EP1773410A2

EP1773410A2 - Device for releasing an active ingredient and piece of jewelry embodied to give off a scent

Info

Publication number: EP1773410A2
Application number: EP05769157A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Heinrich Wolfgang Steinel
Original assignee: H W Steinel GmbH
Current assignee: H W Steinel GmbH
Priority date: 2004-06-15
Filing date: 2005-06-15
Publication date: 2007-04-18
Also published as: WO2005123151A2; WO2005123151A3

Abstract

The invention relates to a device for releasing, vaporizing or evaporating an active ingredient from a carrier element (12) which is embodied and equipped such that in an operational state it can be impinged upon by heat with the aid of a heating unit (14) in order to discharge said active ingredient. The carrier element is a body whose volume varies according to the amount of active ingredient contained therein, consisting of a plastic material which is designed to receive and discharge the active ingredient under the influence of heat. The dimensions of said body are predetermined and vary according to increased vaporization and evaporation of the amount contained therein. The vaporization or evaporation device comprises mechanically active display means (16, 20) which enable digital or analog display of an amount of active ingredient in the carrier element, particularly by means of a movement effect of the carrier element, by at least temporary mechanical contact with the carrier element.

Description

Device for dispensing an active ingredient and a piece of jewelry designed for dispensing a fragrance

The present invention relates to a device for dispensing, evaporating or evaporating an active substance from a carrier element according to the preamble of the main claim and a piece of jewelry according to the preamble of claim 9.

Such an evaporation device is known, for example, from the applicant's international patent publication WO 97/28830 and, in its concrete implementation as an insecticide evaporation device, describes a porous wick as a carrier element for liquid active substance, which is used to transport the insecticide from a storage container to one end of the wick serves heating unit and the active ingredient evaporated by the heating then exits the end of the wick.

While such a device is characterized by reliable operating properties and, in particular, favorable, predetermined evaporation rates, the problem of inexpensive mass production of the active substance container arises when the wick or heating system is reused (appropriately filled bottles would be exchanged in each case) the high quantities, especially in regions relevant for insect control, pose a considerable disposal problem.

Another way is described by insecticide vaporizer devices in which a paste-like active substance contained in shell-like carrier elements is applied by contact with a heating unit; However, such a technology is characterized by uneven and difficult to calculate evaporation properties, so that an exact dosage (especially in the sensitive area of insecticides) is not guaranteed. Another technology that is suitable in principle for the dosage of active ingredient is the firm embedding of the active ingredient in a suitable plastic grid or a plastic matrix (for example by introducing it during the plastic injection process), and the successive application of the embedded active ingredient by heating the corresponding plastic body. However, this technology is also disadvantageous, because in addition to the poorly controllable evaporation properties, this technology in particular has the problem that a used-up (ie, emptied of the active substance) body is not readily recognizable. The user is therefore dependent on exchanging the active substance body as a function of time, with the effect that either an already empty body is heated for a certain amount of time and is thus operated ineffectively, or an incompletely emptied body with all the disadvantageous consequences for Efficiency and pollution of the waste is disposed of.

A comparable problem arises in connection with fragrances such as perfumes or the like. deodorant agents; again, it depends on the (typically expensive) drug efficiently and uniformly deliver, ^to-'' to be able to additionally avoid overdoses and clearly recognize when the perfume is fully discharged.

The object of the present invention is therefore to improve a generic device for evaporating or evaporating an active substance from a carrier element in such a way that improved, ie more uniform discharge (evaporation or evaporation) rates can be achieved on the one hand and on the other hand however, it can be precisely recognized or ascertained when the carrier element has fallen below a critical active substance content and is therefore to be replaced. The object is achieved by the device with the features of the main claim and the piece of jewelry with the features of the independent claim 9.

In an advantageous manner according to the invention, a plastic that can be changed in volume depending on the amount of active ingredient contained is used for the carrier element, so that the external dimension of the body according to the invention, e.g. whose outer diameter can serve as an indicator of how much active ingredient is currently stored (absorbed) in the carrier element. If, within the scope of the invention, a mechanical scanning or actuator of the or by the external dimension is triggered by means of the display means, a filling quantity determination of the carrier element can be carried out in a simple and elegant manner, at least that threshold value of the filling quantity which corresponds to the external dimension associated with it corresponds to the current extent of the carrier element.

In the simplest form of implementation of the invention, this would preferably be achieved in that the display means is implemented as an outlet opening for the carrier element and when the outlet dimension (for example the outlet diameter) of the outlet opening is reached or undershot, the carrier element falls out of the device in a digital manner , In this respect, the reliable determination of the filling quantity and thus the determination of a possible change time for carrier elements contained in the active substance is reduced to the relative dimensioning of the outer dimension of the carrier element (filled with active substance = does not block and does not fall through the outlet opening; emptied = fall out) for dimensioning an outlet diameter.

It is also particularly preferred to implement the heating device in the context of the invention by means of electrical heating means, with an otherwise known PTC, for example for the purpose of simple temperature stabilization. Offers heating as it is usually is also known from the generic state of the art. As a heating device in the context of the present invention, however, other means for heating the active substance carrier element or a housing surrounding it are also meant, whereby in the simplest case, for example when realizing the present invention as a piece of jewelry, also body heat (and thus a thermal contact with the human body) as a heating device.

It would then be particularly simple for an electrical heating unit on the circumference to cooperate with a conically tapering tube, which therefore has a prescribed outlet opening on its narrow side, to heat the carrier element, which is still filled with active ingredient, on the circumference inside the tube, the outer diameter then being sufficient after the active ingredient has evaporated or evaporated (the outer dimension) of the carrier element has shrunk until it as a whole falls out of the tapered end and so far indicates an empty or used state. A preferably tracked carrier element would then automatically and without further mechanical conveyance as a purely gravity-operated means of transport take the place of the used carrier element and in turn could be operated until it was emptied.

In the manner described, an evaporation or evaporation device can thus be realized in an extremely simple and elegant manner, which combines simplicity in manufacture, in particular suitability for large-scale production of the carrier elements and simple disposal, with reliable, economical operation and completely correct emptying.

In principle, the predetermined external geometry of the carrier element is arbitrary; while suitable injection moldable spherical or cylindrical shapes seem preferred, it is particularly advisable to provide elongated elements in the form of cuboids, polygons or rods.

Also, the present invention is not described for use with insecticides as an active ingredient, but rather within the scope of the invention, in particular, is also used as an active ingredient evaporator or metering agent for fragrances, disinfectants, pharmaceuticals or the like. claimed.

The present invention is also not limited to the implementation of the display means as a pure outlet opening. An analog display variant would be conceivable, for example, in which the carrier element is elongated, for example in the form of a wire or thread, and the length of the wire or thread is evaluated as an effective external dimension in the sense of the invention for indicating the filling content of the element, for example by means of an end attached and moved by a change in length indicator element.

Independent protection in the context of the present invention is claimed for a form of realization of the invention which realizes the advantages according to the invention in the context of a piece of jewelry, that is to say decorative or aesthetically effective. According to the invention, the fragrance carrier is held here in a piece of jewelry, which is then suitably heated by body heat, for example in the case of a pendant for a necklace, a ring or a brooch as a piece of jewelry.

In this way, an aesthetically effective receptacle is created for the fragrance carrier, which is nevertheless effectively shielded from an immediate contact surface (skin or clothing surface of the user), so that disadvantageous leakage of the active ingredient, undesired contamination or the like. can be effectively avoided.

According to the invention, the fill level dependency of the au The outer dimension of the fragrance carrier is used in order to infer the current filling state of the fragrance carrier with regard to the fragrance used by viewing through the outlet, whereby, for example, when a critical outer dimension (e.g. predetermined diameter of a sphere as the fragrance carrier) is reached, a used (emptied) filling state closed and the fragrance carrier can be replaced accordingly. Additionally or alternatively, it is also provided within the scope of this embodiment of the invention to mechanically evaluate or scan the outer dimension of the fragrance carrier, for example by the fact that when the diameter falls below a critical diameter, the outer dimension of the fragrance carrier comes out of an opening (realized as an outlet, for example) the jewelry body falls out and thus immediately indicates the empty state.

Depending on the aesthetic requirements and type of the piece of jewelry, it is possible to design the outlet of the piece of jewelry body according to the invention in different ways. Since the fragrance typically leaves the jewelry body in gaseous form, the outlet should therefore first be permeable to the gaseous fragrance; it should also be possible to observe at least the change in the external dimensions through the use of the fragrance carrier made of volume-changing material. Correspondingly, the outlet can consist of an opening, but can also be implemented in a network or lattice shape, as provided for in the development, and can have a possibility (for example by means of actuators or pushing means) to change an effective opening of the outlet and thus dispense or Set evaporation rates of the fragrance (this idea also applies analogously to the first embodiment of the invention according to the main claim as a favorable further development.

For introducing or replacing the fragrance carrier, it has been found to be preferable to design the jewelry body in such a way that it is suitably opened or re-opened for access to the receptacle for the fragrance carrier. can subsequently be closed again, for example by means of a folding mechanism or the like.

Further advantages, features and details of the invention result from the following description of preferred exemplary embodiments and with reference to the figures; these show in

1: a schematic side view of a possible realization of a room air freshener with spherical carrier elements for the active substance to be evaporated;

2, 3: a side or top view of a spiral storage container for use in the device according to FIGS. 1 and

4: shows a schematic view of a further embodiment of the present invention as a piece of jewelry designed to dispense and / or evaporate a fragrance.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, in the manner of a spiral magazine, a storage container 10 according to FIGS. 2, 3 is loaded with spherical carrier elements 12, which in turn have been impregnated with a fragrance oil. More specifically, the individual bearing balls 12 made of a accommodated by means of an injection molding process in the spherical shape art ^• material (co-polymer of polyamide and polyether, Shore preferably <35), which have suitable soaked then by passive diffusion with the fragrance oil. In the exemplary embodiment shown, plastic balls with an unfilled diameter of 12 mm were used; after filling the absorbent plastic balls with the fragrance, the diameter increased to 15.2 mm, the weight from 1 g to 2.3 g.

As shown in FIG. 1, the balls 12 now enter a heating chamber from a lower outlet of the magazine 10. rich 14, this heating area consisting of a tapered metal tube 16 and an externally surrounding, electrically operated heating part 18 (temperature-controlled by means of PTC). The graphic shows how on the one hand edge contact of the ball 12 with the conical metal tube 16 heats them and the active substance is evaporated from the balls; At the same time, their diameter is reduced, so that they gradually slide down the conical metal tube to the lower outlet opening 20.

If the ball diameter falls below the minimum ball diameter defined by the lower outlet opening 20 due to further evaporation and successive shrinkage of the ball, a ball in question falls from the tube 16 into a schematically shown lower receptacle 22 for empty carrier elements 12.

As a result of the falling, an indicator for a predetermined (here: emptied according to the selected minimum diameter) filling state of the balls 12 is available. At the same time, the arrangement shown ensures that, due to the weight of the balls, they are gravitationally directed in the direction can be conveyed to the heating unit 14 without the need for manual or even other mechanical intervention. Without further handling, the arrangement shown in FIG. 1 can empty the magazine 10 ball by ball.

In the exemplary embodiment described, the heating unit has heated the ball at approx. 60 ° C., the fragrance oil in the balls being used within a period of approx. 24 hours to a small remainder of approx. Was reduced by 2%. This led to a volume reduction to the original size of 12 mm, so that at this point the ball could then also pass through the outlet 20 set to 12 mm. The present invention is not described on the principle described or the spherical support element shape; Any other geometrical shapes with at least one calculable outer dimension that can be evaluated or scanned in the manner described are suitable here. In principle, the size or content of the active ingredient can be chosen as desired and only depends on the intended use. In practice, typical carriers may preferably have a weight of approx. 0.5 to 5 g and soak their weight on the active ingredient by soaking it up Increase factor 2 to 3.

As shown in FIG. 4 as a further embodiment of the invention with a further exemplary embodiment, a chain pendant, attached to a jewelry eyelet 40 as a fastening means, has a piece of jewelry body 42 which, indicated by a closure 44 or a pair of hinges 46, can be opened is designed to expose a receptacle inside the body 42.

This receptacle is realized for accommodating a fragrance carrier 48 which is spherical in the exemplary embodiment described and which is made of a plastic which is variable in volume as a function of a degree of perfume filling. 4 shows by the dashed lines the spherical fragrance carrier made of plastic in a state completely filled with the perfume, and the dotted line 50 illustrates the spherical fragrance carrier after it has been (partially) emptied and the volume has decreased. Visible through several slots that are open to be received in the jewelry body 42, the diameter of the ball 48 (50) is thus an indicator of a current filling state with the perfume and accordingly shows the user when the fragrance carrier 48 (50) should be replaced or new is to be filled.

In use, a completely filled fragrance carrier 48 is inserted into the housing 42 by opening the closure. sets where it is held mechanically on the one hand, and on the other hand, through the slit-shaped openings 52, gaseous perfume escaping from the body 48 into the environment. At the same time, the housing which is closed to the rear (ie to the carrier side) (alternatively also in the alternative or opened selectively) ensures that body heat is transferred to the housing and thus to the fragrance carrier 48, so that the perfume can escape as a fragrance in the desired manner however, that the impregnated fragrance carrier 48 comes into contact with the skin (or textile material) of the user, so that soiling can be prevented.

In continuous use, especially when heated, the fragrance evaporates on the carrier 48; in the embodiment shown, the diameter of the fragrance carrier decreases visibly through the slots 52. When a critical lower limit is reached, the user could then suitably replace the fragrance body by opening the housing 42.

In a further development according to the invention, it is also conceivable that housing elements, for example a bottom opening or the like, can be designed in such a way that when the critical diameter is undershot, the fragrance body automatically (correspondingly emptied) falls out of the housing, so that a scanning or Indicator effect for the filling state with the fragrance is possible beyond a mere viewing (in which case no slits or similar measures would be necessary for a visual viewing).

Claims

EXPECTATIONS

1. Device for dispensing, vaporizing or evaporating an active substance from a carrier element (12), which is set up and designed in an operating state for exposure to heat by a heating unit (14) for dispensing the active substance, characterized in that the carrier element is a depending on a contained amount of the active substance, the body has a variable volume, plastic material designed to take up and release the active substance and has a predetermined external dimension, which varies with increasing evaporation or evaporation of the amount contained, and the device for evaporation or evaporation has a mechanical effect Display means (16, 20) which, by at least temporary mechanical contact with the carrier element, permit digital or analog display of an amount of active substance contained in the carrier element, in particular by means of a movement effect of the carrier element.

2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the display means are designed as an outlet opening (20) for the carrier element from the evaporation or evaporation device and have an outlet dimension, in particular an outlet diameter, which corresponds to a predetermined residual amount of active ingredient Carrier element describes corresponding threshold value of the outer dimension of the carrier element.

3. Device according to claim 2, characterized in that the outlet opening is designed as a preferably circumferentially heated, tapered tube section (16).

4. Apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the heating unit (14) is provided in the region of the outlet opening and has an electrically operated heating element, which is preferably temperature-controlled and is further preferably designed by means of a PTC.

5. Device according to one of claims 2 to 4, characterized by transport means (16) for the carrier element, which are provided between a storage area of a housing of the evaporation or evaporation device and the outlet opening and are preferably operated by the action of gravity on the filled carrier element.

6. Device according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the carrier element (12) is spherical, cuboid, cylindrical, polygonal or rod-shaped and absorbent for the active substance in the liquid state.

7. Device according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the active ingredient is a fragrance, insecticide, disinfectant or pharmaceutical.

Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the carrier element is wire or thread-shaped and the outer dimension describes a length of the carrier element which is dependent on the amount of active substance.

For dispensing and / or evaporating a perfume or the like. Fragrance and piece of jewelry designed to be wearable by a user a piece of jewelry (42) having a fastening means (40) for wearing on the body of the user in a state of use, the piece of jewelry being assigned a fragrance carrier (48, 50) for the fragrance, characterized in that the piece of jewelry has a receptacle for the Has a fragrance embedded in a plastic carrier material having a fragrance carrier, the fragrance carrier is designed such that it allows a continuous escape of the embedded fragrance in gaseous form during use and the jewelry body forms at least one outlet (52) for the emerging fragrance, the fragrance carrier ( 48, 50) is made from a plastic material that changes in volume as a function of a filling state with the fragrance and at least one outer dimension of the fragrance carrier changes, in particular decreases, as a function of the filling state.

10. The device according to claim 9, characterized in that the piece of jewelry (42) is designed such that the outer dimension can be evaluated, scanned and / or observed for determining the filling state, in particular using the outlet.

11. The device according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that the fragrance carrier is designed as a spherical, cylindrical, cuboid or square body, the outer dimension preferably being a diameter, a height, width or edge length of the body.

12. Device according to one of claims 9 to 11, characterized in that the escape of the embedded fragrance depending on a temperature of the fragrance is carrier and the jewelry body is designed so that it can transfer body heat of the user to the fragrance carrier.

13. Device according to one of claims 9 to 12, characterized in that the outlet is realized as an opening, mesh and / or grid (52), preferably adjustable in size or width, in the piece of jewelry.

14. Device according to one of claims 9 to 13, characterized in that the piece of jewelry has the shape of a / r pendant, brooch, bracelet, ring and / or piercing piece of jewelry.