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US 4,356,969 AGranted
Vapor dispenser and method of making same
AssigneeMoleculon Research Corporation
InventorsArthur S. Obermayer, Larry D. Nichols
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vapor dispenser which comprises a reservoir to contain a nonflowing liquid whose vapor is to be dispensed into the environment and an outer covering about the reservoir which includes a membrane vapor-emitting surface through which the vapor is dispensed from the reservoir to the environment.
Claims29
A vapor-dispenser product which comprises in combination:
- (a) a reservoir means comprising a nonflowing, volatile, liquid material therein whose vapor is to be dispensed into the environment;
- (b) a cover means completely surrounding the reservoir means, at least part of which cover means comprises a thin, overlay, inert, polymeric, surface-membrane material to define a vapor-emitting surface, the overlay membrane material characterized by an ability to absorb preferentially the volatile liquid material from the reservoir and a plurality of generally uniformly distributed, open-cell-type pores through the membrane material and distributed over the vapor-emitting surface, the pores filled with liquid from the reservoir, so as to permit vaporization of the liquid from the liquid-filled pores of the surface, the liquid material within the pores of the membrane having a mobility to pass in the liquid phase through the pores of the membrane, the pore size sufficiently small to prevent leakage of nonvaporized liquid from the membrane surface and to ensure nondepletive replenishment of the liquid within the membrane from the liquid within the reservoir means;
- and
- (c) a thin overlay material over the vapor-emitting surface comprising a macroporous sheath material, to control the rate of evaporation of the volatile material from the reservoir, whereby the material in the reservoir means is conveyed as liquid through the pores of the surface-membrane material and vaporized from the vapor-emitting surface into the atmosphere at a controlled rate and constantly replenished by liquid from the reservoir means.
1 more element
A vapor dispenser which comprises in combination:
- (a) a reservoir means which comprises a nonflowing, volatile, liquid material therein whose vapor is to be dispensed into the environment;
- (b) a vapor-nonpermeable backing sheet material;
- (c) an overlay, thin, flexible, composite sheet material having a thickness of up to about 20 mils, and comprising a porous polymer-liquid sheet material containing at least 70% by weight of a liquid material, whose vapor is to be dispensed, bonded to a thin layer of porous, polymeric heat-sealable, thermoplastic material, the polymer-liquid sheet material forming a vapor-emitting surface, the pores of the polymer-liquid material being smaller in size than the pores of the heat-sealable sheet or reservoir means;
- and
- (d) the heat-sealable material secured about its peripheral edges to the backing sheet to enclose the reservoir means in fluid-tight relationship and to provide a vapor-emittor surface, whereby the material from the reservoir is dispensed in vapor form in a controlled release from the vapor-emittor surface.
2 more elements
A vapor-dispenser product which comprises in combination:
- (a) a reservoir means comprising a nonflowing, volatile, liquid material therein whose vapor is to be dispensed into the environment;
- and
- (b) a cover means completely surrounding the reservoir means, at least part of which cover means comprises a thin, overlay, inert, polymeric, surface-membrane material to define a vapor-emitting surface, wherein the surface-membrane material comprises a polymer-liquid composite material containing at least 70% by weight of the liquid material and characterized by pores of less than about 250 Angstroms, the polymer-liquid composite material bonded to a heat-sealable, porous, fibrous base material, the base material having pores larger than the pores of the polymer-liquid composite material, the overlay membrane material characterized by an ability to absorb preferentially the volatile liquid material from the reservoir and a plurality of generally uniformly distributed, open-cell-type pores through the membrane and distributed over the vapor-emitting surface, the pores filled with liquid from the reservoir, so as to permit vaporization of the liquid from the liquid-filled pores of the surface, the liquid material within the pores of the membrane having a mobility to pass in the liquid phase through the pores of the membrane, the pore size sufficiently small to prevent leakage of nonvaporized liquid from the membrane surface and to ensure nondepletive replenishment of the liquid within the membrane from the liquid within the reservoir means, whereby the material in the reservoir means is conveyed as liquid through the pores of the surface-membrane material and vaporized from the vapor-emitting surface into the atmosphere at a controlled rate and constantly replenished by liquid from the reservoir means.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.