The object of the invention is a device for delivering fragrances from a standing or slowly moving car into its environment. The invention belongs to class F16K 17/10 of the International Patent Classification.

The use of fragrances in placing and differentiating brands has immensely increased in the past years.

Fragrances have been playing an important role in the automobile industry for very long years; the scenting business has been primarily focused on exhibition rooms at car shows, sales points and in particular to car interiors.

Scenting the environment of a car considerably expands the space, in which fragrances play their role. The fragrances not only impact the owner, for instance in a scented garage, but also the people passing by a parked car. A pleasant fragrance triggers a positive emotional experience and when a passer-by realises that a car is the source of a fragrance, the positive emotional experience is linked to this car, and this contributes to a positive distinctiveness of a brand. A person remembers a fragrance and the related experience for several years, while the experience linked to hearing or seeing is only remembered for a couple of months.

The consumers no longer decide for a purchase merely rationally but more and more often based on positive emotional experience and associations, this is why a scented environment of a car may have an important impact on sales increase and better customer satisfaction.

The technical problem solved by the present invention is a construction of a device that has no negative impact on safety, fuel consumption and driving performance of a car and allows a simple access to all elements of the device; it allows an well-distributed propagation of a fragrance in all directions at minimum energy and fragrance consumption; it is robust enough to withstand the bursts and vibrations that occur during a ride to avoid a decline in functioning and the life span of the device; it allows to protect the interior of the device against water, dirt, dust, sand and other factors during a car ride on various surfaces and during washing; it allows efficient operation of the device in all weather conditions regardless of the angle and direction of the tilt of a car and provides for a data exchange with the car's data system.

The scent-delivery device of the present invention allows a free propagation of vapours of a fragrance impregnated in a blotting paper arranged in a container that is lowered below the car while the device is operating, while the container is extended into the cover while in the non- operating state.

It is made possible by the construction of the device of the invention that, in the basic mode of operation, when the car engine is normally turned off and the energy for its operation is provided for by the batteries, the energy is merely used for sporadic opening and closing of a valve for fragrance supply above the blotting paper and the operation of a microprocessor, while the fragrance freely propagates to all directions around the car.

The device of the invention comprises a cover fastened to the bottom side of a bodywork bottom of a car, a container, a mechanism for lifting and sinking the container, a tank for storing a fragrance in a liquid aggregate state, tubes for supplying the fragrance to the container, a blotting paper, and a microprocessor for operating the device.

The invention will be explained in more detail hereinbelow on the basis of an embodiment and drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic view of the embodiment;

Figure 2 shows the arrangement of the device in the car.

The scent-delivery device of the invention comprises a cover 1 , a container 2, a mechanism for lifting and sinking the container 2, and a tank 3 for storing a fragrance. The cover 1 contains a transversal tube 4 that is connected via an electric valve 5 having a tube 6 with the tank 3 for storing a fragrance in a liquid aggregate state. The transversal tube 4 is provided on its bottom side with perforations 4a, through which a fragrance drips onto a blotting paper 7 inserted in the container 2, while the electric valve 5 is open. The blotting paper 7 is made from an absorbent material, for instance polyamide. The tank 3 is preferably arranged below the car's bonnet. The cover 1 is flat and corresponds in its dimensions and shape to the container 2, such that the cover 1 tightly covers the container 2, when the latter is lifted. The container 2 is designed to be freely lifted and sunk regardless of the angle and direction of the tilt of the car and to allow a free propagation of the fragrance into the environment of the car while the container 2 is sunk.

The cover 1 is fastened to the bottom side of the car's bodywork bottom. The container 2 is connected with the cover 1 through the mechanism for lifting and sinking. The mechanism for lifting and sinking the container 2 contains a motor 10 with two drive shafts 11 , 12 connected with two tooth wheels 13, 14 that drive by means of toothed belts 15, 16 two tooth wheels 17, 18 and 19, 20 each, said tooth wheels being stiffly connected by winding means 21 , 22, 23, 24 fastened on the bottom side of the cover 1 , to which one end of lifting strings 25, 26, 27, 28 led through guides 30, 3 , 32, 33 is fastened, while the other end of the lifting strings 25, 26, 27, 28 is fastened to the container 2.

In the basic position of the device of the invention the container 2 is lifted under the cover 1.

The operation of the scent-delivery device of the invention is based on evaporation of a fragrance from the blotting paper 7. An electric heater 8 can be arranged on the bottom of the container 2 underneath the blotting paper 7 in order to accelerate the evaporation of the fragrance. The electric heater 8 is connected to the energy source by means of an elastic cable. The basic device of the invention can be upgraded by a micro fan 9 for blowing the scented air above the container 2. The micro fan 9 is arranged on the cover 1 of the device of the invention and faces the container 2.

The operation of the device of the invention is controlled and supervised by a microprocessor 29, which activates the following operations: sinking and lifting the container 2, opening and closing the electric valve 5, turning on/off the electric heater 8, and turning on/off the micro fan 9. The modes of operation of the device of the invention dictate a set of operations from the above-indicated set, the order of their activation and the time intervals between individual operations.

The microprocessor 29 has access to the data on the car's speed which affects the decision on whether the scenting is reasonable or not, and access to the data on the temperature and humidity of the air in the car's environment, which affect the decision on whether the heater 8 and the micro fan 9 are turned on or not.

The microprocessor 29 can be remotely controlled by means of elements arranged on the car's dashboard or on a mobile remote controller,

Essential oils from plants from the upper notes of the Piesse Scale are preferably used for scenting. They quickly evaporate, the scent is immediately sensed and has a stimulation effect.

Understandably, other embodiments of the device of the invention can be conceived such as use of telescopic or scissor-like elements or of an electromagnetic field for manufacturing a mechanism for lifting and sinking the container 2. A tube-shaped construction is also possible, in which the tubes provided with opening/closing flaps at their entry/exit are provided with elements for fragrance delivery, a blotting paper, an electric heater, and a micro fan that forces the scented air towards the tube exit.

The device of the invention can use several types of fragrances stored in separate tanks.

Cartridges may be used for storing the fragrances.