CH621288A5 - Method for packaging a solid air-freshening body, and body packaged according to this method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a method for conditioning a solid, hollow body, for treating ambient air, in particular air from premises or living quarters, this body possibly comprising a solid perfumed composition as active ingredient.

Solid bodies intended for the treatment of ambient air are known, which are formed by introducing a molten composition through an orifice provided at the top of a container, then closing this orifice and allowing the composition to solidify. during storage. Normally, these devices have a base, an upper closure element tightly connected to this base, and means for supporting this upper element away from the lower part. When the user wants to activate the device, the upper element is removed from the base for a determined distance and the ambient air, by natural convection, passes over the surface of the product and is refreshed by the active ingredients. These devices are extremely popular but the containers are expensive and account for a disproportionate part of the sale price of the treatment device. These devices are normally made of a carragheen derivative which contracts as it becomes dehydrated and they have an unattractive appearance in the last stages of their effectiveness.

Other bodies are known for which a molten active ingredient is loaded into a container having a decorative arrangement of openings in its surface. The openings are then closed with a self-adhesive sheet. The user activates devices of this kind by removing this sheet. These devices are less expensive than those described above. Their appeal depends on the ornamental appearance of the container in which they are wrapped.

The object of the invention is to provide an economical process for conditioning ambient air treatment bodies, which have an ornamental appearance.

To this end, the invention provides a method for conditioning a solid, hollow body, for treating ambient air, characterized as stated in claim 1.

The invention will be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view, partially in section, of a hollow, ornamental body for treating ambient air.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of one half of the mold used for the preparation of the body of FIG. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of one half of the mold, this view being taken along lines 3-3 of FIG. 2.

Fig. 4 is a partial side elevation view of one half of the mold of FIG. 2, this view being taken along lines 4-4 of this FIG. 2.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of one half of the mold, placed in a clamping frame and filled with a melted composition.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the two mold halves joined together in the clamping frame.

Fig. 7 is a view in longitudinal section, taken generally io along lines 7-7 of FIG. 6 and having in section the ornamental, hollow, formed body, at the time of its removal from the clamping frame.

Objects with a complicated shape can be made or made from thermoplastic polymeric materials. One method which is particularly advantageous for molding objects of complicated shape is the rotary molding method. In this process, a powder or granules of a plastic polymer capable of crosslinking and containing the appropriate crosslinking agent are introduced into a mold. The closed mold is then heated from the outside and rotated, preferably about two axes with different speeds of rotation. During this process, the polymer melts and cross-links, thereby forming a layer of cross-linked material on the internal surface of the mold. Robust objects with complicated shapes can be produced economically by this method.

The same rotary molding process can be applied to molten materials which can solidify during this molding process by means of a mold which can be manufactured with a complicated shape, for example by thermoforming, and which can receive a charge of a molten composition which has ambient air treatment properties.

The ambient air treatment body 10 is illustrated in FIG. 1. The mold 11 (fig. 6) comprises a first part 12 and a second part 14 which are each the replica of one half of the ornamental shape desired for the final product 10. A tongue 16 and a groove 18 provide a precise and firm interlocking along the periphery of each part of the mold, thus keeping these parts closely together in order to ensure good shelf life before sale. The first part 12 of the mold is placed in the lower portion 25 of a horizontal assembly and clamping frame 26, the cavity of this first part 12 being arranged downwards. An insulating disc 28, which can be formed from a cardboard or a plastic foam, is placed in a slot 30 provided in the mold. The purpose of this insulating disc is to create an area for a label and to prevent contact of the air handling composition with the surface on which this device rests when it is used, in order to prevent the creation of 50 marks on this surface. The mold part 12 is then filled with a determined quantity of a moldable material 32. It is preferably the air treatment composition, corresponding to the formula presented below and which is melted at approximately 65 ° C. Then, the second part 14 of the mold is placed over 55 the first part 12 and it is fitted closely to the latter by the tongue and groove zones 16-18. The articulated upper part 27 of the clamping frame 26 is then lowered to cooperate with the tongue and groove seals 16, 18 of the mold 11, thereby creating a mechanical seal, this upper 60 part 27 of the clamping frame being brought into contact with the lower part 25 of this chassis.

The clamping frame thus assembled is then placed on a rotary molding machine and subjected to rotation until the molten material has solidified inside the hollow mold 11 at 65 thus forming a hollow air treatment body. 10, having a wall 34. The mold 11 containing the solidified unit is then removed from the clamping frame. The finished product remaining in this mold 11 is perforated with a small hole to prevent deformation.

3

621,288

tion and is thus ready for a second packaging with or without additional commercial or advertising packaging.

The mold 11 is used not only to give the particular shape to the product but it is also used as primary packaging. The user removes the air treatment body from this primary packaging by tearing off the first part 12 of the mold from the second part 14. Traction tabs are provided for this purpose to break the mechanical seal. The air treatment body is then installed on its insulating base 28 in a suitable location in order to treat the ambient air. Such a treatment device used in this way can have an attractive ornamental appearance.

The formula of the treatment composition includes paraffins, stabilizers, pigment and perfume.

A particularly advantageous formula includes the following ingredients:

Ingredients% by weight

Paraffin (type 62.7 ° C) 69.22

Microcrystalline wax (Micro-wax Shell) 15.00 Semi-solid hydrocarbons in purified mixture *

(petrolatum) 5.00

Polyethylene wax (Polyethylene AC-400) 3.00 UV5411 [2- (2-hydroxy-5-tert.-octylphenyl) ben-

zotriazole] 0.25

UV531 (2-hydroxy-4-N-octylbenzophenone) 0.25

BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) 0.03

Titanium dioxide 0.75

Perfume of essential oil 6.50

100.00

* Colloidal system of solid hydrocarbons with non-straight chain and high-boiling liquid hydrocarbons, in which most of the liquid hydrocarbons are kept inside the micelles.

As we could see from the previous description, the product is a primary packaging for a solid ambient air treatment body, this primary packaging comprising a first and a second part made of a thin, semi-rigid, thermoplastic resin , each of these parts having a cavity which is the replica of the shape of the final product, each of these mold parts further comprising means for allowing cooperation of the two parts of the mold in order to form a tight seal, this primary packaging containing furthermore an ambient air treatment body, which is solid and hollow, and which is in the aforesaid cavities by filling the predetermined shapes thereof, so that finally the air treatment body can be stored while the aforementioned resin parts remain in place until the time of use, the treatment body 35 being made active by the simple removal of these parts. The assembly thus produced can be of any suitable shape, for example in the shape of an owl as shown in the drawings.

In a particularly advantageous embodiment, the parts of the mold are produced by thermoforming in a multi-cavity mold starting from polyvinyl chloride with a thickness of approximately 0.4 mm, and the insulating disc is made of cardboard printed having a base formed from a foam plastic.

R

1 sheet of drawings

Claims (3)

621288 1. A method for conditioning a solid, hollow body for treating ambient air, characterized in that it comprises the loading of a treatment composition which is melted or which can melt, in a first part of a mold, sealingly placing a second part of the mold on the first part, and rotating the mold in a rotary molding apparatus until the molten material is cooled and solidified by conforming to the shape of the mold which serves as packaging. 2. Body conditioned according to the method of claim 1, characterized in that it comprises two mold parts made of a thermoplastic resin, semi-rigid, each of which has a molding cavity and means for cooperating in sealed manner with the other part, and a solid, hollow body, for ambient air treatment, arranged in the cavities of the mold so that the air treatment body can be stored while the mold remains in place, and can be made active by removing the mold. 2 3. Body according to claim 2, characterized in that it comprises an insulating disc connected to the air treatment body.