Patent Document

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to the general art of dispensing, and to the particular field of air freshener dispensers combined with other devices. 
   2. Description of the Related Art 
   Fragrances and scents for use in freshening the air in a room are well known in the art and the art contains many examples of such devices. These devices range from simple containers that are opened to allow evaporation to dispense the aroma, to complex devices that include fans, motors, and the like. 
   When a person initially enters a room, one of the first things they notice is the smell of the room. If a room is musty, or has cooking odors, or smoke odors, or the like, this is immediately noticed by a person entering the room. For this reason, many air freshener devices operate continuously so people entering a room notice the freshened smell rather than some other, less pleasing, smell. However, this can be wasteful if the room is unoccupied for a long time. Fragrance dispensed into an empty room is generally wasted. 
   Therefore, there is a need for a dispenser for dispensing air freshening ingredients into a room, but only when such air freshening is needed. 
   Since initial entry into a room is when fragrance is most noticed, the most effective time to have fragrance dispensed is when someone is most likely to be initially entering a room. 
   Therefore, there is a need for a dispenser for dispensing air freshening ingredients into a room, but only when such air freshening is needed and when such dispensing is most effective. 
   While the art has air freshener dispensers attached to doors, such device depend on the movement of the door to dispense the air freshener. Once a door is moving, the person is nearly always into the room, and the fragrance dispensed will not be as effective as it would be if the fragrance were dispensed before the person entered the room. Once a person enters a room, it does not take long for their olfactories to become used to the scent in a room and air freshener dispensed at this time will not be as effective. 
   The inventor is not aware of any air freshener dispenser that will overcome the just-mentioned difficulty and dispense air freshener only when needed and in the most effective manner and do so before a person enters a room. 
   Therefore, there is a need for an air freshener device that will dispense air freshener only when needed and in the most effective manner and do so before a person enters a room. 
   PRINCIPAL OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
   It is a main object of the present invention to provide a dispenser for dispensing air freshening ingredients into a room, but only when such air freshening is needed. 
   It is another object of the present invention to provide a dispenser for dispensing air freshening ingredients into a room, but only when such air freshening is needed and when such dispensing is most effective. 
   It is another object of the present invention to provide an air freshener device that will dispense air freshener only when needed and in the most effective manner and do so before a person enters a room. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   These, and other, objects are achieved by an air freshener device that is incorporated into the door knob of a door and which is operated to dispense fragrance when the door is being pushed open. The air freshener is dispensed into a room immediately prior to a person entering the room, and the movement of the door will enhance the dispensing operation by causing air currents directed into the room to assist in the dispersing of the air freshener. 
   Using the air freshener device embodying the present invention will permit a fragrance to be dispersed immediately before a person enters a room, but only at that time. Thus, fragrance is dispersed efficiently and is not wasted and is dispersed in a manner that is most effective. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an air freshener device embodying the present invention. 
       FIG. 2  is a perspective of an air freshener dispensing mechanism used in the air freshener device embodying the present invention. 
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view of an alternative form of a door knob element used in the air freshener device embodying the present invention. 
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view of an alternative form of a door knob element used in the air freshener device embodying the present invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings. 
   Referring to the Figures, it can be understood that the present invention is embodied in an air freshener device  10  that is contained in a handle mechanism associated with a door of a room and which is operated when the door is moved into a room to dispense scent into the room as the door is being moved into the room. For purposes of this disclosure, movement of the door into a room will be referred to as opening the door. 
   Device  10  comprises a door knob unit  12  mounted on a door, indicated as door D in  FIG. 1 . Other than the structure that will be described herein, unit  12  is mounted on door D in the usual manner and such mounting will not be described in detail. 
   Door knob unit  12  includes a first handle  16  that is located on the outside of a room in a use condition and into which a key K is inserted to open the door. Unit  12  further includes a second handle  18  that is located inside a room in a use condition. A connecting element  22  connects first handle  16  to second handle  18  and which extends through door D on which the first and second handles  16 ,  18  are mounted so the handles  16 ,  18  can be operated in a manner well known to those skilled in the art. 
   First handle  16  is movably mounted on connecting element  22  to move toward the door when the first handle is pushed toward the door as indicated in  FIG. 1  by arrow  24 . First handle  16  can include spring elements to move it in the opposite direction after the handle is released, or it can simply remain in a forward position until a person grasps the handle and moves it in the direction opposite to direction  24 . 
   A scent dispersing unit  30  is mounted on second handle  18  and operates to dispense room air freshener material into a room as handle unit  12  is pushed to open the door into the room. Scent dispersing unit  30  includes a cover  32  which is mounted on second handle  18 , a plurality of outlet ports, such as outlet port  34 , defined through the cover  32 , and a manifold  36  fluidically connected to the outlet ports  34  and located inside second handle  18 . 
   Scent dispersing unit  30  further includes a pump mechanism  40  located inside second handle  18  and which is fluidically connected to manifold  36 . Pump mechanism  40  includes a hollow housing  42  having a first end  44  located adjacent to second handle  18 , a second end  46  spaced apart from first end  44 , and a longitudinal axis  48  extending between first end  44  and second end  46 . 
   A piston  50  is movably mounted inside hollow housing  42  to move in the direction of longitudinal axis  48  toward and away from first end  44  as indicated by arrow  52 . A one-way valve  54  is located in the piston  50  and opens to define a fluid passageway through the piston  50  when the piston  50  moves away from first end  44  in direction  52 ′ and closes to occlude the fluid passageway through the piston  50  when piston  50  moves toward second end  46  in direction  52 ″. The one-way valve is known to those skilled in the art and thus will not be further discussed in detail. 
   A rigid fluid feed line  60  is fluidically and mechanically connected to piston  50  and extends through connecting element  22 . Fluid line  60  is movably mounted in connecting element  22  to move in association with movement of first handle  16  toward and away from second handle  18  in directions  52 ′ and  52 ″ with direction  52 ″ corresponding to direction  24 . 
   A fluid reservoir  70  is located in first handle  16  and is fluidically connected to fluid feed line  60 . A fluid scent  72  is stored in fluid reservoir  70  to be drawn into housing  42  when piston  50  moves in direction  52 ″ and to be forced into manifold  36  when piston  50  moves in direction  52 ″. One-way valve  52  closes when piston  50  moves in direction  52 ″ to force fluid scent  72  out of housing  42  and into manifold  36  to be forced out of manifold  36  via ports  34 , and opens when piston  50  moves in direction  52 ′ to draw fluid scent  72  into housing  42  from reservoir  70  via fluid line  60 . Reservoir  70  is rigid and is rigidly connected to first handle  16  to move therewith. Since fluid line  60  is also rigid, movement of handle  16  will be mechanically transmitted to piston  50 . Reservoir  70  is removed from handle  16  and from fluid line  60 , and replaced when scent material  72  is depleted. To this end, handle  16  has elements that removably attach it to the door. 
   One form of scent dispensing unit  30  is shown in  FIG. 1  to include a cover  80  that has outlet ports, such as outlet port  82 , fluidically aligned with outlet ports  34  of cover  32 . Another form of unit  30  includes a cover  84  shown in  FIG. 4  that has a plurality of outlet ports, such as outlet port  86 . Yet another form of unit  30  includes a pump unit  90  that is shown in  FIG. 3 . Pump unit  90  includes a plurality of compressible beads, such as bead  92 , mounted on a cover  94  that is shaped and sized to be accommodated on first handle  16 . The beads  92  are fluidically connected together and to fluid line  60 . As a user grasps handle  16 , the beads  92  are compressed to force fluid scent  72  out of the beads  92  into fluid line  60 . In the case of pump unit  90 , a pump mechanism  40  is not used since the pumping action occurs when a user compresses the beads  92 ; however, the remaining elements of the pump unit  90  correspond to the above-described elements of unit  30 . When the beads  92  are depleted of scent material, the entire unit  90  can be replaced. 
   It is understood that while certain forms of the present invention have been illustrated and described herein, it is not to be limited to the specific forms or arrangements of parts described and shown.

Technology Category: 1