Wall-mounted aromatic liquid dispenser assembly

An aromatic liquid dispenser assembly in which a spray can having a depressible actuating pin projecting from the upper end thereof is held by a fixture in an upright position against a wall, the fixture and the can being disposed within and concealed by a cover plate pivoted on the fixture and having a rocker formation. The plate is operatively linked to the pin, whereby when it is rocked, it acts to depress the pin to produce an aromatic liquid spray that is discharged through openings in the cover plate. The wall-mounted assembly simulates the appearance of a conventional light switch and is operated in a similar manner, thereby disguising the nature and purpose of the dispenser and making operation there possible at any time without social embarrassment.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
This invention relates generally to aromatic liquid dispensers and in 
particular to a wall-mounted assembly in which a spray can is concealed 
within a pivoted cover plate to simulate the appearance of a conventional 
light switch, the dispenser being operated by a switch-like action. 
The term "aromatic liquid" as used herein is not limited to liquids which 
when sprayed into the atmosphere provide a pleasant or perfumed odor, for 
the term is intended to encompass all liquids which when discharged act to 
condition, modify or otherwise change the atmosphere, such as air 
fresheners, deodorizers and insecticides. 
Ther term "Spray Can" as used herein includes any container or canister for 
an aromatic liquid which includes a depressible actuating pin which when 
operated emits an upward liquid spray. The can may be of the aerosol type, 
in which case it is pressurized, or it may be unpressurized, in which case 
it includes a pump operated by the actuating pin. 
Aromatic liquid spray cans have many uses in the home, the office or in any 
other environment where there is a need to render the atmosphere more 
agreeable. Thus spray cans may be used to mask the odor of tobacco smoke, 
to emit insecticides and to in other respects improve or alter the 
atmospheric conditions prevailing in a room. Yet there are circumstances 
where it is socially undesirable or embarrassing to operate a spray can. 
Thus when company is present in a living room, it is socially unseemly for 
the hostess to openly operate a spray can, even though the room may be 
filled with tobacco smoke or otherwise be in need of refreshing. Nor would 
it be proper for a guest in someone's else's bathroom to make use of a 
spray can to freshen the air. 
These inhibitions against the open use of spray cans, though perhaps 
somewhat Victorian, still prevail, and however acute the need for an air 
freshener or deodorizer, one is often unable to take advantage of the 
effective products now available for enhancing the atmosphere of a room. 
The present invention provides a wall-mounted spray can assembly by which 
wall mounting is preferably effected by the adhesive system disclosed in 
my above-identified copending application whose entire disclosure is 
incorporated herein by reference. In this adhesive system, use is made of 
a wall sheet of flexible film whose undersurface has a layer of 
pressure-sensitive adhesive thereon whereby the sheet may be pressed 
against the wall at a desired installation site and intimately conformed 
thereto. Also provided is a fixture having a flat base whose area is much 
smaller than that of the sheet, the base having a pressure sensitive layer 
thereon, making it possible to press the fixture against the exposed 
surface of the sheet in the central zone thereof to form a strong bond 
therewith. 
The wall sheet may be readily peeled from the wall without in any way 
impairing the wall surface, so that one may readily remove the adhesive 
system from the wall. On the other hand, the bond between the wall sheet 
and the fixture is difficult to break, so that even a heavy load imposed 
on the fixture will not dislodge it from the wall. Because adhesive 
contact with the wall surface is only by way of the wall sheet, this large 
area coupling is highly resistant to shear and bending forces. 
SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
In view of the foregoing, the main object of this invention is to provide a 
wall-mountable aromatic liquid spray can assembly which simulates the 
appearance of a conventional light switch and which is operated in a 
similar manner, thereby disguising the nature and purpose of the assembly 
and making it possible to operate the dispenser at any time even under 
circumstances under which such operation is normally socially undesirable. 
A significant feature of the invention is that the assembly may be 
installed on a wall at any site thereon without the need for screws or 
other anchoring devices requiring the drilling of holes in the wall, yet 
the assembly, though firmly anchored, may be quickly removed from the wall 
without damage thereto. 
Also an object of the invention is to provide a spray can assembly having 
the approximate dimensions of a conventional light switch cover plate and 
which may be juxtaposed to a light switch, so that one can when turning on 
the light also actuate the spray can to both light the room and freshen 
the atmosphere of the room. 
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a spray can assembly 
which may be manufactured and sold at low cost, and which may be disposed 
of when the can is exhausted. 
Briefly stated, these objects are attained in an assembly including a 
fixture having a flat base that is attachable to a wall, a yoke mounted on 
the base and embracing an aromatic liquid spray can having an actuating 
pin projecting from its upper end, the can being held against the wall by 
the fixture in an upright position. 
Concealing the can and fixture is a cover plate having oppositely inclined 
upper and lower sections in a rocker formation whose pivot axis is 
parallel to the junction of these sections. The cover plate is operatively 
linked to the actuating pin, whereby when the plate is rocked in, the pin 
is depressed to spray liquid toward openings in the upper end of the 
plate, thereby discharging the liquid into the room. 
The assembly simulates the appearance of a conventional light switch and is 
operated in a similar manner so that its nature and function are 
disguised. The fixture is preferably attached to the wall by an adhesion 
system of the type disclosed in my above-identified copending application.

DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION 
Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown mounted on a vertical wall a 
conventional electric light switch having a manually-operated toggle 10 
and a rectangular cover plate 11 screwed onto the switch, the plate having 
a window to expose the toggle. The toggle has a rocker formation so that 
the upper section 10A in the "off" state of the switch is tipped outwardly 
and the lower section 10B is tipped inwardly, these conditions being 
reversed when the upper section is depressed to produce a snap action 
putting the switch in its "on" state. 
An assembly in accordance with the invention as shown in FIG. 1, has a 
cover plate 12 whose rectangular dimensions are about the same as cover 
plate 11 of the switch. The cover plate has a rocker formation similar to 
that of toggle 10 and provided with an inclined upper section 12A and an 
oppositely inclined lower section 12B, the transverse line 12J 
representing the junction of these sections. The flanged upper end of the 
upper section 12A is provided with an array of openings 13. 
The upper section 12A of the cover plate bears the instructions "PUSH", the 
operation of the assembly being such that when the upper section is 
pressed to rock the pivoted cover, an aromatic liquid is discharged 
through openings 13 into the room. 
Thus the assembly in appearance simulates the appearance of a conventional 
light switch and is operated in a similar fashion. By juxtaposing the 
assembly to the light switch, one is able to conveniently operate them 
both at about the same time, so that when turning on the light one can 
also discharge an aromatic liquid into the room to freshen the air. 
Referring now to FIGS. 2, 3, and 4, it will be seen that concealed under 
the cover plate 12 of the assembly is a fixture having a square base 14 on 
which is mounted a yoke 15 which embraces a spray can 16 at about its 
midpoint. The base is attached to the wall and holds the spray can in an 
upright position thereagainst. 
Attached to the undersurface of base 14 is a double-faced adhesive pad 17 
of the type available commercially from the 3M Company, this pad being 
formed of flexible foam plastic having a pressure-sensitive layer on 
either side thereof, one side being adhered to the underface of the base. 
The other side is adhered to the central zone rectangular wall of a sheet 
18 formed of flexible plastic film material such as PVC, whose underface 
is coated with a layer of pressure-sensitive adhesive, the dimensions of 
the sheet being about the same as cover plate 12 so that this sheet is 
also concealed by the cover plate. Material suitable for the wall sheet is 
marketed commercially under the "Contact Paper" trademark. 
In practice, wall sheet 18 is adhered to the wall at a selected site 
thereon, the sheet conforming thereto even when the wall surface is 
uneven. Thereafter, the fixture is adhesively anchored onto the center 
zone of the sheet. While the adhesive contact between the sheet and the 
wall surface may be relatively weak per unit area, because this contact is 
spread over a relatively large wall surface area, the sheet is highly 
resistant to any applied shearing force. 
The shearing force imposed on the sheet is that produced by the loaded 
fixture thereon, the fixture supporting both the spray can 10 and cover 
12. There is also a bending moment produced by this load which seeks to 
move the base 14 of the fixture about its point of connection to the 
sheet. However, since the load only projects a short distance from the 
base of the fixture, the bending moment is quite small. Thus even heavy 
downward load forces imposed on the fixture and translated into shear and 
bending forces will not act to displace the base sheet, and the assembly 
will be firmly anchored in place. Yet the entire assembly may be quickly 
removed simply by peeling off the sheet from the wall. 
Cover plate 12 is provided on the inside with a pair of slotted bearings 19 
in alignment with the junction 12J between the upper and lower sections 
12A and 12B. These bearings snap onto a pair of pivot pins 20 projecting 
from opposite sides of yoke 15 so that cover plate 12 is then pivoted to 
rock about an axis parallel to junction line 12J. 
Upper section 12A is provided within its interior with a link member 21 
whose free end as shown in FIG. 5 is bifurcated to form a pair of flexible 
tines leading into a slot 22 to accommodate the actuating pin 23 
projecting axially from the upper end of spray can 16. In practice, the 
entire cover plate including link member 21 and bearings 19 may be 
injection molded so that the link member and bearings are integral 
therewith and may be coupled to actuating pin 23 and to pivot pin 20 
simply by pushing in the cover plate to cause the link member 21 and the 
bearings 19 to snap into their operative positions. 
Thus when the cover plate is rocked in, link member 21 swings downwardly to 
depress pin 23, causing the aromatic liquid to spray upwardly and to be 
discharged through openings 13 in the cover. 
The entire assembly may be removed from the wall and discarded after the 
spray can is spent simply by peeling the wall sheet off the wall. However, 
the assembly may be made in a non-disposable version with the fixture 
permanently screwed in the wall, so that when the spray can is exhausted, 
one then retracts the cover from the fixture and replaces the can with a 
fresh can, after which the cover is put back on the fixture. While there 
has been shown and described a preferred embodiment of a WALL-MOUNTABLE 
AROMATIC LIQUID DISPENSER ASSEMBLY in accordance with the invention, it 
will be appreciated that many changes and modifications may be made 
therein without, however, departing from the essential spirit thereof.