Claims
- 1. A method of dispensing a volatile substance comprising the steps of:providing a temperature variable heating element configured as a PTC element and a resistor combination, said PTC element having a compensation range having an upper limit and said resistor having a maximum resistance; providing a reservoir and volatile substance to be dispensed therefrom; and varying the temperature of said variable heating element by selecting said maximum resistance to be greater than about 11000 KOhms such that electrical current through said resistor is reduced to below said upper limit of said compensation range of said PTC element, thereby maintaining the temperature of said heating element at about 25° C.
- 2. A vapor dispensing apparatus comprising:a housing for engaging a reservoir and positioning a wick proximate to a heating element, said reservoir comprising a bottle for containing a volatile substance and wherein said wick is in fluid communication with said volatile substance such that said volatile substance can be dispensed from said reservoir via said wick; and a temperature variable heating element configured as a PTC element and a resistor combination, said PTC element having a compensation range having an upper limit and said resistor having a maximum resistance of greater than about 11000 KOhms, said maximum resistance selected such that electrical current through said resistor is reduced to below said upper limit of said compensation range of said PTC element, thereby maintaining the temperature of said wick near an ambient temperature.
- 3. A vapor dispensing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a temperature variable heating element having minimum and maximum resistance settings in the range of about 0-95 Kohms.
- 4. A vapor dispensing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said variable heating element has a minimum resistance setting corresponding to a wick temperature of about 49°-88° C.
- 5. A vapor dispensing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said variable heating element has a maximum resistance setting corresponding to a wick temperature of about 25° C.
- 6. A vapor dispensing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said variable heating element comprises a maximum resistance setting corresponding to said heating element being turned off.
CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/184,817 entitled “Electrical Plug-In Vaporizer” filed Feb. 25, 2000.
US Referenced Citations (47)
Foreign Referenced Citations (3)
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WO 9115249 |
Mar 1991 |
WO |
WO 9819526 |
Nov 1997 |
WO |
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Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60/184817 |
Feb 2000 |
US |