GB2371750A

GB2371750A - Air fresheners

Info

Publication number: GB2371750A
Application number: GB0102580A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Peter Ede
Original assignee: Independent Fragrance Co
Current assignee: Independent Fragrance Co
Priority date: 2001-02-01
Filing date: 2001-02-01
Publication date: 2002-08-07
Anticipated expiration: 2021-02-01
Also published as: GB0102580D0; GB2371750B

Abstract

An air freshening device is described consisting of a closed carrier vessel at least one wall of which is transparent and which contains a liquid mixture consisting of two phases which are relatively or wholly immiscible. The two liquid phases are of contrasting appearance, e.g. one clear and one coloured and one at least (4) contains an air freshening component. Part or all of the walls of the vessel are permeable to that component. The formulation of the usually oily phase containing the air freshening component is such that when the air freshening component is exhausted, the appearance of the liquid mixture inside the vessel is perceptibly different, for example by way of a loss of colour. Internal baffles (3, 7, 9) may be provided, over which the normally coloured oily phase may flow to provide a display of attractive flow patterns.

Description

AIR FRESHENERS

This invention relates to air fresheners and in particular to static devices which are designed to emit an air-freshening component over a period of time.

Such devices are widely used to impart a desirable fragrance or freshness in rooms, particularly to mask or suppress undesirable odours. They consist essentially of a composition designed to disperse slowly into the surrounding atmosphere, and some form of carrier.

Numerous varieties are known in practice and are widely commercially available.

Despite attempts by designers to present such products in a visually attractive format, many such products consist of little more than a plastics casing housing a block of gel or solid material within it, the casing being provided with apertures in the form of vents or louvres through which air may circulate. A problem with many such devices is that it is not easy to see when the active component has run out, which leads to the product being left in place sometimes long after its effectiveness has ceased, which is clearly undesirable.

The present invention seeks to provide air fresheners which give a clear visual indication of when they are becoming ineffective, and which can additionally be presented in ways which are more visually attractive.

According to the present invention, there is provided an air freshening device consisting of a closed carrier vessel at least one wall of which is transparent and which contains a liquid mixture consisting of two phases which are relatively or wholly immiscible, the two liquid phases being of contrasting appearance, one at least of the phases containing an air freshening component, and at least part of the walls of the vessel consisting of a portion permeable to that component, and wherein the formulation of a phase containing the air freshening component is such that when such component is exhausted, the appearance of the liquid mixture inside the vessel is perceptibly different.

Preferably the two phases are very different in appearance, for example one being colourless or substantially so and the other being coloured. For reasons of easy formulation, one phase is preferably aqueous (and may, for example, simply be pure water), and the other is oily, with the oily phase containing the air freshening component.

The permeable portion of the vessel is preferably a permeable membrane, preferably clear, though it may be tinted if desired.

A particularly attractive presentation of the device may be achieved if the vessel contains a number of internal baffles. Since the two phases are of different densities, if the vessel is simply left standing, the

denser phase collects at the base of the vessel. If the vessel is now inverted, the denser phase may move down the vessel running over the baffles and being thereby split into a number of streams which recoalesce at the bottom over time. If the densities of the phases are relatively close to one another, this provides an appearance of movement which can last for some time.

The same principle is well known for ornaments which give a pleasing slow moving pattern of blobs or bubbles when the ornament is inverted. When this is applied as in the present invention, it may be arranged that the air freshening effect is temporarily enhanced if, as the heavier phase travels slowly downwards through the lighter one, more of it is in contact with the permeable wall than is the case when the device is still and the phases separated out.

The visual effect is particularly striking if the vessel is essentially in the shape of a disc which can be stood on its edge and where the major faces of the disc are of transparent material, which may be clear or tinted.

In such embodiments of the invention, the preferred arrangement is to fill the vessel with a clear aqueous phase and a coloured oily phase, the latter including the air freshening component (which may in known fashion consist of a few or many ingredients). We have found that the oil phase, when appropriately formulated, gradually passes through the permeable wall, so exerting the air freshening effect, and that as it does so it gradually disappears, so that once there no longer appers to be any coloured liquid phase in the device, it is easily seen to be exhausted and accordingly to be replaced.

The vessel itself may be made mostly of any convenient

material, for example glass or a clear plastics material such as a methacrylate plastics or a polycarbonate or polyethylene terephthalate one. It may be made by any convenient method such as moulding or vacuum forming, and following the introduction of the two phase mixture, closed to form a closed container by attaching the permeable wall portion to the remainder of the vessel, e. g. by thermal or ultrasonic welding, or by the use of an appropriate adhesive.

The invention is illustrated, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing which shows an air freshening device according to the invention just after inversion.

Referring to the drawing, in which a pictorial view of the device is accompanied by a plan diagram showing the structure, the device consists of a generally oval disc having two flats 1 on its outer periphery. The disc is hollow, and one or both of its major faces 2 are made of or covered with a permeable membrane.

Internally of the vessel are a number of baffles 3. The interior of the disc is filled with water and a dyed oil 4, the latter including an air freshening component.

The dyed oil is denser than water, and so tends to collect at the base of the vessel. When the vessel is inverted, i. e. moved from resting one one of the flats 1 to the other, the oil 4 collects on one pair of baffles 6 and flows gently through a small slot between them on to a splitter baffle 7 and then on to the other baffles 6, where it moves slowly outwards from the centre of the disc and then off the ends of baffles 6 to collect in a pool denoted 8 at the base of the disc.

The oily phase may include components designed to adjust the rheology and/or viscosity of the phase to provide that it splits into drops rather than stays as a continuous stream. The vessel also contains a set of central baffles 9, which further enhance the ability of the device to display attractive flow patterns to the eye.

Claims

1. An air freshening device consisting of a closed carrier vessel at least one wall of which is transparent and which contains a liquid mixture consisting of two phases which are relatively or wholly immiscible, the two liquid phases being of contrasting appearance, one at least of the phases containing an air freshening component, and at least part of the walls of the vessel consisting of a portion permeable to that component, and wherein the formulation of a phase containing the air freshening component is such that when such component is exhausted, the appearance of the liquid mixture inside the vessel is perceptibly different.

2. An air freshening device according to Claim 1 wherein one phase is colourless or substantially so and the other phase is coloured.

3. An air freshening device according to Claim 1 or 2 wherein one phase is aqueous and the other is oily, with the oily phase containing the air freshening component.

4. An air freshening device according to any one of the preceding Claims wherein the permeable portion of the vessel is a clear or tinted permeable membrane.

5. An air freshening device according to any one of the preceding Claims wherein the vessel contains a number of internal baffles.

6. An air freshening device according to any one of the preceding Claims wherein the densities of the phases are relatively close to one another.

7. An air freshening device according to any one of

the preceding Claims wherein the vessel is essentially in the shape of a disc which can be stood on its edge and the major faces of the disc are of clear or tinted transparent material.

8. An air freshening device according to any one of the preceding Claims wherein clear plastics material component closed to form a closed container for the two phase mixture by attaching the permeable wall portion to the moulded component by thermal or ultrasonic welding or by adhesive.

9. An air freshening device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.