Not applicable
Not applicable
The present invention relates to burnable insect control substrates (e.g. mosquito coils), holders for supporting them when they are burning (and thereby dispensing an air treatment chemical such as a repellent), and kits that include multiple such substrates, multiple such holders, and a compact container therefor.
Burnable substrates such as mosquito coils and incense coils are designed to provide sustained air treatment chemical release when burnt. They burn very slowly (because they are often designed to last overnight, or a significant portion thereof). As a result, they are susceptible to being inadvertently extinguished if they are positioned directly on a supporting surface such as a table. Thus, mosquito coils are often supported mostly or only at their center, such as by being impaled on a centrally positioned holder post. See e.g. U.S. patent application publication 2002/0124459 and U.S. Pat. No. 8,146,875.
While such holder posts reduce the incidence of premature extinguishing, ashes from such coils/substrates may drop down onto the supporting surface underneath such holders. This presents a somewhat messy appearance, and may limit where the holder stand is placed (e.g. if a support table is made of a particularly delicate material). As such burnable coil holders have been developed in which the stand is used with some form of ash tray. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,796,002 and 6,389,739. However, typical such ash tray included assemblies are not particularly compact, and as a result have an increased shipping cost, an increased material cost, and/or take up more retail shelf space than is optimal.
There have therefore been attempts to create slab-like holders where a tang of the slab can pivot up from a compact shipping position to a use/support position (so that the slab is very compact until use, and part of the holder acts like an ash tray even after the tang is pivoted up). However, the tang relies on material characteristics to keep it vertical. As a result, when the mosquito coil or similar substrate is being mounted on the tang the tang can tend to bend back down out of the desired supporting position.
Yet another problem is that when such coils are used outdoors (e.g. in a typical patio area) the repellent coverage of a single coil may not be sufficient to achieve adequate protection for somewhat larger size areas such as patio areas. It may therefore be desired to sometimes use multiple such coil/stand devices simultaneously, positioned in an array. Transporting multiple such devices to such an area, in one trip, can be somewhat awkward.
Accordingly, a need still exists for an improved mosquito coil/burnable substrate and holder, and improved kits containing such devices.
In one aspect the invention provides a holder for supporting a burnable substrate (e.g. a mosquito coil). There is an ash tray, a mounting post coupled to the ash tray and moveable between a storage position wherein both an outward part and an inward part of the mounting post are adjacent the ash tray and an erected position where the mounting post is suitable to support the burnable substrate, and a locking bracket linked to the ash tray which is suitable to retain the mourning post in the erected position when that is desired.
In preferred forms the ash tray is in the form of a dish, and the mounting post has a foot engagable within a slot of the locking bracket when the mounting post is moved to the erected position. Also, the ash tray can include a hole through its base such that the bracket is mounted in the hole by a press fit. In a particularly preferred form the bracket is configured to permit the foot to move into the slot by a radial movement of the foot (as the mounting post can be elastically deformed by squeezing opposed sides during the movement between the storage position and the erected position). There can be two of said brackets coupled between the ash tray and mounting post, where feet of the mounting post can interfit with slots of both brackets.
In another aspect the invention provides a combined mosquito coil and holder assembly. In addition to a holder of the above type there is also a mosquito coil that dispenses (when burnt) an insect control ingredient such as a repellent or insecticide.
In preferred forms, the mounting post, when in the erected position, is suitable to mount the mosquito coil, and the mounting post is in an off center position relative to the ash tray, whereby the mosquito coil can be mounted completely over the ash tray when placed on the mounting post. Also, when the mounting post is made from a bent wire the mounting post may have a leg portion for supporting the outward part of the mounting post, wherein the outward part is thinned relative to a part of the leg portion adjacent the outward part. This allows the legs to provide significant strength yet optimizes the shape of the mounting spike.
In a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a kit for controlling mosquitoes in a defined area (e.g. at or near a patio). The kit has a container with an internal cavity and an upper opening. A lid can removably close the upper opening of the container to create a compact package suitable for long-term storage or shipment.
At least three mosquito coils and at least three mosquito coil holders are preferably positioned in the internal cavity of the container. The three mosquito coil holders can be as described above. In especially preferred forms of the kit the mosquito coils and mosquito coil holders are arranged in a stack in the internal cavity, the ash trays are in the form of dishes that are nested together, and the mosquito coils are positioned in the internal cavity below the ash trays. There may also be foam packing (e.g. a packing ring) positioned within the container to minimize the risk of coil breakage during shipment.
The present invention thereby provides an extremely compact, lightweight, kit that can be used to establish a three or more station protective array of burnable substrates for use at a patio or the like. Each burning station can have its own ash tray and erectable supporting post mountable thereon.
Such holders are very inexpensive to produce, and are suitable for use with a wide variety of known mosquito coils and other burnable substrates. Further, these holders are sufficiently resilient that they can be re-used with replacement coils multiple times. This lowers the overall cost of using these devices as compared with single use stands.
The foregoing and other advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description. In that description reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof and in which there is shown by way of illustration preferred embodiments of the invention. These embodiments do not represent the full scope of the invention. Thus, the claims should be looked to in order to judge the full scope of the invention.
The ash tray 18 has a floor 28 and upstanding curved side-walls 30 extending front the floor 28. The ash tray is arranged to catch and retain ash that may fall during the burning process shown in
To provide heat insulation to supporting surfaces the ash tray 18 may further have three feet 34 that are in the form of bumps created by embossing or stamping. More feet or other heat insulation structures may be used instead.
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Mounting post 26 includes a spike 54 at an outward end and two legs 58 at an inward end. Each leg 58 includes a foot 62 sized to be received in the post receiving aperture 42 of the bracket 22. Additionally, each leg 58 is sized such that the diameter of the leg 58 can be received in and engaged with the slot 46 of the bracket 22.
The illustrated mounting post 26 is a bent wire. However, as will be appreciated from
In this regard, as shown in
One advantage of the holder 10 is that it may be reconfigured between an extremely compact shipping position and the erected position, preferably a number of times without permanently deforming the mounting post 26 or any other component of the holder 10. The mounting post 26 is elastically deformed as it moves between the flexed position and the erected position, albeit in a way that substantially no permanent deformation occurs. Additionally, when the holder is in the erected position, the mounting post 26 is substantially rigid and can withstand a significant downward pressure or force (such as might occur it a consumer tries to use too much pressure to mount a coil).
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A variety of positional arrays of multiple stations 116 can be used. For example, the holders may be positioned about six to ten feet away from each other (e.g. about two to three meters away from each other) surrounding an area to be protected. For example, when three coils are used, the coils may be positioned in a triangular configuration surrounding the area to be protected.
The kit 100 makes transport and storage of a plurality of mosquito coil stations 116 easy and compact. More than three holders 10 may be included in the kit 100. Additionally, more than three mosquito coils 14 may be included in the kit 100.
Each mosquito coil 14 may be of a conventional type (e.g. made of a mostly dry cellulosic dough dosed with an air treatment chemical). As is well known, such coils can be lit at their outer end (e.g. with a match) and then burned (e.g. over about a four hour period) to the center of the spiral. This dispenses the active ingredient into the air and in some cases leaves a smell amount of ash residue behind.
While the air treatment chemical may be chosen from a wide variety of possible actives (e.g. repellents, insecticides, fragrances, deodorizers, etc.), for patio area insect repellent use it is preferred to use metofluthrin or transfluthrin in a conventional solvent (such as acetone). The active ingredient can be deposited on or immediately near the surface of the coil.
The present invention thus provides a cost effective and space economical solution for providing a plurality of mosquito coil stations in a convenient package. While specific embodiments have been shown, various modifications falling within the breadth and scope of the invention will be apparent to one skilled in the art. For example, the mounting post 26 may be replaced with another post that is movable between a storage position and an erected position without being permanently deformed. For example, a plastic post may be employed or the design of the post may be different. Thus, the following claims should be looked to in order to understand the full scope of the invention.
All documents cited in this patent are, in relevant part, incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth herein. The citation of any document is not to be construed as an admission that it is prior art with respect to the present invention.
The present invention provides compact stands for supporting burnable substrates such as mosquito coils, and kits containing such coils, such stands and a container, where the combination provides the needed materials to erect a multiple position array of mosquito coils or the like.