Patent Application
20110024521
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an aromatic nebulizing diffuser and more particularly, to such an easily detachable nebulizing diffuser of high level of safety that provides sound and lighting effects.
2. Description of the Related Art
A known aromatic nebulizing diffuser or essential oil diffuser uses an ultrasonic oscillator to generate a high ultrasonic energy for causing atomization of an essential oil for application. Separation of electric charges in falling rain, caused by breaking up of the water droplets, the drops becoming positively charged and the air negatively charged. This separation of electric charges accompanying the aerodynamic breakup of water drops is known as spray electrification, the waterfall effect or Lenard effect. Conventional aromatic nebulizing diffusers simply produce an upwardly flying mist of aromatic gas. They cannot simulate the natural visual effect of a flying mist caused by the impact of a waterfall.
Further, regular aromatic nebulizing diffusers commonly use screws to affix component parts together, complicating mounting and dismounting procedures. After a long use of a conventional aromatic nebulizing diffuser, the inside wall of the aromatic nebulizing diffuser will be covered with a layer of dirt. It takes much time and labor to practice a cleaning work.
Further, the opening of a regular aromatic nebulizing diffuser has a diameter gradually reducing from the inside toward the outside. This gradually reducing diameter design tends to cause the generated fine mist to be condensed into water drops, lowering the fin mist generating performance.
Further, regular aromatic nebulizing diffusers simply have one single chamber for holding an aromatic fluid for oscillation by an ultrasonic oscillator to generate a fine mist of aromatic fluid droplets. To oscillate a big volume of aromatic fluid or essential oil in a big chamber requires a big capacity of ultrasonic oscillator.
Further, when a thermal type, electronic type or ultrasonic type aromatic diffuser falls to the floor accidentally, the contained essential oil may leak out, causing risks and damages.
The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is main object of the present invention to provide an aromatic nebulizing diffuser, which automatically supplies an aromatic fluid to the oscillation chamber thereof for producing a fine mist of aromatic fluid droplets.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an aromatic nebulizing diffuser, which prohibits leakage of the storage aromatic fluid upon accidental falling, avoiding danger.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an aromatic nebulizing diffuser, which produces sound and lighting effects while generating a fine mist of aromatic fluid droplets.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an aromatic nebulizing diffuser, which generates a fine mist of aromatic fluid droplets efficiently.
To achieve these and other objects of the present invention, a base panel, an electronic control unit, a speaker, an electric fan, a fluid container, an ultrasonic oscillator, a fluid intake control device set in between the oscillation chamber and the fluid container, a dip tube in communication between the oscillation chamber and the fluid container and changeable between an open status and a close status to control the fluid intake control device in closing/opening the passage between the oscillation chamber and the fluid container, an outer housing, a holder defining an oscillation chamber at the top and a cover at the bottom, an air passage in air communication between the oscillation chamber and the cover for the passing of currents of air caused by the electric fan, an exhaust passage for guiding a generated fin mist of aromatic fluid droplets out of the oscillation chamber into the atmosphere.
Further, the ultrasonic oscillator is mounted in the fluid container at the bottom side and electrically connected to the electronic control unit for oscillating the aromatic fluid in the oscillation chamber to produce a fine mist of aromatic fluid droplets. Further, the outer housing surrounds the fluid container and abutted against the base panel. The outer housing can be transparent or light transmissive, having an opening in communication between the exhaust passage and the atmosphere.
Further, the outer housing and the fluid container or holder are preferably prepared from transparent or translucent materials. A transparent material allows a person to see through. A translucent material allows light to pass through. The outer housing, the fluid container and the holder can be prepared from, for example, light transmissive ceramics, transparent or translucent plastics, glass, acrylic, frosted glass or any other suitable materials having pores.
Referring to
a base panel 10;
an electronic control unit 20 mounted on the base panel 10;
an electric fan 40 mounted on the base panel 10 and electrically connected to the electric control unit 20;
a holder 30, which has a transverse partition board 31 that has a center opening 36 and divides the holder 30 into an upper part that defines an oscillation chamber 34 and a lower part that defines a cover 32, and an air passage 56 formed of an open-ended duct and set in air communication between the space inside the cover 32 and the oscillation chamber 34 to provide a path for delivering air currents caused by the electric fan 40;
a fluid container 50, which is mounted in the holder 30, comprising a container body 51, a container base 52 fastened to the bottom side of the container body 51 and defining with the container body 51 a fluid storage chamber 53 and an exhaust passage 57 in air communication between the oscillation chamber 34 and the atmosphere for exhaust of a mist out of the oscillation chamber 34;
an ultrasonic oscillator 60 mounted in the opening 36 of the holder 30 and electrically connected to the electronic control unit 20 for oscillating an aromatic fluid in the oscillation chamber 34 to produce a fine mist of aromatic fluid droplets;
a fluid intake control device 70 mounted in the bottom side of the fluid container 50 and set between an open status and a close status to control delivery of a fluid from the fluid storage chamber 53 to the oscillation chamber 34;
a dip tube 80 set in the fluid container 50 in communication between the fluid storage chamber 53 and the oscillation chamber 34; and
an outer housing 90 surrounding the fluid container 50 and abutted against the base panel 10 and having an opening 91 in air communication between the exhaust passage 57 and the atmosphere.
Referring to
According to the present preferred embodiment, the opening 91 of the outer housing 90 is a narrow, elongated, rectangular opening located on the top side of the outer housing 90. Further, the container body 51 of the fluid container 50 has a narrow elongated top opening 54. When a fine mist of aromatic fluid droplets is delivered upwardly out of the narrow elongated top opening 54 of the fluid container 50 and the narrow, elongated, rectangular opening 91 of the outer housing 90, a curtain of fine mist of aromatic fluid droplets is seen at the top side of the aromatic nebulizing diffuser 100.
The base panel 10 is comprised of a bottom plate 11 and a bearing plate 13. The bottom plate 11 has an opening 111. The bearing plate 13 has a fan mounting zone 131 and a speaker mounting zone 132 disposed in air communication with the opening 111 to provide a passage for enabling the electric fan 40 to suck in air from the outside and for speaker sound source output.
Referring to
The aforesaid first cable hole 321 and second cable hole 322 are located on the cover 32 of the holder 30. The bearing plate 13 is arranged on the top side of the bottom plate 11 and surrounded by the cover 32 of the holder 30. The holder 30 further has an exhaust fitting 58 mounted on the inside and capped on the top end of the air passage 56. The exhaust fitting 58 has an exhaust port 581 for adjusting air output and diffusion direction (see
The electric fan 40 is mounted on the fan mounting zone 131 of the bearing plate 13 of the base panel 10 and electrically connected to the control circuit board 21 of the electronic control unit 20 so that the control circuit board 21 controls on/off of the electric fan 40.
The exhaust passage 57 of the fluid container 50 is isolated from the fluid storage chamber 53. The container base 52 of the fluid container 50 has an upwardly extending connection tube 521, which is disposed at a relatively higher elevation, and a downwardly extending fluid intake port 522, which is disposed at a relatively lower elevation for the intake of an aromatic fluid. The upwardly extending connection tube 521 is connected to the exhaust passage 57 of the fluid container 50.
Referring to
The fluid intake control device 70 comprises a first casing 71, a second casing 72, a spring member 73 and a ball 74. The first casing 71 is connected to the downwardly extending fluid intake port 522 of the container base 52 of the fluid container 50 by a screw joint. The second casing 72 is fastened to the bottom side of the first casing 71 in such a manner that the first casing 71 and the second casing 72 define a passage in fluid communication between the oscillation chamber 34 and the fluid storage chamber 53. Further, the first casing 71 has an inside annular flange 711 disposed in the passage in proximity to the fluid storage chamber 53. The second casing 72 has a ball hole 721 disposed in the passage in proximity to the oscillation chamber 34. The spring member 73 is mounted in the passage inside the first casing 71 and the second casing 72, and stopped with its one end against the bottom side of the inside annular flange 711. The ball 74 according to the present preferred embodiment is a steel ball held down on the ball hole 721 by the spring member 73 to stop the passage, preventing leakage of a fluid out of the fluid storage chamber 53 through the downwardly extending fluid intake port 522.
The holder 30 further has a protruding portion 341 upwardly extended from the transverse partition board 31 and suspending in the oscillation chamber 34 for insertion into the ball hole 721 of the second casing 72 of the fluid intake control device 70 to move the ball 74 upwardly away from the ball hole 721 and to further open the passage between the fluid storage chamber 53 and the oscillation chamber 34 for enabling a fluid to flow from the fluid storage chamber 53 into the oscillation chamber 34. On the contrary, when moved the protruding portion 341 away from the ball hole 721 of the second casing 72 of the fluid intake control device 70, the spring member 73 immediately forces the ball 74 to stop the ball hole 721, prohibiting flowing of the storage fluid out of the fluid storage chamber 53.
The dip tube 80 has a top open end 801 and a bottom open end 802. Further, the dip tube 80 is inserted into the fluid storage chamber 53 of the fluid container 50 and the oscillation chamber 34 and secured in place by a gasket ring 81, keeping the top open end 801 above the elevation of the fluid level in the fluid storage chamber 53 and the bottom open end 802 in contact with the fluid level in the oscillation chamber 34. In coordination with connection of the fluid intake control device 70 to the downwardly extending fluid intake port 522 of the container base 52 of the fluid container 50, the protruding portion 341 of the holder 30 is inserted into the ball hole 721 of the second casing 72 of the fluid intake control device 70 to move the ball 74 upwardly away from the ball hole 721 and to further open the passage between the fluid storage chamber 53 and the oscillation chamber 34. At this time, the inside pressure of the fluid storage chamber 53 and the inside pressure of the oscillation chamber 34 are in balance, so that the storage aromatic fluid flows, subject to a hydraulic head difference, in proper order from the fluid storage chamber 53 through the downwardly extending fluid intake port 522 of the container base 52 of the fluid container 50 and the fluid intake control device 70 into the oscillation chamber 34. When the fluid level in the oscillation chamber 34 reaches a predetermined elevation to block the bottom open end 802 of the dip tube 80, filling of the aromatic fluid into the oscillation chamber 34 is stopped. On the contrary, when the fluid level is lowered to an elevation without blocking the bottom open end 802 of the dip tube 80, the dip tube 80 is returned to the status in air communication between the fluid storage chamber 53 and the inside pressure of the oscillation chamber 34 for enabling the aromatic fluid to flow from the fluid storage chamber 53 and the inside pressure of the oscillation chamber 34 again subject to the effect of a hydraulic head difference. This action is repeated again and again to supply the aromatic fluid to flow from the fluid storage chamber 53 and the inside pressure of the oscillation chamber 34 continuously. Therefore, the invention eliminates the drawback of the prior art design that cannot refurnish an aromatic fluid automatically.
Further, if the aromatic nebulizing diffuser 100 falls to the ground accidentally, one of the top open end 801 and bottom open end 802 of the dip tube 80 will be blocked by the aromatic fluid and/or the fluid intake control device 70 that is connected to the fluid container 50 will not be induced by the gravity and a hydraulic head difference to let the storage aromatic fluid leak out of the fluid container 50, assuring a high level of safety.
The invention uses the fluid container 50 to store an aromatic fluid and the oscillation chamber 34 to hold a relatively smaller volume of the aromatic fluid for producing a fine mist of aromatic fluid droplets. Because the volume of the oscillation chamber 34 is much smaller than the volume of the fluid container 50, oscillation of the ultrasonic oscillator 60 in the oscillation chamber 34 can cause a fin mist of aromatic fluid more quickly than the formation of a fine mist of aromatic fluid droplets by means of oscillating a same capacity of ultrasonic oscillator in the fluid container 50. When compared to the prior art design that uses a single large storage chamber for generating a fine mist of aromatic fluid droplets, the invention shows a better performance. Further, the volume of the oscillation chamber 34 must be smaller than that of the fluid storage chamber 53 of the fluid container 50.
Referring to
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After understanding of the composition of the aromatic nebulizing diffuser 100, the operation of the aromatic nebulizing diffuser 100 is outlined hereinafter.
Referring to
Further, the top opening 54 of the fluid container 50 and the opening 91 of the outer housing 90 are narrow, elongated, rectangular openings gradually increasing in width from the inside of the aromatic nebulizing diffuser 100 toward the outside, molecules of the fine mist of aromatic fluid droplets will not be compressed into drops of fluid and will be quickly scattered in the outside air.
Further, the sound-source jack 23 allows input of a sound source signal from any of a variety of music players for output through the speaker 15 to add a sound effect to the visual effect of the floating of the fine mist of aromatic fluid droplets.
Further, when the level of the aromatic fluid in the oscillation chamber 34 drops below a predetermined low level, the fluid level sensor 61 of the ultrasonic oscillator 60 immediately outputs a signal to turn off the ultrasonic oscillator 60, avoiding damage.
Further, the outer housing 90, the fluid container 50 and the holder 30 are transparent or light transmissive. Each light emitting device 62 of the ultrasonic oscillator 60 can be a light emitting diode of a predetermined color. During operation of the ultrasonic oscillator 60, the at least one light emitting device 62 emits color light rays through the outer housing 90, the fluid container 50 and the holder 30, producing a lighting effect.
Further, the aromatic nebulizing diffuser 100 is easy to assemble and disassemble, facilitating cleaning and maintenance.
A prototype of aromatic nebulizing diffuser has been constructed with the features of
Although a particular embodiment of the invention has been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.
