Claims
- 1. A device for aerosolizing a liquid, comprising:
a housing; a vibrating structure having a front side, a back side and a plurality of holes extending between the front and back sides, the vibrating structure being mounted within the housing; means for vibrating the vibrating structure; a container containing a fluid and mounted within the housing; a chamber having a deformable wall movable between a collapsed position and an expanded position, the chamber being partially defined by the back side of the vibrating element, the chamber receiving fluid from the container for delivery through the plurality of holes in the vibrating element upon vibration with the vibrating means.
- 2. The device of claim 1, wherein:
the chamber moves to the expanded position in response to fluid being delivered to the chamber and moves to the collapsed position as fluid is expelled through the plurality of holes.
- 3. The device of claim 1, wherein:
the chamber contains a volume of 10-1000 μL in the expanded condition.
- 4. The device of claim 1, wherein:
the chamber contains a volume of less than 10 μL when in the collapsed condition.
- 5. The device of claim 1, further comprising:
a valve positioned between the container and the chamber, the valve preventing flow from the chamber to the container.
- 6. The device of claim 5, wherein:
the valve encloses part of the chamber.
- 7. The device of claim 6, wherein:
the valve is removably mounted to the housing and is replaced together with the container.
- 8. The device of claim 1, wherein:
the vibrating means is a piezoelectric element coupled to the vibrating structure.
- 9. The device of claim 1, further comprising:
a fluid outlet positioned to deliver fluid from the container to the chamber, the fluid outlet being positioned no more than 1 mm from the back side of the vibrating structure.
- 10. The device of claim 1, wherein:
the chamber contains the fluid at a fluid pressure of less than 15 psi when in the expanded position.
- 11. The device of claim 1, wherein:
the chamber contains the fluid at a fluid pressure of less than 5 psi when in the expanded position.
- 12. The device of claim 1, wherein:
the container has a piston movable within a fluid cylinder containing the fluid, the piston being movable within the cylinder to deliver a known quantity of fluid to the chamber.
- 13. The device of claim 1, wherein:
the container is removably mounted to the housing for replacement with another container.
- 14. The device of claim 1, wherein:
the wall is attached to the container and is replaced when the container is replaced.
- 15. The device of claim 1, wherein:
the wall has a portion which generally conforms to a shape of the back side of the vibrating structure when in the collapsed position.
- 16. The device of claim 1, wherein:
the wall bows outward and away from the vibrating structure when moving from the collapsed position to the expanded position.
- 17. The device of claim 1, wherein:
the wall is mounted to the vibrating structure.
- 18. The device of claim 1, wherein:
the vibrating structure vibrates at a frequency of 120-150 kHz.
- 19. A method of aerosolizing a liquid, comprising the steps of:
providing a device for aerosolizing a liquid, the device having a housing, a vibrating structure, a container, and a chamber, the vibrating structure having a plurality of holes therein extending between a front side and a back side, the container containing a fluid and having a fluid outlet through which fluid is expelled into the fluid chamber, the container being mounted within the housing, the chamber being at least partially defined by a wall and the back side of the vibrating structure; delivering a desired quantity of fluid to the fluid chamber; and vibrating the vibrating element to expel the desired quantity of fluid from the fluid chamber.
- 20. The method of claim 19, wherein:
the delivering step is carried out with the chamber moving toward the expanded position; and the vibrating step expels fluid which causes the wall to move toward the collapsed position.
- 21. The method of claim 19, wherein:
the providing step is carried out with the chamber having a volume of 10-1000 μL in the expanded condition.
- 22. The method of claim 19, wherein:
the providing step is carried out with a valve positioned between the container and the chamber, the valve preventing flow from the chamber to the container.
- 23. The method of claim 19, further comprising the step of:
removing and replacing the valve and the container with another valve and container.
- 24. The method of claim 19, wherein:
the delivering step is carried out with a fluid pressure of less than 15 psi in the chamber.
- 25. The method of claim 19, further comprising the step of:
removing and replacing the wall.
- 26. The method of claim 25, wherein:
the removing and replacing step is carried out by also removing and replacing the container.
- 27. The method of claim 19, wherein:
the providing step is carried out with a spring urging the wall against the vibrating structure to seal the wall.
- 28. The method of claim 19, wherein:
the providing step is carried out with the wall attached to the container.
- 29. The method of claim 19, wherein:
the providing step is carried out with the wall having a portion which generally conforms to a shape of the back side of the vibrating structure when in the collapsed position.
- 30. The method of claim 19, wherein:
the providing step is carried out with the wall mounted to the vibrating structure.
- 31. The method of claim 19, wherein:
the vibrating step is carried out with the pressure in the chamber being less than a pressure at the front side of the vibrating structure.
- 32. A method for aerosolizing a substance, the method comprising:
transferring a liquid from a first chamber into a second chamber having a substance in a dry state to form a solution; transferring the solution from the second chamber onto an atomization member; and operating the atomization member to aerosolize the solution.
- 33. An aerosolizing apparatus, comprising:
a cartridge having a first chamber, a second chamber, a movable divider between the first and the second chambers, and an exit opening in communication with the second chamber, wherein a liquid is disposed in the first chamber and a substance that is in a dry state is in the second chamber; a piston translatable within the cartridge to transfer the liquid from the first chamber and into the second chamber to form a solution; and an aerosol generator disposed near the exit opening to receive the solution from the cartridge and produce an aerosolized solution.
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/483,096, filed Jan. 14, 2000, which is a continuation in part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/313,914, filed May 18, 1999, which is a continuation in part of Ser. No. 09/149,426, filed Sep. 8, 1998, which is a continuation in part of Ser. No. 09/095,737, filed Jun. 11, 1998, which is a continuation in part of Ser. No. 08/417,311, filed Apr. 5, 1995, the complete disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference.
Continuations (2)
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Number |
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Parent |
09483096 |
Jan 2000 |
US |
Child |
10201341 |
Jul 2002 |
US |
Parent |
08417311 |
Apr 1995 |
US |
Child |
09095737 |
Jun 1998 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (3)
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Date |
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09313914 |
May 1999 |
US |
Child |
09483096 |
Jan 2000 |
US |
Parent |
09149426 |
Sep 1998 |
US |
Child |
09313914 |
May 1999 |
US |
Parent |
09095737 |
Jun 1998 |
US |
Child |
09149426 |
Sep 1998 |
US |