MXPA98002805A - Best steam dispenser - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a steam dosing device comprising: (a) an outer housing, (b) a one-piece electric plug heating block having attached electrical plug pins, the block which is rotatably attached to the outer housing so that the block can rotate through a predefined scale of rotation about an axis parallel to the plug pins, and (c) a wick in fluid communication with a material to be dispersed and extending within a opening through the block, wherein the opening has a shape defined by the rotation of a solid geometric shape transverse to the axis through an internal angle at least equal to the predefined rotation of the block and wherein the block has a heating element Electricity in close proximity to the abertu

Description

% EJORADO VAPOR DOSIFIER This invention relates to devices for vaporizing materials and particularly liquids in the atmosphere. Plus In particular, this invention relates to an improved plug and heater block assembly for use in devices for vaporizing a material extracted by a wick.

# Prior Art 10 In the past, liquid vaporizers using a wick and a heating device have had fixed electrical plug pins as described in U.S. Patent 4,467, 177 or had electric pins that rotated relative to the housing connected by cables to a fixed heating element as described in US Pat. Nos. 5,290, 546 and 5, 095, 647. The reason for using electrical plug pins is that it is important for the proper functioning of the wick that the wick is essentially perpendicular to the earth. Nevertheless, Depending on the way the plug receptacle is installed, the orientation of the plug pins may vary by 90 degrees.

Description of the invention The present invention is directed to a vapor dosing device comprising: (a) an external housing; (b) a one-piece electric plug heating block having electrical plug pins, the block being rotationally attached to the outer housing so that the block can rotate through a predefined scale of rotation about an axis parallel to the plug pins and (c) a wick in fluid communication with the material to be dispersed and extending within an opening through the block; wherein the opening has a shape defined by the rotation of a solid geometric shape transverse to the axis through an internal angle at least equal to the predefined rotation of! block and wherein the block has an electrical heating element in close proximity "to the opening.

Brief Description of the Drawings Figure 1 is an exploded view of three quarters of the steam dosing device with a section of the vessel partially exploded. Figure 2 is a top view of the steam dosing device. Figure 3a is a rear view of the vapor dosing device.

Figure 3b is a rear view of the steam dosing device with the plug heating block rotated 90 degrees. Figure 4 is a view taken along line 4-4 in Figure 3a. Figure 5 is a view of the plug heating block with the plug pins at a 45 degree angle. Figure 6 is a view of the plug heating block taken only at 90 degrees with respect to Figure 5. Figure 7 is a view of a plug heating block only taken at 45 degrees with respect to Figure 5. The Figure 8 is an end view of the plug heating block of Figure 5. Figure 9 is a top view of the pre-molded insert. Figure 10 is a view of the housing with the block removed. Figure 11 is a% view of an alternative mode of the wick.

Ways to Carry Out the Invention.

As shown in Figure 1, the steam dosing device includes an external housing 10 having a steam supply opening 12. As seen in Figures 1 and 10, the housing 10 has a generally circular opening 14. The opening 14 has two cuts 16 and 17 cooperating with the flanges 42 and 44 to allow the plug heating block 40 to be held in place in the housing 10. As the plug heating block 40 is inserted into the opening 14 , the block 40 is put in place by deformable tabs (not shown) or by any other conventional joining means that allow the block 40 to partially rotate within the opening 14, as will be described later, although it is not removed once inserted. As seen from FIG. 1 there are container connection means 18, air flow opening 20, a similar similar opening on the other side of the joining means 18, not shown, and the wick opening 22. The function of each of these elements is well known to those with experience in the art and will not be repeated here. The container 30 is a conventional bottle or similar device well known to those skilled in the art and is closed with the closure 38, which holds the wick 36 firmly in place. The closure 38 is generally not easily removable and generally and preferably cooperates with the wick 36 so that the wick 36 is not easily removable from the container 30. Within the container 30 is a liquid 32, which is the material that it will volatilize. The material 32 can be any of a number of conventional materials supplied from this type of steam doser, including fragrances, disinfectants, hygiene agents, insect repellents, J ^^ insecticides and the like. The container 30 has a container neck 34 cooperating in a known manner with the container attachment means 18 for holding the container 30 and the wick 36 firmly in place. Preferably, the attachment means 18 will allow the user of those devices to change the container when the liquid 32 has run out. Suitable means include bayonet joints, concealed cuts with dockable projections and the like. 10 As an alternative embodiment shown in fig. 11, the wick 36 may be encased in a sheet 70. The neck 34 or other suitable joining methods may be attached to the sheet 70 to hold the wick 36 in place in the unit. The sheet 70 is enclosed in the lower end and acts as a container for the material that will be supplied by the unit. As shown in Figure 1 and more clearly in Figure 10, the housing 10 includes a rotation guide catch 24 on the front wall of the housing 10. The detent cooperates with the projection of the rotation guide 50 in the block 40 to support the extreme away from the block 40 when it is inserted into the housing 10. When the container 30 is inserted into the bottom of the housing 10 as shown in Fig. 3, the upper portion of the wick 36 passes through a wick opening 22 and into the block opening 52. Typically the upper portion of the wick 36 will extend to approximately the upper edge 54 of the block opening 52. This will allow the heat generated by the heating element, as described herein, to be near the top of the wick 36. This vaporizes the liquid 32 or forms small aerosol size particles of liquid 32 that have been extracted from the wick 36 through the assortment opening 12 into the atmosphere. As used herein, the term "vaporize" is intended to also include the formation of very small particles of aerosol size which may remain suspended for long periods in the air as well as the formation of actual vapors. As shown in Figures 3a and 3b, the block 40 can be rotated approximately 90 degrees about an axis 49 (Figure 1) parallel to the plug pins 48 and extending through the center of rotation of the guide projections 50. to allow it to be plugged into a conventional electrical outlet so that the wick 36 is approximately perpendicular to the ground. The housing 10 can be made of any material capable of being molded. Since the unit includes a heating element, the selected plastic materials must not deform under the unit's operating conditions and temperatures. Suitable materials include thermoplastic or thermoplastic polymers such as polypropylene, polyphenolsulfide or polyvinylchloride.

Figure 4 shows the relation of block 40, housing 10 and wick 36. Opening 52 surrounds wick 36 and is in close proximity to wick 36. Heating element 60 is just below the surface of opening 52 as shown in Fig. 9. While the type of the heating element as shown in the accompanying figures is a heating wire, any type of heating element can be used as long as the heating element can be included within of a molded element. Other suitable heating elements include positive temperature coefficients and other similar conventional elements. The block 40 is formed by the formation of a pre-molded unit 61, shown in Fig. 9, the one! it includes the heating element 60 that surrounds the opening 152. The heating element 60 is electrically connected to the plug pins 48 which are also included in the pre-molded unit 61. The premounted unit 61 is then overmolded using conventional techniques for molding the shape as shown in Figures 6, 7 and 8. The opening 152 must be large enough so that the opening 52 can be easily molded. The opening 52 is molded in a shape that accommodates the wick 36 and allows the block 40 to be rotated at any desired or predefined rotation angle. It is preferred that this degree of rotation be approximately 90 degrees. The shape of the aperture 52 is defined by the rotation of a three-dimensional geometric shape, such as a cylinder, a cube, three-dimensional triangles and the like through an internal angle equal to a predefined degree of rotation transverse to the 49-axis. that any shape can be used, geometrical shapes with a circular cross-section are preferred since they allow the opening 52 to minimize the air gap between the surface of the block 40 and the wick 36. The block 40 can be formed from Any materials that are electrically insulating and resistant to deformation at the temperatures at which the unit will be operated. Pre-molded unit 61 and block 40 can be formed from the same or different materials depending on the application. For most applications block 40 and premolded unit 61 will be formed from the same moldable materials. Suitable materials include thermoplastic or thermoset polymers such as polypropylene, polyphenolsulfide or polyvinylchloride. The wick 36 can be formed from any conventional wick materials. Suitable wicking materials include porous / concreted plastics such as polyethylene and ultra high density polypropylene; bonded fibers such as polyesters and polypropylene; fibers concreted with glass; porous ceramic, carbon fiber; carbon concreted; wood, compressed wood composites, grouped or woven natural fibers such as cotton, wood, linen, man-made fibers grouped or woven such as nylon, polypropylene, polyethylene, polyesters, polyamides, rayon, polyacetates, etc. Because the separation of the opening 52 is such that the heating element will not encircle the entire wick near its top, it is preferred to use a wick having a waterproof sheet as described in an application filed in the name of John A. Schroeder and Armin L. Clobes on the same day as the present invention (Serial No. of the United States 08 / 541,051). While the use of this wick with sheet is not necessary, for some of the materials to be filled, the wrapped wick provides improved performance.

Industrial Applicability The use of a single piece 15 plug heating block 40, makes assembly of such steam metering units easier and more cost-efficient than multi-piece assemblies as described in the prior art. In addition, since there are no moving parts, there is less opportunity for a unit to stop functioning due to the breaking of a part or to disconnect in use. Also, the block 70 allows the plug to be turned without removing the wick 36.

Claims (4)

1. A vapor dosing device comprising: (a) an external housing; (b) a plug heating block 5 one-piece electric having attached electrical plug pins, the block being rotatably attached to the outer housing so that the block can rotate through a predefined scale of rotation about an axis parallel to the plug pins; and (c) a wick in fluid communication with a material 10 to be dispersed and extending into an opening through the block; wherein the opening has a shape defined by the rotation of a solid geometric shape transverse to the axis through an internal angle at least equal to the predefined rotation of the block and wherein the block has a heating element 15 electric in close proximity to the opening. The device of claim 1, which further includes a container attached to the housing containing the material to be dispersed. 3. The device of claim 1, wherein the geometric shape is a cylinder. 4. The device of claim 1, wherein the rotation scale is approximately 90 degrees.