WO2008055380A1 - Purificateur d'air - Google Patents

Purificateur d'air Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2008055380A1
WO2008055380A1 PCT/CN2006/002979 CN2006002979W WO2008055380A1 WO 2008055380 A1 WO2008055380 A1 WO 2008055380A1 CN 2006002979 W CN2006002979 W CN 2006002979W WO 2008055380 A1 WO2008055380 A1 WO 2008055380A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
air freshener
carrier
freshener according
housing
heating member
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/CN2006/002979
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Kwok Yung Anthony Law
Man Hin Raymond Wong
Yin Man John Wong
Original Assignee
Raymond Industrial Limited
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Raymond Industrial Limited filed Critical Raymond Industrial Limited
Priority to PCT/CN2006/002979 priority Critical patent/WO2008055380A1/fr
Publication of WO2008055380A1 publication Critical patent/WO2008055380A1/fr

Links

Classifications

    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61L—METHODS OR APPARATUS FOR STERILISING MATERIALS OR OBJECTS IN GENERAL; DISINFECTION, STERILISATION OR DEODORISATION OF AIR; CHEMICAL ASPECTS OF BANDAGES, DRESSINGS, ABSORBENT PADS OR SURGICAL ARTICLES; MATERIALS FOR BANDAGES, DRESSINGS, ABSORBENT PADS OR SURGICAL ARTICLES
    • A61L9/00—Disinfection, sterilisation or deodorisation of air
    • A61L9/015—Disinfection, sterilisation or deodorisation of air using gaseous or vaporous substances, e.g. ozone
    • A61L9/02—Disinfection, sterilisation or deodorisation of air using gaseous or vaporous substances, e.g. ozone using substances evaporated in the air by heating or combustion
    • A61L9/03—Apparatus therefor

Definitions

  • This invention relates to an air freshener, and in particular an electrically operated air freshener.
  • Air fresheners are usually used for emitting fragrance vapour indoor to produce refreshing impression to the occupants.
  • media used in traditional air fresheners to serve as the source of the fragrance.
  • Most such media are in liquid form, jelly form, or solid state.
  • Such media are usually packaged in a cartridge and ready Tor replacement.
  • Several types of mechanisms are used for emitting fragrance from the cartridges to the environment, including natural diffusion, forced diffusion, and thermal diffusion.
  • the fragrance is emitted to the surrounding environment by means of simple mass diffusion.
  • the diffusion rate is not adjustable, but depends on the temperature and relative humidity of the surrounding environment for a given exposed area of the medium.
  • Both solid and liquid state media that carry the fragrance/aroma material can emit fragrance vapour by means of natural diffusion.
  • the medium soaked with the aroma oil is simply exposed to the open air and the vapour will spread to the surrounding environment by means of natural ventilation and mass diffusion.
  • a commonly used mechanism to emit fragrance vapor from a liquid medium is to expose the tip of a wick soaked in liquid fragrance or aroma oil. Natural ventilation will carry the fragrance/aroma vapor to the surrounding environment.
  • most such traditional designs can only produce one kind of a smell at one time.
  • the fragrance or aroma oil vaporizes into the surrounding environment by means of forced ventilation or atomized dispersion.
  • liquid fragrance or aroma oil is used in such a method.
  • the vapour emission rate is controlled by a fan or an injector.
  • an air freshener working on the principle of forced diffusion would require power, e.g. electric power, to operate.
  • Applying a fan to perform forced diffusion is basically an enhanced way of natural diffusion.
  • the rate of forced diffusion depends on the amount of supply air passing through the medium carrying the fragrance or aroma oil.
  • an injector is used, the fragrance or aroma oil is atomized and diffusion is enhanced by a forced stream to the ambient. Such mechanisms generate noise during operation, and only a single flavor of fragrance or aroma oil can be applied at any one time.
  • the rate of vaporization of the fragrance or aroma oil to the surrounding environment depends on the thermal condition of the aroma oil/fragrance-carrying medium. Relative to the ambient environment, the higher is the temperature of the medium, the higher is the rate of vaporization. Media of both liquid state and solid state can be used in such a mechanism. Comparing the liquid and solid state aroma oil/fragrance-carrying media, the liquid media can provide fragrance of a relatively longer period of time with the same volume of fragrance. However, it is less convenient to package and handle such a medium. In addition, the emitted smell is usually stronger with liquid media since the vaporization of liquid is more effective. This, however, means that it is difficult to produce a light and pleasant smell.
  • an air freshener including at least one carrier adapted to carry fragrant material; at least one electrically-operable heating element fixedly engaged with said at least one carrier; and a housing releasably engageable with said at least one carrier, wherein said housing is adapted to provide electric power to said at least one heating element when said at least one carrier is engaged with said housing.
  • Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a resistor embedded within a piece of zeolite material, forming a fragrant material cartridge of an air freshener of the present invention
  • Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing two resistors embedded within a piece of zeolite material, forming an alternative fragrant material cartridge of an air freshener of the present invention
  • Fig. 3A is a front perspective view of a housing of an air freshener of the present invention
  • Fig. 3B is a rear perspective view of the housing shown in Fig. 3A;
  • Fig. 4 shows an exploded view of an air freshener according to a first embodiment of the present invention
  • Fig. 5 shows an exploded view of an air freshener according to a second embodiment of the present invention
  • Fig. 6 is a flow chart showing an exemplary sequence of operation of the air freshener shown in Fig. 5;
  • Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a closure mechanism associated with an improved version of the air freshener shown in Fig. 5.
  • a first exemplary fragrant material cartridge used in an " air freshener according to the present invention is shown in Fig. 1 , and generally designated as 10.
  • the cartridge 10 includes a heating element, e.g. an electric resistor 12, fixedly embedded within a piece of solid porous material, e.g. a synthetic zeolite material 14.
  • the resistor 12 can heat up to about 5O 0 C on its surface when electric power is supplied to the resistor 12.
  • Leads 16 from opposite ends of the resistor 12 extend beyond the zeolite material 14 for establishing electrical contact with an electric source, e.g. dry batteries or an a.c. source.
  • the extremities of the leads 16 are hemispherical in shape to enhance reception of the cartridge 10 within a housing (to be discussed below) to establish electrical contact with the power source, in a manner to be further discussed below.
  • the zeolite material 14 is synthesized to be of a specific pore size.
  • the pore size is selected for enhancing absorption of the specified aroma oil or fragrant material.
  • heating of the resistor 12 can bring about thermal diffusion of the fragrant material carried by the zeolite material 14.
  • the cartridge 10 can absorb fragrance or aroma oil of about 10% of the original weight of the cartridge 10, the exact ratio may vary depending on the grade of fragrance/aroma oil in use.
  • the optimal amount of fragrance/aroma oil absorbed and retained within the cartridge 10 may be that when the fragrance/aroma oil just does not drip from the surface of the cartridge 10.
  • grooves may be provided on the surface of the cartridge 10 to increase the exposed surface area.
  • FIG. 2 An alternative form of cartridge is shown in Fig. 2 and generally designated as 20.
  • Two resistors 22 connected in parallel relative to each other are embedded within a slab of zeolite material 24.
  • Such an arrangement allows for more fragrant material to be retained by the zeolite material 24 and more heat to be generated by the resistors 22 when supplied with electric power.
  • the cartridge 20 also has leads 26 extending from opposite ends of the resistor 22 and beyond the interior of the zeolite material 24 for receiving supply of electricity from an outside source.
  • a housing for receiving the cartridge 10 and/or 20 is shown in Figs. 3A and 3B, and generally designated as 30.
  • the housing 30 includes a cavity 32 for releasably receiving the cartridge 10 and/or 20.
  • the respective inner surface of two opposite lateral sides 34 of the housing 30 are provided with electrically conductive contact points for establishing electric connection with the leads 16, 26 from the resistor 12, 22 extending beyond the interior of the zeolite material 14, 24.
  • the housing 30 has a plug 36 with pins 38 for insertion into wall sockets for receiving alternating current to operate the air freshener.
  • the housing 30 has a power electronic circuit that converts the domestic electrical power to low voltage electricity for powering the resistors 12, 22.
  • the power electronic circuit has a power conversion circuit and a programmable timer that provides pulsed electrical power to the contact points to automatically heat up the cartridges 10, 20 in a modulating mode once the air freshener is plugged into the socket.
  • Fig. 4 shows an air freshener 40 including the cartridge 20 to be received within and powered via the housing 30.
  • the electric circuit of the air freshener 40 will only close (and thus operable) when the cartridge 10, 20 is received within and in electrical connection with the housing 30.
  • the modulating mode is actually a power supply cycle.
  • the suggested cycle is to supply electricity to the cartridge 20 for ten seconds and then shut down for thirty minutes.
  • the air freshener 40 will continue to operate with this cycle until it is unplugged from the socket.
  • the intensity of the smell from the cartridge 20 can be made evenly lightly, to provide a more pleasant smell to the occupants.
  • This cycle may of course be pre-tuned for different types of fragrance or aroma oil to be used.
  • Spent cartridge 20 may be removed from the housing 30 for replenishment of fragrance or aroma oil, or for disposal.
  • the housing 30 can house three cartridges 10a, 10b, 10c, each operable independently, meaning that electricity can be supplied independently to each of the cartridges 10a, 10b, 10c. It is thus possible to operate the air freshener 50 such that the cartridges 10a, 10b, 10c may be activated separately or simultaneously.
  • An advantage of such an arrangement with multiple replaceable cartridges is that of aroma oil or fragrance of different flavor may be absorbed into the cartridges 10a, 10b, 10c.
  • the aroma oil or fragrance absorbed in the zeolite material 14 of the respective cartridge 10a, 10b, 10c may be vaporized to the surrounding environment when the respective resistor 12 is electrically powered.
  • each of the cartridges 10a, 10b, 10c is enclosed within a compartment in the housing 30 which is insulated from other compartments, e.g. by an air gap.
  • Each compartment has its own power supply and a light-emitting diode (LED) indicator which will light up when electricity is supplied to the cartridge 10 in that particular compartment.
  • LED light-emitting diode
  • An advantage of such an arrangement is that the three cartridges 10a, 10b, 10c may each absorb fragrance or aroma oil of a different flavor, which they can emit at different time slots according to a pre-set power up sequence pre-loaded in the electronic circuit.
  • the pulsed power sequence (PPS) may be to power up a cartridge 10 for ten seconds and then to shut down for thirty minutes.
  • each cartridge 10a, 10b, 10c is consecutively powered for a few hours.
  • the sequence may scroll around these cartridges 10a, 10b, 10c on a daily basis and repeats the sequence every day.
  • the air freshener 50 when the air freshener 50 is plugged into a wall socket, it will heat up a resistor 12 of and in a first cartridge 10a for, say, five hours for vaporizing fragrance for a morning atmosphere, then switches to heat up a resistor 12 of and in a second cartridge 10b for, say, five hours to vaporize fragrance for an energizing, working atmosphere. It may then switch to heat up a resistor 12 of and in a third cartridge 10c for the remaining fourteen hours with light and pleasant smell suitable for the evening mood.
  • FIG. 6 A flow chart showing an exemplary sequence of operation of the air freshener 50 is shown in Fig. 6.
  • the air freshener 50 will start (Step 60) and the user may then select a switching interval (Step 62), which may be one hour, four hours or eight hours, with the Default setting being one hour.
  • the internal clock of the air freshener 50 will then restart and start to count down (Step 64).
  • the LED, solenoid and heater of the cartridge 10 in and associated with the compartment to be powered in the default module will be turned on (Step 66).
  • the air freshener 50 will keep on checking whether the selected time interval has expired (Step 68) and, if so, it will be switched to the next module (Step 69) for further operation.
  • each compartment in order to prevent smell emitted from the non-activated cartridge(s) from mixing with the smell intended to be emitted from the activated cartridge(s), and as shown schematically in Fig. 7, each compartment is provided with a lid in the form of a small piece of sheet metal 70 engaged with the housing 30.
  • This piece of sheet metal 70 is normally in a position closing an opening 72 associated with each compartment, thus preventing exposure of the cartridge 10a, 10b or 10c inside the respective compartment to the outside environment.
  • a solenoid (coil) 74 When a certain compartment is activated, meaning that electricity is provided to power the resistor 12 in the cartridge 10a, 10b or 10c within the compartment, a solenoid (coil) 74 is powered up that generates a magnetic force to attract the piece of metal sheet 70 to move away from the opening 72 and towards the solenoid 74, so as to selectively expose one or more of the cartridges 10a, 10b, 10c within the compartment to the outside environment.
  • a solenoid (coil) 74 When electricity supply to the compartment is cut, the metal sheet 70 will return to the normal position under its own weight.

Landscapes

  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Epidemiology (AREA)
  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Animal Behavior & Ethology (AREA)
  • General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Public Health (AREA)
  • Veterinary Medicine (AREA)
  • Disinfection, Sterilisation Or Deodorisation Of Air (AREA)

Abstract

L'invention porte sur un purificateur d'air (40) qui comprend une cartouche (10, 20) destinée à absorber et contenir une matière parfumée, une résistance électrique (12, 22) enfermée dans la cartouche (10, 20), et un boîtier (30) dans lequel la cartouche (10, 20) peut s'emboîter libérable, lequel boîtier fournit de l'énergie électrique à la résistance (12, 22) lorsque la cartouche (10, 20) est emboîtée dans le boîtier (30).
PCT/CN2006/002979 2006-11-07 2006-11-07 Purificateur d'air WO2008055380A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
PCT/CN2006/002979 WO2008055380A1 (fr) 2006-11-07 2006-11-07 Purificateur d'air

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
PCT/CN2006/002979 WO2008055380A1 (fr) 2006-11-07 2006-11-07 Purificateur d'air

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2008055380A1 true WO2008055380A1 (fr) 2008-05-15

Family

ID=39364160

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/CN2006/002979 WO2008055380A1 (fr) 2006-11-07 2006-11-07 Purificateur d'air

Country Status (1)

Country Link
WO (1) WO2008055380A1 (fr)

Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN1040914A (zh) * 1988-09-08 1990-04-04 R.J.雷诺兹烟草公司 利用电能的烟雾释放器
JPH11197224A (ja) * 1998-01-08 1999-07-27 Hirose Electric Co Ltd 加温型芳香器
JP2003079303A (ja) * 2001-09-13 2003-03-18 Dainippon Jochugiku Co Ltd 多孔質セラミック吸液芯
CN1444487A (zh) * 2000-07-27 2003-09-24 宝洁公司 用来把多种挥发性物质散布到周围环境中去的制成品,系统和方法
CN2740196Y (zh) * 2004-10-22 2005-11-16 王庆旺 直热式空气生物消毒净化器

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN1040914A (zh) * 1988-09-08 1990-04-04 R.J.雷诺兹烟草公司 利用电能的烟雾释放器
JPH11197224A (ja) * 1998-01-08 1999-07-27 Hirose Electric Co Ltd 加温型芳香器
CN1444487A (zh) * 2000-07-27 2003-09-24 宝洁公司 用来把多种挥发性物质散布到周围环境中去的制成品,系统和方法
JP2003079303A (ja) * 2001-09-13 2003-03-18 Dainippon Jochugiku Co Ltd 多孔質セラミック吸液芯
CN2740196Y (zh) * 2004-10-22 2005-11-16 王庆旺 直热式空气生物消毒净化器

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