Fragrance diffuser
First Claim
1. An aroma dispenser comprising:
- solid cartridge means for emitting a fragrance into the air, said cartridge means having at least one external surface with a mating face, and further having first means for keying said cartridge means such that a particular cartridge means can be identified by its keying means, said first keying means including a plurality of separate apertures disposed in said mating face and directed inwardly from said external surface of said cartridge means to form a first predefined identification pattern; and
housing means for receiving and containing said solid cartridge means, said housing means having at least one internal surface with a mating face, and further having second means for keying said housing means such that a particular housing means can be identified by its keying means, said second keying means including a plurality of separate projections disposed on said mating face and directed inwardly from said internal surface of said housing means to form a second predefined identification pattern;
said first and second keying means including means for mating said mating face of said cartridge means with said mating face of said housing means only when said first identification pattern corresponds to said second identification pattern, and for preventing the insertion into said housing means of any cartridge means lacking a first identification pattern which corresponds to said second identification pattern.
8 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A fragrance diffuser (100) comprises a housing defining a chamber (116) for holding a fragrance-emitting block (110), a heating element (112) located within the housing, a timing and indicating circuit board (114) to signal when the predicted life of the fragrance emitting block has expired, a power supply connection plug (134) for providing electrical power to the heating element and the timing and indicating board, and a keying system (234, 236, 238) incorporated in the chamber (116) and on the fragrance-emitting blocks (110). The blocks are encoded or keyed to indicate that they possess particular predefined characteristics, such that only blocks having those characteristics may be inserted. The diffuser is constructed with a downwardly-projecting housing extension (132) for the power supply connection to allow the use of an adjacent electric power outlet when the diffuser is properly installed. The diffuser also includes an indicator LED (156) to indicate when a timing interval, corresponding to the life of a fragrance block inserted therein, has expired, wherein the timing interval is reset by a switch (182) only at the request of a user.
169 Citations
25 Claims
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1. An aroma dispenser comprising:
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solid cartridge means for emitting a fragrance into the air, said cartridge means having at least one external surface with a mating face, and further having first means for keying said cartridge means such that a particular cartridge means can be identified by its keying means, said first keying means including a plurality of separate apertures disposed in said mating face and directed inwardly from said external surface of said cartridge means to form a first predefined identification pattern; and housing means for receiving and containing said solid cartridge means, said housing means having at least one internal surface with a mating face, and further having second means for keying said housing means such that a particular housing means can be identified by its keying means, said second keying means including a plurality of separate projections disposed on said mating face and directed inwardly from said internal surface of said housing means to form a second predefined identification pattern; said first and second keying means including means for mating said mating face of said cartridge means with said mating face of said housing means only when said first identification pattern corresponds to said second identification pattern, and for preventing the insertion into said housing means of any cartridge means lacking a first identification pattern which corresponds to said second identification pattern. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. An aroma dispenser system comprising:
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a plurality of solid cartridge means for emitting a fragrance into the air, each of said cartridge means including means for keying said cartridge means according to a particular keying pattern, each of said plurality of cartridge means having a different keying pattern; housing means for receiving and containing only one of said plurality of solid cartridge means; and at least one interchangeable keying member having means for keying said housing means according to a particular keying pattern by removably attaching said interchangeable keying member within said housing means, and for preventing the proper insertion into said housing means of any of said plurality of cartridge means not having a keying pattern which corresponds to the keying pattern of said interchangeable keying member attached within said housing means. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21)
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22. An aroma dispenser comprising:
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one of a plurality of cartridge means for emitting a fragrance into the air, said cartridge means including a solid porous plastic block having a fragrance-bearing media impregnated therein; housing means for receiving and containing only one of said plurality of cartridge means, said housing means including chamber means for receiving said cartridge means; and means for heating said cartridge means received within said housing means; said chamber means and said cartridge means both having the substantial shape of rectangular parallelelepipeds, each having at least one mating face, said cartridge means including at least three spaced-apart parallel slots constructed in its mating face and arranged to form a first keying pattern, said chamber means including at least three spaced-apart parallel tabs constructed on its mating face and arranged to form a second keying pattern, said tabs and said slots constructed and arranged to mate together only when said first keying pattern corresponds to said second keying pattern, thereby preventing the complete insertion into said housing means of any cartridge means not having a corresponding keying pattern.
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23. An aroma dispenser comprising:
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one of a plurality of fragrance cartridges, each of said plurality of cartridges having a different keying pattern for keying a particular cartridge with a particular aroma dispenser; housing means for receiving and containing said cartridge; means for heating said cartridge contained within said housing means; and an interchangeable keying member removably attached within said housing means, said interchangeable keying member having means for keying said housing means to the particular keying pattern of said cartridge and for preventing the complete insertion into said housing means of any cartridge not having a keying pattern corresponding to the keying pattern of said interchangeable keying member. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25)
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Specification