WO2019102061A1

WO2019102061A1 - A scent and disinfectant gas emitting device and a system for controlling at least one scent and disinfectant gas emitting device

Info

Publication number: WO2019102061A1
Application number: PCT/FI2017/050809
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jari Tuominen; Balaji Gopalakrishnan; Syad Noman Haider SHAH
Original assignee: Onninen Oy
Priority date: 2017-11-22
Filing date: 2017-11-22
Publication date: 2019-05-31

Abstract

The invention relates to a scent and disinfectant gas emitting device. The device comprises: an emission unit arranged to emit nonsynchronously scent or disinfectant gas, a control unit configured to control at least the operation of the emission unit, and a housing for accommodating at least the emission unit and the control unit. The invention relates also to a system comprising at least one scent and disinfectant gas emitting device.

Description

A scent and disinfectant gas emitting device and a system for controlling at least one scent and disinfectant gas emitting device

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention concerns in general the technical field of solutions for providing at least one environmental stimulus. Especially the invention concerns emitting scent and disinfectant gas.

BACKGROUND

A scent or a fragrance may be applied as an environmental stimulus that has an effect to a person subjected to the scent or fragrance. Suitable selection of scents may be applied to invoke a desired effect in the person subjected to it. As an example, a suitable scent may be applied to create an energizing or calm ing effect or any other similar functionality.

Furthermore, a visual stimulus and/or an audible stimulus may be applied to a scent stimulus in order to provide a multisensory stimulus. The multisensory stimulus may improve the desired effect in the person subjected to it. In order to provide a combined multisensory stimulus of scent stimulus, visual stimulus and/or audible stimulus an arrangement comprising at least one device to pro duce the said stimuluses is required. Typically, separate devices may be used to provide each of the stimuluses. In order to provide a scent stimulus a device for emitting a scent is required. Alternatively or in addition, the scent stimulus may be provided by multiple devices.

There exist some prior art solutions for emitting scent, wherein the operation of the device is controlled manually by the user, for example by pressing a button to activate the emission of the scent. Typically, only one scent may be emitted by one device. Thus, for emitting several scents also several devices are re quired.

According to one prior art solution, the scent may be emitted by means of a device comprising a housing that accommodates a chamber having a scent source inside it. Furthermore, an air supply source is used to supply air into the one chamber in order to provide a desired scent. At least one drawback of this prior art solution is that only one scent may be emitted. According to another prior art solution, the scent may be emitted by means of a device comprising a housing that accommodates a plurality of chambers or two cartridges having a scent source inside them. Furthermore, a plurality of air sup ply sources is used to supply air into the plurality of chambers in order to provide a desired scent so that one of the air supply sources supplies air into one of the chambers. At least one drawback of this prior art solution is that the device is a mini personal use device. Thus, it is not suitable for larger spaces, such as rooms or other large environments.

In addition, different environments, such as homes, offices or public places, may comprise different harmful substances or unpleasant smells. Especially the harmful substances may cause health problems, if air comprising some harmful substances gets into breathing air. In order to get rid of the unpleasant smells a scent may be applied for example by a scent emitting device, but it does not remove the harmful substances.

SUMMARY

An objective of the invention is to present a scent and disinfectant gas emitting device and a system for controlling at least one scent and disinfectant gas emit ting device. Another objective of the invention is that the device and the system for controlling at least one scent and disinfectant gas emitting device enables scent emission and removal of harmful substance by a disinfectant gas with only one common device.

The objectives of the invention are reached by a scent and disinfectant gas emit ting device and a system as defined by the respective independent claims.

According to a first aspect, a scent and disinfectant gas emitting device is pro vided, wherein the device comprising: an emission unit arranged to emit non- synchronously scent or disinfectant gas, a control unit configured to control at least the operation of the emission unit, and a housing for accommodating at least the emission unit and the control unit.

The device may further comprise a motion sensor arranged to detect motion within the operational range of the motion sensor, wherein the emission of dis infectant gas may be disabled in response to a detection of motion. The control unit may be configured to control the operation of the emission unit based on at least one of the following: time-based, environment-based, speech- based.

Alternatively or in addition, the control unit may be configured to control the op eration of the emission unit in response to at least one control signal received wirelessly from an external control device.

Alternatively or in addition, the control unit may be configured to control the op eration of the emission unit in response to at least one control signal received wirelessly from one or more disinfectant gas sensors, wherein the one or more disinfectant gas sensors may be configured to communicate wirelessly the at least one control signal to the control unit in response to a detection that a quan tity of disinfectant gas meets a predefined limit.

Alternatively or in addition, the control unit may be configured to control the op eration of the emission unit in response to at least one control signal received wirelessly from one or more external auxiliary sensors, wherein the one or more auxiliary sensors may be configured to communicate wirelessly the at least one control signal to the control unit in response to a detection of at least one of the following: harmful substances, foul scent, scent level exceeding or going below a predefined limit.

Furthermore, the at least one control signal may comprise at least one of the following instructions: turn on/off scent emission, select certain scent, select a combination of scents, turn on/off disinfectant gas emission, schedule scent emission, schedule disinfectant gas emission, tune time-based control, adjust scent emission rate, adjust disinfectant emission rate.

The emission unit may comprise: at least one cartridge comprising a plurality of chambers arranged inside one or more cartridges, wherein at least one scent source is arranged inside at least one of the plurality of chambers and at least one disinfectant gas source is arranged inside at least one of the plurality of chambers that is different than the at least one chamber inside which the at least one scent source is arranged; a plurality of air supply units, wherein each of the plurality of air supply units is arranged to supply air into one of the plurality of chambers in order to form the scent or the disinfectant gas; and at least one blower, wherein the scent or the disinfectant gas may be arranged to flow out from the at least one of the plurality of the chambers, to which the air is supplied, into the housing and further out from the housing through at least one outlet of the housing, wherein the at least one blower is arranged to enhance the outflow of the scent.

The at least one scent source may be cellulose based adsorbent. The at least one disinfectant gas source, in turn, may be chlorine dioxide, CIO2, granule.

Furthermore, each of the one or more cartridges may comprise an air inlet and at least one outlet for scent or disinfectant, wherein the air inlet and/or the at least one outlet may further comprise a valve.

According to a second aspect, a system for controlling at least one scent and disinfectant gas emitting device is provided, wherein the system comprising: at least one scent and disinfectant gas emitting device described above, and at least one external control device configured to communicate wirelessly at least one control signal to the control unit of the at least one scent and disinfectant gas emitting device in order to control the operation of the at least one scent and disinfectant gas emitting device.

The system may further comprise at least one disinfectant gas sensor arranged to detect disinfectant gas quantity within the operational range of the disinfectant gas sensor, wherein in response to a detection that the quantity of disinfectant gas meets a predefined limit the disinfectant gas sensor may be configured to communicate wirelessly at least one control signal to the control unit of the at least one scent and disinfectant gas emitting device in order to control the oper ation of the at least one scent and disinfectant gas emitting device.

Alternatively or in addition, the system may further comprise one or more auxil iary sensors arranged to detect at least one of the following : harmful substances, foul scent, scent level exceeding or going below a predefined limit; wherein in response to said detection the one or more auxiliary sensor may be configured to communicate wirelessly at least one control signal to the control unit of the at least one scent and disinfectant gas emitting device in order to control the oper ation of the at least one scent and disinfectant gas emitting device.

Furthermore, the at least one control signal comprises at least one of the follow ing instructions: turn on/off scent emission, turn on/off disinfectant gas emission, select certain scent, select certain mixture of scents, schedule scent emission, schedule disinfectant gas emission, tune time-based control, adjust scent emis sion rate, adjust disinfectant emission rate.

Alternatively or in addition the system may further comprise a smart home sys tem, wherein the at least one scent and disinfectant gas emitting device may be controlled via at least one external control device through the smart home sys tem.

Alternatively or in addition, the system may further comprise an Internet of Things, loT, platform, wherein the at least one scent and disinfectant gas emit ting device may be controlled via at least one external control device through the loT platform.

Alternatively or in addition, the at least one external control device and the at least one scent and disinfectant gas emitting device may communicate with at least one other loT device via the loT platform.

The exemplary embodiments of the invention presented in this patent applica tion are not to be interpreted to pose limitations to the applicability of the ap pended claims. The verb "to comprise" is used in this patent application as an open limitation that does not exclude the existence of also un-recited features. The features recited in depending claims are mutually freely combinable unless otherwise explicitly stated.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic of the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objec tives and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following descrip tion of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

The embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 A illustrates schematically an example of a device according to the in vention. Figure 1 B illustrates schematically an example of a side view of a device ac cording to the invention.

Figure 2 illustrates schematically an example of an emission unit according to the invention.

Figure 3 illustrates schematically another example of a device according to the invention.

Figure 4A-4E illustrate example time schemes for time-based control of a device according to the invention.

Figure 5 illustrates schematically an example of a control unit of a device ac cording to the invention.

Figure 6 illustrates schematically an example of a system for controlling at least one device according to the invention.

Figure 7 illustrates schematically another example of a system for controlling at least one device according to the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SOME EMBODIMENTS

Figure 1 A illustrates schematically an example of a scent and disinfectant gas emitting device 100 according to the invention. The device 100 may be a wire less scent and disinfectant gas emitting device. Figure 1 B in turn illustrates sche matically an example of a side view of the scent and disinfectant gas emitting device according to the invention. The device 100 comprises an emission unit 102, a control unit 104, and a housing 108. Figures 1 A and 1 B are only simplified schematics illustrating the components of the device 100. The operation and components of the emission unit 102 and the control unit 104 are described more in detail later in this application. The housing 108 is arranged to accom modate at least the emission unit 102, and the control unit 104. The housing 108 may further comprise a body part 108a and a base 108b. The body part 108a and the base 108b may be removably attachable to each other by means of fastening means, such as a screw, bolt or similar.

The size and the shape of the housing 108 may vary. For example, the size and the shape of the housing 108 may depend on the size and the shape of the emission unit 102 and/or the size and the shape of the control unit 104. Some non-limiting examples of the shape of the housing 108 may be cube, rectangular cuboid, cylinder or prism.

The device 100 may emit a desired scent composition into the environment around the device 100. Alternatively, the device 100 may emit a disinfectant gas into the environment around the device 100 in order to at least partly remove harmful substances. The scent emission and the disinfectant gas emission is nonsynchronous, i.e. the scent and disinfectant are not allowed to be emitted simultaneously.

The device 100 according to the invention may further comprise fastening means to fasten the device to a ceiling, wall or similar surface depending on the application in which the device will be implemented. The fastening means may be arranged to the housing 108 of the device 100, for example. The fastening means may be at least one of the following: bar, pin, pole, screw, bolt or similar, for example.

The emission unit 102 is arranged to emit nonsynchronously scent or disinfect ant gas. The emission unit 102 may comprise a plurality of chambers 202 formed inside one or more cartridges 204, a plurality of air supply units 206, and at least one blower 208. At least one scent source 210 may be arranged inside at least one of the plurality of chambers 202 and at least one disinfectant gas source 212 may be arranged inside at least one of the plurality of chambers 202 that is different than the at least one chamber 202 inside which the at least one scent source 210 is arranged. Figure 2 illustrates schematically an example of the emission unit 102 according to the invention. In the example device 100 illus trated in Figure 2 at least one scent source 210 is arranged inside three cham bers 202 and at least one disinfectant gas source 212 is arranged inside one chamber 202. The example emission unit 102 illustrated in Figure 2 comprises four cartridges 204, wherein each cartridge 204 comprises one chamber 202 formed inside the cartridge 204. Alternatively, one cartridge 204 may comprise plurality of chambers 202 formed inside the cartridge 204. For example, the ex ample of the device 100 illustrated in Figure 2 could be implemented also so that the emission unit 102 comprises two cartridges 204, wherein each cartridge 204 comprises two chambers 202 formed inside the cartridge 204.

The number of cartridges 204 may vary depending on the requirements, such as number of scents, for example. Furthermore, the size and also the shape of the cartridges may vary depending on the requirements, such as number of car tridges 204, scent and/or disinfectant gas capacity, for example. Alternatively or in addition, the shape and the size of the plurality of cartridges may depend on shape of the housing 108 of the device 100. One preferable shape of the car tridges is illustrated in Figure 2, wherein the shape of the cartridges 204 is de signed so that that the air flow may be improved so that the air coming from the air supply unit 206 flows easily through the cartridge 204 and there is no back pressure affecting the air supply unit 206. Furthermore, the shape of the car tridge 204 enables that the release of scents may be efficient. The one on or more cartridges 204 may comprise sidewall(s) and a cover in both ends of the cartridge 204.

As described above, at least one scent source 210 may be arranged inside at least one of the plurality of chambers 202 and at least one disinfectant gas 212 source may be arranged inside at least one of the plurality of chambers 202 that is different than the at least one chamber 202 inside which the at least one scent source 210 is arranged. Preferably, each of the plurality of chambers 202 ac commodating at least one scent source 210 may accommodate different at least one scent source 210. This enables that the device 100 may emit several differ ent scents and/or mixtures of different scents. The scent may be formed by the air supplied inside the plurality of chambers 202 and enriched with a scent from the at least one scent source 210 accommodated inside the plurality of cham bers 202. The formed scent may comprise one or more scents.

The at least one scent source 210 may be cellulose based adsorbent, which has scent in form of absorbed oil. The cellulose shape may contain holes in order to assists the air flow and maximizes the scent diffusion. The at least one disinfect ant gas source 212 may be chlorine dioxide (CI02) granule or some other dis infectant gas source suitable for removing harmful substances.

Each of the plurality of air supply units 206 may be arranged to supply air into one of the plurality of chambers 202 in order to form the scent or the disinfectant gas. Preferably, the emission unit 102 comprises an individual air supply unit 206 arranged to supply air to each of the plurality of chambers 202 as shown in Figure 2. In other words, the emission unit 102 comprises an individual air supply unit 206 for each of the plurality of chambers 202. This enables that the air may be supplied to each of the plurality of chambers 202 individually, i.e. on at a time, in order to provide only one scent at a time or emit only disinfectant gas in order to enable nonsynchronous emission of scent and disinfectant gas. Furthermore, it enables that the air may be supplied to one or more of the plurality of chambers 202 at the same time in order to provide several scents and/or mixtures of sev eral scents at the same time.

Each of the plurality of air supply units 206 may be a micro-blower, for example. Preferably, each of the plurality of air supply units 206 may be a piezoelectric blower. The piezoelectric blower may comprise a piezoelectric element, dia phragm, and nozzle for guiding the air out of the blower. The ultrasonic vibration of the piezoelectric material enables that the blower operates as an air pump discharging high pressure air from the blower via the nozzle.

The one or more cartridges 204 may comprise an air inlet into each of the plu rality of chambers 202 in order to allow the air supplied from the air supply units 206 to enter inside the plurality of chambers 202. In addition, the one or more cartridges 204 may comprise one or more outlets for each of the plurality of chambers 202 in order to allow the scent or disinfectant gas formed inside the plurality of chambers 202 to flow out from the plurality of chambers 202 of the one or more cartridges 204.

The air inlet may be at least one of the following: an opening arranged on a wall of the cartridge 204, a pipe extending outside the cartridge 204 and/or inside the cartridge 204. Similarly, the one or more outlet may be at least one of the follow ing : an opening arranged on a wall of the cartridge 204, a pipe extending outside the cartridge 204 and/or inside the cartridge 204.

Furthermore, the air inlet of the one or more cartridges 204 and/or the one or more outlets of the one or more cartridges 204 may comprise a filter, grating, grid, or similar in order to at least partly prevent the at least one scent source 210 or the at least one disinfectant gas source 212 to drift out from the one or more cartridges 204, when the air is not supplied to said cartridge 204. Alterna tively or in addition, the air inlet and/or the outlet may comprise a valve, which may keep the one or more cartridges 204 airtight, when the air is not supplied to said cartridge 204. Furthermore, the valve may at least partly prevent un wanted evaporation of the scent from the one or more cartridges 204. Especially, the valve enables preventing at least partly the evaporation of the light compo sitions, when the air is not supplied to said cartridge 204. The valve may be a solenoid valve or check valve, for example. The valve may be adjustable and the control unit 104 may be configured to control the adjustment of the valve.

The scent or the disinfectant gas may be arranged to flow out from the at least one of the plurality of the chambers 202, to which the air is supplied, into the housing 108 of the device 100 and further out from the device 100 through at least one outlet of the housing 108 of the device. Furthermore, the at least one blower 208 may be arranged to enhance the outflow of the scent through at least one outlet of the housing 108 of the device 100. The number of blowers 208 may be defined by the number of outlets of the housing 108. In the example emission unit illustrated in Figure 2 the housing 108 comprises two outlets, thus the emis sion unit comprises two blowers in order to enhance the outflow of the scent through the both outlets of the housing 108. In Figure 2 the air supplied to and from the at least one blower 208 and from the plurality of air supply units 206 to the plurality of chambers 202 is illustrated with arrows having a solid line. Fur thermore, in Figure 2 the formed scent and/or disinfectant gas is illustrated with arrows having a dashed line.

The at least one blower 208 enables that the scent flow may be increased inside the housing 108 of the device 100 causing that the scent may cover larger area than that without the at least one blower 208. Furthermore, the at least one blower 208 enables that the scent may be emitted equally into the environment around the device 100. Furthermore, the at least one blower 208 enables also that several scents arranged to flow inside housing 108 of the device 100 from more than one chamber 202 at the same time may be mixed together. This en ables that different mixtures of scent may be provided with one device 100. Fur thermore, one advantage is that the scent may be premixed inside the device 100 by means of the at least one blower 208. Moreover, the combination of using a plurality of air supply units 206 and at least one blower 208 enhances the efficiency of the scent composition flow in comparison to prior art solutions.

The volume of the air flow provided by the at least one blower 208 may depend on the type of the blower 208, for example. Furthermore, the volume of the air flow provided by the at least one blower 208 may be adjusted. The adjustment of the volume of the air flow enables that the volume of the scent outflow from the device may also be adjusted. The at least one control signal received by the control unit 104 from an external control device may comprise instructions to control the operation of the at least one blower 208. The at least one control signal may comprise instruction to turn on the at least one blower 208, turn off the at least one blower, and/or adjust the volume of the air flow of the at least one blower, for example.

The device 100 may further comprise a motion sensor 110 arranged to detect motion within the operational range of the motion sensor 1 10. The disinfectant gas may be harmful to a human. Preferably, the quantity of the disinfectant gas emitted by the device 100 may be less than the quantity which is harmful to humans. Nevertheless, the motion sensor 1 10 may be used to ensure that there are no humans within the environment of the device 100, when the emission unit 102 is arranged to emit the disinfectant gas. The emission of disinfectant gas may be disabled in response to a detection of motion, such as human motion, by the motion sensor 1 10. Figure 3 illustrates schematically an example of the device 100 according to the invention comprising the motion sensor 1 10. The operational range of the motion sensor may be defined so that the operational range covers an average sized room in order to be able to detect motion inside an average sized room. Alternatively or in addition, the operational range of the motion sensor 1 10 may be defined based on the spreading distance of the dis infectant gas from the device 100. The operational range of the motion sensor 110 may be, for example from 1 meter to 10 meters. Preferably, the operational range of the motion sensor 110 may be from 3 to 5 meters in order to cover an average sized room.

The control unit 104 is configured to control the operation of scent and disinfect ant gas emitting device 100. The operation of the device 100 may comprise at least emission of the scent and/or the disinfectant gas from the emission unit 102. In order to control the scent and disinfectant gas emission the control unit 104 is configured to control at least the operation of the plurality of air supply units 206 and the at least one blower 208. The control unit 104 may control the emission of the scent or the disinfectant gas from the emission unit 102 by in structing to supply air from at least one of the plurality of air supply units 206 to at least one of the plurality of chambers 202 in order to form the desired scent or disinfectant gas to be emitted. The emission unit 202 may be instructed to emit one or more scents simultaneously or sequentially, but the emission of scent and disinfectant gas at the same time is not allowed. The control of the device 100 may be based on at least one of the following: time-based, environment-based, speech-based, control signal-based. The dif ferent controlling ways of the device 100 are described more in detail next in this application.

According to one embodiment of the invention the control unit 104 may control the operation of the device 100 on a time basis. The time-based control means that the control unit 104 controls the emission unit 102 to emit scent and disin fectant gas according to a time scheme, i.e. a schedule. The time scheme may be defined based on the intended use and/or location of the device 100. For example, the time scheme of a device 100 locating in a public toilet may be different than the time scheme of a device 100 locating in a bedroom. Alterna tively or in addition, the time scheme may be may be defined to be different at different times of day. For example, the time scheme defined for the morning may be different than the time scheme defined for the evening. The time scheme may be defined so that scent and/or disinfectant gas may be arranged to be emitted at certain time instants during a certain time interval. Alternatively or in addition, the time scheme may be defined so that scent and/or disinfectant gas may be arranged to be emitted periodically during a certain time interval. The emission periods may be regular or irregular. The duration of the time intervals may be constant or the duration of the time intervals may vary. The time interval of the scent emission may be the same as the time interval of the disinfectant gas emission. Alternatively, time interval of the scent emission may be different than the time interval of the disinfectant gas emission.

Figures 4A-4E illustrate schematically some example time schemes for the time- based control of the device according to the invention. Figure 4A illustrates one example of the time scheme, wherein the scent 402 is emitted at a time instant to during a first time interval t-i-to and at a time instant t3 during a second time interval t₄-t3 and the disinfectant gas 404 is emitted at a time instant ts during a third time interval te-ts. in this example the duration of the first, second and third time intervals are constant. Figure 4B illustrates another example of the time scheme, wherein the scent 402 is emitted at a time instant to during a first time interval t-i-to and at a time instant ts during a second time interval te-ts and the disinfectant gas 404 is emitted at a time instant t3 during a third time interval t₄- t3. Also in this example the duration of the first, second and third time intervals is constant. Furthermore, if the device 100 comprises the motion sensor 1 10, the time scheme may be changed in response to a detection motion within the opera tional range of the motion sensor. In that case a planned disinfectant gas emis sion may be disabled, if the motion sensor 1 10 detects motion within the opera tional range of the motion sensor 1 10, at the time when the disinfectant gas emission is planned. This is illustrated in Figure 4C, wherein on the left is the planned time scheme and on the right is the disinfectant gas disabled time scheme, wherein the emission of the disinfectant gas 404 is disabled in a re sponse to a detection of motion 406 within the operational range of the motion sensor 1 10. Figure 4D, in turn, illustrates returning to the planned time scheme, i.e. disinfectant gas enabled time scheme, in response to that motion within the operational range of the motion sensor 110 is not detected 408. Alternatively or in addition, the control unit 104 may receive a control signal from an external control device in order to tune, i.e. change the time scheme. This is illustrated in Figure 4E, wherein the duration of the time interval of the scent emission 402 is extended and the time instant for the disinfectant gas emission 406 is delayed in response to a control signal 410 from an external control device, for example.

Alternatively or in addition, according to another embodiment of the invention the control unit 104 may control the operation of the device 100 by means of environment-based control. The environment-based control means that the con trol unit 104 controls the emission unit 102 to emit scent and disinfectant gas according to the environment in which the device 100 is intended to be used. For example, a device 100 intended to be used in bathroom or toilet may be configured to emit different scent or mixtures of scent according to a different time scheme than a device 100 intended to be used in a bedroom.

Alternatively or in addition, according to another embodiment of the invention the control unit 104 may control the operation of the device 100 by means of speech-based control. In the speech-based control the control unit 104 receives at least one acoustic control signal that is converted to a digital control signal. The device 100 may comprise a virtual assistance device, for example Amazon Alexa, that is configured to convert acoustic control signals, such as speech, to respective digital control signal and communicate the digital control signal to the control unit 104. Alternatively, or in addition, the control unit 104 may comprise a microphone configured to receive the acoustic control signal, for example speech, and an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to convert the received acous tic control signal to the digital control signal. The at least one acoustic control signal may comprise at least one of the following instructions: turn on/off scent emission, turn on/off disinfectant gas emission, schedule scent emission, sched ule disinfectant gas emission, tune time-based control, adjust scent emission rate, adjust disinfectant emission rate. Alternatively or in addition, the at least one acoustic control signal may comprise instruction to emit a certain scent or a certain combination of scents.

Alternatively or in addition, according to another embodiment of the invention the control unit 104 may control the operation of the device 100 by means of control signal-based control. In the control signal-based control the control unit 104 may be configured to control the operation of the emission unit 102 in re sponse to a control signal received from at least one of the following: an external control device, one or more disinfectant gas sensors, one or more external aux iliary sensors.

According to one embodiment of the invention the control unit 104 may control the operation of the device 100 in response to at least one control signal re ceived wirelessly from an external control device. Some non-limiting examples of the external control device may e.g. be a mobile phone, tablet computer, per sonal computer, laptop computer, computing circuit, a network of computing de vices. The at least one control signal may comprise at least one of the following instructions: turn on/off scent emission, turn on/off disinfectant gas emission, schedule scent emission, schedule disinfectant gas emission, tune time-based control, adjust scent emission rate, adjust disinfectant emission rate. Alterna tively or in addition, the control signal may comprise instruction to emit a certain scent or a certain combination of scents.

Alternatively or in addition, according to another embodiment of the invention the control unit 104 may control the operation of the device 100 in response to at least one control signal received wirelessly from one or more disinfectant gas sensors arranged to detect quantity of disinfectant gas within the operational range of the disinfectant gas sensor. The disinfectant gas sensor may be a chlo rine dioxide (CIO2) sensor or any sensor suitable for detecting quantity of any other disinfectant gas. In response to a detection that the quantity of disinfectant gas meets a predefined limit the disinfectant gas sensor communicates wire lessly a control signal to the control unit 104 of the device 100, wherein the con trol signal may comprise at least instruction to turn on the disinfectant gas emis sion. Additionally, the control signal may further comprise at least one of the following: instruction to turn off scent emission, duration of the disinfectant gas emission. The predefined limit for quantity of disinfectant gas may be defined to be the quantity of disinfectant gas that is harmful for a human, for example. Al ternatively, the predefined limit for quantity of disinfectant gas may be defined to be less than the quantity of disinfectant gas that is harmful for a human. The sensor may detect gas quantities, for example between 0 and 1 ppm, in order to be able to detect even low quantities of disinfectant gas. The operational range of the disinfectant gas sensor may be defined so that the operational range covers an average sized room in order to be able to detect disinfectant gas inside an average sized room. Typically, the disinfectant gas, such as CIO2, is heavier than air so the disinfectant gas settles on the floor. Thus, the disin fectant gas sensor may preferably be placed in a close vicinity of a floor level. The disinfectant gas sensor may be an internal sensor of the device 100. Alter natively, the disinfectant gas sensor may be an external sensor in order to im prove the detection efficiency. The external disinfectant gas sensor enables also that the sensor may be placed apart from the device 100, for example in a close vicinity of a floor level in order to effectively detect disinfectant gas. Furthermore, the external disinfectant gas sensor enables that the predefined limit for the dis infectant gas may be defined to be lower than the quantity of the emitted disin fectant gas from the device 100, because the quantity of the disinfectant gas emitted from the device 100 dilutes when it spreads away from the device 100.

Furthermore, if the device 100 comprises the motion sensor 1 10, a detection of motion by the motion sensor 1 10 within the operation range of the motion sensor 110 disables the emission of disinfectant gas in order to ensure that there are no humans within the environment of the device 100. In other words, the detec tion of motion by the motion sensor 1 10 within the operation range of the motion sensor 1 10 overrules the instruction to emit the disinfectant gas of the control signal received from the disinfectant gas sensor.

Alternatively or in addition, according to another embodiment of the invention the control unit 104 may control the operation of the device in response to at least one control signal received wirelessly from one or more external auxiliary sensors. The one or more auxiliary sensors may be arranged to detect at least one of the following: harmful substances, foul scent, scent level exceeding or going below a predefined limit. In response to a detection that a harmful sub stance the one or more auxiliary sensor communicates wirelessly at least one control signal to the control unit 104 of the device 100, wherein the control signal may comprise at least instruction to turn on the disinfectant gas emission. Addi tionally, the control signal may further comprise at least one of the following in structions: turn off scent emission, duration of the disinfectant gas emission. Al ternatively or in addition, in response to a detecting a foul scent the one or more auxiliary sensor communicates wirelessly at least one control signal to the con trol unit 104 of the device 100, wherein the control signal may comprise at least instruction to turn off scent emission. Additionally, the control signal may further comprise at least an instruction to emit another scent or mixture of scents. Alter natively or in addition, in response to a detecting that the scent level exceeds or goes below a predefined limit the one or more auxiliary sensor communicates wirelessly at least one control signal to the control unit 104 of the device 100, wherein the control signal may comprise at least instruction to control, i.e. adjust the scent emission rate. The predefined limit for the scent level may be defined to be a constant value defined for example by tests before commissioning of the auxiliary sensor and/or the device 100. Alternatively or in addition, the prede fined limit for the scent level may be adjustable in order to enable different limits for scent level depending on the intendent use of the device 100 and/or scent sensing ability of one or more users of the device 100, and or scent preference of one or more users of the device 100.

Figure 5 illustrates a schematic example of a control unit 104 of the device ac cording to the invention. The control unit 104 may comprise at least one proces sor 502, at least one memory 504 being volatile or non-volatile for storing por tions of computer program code 505a-505n and any data values, a communica tion interface 506 and possibly at least one user interface units 508. The above- mentioned elements may be communicatively coupled to each other with e.g. an internal bus. For sake of clarity, the processor 502 herein refers to any unit suitable for processing information and control the operation of the control unit 104, among other tasks. The operations may also be implemented with a micro controller solution with embedded software. Similarly, the memory 504 is not limited to a certain type of memory only, but any memory type suitable for storing the described pieces of information may be applied in the context of the present invention. The communication interface 506 provides interface for communica tion with external units and/or systems, such as one or more disinfectant gas sensors, one or more external auxiliary sensors, one or more external control devices. The communication interface 506 may comprise a wireless communi- cation unit 507 in order to exchange pieces of information wirelessly as de scribed earlier. The wireless communication unit 507 may be a wireless com munication radio, for example. Alternatively or in addition, the communication interface 506 may also be used for providing power to the device 100. The de vice 100 may be powered via the communication interface 506 by mains or any external power supply, for example. Alternatively or in addition, the device 100 according to present invention may comprise a battery to provide power to the device 100.

The processor 502 of the control unit 104 is at least configured to control the operation of the emission unit 102 as described above. The controlling may be achieved by arranging the processor 502 to execute at least some portion of computer program code 505a-505n stored in the memory 504 causing the pro cessor 502, and thus the control unit 104, to control the plurality of emission unit 102 as described. The processor 502 is thus arranged to access the memory 504 and retrieve and store any information therefrom and thereto. Moreover, the processor 502 is configured to control the communication through the commu nication interface 506 with any external units and/or systems, such as one or more disinfectant gas sensors, one or more external auxiliary sensors, one or more external control devices. The processor 502 of the control unit 104 may be configured to receive the at least one control signal transmitted wirelessly to the device 100 and received by the wireless communication unit 507. The at least one control signal may be transmitted via any wireless protocol, such as WiFi and/or Bluetooth, for example. The processor 502 may also be configured to control storing of received and delivered information. The control unit 104 may be implemented as a one unit or the control unit 104 may be implemented as a plurality of separate units communicatively coupled to each other. The commu nicatively coupling may be based on one or more known communication tech nologies, either wired or wireless.

Figure 6 illustrates schematically an example of a system 600 for controlling at least one scent and disinfectant gas emitting device 100 according to the inven tion. The system 600 according to invention may comprise at least one device 100 for emitting scent and disinfectant gas as described above and at least one external control device 602. In the example system 600 illustrated in Figure 6 the system 600 comprises three devices 100, wherein each device 100 is ar ranged inside a different room 604a-604c. Furthermore, the example system 600 illustrated in Figure 6 comprises one external control device 602, such as a mobile phone, tablet computer. The at least one external control device 602 is arranged to be in a wireless communication with each device 100 of the at least one device 100. The at least one external control device 602 is configured to communicate wirelessly at least one control signal to the control unit 104 of the at least one device 100 in order to control the operation of the at least one device 100 as described above.

The external control device 602 may comprise a processor, a wireless commu nication unit, at least one memory, and a user interface. Some non-limiting ex amples of the external control device 602 may e.g. be a mobile phone, tablet computer, personal computer, laptop computer, computing circuit, a network of computing devices, enabling wireless communication with the at least one de vice 100. In one example, the external control device 602 may be a device run ning an iOS or Android operating system, such as iPad, iPhone or other similar tablet computer or mobile phone. The external control device 602 may comprise more than one device, or one or more components of more than one device, working together (including via wireless communication with each other) to per form one or more of the functions of an external control device 602 as described above.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the processor of the external control device 602 may be running, for example, a mobile phone operating sys tem environment, and may further be running an application in the mobile phone operating system to provide a user interface to a display of the wireless external control device 602. The user interface may enable a user to interact with the external control device 602, e.g., using a touchscreen display, to control the op eration of the at least one devices 100 as described above.

In addition, according to one embodiment of the invention the system 600 may further comprise at least one disinfectant gas sensor 606 arranged to detect disinfectant gas quantity within the operational range of the disinfectant gas sen sor 606 and to be in a wireless communication with at least one device 100. In response to a detection that the quantity of disinfectant gas meets a predefined limit the disinfectant gas sensor 606 may be configured to communicate wire lessly at least one control signal to the control unit 104 of the at least one device 100 in order to control the operation of the at least one device 100 as described above. The example system 600 illustrated in Figure 6 comprises one disinfect ant gas sensor 606 arranged inside each room 604a-604c. Alternatively or in addition, according to one embodiment of the invention the system 600 may further comprise one or more auxiliary sensors 608 arranged to detect at least one of the following: harmful substances, foul scent, scent level, and to be in a wireless communication with at least one device 100. In response to said detection the one or more auxiliary sensor 608 is configured to communi cate wirelessly at least one control signal to the control unit 104 of the at least one device 100 in order to control the operation of the at least one device 100. The example system 600 illustrated in Figure 6 comprises one external auxiliary sensor 608 arranged inside one room 604a. However, the number of the exter nal auxiliary sensor 608 of the system 600 is not limited.

Alternatively or in addition, according to one embodiment of the invention one or more of the devices 100 of the system 600 may have a connection to a smart home system 610. The smart home system 610 may be used to control elements in the rooms 604a-604c such as, for example, the lights, heating or an alarm system, and the at least one device 100. The external control device 602 may include an application program interface (API) to communicate wirelessly with the smart home system 610, with the API enabling the smart home system 610 to control operation of the at least one device 100. Thus, the at least one device 100 may be controlled via the at least one external control device 602 through the smart home system 610.

Figure 7 illustrates schematically another example of the system 700 according to the invention in which at least one scent and disinfectant gas emitting device 100 may be controlled via at least one external control device 602 through an Internet of Things (loT) platform 702. loT platform 702 may, for example, be implemented using a software application that is resident on a cloud computing network, such as over the Internet or a Local area network. The loT platform 702 may be in wireless communication 701 , 703 with the at least one device 100 and the at least one external control device 602. The device 100 may communicate wirelessly with the external control device 602, as described above. The external control device 602 may communicate the at least control signal to the loT plat form 702 and the loT platform may communicate the at least one control signal to the at least one device 100 in order to control the operation of the at least one device 100 as described above. Alternatively or in addition, according to one embodiment of the invention the at least one external control device 602 and the wireless device 100 may communicate wirelessly 705 with at least one other loT device 704 via the loT platform 702. The wireless communication between loT platform 702 and the device 100, the at least one external control device 602, and the at least one other loT device 704 is illustrated with arrows 701 , 703, 705 in Figure 7.

Above a scent and disinfectant gas emitting device 100 and a system 600, 700 for controlling at least one scent and disinfectant gas emitting device according to the invention with different embodiments are described. The scent and disin fectant gas emitting device 100 enables scent emission and removal of harmful substance by a disinfectant gas from only one common device. Thus, the scent and disinfectant gas emitting device 100 according to the invention may be used to provide scent and to purify the air. At least some of the embodiments of the invention enables several ways to wirelessly control the scent and disinfectant gas emitting device 100. Furthermore, at least some of the embodiments of the invention enables that at least one scent and disinfectant gas emitting device may be connected to a smart home system. Alternatively or in addition at least some of the embodiments of the invention enables that at least one scent and disinfectant gas emitting device 100 may be connected to loT.

The specific examples provided in the description given above should not be construed as limiting the applicability and/or the interpretation of the appended claims. Lists and groups of examples provided in the description given above are not exhaustive unless otherwise explicitly stated.

Claims

1. A scent and disinfectant gas emitting device, wherein the device compris ing:

- an emission unit arranged to emit nonsynchronously scent or disinfectant gas, - a control unit configured to control at least the operation of the emission unit, and

- a housing for accommodating at least the emission unit and the control unit.

2. The device according to claim 1 , wherein the device further comprising a motion sensor arranged to detect motion within the operational range of the mo- tion sensor, wherein the emission of disinfectant gas is disabled in response to a detection of motion.

3. The device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the control unit is configured to control the operation of the emission unit based on at least one of the following: time-based, environment-based, speech-based.

4. The device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the control unit is configured to control the operation of the emission unit in response to at least one control signal received wirelessly from an external control device.

5. The device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the control unit is configured to control the operation of the emission unit in response to at least one control signal received wirelessly from one or more disinfectant gas sensors, wherein the one or more disinfectant gas sensors is configured to com municate wirelessly the at least one control signal to the control unit in response to a detection that a quantity of disinfectant gas meets a predefined limit.

6. The device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the control unit is configured to control the operation of the emission unit in response to at least one control signal received wirelessly from one or more external auxiliary sensors, wherein the one or more auxiliary sensors is configured to communi cate wirelessly the at least one control signal to the control unit in response to a detection of at least one of the following: harmful substances, foul scent, scent level exceeding or going below a predefined limit.

7. The device according to any of claims 4 to 6, wherein the at least one con trol signal comprises at least one of the following instructions: turn on/off scent emission, select certain scent, select a combination of scents, turn on/off disin fectant gas emission, schedule scent emission, schedule disinfectant gas emis sion, tune time-based control, adjust scent emission rate, adjust disinfectant emission rate.

8. The device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the emission unit comprising:

- at least one cartridge comprising a plurality of chambers arranged inside one or more cartridges, wherein at least one scent source is arranged inside at least one of the plurality of chambers and at least one disinfectant gas source is ar ranged inside at least one of the plurality of chambers that is different than the at least one chamber inside which the at least one scent source is arranged,

- a plurality of air supply units, wherein each of the plurality of air supply units is arranged to supply air into one of the plurality of chambers in order to form the scent or the disinfectant gas, and

- at least one blower, wherein the scent or the disinfectant gas is arranged to flow out from the at least one of the plurality of the chambers, to which the air is supplied, into the housing and further out from the housing through at least one outlet of the housing, wherein the at least one blower is arranged to enhance the outflow of the scent.

9. The device according to claim 8, wherein the at least one scent source is cellulose based adsorbent.

10. The device according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the at least one disinfectant gas source is chlorine dioxide, CIO2, granule.

1 1. The device according to any of claims 8 to 10, wherein each of the one or more cartridges comprises an air inlet and at least one outlet for scent or disin fectant, wherein the air inlet and/or the at least one outlet comprises a valve.

12. A system for controlling at least one scent and disinfectant gas emitting device, wherein the system comprising: - at least one scent and disinfectant gas emitting device according to any of claims 1 to 1 1 , and

- at least one external control device is configured to communicate wirelessly at least one control signal to the control unit of the at least one scent and disinfect ant gas emitting device in order to control the operation of the at least one scent and disinfectant gas emitting device.

13. The system according to claim 12, wherein the system further comprising at least one disinfectant gas sensor arranged to detect disinfectant gas quantity within the operational range of the disinfectant gas sensor, wherein in response to a detection that the quantity of disinfectant gas meets a predefined limit the disinfectant gas sensor is configured to communicate wirelessly at least one control signal to the control unit of the at least one scent and disinfectant gas emitting device in order to control the operation of the at least one scent and disinfectant gas emitting device.

14. The system according to claim 12 or 13, wherein the system further com prising one or more auxiliary sensors arranged to detect at least one of the fol lowing: harmful substances, foul scent, scent level exceeding or going below a predefined limit; wherein in response to said detection the one or more auxiliary sensor is configured to communicate wirelessly at least one control signal to the control unit of the at least one scent and disinfectant gas emitting device in order to control the operation of the at least one scent and disinfectant gas emitting device.

15. The system according to any of claims 12 to 14, wherein the at least one control signal comprises at least one of the following instructions: turn on/off scent emission, turn on/off disinfectant gas emission, select certain scent, select certain mixture of scents, schedule scent emission, schedule disinfectant gas emission, tune time-based control, adjust scent emission rate, adjust disinfect ant emission rate.

16. The system according to any of claim claims 12 to 15, wherein the system further comprising a smart home system, wherein the at least one scent and disinfectant gas emitting device is controlled via at least one external control device through the smart home system.

17. The system according to any of claims 12 to 16, wherein the system further comprising an Internet of Things, loT, platform, wherein the at least one scent and disinfectant gas emitting device is controlled via at least one external control device through the loT platform.

18. The system according to claim 17, wherein the at least one external control device and the at least one scent and disinfectant gas emitting device communi cate with at least one other loT device via the loT platform.