JP3248528U - Incense - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] To provide incense that can reduce the environmental burden by effectively utilizing propolis residue and can also meet demand by increasing the variety of fragrances. [Solution] In incense sticks, materials including plant powder, fragrance ingredients, and water are kneaded and formed into a rod shape, and then ignited to be smoked, the fragrance ingredients contain propolis residue. Propolis residue, which has previously been discarded, is converted and reused as an incense stick material, contributing to reducing the environmental burden. Furthermore, the fragrance (aroma) released from the propolis residue when the incense stick is burned increases the variety of incense sticks. [Selected Figure] Figure 3

Description

Application for exception to loss of novelty has been filed

This invention belongs to the technical field of incense.

Incense sticks are usually made by adding fragrances to powdered tree branches, bark, and leaves, kneading the mixture, forming it into thin rods, and drying it. They are smoked to release their aroma. Focusing on the aroma released by the smoke, incense sticks for indoor use are manufactured not only for use in Buddhist ceremonies, but also for relaxation and healing purposes by stimulating the sense of smell, with a variety of scents (for example, Patent Documents 1 to 4).

By the way, one of the things honeybees produce is propolis. Propolis is used as an antibacterial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and immunomodulatory agent, as well as a preservative and disinfectant (Patent Document 5). Currently, research is being conducted into methods for extracting active ingredients from raw propolis blocks, as well as the pharmacological effects of propolis itself. Meanwhile, research has also progressed into incense sticks, and as a result, a wide variety of products are now on sale to suit different purposes.

However, the residue that remains after the necessary components are extracted from raw propolis (hereinafter referred to as "propolis residue") is discarded without being put to effective use, and this disposal is problematic as it places a burden on the environment. There is also a demand to increase the variety of products to be able to meet the diverse needs of users.

JP 2024-052193 A JP 2011-088837 A JP 2010-195725 A Utility Model Registration Number 3147081 Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 10-215815

This invention was made with these problems in mind, and aims to provide incense that can reduce the environmental impact by making effective use of propolis residue, while also increasing the variety of fragrances to meet demand.

The inventor, who conducted intensive research to solve the above-mentioned problems, succeeded in solving the problems by adding propolis residue to some of the raw materials for incense, i.e., by converting a simple waste product into a material. Specifically, the means described in each claim of the utility model registration for the incense sticks according to this invention are adopted.

The incense sticks according to claim 1 are made by kneading materials containing plant powder, fragrance ingredients, and water, forming them into a rod shape, and igniting them to produce smoke, and are characterized in that the fragrance ingredients contain propolis residue.

The incense sticks according to claim 2 are a preferred embodiment of the incense sticks according to claim 1, characterized by the incense sticks containing an appropriate amount of newly added cellulose powder.

According to the incense sticks of claim 1, propolis residue, which has been discarded until now, is utilized as an incense ingredient, i.e., waste material is converted and reused as a material, which contributes to reducing the environmental burden. Furthermore, the aroma (scent) released from the propolis residue when the incense sticks are burned increases the variety of incense sticks.

Furthermore, as a preferred embodiment of the incense stick according to claim 2, by adding an appropriate amount of cellulose powder in addition to the cellulose originally contained in the propolis residue, it is possible to adjust the burning time of incense sticks of the same length and prevent the burning from going out as much as possible.

1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the incense stick according to the present invention; FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the incense stick of FIG. 1 in use. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the incense stick of FIG. 1 burning. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line XX of the incense stick of FIG. 1 ((B) and (C) are modified cross-sectional views of (A)). FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the incense stick according to the present invention. 1 is a perspective view showing a time series of a cone-shaped incense stick burning according to another embodiment of the incense stick of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing another embodiment of the incense stick according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the incense stick according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing a method for producing incense sticks. 1 is a chart showing the results of a comparative experiment of incense sticks with and without cellulose powder mixed therein.

The incense sticks according to the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to Figures 1 to 10 as a form for implementing the present invention (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as the present embodiment).

(Incense stick form)
The shape of the incense stick according to the present embodiment can be freely selected as long as it can maintain its strength as an incense stick and can produce a pleasant aroma, but it is generally formed into a rod-like (round rod) shape with one end 3 and the other end 5, as in the incense stick 1 shown in FIG. 1. Generally, incense sticks refer to linear (rod-like) objects, but as will be described later, in this specification, cone-shaped and spiral-shaped objects (both of which are also called "incense") are also considered to be rod-shaped. When the incense stick 1 is ignited at one end 3, the burning part a slowly progresses toward the other end 5 and burns (smokes). The aroma components sublimated by the combustion heat adhere to the particles and diffuse as fragrant smoke b (FIG. 3). Note that the symbols a indicating the burning part and b indicating the smoke will also be used in other drawings than FIG. 3.

Fragrances are likeable and disliked by individuals, and whether or not a scent is perceived as pleasant can vary depending on the physical and psychological state at the time, as well as one's subjective evaluation of the scent. With this as a premise, the creators of this pleasant scent believe it to be a scent that enriches ordinary moments just a little, and brings peace of mind to busy everyday life, in other words, a scent that improves the quality of life.

As shown in Figure 2, the incense stick 1 can be supported by inserting one end 5 (hidden in Figure 2) into an insertion hole (not shown) in the ash tray 101. This is because it looks nice and is preferable from the standpoint of fire prevention and disposal of ash after combustion. The cross section (X-X cross section in Figure 1) of the incense stick 1 can be round (Figure 4 (A)), or it can be square or hexagonal (Figures 4 (B) and (C)) by devising the manufacturing method. In particular, since a hexagon is the same shape as a beehive, it is expected that the product will attract customers' attention by evoking a connection with propolis.

As for other shapes of incense sticks, there are rod-shaped sticks in which the same cross section is not continuous from one end 3 to the other end 5, such as the incense stick with alternating thin and thick sections from one end 13 to the other end 15 shown by reference number 11 in FIG. 5, and the cone-shaped incense stick shown by reference number 21 in FIGS. 6(a)-(c). The former incense stick 11 allows you to enjoy the aesthetic design as well as the fragrance. The latter incense stick 21 has a cross-sectional area (burning part) that increases from the apex at one end 23 to the base at the other end 25, so the amount of smoke increases over time (the fragrance becomes stronger). Therefore, the incense stick 21 is suitable for when you want a fragrance in a short time in a relatively small space such as a bathroom.

There are also various styles of incense sticks, such as the spiral incense stick 31 (Fig. 7), which is suitable for long-term use, does not take up much space, and can be installed stably, and the incense stick 41 (Fig. 8), in which the letter L ("Thank you" in Fig. 8) appears on the surface of the ash after the incense stick is burned. The letter L can be formed, for example, using unburned ink that uses metal powder as a coloring material that oxidizes and turns black when burned.

(Ingredients for incense sticks)
Returning to the topic of incense stick 1, incense stick 1 is composed of materials including fine powder of bark of Tabu, an evergreen tall tree of the Lauraceae family (hereinafter referred to as "Tabu powder A") and propolis residue B. It is preferable to also include cellulose powder C (the reason will be described later), and there is no prohibition on including ingredients other than those mentioned above.

Propolis residue B is the residue, or powder, that is left over when propolis is extracted from raw propolis masses produced by honeybees using plant buds and resin as raw materials. The most common extraction method is with alcohol or water, but the supercritical extraction method devised by the inventor is also suitable. Since propolis is produced in the manner described above, it originally contains cellulose derived from the raw plant material.

The preferred ratio of Tab powder A to propolis residue B is determined according to the amount of smoke used, but according to experiments conducted by the inventors, the maximum mixing ratio of the latter was about 9 parts of propolis residue B to 1 part Tab powder A by weight. If propolis residue B was mixed in at a ratio greater than this, problems such as difficulty in forming into a rod due to insufficient viscosity and the problem of the flame disappearing, which will be described later, occurred. However, this mixing ratio can be adjusted as appropriate, and adjustment is often necessary. That is, the optimal manufacturing conditions differ depending on the inherent properties of the powders of Tab powder A and propolis residue B, the powder size, the differences in the ambient environment during manufacturing such as temperature and humidity, and the balance between the amount of water added and the kneading time. If cellulose powder C is mixed in, the above mixing ratio needs to be adjusted more delicately.

As mentioned above, propolis residue B originally contains cellulose derived from the fruit, but in the present embodiment, which is a more preferred form, an appropriate amount of cellulose powder C is further mixed in. Cellulose powder C can be purchased from a commercial source, and it is desirable to determine the mixing ratio of tab powder A and propolis residue B so that the incense stick formation, burning duration, etc. are in the desired state.

(Incense stick manufacturing method)
The manufacturing method of the incense stick 1 will be described with reference to Fig. 9. First, raw materials including tabu powder A, propolis residue B, and cellulose powder C are prepared, and appropriate amounts of each are mixed (S1). Although not shown in Fig. 9, pretreatment such as crushing of propolis residue B is performed as necessary before mixing. The raw materials mixed in S1 are put into a kneading machine while water W is injected (S3), and kneaded to form a cylindrical mass called kneaded ball, for example, about 30 centimeters in diameter and about 40 meters in length (S5).

The kneaded balls produced in S5 are placed in an incense stick forming machine and extruded into lines through a watering can-shaped group of small holes, in the same way as the food tokoroten is made (S7). The lines extruded in S7 become stick-shaped incense sticks, and the thickness of the incense sticks is determined by the diameter of the small holes. The extruded incense sticks are lined up on a board called a pressing board (not shown) and cut to a specified length (for example, 14 centimeters) (S9). The pressing boards on which the incense sticks are lined up are stacked and dried in a specified environment (S11). The incense sticks that have finished drying in S11 are inspected and finished by bundling or boxing based on quantity or weight (S13). This completes the production of incense stick 1.

According to this embodiment, unprecedented materials such as propolis residue B and cellulose powder C are used, but this only differs from the conventional materials; the manufacturing process and manufacturing equipment for normal incense sticks are almost the same. Therefore, the manufacturing equipment for conventional incense sticks can be reused as is, so there is no additional cost burden. In addition, since propolis residue that would have been discarded can be reused with just a little processing, there is no increase in manufacturing costs. Combined with the reuse of the manufacturing equipment mentioned above, incense stick 1 is an incense stick that is also favorable in terms of cost.

The above manufacturing method is a general method for manufacturing a certain amount of incense sticks, and there is no intention to prevent the use of procedures or methods other than those described above. If incense sticks of a special shape are to be manufactured, for example, the shape and diameter dimensions of the small holes in the incense stick molding machine in S7 can be changed, and the shape can be adjusted by hand for single-item manufacturing.

(Comparative Experiment)
Based on the diagram of FIG. 10, the results of the comparative experiment with and without cellulose powder C will be described. In the following, the description of cellulose powder C will be omitted and the cases will be expressed as "without mixing" and "with mixing". First, the difference in color is that what was brown without mixing became whitish brown with mixing. Also, the feel of the surface was the same as that of regular incense without mixing. In other words, it had a normal feel to the touch. On the other hand, when mixed, it felt a little rougher than regular incense or incense without mixing. The above color difference can be said to be a natural result of mixing a color other than brown into brown. As for the color and the feel, it is thought that the raw materials of the incense without mixing were dense, but the raw materials became sparser by the amount of the mixed incense (the amount of cellulose powder intervening).

The part that has turned to ash as a result of burning will fall if it can no longer withstand its own weight, but when the part that has turned to ash remains standing on its own without falling, its length is about 2.5 cm without mixing, and 2.0 cm with mixing, which is 5 mm shorter. This may be because the ingredients are looser when mixed. The burning time of a 7.0 cm incense stick was about 29 minutes without mixing, and about 21 minutes with mixing. The reason that the incense stick with mixing burned for about 8 minutes, or nearly 30% shorter (burned faster) than the incense stick with no mixing, is likely related to the looseness of the ingredients mentioned above. There was no noticeable difference in scent between the incense sticks with and without mixing, and both had a sweet and pleasant scent.

The most important difference seems to be whether or not the incense goes out (burning stops midway). In other words, the incense sticks without any mixture would go out, but the incense sticks with the mixture did not go out. This is related to the fact that the incense sticks burn quickly as mentioned above, and is thought to be because the sparseness of the ingredients promotes combustion. This is the greatest advantage of mixing in an appropriate amount of cellulose powder.

(Effects unique to this embodiment)
According to the incense stick 1 of this embodiment, as described above, a sweet and pleasant aroma can be enjoyed. This incense stick is expected to have effects such as relaxation and healing. By mixing cellulose powder C, the occurrence of the incense going out can be effectively suppressed. There is also room for adjustment of the burning time, and it can be used according to the purpose. From the above, it is possible to reduce the environmental burden by converting the conventional waste material, namely propolis residue, into an incense stick material, and the pleasant aroma of the resulting incense stick 1 can increase the variety of incense sticks that can satisfy the tastes of users.

Although the present embodiment has been described above, the present invention is not necessarily limited to the above embodiment. Furthermore, a person skilled in the art may find various alternative embodiments and modifications without departing from the spirit of the present invention or the scope of the attached utility model registration claims.

1, 11, 21, 31, 41: incense stick, 3: one end, 5: other end, 101: ash tray, a: burning part, b: smoke, A: tab powder, B: propolis powder, C: cellulose, L: letter

Claims (2)

Incense sticks are made by kneading materials containing plant powder, fragrance ingredients, and water, forming them into sticks, and igniting them to produce smoke, and the incense ingredients contain propolis residue. 2. The incense stick according to claim 1, further comprising an appropriate amount of newly added cellulose powder.

Images