Evaporator device

Description of the invention

The present invention relates to an evaporator for use inter alia as an air freshener, adapted to receive a liquid reservoir provided with a wick.

Such vaporizers have a wick, some of which extends beyond the reservoir, and includes a cover partially shielding the portion of the wick outside the reservoir of the device.

One type of air freshener has a bottle filled with liquid perfume, and the bottle has a wick that protrudes beyond the bottle. Heat is supplied to the wick via a ring electric heater, causing the perfume to evaporate.

The disadvantage of this known type of air freshener is the inability to regulate the rate of evaporation of the perfume.

A modified type of air freshener in which an attempt was made to solve this problem is described in the Spanish utility model U9002819Y. In this air freshener, the annular heater moves in a direction parallel to the axis of the wick to regulate the amount of heat delivered to the wick and hence the rate of evaporation of the perfume. The disadvantage of this type of air freshener is that it does not allow a large adjustment of the evaporation rate. The smell came out of the air freshener on an "all or nothing" basis, with a very little intermediate range, depending on whether the heater was influencing the wick or was moved away from it.

The evaporator according to the invention is characterized in that it is equipped with a heating heater for heating the part of the wick outside the tank, and in addition the heating heater is movable between a first position, in which the cover is between the heating heater and the wick, and a second position, in which cover is missing, allowing you to regulate the heat flow from the heating heater to the wick.

Preferably, the thickness of the shell changes in the direction in which the movement of the holding heater is possible.

The evaporator is equipped with an external control that regulates the position of the holding heater.

The evaporator according to the invention overcomes the drawbacks of the known devices, in particular overcomes or at least mitigates the effects of the drawbacks mentioned above by providing an evaporator device which enables improved control of the rate of liquid evaporation.

The invention allows the user to adjust the amount of evaporation of the device gradually between a maximum and a minimum level, e.g. depending on the size of the room in which the device is installed.

The invention is exemplified by the drawing in which Fig. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the evaporator, Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an evaporator similar to that of Fig. 1 taken at right angles to the cross-section of Fig. 1, showing details of the adjusting wheel, Fig. 3 shows an alternative form of the plug used in the evaporator device, and Fig. 4 shows an alternative form of a sheath used in an evaporator device.

The evaporator according to the invention shown in Fig. 1 comprises a container 1 with a liquid 2, for example a perfume. The reservoir 1 is made of a plastic material, for example polypropylene. The reservoir 1 has a single opening 3 through which the porous wick 4 passes, which is held in position by the plug 5 which is tightly seated in the opening 3. The wick 4 is immersed in the liquid 2 absorbed by the wick 4 and diffuses along its length.

The reservoir 1 for storing liquids is made of a water-impermeable material and / or an organic solvent, which is optionally a plastic, for example polypropylene, HDPE (high density polypropylene), PET, Barex or preferably glass. A suitable wick is made of, for example, a natural or synthetic fibrous material such as cotton, glass fiber, mineral fibers, cellulose, ceramic, graphite or polyester.

The wick 4 is pulled through the top cover 6 of the device. The top cover 6 is also made of plastic, for example polypropylene. The top cover 6 is attached to the tank 1 by a snap-fit ​​connection, but any other connection is possible, for example a glued or bolted connection. The top cover 6 includes openings (not shown) to allow the vapors to escape from the wick 4.

PL 195 472 B1

The part 7 of the wick 4, protruding beyond the reservoir 1, passes through the tubular sheath 8 inside the annular heating heater 9.

Shield 8 may advantageously be positioned so that it surrounds the exposed portion of the wick 4. Thus, the shield takes the form of a tube through which the shielded portion of the wick 4 can run. The shield 8 has an annular cross-section, although other configurations are possible. The cover 8 is made integrally with the top cover 6 of the same material.

The heater 9 can be made of any suitable elements, for example a PTC heater combined with a metal alloy embedded in a plastic.

The heating heater 9 is movably mounted in the device, allowing it to move in a direction parallel to the axis of the wick 4, as shown by the arrow 10.

The heater 9 has an annular shape defining an opening. Preferably, it is installed such that it can move in a direction parallel to the axis of the wick. The tank 1 equipped with a wick 4 is placed in the device, the wick 4 passes through the opening in the heating heater 9.

When the sheath 8 includes a tube through which the exposed portion of the wick 4 passes, the opening of the heater 9 is of sufficient size to allow the heater 9 to slide over the sheath 8. Thus, it should be noted that the wick 4, the sheath and the heating heater 9 can be positioned such that the heating heater 9 can be moved along the axis of the wick 4 such that in one position the shield 8 is between the heating heater 9 and with the wick 4, reducing the heat flow from the heating heater 9 to the wick 4, and in another position, the heating heater 9 directly heats the wick, obtaining maximum heat transfer to the wick 4. In the intermediate positions, the wick 4 is partially shielded from the influence of the heating heater 9, which allows the heat flow to be adjusted between these two extreme states.

To achieve a greater degree of control of the amount of heat delivered to the wick 4, the thickness of the sheath 8 is changed in the direction of the relative movement that the heating heater 9 can perform. The thinner the sheath 8, the more heat penetrates the wick and vice versa. The thickness of the sheath 8 may vary continuously to allow for continuous variations in the heat flow towards the wick 4, or alternatively, the thickness may vary gradually to provide a series of discrete levels of adjustment.

The heating heater 9 can be a ring-shaped electrical element, for example a toroidally wound resistance wire or a PTC element, the heating heater 9 can be enclosed in a plastic casing 8. The thermal capacity of the heating means is sufficient to obtain an operating temperature in the range of 50 to 120 ° C.

The evaporator according to the invention may be an electrical device, the source of the electricity supply is either batteries or the electrical device is adapted to be connected to an electrical power source, for example a mains socket.

The evaporator has a casing adapted to contain the heating heater 9, the casing has one or more openings allowing perfume or other vapors to escape. The housing can be made of a plastic material, for example polypropylene.

In one embodiment, the evaporator, and in particular the housing, comprises an enclosure 8 and the enclosure 8 is an integral part of the housing. This solution has the advantage of low production costs since no separate component is required.

In another embodiment, the cover 8 is made independently, for example as part of the reservoir. The cover 8 forms part of the plug holding the wick 4 in the reservoir 1. This embodiment allows the cover 8 to be made of a different material than the rest of the device. This would allow the wick to be made of a thermally insulating material, which would give better control of heat flow than if we are limited to the material of the casing.

The evaporator is equipped with an external control that regulates the position of the holding heater. This solution was introduced so that the user could control the rate of evaporation of the liquid. For example, the control may include a wheel, which may optionally be graduated. The evaporator according to the invention is provided with actuating means, for example a switch for controlling the operation of the device, the actuating means forming part of the external control.

The inclusion of the sheath 8, in particular of a variable thickness, allows better control of the heat flow from the heating heater to the wick, and therefore of the liquid evaporation rate, compared to known devices.

The movement of the heating heater 9 is carried out by external control 11 in the form of a regulator wheel which is rotatably mounted in the device and can move

PL 195 472B1 as shown by arrow 12. The adjuster wheel includes protrusions 13 between which a heater 9 is seated. Note that rotation of the wheel will cause the heater to move along an axis substantially parallel to the wick axis.

The wheel of the adjuster partially protrudes beyond the top cover 6, allowing the position of the heating heater 9 to be adjusted from outside the device. The wheel is marked with numbers that represent the selected evaporation rate. Other types of markings may be used. The rim of the wheel is knurled.

When the heating heater 9 is moved towards the top cover 6 away from the tank 1, it moves over the cover 8. When the cover 8 is between the heating heater 9 and the wick 4, it reduces the amount of heat reaching the wick 4 from the heating heater 9 to the wick 4 to a minimum. , reducing the rate of evaporation of liquid 2 from the wick 4.

When the heating radiator 9 has been moved in the opposite direction, it may thus be beyond the end of the skirt 8, so that nothing prevents the transfer of heat from the heating radiator 9 to the wick 4. This leads to a maximum heat transfer to the wick 4 and thus maximizes the rate of heat transfer to the wick. evaporating the liquid 2 from the wick 4.

If the heating heater 9 has been moved to the position between the above-described positions, the wick 4 will be partially insulated from it and partially exposed to it. This will place the evaporation somewhere between the maximum evaporation rate when holding heater 9 is fully exposed and the minimum evaporating rate when holding heater 9 is fully shielded. The heating rate of the wick 4, and thus the rate of evaporation of the liquid 2, can be gradually changed between the maximum value and the minimum value. Such regulation was not possible with existing devices.

The mechanism by which the heating heater can be moved is shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 2 uses the same reference numbers as in Fig. 1 to designate items that perform similar functions to those performed in the apparatus in Fig. 1.

In an alternative embodiment of the device shown in Fig. 1, it is possible to insert a cover which is an extension of the plug 3 and not the top cover 6. A suitable alternative plug 14 is shown in cross-section in Fig. 3, the plug comprises a cover 15, a part 16 inserted into the opening. , and a flange 17 restraining the seat of the plug 14 in the opening. If the plug 14 replaces the plug 5 shown in Fig. 1, it is necessary to remove the cover 8.

In this embodiment, it should be noted that when the heating heater 9 is moved towards the liquid 2, the skirt 15 will be between the heating heater 9 and the wick 4, giving a minimum rate of evaporation, and when the heating heater 9 is moved towards the lid 6 then no shielding will occur and the maximum rate of evaporation will be achieved.

The advantage of this embodiment is that the plug 14, together with the cover 15, can be made of a different material than the cover 6 (top). For example, to achieve a low minimum rate of evaporation, it may be desirable to make the enclosure 15 of a heat-insulating material with possible heat-reflecting properties. It would be disadvantageous or expensive to make the entire top cover 6 from such a material, compared to making only the plug 14 from such a material.

In a further alternative embodiment, the sheath 18, whether part of the top cover 6, or a plug or other element, has a varying thickness that allows different heat transfer rates to be achieved from the heating heater 9 to the wick 4 depending on the position of the heating heater and sheath.

An example of a shield of varying thickness is shown in cross-section in Fig. 4. Shield 18 has four discrete areas of varying thickness. The wall thicknesses in these areas are 2, 1.5, 1 and 0.5 mm. The thicker the sheath, the more effectively it reduces the heat flow from the holding heater to the wick. Thus, when the heating heater is near the thicker end 19 of the shield 18, less heat reaches the wick 4 under the shield than when the heating heater 9 is near the thinner end 20 of the shield 18.

The introduction of the variable thickness sheath 18 gives greater and more uniform control of the amount of heat transferred to the wick 4, and thus the rate of evaporation of the liquid. Cover 18, of course, may have a continuously varying wall thickness, rather than discrete steps.

The evaporator is used to evaporate the active agent in liquid form.

PL 195 472 B1

Suitable active agent solvents include water, an alkyl alcohol, e.g., isopropanol or ethanol, ether (such as monopropylene glycol methyl ether), dipropylene glycol methyl ether, and / or tripropylene glycol methyl ether. glycol methyl ether), carbitol, glycol (propylene glycol or dipropylene glycol).

The active ingredient may contain a perfume and optionally an odor reducing agent and / or an insecticide.

Perfumes suitable for use in the invention include one or more aromatic materials such as cedar oil, sandalwood oil, bergamot oil, Bulgarian rose oil, patchouli oil, myrtle oil, clove leaf oil, lily oil, ethyl alcohol, terpineol, methanol, citronellal and / or phenylethyl alcohol.

A suitable deodorant for use in the invention is one or more perfumed or non-fragrant chemicals known to have an odor reducing effect, e.g. unsaturated ethers, ketones, aldehydes and / or aromatic materials e.g. citronellal and / or oil. Cedarwood (which is also a known tobacco odor reducing agent).

Suitable insecticides for use in the invention include one or more natural insecticides such as pyrethroid, nicotinoid, rotenoid and / or one or more synthetic insecticides, for example tetramethrin, bioalethrin, allethrin, fentrin, dinitrophenol, organic thiocyanate, benzene hexachloride , a polychlorinated cyclic hydrocarbon (e.g. heptachlor, aldrin and / or telodrine) and / or an organic phosphate (e.g. tetraethyl pyrophosphate).

The active agent may further contain antioxidants such as tocopherol, ascorbyl palmitate, butylated toluene, ascorbic acid, tert-butyl hydroquinone, beta carotene and / or gallate. In addition to the active agent, the tank may also contain a UV stabilizer such as Uvinol 400.

The above-described embodiments have been presented for purposes of illustration only, and many changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.