Some air fresheners are refillable, and others are disposable. For the automotive market, for instance, there are a variety of inexpensive air fresheners. One variety is made from cardboard that has been impregnated with fragrance. Typically, the cardboard is cut-out into a generally two-dimensional shape that can hang from a rear-view mirror and so on. The diffusion profile of this type of air freshener can vary over time, from overpowering when first opened to almost no scent at all. The relatively short life span of such air fresheners is due to the fact that no attempt is made to regulate dissipation of the scent. The scent continually evaporates regardless of whether the vehicle is occupied or the vehicle's owner wants to dissipate scent at a given time.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,103,201 (Green) discloses an air freshener that employs a rotor made of a scent-bearing material to disperse a fragrance in the air flowing from a vent, for example, in a vehicle. The rotor can be molded from scented plastic (e. g., low-density polyethylene impregnated with a fragrance). The rotor is rotatably mounted to a base having a clip or fastener that can be attached to the louvers covering the vent. The air flow through the vent causes the rotor to rotate and thereby disperses the scent at a higher rate than if the rotor were stationary. However, there is no mechanism to restrain rotation or suggestion in the art to combine the stationary air freshener solutions noted above which are typically made of cardboard and rotating devices such as in the '201 patent.
It is with respect to these considerations that present invention is directed.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds