Patent Application
20100019057
The present invention relates to dispensing or diffusing at least one composition contained in a refill, in particular a scented substance.
French patent application FR 2 795 348 discloses a programmable diffuser appliance for diffusing scented substances, and in which the refill can include an electronic chip containing specific information that is suitable for being read by a communication interface that is integrated in the appliance so as to make it possible for said appliance to recognize the refill.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,887,118 discloses an olfactory card for a personal computer, said card including a scented substance that is heat activated, and an electronic memory that is suitable for including graphical and/or audible information.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,654,664 describes a disk including a medium for heat-activated scents, and a space for recording multimedia data, such as an optical disk.
The invention seeks to improve still further dispenser or diffuser appliances for dispensing or diffusing at least one composition contained in a refill.
The appliances may be dispenser appliances for dispensing, in a solid or liquid form, at least one composition contained in the refill, e.g. a care product or makeup.
The appliances may also be diffuser appliances for diffusing, in the form of a spray and/or a gas, the composition, e.g. a scented substance, in particular a body spray or a room spray.
In one of its aspects, the invention provides an assembly (also called “kit”) comprising:
Such an assembly makes it possible to dispense or diffuse a composition from amongst a plurality of compositions, by selecting a refill contained in the appliance.
Each refill may optionally include its own spray means, e.g. a piezoelectric transducer, an electrostatic spray system, an airbrush or a pressure-nozzle spray system. The dispenser or diffuser appliance may thus include a power supply for electrically powering the piezoelectric transducer or the electrostatic spray system and/or a pump that is used for spraying.
Alternatively, each refill need not include its own spray means, and in this event the dispenser or diffuser appliance includes at least one spray means that is associated with at least one refill, e.g. a piezoelectric, electrostatic, airbrush, or other spray system.
In another of its aspects, the invention also provides a refill for a dispenser or diffuser appliance for dispensing or diffusing at least one composition, the refill comprising:
Such a refill may optionally include its own spray means, e.g. a piezoelectric transducer, an electrostatic spray system, or an airbrush spray system.
In an aspect of the invention relating more particularly to diffusing a substance, the refill can include a transporter element, in particular a wick, for transporting the composition by capillarity, said element being immersed in part in the composition.
The capillary transporter element facilitates the use of a spray system that includes a piezoelectric transducer, thereby enabling diffusion to be rapid and effective.
The use of an electronic memory makes it easy to miniaturize the refill and the appliance, and also makes it easy to read the information, and in combination with the use of a piezoelectric-transducer spray system, it can enable electricity consumption to be low, compatible with the refill being used in a hand-held appliance that can be carried easily.
The presence of a capillary transporter element also makes it possible to use a substance that is liquid, thereby making it easier to refill and/or recycle the refill, where appropriate.
The invention offers new possibilities for marketing a composition, making it possible to associate easily therewith at least one audio and/or video file or a link that makes it possible to download such a file.
This might involve a presentation film for presenting the composition, or images and sounds for creating a particular atmosphere to accompany the diffusion or the dispensing of the composition.
The invention can also make it possible to personalize the composition and/or the diffuser and/or dispenser appliance by associating therewith sounds and/or images that are selected by the user or by a friend or relative of said user, for example.
The term “video file” is used to cover not only a file containing only one non-animated image, but also a file containing a plurality of optionally-animated images. Where appropriate, the file can also contain audio data and other information that is associated with dispensing or diffusing the composition, for example.
By way of example, the video file format is *.arr, *.mpg, *.mov, *.esf, *.vmv, *.dvx, *.qt, *.avi or *.jpb, *.bmp, *.png, *.tif, *.ps, *.eps, inter alia.
By way of example, the audio file format is *.wav, *.mp3, *.ra, *.ram, *.aiff, *.en, *.mid, inter alia.
The memory may be the only electronic component in the refill, or, in a variant, one or more components useful for interfacing with the dispenser or diffuser appliance may also be included in the refill. The refill need not have a power supply.
The memory may contain at least one file in a format other than the formats mentioned above, e.g. containing information about actions to be performed by the appliance while the audio and/or video file is being read.
As mentioned above, the composition contained in the refill may be a cosmetic.
The composition may be a scented substance, in particular a body or room spray, the appliance being arranged to diffuse the substance.
The refill may include electrical contacts enabling the appliance to read data that is stored in the memory. By way of example, the contacts may be situated on an end face of the refill or elsewhere.
The memory may be a read-only memory, or it may be a read/write memory.
By way of example, the memory may be read automatically when the refill is put into place, when the appliance is turned on, when a member that controls dispensing is actuated, or in some other way, e.g. on an instruction input by the user into the appliance, or received from a remote-control or from a sensor or from any interface.
The size of the memory may be greater than or equal to 1 megabyte (MB), for example, and it may be less than or equal to 1 gigabyte (GB), for example.
Where appropriate, the memory may contain at least one item of information that controls automatic dispensing or diffusion of the composition while the audio and/or video file is being read. Where appropriate, dispensing or diffusion can thus take place at at least one predetermined moment while the audio and/or video file is being read.
The memory may also contain at least one parameter that is associated with dispensing the composition, the parameter relating, for example, to the amount of composition to be dispensed during an action of the user on the appliance, to information that is associated with the composition possibly being associated with other compositions, or to information that is associated with a time interval that ought to be allowed between two successive instants of dispensing the composition, so as to avoid olfactory saturation, for example.
The capacity of the reservoir may lie in the range 1 milliliter (mL) to 15 mL, for example, preferably 3 mL to 6 mL.
The refill may present an elongate shape or any other shape adapted to the appliance. The appliance may be portable and arranged to be hand-held, or it may be bigger in size.
The wick may have one end that is situated on a front face of the refill.
The appliance can be used at home, at work, in transport, in a beauty parlor, in a shop, in particular at a point of sale, or elsewhere.
The invention also relates to an assembly comprising:
In particular, the appliance can be arranged to receive a plurality of refills.
In an aspect of the invention, the appliance is a diffuser appliance and includes a spray system including a piezoelectric transducer. The operation of the spray system may be controlled by data coming from the refill, where appropriate.
In another aspect of the invention, the refill includes a piezoelectric transducer, and the diffuser appliance includes a power supply and a control circuit for controlling the piezoelectric transducer.
Where appropriate, the appliance may include a screen that can be of any size.
Where appropriate, the appliance may include an interface that makes it possible to transmit data to a base station that is associated with the appliance, the station including, or being connected to, a screen and/or one or more loudspeakers.
In an embodiment of the invention, the appliance includes a connector enabling connection to the base station. The base station may be a personal digital assistant, a video and/or audio player, a mobile phone, a game console, a domestic appliance, a vehicle, a portion of a home systems network, a stereo system, a television or a computer, a digital photo frame, this list not being limiting.
Where appropriate, the dispenser or diffuser appliance may include a wireless interface that makes it possible to transmit data contained in the memory of the refill to the base station, e.g. video and/or audio data or a link that makes it possible to download such data.
The appliance may be arranged to receive a plurality of refills simultaneously, the refills containing different compositions, for example. Each of the refills may optionally include an electronic memory.
The appliance may be arranged to function only in the presence of a refill that includes a memory, after detecting its presence or the presence of specific data contained in said memory, e.g. an identifier. This makes it possible to avoid using unsuitable refills in the appliance.
In other aspects of the invention, the appliance may include other means for taking and dispensing or diffusing the composition contained in a refill, e.g. a suction pump that is actuated manually or electrically, or a compressor or a compressed-gas source, or a thermal system or an electrostatic system.
Where appropriate, the refill may include a pump for supplying composition to the dispenser or diffuser system that is present on the appliance or on the refill, the pump being suitable for being mechanically driven by the dispenser or diffuser appliance, where appropriate.
The appliance may include selector means for selecting at least one composition to be dispensed or diffused when said appliance receives a plurality of compositions, and/or when a refill includes a plurality of compositions.
The selector means may comprise a member that can be operated by the user, e.g. so as to select an item of data displayed on the screen of the appliance when such a screen is present, or on an associated screen.
The selector means may comprise a touch-sensitive screen or any other user interface.
The appliance may include at least one pushbutton for triggering the dispensing or diffusion of the composition thus selected or the single composition present in the refill, where appropriate.
In another of its aspects, the invention also provides a dispenser or diffuser appliance for dispensing or diffusing at least one composition, the appliance being arranged to receive at least two refills simultaneously, the refills being independent, and each comprising a reservoir containing a composition to be diffused or dispensed, and an electronic memory containing an audio and/or video file or a link that makes it possible to download such a file, the appliance being arranged to read the content of the memory of each refill, and to diffuse or dispense the composition contained in said refill.
Where appropriate, the appliance may be arranged to display images and/or to reproduce sounds coming from the memory, and to make it possible to select the composition to be diffused or dispensed.
The invention also relates to a method of programming a refill as defined above, the method comprising the step consisting in loading into the electronic memory of the refill, at least one audio and/or video file and/or a link that makes it possible to download such a file.
Programming can be performed by placing the refill in a suitable terminal, e.g. at a point of sale, at home, at a shipping location, or in the factory.
In a variant, programming can be performed with the dispenser or diffuser appliance itself, said appliance including a connector or an interface that makes it possible to receive data for storing in the memory, for example.
By way of example, the appliance can include a location for receiving a memory card from a camera, a video camera, or a camera phone, or for receiving a connector that makes it possible to connect a cable that is connected to such a data source.
The appliance can also include a radio or infra-red interface, e.g. of Blue Tooth®, wi-fi, or similar type, for receiving data for storing in the refill.
The invention also provides a method of dispensing or diffusing a composition from a refill as defined above that is inserted in an associated dispenser or diffuser appliance, the method comprising the steps consisting in:
By way of example, the method is implemented with a refill including a piezoelectric transducer for spraying the composition, or with a refill including a capillary transporter element that makes it possible to feed composition to a transducer that does not belong to the refill.
The invention also provides a refill comprising:
The invention also provides a refill comprising:
The invention can be better understood on reading the following detailed description of non-limiting embodiments thereof, and on examining the accompanying drawings, in which:
The diffuser appliance 1 shown in
In the embodiment shown, the casing 2 comprises a front portion 3 and a rear portion 4 that is movable relative to the front portion between an open position shown in
The rear portion 4 can be displaced relative to the front portion 2 by sliding and/or turning, for example, and it can automatically switch the appliance on or off, for example.
In the embodiment shown the front portion 3 includes a screen 5 and at least one loudspeaker 6. In an embodiment of the invention, the rear portion 4 includes one or more spray systems 7 for spraying the composition contained in the refill. In a variant embodiment of the invention, the rear portion 4 includes at least one opening enabling the composition diffused by a refill to be delivered.
In the embodiment under consideration, the appliance 1 can receive a plurality of refills disposed side by side, so as to make it possible to diffuse a scented substance selected from a plurality of scented substances, as a function of user selection, for example.
Each spray system 7 can be associated with a refill and can comprise a piezoelectric transducer that is arranged to diffuse the composition in the form of fine droplets by means of a perforated membrane that is caused to vibrate.
In the embodiment shown, the spray orifice becomes visible when the appliance is in its open position, and it is closed in leaktight manner when the appliance is in its closed position, for example.
The appliance 1 can include a control button 8 that, when actuated by the user, causes a selected composition to be diffused.
By way of example, selection can be made by means of the screen 5, which can be a touch-sensitive screen, or by means of at least one navigator or selector button, or by means of any other user interface, e.g. a voice interface, a remote control, a keypad, a mouse, a scroll wheel, or a cursor, this list not being limiting.
In the embodiment shown, the appliance 1 is arranged to be hand-held, e.g. being more or less the size of a mobile telephone, but in a variant not shown, the appliance 1 can be larger in size in order to be placed on a piece of furniture, for example.
Where appropriate, the appliance 1 can also include a screen that is relatively large in size, and it can be equipped with an analog and/or digital tuner and/or with a radio communications module, e.g. GSM, wi-fi, or other, and/or with at least one reader and/or writer of a medium such as an optical disk, a memory card, a magnetic strip, or a hard disk, for example.
With reference to
According to an aspect of the invention, the refill 3 incorporates an electronic memory not shown in the figure, e.g. a static or dynamic memory (SRAM or DRAM), e.g. RDRAM, DDR SDRAM, MRAM, DDR2-SDRAM, XDRRAM, or a flash memory, e.g. NVRAM.
The refill can include electrical contacts 12 that make contact with corresponding contacts that are provided in the appliance 1, in such a manner as to enable said appliance to read the memory and to write to said memory where appropriate.
In a variant, the refill 3 is arranged for remotely exchanging information with the appliance 1, e.g. by means of an RFID chip that can optionally contain the electronic memory, or by means of a radio or infrared interface.
The refill 3 need not have a power supply. In a variant, the refill 3 can incorporate a power supply.
In the variant shown in
In the variant shown in
The user can decide which refill to place in the main housing.
The appliance 1 can be arranged to read the content of the memory of the refill contained in at least the main housing, and possibly also to read the memory of the refill(s) contained in the auxiliary housing(s).
The appliance 1 can be equipped with a spray system that is associated with the sole refill contained in the main housing. In a variant, in which the refill includes its own spray means, the appliance 1 can, as shown, include an opening 53 for delivering the composition diffused by the refill.
Regardless of whether or not the refill includes its own dispenser or diffuser means, and as shown in
Regardless of whether or not it is completely integrated in the appliance 1, the spray system can also be controlled by the processor unit 15.
In the variant shown in
Where appropriate, the base station 30 can communicate with at least one remote server 31 via a computer network, in particular the Internet.
The content of the electronic memory of the refill 3 can be used in various ways.
In a first embodiment of the invention, putting the refill into place in the appliance automatically gives the user the option of reading audio and/or video information contained in said refill. The user can decide whether or not to spray the composition, and, where appropriate, can select the composition to be sprayed from amongst a plurality of compositions.
In another embodiment of the invention and as shown in
The appliance 1 can also be intended to operate in physical association with the base station 30, as shown in
By way of example, the base station 30 is thus in the form of an MP3 player, or a personal digital assistant, a mobile phone, a digital photo frame, a monitor or television set, or a specific accessory.
In the embodiment in
In a variant, the electronic memory of the refill contains no more than a link, e.g. an Internet address, enabling the appliance 1 or the base station 30 to connect to the server 31 in order to recover one or more audio and/or video files for reading.
By way of example, the refill can include an address that enables the base station to recover an advertising film relating to the composition, or, in a variant, a message from a friend or relative who has given the composition as a gift.
The electronic memory of the refill can contain various audio and/or video contents.
By way of example, the electronic memory can contain an advertising film for displaying on the diffuser or dispenser appliance to warn the user or the consumer of one or more characteristics of the composition.
The electronic memory can also contain images or sounds for creating a particular atmosphere while the appliance 1 is being used.
By way of example, the video sequence can comprise footage about the creator of the olfactory atmosphere, or images showing the places or plants that are associated with the scent, e.g. images of the plant having the scent that is present, or seaside images for a marine olfactory atmosphere.
The electronic memory can also contain images or sounds that the user would like to see or hear while using the appliance 1, e.g. photographs of friends or relatives or of landscapes. The user may have transmitted images and/or sounds for downloading into the memory to a server from a remote site.
The base station 30 can also be a computer, and the appliance 1 can be in the form of a USB key or any other peripheral that is capable of benefiting from the power supply of the computer, for example.
The base station 30 can also be in the form of a GPS navigator inside a motor vehicle, or it can be integrated in the dashboard, and the appliance can be for creating a particular olfactory atmosphere inside the vehicle.
The appliance 1 can also be in the form of a frame that makes it possible to display an image or a slide show by means of information contained in the memory of the refill.
Dispensing and diffusing the composition can be controlled by an action of the user, or by information contained in the audio and/or video file as read, or can even result from the detection of an event by a sensor, e.g. a presence sensor, which could be included in the appliance.
Thus, for example, when a person enters a room in which the appliance is situated, said appliance can trigger the dispensing or diffusion of some composition and can perhaps also trigger the reproduction of images and/or sounds, so as to create a particular atmosphere in the room, for example.
The refill can present shapes other than the shape shown, e.g. a disk, a bottle, or a flexible or rigid pre-impregnated flexible medium, with the substance being diffused for example by spraying or by evaporating, e.g. by means of a thermal system. Where appropriate, the refill can include at least one reservoir that is removable or that can be refilled by means of a valve or a suitable stopper member, making it possible for the refill to benefit from a new quantity of composition to be dispensed or diffused, while preserving its electronic memory.
The dispenser and spray appliance can be provided to be placed on a stand in order to recharge a power supply present therein. The appliance can be removed from its stand in order to be taken away by the user, e.g. in a pocket or in a bag, then replaced on the stand when the user returns.
The dispenser or diffuser appliance can also include a solar panel for recharging a battery.
Independently or in combination with the above, the invention also provides a dispenser or diffuser appliance for dispensing or diffusing at least one composition contained in a refill, the appliance including: a screen on which there can be displayed at least one item of information that is associated with a composition to be sprayed; and a control member that makes it possible to select said information.
Independently or in combination with the above, the invention also provides a dispenser or diffuser appliance for dispensing or diffusing at least one composition, the appliance comprising a front portion and a rear portion that are movable relative to each other between a closed position and an open position that uncovers at least one diffuser orifice for diffusing the composition from a piezoelectric-transducer spray system.
Naturally, the invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and the characteristics of those embodiments can be combined together within variants not shown.
By way of example, the dispenser or diffuser appliance could include only one spray system for operating with a single refill.
The expression “comprising a” should be understood as being synonymous with the expression “comprising at least one” unless specified to the contrary.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0653681 | Sep 2006 | FR | national |
| 0753342 | Feb 2007 | FR | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IB2007/053661 | 9/11/2007 | WO | 00 | 6/3/2009 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60851066 | Oct 2006 | US |
