AU2021250939A1

AU2021250939A1 - Fragrance Manufacture and Screening Techniques

Info

Publication number: AU2021250939A1
Application number: AU2021250939A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Conan FEE
Original assignee: Fragranzi Ltd
Current assignee: Fragranzi Ltd
Priority date: 2021-10-15
Filing date: 2021-10-15
Publication date: 2023-05-04

Abstract

Fragrance manufacture and screening methods in the art tend to be difficult to rapidly prepare and change fragrances in a mixture. Described herein are systems and methods where a cassette of a particular fragrance can be proportionally mixed in a volume and quickly and reversibly adjusted up or down in concentration to a desired mixed concentration in the volume. The combination may be measurable and used to convert the combination into a liquid, semi-liquid or solid mixture such as a perfume, beverage, food, supplement, personal care product or other products described herein. 27 52 FIGURE 8 8312

Description

FIGURE 8

FRAGRANCE MANUFACTURE AND SCREENING TECHNIQUES TECHNICAL FIELD

Described herein are fragrance manufacturing and screening techniques. More specifically,

techniques are described to quantify the process of fragrance manufacture and screening.

BACKGROUND ART

Currently, to screen initial fragrance profiles during the creation of a perfume/fragrance, the

"drop method" is widely used by perfumers to create mixtures of fragrance component

solutions, with the number of drops of each component used as a proxy for relative concentration. The perfumer creates an initial mixture through "educated guesswork" and then

assesses the fragrance profile released into the surrounding air (the headspace) by dipping a

smelling strip into the liquid mixture and then smelling the fragrance. The perfumer then works

iteratively though a series of trial and error mixture preparations, adding more or less of each

individual component and successively adding or excluding components until the desired

fragrance profile is reached. Once an acceptable profile is reached, the perfumer moves on to

defining the quantities more closely and identifying the specific (usually mass-based)

formulation for consistent, repeatable production.

The drop method is a convenient method for preliminary fragrance design but it is time

consuming and uses significant amounts of fragrance components. Typically, mixtures are

discarded as improvements are made and for convenience, often the mixtures are prepared in

disposable containers (for example, polypropylene pots) that are also disposed of. Because

aroma-chemicals (natural and synthetic) tend to be good solvents for many polymers, there are limited choices for inert container materials and their disposal may not be consistent with care

of the environment.

A major problem with the existing drop screening method is that one cannot "un-mix" a

solution, so while one can add new components or increase the number of drops of a certain

component, one cannot remove a component nor reduce its relative concentration without

adding proportionally to the number of drops of all other components (with added cost). Once

a solution is modified, one cannot go back and compare with the initial fragrance, except by

using the original smelling strip, which cannot be relied upon because the more volatile

components on the strip are lost more quickly and thus the profile changes with time.

I

Therefore, numerous mixtures must be prepared, iteratively, varying one component at a time

until the desired state is reached. The method is very cumbersome, time-consuming and

impractical for an untrained user.

Another problem with the drop method is that drop size depends upon the viscosity and

surface tension of the individual fragrance component so no two components are identical in

terms of their relative volumes. Furthermore, one must work with integer, or at best

approximate half-, drops so the method is not particularly high in resolution. "Half-drops" can

be made by various physical means to reduce the size of the pendant droplet at the point of

detachment from the pipette or eye dropper, for example using a toothpick as a guide for the

droplet formation. Smaller relative concentrations can, however, be introduced by diluting the original component and then using an appropriate number of drops of the diluted sample.

The drop method depends upon the operator using a consistent method to control the relative

quantities of the fragrance components e.g. the angle of the dropper held above the mixing pot

affects droplet size and is prone to error if one loses count of the drops. One cannot see the

composition of the mixture so there are no quantitative visual cues as to how much of any

single component is present. Furthermore, the size of the droplets added depend not only on

the consistency of the operator's method, but also on ambient temperature through such

effects as viscosity and surface tension.

Another well-known method for initial screening of fragrance compositions is to use several

smelling strips impregnated with fragrance components (individual or mixtures) as above, and

to waft the strips under the nose to qualitatively assess their combinations. This method is only

a qualitative method, whereby the smelling strips are wafted back and forth to enable their

simultaneous release and mixing in the headspace. It is also highly subjective. The user can make some rather rudimentary and qualitative adjustments to the relative contributions of the

components to the headspace by holding one or more of the strips further from the nose

relative to others, say by holding some strips further along their length compared with others

or by bending some strips to sit further away from the nose. The principle behind this approach

is that components on strips held further away from the nose diffuse through a greater volume

of air so are of a lower concentration at the nose than they would be if held closer. However,

this method is by no means quantitative and can only give a very rough indication of relative

strength of smells to the user. A novice user would not be able to translate relative distance

from the nose into relative volumes (drops) to add to a mixture and even an experienced

perfumer would be able to make only crude estimates on the basis of experience.

In this practice, there is little attempt to keep the surface areas of volatile components on each

strip identical, and this will depend significantly on what length of each strip is dipped into each

component, the viscosities and surface tensions of the components, the relative wettability of

the strips with respect to each component and so on. Thus, the rates of release from each strip

into the headspace will differ, irrespective of distance from the nose and the relationship

between the distance of each strip from the nose so the relative contribution of the

corresponding components to the headspace fragrance profile cannot be quantified accurately.

Normally this method is used simply to give a "yes/no" indication of whether to include or

exclude certain components. From a qualitative perspective, at best, the user can get an

indication of whether "more" or "less" of particular components might be desirable.

US7484716 describes a scent delivery device with a base that holds scent cartridges containing

scents. The cartridges are detachably connected to the base to make them interchangeable.

Cartridges are reusable and refillable. Each scent cartridge has a scent reservoir and valve to

release scent from the cartridge and a fan in the cartridge as well. This patent publication does

not describe strips or rods, selective surface area exposure and exposure to a central volume to

produce a mixed scent in the volume, the mixed scent being smelled via an outlet from the

volume.

EP2022510 describes a device containing compartments with openings that may be variably

controlled to expose different amounts of the scented material to a volume. The scent is

provided from scented pellets and the degree of scent dominance in a volume is based on

extent of passage opening and not surface area.

Further aspects and advantages of the fragrance manufacture and screening techniques will

become apparent from the ensuing description that is given by way of example only.

SUMMARY

Described herein are systems and methods for manufacture, testing and screening of

fragrances that provides quantitive results and where the fragrance can be formed from

different components removably increased or decreased in concentration from a mixed

volume.

In a first aspect, there is provided a system comprising:

a volume with multiple cassettes communicating with the volume and the volume

capturing the mixture of cassette fragrances and presenting the mixture to a volume outlet; wherein: each cassette is pre-loaded with a fragrance component across a surface area of the cassette, the surface area being variably presented to the volume, the extent of cassette surface area exposure in the volume being proportional to the dominance of a fragrance in the volume; and, wherein the cassette surface area presented to the volume is varied which varies the area for volatile evolution from the cassette surface into the volume and hence cassette fragrance dominance in the volume is varied.

In a second aspect, there is provided a fragrance device configured to mix a quantifiable

amount of fragrance to one mixed fragrance, the device comprising:

a volume and multiple cassettes communicating with the volume and the volume

capturing the mixture of cassette fragrances and presenting the mixture to a volume outlet;

wherein:

each cassette is pre-loaded with a fragrance component across a surface area of the

cassette, the surface area being variably presented to the volume, the extent of cassette

surface area exposure in the volume being proportional to the dominance of a fragrance in the

volume; and,

wherein the cassette surface area presented to the volume is varied which varies the

area for volatile evolution from the cassette surface into the volume and hence cassette

fragrance dominance in the volume is varied.

In a third aspect, there is provided a method of creating, testing and modifying combinations

and relative quantities of individual fragrance components by the steps of:

selecting a volume

selecting cassettes to communicate with the volume wherein each cassette is pre

loaded with a fragrance component across a surface area of the cassette;

adding cassettes to the volume and varying each cassette surface area presented to the

volume, the extent of cassette surface area exposure in the volume being proportional to the

dominance of a fragrance in the volume;

capturing the mixture of cassette fragrances in the volume and presenting the mixture

to a volume outlet.

The above systems and methods provide a number of advantages over art fragrance

manufacture and screening techniques particularly in allowing a user to add, subtract and vary

the contribution of each fragrance component up and down, independently, and without

requiring an iterative preparation of liquid mixtures of the fragrance components.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further aspects of the fragrance manufacture and screening techniques will become apparent

from the following description that is given by way of example only and with reference to the

accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 illustrates a side view of one embodiment of fragrance device;

Figure 2 illustrates a side view of a further embodiment of fragrance device;

Figure 3 illustrates a side view of a further embodiment of fragrance device;

Figure 4 illustrates three perspective views of two further embodiments of fragrance

device;

Figure 5 illustrates a side perspective of the above embodiment of fragrance device;

Figure 6 illustrates a detail side perspective of the above embodiment of fragrance

device;

Figure 7 illustrates a side perspective view of a further embodiment of fragrance device

using a holder and cover cassette design;

Figure 8 illustrates a side perspective view of the above embodiment of fragrance

device in an assembled form with cassettes inserted into the volume and

covers withdrawn to varying lengths to expose varying degrees of fragrance

from a particular cassette;

Figure 9 illustrates a side perspective view of an alternative embodiment of fragrance

device;

Figure 10 illustrates further side perspective views of varying shape embodiments of

fragrance devices;

Figure 11 illustrates a side view of an alternative cassette comprising a smelling strip

impregnated with fragrance and an impregnable layer over the smelling strip

formed from tin foil; and

Figure 12 illustrates a plan view of a fragrance device of the above embodiments with

cassettes of Figure 11 inserted to varying extents into the fragrance device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As noted above, described herein are systems and methods for manufacture, testing and

screening of fragrances that provides quantitive results and where the fragrance can be formed

from different components removably increased or decreased in concentration from a mixed

volume.

For the purposes of this specification, the term 'about' or 'approximately' and grammatical

variations thereof mean a quantity, level, degree, value, number, frequency, percentage, dimension, size, amount, weight or length that varies by as much as 30, 25, 20, 15, 10, 9, 8, 7,

6, 5, 4, 3, 2, or 1% to a reference quantity, level, degree, value, number, frequency, percentage,

dimension, size, amount, weight or length.

The term 'substantially' or grammatical variations thereof refers to at least about 50%, for

example 75%, 85%, 95% or 98%.

The term 'comprise' and grammatical variations thereof shall have an inclusive meaning - i.e.

that it will be taken to mean an inclusion of not only the listed components it directly

references, but also other non-specified components or elements.

System

In a first aspect, there is provided a system comprising:

a volume with multiple cassettes communicating with the volume and the volume

wherein:

volume; and,

fragrance dominance in the volume is varied.

Device

amount of fragrance to one mixed fragrance, the device comprising:

a volume and multiple cassettes communicating with the volume and the volume

wherein:

surface area exposure in the volume being proportional to the dominance of a fragrance in the volume; and,

fragrance dominance in the volume is varied.

Cassette Independence /Replaceable

Each cassette surface area within the volume may be adjustable independently of one another.

Each cassette may be replaceable. That is, a cassette or cassettes may be removed entirely

from the volume or replaced in the volume by another cassette.

Volume

The volume may be an enclosed or partly enclosed region with an outlet, the volume defining a

headspace where fragrances may mix.

The volume may be a tubular shaped although other shaped enclosures may be used.

The mixed fragrance may be smelt by a user or detected by analytical instruments such as gas

chromatographs or "electronic noses" from the volume outlet.

Cassette Loading

Each cassette may be pre-loaded with a fragrance. The fragrance of a cassette may be a

fragrance component base.

The fragrance components added to a cassette may be selected from: pure aroma-chemicals,

essential oils, isolates, concretes, extracts, and combinations thereof.

These fragrance components may be individual components or mixed components already

diluted in a carrier solvent.

The carrier solvent if used, may be selected from: alcohols such as ethanol, hydrocarbons,

dipropylene glycol, diethylene glycol, water, diethylene phthalate or various oils, or product

bases such as shampoo, conditioner or moisturisers, or cosmetics, or other final product bases such as industrial products like cleaners, agricultural products, and combinations thereof.

A cassette may be impregnated with an aroma intended to be masked by the choice of

fragrance bases ("masking aromas") added via other cassettes. This may be done to test the

influence of such masking aromas on the mixed volume fragrance. Aromas that might be

targeted for masking may be selected from: human perspiration and other secretions,

microbes, animal-derived aromas such as might derive from domestic pets, background aromas

present in the environment or workplace, industrial chemicals, and combinations thereof.

Impermeable Cover

Each cassette may be partly or fully covered when not exposed by an impermeable barrier.

The cassette may comprise a fragranced portion that is partly or fully covered by the

impermeable barrier and an un-fragranced portion that is not covered by the impermeable

barrier.

The cassette may move relative to the impermeable barrier to selectively expose or cover the

fragranced portion of the cassette by the impermeable barrier.

The only uncovered part of the fragranced portion of a cassette, when used, may be the

section of cassette inside the volume provided fragrance to the volume. That is, the

impermeable barrier covers all of the fragranced portion of the cassette except a selected

section of exposed fragranced cassette portion that is located inside the volume from which

the fragrance is released to the volume.

An un-fragranced portion of the cassette may be located outside of the volume and that part of

the cassette may be uncovered or only partly covered by the impermeable barrier. This un

fragranced portion may be used as a holder to directly or indirectly slide or move the

fragranced portion of the cassette into and out of the impermeable barrier. Alternatively, the

impermeable barrier may be moved relative to the cassette over the un-fragranced portion of

the cassette to selectively expose more or less of the fragranced portion of the cassette.

Movement of the un-fragranced portion and fragranced portion may occur while the cassette

or a part thereof is located in a volume

The impermeable barrier may be partly or fully removed and replaced again to expose and

cover a cassette or cassette surface(s).

The impermeable barrier may be manufactured from materials that hinder or prevent

permeation of fragrance from the cassette. Example materials may include metal foil,

cellophane, polymers and combinations thereof.

In practice, all cassettes used may be inserted fully covered into the volume to a common

length within the volume. To adjust the relative concentration of each fragrance in the volume,

each cassette or impermeable barrier is adjusted in position relative to each other so that more

or less of the fragranced portion of the cassette is exposed to the volume. Adjustment may be

made by holding the un-fragranced portion of the cassette and moving each impermeable

barrier relative to the un-fragranced portion or by moving the un-fragranced portion relative to

the impermeable barrier.

Cassette Size and Shape

Each cassette may have a common size so as to standardize an exposed surface area region.

Each cassette may have a uniform width along a given length. In this embodiment, the length

of the exposed surface of the cassette may be directly proportional to the exposed cassette

area as a proxy for area.

Each cassette may have a numerical length (ruler) scale to help a user visually see and measure

relative cassette surface exposure areas.

Alternatively, each cassette may have a variable width along its length, and a geometric

equation used to calculate the exposed cassette area as a function of exposed length.

Cassette Form

In a broadest sense, a cassette is a discrete fragrance component in a known concentration

with a known and adjustable surface area.

In one embodiment, each cassette may be a strip made from a fragrance wicking and retaining

material. The strip in one embodiment may be made from blotting paper. The blotting paper

may be pre-treated with other compounds selected from: oils, cosmetics or moisturising

lotions and combinations thereof.

In an alternative embodiment, each cassette may be a straw, tube or rod made from a

fragrance wicking and retaining material. Like the blotting paper, the straw, tube or rod may

be pre-treated with other compounds selected from: oils, cosmetics or moisturising lotions and combinations thereof.

In the above embodiments, the strip or straw/tube/rod may be combined with a wrap or

holder and the combination termed a cassette.

The cassette materials themselves that hold the fragrance may be chosen to reflect specific

final product properties. The specific final properties may be various polymers, skin mimics,

polymers, or fabrics, and combinations thereof.

Distancefrom the outlet

Exposed surfaces of the cassettes in the volume may be approximately equidistant from the

volume outlet. In one embodiment, this equidistant configuration may be achieved by

inserting a cassette into the volume radially or in a horizontal plane relative to the volume

outlet. In one embodiment, the horizontal plane is distant to and parallel to the outlet. In one

embodiment, the cassette exposed surfaces are located in the same plane and at a point distant to the volume outlet so as to maximise headspace in the volume.

Translation to Volume

The relative exposed surface areas of the cassettes may be translated to similar volumetric or

mass proportions in a liquid mixture of the same fragrance components to provide a fragrance

profile for a liquid mixture that approximately matches that of the combined cassette volume

fragrance. The term 'approximately' is used here since there are no liquid-phase molecular interactions of components in the volume that might affect relative volatility or allow reactions, so the fragrance profile could be slightly different in a liquid mixture.

Methods of creating, testing and modifying combinations and relative quantities of individual

fragrance components

and relative quantities of individual fragrance components by the steps of:

selecting a volume

selecting cassettes to communicate with the volume wherein each cassette is pre

loaded with a fragrance component across a surface area of the cassette;

dominance of a fragrance in the volume;

to a volume outlet.

Optionally, calculating a corresponding series of relative volumes of base fragrance required

based on the exposed area of each cassette used to form the volume scent.

Optionally, dispensing the corresponding liquid volumes of each chosen component, into a

container to form a customised fragrance liquid product.

The customised fragrance liquid product may be made up directly into final products such as

bottled alcohol- or oil-based perfumes.

The concentrations of the fragrance mixture can be adjusted across the well-known range of perfume products, such as eau de cologne, eau de toilette, eau de parfum, etc.

Other Applications

As may be appreciated from the above, the system, device and methods described herein may

be used in fragrance manufacturing and screening techniques. The term fragrance as used

herein is not intended to be limiting unless otherwise noted. It should also be appreciated that

the term 'fragrance' may be used synonymously at least in the context of this specification, with the term 'aroma'. As such, it should be appreciated that the described system, device and methods could be used for a wide range of applications.

In one embodiment, the system, device and methods may be used in the development,

preparation, blending or screening of perfumes or fragrances.

Alternatively, the system, device and methods may be used in the development, preparation,

blending or screening of:

- Beverages such as in wine, whisky, whiskey or other alcoholic beverages to

produce blends or to identify consumer beverage preferences;

- Food products for human consumption e.g. honey blending and aroma profiling;

- Personal care products examples being soaps, shampoo, conditioners and so on;

- Animal foods or supplements;

- Pest animal baits, attractants and pesticides or rodenticides;

- Samples for dog training and smell sensing;

- Aromatherapy or room fragrance products such as essential oil blends, candles

scents and freshening sprays.

Advantages

The above systems and methods provide a number of advantages over art fragrance

manufacture and screening techniques. For example, in the above described system and

methods, the user can precisely control the exposed surface area as the user has knowledge of

the exposed areas on each individual strip (and thus their relative areas) and hence this allows

the user to quantify the relative contributions of the volatile fragrance components to the

headspace fragrance profile.

The method allows the user to conveniently add and completely remove components during

the design process, and to alter the relative contributions of each component to the fragrance

profile up or down, simply by adding, removing or altering the corresponding strip surface

areas exposed to the headspace. There is minimal if any waste unlike art methods where

removing a component effectively means re-starting the blend process.

The systems and methods provide some flexibility in that concentrations of the components on

the cassettes do not have to be the same as their final concentrations of a resulting liquid mixture. The cassettes concentrations need only be such that their relative amounts on the cassette exposed area will match their relative concentrations in the components used to make up the final liquid mixture. One could use different concentrations of the fragrance components on the individual cassettes as long as the same relative concentrations are used to make up the final liquid mixture.

The embodiments described above may also be said broadly to consist in the parts, elements

and features referred to or indicated in the specification of the application, individually or

collectively, and any or all combinations of any two or more said parts, elements or features.

Further, where specific integers are mentioned herein which have known equivalents in the art

to which the embodiments relate, such known equivalents are deemed to be incorporated herein as if individually set forth.

WORKING EXAMPLES

The above described fragrance manufacture and screening techniques are now described by

reference to specific examples.

EXAMPLE 1

In this example a general system/device is described that allows a user to create, test and

modify combinations and relative quantities of individual fragrance components, using smelling

strips. The key functional aspect is that the exposed surface areas of individual smelling strips,

each strip having been loaded with one or more individual fragrance components, control the

rates at which the volatile fragrance components leave the strip surfaces and thus contribute

proportionately to the fragrance profile of the surrounding atmosphere ("headspace"). By covering the strips with an impermeable barrier that can be selectively withdrawn or opened to

expose some strip area, the user can precisely control the exposed surface area.

Knowledge of the exposed areas on each individual strip (and thus their relative areas) allows

headspace fragrance profile. If the smelling strips are all of uniform width along their length,

then the length of the exposed strip is directly proportional to the exposed strip area so can

serve as a useful proxy for area if a numerical length (ruler) scale is provided. Alternatively, the

strips might have a variable width along their length, and a simple geometric equation could be

used to calculate the exposed area as a function of exposed length.

The relative surface areas (or exposed lengths) of the strips can then be translated to similar

volumetric or mass proportions in a liquid mixture of the same fragrance components, resulting

in a fragrance profile for the liquid mixture that closely matches that of the smelling strips. This

method allows the user to conveniently add and completely remove components during the

design process, and to alter the relative contributions of each component to the fragrance

areas exposed to the headspace.

One such application is to enable users of the system to create customised fragrance profiles,

which can then be made up directly into final products such as bottled alcohol- or oil-based

perfumes. The concentrations of the fragrance mixture can be adjusted across the range of perfume products, such as eau de cologne, eau de toilette, eau de parfum, etc. The final

concentration of the fragrance mixture in the final product has little or no bearing on the

fragrance profile achieved.

The applicant can use the system and method described to offer a unique make-your-own

fragrance experience to customers, whereby the customers use the system with smelling strips

loaded with fragrance component fragrance bases. In devices tested by the inventor, 5 or 10,

or 15, or 20 or 25 or more strips may be used. After the customers have created the fragrance

combination they like using the smelling strips, the numbers from the scales on the strips are

converted into volume proportions, and the customers are then instructed to use a series of

accurate bottle-top liquid (chemical) dispensers to add the corresponding volumes of each

chosen component to include, into a bottle. Once all components are added and mixed, the

final perfume closely matches the design they created using the described fragrance

preparation system. In its current form, the inventors found that use of 10% concentrations of the original fragrance base components in ethanol both on the strips and in the final liquid

mixture were useful to give a direct correlation to the strength of smell at a concentration

corresponding to an eau de toilette perfume. Other concentrations could clearly be used in the

final product. For example, the customers could use smelling strips loaded with components at

10% dilution in ethanol but then mix full strength (undiluted) fragrance components at the

proportions indicated by their fragrance designs, which are then later diluted to any desired

concentration, including 20% in ethanol, which is in the range of an eau de parfum perfume.

When mixing fragrance components, the inventors can use exact measurements, achieved with

a micropipette (operated manually or automatically), or more approximate measurements,

achieved by simply counting the drops of each component added by eye dropper. This does

assume that droplets are of a consistent size (volume). This is consistent with the amounts of fragrance on the original smelling strips. As long as the relative volumes or drops as a total correspond to the numbers on the smelling strips, the desired fragrance profile is achieved.

One could extend the calculation of the amounts of each component to relative mass (weight),

as long as the density (or specific gravity) of each component is known so that the proper

masses (weights) can be calculated from the volume or droplet ratios.

Thus, the concentrations of the components on the strips do not have to be the same as the

final concentration of the liquid mixture but they must be such that their relative amounts on

the strips will match their relative concentrations in the components used to make up the final

liquid mixture. One could use different concentrations of the fragrance components on the

individual smelling strips as long as the same relative concentrations are used to make up the final liquid mixture. For example, one could use 10% concentrations for some components, and

others at 20% concentration when using the system described herein, as long as the latter

components are also added at twice the concentration of the others when blending the

corresponding liquid mixture. One could, with added computational complexity, account for

this difference between concentrations of components on the smelling strips and the volumes

added to the final mixture but ideally this complexity is avoided by using consistent

concentrations. Another example is that one might wish to include very small amounts of a

particular fragrance compound. In this case, a smelling strip could be prepared with a

correspondingly dilute concentration of that compound, and the system described used as

normal. As long as the relative concentration of the final component added to the final product

matches that used on the smelling strip, a similar final product fragrance profile to that in the

current system should be achieved. In this way, one could add, say, proportions of under 1% or

even lower concentration trace amounts.

The smelling strips used in the system could be standard, plain blotting papers as used widely

in the fragrance industry, including for retail tester purposes. Alternatively, they could be pre

treated with other compounds such as oils, cosmetics or moisturising lotions so that the

smelling strip surface more closely resembles the physicochemical properties of final

fragranced products, which may affect the relative volatilities of the components and thus the

headspace fragrance profile. Similarly, the strip materials themselves could be chosen to reflect

specific final product properties, such as various polymers, skin mimics, hair, polymers, or

fabrics, etc. One or more strips could also be impregnated with aromas (e.g. human

perspiration or industrial chemicals) to test the ability for added components to mask those

aromas.

The individual fragrance components added to the strips could be pure aroma-chemicals,

essential oils, isolates, concretes, or extracts, any mixture of these, or any individual or mixed

components already diluted into a carrier solvent such as ethanol or other alcohols,

dipropylene glycol, diethylene glycol, water, hydrocarbons, diethylene phthalate or various oils,

or product bases such as shampoo, conditioner or moisturisers, or cosmetics, or other final

product bases such as industrial products like cleaners, agricultural products, etc.

EXAMPLE 2

A practical example is described with reference to Figure 1. In this embodiment, long rods 10

with circular cross-sections were used to form cassettes. The individual rods 10 were each impregnated along part of their lengths arrow 11 with a single fragrance component by dipping

them into corresponding neat solutions (not shown). The rods 10 were, in this case, bamboo

skewers. Figure 2 and Figure 3 illustrate alternative embodiments using paper lollipop sticks 12

as cassettes.

The rods 10/ sticks 12 extend into a volume 20 and the combined fragrance is gathered in the

volume 20. Rod 10/ stick 12 length in the volume 20 can be varied to alter the amount of

fragrance component in the combined fragrance in the volume. Variation may be quantified

based on the surface area of rod 10 / stick 12 exposed in the volume 20. A plug 13 is used

through which the rods 10 / straws 12 extend. The plug 13 may be a matted material 14,

plastic disk 15, cork 16 or rubber 17. The plug 13 provides a seal to the volume 20.

The volume 20 length was sufficient to create an open tube container about the size of a small

drinking glass, plugged at the bottom with the plug 13. The rods 10 / straws 12 were then

pushed up from below into the plug 13, which had sufficient thickness to entirely cover the lengths of the fragranced portion on the rods 10 / straws 12. When in this state, no fragrance

was detectable in the headspace volume 20, so the plug 13 acts as the impermeable sleeve to

contain the fragrance. The user then pushed the rods 10 / straws 12 individually further

upwards, exposing desired lengths 11of the fragranced portions of the rods 10 / straws 12

above the top surface of the plug 13, to sit within the volume 20. In this state, a fragrance

profile developed within the open volume 20, corresponding to the relative lengths of the rods

10 / straws 12 exposed above the plug 13 surface. One could then simply expose or withdraw

each rod 10 / straw 12 to control the amount of the corresponding fragrance in the headspace

volume 20. Withdrawal of a rod 10/ straw 12 completely below the surface of the plug 13

removed almost all, but not all, of that fragrance component from the headspace volume 20 fragrance profile. This method was shown to allow a similar profile to be created in a liquid solution simply by mixing relative volumes of each component corresponding to the relative lengths of the rods 10 / straws 12 exposed above the plug 13 surface.

EXAMPLE3

In the above embodiment, one issue may be that the rods 10/straws 12, once exposed above

the plug 13 surface and then withdrawn, left a residual hole, from which minor amounts of the

fragrance component were continually emitted. This background emission was very small, but

nonetheless detectable, as the human nose is very sensitive.

To eliminate the residual hole through which fragrance could permeate, and to avoid having any part of the exposed surface within the device being contaminated by residual fragrance

after a rod was withdrawn, a stopcock device was designed as shown in Figure 4, Figure 5 and

Figure 6. The device 30 was 3D-printed as a cylindrical block 31 with axially aligned holes 32

located at regular positions around the circumference, of a diameter to closely fit the fragrance

rods 34. Keyed solid pegs 33 with a hole (not shown) drilled normal to their axes were inserted

through the outer block 31 wall, such that in one orientation, the holes (not shown) through

the pegs 33 line up with the holes 32 in the floor. The fragrance rods 34 were inserted up

through the block 31 and through the holes 32 in the block 31 and holes (not shown) in the

keys 33. The keys 33 can be turned slightly with the rods 34 in place to lock them in position.

When rods 34 are withdrawn, the keys 33 can be turned so that the key 33 hole no longer

aligns with the body 31 holes 32 and hence the key 33 seals the body 31 holes 32, similar to a

ball valve, thus sealing off the residual fragrance.

Figure 4, Figure 5 and Figure 6 show how fragrance rods 34, which are exposed to various lengths above the body 31. In one prototype, the fragrance rods 34 are paper sticks (as used in

lollipops). In another, they are bamboo skewers. The fragrance rods 34 may include a scale or

measure along the length (not shown) so that their relative exposed lengths can be easily

measured, or the exposed length could be measured using a ruler. Fragrance component

identifiers could be printed or applied to the fragrance rods 34.

Above the body 31 is a removable glass tube, being the volume 35, which creates the

headspace in which the fragrance profile develops according to the length of each fragrance

rod 34. The user smells the profile in the volume 35 and this can be refreshed easily by puffing

breath gently into the volume 35, wafting a fan of some kind such as a piece of cardboard, or

by removing and replacing the volume 35.

Rotatable pegs 33 are arranged circumferentially, which act as valves to seal off any withdrawn

fragrance rods 34 so there is no leakage of unwanted fragrance into the volume 35. Removable

stickers could be used on the pegs 33 to identify the fragrance components on each rod 34.

This may provide a convenient way to know which rod 34 is which.

There may be finger indentations to make holding the body 31 more convenient.

The prototype shown here allows twelve rods 34 .e. twelve fragrance components at a time to

be used in the volume 35. Professional perfumers will use many more components. However,

the principle of this can be extended to include more rods 34. More commonly, perfumers

create "accords", which are limited combinations of certain components, and then blend these

proportionally with other accords or individual components to make their final complex profile. The systems and methods described herein allow for an accord to be created, then an accord

solution prepared from the designed accord, and that accord used to load a rod 34 for a

subsequent round of the design process, combining accords or adding varying amounts of

other components.

Maximum relative component contributions using a single rod 34 might be limited to a given

length e.g. 20mm exposed, although the length scale is arbitrary as long as it is consistent.

Using the same component on two or more rods 34 can increase its relative contribution

beyond that of a single rod 34, proportional to the added rod 34 lengths.

One can also prepare a dilution of the original fragrance component e.g. 1x or 100x dilution

before loading and this would enable extremely versatile control of the relative component

contributions to the profile.

Another prototype design is shown on the right hand side of the Figure 4, which is simpler (no

pegs). In this design, the device 40 comprises rods 44, a body/block 41, holes 42 for rods 44 and a volume 45. Any unused hols 42 might have a non-porous plug that may connect to the

end of the fragrance rods or could be inserted independently when the rods are withdrawn or

absent.

EXAMPLE 4

In this example, another design 50 is illustrated with reference to Figures 7 and 8, in which, the

cassette 51is a standard smelling strip paper, rather than rods. The smelling strips 51 are

inserted into holders 52, which are rectangular box shapes 52, with a sliding cover 53, which

could either seal off the fragrance completely or be slid back to expose a known surface area. A length scale was placed on the cover 53. In this case, the covers 53 are laser-cut and a scale etched onto them with the laser cutter, while the holder 52 bodies are 3D printed. The holders

52 are inserted circumferentially into the device 50, which is shaped to resemble a wine glass,

or goblet with a base 54, stem 55 and enlarged top 56. A removable cylindrical top 57 is fitted

to the enlarged top 56 which acts as a volume and gives a headspace inside for fragrance to

develop.

This approach used the more familiar smelling strips rather than rods and solved the problem

of creating a constant distance from the nose. Further, the tube shape was altered from a

simple straight tube to something resembling a wine goblet, to better hold the fragranced

headspace, or in other versions, like a brandy glass. Ideas of adding some kind of mixing device, such as a motorised stirrer/impeller, whether physically attached through a shaft or by

magnetic coupling, may also be used but are not essential in the inventors experience.

Figure 9 shows an alternative design of stem - clearly these could be designed for aesthetics

and comfort while holding the device.

EXAMPLE 5

In this example, a further design is described referring to Figure 10, Figure 11 and Figure 12

that removes the need for the holder and cover described in Example 4 by recognising that

metal foils, such as aluminium foil, are effectively impermeable to gases and vapours. The

holders and covers were replaced by simply wrapping a given length of smelling strip 61 with

tin foil 62, printing a scale 63 on end of the smelling strip 61 and adding a fragrance to the scale

end 64 of the strip 61, and having a handling end 66 without fragrance to use to adjust the

amount of smelling strip 61fragrance end 64 exposed form the tin foil 62. Then sliding in or out in direction B using handle end 66, the strip 61 fragrance end 64 out of the tin foil 62 sleeve

to expose the desired smelling strip surface area 64 (collectively the foil and strip are termed a

cassette 65 hereafter). Quantification of the exposed area is achieved by the printed scale 63;

because each strip 61 has the same width, relative length of strip 61 exposed corresponds to

relative area. One could use strips of different widths to alter relative surface area with little

additional complexity to calculate relative volumes in a final product. For example, using a strip

with 1/ 10 th the width of the others with a fragrance at the same concentration would be

equivalent to using a strip with the same width but loaded at1 / 1 0th of theconcentration of the

component. Using strips of differing width or length, or altering the shapes of the strips from

rectangular to, say, triangular, could allow different modes of adjustment of the exposed surface areas. For example, a tapered strip could allow small amounts to be initially exposed from the tin foil sleeve, growing in proportion with further length exposed. The combined smelling strips and tin foil sleeves could then be inserted into the device 60 variations of which are illustrated in Figure 10, which is referred to herein as a "chalice", and a glass tube 67 used to form a volume, is fitted over the top to create the fragrance chamber or volume 67. The glass tube 67 may alternatively be formed integral to the chalice and the tube may be made from materials other than glass e.g. plastics. The covered strips could be removed or inserted from the side, or the glass tube removed to allow insertion/removal from the top. Figure 10 shows example designs of the chalice. These versions differ mainly in aesthetics, and ergonomics (thickness/length/shape of the stem, for example) but not in function. The glass tube fitting remains the same as before. A key aspect, which is critical, is that all strips are held in the chalice at a relatively constant average distance from the nose. Having all strips inserted radially achieves this. Alternative configurations, say inserting the strips up from the bottom, would likely result in some strips being located further from the nose than others, affecting their relative contributions to the headspace at the nose. This affect could be mitigated by adding a mixing device to the chalice so that the air in the fragrance chamber is well-mixed.

However, the configuration described overcomes the need for a mixer. Slots 68 as used allow

the convenience of insertion/removal from the top of the chalice (with the glass fragrance

chamber removed) but a similar end could be achieved by having slots that do not extend up to

the top of the chalice and are dimensioned to allow radial insertion/removal of the strips only.

The fragrance chamber tube can be used to hold the strips in place i.e. to stop them tilting.

One would not need to use (flat) smelling strips but could substitute smelling strips by rods

(similar to the original design, but perhaps with any cross-sectional shape, including circular, rectangular, corrugated, etc) inserted through holes placed radially around the chalice.

However, the use of smelling strips as used here matches the common smelling technique used

by perfumers, and may allow larger surface areas to be used than rods.

As noted above, the smelling strips are wrapped in "tin" (aluminium) foil, and the physical

properties of the tin foil (stiffness and ability to fold) are taken advantage of to hold the sleeves

in place. By smoothing the sleeves with the fingers, one can achieve a very tight fit around the

smelling strips. If a small ( or 2 mm) length of foil is left to extend past the end of the strip,

one can seal off fragrance release effectively, by simply pressing the extended end of the tin

foil sleeve tightly together with finger pressure. One can see clearly that the tin foil is pressed

together beyond the end of the smelling strip, forming a tight seal. The strip can still be easily

pushed out through the pressed end of the tin foil to expose the desired surface area (length) of strip; if desired, the strip can be withdrawn into the sleeve and the tin foil again pressed in the fingers to seal off the fragrance. (One could equally bend the addition length over to seal it but this would make it more difficult to push the strip out to expose the surface.

One could use any metal or material that is impermeable to aroma to create the sleeve (e.g.

copper, stainless steel) as long as the sleeve is able to be fitted close to the smelling strip

surface so that fragrance leakage out past the sleeve is minimised. Materials that hinder the

permeation of fragrance, such as cellophane or a polymer, could be used effectively over a

short time period, prior to when fragrance components begin to permeate completely through

the material. One does not have to wrap the metal foil around the smelling strip but could, for

example, use a tin metal tube into which the smelling strip could be inserted and the tube squeezed flat around it. The internal width of the metal sleeve, regardless of how it is formed,

need not be a close match to the strip width, as long as any excess width can be flattened to

minimize fragrance diffusion and/or release.

It would be desirable to retain the fragrance loaded onto a smelling strip for as long as possible

when the strip is withdrawn into the metal sleeve and the end sealed off with finger pressure.

The smelling strips need not be entirely made up of one material (e.g. paper) but could be a

composite structure. For example, to prevent diffusion of solvents and fragrance components

through the smelling strip beyond that covered by the metal sleeve, one could have a length of

smelling strip that corresponds to the length needed to deliver the amount needed within the

chalice, connected to a handle that would not allow penetration of the fragrance. An example

of this would be to affix the smelling strip to a polypropylene strip; the latter would function as

a handle for holding and pushing to extend/retract the smelling strip out from the metal sleeve,

but is relatively impermeable to most fragrance and solvent components, so would largely prevent back-diffusion of the components out from under the metal sleeve. This arrangement

would mean that a smelling strip covered by the metal sleeve would retain the loaded

fragrance for prolonged periods, with the only loss being by diffusion through gaps between

the metal foil and the smelling strip surface. This would prolong the storage of fragrance

loaded strips prior to use.

EXAMPLE 6

Specific examples are now described that use the device described in Example 5 above.

Example 6a

Paper strips 90 mm in length and 12 mm in width with a printed length scale of 20 mm from

one end with divisions of 1 mm are pre-loaded with approximately the same amounts of each

of the following fragrance base materials: Citrus, Red Apple, Rose, Floral Bouquet, Cedarwood.

Each named fragrance base material is a proprietary mixture that gives a profile consistent with

its name. The strips are loaded by painting 10% solutions of the fragrances onto the strip

surface using a nailbrush, taking care to ensure the entire strip surface is wetted over at least

the 20 mm length. The loaded strips are initially wrapped with a rectangular piece of tin foil 70

mm by 45 mm (wrapped approximately 5 times around the strip along the 45 mm length and

pressed flat), which covers the (approximately 20 mm) wetted fragrance surface, with a small (approximately 1mm) length extending past the end of the strip, which is then pressed

together to seal off the wetted surface. No wetted fragrance surface is exposed beyond the

other end of the tin foil, through which the un-fragranced portion of the strip extends and is

used for handling and labelling. The user then exposes various desired lengths of the

fragranced strips by sliding the strips out beyond the tin foil and placing them all into the

Chalice, fitting the fragrance chamber, and after allowing about 10 seconds for the fragrances

to combine in the headspace, assesses the fragrance. The user may be satisfied with their initial

combination but more likely iteratively adjusts each of the strips, up or down along the

exposed lengths, each time re-assessing the resulting fragrance combination. A simple puff of

breath or waft of air from a piece of card is sufficient to refresh the headspace after each new

combination of strip exposures is placed into the Chalice. The user decides upon a given

combination of the original fragrance bases and decides to add Leather to the combination,

arriving finally at the following combination: Citrus 20, Red Apple 2, Rose 15, Floral Bouquet 6, Cedarwood 20, Leather 20. The total of the numerical values is 83, so the final fragrance

product formulation should conform to a total volume with volumetric proportions of 20/83

Citrus; 2/83 Red Apple; 15/83 Rose; 6/83 Floral Bouquet; 20/83 Cedarwood; and 20/83

Leather.

From this design, a final 10-mL (approximate volume) bottle of eau de toilette perfume is

created, by combining the fragrance bases (each being 10% fragrance content in 96% ethanol

solvent) at volumes 2.41mL Citrus; 0.24 mL Red Apple; 1.81 mL Rose; 0.73 mL Floral Bouquet;

2.41 mL Cedarwood; and 2.41 mL Leather. The final volume is 10.01 mL. More accurate

volumes could be used to achieve a more precise total volume.

Example 6b

A similar process to Example 6a is used but the resulting strip values in the Chalice are Fresh

15; Floral Bouquet 5; Jasmine 20; Vanilla 8; and Sweet Balsamic 12. A 50-mL bottle of eau de

toilette is made up using the 10% solutions of these fragrances in 96% ethanol at individual

volumes 12.5 mL fresh; 4.17 mL Floral Bouquet; 16.67 mL Jasmine; 6.67 mL Vanilla; and 10 mL

Sweet Balsamic. The final perfume volume is 50 mL.

Example 6c

A similar process to Example 6a is used but the user finalises a combination of strips with

lengths Citrus 20, Menthol 2, Herbs 4, Spice 2, and Musk 3. The user wishes to have a 30-mL bottle of eau de parfum (20% fragrance diluted into 96% ethanol). This will require a total of 6

mL of fragrance and 24 mL of 96% ethanol. First, the pure (undiluted) fragrance bases are

combined at volumes 3.87 mL Citrus; 0.39 mL Menthol; 0.77 mL Herbs; 0.39 mL Spice; and 0.58

mL Musk, making a total of 6 mL of fragrance concentrate. This is then diluted to a total volume

of 30 mL with 96% ethanol, yielding the final eau de parfum product.

Example 6d

A similar process to Example 6c is used but in this case the user wishes to create a 100-mL

room spray, which comprises 3% perfume, 60% ethanol (96% in water), 3 drops of Polysorbate

2 0 TM surfactant, and the remainder water. To achieve this, 3 mL of perfume mixture is created

by mixing half the volumes of each of the pure fragrance components as given in Example 3,

then mixing this with 60 mL ethanol (96% in water), 3 drops of surfactant and approximately 37

mL water to give a final volume of 100 mL.

Aspects of the above fragrance manufacturing and screening techniques have been described

by way of example only and it should be appreciated that modifications and additions may be

made thereto without departing from the scope of the claims herein.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A system comprising: a volume with multiple cassettes communicating with the volume and the volume

wherein:

cassette, the surface area being variably presented to the volume, the extent of cassette surface

area exposure in the volume being proportional to the dominance of a fragrance in the volume;

and,

wherein the cassette surface area presented to the volume is varied which varies the area

for volatile evolution from the cassette surface into the volume and hence cassette fragrance dominance in the volume is varied.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1 wherein each cassette surface area within the volume is

adjustable independently of one another.

3. The system as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein each cassette is replaceable.

4. The system as claimed in any one of the above claims wherein the volume is an enclosed or

partly enclosed region with an outlet, the volume defining a headspace where fragrances may

mix.

5. The system as claimed in any one of the above claims wherein each cassette is pre-loaded with a

fragrance.

6. The system as claimed in any one of the above claims wherein a cassette is covered when not

exposed by an impermeable barrier.

7. The system as claimed in claim 6 wherein the only uncovered part of the cassette when used is

entirely within the section of cassette inside the volume.

8. The system as claimed in claim 6 wherein the impermeable barrier is partly or fully removed and

replaced again to expose and cover cassette surfaces.

9. The system as claimed in any one of the above claims wherein each cassette has a common size

so as to standardize an exposed surface area region.

10. The system as claimed in any one of the above claims wherein each cassette has a uniform width

along a given length and the length of the exposed surface of the cassette is directly

proportional to the exposed cassette area.

11. The system as claimed in any one of the above claims wherein each cassette has a length scale

to help a user visually see and measure relative cassette surface exposure area.

12. The system as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10 wherein each cassette has a variable width

along its length, and a geometric equation is used to calculate the exposed cassette area as a

function of exposed length.

13. The system as claimed in any one of the above claims wherein each cassette is a strip made from

a fragrance wicking and retaining material.

14. The system as claimed in any one of the above claims wherein exposed surfaces of the cassettes

in the volume are approximately equidistant from the volume outlet.

15. The system as claimed in claim 14 wherein the equidistant configuration is achieved by inserting

a cassette into the volume radially or in a horizontal plane relative to the volume outlet.

16. The system as claimed in any one of the above claims wherein the relative exposed surface areas

of the cassettes are translated to similar volumetric or mass proportions in a liquid mixture of

the same fragrance components to provide a fragrance profile for a liquid mixture that

approximately matches that of the combined cassette volume fragrance.

17. A fragrance device configured to mix a quantifiable amount of fragrance to one mixed fragrance,

the device comprising:

a volume and multiple cassettes communicating with the volume and the volume capturing the

mixture of cassette fragrances and presenting the mixture to a volume outlet;

wherein:

each cassette is pre-loaded with a fragrance component across a surface area of the cassette,

the surface area being variably presented to the volume, the extent of cassette surface area

exposure in the volume being proportional to the dominance of a fragrance in the volume; and,

wherein the cassette surface area presented to the volume is varied which varies the area for

volatile evolution from the cassette surface into the volume and hence cassette fragrance

dominance in the volume is varied.

18. A method of creating, testing and modifying combinations and relative quantities of individual

fragrance components by the steps of:

selecting a volume

selecting cassettes to communicate with the volume wherein each cassette is pre-loaded

with a fragrance component across a surface area of the cassette; adding cassettes to the volume and varying each cassette surface area presented to the volume, the extent of cassette surface area exposure in the volume being proportional to the dominance of a fragrance in the volume; capturing the mixture of cassette fragrances in the volume and presenting the mixture to a volume outlet.

19. The method as claimed in claim 18 wherein the method comprises a further step of:

calculating a corresponding series of relative volumes of base fragrance required based on

the exposed area of each cassette used to form the volume scent.

20. The method as claimed in claim 19 wherein the method comprises a further step of:

dispensing the corresponding liquid volumes of each chosen component, into a container to

form a customised fragrance liquid product.

21. A perfumes produced by the method as claimed in any one of claims 18 to 20.

22. A beverage produced by the method as claimed in any one of claims 18 to 20.

23. Food product for human consumption produced by the method as claimed in any one of claims

18 to 20.

24. A personal care product produced by the method as claimed in any one of claims 18 to 20.

25. An animal food or supplement produced by the method as claimed in any one of claims 18 to 20.

26. Pest animal baits, attractants and pesticides or rodenticides produced by the method as claimed

in any one of claims 18 to 20.

27. Samples for dog training and smell sensing produced by the method as claimed in any one of

claims 18 to 20.

28. Aromatherapy or room fragrance products produced by the method as claimed in any one of

claims 18 to 20.