Sheet Material

Abstract

A perfumed dispenser which comprises a tape or strip of narrow sheet material having a raised portion at each edge and pressure-rupturable microcapsules containing aroma chemical entrapped in the trough formed between the raised edges.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There are many objections to the present methods of storing, transporting and dispensing perfumes, colognes, deodorants, aftershave lotion or the like. The containers for these products are in general too large and the trend is to larger and larger containers. The large containers consume too much space in purses, suitcases, traveling bags, etc. In addition to the objection of large size, the presently used containers each has its own particular further objections. For example, aerosol dispensers suffer the disadvantage of the propellant odor mixing with the perfume or cologne and also the difficulties with leaky or clogged valves. Glass bottles or other glass containers have the objection of accidental breakage, as well as the problem of disposing of the empty containers. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved method of carrying and dispensing of perfume, cologne and the like.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The objections described above are avoided by the novel features of the present invention, which provide a tape or strip of flexible plastic, paper or the like having perfume, cologne or the like entrapped in microcapsules and contained in the troughlike center area. These microcapsules are pressure-rupturable and the perfume, cologne or the like is readily released by pressing the strip against the body, by squeezing the strips or in any other suitable manner.

In one embodiment the present invention relates to narrow sheet material having a raised portion at each edge running along the length of said material, thereby forming a depressed area between the raised portions, said depressed area carrying pressure-rupturable microcapsules containing an aroma chemical microencapsulated therein.

The invention is more fully described with reference to the accompanying drawing in which

FIG. 1 is a perspective view.

FIG. 2 is a cross section taken along lines 2--2 of FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 1, numeral 1 designates a section of the sheet material in its entirety. Numeral 2 illustrates the raised edges running along the length of the sheet material. Numeral 3 designates the depressed area, which also may be referred to as a trough or channel, formed between raised edges 2. Disposed in the depressed area are microcapsules indicated as 4.

It will be noted that the capsules are protected against breakage when the sheet material is formed into rolls or when strips of the sheet material are packaged in layers. Furthermore, it will be seen that the sheet material of the present invention is readily usable by either being torn off the roll or the top layer stripped off, depending upon the particular method of packaging.

The sheet material may be of any suitable composition and conveniently comprises paper, cellophane and especially flexible plastic. The manufacture of these materials is well known in the art and need not be described herein in detail, with the understanding that any suitable method of manufacture may be used. The flexible plastic generally is referred to as a polymeric composition and in one embodiment, may comprise polyacrylonitrile, polyester or polyamide. Other polymeric compositions include polyacetate and polyolefins and particularly polyethylene, polypropylene or cross polymers of ethylene and propylene, with or without a diene, etc. Cellulosic rag and woodpulp fibers are ordinarily used in the manufacture of paper. No novelty is herein claimed for any particular plastic, cellophane or paper, again with the understanding that any suitable sheet material may be used for the purpose of the present invention.

Any suitable method may be used in forming the narrow sheet material having raised edges running along the length of the material. As applied to plastic, this may be accomplished, for example, either by extrusion in which the plastic melt is extruded through dyes having raised edges or it may be formed by molding, casting or the like in which the plastic melt is passed into suitable molds, dyes or the like and formed into the desired size and shape. Generally a continuous method in which the melt is conveyed through a furnace or in a zone in which hot air or other gases are passed through the melt in order to set the plastic. Here again, any suitable method for manufacturing the narrow sheet having raised edges may be employed.

The width of the sheet material may be of any suitable dimension but generally will range from about 1/4 inch to about 2 inches and preferably from about 3/8 inch to about 1 inch. The edges may be of any suitable width, and generally will range from 1/16 to 1/8 inch in width. In one embodiment the bottom of the sheet material is flat but, in another embodiment, when the sheet material is formed in a curved method, the bottom may be slightly rounded. The depressed area will be of any suitable depth and generally will be of micron dimension in order to receive either single but preferably several layers of the microcapsules. It is apparent that the particular size and shape will be selected with reference to its ease of manufacture and ready usability.

In still another embodiment the sheet material may contain an adhesive backing, somewhat similar to the well-known "Scotch" tape, except for the raised edges as hereinbefore described. The adhesive backing has an advantage of maintaining tight contact between the different layers and thus further serves to avoid rupturing of the capsules. For most uses the adhesive should be readily releasable in order that the tape may be readily removed after use. However, in some cases, it may be desired to stick the strip onto some inanimate object and allow it to remain there until the perfume odor has dissipated.

As hereinbefore set forth, the sheet material carries microcapsules containing perfume, cologne or the like. Here again, microencapsulation is well known in the art and no novelty is claimed herein for the particular method of microencapsulation or for a particular perfume, cologne, etc., to be encased in the capsule. Accordingly, any suitable method may be used for microencapsulation and may include, for example, urea-formaldehyde capsules prepared by forming a precondensate and agitating with the perfume or cologne recipe. The urea-formaldehyde precondensate condenses into small microscopic capsule shell walls which contain the liquid composition enclosed therein. In another method, the encapsulating material is a starch acid-ester which is formed as a dispersion and the perfume or cologne recipe is commingled therewith and then the emulsion is spray dried to form the microcapsules containing the liquid therein. It is understood that dextrin, gelatin, gum arabic or other suitable material which will form the desired microcapsules may be used. The capsule size generally will be below about 100 microns in diameter and preferably of from 1 to about 50 microns, with 5 to 25 microns being particularly preferred. The capsules may be from about 10 to about 90 percent and preferably from about 30 to about 80 percent filled with the aroma composition.

In a preferred embodiment the sheet material containing raised portions along its edges is prepared first and then the capsules are placed in the depressed area. In one embodiment, the capsules are supplied while the sheet material is in a semitacky state but care should be observed in further heating the sheet material in order that the temperature will not be so high to cause the capsules to rupture. In another method, the capsules are in a semitacky state and are charged into the depressed area in this manner. In still another method, an adhesive may be sprayed or otherwise introduced into the depressed area before feeding the capsules thereto. It is understood that any suitable method of placing the capsules in the depressed area of the sheet material may be employed.

Any suitable perfume, cologne, deodorant or aftershave lotion formulation may be incorporated in the capsules. The specific recipe will be selected with reference to the consumer demand and thus may be selected from a wide variety of suitable formulations. The cologne recipes generally contain a small concentration of perfume ingredient and the remainder comprising alcohol, water and/or other suitable ingredients. As hereinbefore set forth any suitable formulation may be used in accordance with the present invention.

Merely for illustrative purposes, the following formulations are presented, with the understanding that most perfume compositions are formulated differently by different manufacturers and the following formulations may be modified when desired. A typical rose perfume formulation has the following ingredients:

Ingredient Parts by Weight __________________________________________________________________________ Phodinol 50 Geraniol 5 Citronellol 10 Phenylethyl alcohol 10 Nerol 5 Geranyl acetate 2 Aldehyde C-8, 10% 4 Aldehyde C-9, 10% 4 Benzophenone 6 Essence of styrax, F.F.S. 4 __________________________________________________________________________

another perfume recipe contains the following ingredients:

Ingredient Parts by Weight __________________________________________________________________________ Benzyl acetate 20 Linalyl acetate 5 Benzyl alcohol 10 Peach aldehyde C-14, 25% 1 -amylcinnamic aldehyde 10 Linalool 5 Indole 10% 10% Methyl anthranilate 1 Benzyl salicylate 30 Jasmone 3 Ylang-ylang 5 __________________________________________________________________________

A cologne base may comprise the following ingredients:

Ingredients Parts by Weight __________________________________________________________________________ Capraldehyde 0.50 Resin benzoin 3.0 Resin labadnum 1.5 Lavandin 15.5 Polyalkylated acetyl tetralin 1.5 Neroly 15.0 Citral diethyl acetate 30.0 Orange sweet 5.0 Rosemary 3.0 __________________________________________________________________________

The sheet material carrying the capsules may be prepared as strips, which may be of a length within the range of from about 3/4 inch to about 4 inches and preferably from about 1-1/4 to about 2-1/2 inches. These will be arranged in layers and packed in any suitable container which may be of plastic, cardboard, wood, metal, etc. In use, the top layer is withdrawn and pressed against the body to rupture the capsules and to dispense the perfume or cologne. In another embodiment, the sheet material is rolled into tape form and the user merely tears off a strip and then presses the strip against the body. The tape may be dispensed in a container similar to that presently used for "Scotch" tape, which provides a cutting edge to facilitate tearing a strip of the desired size. In still another embodiment, the sheet material may be perforated across its width at desired intervals and the strip thus is readily torn from the roll. It is understood that any suitable method of packaging the sheet material may be employed.

From the above description, it will be seen that a novel method is provided for carrying and dispensing aroma compositions. The size of the package will be small and thus will not consume too much space in ladies purses, carrying bags, suitcases, pockets, etc. The same advantage of small size also applies to men who may carry cologne, for example, in a pocket or traveling bag. Also, as hereinbefore set forth, the present invention avoids the disadvantages of accidental glass breakage or of aerosol containers leaking or clogging.

Claims

I claim as my invention:

1. A perfume dispenser which comprises a narrow sheet material having a raised portion at each edge running along the length of said material, thereby forming a depressed area between the raised portions, said depressed area carrying pressure-rupturable microcapsules containing an aroma chemical microencapsulated therein.

2. The perfume dispenser of claim 1 further characterized in that the sheet material is from about 1/4 inch to about 2 inches wide.

3. The perfume dispenser of claim 1 further characterized in that the sheet material is from about 3/8 to about 1 inch wide.

4. The perfume dispenser of claim 1 further characterized in that the aroma chemical is a perfume formulation.

5. The perfume dispenser of claim 1 further characterized in that the aroma chemical is a cologne formulation.

6. The perfume dispenser of claim 1 further characterized in that the sheet material comprises strips of from about 3/4 to about 4 inches in length.

7. The perfume dispenser of claim 1 further characterized in that the sheet material of claim 6 is from about 1-1/4 to about 2-1/2 inches in length.

8. The perfume dispenser of claim 1 further characterized in that the sheet material is formed into a roll.

9. The perfume dispenser of claim 1 further characterized in that the sheet material is formed from flexible plastic.

10. The perfume dispenser of claim 1 further characterized in that the sheet material is formed from paper.

11. The perfume dispenser of claim 1 further characterized in that the sheet material of claim 1 has an adhesive backing on the side opposite that carrying the pressure-rupturable microcapsules, said sheet material being formed into a roll, whereby the different layers of sheet material are maintained in tight contact.