Odor dispensing device

Dec. 6, 1938.

2,139,291

D. TOPJ1AN

ODOR DISPENSING DEVICE

Filed April 2, 1937

<img file="US2139291A_D0001.tif" />

Patented Dec. 6, 1938

2,139,291

1Claim.

This invention pertains to odor dispensing means, and although of more general application and value, as will hereinafter be made manifest appears to be most widely useful when embodied in a match packet.

While it is true that the heads of modern safety matches do not contain so much sulphur, white phosphorus or other extremely pungent chemical substances as did the matches of the older types— even the modern match, when burning, emits fumes which are acrid and unpleasant. Doubtless by far the greater part of the matches produced are used by smokers, and a large percentage of these so used are lighted within a restricted or confined space, such as a living room, office ^{ot the llke}> ^from which ttiere is little opportunity for the fumes to escape.

Not only does the excessive consumption of an “^ai.^{ches by} smokers load the atmosphere so With unpleasant fumes, but the tobacco smoke itself, especially after it becomes stagnant and stale, has an odor which is disagreeable even to many smokers, and which, perhaps by reason of some oily constituent in the smoke, exhibits a 2« marked tendency to cling to the hair and clothing for a long period of time. This is particularly objectionable to women, perhaps because they are more fastidious by nature than men and who normally prefer the delicate fragrance of perfume to the crude and pungent smell of the smoking room.

It has heretofore been proposed to substitute a more pleasing odor for that which usually fills the room where many persons are smoking, by burning incense, joss sticks, or the like, and while this may improve conditions when it is resorted to, its practice demands at least some forethought on the part of the would-be-user in providing a stock of incense or joss sticks, neither of which can be regarded as an article of common everyday use in the average American household, and when, by forethought, such material be on hand its use is more than likely to be sporadic and only resorted to when conditions become extremely D8.U.

Hie present invention has for its principal object the provision of odor dispensing means so intimately and inseparably associated with the use of matches in smoking that in most cases 00 the ordinary use of a match will result in the ^ev°Jution of an odor of pleasing character, which will tend to obscure the smell of the fumes emitted by the burning match head and the burning tobacco.

M A further object of the invention is to provide

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE

2.133,291

ODOR DISPENSING DEVICE

Daniel Topjian, Watertown, Mass.

Application April 2, 1937, Serial No. 134,463 (Cl. 21—111) : a match packet of the general type most commonly used by smokers but containing matches while fm-nished with striking heads of usual character, emit a pleasing perfume-like SlowΪ heal“^{atCh SUCk 1S Pennltted t0 bum}hnunl^UI^^he+^ri.^ObJ^eCu ^{ls t0 provlde a} Perfume exthat h ^haY^J.^{ng a stlck of such} character ^3mou’^der without flame while conf * ^give off a pleasing incense-like fragth» &lt;=Hiv^r«^a ^^“tial Period of time and until the stick is substantially consumed.

H_O^^^{ther Obj}/^{Ct ls to provlde} a match packet or ^Vmffr^^eaH^Si,^fOr« ^h°^{ldlng one or} more matches or match sticks in operative, substantially upright position while the burning stick is functioning as incense material.

°^bi^{ect 18 t0} P^rovide a match packet tt^rrfrnm^{ter ma}*^ches have been removed therefrom, continues to emit a faintly fraaranf 20 odor so that it may be used as a sachet either in the pocket or purse of the user, for example to overcome the fumes of stale tobacco or the like, or which may be placed in a drawer, clothes closet or chest for the same purpose as the more 25 conventional sachet packets. ° °ttier and further objects and advantages of the invention will be made manifest in the following more detailed description and by reference to the accompanying drawing, in whichof » ?^{lan Sh}°wlng a match packet £ ^a “^{ore conventi}°nal type but embodying the present invention; ^y^{a plan of the same} match packet opened to expose the matches; ₃Fig. 3 is a plan view of a card of matches be^f°™ ^aSS.^en?^bly ^^{th the other parts of} the Packet;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary elevation,. to larger scale showing the upper part of one of the matches removed from the packet and as it ap- 40 pears when It has first been lighted^{- P 40}? £^{S a} 7^{Iew slmllar t0 Hg- 4} but showing the match as it appears after the flame has died out from the head of the match;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but showing 45 the match after the head has dropped off and as device*” ^{When iunctlonlng 83 an od0r} dispensing ,,.®?⁸· ^{7 ed}?^{e elevatlon} the match packet iy°^ctIo“^{lng as a} holder for one of 50 the match sticks when the latter is burning as ^a* odor °^Γ f^ncense dispensing element ;

^{8 13 a} fragmentary plan view showing the packet after the matches have been removed and as it appears when employed as a sachet;

ββ

2,130,381

Tn Fig. 10 the original untreated match stick is Indicated at 5^X, such match stick being, as above suggested, of a paper stock, for example, cardboard or the like. The next step in the process of preparing the match stick in accordance 5 with the present invention is to impregnate it, as indicated in Fig. 11, with some chemical substance, for instance, potassium nitrate, which promotes a smouldering combustion of the material of the match stick after actual flame has io been extinguished. The match stick is then impregnated, as indicated in Fig. 12, with the selected perfuming or odor evolving substance. This perfuming material may, for. example, be an alcoholic solution of one of the volatile essen- 15 tial oils, such for example as oil of roses, oil of lavender, or the like, a tincture of musk or sandalwood, one of the essential oils alone, for instance, oil of coffee, vanilla, clove, or the like, or any such compounds of the above, or other 20 substances commonly used by makers of perfume, incense, etc., may be employed. It is further to be noted that the perfuming material may preferably be combined with the chemical substances which promotes smouldering combustion, so that 25 but a single impregnation may be necessary to complete the match stick in accordance with the present invention. Furthermore, when essential oils, rather than tinctures are used, the chemical combusticn-promoting substance may be omit- 30 ted.

It is to be understood that the above operations, that is to say, those of providing the head 9, the waxy substance P, and the combustionpromoting and perfuming elements, are all per- 35 formed before the match card is mounted in the holder.

The packets of matches thus prepared may now be distributed in the same way as ordinary packets of matches, either as articles of sale or ₄₀as advertising media, and the matches may be removed and used in exactly the same way as the ordinary match. However, as indicated in Figs. 4, 5 and 6, after the flame F, produced by striking the match head, has died out, and after ₄₅combustion has proceeded down through the waxy zone P, the user of the match may blow out the flame, whereupon smouldering combustion will continue on down through the treated portion of the match stick, this smouldering us- ₅₀ually being accompanied by evolution of tiny bright sparks, as indicated at S, resulting from the chemical treatment of the match stick. During this smouldering combustion the odor evolving substance is so heated as to become volatile _B5and thus a fragrant odor is emitted until the match stick is completely consumed.

During this slow combustion, the stick may be held in the hand of the user, if desired, but conveniently may be set into one of the sockets 14 50 of the match packet, and the latter allowed to lie horizontally, as shown in Fig. 7, upon a suitable support. To avoid Ignition of the holder, it is preferable to treat the lower part of the holder, at least the folded portion thereof, with some 55 material which inhibits combustion, for example a strong solution of alum or the like.

Since the perfuming material forms a part of the match stick and, except by particular effort on the part of the user, is necessarily dissipated 70 into the air whenever the match is lighted, it becomes an automatic source of fragrance instantly available to counteract the unpleasant fumes due to combustion of the chemicals of the match head and the odor of tobacco smoke, and 75

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary plan view illustrating a modified construction in which the odor dispensing elements are not furnished with striking heads; and g Figs. 10, 11 and 12 are transverse cross sections Illustrating various stages in the production of the improved odor dispensing device.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral I designates the match packet as a whole, such packet, 10 as is customary, comprising a strip 2 of cardboard or other suitable flexible material which is sharply bent near one end at 3 to provide a U-shaped fold designed to receive the butt portions of one or more “cards” of matches. These U cards of matches may be made of any suitable material but are ordinarily made from paper stock having the requisite stiffness, each card comprising the butt portion 4 and the parallel match stick portions 5 separated by slits 3. In M thus referring to the parts 5 as “match sticks,” it is not thereby implied that they are of wood, although it is contemplated that under some circumstances they may be wood, but merely as designating their stiff, stick-like character.

« The match sticks 5 may, as usual, be separated from the butt portion 4 by tearing them or breaking them off, such tearing or breaking action being facilitated by the provision of a line of weakness 7, such, for example, as a series of in- .

dentations, spaced incisions, or the like. One or • more of these cards of matches is disposed with ; its butt portion 4 within the U-shaped fold - formed by bending the part 2 at the point 3, and these butt portions are permanently united to

Of the holder, for example, by means of staples 8. Before mounting the cards of matches in the holder, they are provided with heads 9 of usual character capable of igniting by friction when struck upon a suitable surface, and these heads 40 are protected and the matches are concealed in the completed package, when the latter is closed, by a flap portion 12 formed by bending the cardboard strip at the points 10 and II, respectively. The free edge of this flap 12 may be pushed 48 down beneath the free edge of the lower fold of the holder, thus to keep the packet closed. The front face of the fold may, as usual, be furnished with suitable abrasive material 13 compounded with a chemical substance to permit lighting the «a matches by friction against such abrasive. In all of the above respects the packet of the present invention resembles that now almost universally used by smokers.

In accordance with the present invention, it is ¢8 preferred to provide the lower portion of the packet with one or more socket openings 14, preferably more or less rectangular, and of dimensions corresponding to the transverse section of one of the match sticks. These sockets may Μ be produced by a punching operation, and are designed to hold the match sticks while burning, as hereinafter more fully described.

It is customary, before applying the striking heads to the matches to dip the match sticks in 05 a waxy substance, such as paraffin, to assure the proper lighting of the match stick before the inflammable material of the head has been consumed. In accordance with the present invention it is preferred to limit this waxy material to 70 a relatively short zone P just below the head, and from this point down, and preferably including the butt 4, the entire card of matches is impregnated with a perfuming material of a type suitable for the accomplishment of the objects of 75 the present invention.

9,130,991 thus regardless of how many matches may be consumed or how dense the smoke may become, a proportionate amount of the perfuming materia] is liberated to take care of the situation. 5 After the matches have all been removed from the packet, as illustrated in Fig. 8, the perfumed butt portion 4 still remains within the packet, and as the perfuming substances employed tend to volatilize slowly even when cold, there is always ¹⁰_x^f5^agrance emanating from the packet, and thus the packet, after the matches have been used, constitutes a source of fragrance and may be preserved for this purpose and used as a sachet in the same way as any usual type of sachet pack15 ^age·

Some of the advantages of the invention may be attained even though the contents of the packet may not all be self-igniting matches. Thus in Fig. 9 the packet I» contains one card of 20 ordinary unperfumed matches, and behind It a card of sticks 5^a similar to the sticks 5 above described and of similar material and similarly perfumed but devoid of striking heads. This form of packet may be perfumed where, by 25 legal regulation, match sticks themselves are required to be treated to limit the period of combustion. The sticks 5» may be removed from the packet and Ignited by the use of the matches forming the front card and then used as Incense 30 sticks, being, for example, disposed In the sockIwilV^{0 to} ?°^{ld them in u}Pright position while burning. However, while this latter embodiment provides certain of the desirable features of the invention, it does not supply that _3S more particular advantage above referred to of furnishing perfume automatically and in proportion to the number of matches which are used

While certain desirable embodiments of the Invention have been disclosed by way of example, it is to be understood that the invention is not necessarily limited thereto, but is to be regarded as broadly inclusive of all equivalents and modi- 5 flcations falling within the scope of the appended claim.