Odor generator

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9377786-B2
Application number	US-201113582631-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 2, 2011
Priority date	Mar 4, 2010
Publication date	Jun 28, 2016
Grant date	Jun 28, 2016

Abstract

The present invention provides an odor generator capable of providing a wide range of odors including the odor of a low volatile fragrance ingredient. The odor generator comprises a plurality of electroosmotic flow pumps, each of which typically includes a storage section for storing a liquid containing a volatile fragrance ingredient, and an outlet section having a porous material arranged for discharging the stored liquid through the porous material when a voltage is applied to the porous material and a surface acoustic wave (SAW) or other element for atomizing or vaporizing the liquid discharged from the outlet section.

First claim

We claim:

1. An odor generator comprising:
an electroosmotic flow pump including:
a storage section for storing a liquid containing a volatile fragrance ingredient,
a porous material, and
an outlet section,

wherein the porous material is located between the storage section and the outlet section, and the stored liquid is discharged to the outlet section of the pump through the porous material when a voltage is applied to the porous material, and
an atomizing or vaporizing section for atomizing or vaporizing the liquid discharged from the outlet section,
a plurality of electroosmotic flow pumps, each electroosmotic flow pump storing a liquid containing a different volatile fragrance ingredient, respectively, and
a control section for controlling operations of the plurality of electroosmotic flow pumps,
a plurality of pipes for the liquids to flow through, each pipe of the plurality of pipes is connected respectively to the outlet sections of the plurality of electroosmotic flow pumps;
a merging pipe connected to the plurality of pipes for merging the liquids flowing thereinto and allowing the merged liquids to be discharged to the atomizing or vaporizing section, and
a plurality of liquid quantity sensors for detecting quantities of the respective liquids flowing through the plurality of pipes,
wherein the atomizing or vaporizing section is a surface acoustic wave element, and the control section controls the operations of the plurality of electroosmotic flow pumps by feedback of detection results from the plurality of liquid quantity sensors.

2. The odor generator of claim 1 , further comprising:
a second storage section for storing a liquid or a solid containing a volatile fragrance ingredient;
a pump for supplying air to the second storage section;
a second pipe connected to the second storage section for a gas inside the second storage section to flow through; and
a three-way valve disposed on the second pipe and operable to be switched between a first state in which the three-way valve discharges the gas to a position where the gas joins the liquid or liquids atomized or vaporized by the atomizing or vaporizing section, and a second state in which the three-way valve exhausts the gas into a bypath.

Assignees

• Nakamoto Takamichi
• Ariyakul Yossiri
• Tokyo Inst Tech
• Toppan Printing Co Ltd

Inventors

• Nakamoto Takamichi
• Ariyakul Yossiri

Classifications

• A61L2209/135

  Vaporisers for active components · CPC title

• G05D11/132 Primary

  by controlling the flow of the individual components (G05D11/133 takes precedence) · CPC title

• A61L9/122

  comprising a fan · CPC title

• A61L2209/111

  Sensor means, e.g. motion, brightness, scent, contaminant sensors · CPC title

• A61L9/125

  emanating multiple odours · CPC title