Patent Application
20060226266
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to fluid handling processes and apparatus. More particularly, this invention relates to new methods and apparatus for distributing the flow of fluid from a fluidic oscillator.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various types of spray apparatus are commercially available in numerous designs and configurations for use in showers, faucets, whirlpools, sprinklers, automotive windshield, headlamp and rear windshield cleaning apparatus, hand-held, trigger sprayers and various industrial processes, etc.
Many of these sprayers are designed and sold for their ability to provide liquid sprays having specific types of definable characteristics (e.g., the volume flow rate of the spray, the spray's area of coverage, the spatial distribution of spray droplets in a plane perpendicular to the direction of flow of the spray, the average spray droplet velocities, the average size of the spray droplets, and the frequency of the spray droplets impacting on an obstacle in the path of the spray).
Stationary sprayers with fixed jets are the simplest of all spray apparatus, consisting essentially of a liquid chamber and one or more jets directed to produce a constant spray pattern. Stationary sprayers with adjustable jets are typically of a similar construction, except that it is possible to make some adjustment to the geometry of the throat through which the jet exits so as to change the nature of the spray (e.g., spray's area of coverage, spray droplet velocities, size of the spray droplets).
To obtain broader patterns of spray droplet distributions, especially the area of coverage, various non-stationary sprayers have been used. See U.S. Pat. No. 3,791,584 (Drew et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,457 (Brewer), U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,664 (Heitzman) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,360,965 (Clearman).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,457 discloses an oscillating sprayer or spray head that uses an impeller wheel mounted to a gear box assembly which produces an oscillating movement of the nozzle. See
U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,664 discloses a spray head having a rotary valve member driven by a turbine wheel and gear reducer for cycling the flow rate through the housing between high and low flow rates, causing the spray droplets to be distributed over broader areas. Additionally, the turbine wheels of this spray head may be used to control the frequency of the spray droplets impacting on an obstacle in the path of the spray, thereby using this phenomena to cause the flow from the spray to exhibit pulsating features for massaging purposes. See FIGS. 2(a)-2(b).
U.S. Pat. No. 3,691,584 discloses a nozzle mounted on a stem that rotates and pivots under forces placed on it by water entering through radially disposed slots into a chamber around the stem. This type of nozzle also includes a large number of piece requiring precise dimensions and numerous connections between pieces, and relies upon small openings for water passageways; with thee openings being subject to mineral buildup and plugging. See
U.S. Pat. No. 6,360,965 discloses a spray head that reportedly distributes its droplets over a wider area by utilizing a means for wobbling the nozzle assembly of such a spray head. See
In addition to using various forms of mechanical parts in such spray apparatus to vary the flow from them, it is also well known in the art that so-called “fluidic oscillators” or “fluidic inserts” can be used to provide a wide range of spray droplet distributions. Such fluidic devices employ especially constructed “fluid circuits” or “fluid pathways” to cyclically deflect the liquids which they spray. These fluidic devices are noteworthy from a reliability point of view in that they have no moving parts and their flow passages are not as small as the openings in the previously discussed typical mechanical sprayers.
FIG. 5 from U.S. Pat. No. 4,052,002 (Stouffer & Bray) and FIG. 6 from U.S. Pat. No. 4,151,955 (Stouffer) demonstrate some of the flow patterns that can be achieved with various types of fluidic oscillators.
The fluidic oscillators of
Examples of fluidic oscillators and fluidic circuits may be found in many patents, including U.S. Pat. No. 3,185,166 (Horton & Bowles), U.S. Pat. No. 3,563,462 (Bauer), U.S. Pat. No. 4,052,002 (Stouffer & Bray), U.S. Pat. No. 4,151,955 (Stouffer), U.S. Pat. No. 4,157,161 (Bauer), U.S. Pat. No. 4,231,519 (Stouffer), which was reissued as RE 33,158, U.S. Pat. No. 4,508,267 (Stouffer), U.S. Pat. No. 5,035,361 (Stouffer), U.S. Pat. No. 5,213,269 (Srinath), U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,301 (Stouffer), U.S. Pat. No. 6,186,409 (Srinath) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,253,782 (Raghu).
Such fluidic oscillators have found wide acceptance in the automotive industry.
Such fluidic spray devices for automotive applications have been an area of extensive industrial research. Often this research has been focused on the problems of how to: (a) better direct the sprays from these devices so that they more completed wet desired, target areas of a windshield, (b) optimize their performance over the range of environmental conditions under which they must operate, especially for colder operating temperatures, and (c) eliminate leakage or spurious sprays (i.e., “streamers’) from appear at the front edges of the insert and are due, in large part, to the relatively large amount of surface area that must be sealed between the insert's outer boundaries and the inner boundaries of the cavity into which the insert is press fitted.
For example, for applications requiring greater spray spreading (i.e., larger spread angles, θ, as when such nozzles are to be mounted closer to the windshield, or the windshield is taller), it has been found that it is possible to place a “reverse” taper in the floor of these circuits to achieve spread or vertical included angles of 4-6 degrees. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,749,525 for a disclosure of such “reverse” taper, fluidic circuits.
Other especially-designed fluidic circuits have the ability to shift the horizontal centerline of such sprayers to one side or another, thereby effectively “yawing” the direction of the sprays. See U.S. Pat. No. 6,240,945 for a disclosure of such a “yawed” fluidic circuit.
U.S. Patent Application Publication (USPAP) 20030234303 discloses how to design such fluidic inserts (referred to herein as “double spray” inserts) so that they have differing fluidic circuits molded into both their top and bottom surfaces so as to yield a top spray which has a narrower fan angle than that of a bottom spray which issues from the bottom fluidic circuit. Such combinations of sprays have proven, in some applications, to allow for the more effective wetting of target areas. See FIGS. 9(a)-9(c) where the dual spray fluidic insert shown has a fluidic circuit molded into its bottom surface which is referred to as a “mushroom” fluidic circuit or oscillator and is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,253,782.
Additionally, it often happens that efforts to improve such automotive sprayers much be undertaken while having to adhere to strict geometric parameters. For example, decisions such as where such a sprayer can be located on an automobile hood and what are the acceptable size restrictions on such sprayers can often be greatly influenced by the cosmetic or appearance considerations for the hood. These design parameters can often complicate the task of improving the performance of such automotive sprayers.
Despite many advancements in the design of fluidic circuits, some automotive applications still continue to present unique surface wetting challenges and problems for automotive sprayers. A need continues to exist for the development of improved automotive sprayers.
3. Objects and Advantages
There has been summarized above, rather broadly, the prior art that is related to the present invention in order that the context of the present invention may be better understood and appreciated. In this regard, it is instructive to also consider the objects and advantages of the present invention.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an adjustable fluidic spray device that provides better flexibility for addressing the surface wetting requirements of such devices.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an adjustable fluidic spray device which can meet the established size restriction requirements for such devices 11 while providing greater flexibility for addressing the surface wetting requirements of such devices.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a fluidic spray device that can provide greater flexibility for addressing the surface wetting requirements of such devices, but without adversely affecting the magnitude of the fluid leakage problems that can be associated with such devices.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide such an improved fluidic spray device that is easy to manufacture and install in its required housing.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide such an improved fluidic spray device that is especially well suited for uniformly distributing cleaning fluids to wash automotive windshield, headlamp and rear windshield surfaces.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved fluidic spray device that will help to eliminate the problem of the sprays from current fluidic nozzles being swept over the hoods and the sides of cars that are traveling at high speeds.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent as the invention is better understood by reference to the accompanying summary, drawings and the detailed description that follows.
Recognizing the need for the development of improved fluidic spray devices that can better address the unique surface wetting challenges and problems associated with automotive sprayers, the present invention is generally directed to satisfying the needs set forth above and overcoming the disadvantages identified with prior art devices and methods.
In accordance with the present invention, the foregoing need can be satisfied by providing a fluidic spray device that in a first preferred embodiment includes the following elements: (a) a base having boundary surfaces including a top, bottom, front, rear, right and left sides, and (b) a plurality of projections extending from a base boundary surface chosen from the group consisting of its top and bottom surfaces, wherein these projections are configured and spaced so as to provide the interior geometry of a fluidic circuit having filter posts, a power nozzle located downstream of the filter posts, and an interaction region located downstream of the power nozzle.
In a second preferred embodiment, this devise further includes a secondary housing having an outer surface that includes a front and a rear face, an intermediate boundary surface that connects these faces, and a passage having interior walls that extends between the faces, with this passage having a definable front and a rear portion. The intersection of the passage's rear portion with the rear face of the housing forms the opening to a cavity formed by the interior walls of the passage's rear portion. Additionally, a portion of the intermediate outer boundary surface has spherical-shaped curvature and the passage's front portion is configured so as to form a throat whose intersection with the housing's front face forms an outlet from which the spray which flows from the device issues.
In a third preferred embodiment, this devise further includes a primary housing having an outer surface with a front face that includes an opening to a cavity having a boundary surface that extends into the primary housing. A portion of this cavity's boundary surface has sphere-shaped curvature comparable to that of the secondary housing's sphere-shaped portion and this cavity is further configured so as to accommodate the secondary housing in this cavity, with this accommodation being such that the their adjoining surfaces provide a ball and socket type of fitting that allow for an end-user to set a plurality of directional orientations for the spray that issues from this device.
Thus, there has been summarized above, rather broadly, the present invention in order that the detailed description that follows may be better understood and appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims to this invention.
FIGS. 2(a)-2(b) illustrate the prior art, spray head disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,664, where
FIGS. 8(a)-8(b) illustrate the horizontal fan angle, φ, the vertical spray angle, γ, and the spread angle, θ, or the “thickness” which are used to characterize the geometry of the sprays that flow from the typical fluidic inserts that are used and mounted in the housings associated with automotive windshield sprayers.
FIGS. 9(a)-9(c) illustrate the fluidic oscillator disclosed in USPAP 20030234303 and show how it generates top and bottom sprays that in a windshield application have differing horizontal fan angles.
FIGS. 10(a)-10(c) show, respectively, a perspective, front and side-sectional view of a preferred embodiment of the fluidic spray device of the present invention.
FIGS. 11(a)-11(b) show a perspective and top view of a fluidic device.
FIGS. 14 (a)-14(d), respectively, show a perspective, top, cross-sectional and exploded view of a second preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIGS. 15 (a)-15(b) show perspective views of the components that comprise a third preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIGS. 16(a)-16(b) show a similar version of the preferred embodiment previously seen in FIGS. 14(a)-14(d), except that this version shows the fluidic device having a vertical member on its rear face which serves as its primary housing's end surface.
FIGS. 17(a) and 17(b) show, respectively, a perspective view of a side-less, double spray, fluidic device and the “dual throat” housing in which this device is inserted.
FIGS. 19(a)-19(c) show perspective views of the components of a fluidic device that is similar to the previously discussed ball-shaped secondary housing, and
Before explaining at least one embodiment of the present invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
We have discovered unique methods and means for improving the performance of fluidic oscillators that must adhere to strict size and configuration requirements, such as those encountered in providing sprayers for automotive applications where, in addition to the cosmetically dictated size and configuration requirements, there are often very demanding requirements for the surface wetting properties of the sprays that flow from such sprayers.
A common problem encountered in developing and producing fluidic oscillators or inserts for use in automotive windshield applications is designing a fluidic circuit which can give the desired spray characteristics (e.g., at flow rates of 400 ml/minute and operating pressures of 9 psig, uniform coverage with spray droplets of a target area located approximately 25 cm in front of the sprayer and having a target area width of approximately 80 cm) and which can be fitted onto the top or bottom surface of a fluidic insert that is constrained to have only a very limited width (e.g., typical acceptable widths are on the order of 8-9 mm).
Since such inserts are typically made by plastic injection molding methods, those knowledgeable with such manufacturing methods will understand that such methods impose further constraints on the geometry of such inserts. For example, a 8 mm wide fluidic insert, such as that shown in FIGS. 9(a)-9(b), has only about 6 mm width of room on its top or bottom surface for accommodating a fluidic circuit since the wall thickness of such pieces must typically be about 1 mm or larger.
FIGS. 10(a)-10(c) show, respectively, a perspective, front and side-sectional view of a preferred embodiment 2 of the present invention. The three components that make up this embodiment are shown in the perspective views of FIGS. 11(a), 12(a) and 13(a).
The first of these is a fluidic device 10 that has a top surface 14 that is configured, in this instance, according to the fluidic circuit geometry disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,253,782 (although it should be noted that many of the fluidic circuits previously discussed in the “Related Art” section of this application could have served as guidance for the configuring the top surface of this device).
The second of these components is a secondary housing 30 which, in this instance, has a portion 32 of its outer surface 34 configured in the shape of a sphere or ball. It also has a passage 36 which passes from its rear 38 to its front 40 face.
The third of these components is a primary housing 50 which has a top 52 outer surface which is aerodynamically streamlined from its rear 54 to its front 56 face. This front face has the opening 58 to a cavity 60 which extends into the body of this housing 50. A portion 62 of this cavity's inner surface 64 is configured to form a socket so that this cavity can accommodate the ball shaped portion 32 of the secondary housing 30. An orifice 66 extends from the bottom of this cavity to allow a liquid to flow into this housing.
Cross sectional view 10(c) illustrates that these components are assembled by: (a) fitting the fluidic device, front face 18 first, into the rear opening 36df which is made by the secondary housing's passage 36 intersecting with its rear face 38, and (b) then press fitting this housing 30, oriented such that its rear face enters first, into the primary housing's cavity 60.
Since selected portions of the secondary housing's outer surface and the primary housing's cavity have been configured so as to fit in a ball and socket relationship, it can be seen that this secondary housing can be rotated within the primary housing's cavity so as to allow one to aim the front face 40 of secondary housing and therefore the direction from which a spray issues from this housing. This embodiment is thus seen to provide a much higher degree of adjustability in orienting the direction of its spray than all other automotive sprayers now in the marketplace.
The fluidic device 10 consists of a base 12 which has boundary surfaces which include a top 14, bottom 16, front 18, rear 20, right side 22 and left side 24 surfaces. Its top surface has projections 26 whose height and shape are dictated by the requirement that these projections make up the internal components of what is herein denoted as a side-less fluidic circuit, which is this instance is patterned after the fluidic circuit of U.S. Pat. No. 6,253,782 which is shown in
The circuit of U.S. Pat. No. 6,253,782 is seen to have the common features of a fluid source inlet 4a, five filter posts 4b which serve to capture any large-size debris particles in the circuit's flowing liquid that could clog the smaller downstream orifices or flow passages, two power nozzles 4c, 4d that are formed at the edges 4e, 4f of a somewhat streamline-shaped barrier 4g which stretches almost all the way from the circuit's right 4h to its left 4i sidewall, an interaction chamber 4j downstream of the power nozzles and through which the liquid flows and in which the fluid flow phenomena is initiated that will eventually lead to the flow from the insert being of an oscillating nature, and a fluid outlet 4k or throat from which a liquid exits this circuit.
The top surface projections 26 which makeup the side-less version of this circuit are shown in FIGS. 11(a)-11(b) to be filter posts 26a, a streamlined barrier 26b which extends over most of the width between the top surface's right 22 and left sides and whose edges 26c, 26d serve to form the inner part of two power nozzles 26e, 26f whose outer parts are formed by two nozzle-forming posts 26g, 26h located proximate the sides 22, 24, and two upstream-of-the-barrier posts 26i, 26j located proximate the sides 22, 24 and which serve to implement the preferred geometry of the flow-stream section between the filter posts 26a and the barrier 26b This circuit could also have had appropriately shaped throat posts located proximate its front surface 18 so as to form the throat that is a characteristic feature of these fluidic circuits. However, for this embodiment, these features have been made a part of the front portion of the secondary housing passage 36 into which this device is press fitted.
As previously noted, the secondary housing 30 is characterized by having an outer surface 34 that includes a front 40 and a rear 38 face, an intermediate boundary surface 31 that connects these faces and has a portion 32 with spherical-shaped curvature. It 30 also has a passage 36 having interior walls 36b that extend between the faces, with this passage having especially configured front 36c and rear 36d portions. The intersection of this rear portion with the rear face of this housing forms the opening 36df to a cavity formed by the interior walls of this passage rear portion, wherein this cavity can be seen in
Similarly, the primary housing 50 has been previously denoted as having a front face opening 58 to a cavity 60 which extends into its body, with a portion 62 of this cavity's inner surface 64 being configured to form a socket so that this cavity can accommodate the ball shaped portion 32 of this secondary or ball housing 30. This configuration is seen to allow for an end-user to set a plurality of directional orientations of the secondary housing's outlet 36a relative to that of the primary housing 50. Thus, the embodiment shown in FIGS. 10(a)-10(c) allows for an end-user to manually adjust the direction of the spray which issues from this device.
It can be noted that this embodiment was made effectively possible (i.e., recall that such devices have very strict geometry and size restrictions that they must meet) by the realization that the task of providing sidewalls for the incorporated fluidic circuit could be handled by the walls of the secondary housing's cavity. This allows for the addition of an additional boundary wall within such a device without the device exceeding its width constraints. Note also that the flexibility of adjusting this device's spray direction means that the overall width of the incorporated fluid circuit need not be as large as those found in conventional applications since the width of the spray's wetted area can be reduced since most target areas can now be more effectively addressed by more precisely aiming the direction of this device's spray.
In other applications in which this spray directional adjustability feature is not needed, the use of the side-less fluidic spray devices disclosed herein allows for the overall width of such sprayers to be reduced.
FIGS. 14 (a)-14(d) show such a second 6 preferred embodiment of the present invention, with these figures showing, respectively, a perspective, top, cross-sectional and exploded views. Two components make up this embodiment.
The first of these is shown on the left side of
The second of these components is again a secondary housing 51 which has an outer surface 53 that includes a front 55 and a rear 57 face, a passage 59 having interior walls that extend between the faces, with this passage having especially configured front 59a and rear 59b portions. The intersection of this rear portion with the rear face of this housing forms the opening 59c to a cavity 59d formed by the interior walls of this passage rear portion. This cavity can be seen in
It can be noted that the use of this side-less fluidic device in such a housing also has the benefit of eliminating the spurious sprays (i.e., “streamers’) that could previously appear at the front edges of a fluidic insert.
An additional benefit of the device shown in FIGS. 14(a)-14(d) is that it allows for fabrication techniques to be employed in the construction of such plastic molded parts which result in it being easier to modify the critical design features of such devices. For example, small design feature changes to commercially produced, standard fluidic inserts usually means making changes to the depths and fan angles of such fluidic circuits by employing assorted grinding operations on the steel molds which are used to make such pieces. Such changes usually limit fan and deflection angle changes to 3 degrees or less.
With the throat of the device shown in FIGS. 14(a)-14(d) being integrated into the housing, changes to this throat can now be made by employing a blade device in the housing's throat. It has been found that such blade devices can make changes to the throat that yield fan angle changes of 30 degrees and deflection angle changes of 4 degree or more.
A still further advantage of the device shown in FIGS. 14(a)-14(d) is that the insertion depth to which the fluidic device is inserted into its housing can be easily varied. This effective allows one to control the length of this fluidic circuit's interaction chamber, which provides one a further means to affect the fan angle of the sprays which issue from such devices.
FIGS. 15 (a)-15(b) show such a third preferred embodiment of the present invention, with these figures showing, respectively, a perspective view of this embodiment's two components: a side-less fluidic device, which has a fluidic circuit geometry that differs from that previously seen, and another version of a secondary housing.
This fluidic device 10 that has a top surface 14 that is configured according to the fluidic circuit geometry generally disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,052,002 (what is herein referred to as a “feedback” fluidic circuit). It has side barrier projections 26k, 261 on its top surface that define the circuit's interaction chamber. It also has entry projections 26m, 26n that define the upstream ends of this circuit's feedback loops 21a, 21b while also forming an orifice 23 by which liquid enters the device. The outer edge surfaces of the side barrier projections also serve as the inner walls of the feedback loops 21a, 21b that are used to control the fluid flow phenomena in the interaction chamber. This device also has on its rear face a vertical member 25 that is configured so that it can serve as the rear face or end surface of the primary housing 51. The circuit's orifice 23 extends through this member 25 and has an intake nipple 27 attached to the member's rear side which serves to aid in connecting a liquid intake line to this device.
The secondary housing 70 for this embodiment is similar to that previously shown on the right side of
FIGS. 16(a)-16(b) show a similar version of the preferred embodiment previously seen in FIGS. 14(a)-14(d), except that this version shows the fluidic device having a vertical member 25 on its rear face which serves as its housing's end surface.
The methods of the present invention have also been combined with “double spray” insert technology to yield yet a fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 17(a) and 17(b) show, respectively, a perspective view of a side-less, double spray, fluidic device 11 and the “dual throat” housing 80 that has been configured to accommodate the insertion of such a device.
The fluidic device shown in
The housing (shown here as having an outer surface similar to that previously shown on the previously disclosed “ball” secondary housing—although a similarly modified housing as that shown in
It can be noted that the widths of this housing's orifices 88, 90 are different, the bottom orifice 88 being wider than the top orifice 90. This difference serves to allow for the creation of top and bottom sprays having differing horizontal fan angles. Many other differences between these sprays can be made by making other changes to the flow paths of the two sprays. For example, one could simply construct this fluidic device so that its top and bottom surfaces use different fluidic circuits. As previously noted, there are many fluidic circuits in the prior art that can be used in the present invention to create many differing embodiments of the present invention.
Shown in FIGS. 19(a)-19(d) is a fifth embodiment of the present invention which demonstrates how a fluidic device can be constructed as an integral part of what looks like the ball-shaped secondary housing that we've previously disclosed. This ball-shaped fluidic device can then be inserted into the primary housing shown in
FIGS. 19(a)-19(d) are perspective views of this “ball” fluidic's components.
This embodiment's front portion 85, shown in
The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, and because of the wide extent of the teachings disclosed herein, the foregoing disclosure should not be considered to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described herein. Accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents of the present disclosure may be resorted to and still considered to fall within the scope of the invention as hereinafter set forth in the claims.
