Garcinia Atroviridis  is used as a garcinia, however, a fruit of other garcinias such as  Garcinia Cambogia  or  Garcinia Mangostana  can be used. By using extracted material from a fruit of these garcinias as a detergent, surface tension of the detergent decreases, so that the detergent can thoroughly penetrate an article having a complicated shape. In addition, anti-oxidant action or the like of this fruit can generate an advantageous effect as a detergent. 
     As discussed above, the detergent, cleaning method and cleaning apparatus of this invention can be used for cleaning an article whose part or whole is made of ceramic, copper, brass, stainless, steel, aluminum, plastics or the like. As a result, an environmental impact caused by the detergent can be reduced. 
     It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the above-described embodiments of the present invention. However, the scope on the present invention should be determined by the following claims.