Perfume sampler

A perfume sampler comprising a perfume sample support film (1), provided for adhering to a presentation sheet (3), such as of paper, cardboard, at least one perfume sample (5), applied onto the support film (1) under the form of a gel, and a releasable protection film (6) applied on the sample, which protection film leads, upon its retraction from the support film (1), to a removal of the perfume sample (5) from the support film (1) by adhering the sample to the protection film (6) and for enabling in this way the test of the perfume by application on the skin.

The present invention is related to a perfume sampler, for example of the 
type being fixed to inside foldings, brochures, inserts of magazines, 
direct sale prints, sample cards, previously printed. 
At the present time, several means of perfume samples exist. They comprise 
miniature bottles and sample tubes, having as main drawback that they are 
expensive, impregnated plugs in small bags and small pockets, also 
expensive, these small pockets and bags leading a.o. to fixing problems 
upon realisation of foldings, brochures, etc. Perfumed cards and foldings 
with a flap to detach also exist, under which flap a perfume, prepared 
starting from the essence under the form of a slurry, is realised by 
micro-encapsulation and applied in strips, the protection band releasing 
the scent of the perfume when it is detached. These two means does however 
not offer the possibility to try the perfume on the skin and, 
consequently, to transfer a sufficient quantity of product on the skin. 
The perfume can furthermore mix with the scents of ink and of paper. 
The object of the present invention is to remedy above mentioned drawbacks 
and to provide an extremely economical perfume sampler, allowing 
furthermore, in conditions of absolute hygiene, the individual perfume 
test, the scent of which will never be altered by the used materials and 
the presentation support. The sampler of the invention allows also the 
incorporation of several perfumes. 
In this respect, the sampler according to the invention comprises a perfume 
sample support film, provided for adhering to a presentation sheet, such 
as of paper, cardboard, at least one perfume sample, applied onto the 
support film brought under the form of a gel, and a releasable protection 
film applied on the sample, which protection film leads, upon its 
retraction from the support film, to a removal of the perfume sample from 
the support film by adhering the sample to said protection film and for 
enabling in this way the test of the perfume by application on the skin. 
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention the gel comprises, 
besides the perfume, a viscosity increasing agent, an emulsifier, a 
softener, a biodegradable binder and water. 
According to a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention, the 
gel comprises between 1,5 and 3% of perfume, between 0,2 and 0,6% of 
viscosity increasing agent, between 2 and 5% of emulsifier, between 0,1 
and 0,5% of softener, between 15 and 30% of biodegradable binder and the 
rest water, the percentages being taken with respect to the total weight 
of the gel. 
According to another preferred embodiment, the support film is oleophobic 
and is of aluminium or treated polyethylene and the protection film is 
oleophilic and is of aluminium or treated polyethylene. 
According to another particularly advantageous preferred embodiment of the 
invention, the protection film covers the sample support film entirely and 
has a larger surface than this one.

In the two mentioned figures, the same reference numerals relate to 
identical or analogous elements. 
The perfume sampler, shown in FIG. 1, comprises a perfume sample support 
film 1, adhering due to a small thread or band of glue 2 to a presentation 
sheet 3, such as of paper, cardboard or similar, comprising inscriptions 
4, such as, for example, a publicity text referring to the presented 
perfume, a perfume sample 5 applied onto the support film 1 and a 
releasable protection film 6 applied onto the perfume sample 5. The 
perfume sample 5 is under the form of a characterising gel comprising, 
besides the perfume, a viscosity increasing agent, an emulsifier, a 
softener, a biodegradable binder and water, the gel comprising 
advantageously according to the invention between 1,5 and 3% of perfume, 
between 0,2 and 0,6% of viscosity increasing agent, between 2 and 5% of 
emulsifier, between 0,1 and 0,5% of softener, between 15 and 30% of 
biodegradable binder and the rest water, the percentages being taken with 
respect to the total weight of the gel. In this way, and due to the 
particular composition of the perfume sample under the form of gel, the 
protection film leads, when the releasable protection film 6 is removed 
from the support film 1, to removal of the perfume from the support film 
1, the perfume sample 5 adhering to the protection film and allowing in 
this way the perfume test by application and/or slightly rubbing on the 
skin. 
The support film 1 does not necessarily be glued to the presentation sheet 
3 by means of a band or small thread of glue, its face provided for 
adhering to said sheet could, for example, be auto-adhesive. 
Advantageously, this support film is of an oleophobic material or 
comprises such a material, i.e. of a material refusing fats and, 
consecutively, essences or perfumes. A suitable material for this purpose 
is aluminium or polyethylene treated for this type of application. It has 
also to be noted that this support film can be opaque, for example white, 
silvered, or transparent, according to the considered application. The 
protection film 6 is a film, opaque or not, of a preferably larger surface 
than the support film 1, so as to allow easy removal from this latter 
film. This protection film comprises preferably an oleophilic material or 
is made of a material, for example aluminium or treated polyethylene, 
allowing the maintenance of the perfume gel on its face in contact with 
it. It adheres to the support or lower film 1 only by the specific 
consistency of the essence under the form of a gel or an emulsion. Such as 
just specified, upon removal of the protection or upper film 6, the 
entirety of the treated essence 5 separates oneself from the support or 
lower film 1 for adhering only to the protection film. This protection 
film allows in this way testing of the perfume by application on the skin. 
When the protection film covers the sampler support film entirely, as in 
the case of the represented sampler, and has a larger surface than this 
one, points of glue 7 are provided on the presentation sheet 3 for 
enabling direct adhering of the protection film 6 to this latter one, in 
case that a reinforcement of the adherence, essentially obtained by 
capillarity, would be desired between the two films. As can be seen in 
FIG. 1, these points of gluing 7 are situated on the presentation sheet to 
allow direct adheration of the edge 8 of the protection film extending 
beyond the support film to the presentation sheet. The films 1 and 6, and 
the glue lines 2 and 7 will be inodorous for not altering the perfume to 
be tested. 
The support film 1 is not printed but the protection film 6 may be printed 
on its outer side, i.e. on its face which is not directly in contact with 
perfume sample 5. Because of this, the print is not in contact with the 
perfume and the skin. The protection film 6 may be cut to the desired 
shape, for example rectangular, such as in the considered case. In this 
way, it could be incorporated to a graphic concept and to the page-setting 
of the printed presentation sheet. 
FIG. 2 allows to see, in a transversal cross-section, on a larger scale, 
the application on the presentation sheet 3, of the sampler of the 
invention comprising the support film 1, the perfume sample 5 and the 
protection film 6. 
Besides the many advantages conferred by the sampler of the invention, 
mentioned hereinabove, it will also be noted that the perfume sample is 
applied without adding glue or other fixing means and that the sampler 
remains odourless as long as the protection film has not been detached, 
namely in fact that the perfume conserves all its touch and does not 
denature, the used films preventing evaporation and hardening of the gel. 
Moreover, the preparation of the gel leads to a very low consumption of 
essence (between 1.5 and 3% of the gel weight) in comparison with the 
classical samplers. Several distinctive perfume samplers, applied onto the 
support film, could of course also be provided, so as to permit in this 
way comparison of the different perfumes. 
It will also be noted that, when the presentation sheet 3 comprises 
inscriptions or is printed, such as in the provided case, the sampler 
support 1 and protection 6 films may be transparent so as to permit 
reading of the inscriptions. However, opaque films will advantageously be 
used. 
The perfume sampler of the invention constitutes in fact an extremely 
economical and easy to use sampler, and allowing to perform, in conditions 
of perfect hygiene, the individual test of one or more perfumes. Such as 
already mentioned hereinabove, several different applications could be 
considered inside foldings, brochures, magazines and all kinds of prints. 
It is clear that the present invention is in no way limited to the above 
embodiments and that a lot of modifications could be applied thereto, 
without falling outside the scope of the present patent application. 
And that is why the sampler of the invention is not necessarily limited to 
perfume samplers but could, of course, also be used for toilet waters and 
perfume waters samplers. The term "perfume" such as used in the scope of 
the present invention covers consequently not only perfumes, whatever 
their origins can be, but also toilet waters and perfume waters.