S. C. Johnson Son, Inc.

Jeffrey L Harwig

Thomas Jaworski

Stephen B Leonard

William G Parsons

Paul E Furner

Robert J Kopanic

Fukyuen Cheng

Seakee Chen

Dennis William Gruber

Michael Sawalski

Mark M Gipp

Michael J Skalitzky

Richard L Norwood

Kathleen M Laru

Steven C Shirley

Fuk Yuen Cheng

Zhi Bin Wen

Jian Shi

Stefano Deflorian

Padma Prabodh Varanasi

Evan A Sparks

David P Mather

James R Crapser

Mark E Wefler

Joel E Adair

James F Kimball

Thomas P Gasper

Charles Frazer Kilby

Eric B Gach

Brian E Healy

Murthy S Munagavalasa

Gene Sipinski

Imre J Dancs

Ralph W Oakeson

Miles William Noel Hember

John A Heathcock

Rene Maurice Beland

Gopal P Ananth

Lawrence Jon Fenske

Maude Christian Meier

Alessio Giovanelli

Pamela J Taylor

Jaime R Allen

Daniel G Lee

Dragon Su

Dik Man Yeung

Kamfong Tam

C Scott Eagleton

Kelvin Tam

Zi Ming Zeng

A dispensing system includes a substrate made of a porous material that defines a channel. The system also includes a base in contact with the substrate, A container for discharging a flowable medium into the channel is completely accommodated within the base and is partially exterior to the substrate.

Method and system for dispensing a composition

A dispensing system includes a substrate and a mechanism for discharging a flowable medium through the substrate. The discharge of the flowable medium through the substrate results in a visible plume of the flowable medium for at least 3 seconds.

Dispensing devices are disclosed that include a base, a reservoir that has a volatile active, and a housing. The housing includes a horizontal component and a vertical wall extending upwardly from the horizontal component. The horizontal component and the vertical wall define an interior volume of the housing. An activator is operatively connected to the reservoir. When the activator is activated, the volatile active is released from the reservoir into the interior volume of the housing to create a first quantity of volatile active having a first emanation rate and a second quantity of volatile active having a second emanation rate.

Dispenser

A bottle includes a product stored therein. It is configured to be removably engaged with a docking station in an inverted arrangement to be activated by the docking station and heat the product. The bottle may include a pump structure (e.g. in the form of a bellows), or be a squeezable bottle, or be a bowable bottle, or have other pumping features. Structures are provided to prevent drool after use, to help apply the heated product to the skin, and to insure proper heating and dispensing. There are combined docking stations and bottles where the bottle is positioned in an inverted manner, and methods for using these devices.

Heated flowable product dispenser

A bottle includes a product stored therein. It is configured to be removably engaged with a docking station in an inverted arrangement to be activated by the docking station and heat the product. The bottle may include a pump structure (e.g. in the form of a bellows), or be a squeezable bottle, or be a bowable bottle, or have other pumping features. Structures are provided to prevent drool after use, to help apply the heated product to the skin, and to insure proper heating and dispensing. Docking stations and bottles can be combined where the bottle is positioned in an inverted manner, and there can be methods for using these devices.

Disclosed herein are navigational systems for automated robotic floor cleaners. RFID passive tags are positioned at specified areas of a floor to be treated so as to increase or decrease dwell time of the cleaning device adjacent the tags. An RFID interrogator on the robot learns from each tag its nature, and based thereon instructs the device to change the dwell time over specified areas. This permits areas of a carpet or other surface requiring extra or less treatment to be cleaned in an optimal manner.

RFID navigational system for robotic floor treater

Tread structures, wave motion navigational controls, and ramp up recovery controls are provided to an autonomous floor cleaner to reduce wheel slippage. The floor cleaner delivers liquid to the floor as part of the cleaning process. Wheels on the device are provided with relatively deep peripheral grooves to minimize the contact surfaces of a sprocket wheel and to accommodate the layer of liquid on the floor. In the event of wheel slippage, or to prevent wheel slippage, the device is designed to move forward with a slight side-to-side wave action caused by periodically altering the relative speeds of two drive wheels. There is also provided a slippage recovery mode where the drive wheels shut down or greatly slow when severe slippage is sensed, followed by a slow ramp up of speed.

Methods to prevent wheel slip in an autonomous floor cleaner

A cartridge is disclosed comprising a reel-to-reel roll of cleaning material, for use in a hand-held or robotic cleaning device. The cartridge provides either an electrostatic dust cloth or wet mop, and includes a fluid reservoir for maintaining the wet mop cloth during use. A dust bin is also provided on the cartridge, and includes a hinged lid for providing selective access to the dust inside of the bin. A motor, optical sensor, and fluid pump inside of a cleaning apparatus control the operation of the reel-to-reel cloth, and control fluid delivery to the wet cloth.

Surface treating device with cartridge-based cleaning system

A system for detecting a container or contents of the container. The system includes a diffuser for retaining the container, where the container is configured to hold an active material therein and may include a wick extending therefrom. The system further includes a sensor positioned to detect, for example, the container retained in the diffuser and/or the contents of the container retained in the diffuser.

System for detecting a container or contents of the container

A robotic surface treating device that can perform carpet sweeping, hard-surface dry sweeping/wiping, and hard-surface sweeping/mopping is disclosed. The robotic surface treating device includes a sweeper brush, a dust bin for collecting debris from the brush, a reel-to-reel sheet of cleaning material, and a fluid delivery system for delivering fluid from a fluid reservoir onto the sheet of cleaning material and/or onto the surface to be treated. The dust bin, reel-to-reel sheet of cleaning material, and the fluid reservoir are separately installed from the top of the device, and may be separately removed for replacement.

Surface treating device with top load cartridge-based cleaning system

The present invention is an air purifier including an ionizing assembly that operates to charge particulate material in an air flow passing through the purifier. The charged particulate material is attracted to and retained by a filter element disposed downstream of the ionization assembly and having an electrical charge opposite to the charged particulate material. The purified air passing through the filter is directed out of the device, optionally in conjunction with a fragrance that is added to the purified air flow. The ionizing assembly is formed with a ground member disposed adjacent the ionizing member to keep the electrons generated by the ionizing assembly within the purifier, and thus prevent static discharges from occurring outside of the purifier. The air flow is directed by a fan through the purifier in an angular and substantially laminar manner, such that the efficiency of the purifier is increased.

Air purifier

A diffusion device includes a housing having a battery disposed therein and adapted to receive a replaceable fluid reservoir for holding a fluid, wherein the fluid reservoir includes a wick for movement of the fluid to a discharge end thereof. The diffusion device further includes a piezoelectric element energized by a power source for vibrating a perforated orifice plate disposed adjacent the discharge end of the wick, wherein the piezoelectric element develops vibratory movement to pump the fluid from the discharge end through the perforated discharge plate and into the atmosphere. A control circuit and light emitting diode ('LED') are disposed in the housing, wherein the control circuit energizes the LED at a particular frequency when the dispenser is active and a voltage developed by the battery is above a threshold voltage.

Diffusion device

Diffuser

Therapy patches are disclosed which are designed to deliver vibration and heat (or cold) to human skin so as to provide muscle relief. These patches have a chemical pouch that generates heat or cold upon initiation. They also have a motor and battery to provide a vibration source. Forms of the invention have an adhesive so that the patch can be attached to the skin (and thus need not be manually held in place during use). Kits are also provided in which the motor and battery can be used with a string of linked, severable replacement pouches. Methods of using these patches are also disclosed.

Therapy patch

Growing community of inventors

New Berlin, WI, United States of America

Jeffrey L Harwig