Patent Grant
11154876
The present invention relates generally to transportable or disposable liquid or fluid product dispensers and nozzle assemblies adapted for use with liquid or fluid product sprayers, and more particularly to such sprayers having nozzle assemblies configured for dispensing or generating sprays of selected fluids or liquid products in a desired spray pattern from multiple inlets through a shared interaction chamber to multiple outlets.
Cleaning fluids, hair spray, skin care products and other liquid products are often dispensed from disposable, pressurized or manually actuated sprayers which can generate a roughly conical spray pattern or a straight stream. Some dispensers or sprayers have an orifice cup with a discharge orifice through which product is dispensed or applied by sprayer actuation. For example, the manually actuated sprayer of U.S. Pat. No. 6,793,156 to Dobbs, et al illustrates an improved orifice cup mounted within the discharge passage of a manually actuated hand-held sprayer. The cup is held in place with its cylindrical side wall press fitted within the wall of a circular bore. Dobbs' orifice cup includes “spin mechanics” in the form of a spin chamber and spinning or tangential flows there are formed on the inner surface of the circular base wall of the orifice cup. Upon manual actuation of the sprayer, pressures are developed as the liquid product is forced through a constricted discharge passage and through the spin mechanics before issuing through the discharge orifice in the form of a traditional conical spray. If the liquid product is susceptible to congealing or clogging, the spray is often not consistent and unsatisfactory, especially when first spraying the product, or during “start-up.”
If no spin mechanics are provided or if the spin mechanics feature is immobilized (e.g., due to product clogging), the liquid issues from the discharge orifice in the form of a stream. Typical orifice cups are molded with a cylindrical skirt wall, and an annular retention bead projects radially outwardly of the side of the cup near the front or distal end thereof. The orifice cup is typically force fitted within a cylindrical bore at the terminal end of a discharge passage in tight frictional engagement between the cylindrical side wall of the cup and the cylindrical bore wall. The annular retention bead is designed to project into the confronting cylindrical portion of the pump sprayer body serving to assist in retaining the orifice cup in place within the bore as well as in acting as a seal between the orifice cup and the bore of the discharge passage. The spin mechanics feature is formed on the inner surface of the base of the orifice cup to provide a swirl cup which functions to swirl the fluid or liquid product and break it up into a substantially conical spray pattern.
A manually pumped trigger sprayer is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,114,052 to Tiramani, et al, which illustrates a trigger sprayer having a molded spray cap nozzle with radial slots or grooves which swirl the pressurized liquid to generate an atomized spray from the nozzle's orifice.
Other spray heads or nebulizing nozzles used in connection with disposable, manually actuated sprayers are incorporated into propellant pressurized packages, including aerosol dispensers such as are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,036,439 to Green and U.S. Pat. No. 7,926,741 to Laidler et al. All of these spray heads or nozzle assemblies include a swirl system or swirl chamber which work with a dispensing orifice through which a fluid is discharged from the dispenser member. The recesses, grooves or channels defining the swirl system co-operate with the nozzle to entrain the liquid or fluid to be dispensed in a swirling movement before it is discharged through the dispensing orifice. The swirl system is conventionally made up of one or more tangential swirl grooves, troughs, passages or channels opening out into a swirl chamber accurately centered on the dispensing orifice so that the pressurized fluid is swirled and discharged through the dispensing orifice. U.S. Pat. No. 4,036,439 to Green describes a cup-shaped insert with a discharge orifice which fits over a projection having grooves defined in the projection, so that a swirl cavity is defined between the projection and the cup-shaped insert. Such swirl cavities only work when the liquid product flows evenly, however, and if the liquid product is susceptible to congealing or clogging, the spray is often not consistent and thus is unsatisfactory, especially when first spraying the product, or during “start-up.”
All of these nozzle assembly or spray-head structures with swirl chambers are configured to generate substantially conical atomized or nebulized sprays of fluid or liquid in a continuous flow over the entire spray pattern, and droplet sizes are poorly controlled, often generating “fines” or nearly atomized droplets. Other spray patterns (e.g., a narrow oval which is nearly linear) are possible, but the control over the spray's pattern is limited. None of these prior art swirl chamber nozzles can generate an oscillating spray of liquid or provide precise sprayed droplet size control or spray pattern control. There are several consumer products packaged in aerosol sprayers and trigger sprayers where it is desirable to provide customized, precise liquid product spray patterns.
Oscillating fluidic sprays have many advantages over conventional, continuous sprays, and can be configured to generate an oscillating spray of liquid or provide a precise sprayed droplet size control or precisely customized spray pattern for a selected liquid or fluid. The applicants have been approached by liquid product makers who want to provide those advantages, but prior art fluidic nozzle assemblies have not been configured for incorporation with disposable, manually actuated sprayers.
In applicants' durable and precise prior art fluidic circuit nozzle configurations, a fluidic nozzle is constructed by assembling a planar fluidic circuit or insert into a weatherproof housing having a cavity that receives and aims the fluidic insert and seals the flow passage. A good example of a fluidic oscillator-equipped nozzle assembly, as used in the automotive industry, is illustrated in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 7,267,290 (see, e.g.,
Fluidic circuit generated sprays could be very useful in disposable, manually actuated sprayers, but adapting prior art fluidic circuits and fluidic circuit nozzle assemblies to such devices would require engineering and manufacturing process changes to the currently available disposable, manually actuated sprayers, thus making them too expensive to produce at a commercially reasonable cost. Disposable sprayers of fluid products must be easy to use, and so trigger effort must be kept low, a problem which is separate from a product vendor's perceived needs to (a) provide controlled sprays with a selected droplet size range (e.g., DV50 between 20 μm and 180 μm) and (b) maintain a compact package space. Fluid product vendors also want to provide a means of entraining air directly into the nozzle outlet throat to generate a foamed spray (with a selected “richness” of lather) without the addition of an external foaming ‘engine’ or venture feature. Adding an external foaming engine is the commonly provided method for foaming consumer sprays but external foaming engines add costs and require additional components and increase assembly complexity.
There is a need, therefore, for a commercially reasonable and inexpensive, disposable, manually actuated sprayer or nozzle assembly and spray generation method which overcomes the problems with the prior art.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to overcome the above mentioned difficulties by providing a commercially reasonable, inexpensive, disposable, manually actuated cup-shaped nozzle assembly, and a corresponding spray generation method, adapted for use with optional fluidic circuit configurations which provide the advantages of selected spray patterns for given liquid or fluid products. The nozzle assemblies and methods of the present invention give a designer/manufacturer the ability to have lower trigger effort on trigger sprays while maintaining a selected droplet size range (e.g., DV50 between 20 μm and 180 μm) by splitting flow rates between two fluidic oscillators within the same package space. Thus, in the present invention, multiple inlets are combined with multiple or larger outlets to allow more viscous fluids (like cooking oil, lotions or paints), with viscosities ranging from 1-80 cps, to be sprayed at lower trigger spray efforts or lower BOV and aerosol supply pressures. In addition, the features of the present invention produce smaller droplets at larger flow rates which can benefit products distributed by aerosol or bag on valve (BOV) delivery systems. This invention also provides a mechanism for entraining air directly into a nozzle outlet throat to generate a foamed spray (with a selected “richness” of lather) without the addition of an external foaming ‘engine’ or venture feature. Such an external foaming engine is the more common method for foaming consumer sprays at the present time, but adds costs and components.
In accordance with the present invention, a conformal, cup-shaped fluidic oscillator spray nozzle is engineered to generate one or more oscillating sprays and is configured as a cylindrical cup having a substantially open proximal end and a substantially closed distal end wall with one or more centrally located orifices defined therein. A multi-input, multi-output cup-shaped fluidic oscillator embodiment, configured to generate a selected fluid spray from a plurality of (e.g., 2-8) fluid product inlets which are configured in interacting pairs and feed into a common interaction chamber or region, is defined within the fluidic nozzle's geometry. The nozzle is optionally configured with a selected number of outlets (e.g., one to four) that dictate spray coverage pattern and distribution, where outlet geometry is chosen so that sprays from each outlet are aimed to avoid external interaction of distinct oscillating spray streams, to avoid colliding droplets and to preserve the selected droplet size generated by each outlet's oscillating spray. Optionally, an outlet can be positioned in the interaction region and have a specific geometry to allow for air entrainment into the interaction region and/or external oscillating spray streams to generate a foamed spray of fluid product.
The nozzle cup's features or fluid channel defining geometry are preferably molded directly into a cup-shaped member which is then affixed to a fluid product dispensing package's actuator. This eliminates the need for an assembly made from a fluidic circuit-defining insert which is received within a housing cavity. The present invention provides a novel cup with, optionally, a multi-inlet, multi-outlet fluidic circuit which functions like a planar fluidic circuit but which has the fluidic circuit's oscillation-inducing features configured within the cup-shaped member. The multi-inlet, multi-outlet cup is useful with both hand-pumped trigger sprayers and propellant filled aerosol sprayers and can be configured to generate different sprays for different liquid or fluid products. A multi-inlet, multi-outlet cup can be configured to project a plurality of desired spray patterns (e.g., 3-D or rectangular oscillating patterns of uniform droplets). The multi-inlet, multi-outlet cup-shaped nozzle reliably overcomes difficult-to-operate spray problems for liquid products. Optionally, the fluidic oscillator structure's fluid dynamic mechanism for generating the oscillation is conceptually similar to that shown and described in commonly owned U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,267,290 and 7,478,764 (Gopalan et al) which describe a planar mushroom fluidic circuit's operation; both of these patents are hereby incorporated herein in their entireties by reference.
In the exemplary embodiments illustrated herein, a multi-inlet, multi-outlet fluidic cup oscillator is configured to be force fitted within an actuator's cylindrical bore at the terminal end of a discharge passage in tight frictional engagement between the cylindrical side wall of the cup and the cylindrical bore wall of the actuator. An optional annular retention bead on the cup may project into a confronting cylindrical groove or trough retaining portion of the actuator or pump sprayer body, serving to assist in retaining the fluidic cup in place within the bore as well as in acting as a seal between the fluidic cup and the bore of the discharge passage. The fluidic oscillator features or geometry are formed on the inner surface(s) of the multi-inlet, multi-outlet fluidic cup to provide a fluidic oscillator which functions to generate one or more oscillating sprays having selected spray patterns of droplets of uniform, selected size.
The multi-inlet, multi-outlet fluidic circuit of the present invention is preferably molded as a conformal, one-piece cup-shaped member. There are several consumer applications, like aerosol sprayers and trigger sprayers, where it is desirable to customize sprays. Fluidic sprays are very useful in these cases but adapting typical commercial aerosol sprayers and trigger sprayers to accept the standard fluidic oscillator configurations would cause unreasonable product manufacturing process changes to current aerosol sprayers and trigger sprayers, thus making them much more expensive. The multi-inlet, multi-outlet fluidic cup configuration of the present invention conforms to the actuator stem used in typical aerosol sprayers and trigger sprayers and so replaces the prior art “swirl cup” that goes over the actuator stem, and accordingly the benefits of using a multi-inlet, multi-outlet fluidic oscillator nozzle assembly are made available with little or no significant changes to other parts. With the multi-inlet, multi-outlet fluidic cup and method of the present invention, vendors of liquid products and fluids sold in commercial aerosol sprayers and trigger sprayers can now provide very specifically tailored or customized sprays.
A typical nozzle assembly or spray head includes a lumen or duct for dispensing or spraying a pressurized liquid product or fluid from a valve, pump or actuator assembly which draws fluid from a disposable or transportable container to generate an outlet spray. The spray head includes an actuator body and a distally projecting sealing post having a post peripheral wall terminating at a distal or outer face. The actuator body includes a fluid passage communicating with the lumen.
In accordance with the invention, a cup-shaped multi-inlet, multi-outlet fluidic circuit is mounted in the actuator body member, and incorporates a peripheral wall extending proximally into a bore in the actuator body radially outwardly of the sealing post. The peripheral wall carries a distal radial wall comprising an inner face opposing the sealing post distal or outer face to define a fluid channel including a chamber having an interaction region between the body sealing post and the cup-shaped fluidic circuit's peripheral wall and distal wall. The chamber is in fluid communication with the actuator body's fluid passage to define a fluidic circuit oscillator inlet so that pressurized fluid from the actuator assembly can enter the fluid channel's chamber and interaction region. The fluidic cup structure has a fluid inlet within the cup's proximally projecting cylindrical sidewall, and in one example the fluid inlet is substantially annular and of constant cross section; however, the fluidic cup's fluid inlet can also be tapered or include step discontinuities (e.g., with an abruptly smaller or stepped inside diameter) to enhance the pressurized fluid's instability.
The cup-shaped inner face of the distal wall of the fluidic circuit either supports an insert having, or carries, a multi-inlet, multi-outlet fluidic geometry, so it is configured to define the multi-inlet, multi-outlet fluidic oscillator's operating features or geometry within the chamber. It should be emphasized that any fluidic oscillator geometry which defines an interaction region to generate an oscillating spray of fluid droplets can be used, but, for purposes of illustration, conformal cup-shaped fluidic oscillators having selected exemplary fluidic oscillator geometries will be described in detail.
In accordance with the conformal cup-shaped multi-inlet, multi-outlet fluidic oscillator embodiments of the present invention, a conformal fluidic cup's chamber includes a first power nozzle (inlet) pair and a second power nozzle (inlet) pair, where each power nozzle is configured to accelerate the movement of passing pressurized inlet fluid flowing through the power nozzle geometry to form corresponding jets of fluid flowing into the chamber's interaction region. The fluid jets impinge upon one another at a selected inter-jet impingement angle (e.g., 180 degrees, meaning the jets impinge from opposite sides) in the interaction region and generate oscillating flow vortices within it. The fluid channel's interaction region is in fluid communication with one or more discharge orifices or outlets defined in the fluidic circuit's distal wall, and the oscillating flow vortices eject, or spray, droplets through the discharge orifice(s) in the form of oscillating spray(s) of substantially uniform fluid droplet size in selected spray patterns having selected spray width and selected spray thickness.
Preferably, the power nozzles are venturi-shaped or tapered channels or grooves in the inner face of the distal wall of the cup-shaped fluidic circuit and all terminate in a common, nearly rectangular or box-shaped interaction region defined in that inner face. The interaction region configuration affects the spray pattern(s).
The cup-shaped fluidic circuit power nozzles, interaction region and discharge outlet(s) can be defined in a disk or pancake-shaped insert fitted within the cup, but are preferably molded directly into the cup's interior wall segments. When molded from plastic as a one-piece, cup-shaped, multi-inlet, multi-outlet fluidic circuit, the fluidic cup is easily and economically fitted onto the actuator's sealing post, which typically has a distal or outer face that is substantially flat and fluid impermeable. The sealing post is then in flat face sealing engagement with the cup-shaped fluidic circuit distal wall's inner face. The sealing post's peripheral wall and the cup-shaped fluidic circuit's peripheral wall are coaxial and are radially spaced to define an annular fluid channel therebetween. These peripheral walls are generally parallel with each other but the annular space may be tapered to aid in developing greater fluid velocity to create fluidic flow instability and thus oscillation.
As a multi-inlet, multi-outlet fluidic circuit item for sale or shipment to others, the conformal, unitary, one-piece fluidic circuit is configured for easy and economical incorporation into a nozzle assembly or aerosol spray head actuator body which has a distally projecting sealing post and a lumen for dispensing or spraying a pressurized liquid product or fluid from a disposable or transportable container to generate an oscillating spray of fluid droplets. As described above, this fluidic circuit item includes a cup-shaped multi-inlet, multi-outlet fluidic circuit member having a peripheral wall extending distally, or axially, and having a distal radially-extending wall having an inner face with fluidic circuit features defined therein and an open proximal end configured to receive an actuator's sealing post. The cup-shaped member's peripheral wall and distal radial wall have inner surfaces forming at least one fluid channel and a chamber when the cup-shaped member is fitted to the actuator body sealing post. The chamber is configured to define multiple fluidic circuit oscillator channels or power nozzles in fluid communication at their inlet ends with the fluid channel and at their outlet ends with a common interaction region so that when the cup-shaped member is fitted to the actuator body sealing post and pressurized fluid is introduced, (e.g., by pressing the aerosol spray button and releasing the propellant), the pressurized fluid can enter the fluid channel's chamber and interaction region and generate at least one oscillating flow vortex within the interaction region.
The cup shaped member's distal wall includes at least one discharge orifice and, in the illustrated forms of the present invention, multiple discharge orifices in fluid communication with the chamber's interaction region to provide multiple fluid spray outputs. The internal chamber is configured so that when the multi-inlet, multi-outlet cup-shaped member is fitted to the actuator body sealing post and pressurized fluid is introduced via the actuator body, the chamber's fluidic oscillator inlet is in fluid communication with the multiple power nozzles which are configured to accelerate the movement of passing pressurized fluid to form jets of fluid flowing into the chamber interaction region, where the jets impinge upon one another at a selected inter jet impingement angle to generate oscillating flow vortices within interaction region. As before, the chamber's interaction region is in fluid communication with one or more discharge orifices defined in the fluidic circuit's distal wall, and the oscillating flow vortices flow out of the discharge orifice(s) as oscillating sprays of substantially uniform fluid droplets, each spray having a selected spray width and a selected spray thickness.
In the method of the present invention, liquid product manufacturers making or assembling a transportable or disposable pressurized package for spraying or dispensing a liquid product, material or fluid would first obtain or fabricate a conformal multi-inlet, multi-outlet fluidic cup circuit for incorporation into an aerosol spray head actuator body, which typically includes a standard distally projecting sealing post. The actuator body has a lumen for dispensing or spraying a pressurized liquid product or fluid from a disposable or transportable container to generate a spray of fluid droplets. The conformal multi-inlet, multi-outlet fluidic circuit includes the above-described cup-shaped fluidic circuit member having a peripheral wall extending axially and distally, and having a distal radial or end wall that incorporates an inner face with fluidic circuit features defined therein. The cup-shaped member has an open proximal end configured to receive the actuator sealing post. The cup-shaped member's peripheral wall and distal radial wall have inner surfaces defining a fluid channel including a chamber with a multiple fluidic circuit inlets in fluid communication with an interaction region.
In the preferred embodiment of the assembly method, the product manufacturer or assembler next provides or obtains an actuator body with the distally projecting sealing post centered within a body segment to resiliently receive and retain the multi-inlet, multi-outlet cup-shaped member. The next step is inserting the sealing post into the cup-shaped member's open proximal end and engaging the actuator body to enclose and seal the fluid channel with the chamber and the multi-inlet, multi-outlet fluidic circuit oscillators with their inlets or power nozzles in fluid communication with the interaction region. A test spray can be performed to demonstrate that when pressurized fluid is introduced into the fluid channel, the pressurized fluid enters the chamber and interaction region and generates at least one oscillating flow vortex within the fluid channel's interaction region.
In the preferred embodiment of the assembly method, the fabricating step comprises molding a cup-shaped member of a plastic material to form a conformal multi-inlet, multi-outlet fluidic circuit to thereby provide a conformal, unitary, one-piece cup-shaped fluidic circuit member having a distal radial wall with inner face features molded therein so that the cup-shaped member's inner surfaces provide an oscillation-inducing geometry which is molded directly into the cup's interior wall segments.
The above and still further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description of specific embodiments, particularly when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals in the various figures are utilized to designate like components.
The fluidic cup oscillator of the present invention improves upon the foregoing concepts illustrated in
Fluidic circuit geometries analogous to applicants' split throat design and suitable for adaptation in the present invention are illustrated at 100 in
Referring particularly to
The novel fluidic circuit 132 provides a multi-inlet, single outlet fluidic cup embodiment which has a shared interaction region 140 which is part of the fluidic circuit's oscillation inducing geometry that is molded in-situ within the cup-shaped member. Once installed on a sealing post 138 in an actuator 136, a complete and effective fluidic oscillator nozzle is thereby provided. The interaction region 140 of the one-piece multi-inlet, single-outlet fluidic cup oscillator insert 130 has an elongated exit or discharge port 142 proximate the shared interaction region 140. The fluidic circuit 132 is shaped to direct fluid flow, indicated by arrows 144 in
The fluidic circuit 132 geometry is preferably defined in distal end wall 134 and is downstream of and encircled by substantially cylindrical sidewall segments 160, 162, which, once cup member 130 is inserted, frictionally engage the interior surface of the annular actuator 136 to secure the conformal one-piece cup-shaped member 130 to the dispenser outlet. Although the conformal one-piece cup-shaped member 130 is illustrated in
As noted above, the shared interaction chamber 140 in the embodiment of
Shared, multi-inlet interaction chamber 140 is thus in fluid communication with the multiple inlets or power nozzles 150, 152, 154, and 156 defined in the cup-shaped member's distal wall as lumens between spaced mesas, so that when pressurized with fluid product, the first power nozzle fluid flow is combined with the second power nozzle fluid flow, the third power nozzle fluid flow and the fourth power nozzle fluid flow to generate a plurality of unstable fluid vortices within said shared interaction chamber 140. The unstable fluid vortices in the shared interaction chamber 140 collide with the incoming fluid jets from the power nozzle fluid flows to generate an oscillating escaping fluid flow which exhausts from the discharge orifice 142 as a spray of fluid droplets in a selected spray pattern 174.
In the fluidic cup embodiment 130 of
Turning now to
As discussed with respect to the embodiment of
The power nozzles 214, 216, 218 and 220 are defined by the proximally extending or inwardly projecting, molded mesas 240, 242, 244 and 246 formed on the end wall, with mesas 246 and 240 cooperating to form power nozzle 214, mesas 240 and 242 forming power nozzle 216, mesas 242 and 244 forming power nozzle 218, and mesas 244 and 246 forming power nozzle 220.
Persons having skill in the art will appreciate that the invention illustrated
Referring now to the multi-outlet embodiment of
The cup-shaped member distal wall's inner face in the preferred multi-outlet embodiment of
As illustrated in
The cup-shaped multi-inlet orifice defining wall segments, or mesas 240, 242, 244, 246 are preferably molded directly into the cup's interior surfaces to provide a unitary, integral, one-piece cup-shaped multi-inlet member 200 which is thus configured to be economically fitted onto a typical dispenser sealing post 138. The sealing post's distal or outer face 242 has a substantially flat and fluid impermeable outer surface in flat face sealing engagement with the cup-shaped member's inwardly projecting wall segments or mesas 240, 242, 244, 246 once assembled, to provide substantially fluid-tight enclosed lumens or fluid channels. The distally projecting sealing post's peripheral wall and the cup-shaped fluidic circuit's peripheral wall are spaced axially to define at least one fluid channel 232, 234 having a distally projecting lumen or passageway which is generally aligned with the distally projecting central axis of the sealing post 138. The resulting nozzle assembly is optionally configured for use with a hand operated pump in a trigger sprayer configuration (not shown) or is configured with propellant pressurized aerosol container with a valve actuator such as that illustrated in
A three-discharge outlet embodiment of the conformal one-piece cup-shaped member present invention is illustrated in
The one-piece multi-inlet, multi-outlet fluidic cup oscillator 300 has first, second and third exit orifices or discharge ports 306, 308 and 310 in fluid communication with and at the distal end of the shared interaction region 304. Opposing tapered venturi-shaped power nozzles 312, 314, 316 and 318, and the shared interaction region 304 are in fluid communication with one another within the interior surface 320 of the molded interior surface of circular, planar or disc-shaped distal end-wall 322 of the conformal one-piece cup-shaped member 300. The interior surface includes grooves or troughs defining mesas between the four power nozzle inlets or channels of the oscillation-inducing geometry 302 which is located within the substantially cylindrical sidewall segments 330 and 332. As in prior embodiments, these sidewall segments define an open proximal end which engages a dispenser actuator to direct fluid through the fluidic circuit geometry 304 at the distal end of the insert 300 and out of the discharge ports. In the illustrated embodiment, the three exit orifices or ports 306, 308 and 310 are longitudinally aligned along the length of the interaction region 304, with the end ports 306 and 310 being outwardly offset from corresponding opposed nozzle pairs 312, 318 and 314, 316, respectively, and the central port 308 being centered between and again offset from the nozzle pairs, so that the fluid from the interaction region is sprayed distally in first, second and third spaced-apart oscillating sprays.
As illustrated in
The cup-shaped member distal wall's inner face further is preferably configured to define within the fluidic chamber the fourth proximally projecting inlet defining mesa or wall segment 342 spaced from the first proximally projecting inlet defining mesa or wall segment 340 and spaced apart to define the third power nozzle lumen 312 (arrow “3” in
The shared interaction chamber thus is in fluid communication with the power nozzles defined in the cup-shaped member's distal wall, so that, when pressurized with fluid product, the first power nozzle fluid flow is combined with the second power nozzle fluid flow, the third power nozzle fluid flow and the fourth power nozzle fluid flow to generate a plurality of unstable fluid vortices within said shared interaction chamber, in the manner illustrated in
Another three-discharge outlet embodiment, illustrated at 400 in
In this embodiment, the one-piece multi-inlet, multi-outlet fluidic cup oscillator insert 400 has first, second, third and fourth opposing tapered venturi-shaped power nozzles 421, 422, 423 and 424 leading to the shared interaction region 420. First, second and third exit orifices or discharge ports 430, 432 and 434 extend through the distal end wall, are in fluid communication between the exterior of the insert and the shared interaction region 420, and are spaced longitudinally along the region 420. The exit orifices or discharge ports are shaped differently than those of the embodiment of
In this case, the outermost ports 430 and 434 are substantially aligned with corresponding opposed nozzles 421, 424 and 422, 423, respectively; that is, the centers of the ports are aligned with the axes of their corresponding nozzles, while the central port 432 is elongated, extending between the outermost ports and offset from all of the inlet power nozzles. The molded interior surface of circular, planar or disc-shaped end wall 440 includes grooves or troughs defining shaped mesas spaced to provide the four inlet power nozzles 421-424 of the channel oscillation-inducing geometry 410 and is located within the substantially cylindrical sidewall segments 442 and 444, which define an open proximal end for receiving fluid from a dispenser, in the manner previously described.
The plurality of proximally projecting inlet defining mesas, or wall segments are shaped and spaced apart to define the power nozzle lumens 424, 423, 421 and 422 (arrows “1”, “2”, “3” and “4”, respectively, in
A modification of the foregoing embodiments for generating a foamed spray with entrained air is illustrated in
The ambient air can be entrained at location “A” (as shown in
For prototype embodiments of the nozzles illustrated in
Applicants have discovered that the fluidic geometry for the shared interaction region features described and illustrated in these embodiments do not necessarily abide by the prior understanding of the relationships for fluidic nozzle features, and the related geometric ratios, when optimized, do not appear as expected. For example, in the embodiment illustrated in
Turning now to
The first and second discharge ports 460 and 462 for the one-piece multi-inlet, multi-outlet fluidic cup oscillator 450 are aligned along the common axis of the fluid inlet power nozzles 454, 456 and are in fluid communication with and proximate the shared interaction region 458. The first and second opposing tapered venturi-shaped inlets or power nozzles 454 and 456 and the shared interaction region 458 are in fluid communication with one another within the interior surface of a distal end-wall 464 of the insert. The molded interior surface of circular, planar or disc-shaped end wall 464 includes grooves or troughs defining mesas 470 and 472 which are spaced apart and shaped to produce the two inlet power nozzles of the oscillation-inducing geometry 452 and is located within substantially cylindrical sidewall segments 474 and 476. The sidewall segments define an open proximal end for receiving fluid to be sprayed. The closed distal end of the insert includes the laterally spaced and aligned distal discharge ports or throats 460 and 464 defined therethrough. As in prior embodiments, these discharge ports are sized, shaped and positioned to spray fluid product distally in first and second spaced-apart oscillating sprays.
The cup-shaped member distal wall's inner face is configured to define a plurality of proximally projecting inlet defining mesas, or wall segments with the first proximally projecting inlet defining wall segment 470 and the second proximally projecting inlet defining wall segment 472 being spaced apart to define the first power nozzle lumen 456 therebetween, for accelerating passing pressurized fluid flowing through and into the shared interaction chamber 458 to provide a first power nozzle fluid flow (from the left, as seen in
Another two discharge outlet, two power nozzle embodiment is illustrated in
The first and second opposing tapered venturi-shaped power nozzles 522 and 524 and the shared interaction region 504 are in fluid communication with one another within the interior surface of distal end-wall 530 of the insert 500. The molded interior surface of circular, planar or disc-shaped end wall 530 includes grooves or troughs defining mesas 532 and 534 which are shaped to form the two power nozzle inlets in the channel oscillation-inducing geometry 502 and is located within substantially cylindrical sidewall segments 540 and 542, which define an open proximal end for receiving fluid to be sprayed. The closed distal end wall of the insert 500 includes the laterally spaced and aligned discharge ports 506,508 defined therethrough so that discharge ports are sized, shaped and located to spray fluid product distally in first and second spaced-apart oscillating sprays.
As described with respect to prior embodiments, the inner wall of the cup-shaped member, or insert 500 is configured to define the plurality of proximally projecting inlet defining mesas, or wall segments 532 and 534 spaced apart to define the first power nozzle lumen 524 therebetween, for accelerating passing pressurized fluid flowing through and into the shared interaction chamber 504 to provide a first power nozzle fluid flow (from the left, as seen in
Broadly speaking, the embodiments of
Having described preferred embodiments of a new and improved nozzle assembly and method, it is believed that other modifications, variations and changes will be suggested to those skilled in the art in view of the teachings set forth herein. It is therefore to be understood that all such variations, modifications and changes are believed to fall within the scope of the claims which also comprise part of the description of the present invention.
This application is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/US2015/045316, filed on Aug. 14, 2015, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/037,913, entitled “Multi-Inlet, Multi-Spray Fluidic Cup Nozzle with Shared Interaction Region and Spray Generation Method”, filed on Aug. 15, 2014, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. This application is also related to the following commonly owned patent applications: (a) U.S. provisional application No. 61/476,845, filed Apr. 19, 2011 and entitled Method and Fluidic Cup apparatus for creating 2-D or 3-D spray patterns, (b) PCT application no. PCT/US12/34293, filed Apr. 19, 2012 and entitled Cup-shaped Fluidic Circuit, Nozzle Assembly and Method (WIPO Pub WO 2012/145537), (c) U.S. application Ser. No. 13/816,661, filed Feb. 12, 2013, Cup-shaped Fluidic Circuit, Nozzle Assembly and Method, (d) U.S. application Ser. No. 14/229,496, filed Mar. 28, 2014, and entitled Cup-shaped Nozzle Assembly with Integral Filter Structure, and (e) PCT application no. PCT/US14/32286, filed 29 Mar. 2014, and entitled Cup-shaped Nozzle Assembly with Integral Filter and Alignment Features (WIPO Pub WO/2014/160992), the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
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|---|---|---|---|
| 20170216852 A1 | Aug 2017 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62037913 | Aug 2014 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/US2015/045316 | Aug 2015 | US |
| Child | 15433845 | US |
