WO2004110507A1

WO2004110507A1 - Air freshening device

Info

Publication number: WO2004110507A1
Application number: PCT/GB2004/002444
Authority: WO
Inventors: John Gerrie; Shaun Patrick Rymer
Original assignee: Reckitt Benckiser (Uk) Limited
Priority date: 2003-06-13
Filing date: 2004-06-10
Publication date: 2004-12-23
Also published as: GB2403412A; GB0313725D0

Abstract

The invention relates to improvements in or relating to devices for an air freshener or purifier utilising a gel fragrance or other composition suitable for being suspended from a door. A device for an air freshener or purifier comprising a gel holder having a first surface in which is located at least one recess for receiving a gel composition, and a hanger for suspending the gel holder such that said surface is in a substantially vertical orientation, said hanger comprising a strip of malleable material capable of being manually deformed to form a hook for attaching the device to a door or door furniture, and retaining its deformed shape.

Description

AIR FRESHENING DEVICE

The invention relates to improvements in or relating to devices for an air freshener or purifier utilising a gel fragrance or other composition suitable for being suspended from a door.

A number of air freshening devices are known which can be suspended from a suitable point, usually for use in cars or other vehicles. In this specification the term "fragrance" may be a simple perfume, that also includes a deodorant which itself may or may not be perfumed.

One common form of a suspended air freshening device for use in a vehicle comprises a substrate of card, wood or the like which is impregnated with a fragrance, which is hung from the rear view mirror. Some of these devices do not last very long and others are very unattractive in appearance. They also require a projection of some sort from which to be hung.

Recently there has been a marked increase in the use of fragrances in gel form. The devices for dispensing such fragrances are commonly provided by plastic packaging elements in which the diffusion of the fragrance takes place through the semi-permeable walls of a polymeric material.

US 5,780,527 describes such a gel which can be used as a fragrancing component in such an air freshening device. This gel is particularly advantageous in that it can be used in attractively shaped open containers without the need for sealing.

A gel fragrance is used in one air freshening device, which is currently on the market for home use, which comprises an attractive free standing glass disk having grooves in one vertical surface thereof containing the gel. As the fragrance is dissipated over time, the gel shrinks and is no longer supported by all of the groove walls. To prevent the shrinking gel from falling out of the container, a number of small grooves are used which are fairly narrow. However, in a smaller version of the device a series of small grooves may not be possible and other means must be found to ensure that the gel does not leak out of the device.

A version of this has been developed which has a convenient construction suitable for use in a vehicle. The device comprises a gel holder having a plurality of recesses for receiving a gel composition. A number of prongs project from the base of the recesses. The sides of the prongs are inclined to an axis substantially perpendicular to the recess base except for one side which is substantially perpendicular to the recess base.

This device is suspended from the rear view mirror of a vehicle, by means of a hanger consisting of a hook on the end of the stem, which is attached to the gel holder by means of a ball and socket arrangement. Such an arrangement, however, and others currently known in the art, are unsuitable for hanging from a domestic door. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an air freshening or purifying device utilising a gel fragrance or other gel composition which has a convenient construction to enable it to be suspended from a door.

According to the present invention, there is therefore provided a device for an air freshener or purifier comprising a gel holder having a surface in which is located at least one recess for receiving a gel composition, the holder also being provided with means for receiving one end of a hanger for suspending the gel holder such that said surface is in a substantially vertical orientation, said hanger comprising a flat flexible strip of malleable metal capable of being manually deformed to form a hook at the opposing end of the hanger for attaching the device to a door or door furniture, whilst retaining its deformed shape in use the width of the strip being at least 5mm.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :-

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the gel holder of an air freshening device according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a pictorial view of the gel holder of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the gel holder of Fig.

1;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the base of the gel holder of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a front elevation of a hanger for use with the gel holder of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is side elevation of the hanger of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the air freshening device showing the gel holder attached to the hanger.

An air freshening device 10 according to the present invention comprises a gel holder 11 and a hanger 12.

The gel holder 11 illustrated is preferably formed in the approximate shape of a tear drop, but can be of any desired shape. The gel holder 11 has a first surface in which there are formed a plurality of recesses 13 for receiving a gel composition, preferably of the type described in US 5,780,527. The recesses 13 are separated by ridges 14, which are preferably configured to an attractive shape, but again these can be of any desired shape. When filled with the gel, which is preferably strongly coloured, the shape of the recesses 13 and ridges 14 are highlighted.

Preferably projecting from the base 15 of each recess 13 is a plurality of small prongs 16 (see Figs. 1 and 2). These prongs 16 can be spiked, hooked, tapered or of other similar configurations and help to retain the gel in the recess 13. The prongs 16 may be perpendicular

to the recess base 15 or a majority or all of them may alternatively be inclined with respect to an axis which is substantially perpendicular to the recess base 15.

The prongs 16 are preferably at least four sided, more preferably rectangular in cross-section, and taper from the base of the prong 16 to the tip. The prongs may be rectangular in cross-section but have one perpendicular side with the remaining three sides are inclined.

The length of the prongs 16 is preferably in the range of lmm to 10mm and most preferably 4mm.

The actual number of prongs 15, their positioning, their length, their angle of inclination α and the number of different angles of inclination used will at least partly depend on the size and shape of the recesses 13 and the nature of the gel.

Adjacent the recessed area of the gel holder 11, is an aperture 17 which extends through the gel holder 11. On the rear side 19 of the gel holder 11, behind the aperture 17, is a rectangular flange 20, which is attached at three sides to the rear side 19 of the gel holder 11, but is unattached at a further side, thereby forming a downwardly pointing pocket when the device is suspended. The flange 20 provides the means for attaching the hanger 12 to the gel holder 11.

The hanger 12 is formed from a flat flexible strip of a malleable metal, such as aluminium, and allows the air freshening device 10 to be removably suspended from a door. The material of the hanger 12 must be such that it is able to retain a shape to which it is deformed, yet can be deformed by hand. Thus the strip can be bent to form a first upwardly pointing hook 21 at one end, (as shown in Figs. 5 and 6) for attachment to the gel holder 11, by inserting the hook 21 in the pocket behind the flange 20. The remaining length of the hanger 12 can then be deformed (as shown in Fig. 7) to provide, say, a much larger second downwardly pointing hook 22, of a size which can fit over the horizontal top of a door or around a door handle or the like. As the size and configuration of the second hook 22 can be easily modified, the device 10 can be suspended from the upper horizontal edge of any size of door, such as a room door or a cupboard door, or any door furniture.

The device 10 is suspended from the door with the exposed gel in the front surface 18 facing outwardly and in a vertical orientation, so that the movement of the door creates an air flow over the surface of the gel and increases its dispersion more effectively than a static device.

The hanger 12 is preferably coloured, by any suitable colouring or coating method, to match the colour of the gel. Alternatively, its colour could be made to match the colour of the door.

An alternate means of connecting the hanger 12 to the gel holder 11 may be used, which may be a permanent or temporary connection.

The width of the hanger 12 is at least 5mm to provide lateral stability to the device when suspended. Preferably the width is in the range 5 to 15mm, and more preferably the width is lOmin, However, its actual dimensions are selected depending on the size and weight of the gel holder 11. Its length needs to be such as to enable the first and second hooks 21,22 to be formed, say of 10 to 20mm, and more preferably of 10mm.

The device 10 is manufactured by forming the gel holder 11 by a suitable method such as injection moulding. One end of the hanger may be integrally formed with the holder 11 to provide a permanent connection.

Once the holder 11 is formed, the recesses 13 are filled with the gel in liquid form, and the gel allowed to set. The device 10 can then be packaged with the hanger 12 which can be unformed or partially formed. For example it may be formed with the first hook 21 and attached to the gel holder 11, leaving the other end of the hanger 12 unformed for the user to fold into whatever orientation is desired.

The device 10 may also be used for purifying the air by filling the holder 11 with a gel insecticide or other suitable composition.

Claims

CLAIMS :

1. A device for an air freshener or purifier

5 comprising a gel holder having a surface in which is located at least one recess for receiving a gel composition, the holder also being provided with means for receiving one end of a hanger for suspending the gel holder such that said surface is in a substantially vertical 0 orientation, said hanger comprising a flat flexible strip of malleable metal capable of being manually deformed to form a hook at the opposing end of the hanger for attaching the device to a door or door furniture, whilst retaining its deformed shape in use, the width of the strip being at 5 least 5mm.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1 in which the hanger is permanently connected to the gel holder.

Q 3. A device as claimed in claim 1 in which the hanger is removably connectable to the gel holder.

4. A device as claimed in claim 3 in which the gel holder is provided with flange means, forming a pocket to 5 receive an end of the hanger deformed to form a hook to thereby attach the hanger to the gel holder.

5. A device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the hanger has a width between 5 and 15mm. 0

6. A device as claimed in claim 5 in which the hanger has a width of 10mm.

7. A device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the gel holder is provided with a plurality of gel receiving recesses.

8. A device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which prongs are provided which project from a base of each recess.

9. A device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the gel holder is of a transparent material .

10. A device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the gel holder is of a plasties material.

11. A device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims further comprising a coloured gel composition located in the at least one recess.

12. A device as claimed in claim 11 in which the gel composition is coloured.

13. A device as claimed in claim 12 in which the hanger is of a colour which matches that of the gel composition.

14. A device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings .