Diffuser with different temperature response

A diffuser includes an adjustable heater having a temperature control knob providing indicia coordinated with like indicia on packets of vaporizable materials of different tendencies to vaporize. By manipulating the temperature control knob to the indicia corresponding to the indicia on the packet, a suitable quantity of energy is delivered to the diffuser resulting in suitable vaporization. One indicia is color coded packets and similarly color coded markings adjacent the temperature control knob.

This invention relates to a diffuser for evaporating one of a series of substances of different inclination to vaporize.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a diffuser for partially evaporating a series of substances that have different inclinations to vaporize. One use of such a device is in providing essential oil vapors where the oils have different boiling points and distributing the vapors as desired. One particular use of such a device is in a toothbrush holder where toothbrushes are exposed to the vapors in order to freshen or sanitize toothbrushes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention is an improvement over the device shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,575.

There is disclosed an electrically heated diffuser having a temperature control device including a series of indicia representative of the different vaporization tendencies of several vaporizable liquids. The user may select the indicia which corresponds to a similar indicia on a packet of material to be vaporized and thereby actuate the heater to produce a desired vaporization of the material.

There is also disclosed a series of packets of vaporizable materials having different indicia representing the vaporizable tendency of the material contained therein. The indicia on the packet corresponds to the indicia on the diffuser so the user may readily set the diffuser to perform satisfactorily with the material in the packet. In a preferred embodiment, the indicia on the diffuser is a series of different colors and the packets are colored in the same series of different colors so the temperature supplied by the diffuser is matched to the vaporization tendency of the material in the packet.

The diffuser may be incorporated into a toothbrush holder so the vaporized materials freshen or disinfect the exposed toothbrushes. In the alternative, the diffuser may simply allow the vaporized material to escape into the room or area where it is located to provide a pleasing aroma or be part of an air conditioning system. One set of materials used in the diffuser may be that class of compounds known as essential oils.

The crux of the invention may be an electrically heated diffuser having a temperature control device including a series of indicia representative of different vaporization tendencies of vaporizable liquids used with the device. The user may select the indicia which corresponds to an indicia on a packet of material to be vaporized and thereby actuate the heater to produce a desired vaporization of the material. In some embodiments, a magnetic stirrer may be provided in the packet and/or electrically operated fans may be inside the diffuser housing to promote delivery of vapors from the packet.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved method and apparatus for diffusing vaporizable materials.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved device for creating pleasant vapors.

A more specific object of this invention is to provide a combination toothbrush holder and diffuser to generate freshening or disinfecting vapors to toothbrushes.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become more apparent as this description proceeds, reference being made to the accompanying drawings and appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring toFIGS. 1-6, a toothbrush holder10includes a housing12of any suitable configuration having a base14and a lid16. The base14provides a drawer or door18movable between open and closed positions to provide access to the interior of the housing12. A suitable latch (not shown) may be provided to hold the door18in the closed position. A release mechanism20may be provided to operate the latch and allow the drawer or door18to open. The interior of the base14includes a toothbrush holding platform or partition22having openings24for receiving one or more toothbrushes26. The toothbrushes26are supported in any suitable fashion, as by the provision of a receptacle28depending from the platform22. As explained more fully hereinafter, passages30in the platform22allow vapors to contact bristles on the toothbrush and thereby freshen and disinfect the toothbrush26. The lid16may be of any suitable type and is illustrated as being of transparent plastic having suitable grasping recesses32.

The base14houses a heating assembly34including a receptacle36receiving an electrically operated heater38including a magnetic field generator40to produce a rotating magnetic field for rotating a magnetizable stirrer as more fully pointed out hereinafter. The heater38also includes a electric heating element42and a temperature control system44including a temperature control device or knob46accessible from the exterior of the housing12. A switch48is provided in a connection50to a source of power in order to turn the heating assembly34on and off and a light or other suitable device52may be provided to provide an indication to the user that the device is on.

The heating assembly34includes a thermally insulating cup or dish54having a recess56for receiving a packet58of a vaporizable material as more fully explained hereinafter. The cup54is in heat exchanging relation with the heater38and may preferably be supported thereby. A pair of brackets60may be provided to center the cup54on the heater38. In some embodiments, the heating assembly34may include a fan62to circulate vapors emanating from the packet58throughout the housing12. In other embodiments, vapor flow is induced by heat supplied from the heating assembly34.

An important advantage of the holder10is to provide a flow path for vapors produced by material in the packet58. In some embodiments, vapor may exit the housing12through one or more arrays of openings64in one or multiple sides of the housing base14. In other embodiments, vapor may exit the housing12through openings66in the lid16. This has the advantage of minimizing condensation of the essential oil in the housing12. In other embodiments, vapor may exit the housing through both sets of openings64,66.

The packets58may be of any suitable type and include a container68for the vaporizable material and a lid70sealing the contents inside the container68. The lid70conveniently is a peelable flexible material adhesively adhering to the container68or to an intermediate wall72having perforations74therein. The intermediate wall72may be more-or-less rigid to provide a support for the peelable lid70and minimize spillage of liquids in the container68while allowing vapors to escape. A magnetic rod76may be placed in the liquid material in the container68to stir the liquid in response to the rotating magnetic field produced by the generator40.

An important advantage of the diffuser10is the manner in which the temperature control system44and manually positioned control element46are used to provide an appropriate temperature for the vaporizable material in the packet58. A series of indicia78a-78eare provided on the housing base14adjacent the path of movement of the control element46which includes a pointer or reference mark80so that when the knob46is turned to align the reference mark80with a selected one of the indicia, a desired amount of energy is delivered to the heating assembly34, the magnetic generator40and the fans62.

The indicia78are different from each other in a manner that corresponds to a parameter of material in the packets58. The parameter is a physical characteristic of the liquid material in the packet that correlates to, or is predictive of, the tendency of the liquid material to vaporize. The selected parameter may differ with different materials in the packet58. Most volatile scent producing materials are flammable so this may be taken into account when selecting a parameter. The parameter may be boiling point in an inert gas, the temperature at which the material begins smoking when heated in air, density, viscosity or the like.

Each packet58also incudes different indicia82a-82ethat correlate to, or is identical to, one of the indicia78a-78e. In other words, the indicia78,82cooperate to match the power supplied to the heating assembly34with the material in the packet58. The indicia78,82may vary widely and include a patch of color, numbers, symbols, diagrams and the like. It may be preferred to use color for a variety of reasons, e.g. simplicity of use and instruction, pleasing packaging where the entire lid70may be of the desired color, and the like.

Although many different types of vaporizable materials may be used in the diffuser10, what may be a preferred type is known as essential oils. An essential oil is an essence of plant material of which there are hundreds of examples. The raw plant material is generally pressed to produce a liquid which is then filtered and purified to produce a volatile mixture of compounds, which produce desired scented or disinfectant vapors. Typical plants used in the manufacture of essential oils are flowers, coconut, jojoba, almonds, olives, basil, cinnamon, sassafras, vetiver, ginger, fennel, anise, citrus epicaps, peppermint and the like.

Because of the large number of compounds in an essential oil and because of their relative presence, essential oils inherently have different rates of vaporization and thus differently vaporize at room temperature. By differentially warming, adjusting stirring speeds and adjusting fan speed, different essential oils or mixtures of essential oils may produce more desirable effects when compared to heating all essential oils to the same temperature. It will be apparent that different essential oils or different mixtures of essential oils may vaporize differently in response to more heat, higher stirring speeds or more air circulation. Thus, the power supplied to the heater38, magnetic generator40and/or fans62may be adjusted independently of each other to provide optimum vaporizing conditions. Thesedesiderataproduce some difficulty to teach a user to operate the diffuser10in a more-or-less optimum manner.

Many commercially available essential oils are mixtures containing compounds of differing vaporizing tendency. If a diffuser has only one operating temperature, mixtures are made so their vaporizing tendency corresponds to the single operating temperature. With the ability to provide different operating conditions, i.e. temperature, stirring speed and/or fan speed, and correlate the operating temperature with mixtures of different vaporizing tendencies, many more essential oil mixtures may be formulated and used successfully.

Operation of the diffuser10should now be apparent. The user opens the drawer18and places a desired packet58in the recess56of the dish54. The user turns the knob46of the temperature control system44so the pointer80aligns with the indicia78corresponding to the indicia82on the packet58. If color is being used as indicia, the user turns the knob46of the temperature control system44so the pointer80aligns with the indicia78that is the same color as the indicia on the selected packet58. The user closes the drawer18and plugs the connection50into a suitable source of electrical power and turns the switch48on. The heater38delivers a desired amount of energy to the element42and magnetic field generator40to simultaneously warm the liquid material in the dish54and rotate the magnetic rod/stir bar76to stir material in the packet58thereby deliver vapors upwardly in the housing12, either by fan induced draft or from thermal draft, depending on use of the variable speed of the fans62. Vapors flow upwardly in the housing12and exit through one or both of the array of openings64,66, depending on the details of construction of the housing12. Vapors flowing past the toothbrush26freshen and/or disinfect bristles on the toothbrush in accordance with the nature and quantity of the vapors.

Referring toFIGS. 7-8there is illustrated a diffuser84which operates on the same principles as the diffuser10. The diffuser84may be located in a room to be infused with vapors from the device or incorporated into an air conditioning system to deliver vapors throughout the facility being heated or cooled by the system. The diffuser84includes a housing86of any suitable configuration having a base88and a lid90. The housing86provides a compartment receiving operating of the diffuser and provides a series of openings92distributing vapors to the area around the diffuser84. The housing86and lid90may be made of any suitable material such as polymer plastics, ceramics or the like.

Inside the housing86is a heater assembly94including a heater96and a magnetic field generator98. The heater assembly94includes a temperature control system100for adjusting the amount of energy delivered to the heater96. The control system100includes a manually operated temperature control element such as a rotatable knob104having a pointer or mark106. Arrayed in the path of movement of the knob104are a series of indicia108functioning the same as the indicia78of the diffuser10. A heat tolerant dish110includes a recess112receiving a packet114of vaporizable material. The packet114may be the same as the packet58and include indicia representing a series of values of a parameter correlated with the tendency of material in the packet58to vaporize. It will be seen that operation of the diffuser84is essentially the same as the diffuser10so that manipulating the knob104to position the pointer106to align with a selected one of the indicia108delivers an amount of energy to the heater96, the magnetic generator40and the fan116that is appropriate considering the vaporizing tendency of material in the packet114.

Although this invention has been disclosed and described in its preferred forms with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred forms is only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of operation and in the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.