In-wall room freshener modules and related devices and systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9782509-B2
Application number	US-201514715886-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 19, 2015
Priority date	May 19, 2015
Publication date	Oct 10, 2017
Grant date	Oct 10, 2017

Abstract

In-wall dispensing modules, such as room freshener modules, can reside in a housing with a cover that can be opened to access an interior space of the module to, inter alia, replace used containers. The housings are configured to reside inside a wall of a room. The front cover can be a planar cover that is flush, slightly recessed or slightly protrudes from the wall. The housings can be a “custom” housing size and/or may be configured to occupy a single gang box or a compartment of a multi-gang junction box. The modules can include an actuator that can cause a canister to emit scented fluid at desired intervals and/or on-demand. The modules can have a User Interface (UI) wireless and/or wired connection to a whole-house “smart” system.

First claim

That which is claimed is:

1. A module comprising:
a housing with an interior cavity, wherein the housing is sized and configured to reside internal to a wall, wherein the housing comprises wire ports on at least one of a sidewall, a rear wall, a floor or a ceiling thereof;
a front cover attached to the housing, the front cover having at least one open port extending therethrough, wherein the front cover can be opened and closed for access to the interior cavity when the housing is mounted in the wall;
at least one sensor and/or detector held by or in the housing configured to detect at least one of: whether a container is in position in the housing, whether the cover is closed, whether content of a container held in the housing is low, and whether an external object is in proximity to the front cover;
an actuator in the housing; and
a printed circuit board that holds a controller and a power supply residing in the cavity of the housing, wherein the controller is in communication with the at least one sensor and is configured to activate the actuator in the housing to dispense a substance from a container held in the housing, wherein the housing is sized and configured to reside in a single gang box, a custom size gang box, or in a space of a standard multiple gang box, and wherein wires from an electrical circuit extend through the wire ports and connect to the printed circuit board and power the power supply.

2. The module of claim 1 , wherein the front cover comprises a user interface (UI) that allows a user to interact with the controller to adjust and/or set a dispensing schedule of a container held in the housing and an externally visible indicator light in communication with the controller.

3. The module of claim 1 , further comprising a container with a spray nozzle held in the housing; and
a printed circuit board cover that resides behind the front cover and attaches to sidewalls of the housing and the printed circuit board to enclose components on the printed circuit board, wherein the printed circuit board is horizontally oriented and held above the spray nozzle to thereby protect electrical components from undue moisture, wherein the actuator actuates to depress the nozzle to spray the substance through the open port in the front cover, and wherein the wires are connected to an electrical distribution system of a building for the electrical circuit and extend through the wire ports at a location above the printed circuit board.

4. The module of claim 1 , further comprising room freshener held in a canister with a spray nozzle, wherein the nozzle is configured to spray room freshener through the at least one port in the door of the front cover, wherein the housing further comprises a support member holding the canister in the housing in a slot formed by adjacent pairs of vertically stacked inwardly extending rails on right and left sides of the cavity, and wherein the housing further comprises a vibration member under and in communication with the support member.

5. The module of claim 1 , wherein the housing comprises a container support system in the cavity, the container support system comprising spaced apart vertically stacked rails with horizontally and inwardly extending channels on left and right sides of the housing cavity that hold a support member to place a container at a desired vertical height in the cavity.

6. The module of claim 5 , wherein the support member has a planar upper surface portion bounded by laterally spaced apart first and second upwardly extending sides on opposing sides thereof.

7. The module of claim 1 , wherein the housing is sized and configured to reside in the single gang box.

8. The module of claim 1 , wherein the printed circuit board is horizontally oriented and resides at an upper portion of the housing behind a vertically oriented cover, wherein the cover resides behind the front cover, has a smaller length than the front cover, with a bottom terminating adjacent the printed circuit board, wherein the cover is attached to the sidewalls of the housing to provide an enclosed space above the printed circuit board with the printed circuit board forming a floor of the enclosed space to thereby help isolate electrical components from undue exposure to moisture, and wherein the wire ports are above the printed circuit board.

9. The module of claim 1 , further comprising a container support system in the housing cavity that allows for x, y and z positional adjustment of a respective container in the housing cavity, wherein the container support system has a base plate and the upper end of the container resides above the base in an open space in the housing aligned with the port in the front cover.

10. A room freshener module, comprising:
a housing with an interior cavity, wherein the housing is sized and configured to reside internal to a wall, and wherein the housing comprises wire ports on at least one of a sidewall, a rear wall, a floor or a ceiling thereof;
a front cover attached to the housing, the front cover having at least one open port extending therethrough, wherein the front cover can be opened and closed for access to the interior cavity when the housing is mounted to the wall, and wherein the front cover is substantially flush with an external surface of the wall;
at least one actuator in the housing cavity;
a printed circuit board assembly with a controller and power supply residing in the cavity of the housing, wherein the controller is in communication with the at least one actuator and is configured to direct the actuator to move to dispense a substance from a nozzle of a room freshener container held in the housing, and
a user interface (UI) in communication with the controller that allows a user to interact with the controller to adjust and/or set a dispensing schedule.

11. The module of claim 10 , wherein the housing is sized and configured to reside in a single gang box or in a space of a multiple gang box.

12. The module of claim 10 , further comprising a container of room freshener held in the housing cavity with the nozzle in alignment with the open port of the front cover, wherein the printed circuit board assembly comprises a printed circuit board held above the nozzle in the cavity of the housing, and wherein the printed circuit board provides a floor of an enclosure space above the nozzle with a printed circuit board cover attached to sidewalls of the housing behind the front cover and above the nozzle.

13. The module of claim 10 , further comprising an LED indicator light in communication with the controller and an audible alert in communication with the controller, wherein the printed circuit board assembly comprises a printed circuit board held above the nozzle in the cavity of the housing with a printed circuit board cover also held above the nozzle in the cavity of the housing.

14. The module of claim 10 , wherein hot, ground and neutral wires from an electrical circuit extend through the wire ports in the housing to be hard wired to the printed circuit board assembly to power the power supply, and wherein the wire ports reside above the printed circuit board and both the printed circuit board and the wire ports are in an upper portion of the housing.

15. The module of claim 10 , wherein the controller is in communication with a whole house control circuit that also controls other household devices including one or more of a security alarm system, a lighting system and/or a heating and air conditioning system.

16. A system for dispensing a substance to an environment, comprising:
a housing that resides internal to a wall, the h

Assignees

• Eaton Corp

Inventors

• Murahari Saivaraprasad
• Kumar Pramod

Classifications

• B05B11/1052

  Actuation means (locking means therefor B05B11/1059; the dispensing stroke being affected by the stored energy of a spring B05B11/109) · CPC title

• B05B12/02

  for controlling time, or sequence, of delivery · CPC title

• A61L2209/133

  Replaceable cartridges, refills · CPC title

• A61L9/14 Primary

  using sprayed or atomised substances {including air-liquid contact processes} · CPC title

• G04C23/04

  Housings, supports, shielding, or similar stationary parts · CPC title