F O R M 2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
The Patents Rules, 2003
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See section 10; rule 13)
1. Title of the invention: AIR FRESHENER DISPENSING
DEVICE FOR USE IN CARS OR OTHER VEHICLES
2. Applicant(s)
(a) NAME : GODREJ CONSUMER PRODUCTS LIMITED
(b) NATIONALITY : An Indian Company
(c) ADDRESS : Pirojshanagar, Eastern Express Highway,
Vikhroli, Mumbai - 400079, India
3. PREAMBLE TO THE DESCRIPTION
The following specification describes the nature of this invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to air freshener dispensing device
for use in cars or any other vehicles. Particularly, the invention is concerned about freshening air inside closed vehicles and more particularly, the invention is concerned about undesirable use of the freshener fluid and preventing unnecessary evaporation of the freshener fluid/liquid inside the reservoir by means of a unique actuating mechanism for closing and opening the dispensing device. Such mechanism design would help to increase the lifetime of freshener liquid/fluid and would prove to be cost effective.
BACKGROUND AND THE PRIOR ART
It has been found that under some circumstances environment inside a closed vehicles, such as cars, vans and the like can be unpleasant. For example, even with a good air ventilation a closed vehicle can become stuffy and malodorous. During such situation the passengers of the vehicle are prone to drowsiness, which is, of course, very undesirable and it is dangerous in the case of the driver.
Use of devices which emit pleasant odors inside a vehicle or more specifically a car with the intention of masking the bad smells that may arise in a closed environment is nothing new. For example, relatively uncomplicated devices supplied with solids which sublimate on contact with the atmosphere have been used for many years, both in cars and in houses and places of work. A heat released vehicular air freshener has also been

introduced in the prior art that includes a power unit for being
releasably received in electrical communication with a vehicular
cigarette lighter. Also included is a fragrance mechanism
mounted on the power unit for dispensing an aroma when actuated.
An actuation assembly includes a timer mechanism for actuating
the fragrance mechanism for a predetermined amount of time when
actuated.
US4323193 describes a liquid material dispenser of the type which transmits fluid to be diffused from an enclosed reservoir to an exposed evaporative surface by means of a wick. A wick is provided in the form of a sheet which has a very high evaporative area compared to the volume of liquid which is retained outside the confines of the reservoir at a given time. The critical relation of evaporation area to volume of liquid outside the reservoir is such that the exposed liquid material weight per square centimeter of evaporative surface is less than 10 milligrams per square centimeter. The material to be dispensed, preferably a perfume, comprises at least 50% of materials of no more than moderate volatility as defined herein. Materials having low volatility as defined herein are minimized, and the quantity of low volatility ingredients in said liquid materials is related herein to the holding capacity of the evaporative surface of the wick. The combination of the improved dispenser and improved liquid materials to be diffused maintains the evaporating liquid material at a relatively constant composition, and the liquid material evaporates at a relatively steady rate over the life of the dispenser.

US4739928 discloses an air freshener dispenser of the type containing in a reservoir a liquid fragrance composition comprising a necked container, a wick provided in the neck, an emanator pad holder retaining within a containment enclosure an absorbent or emanator pad in contact with the wick, and a cover member including at least one fragrance-diffusion aperture, the emanator pad holder including means defining at least one fragrance diffusion channel, the emanator pad being detachably rotatabie within the cover member, whereby rotation of the cover member brings the diffusion aperture and the diffusion channel into registry.
US6179219 discloses a vehicle air-freshener includes a holder base for mounting inside a motor vehicle, a container body mounted on the holder base and holding a perfume, the container body having a recessed top side wall, and a top center through hole formed through the lowest area of the recessed top side wall for enabling the smell of the perfume to escape out of the container body into the air, a control ball moved in the recessed top side wall of the container body to close/open the top center through hole, and a perforated cap covered on the container body to hold the control ball in the recessed top side wall of the container body.
It is to be noted neither of the prior art provide the vehicle operator with effective control over the amount of fragrance being emitted. Furthermore, these fragrance emitting means are constantly releasing chemicals, thus causing the fragrance dispenser to quickly lose its scent releasing capability. Thus the frequent problem that the car/vehicle owners have to face is

to replace the fragrance dispenser. Over time this can become a rather expensive practice.
The present inventors have found that a unique construction of air freshener device can be achieved which could prevent undesirable loss of fragrance and would be cost effective for the car/vehicle owners.
In the present embodiment the freshener device has been described to be used in AC vent/duct of cars/vehicles. However, such use should not be considered to be restricting the scope of the present • invention. The application of such freshener dispensing device as discussed in the present document can be used in any AC vehicles or cars, in the AC vent used in home and the like.
Object of the invention
First and foremost object of the present invention is to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art.
A basic object of the present invention is to provide air freshener dispensing device for use in cars or any other vehicles. Such device would have no unnecessary evaporation of the fragrant from the reservoir.
These and other advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following detailed description read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The following presents a simplified summary of the invention in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of the present invention. It is not intended to identify the key/critical elements of the invention or to delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some concept of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to a more detailed description of the invention presented later.
In one aspect, the invention relates to an air freshener dispensing device for use in cars or vehicles, said device comprising :
a front cover and a back cover engageable to each other to define a housing for securing device mechanism and perfume bottle/freshener reservoir inside; and
switch mechanism comprising a shutter means located on said back cover when actuated during operation adapted to close or open said shutter means wherein when the shutter means is in its open state, air enters and gets circulated inside said device and comes out with the fragrance and wherein when said switch mechanism is re-actuated the shutter means is re-arranged to stop the air circulation inside the device.
Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses exemplary embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an air freshener dispensing device for use in cars or vehicles and the like. The device comprises a front cover and a back cover engageable to each other to define a housing for securing device mechanism and perfume bottle/freshener reservoir inside. The back cover comprises a shutter means which is movably located on it. The shutter means is opened or closed by an actuator which is discussed in greater details in the foregoing description with reference to the accompanying figures.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
The following drawings are illustrative of particular examples for enabling methods of the present invention, are descriptive of some of the methods, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. The drawings are not to scale (unless so stated) and are intended for use in conjunction with the explanations in the following detailed description.
Fig. 1 is an exploded view of the Car AC freshener according to the present invention.
Fig. 2 is the front view of the container and it is showing the front cover (1), Button (3), and Liquid indicator (4).
Fig. 3 is the section view and it is showing the all internal parts and placements.
Figs. 4a, 4b and Ac illustrate a top, plan and sectional views of the front cover of the device.

Figs. 5a, 5b and 5c illustrate a top, plan and sectional views of the back cover of the device.
Figs. 6a, 6b and 6c illustrate a top, plan and sectional views of the switch of the device.
Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and may have not been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figure may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.
Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbers are used to depict the same or similar elements, features, and structures.
DETAIL DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of exemplary embodiments of the invention as defined by the claims and their equivalents. It includes various specific details to assist in that understanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary. Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions are omitted for clarity and conciseness.

The terms and words used in the following description and claims are not limited to the bibliographical meanings, but, are merely used by the inventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the invention. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of exemplary embodiments of the present invention are provided for illustration purpose only and not for the purpose of limiting the invention as defined by the appended claims and their eguivalents.
It is to be understood that the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
By the term "substantially" it is meant that the recited characteristic, parameter, or value need not be achieved exactly, but that deviations or variations, including for example, tolerances, measurement error, measurement accuracy limitations and other factors known to those of skill in the art, may occur in amounts that do not preclude the effect the characteristic was intended to provide.
Referring to Fig. 1, it is showing perfume bottle/fragrance reservoir (8) comprising plug (6) which holds the wick (12). Excluding perfume bottle, plug, and wick remaining forms Diffuser or the air freshener dispensing device.
This perfume bottle/reservoir is placed inside the housing defined by front cover (1) and the back cover and diffuser has a clip (5) for holding entire devise. The clip allows securing the device on to AC port of a car. The clip is a combination of

metal and plastic to ensure it has a firm grip on both the grill of the AC port and the device. It is injection moulded with metal inserts inside it. The material used in making the clip could be Nylon, Co-polyester, PP and stainless steel and the like.
Another feature of the clip is that it can be fixed on to any type of AC grill i.e., vertical or horizontal grills just be rotating the clip. Small locking slots on the component ensure that the clip locks in to the position firmly, once it is rotated.
The dispensing device of the present invention has ^Cam' operated shutter means (7} and it works for opening and closing of the device. The opening or closing is performed by a switching/actuator mechanism comprises plural components and together they control the inflow and outflow of the air into and fragrance out of the device. All the components are preferably injection moulded plastic components and are made using materials like co-polyesters, PP and Poly acetal and the like. The components include the actuating switch or push-button(3), rotating cam(9), sliding cam (10) and the shutter (7) (shown in figure 1).
The actuator mechanism when pushed in makes the shutter move sideways exposing the open slots on the back cover. This allows air from the AC port of a car to come in and mix with the perfume saturated in the wick and flows out with fragrance to dispense perfumed air in the atmosphere. When actuated again, the sliding cam rearranges the shutter to cover the slots on the back panel creating a barrier to the flow of air.

This enables the user to control the amount of fragrance dispensed in air.
A button/switch (3) is located on the front cover (1) (also shown in figures 4a, 4b and 4c) of the device and is accessible without opening or dismantling of the covers. The button/switch (3) is a push button as used in the present design, however, other type of button which are able to communicate with the inner actuating means to actuate the shutter can be used instead of a push button. Such modification should be considered to be well within the spirits of the present invention.
Pushing action of button/switch (3) actuates sliding cam (10) and hence the rotating cam (9) which operatively engages with the shutter means (7) to open or close the shutter means.
When the shutter is opened the air enters the device and communicates with wick (12) and comes out with the fragrance.
In another embodiment the device of the present invention
further comprises a liquid/fluid indicating means (4) which
provides the user with an indication of the level of
perfume/fragrant remaining inside the reservoir.

WE CLAIM:
1. An freshener dispensing device for use in cars or vehicles,
said device comprising :
a front cover and a back cover engageable to each other to define a housing for securing device mechanism and perfume bottle/freshener reservoir inside; and
switch mechanism comprising a shutter means located on said back cover when actuated during operation adapted to close or open said shutter means wherein when the shutter means is in its open state, air enters and gets circulated inside said device and comes out with the fragrance and wherein when said switch mechanism is re-actuated the shutter means is re-arranged to stop the air circulation inside the device.
2. The freshener dispensing device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said shutter means is cam operated.
3. The freshener dispensing device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said switch mechanism further comprising injection moulded plastic components, said components including:
a push button; sliding cam means; and rotatable cam means wherein

said push button when pressed actuates the sliding cam and rotatable cam in succession to engage with the shutter means for opening or closing of the shutter.
4. The freshener dispensing device as claimed in claim 3 wherein said components being made of materials selected from co-polyesters, PP, Poly acetal and the like.
5. The freshener dispensing device as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a wick.
6. The freshener dispensing device as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a clip to secure the device on to the AC port of the car.
7. The freshener dispensing device as claimed in claim 6 wherein the clip is injection moulded with metal inserts providing firm grip on both the grill of the AC port and the device,
8. The freshener dispensing device as claimed in claims 6 and 7 wherein the clip is made from materials selected from nylon, co-polyesters, PP and stainless steel and the like.
9. The freshener dispensing device as claimed in claim 6 wherein said clip is rotatable such that' the device is mountable a vertical AC grill or a horizontal AC grill.

10.The freshener dispensing device as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a liquid/fluid indicating means which provides the user with an indication of the level of perfume/fragrant remaining inside the reservoir.
11.An freshener dispensing device for use in cars or vehicles as herein described and illustrated with reference to accompanying drawings.