Abstract:
An apparatus with changeable atmosphere comprises multiple atmosphere materials belonging to different categories, at least one atmosphere generator and a controller, the atmosphere generator providing the dissipation energies of the atmosphere materials. The dissipation times and intensities of the various atmosphere materials are manipulated by controlling the distances between the various atmosphere materials and the at least one atmosphere generator, or the operation intensity of the at least one atmosphere generator, thereby the function of changing atmospheres can be acquired.

Description:
RELATED U.S. APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     Not applicable.  
       STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT  
       [0002]     Not applicable.  
       REFERENCE TO MICROFICHE APPENDIX  
       [0003]     Not applicable.  
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     The present invention is related to an apparatus with changeable atmosphere, more specifically to an apparatus capable of changing, selecting or mixing atmospheres.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005]     Nowadays, fragrance vaporizers for either natural or artificial perfumes are in wide use in families, offices or cars so as to remove odor. Because essences serving as the source of fragrance may have the curative effects of sedation, relaxation, reinvigoration or the like, numerous essences and the related apparatuses for air-freshening purposes have become popular in the current market.  
         [0006]     Conventionally, volatilizing perfume materials such as essences can be implemented by heating. However, such perfume volatilization may incur olfaction inactivation after being conducted for a certain amount of time, and therefore the expected effect is diminished. Further, it is hard to change the smell to be of a different category during processing in accordance with conventional methods, so the conventional methods usually cannot satisfy the requirements in an environment in need of various atmospheres such as an office for changing atmosphere with time so as to harmonize working temper, a home for temperament and interest adjustment, or a fragrance curative place sequentially dissipating various atmospheres to harmonize human mental and physical conditions.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     The objective of the present invention is related to an apparatus capable of changing, selecting and combining the sequences of dissipating atmospheres, and mixing atmospheres to meet the requirements of different demands and environments, so as to retard or thoroughly avoid the occurrence of olfaction inactivation.  
         [0008]     The apparatus with changeable atmosphere of the present invention comprises multiple atmosphere materials belonging to different categories and at least one atmosphere generator, where the atmosphere generator is intended to provide the dissipation energy for the atmosphere materials. The times and intensities of various atmosphere material dissipations are manipulated by controlling the distance between the various atmosphere materials and the at least one atmosphere generator, or the operation intensity of the at least one atmosphere generator, thereby the function of changing atmospheres can be acquired.  
         [0009]     The atmosphere generator capable of dissipating fragrances may be a flame of a candle or another flammable material capable of providing heat, and the atmosphere materials are individually positioned at different heights in respect of the candle or the flammable material. With the gradually lower flame of the candle, i.e., the distances between the flame and the atmosphere materials are shortened into volatilization activation regions sequentially, the dissipations of the atmosphere materials are activated in order.  
         [0010]     Alternatively, the atmosphere generator may be a heater, and the various atmosphere materials are respectively put on a moveable mechanism as time goes on such as the hour hand and the minute hand of a clock. As a result, the various atmosphere materials can be sequentially dissipated at different times by rotating the hour hand and the minute hand.  
         [0011]     Another apparatus with changeable atmosphere includes multiple various atmosphere materials, at least one atmosphere generator and a controller, where the at least one atmosphere generator provides energy to dissipate the atmosphere materials, and the controller controls the distance between the various atmosphere materials and the at least one atmosphere generator, and the operation intensity of the at least one atmosphere generator, so as to control the dissipation times and intensities of the atmosphere materials for changing atmospheres. In other words, the apparatus is a mechanism capable of controlling the positions of multiple various atmosphere materials to the atmosphere generator, and the atmospheres may be sequential, random or simultaneous dissipated, thereby the indoor atmosphere varies as time goes on.  
         [0012]     Various atmosphere materials may be dissipated by the same atmosphere generator or exclusive atmosphere generators in respect of the various atmosphere materials. The former further comprises a moving apparatus to move the various atmosphere materials towards the atmosphere generator, and can be controlled by a controller to change atmospheres. The controller can control the ON/OFF switching and intensity of the atmosphere generator, so as to achieve abundant atmosphere changing effects.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0013]     FIGS.  1 ( a ) through  1 ( d ) illustrate the apparatuses with changeable atmosphere of a candle type in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0014]     FIGS.  1 ( e ) through  1 ( g ) illustrate other embodiments of the apparatus with changeable atmosphere in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0015]     FIGS.  2 ( a ) and  2 ( b ) illustrate the apparatuses with changeable atmosphere of a clock type in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0016]     FIGS.  2 ( c ) and  2 ( d ) illustrate the apparatuses with changeable atmosphere including rotating mechanisms in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0017]      FIG. 3  illustrates an apparatus with changeable atmosphere with rotating atmosphere materials in accordance with the present invention; and  
         [0018]      FIG. 4  illustrates a stationary apparatus with changeable atmosphere in accordance with the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0019]      FIG. 1 ( a ) illustrates an apparatus with changeable atmosphere in accordance with the present invention. An apparatus with changeable atmosphere  10  includes a candle  102 , a first atmosphere material  104 , a second atmosphere material  106 , a third atmosphere material  108 , an oxygen outlet  110 , an oxygen bottle  112 , a regulator  114 , a gas hose  116  and a controller  118 , where the first, second and third atmosphere materials  104 ,  106  and  108  are shaped as a ring and surround the candle  102  at different heights, and may be pure essences, materials absorbing perfumes or perfumes in containers. The oxygen outlet  110  faces the candle  102  and is connected to the oxygen bottle  112  through the gas hose  116 , where the gas hose  116  is provided with a regulator  114  manipulated by the controller  118  to control oxygen flow. When the candle  102  is being flamed, the flame on the top of the candle  102  will gradually descend. Accordingly, when the flame is down to the height of the first atmosphere material  104 , the first atmosphere material  104  will be dissipated by the heat of the flame. Likewise, when the flame is down to the second atmosphere material  106  and the third atmosphere material  108 , atmospheres will be dissipated from the second and third atmosphere materials  106  and  108 , respectively. In this embodiment, extra oxygen is introduced to enhance the burning efficiency so that dissipation timing can be well controlled.  
         [0020]      FIG. 1 ( b ) illustrates a changeable atmosphere candle  12  in which a wick  120  is surrounded by various atmosphere materials  121 ,  122 ,  123  serving as a wax candle body. As a result, the candle  12  can dissipate various atmospheres according to the different flame positions.  
         [0021]     Referring to  FIG. 1 ( c ), an atmosphere ball  131  made of flammable materials is provided with a protrusion  135  and a hole  136  on the top and the bottom, respectively. The protrusion  135  conforms to the hole  136  for combination. As shown in  FIG. 1 ( d ), atmosphere balls  132 ,  133  and  134  are shaped as the ball  131  but composed of different atmosphere materials, and the four atmosphere balls  131 ,  132 ,  133  and  134  are together combined as an apparatus with changeable atmosphere  14  and burned in sequence to change atmosphere to be of different types.  
         [0022]     Referring to  FIG. 1 ( e ), an apparatus  15  with changeable atmosphere comprises a heater  158 , a fan  156 , five atmosphere balls  151 ,  152 ,  153 ,  154  and  155  of different categories and a tube  157 , where the atmosphere balls  151 ,  152 ,  153 ,  154  and  155  are vertically aligned in the tube  157  and disposed above the heater  155 . When the atmosphere ball  155  is gradually dissipated out, the atmosphere ball  154  will be smaller and descended by gravity. Consequently, the atmosphere balls  155 ,  154 ,  153 ,  152  and  151  will be dissipated in order. Moreover, the fan  156  is intended to enhance the effectiveness of atmosphere dissipation.  
         [0023]     Referring to  FIG. 1 ( f ), an apparatus  16  comprises four flammable atmosphere balls  161 ,  162 ,  163  and  164  are serially connected by a string  165 , wherein the flammable atmosphere balls  161  to  165  are of different categories. As a result, if one of the flammable atmosphere balls is flamed, the atmosphere will be changed whenever the adjacent flammable balls are flamed also. The flammable atmosphere materials may be shaped as another type such as a plug, and can achieve the essentially equivalent effect.  
         [0024]     As shown in  FIG. 1 ( g ), an apparatus  17  comprises five atmosphere materials  171 ,  172 ,  173 ,  174  and  175  connected in series, and a flammable layer  176  surrounds the five atmosphere materials  171  to  175 . As a result, the atmosphere dissipation is based on the position where the flammable layer  176  burns.  
         [0025]     Referring to  FIG. 2 ( a ), an apparatus with changeable atmosphere  20  comprises a clock body  202 , an hour hand  206 , a minute hand  208 , a atmosphere generator  204 , a first atmosphere material  210  and a second atmosphere material  212 , the first and second atmosphere materials being placed on the tips of the hour hand  206  and the minute hand  208 . The atmosphere generator  204 , e.g., a heater or the like capable of dissipating the first and second atmosphere materials  210 ,  212 , is located at the “twelve o&#39;clock” position of the clock body  202 . The hour hand  206  and minute hand  208  rotate as time goes on, so the first and second atmosphere materials  210 ,  212  can be dissipated whenever the hour hand  206  and the minute hand  208  go through the “twelve o&#39;clock” position, respectively. When the time is twelve o&#39;clock, the hour hand  206  and the minute hand  208  are overlapped whereby a mixed atmosphere will be generated.  
         [0026]      FIG. 2 ( b ) illustrates another apparatus with changeable atmosphere  22  of clock type, in which heaters  226  and  224  are placed on the tip of the hour hand  206  and minute hand  208 , respectively, whereas different atmosphere materials  222  and  223  are placed above the clock body  202  and close to the rotating paths of the hour hand  206  and the minute hand  208 . Whenever the hour hand  206  or the minute hand  208  goes underneath the atmosphere material  222  or  223 , the relevant atmosphere will be dissipated.  
         [0027]     As shown in  FIG. 2 ( c ), an apparatus  24  comprises a rotating mechanism  241  and four atmosphere materials  244 ,  245 ,  246  and  247  of different categories. The rotating mechanism  241  is provided with a rotating rod  242  on the surface, and a heater, e.g., a candle  243 , is disposed at the tip of the rotating rod  242 . When the rotating rod  242  rotates, the candle  243  goes beneath the atmosphere materials  244 ,  245 ,  246  and  247  and therefore provides heat for dissipation.  
         [0028]     As shown in  FIG. 2 ( d ), an apparatus  26  comprises a rotating mechanism  261  and four atmosphere materials  264 ,  265 ,  266  and  267  of different categories. The rotating mechanism  261  is provided with a heater such as a candle  262  on the surface and a rotating frame  263 . The rotating flame  263  carries the four atmosphere materials  264 ,  265 ,  266  and  267 , and thus the four atmosphere materials  264 ,  265 ,  266  and  267  go above the candle  262  in order for being dissipated when the rotating frame  263  rotates.  
         [0029]     As shown in  FIG. 3 , an apparatus with changeable atmosphere  30  comprises a base  302 , a rotation apparatus  304 , a first atmosphere material  306 , a second atmosphere material  308 , a third atmosphere material  310 , an atmosphere generator  312  and a controller  314 . The first, second and third atmosphere materials  306 ,  308  and  310  are spaced by 120 degrees and carried by the rotation apparatus  304 . The atmosphere generator  312  is placed on the base  302 , and the controller  314  is in control of the atmosphere generator  312  and the rotation apparatus  304 . When the first atmosphere material  306  is above the atmosphere generator  312 , the first atmosphere material  306  will be dissipated. Likewise, the second and third atmosphere materials  308 ,  310  can also be rotated to the place above the atmosphere generator  312  by the rotation apparatus  304  for atmosphere dissipation. The rotation apparatus  304  can rotate continuously or by point-to-point manner. The continuous rotation is similar to the rotations of the hour and minute hands in the clock embodiment mentioned above, whereas the point-to-point rotation can continuously dissipate atmosphere for a while if desired. In addition to controlling the rotation apparatus  304 , the controller  314  can also control the operation intensity of the atmosphere generator  312 . For example, the higher temperature of the atmosphere generator  312  can increase the dissipation efficiency of the atmosphere material.  
         [0030]     As shown in  FIG. 4 , an apparatus with changeable atmosphere  40  comprises a base  402 , a support  404 , a first atmosphere material  406 , a second atmosphere material  408 , a third atmosphere material  410 , three atmosphere generators  412  and a controller  414 . The first, second and third atmosphere materials  406 ,  408  and  410  are spaced by 120 degrees and supported by the support  404 , and the three atmosphere generators  412  controlled by the controller  414  are respectively placed below the first, second and third atmosphere materials  406 ,  408  and  410 . In comparison with the apparatus  30  shown in  FIG. 3 , the apparatus with changeable atmosphere  40  needs no rotation apparatus and the relevant control system so that the apparatus can be simplified. Further, two or three atmosphere generators  412  can be simultaneously activated to obtain mixed atmosphere that cannot be derived by the apparatus  30  in  FIG. 3 .  
         [0031]     The above atmosphere materials may be essences of various categories, and the atmosphere generators  412  may be a heater of a high temperature type or a hot wind type to improve the dissipation of the atmosphere materials.  
         [0032]     The above-described embodiments of the present invention are intended to be illustratively only. Numerous alternative embodiments may be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the following claims.