Patent Grant
10195633
This invention relates to electronic spray devices in which a vibrating perforate membrane is used to generate liquid droplets; in particular, to how such devices can be made more useful by enabling the separation of the vibrating membrane from its driver element.
According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a liquid droplet production apparatus comprising a perforate membrane; a means for supplying liquid to one side of the membrane: an actuator for vibrating the membrane said vibration causing liquid droplets to be ejected from the other side of the membrane; in which magnetic force is used to connect the actuator to the membrane so that the vibration can be transmitted.
Introduction & Prior Art on Separable Membrane Technology
Electronic nebulisers that use ultrasonic vibration to generate liquid droplets are well known in the art and have found use in a wide range of fields including medical drug delivery and the treatment of air (for example fragrance delivery and humidification). A subset of such devices in widespread use (commonly referred to as ‘pond misters’) use a vibrating surface covered by liquid to cause droplets to be generated through the break-up of standing waves on the liquid free surface (U.S. Pat. No. 3,812,854 being an example). This break-up leads to droplets with a wide range of sizes being produced and shaping of the liquid container above the level of the liquid is used to limit the size range of droplets that escape and are delivered. With a wide range of droplets being contained and returned to the bulk liquid, such devices have low efficiency resulting in high power consumption. The efficiency of such devices can be improved by constraining the free surface of the liquid with a perforate membrane (U.S. Pat. No. 4,533,082 for example). This membrane may have just a single nozzle (for dispensing or printing applications for example in which individual drops may be dispensed on demand) or may have many thousand nozzles (for nebuliser applications for example). Relatively monodispersed droplets are produced when such perforate membranes are used in which the droplet diameter is related to the size of the openings, or nozzles, in the perforate membrane. Such devices still suffer multiple disadvantages: In particular, the vibrating surface needs to be mounted close to the membrane, but not touching, for effective droplet generation and not all liquid in the container can be delivered (as the liquid is required to transmit the pressure waves to the perforate membrane). A preferred embodiment of such devices is therefore one in which the perforate membrane itself is vibrated by the driver element (commonly called the actuator) with examples including U.S. Pat. No. 4,533,082 and EP 0431992. This enables the delivery of relatively well monodispersed droplets without requiring the pressure waves to be transmitted through a liquid layer further increasing efficiency and enabling a wider range of embodiments. A preferred embodiment of such a device such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,518,179 uses a bending mode actuator to deliver the vibrational energy to the membrane as this enables the use of thin low cost actuators and further increases efficiency.
Often it is desirable to use a master-cartridge model in which a master unit can spray liquid contained in a replaceable cartridge. Preferably, all liquid contacting components reside on the cartridge and as many non-liquid contacting components as possible reside on the master. This minimises the cost of the cartridge whilst avoiding liquid cross-contamination between cartridges and liquid contamination of the master. Examples of fields where such an approach finds use are the medical field and the consumer fragrance field. In the medical field dose sterility can be critical and this can be achieved by containing each dose in its own cartridge (or capsule). Also in the medical field the same master device may be designed to be used with more than one patient and cross-contamination should be avoided. In the fragrance field, each cartridge may contain a different fragrance and again cross-contamination should be avoided. Other fields in which similar requirements are met will be obvious to someone skilled in the art.
One approach to avoid cross contamination is to place the perforate membrane and actuator into the cartridge component with the electronics and power source in the master. This limits the required connection between the two components to electrical but, with the actuator in the cartridge, leaves a relatively high cost component in the cartridge. Further, and more importantly for medical applications where each cartridge contains a single dose, the cartridge size may be relatively large compared to the amount of liquid it contains. There is therefore a need to move the actuator out of the cartridge component leaving just the liquid contacting perforate membrane as this approach can reduce both cartridge cost and size.
The requirement to avoid cross contamination is known in the art and, for relatively inefficient applications where low power consumption is not crucial, solutions have been proposed. U.S. Pat. No. 3,561,444 teaches, for a pond-mister style device, using a liquid that is not dispensed to provide the connection between the vibration element in the master and the surface to be vibrated in the cartridge. U.S. Pat. No. 4,702,418, WO 2006/006963, WO 2009/150619, WO 2010/026532 and WO 2009/136304 teach various means of connecting the vibration force to a surface in the cartridge that is situated in close proximity to a perforate membrane with the vibration then transmitted through the liquid to be sprayed. EP 1,475,108 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,838,350 teach coupling of a piezoceramic component directly to a perforate membrane but do not teach how this can be done in an efficient manner or without the connection approach resulting in excessive energy absorption. The Büchi B-90 Nano Spray Drier enables the perforate membrane to be replaced by requiring the user to screw the membrane onto the actuator using a custom nut to a specified torque level. Whilst this is suitable for a laboratory instrument the replacement process is hard to automate in a compact device it would not be acceptable for a device that is designed to be operated by a consumer for example.
Efficient connection of energy is even more critical for low power devices and in particular for devices where the actuator operates in bending mode as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,518,179. Further, efficient connection of energy through a bending interface is significantly more challenging than efficient connection of energy through a translating interface. This is because a torque in addition to a normal force must be transmitted and also because any structures that result in the device becoming thicker (a screw thread for example) reduce vibration.
In summary, there is a requirement for a means to enable vibration to be effectively transmitted from an actuator to a perforate membrane in which the perforate membrane can be easily removed and replaced by a non-skilled consumer or automatically within a compact device. Such transmission would ideally not absorb excessive vibration energy. Such transmission would ideally not reduce the vibration amplitude of the perforate membrane. These preferable requirements are especially challenging with bending-mode actuator devices as they are more easily damped.
Therefore, according to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a liquid droplet production apparatus comprising a perforate membrane; a means for supplying liquid to one side of the membrane; an actuator for vibrating the membrane said vibration causing liquid droplets to be ejected from the other side of the membrane, in which magnetic force is used to connect the actuator to the membrane so that the vibration can be transmitted.
Generally Applicable Actuator Design and Mounting
This invention is applicable to a wide range of actuator types but is of particular benefit to actuators that use a piezoelectric, electrostrictive or magnetostrictive material (i.e. a material that changes shape in response to an applied electric or magnetic field, henceforth referred to as the active component) in combination with a metal connection or support material (henceforth referred to as the passive component). Examples of such actuators include longitudinal actuators which drive the perforate membrane to vibrate in a direction generally parallel to the expansion and contraction direction of the active component, breathing mode actuators which drive the perforate membrane to vibrate in a direction generally normal to the expansion and contraction direction of the active component and bending mode actuators of the type described earlier and in more detail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,518,179, incorporated herein for reference, to which this invention is particularly applicable. Whilst for some actuators the passive layer does not itself deform and merely acts as a support component, for most actuator designs the passive layer itself expands, contracts, bends or deforms elastically in response to the deformation of the active layer For example, for a longitudinal actuator the passive component can be used to amplify the strain rate of the active component and. for a bending mode actuator consisting of a unimorph, the passive component's characteristics heavily influence the actuator performance. For such actuators the passive layer material and design, herein referred to as a “deforming passive component”, is integral to the actuator performance and modifying it or adding to its mass will impact the device performance.
For all such actuators a range of factors impact their performance By performance, we mean their ability to cause the membrane to produce droplets whilst maximising the efficiency, minimising the size and minimising the cost of the overall system. Efficiency is here defined as the ideal energy required to produce the droplets divided by the energy into the system.
In relation to the actuator, particular features that improve performance are reducing actuator mass, reducing internal energy dissipation and reducing energy transmitted to components, other than the perforate membrane as described in the following paragraphs.
Reducing actuator mass in general increases performance. This is because any mass needs to be accelerated requiring a force to be applied and increasing the stored energy. For a given quality factor (Q-factor), this leads to additional energy dissipation per vibration cycle. Other disadvantages of increasing actuator mass are an increase in actuator starting and stopping time and either increased complexity, increased cost or reduced efficiency of any drive circuitry, or a combination thereof.
Reducing internal energy absorption of the actuator (i.e. increasing its Q-factor) is important as this energy is dissipated as heat rather than being delivered to the membrane Deformation of both the active and passive components of the actuator leads to thermal heating as does deformation of any bonding materials. For example, for o bonding mode actuator the active and passive components are usually bonded together using an adhesive. Keeping this adhesive layer thin and rigid helps to avoid it absorbing excessive energy.
Reducing energy transmission from the actuator to parts other than the perforate membrane improves performance. This includes the liquid to be delivered as droplets (except in the vicinity of the membrane perforations). In general this can be accomplished by minimising the vibrational amplitude of the actuator (whilst maximising the vibrational amplitude of the membrane). Further, actuators usually need to be mounted to a support structure in order to operate as part of a device and for liquid to be reliably delivered to the perforate membrane. The design and implementation of this mounting can have a significant impact on the actuator performance and the amount of energy transmitted to the perforate membrane. A range of support structures are known in the art for different actuator types (long thin fingers and soft support rings being two such approaches) but in general they try to reduce the transmission of vibrational energy from the actuator to the mount. This can be more easily achieved when the mount does not need to support any large reaction forces that result from forces being applied to the actuator or perforate membrane elsewhere.
Generally Applicable Membrane Design and Actuator Attachment
To transmit energy efficiently from the actuator to the membrane requires careful design of the two components and their interaction. Aside from ensuring the components vibrate at the appropriate frequency and with the appropriate mode shape, a range of generally applicable features are required to deliver maximum membrane velocity for minimum energy consumption. This list of features is similar to what makes a good actuator but with some differences.
Firstly, the mass of the membrane should preferably be minimised especially any mass that does not stiffen the membrane. Minimising its mass reduces the force that must be supplied to it by the actuator reducing losses in that component. Any mass increases increase the required force that needs to be supplied requiring a larger, less efficient actuator.
Secondly, unless the membrane is separately supported (leading to reduced efficiency), the interface between the actuator and the membrane needs to transmit a periodic force oscillating about a mean of zero if gravity is neglected (i.e. the interface must support an instantaneous forces being applied in more than one direction). This may be push/pull, clockwise/anticlockwise torque, or similar.
Thirdly the energy absorbed in the interface between the actuator and the membrane should preferably be minimised. For devices which do not require the separation of the perforate membrane this can be achieved by several methods well known in the art. These include adhesive bonding, welding, brazing and soldering amongst others. All such means add minimal, if any, mass to the device, generally absorb little energy and do not reduce the amplitude of vibrations. They achieve these features by creating a very thin rigid bond directly between the two components. Bolting, clamping or screwing together the components is also used but, as previously discussed, this increases mass and can also impact the vibrational characteristics of the device.
Finally, energy transmitted to the liquid that does not go into the formation of droplets should preferably be minimised. This can be achieved by minimising any area of the membrane that is not perforate (i.e. by minimising areas of vibration that are liquid contacting but are not delivering droplets). Energy transmission to the liquid can also be reduced by using soft wicks or other similar means to deliver liquid rather than contacting the membrane with bulk liquid.
To summarise, any separable membrane design would ideally allow efficient transmission of energy from the actuator to the membrane in the form of an oscillating force about a mean of zero without absorbing energy. It would ideally minimise any mass increase of both the actuator and the membrane It would ideally minimise any increased damping in the actuator. It would ideally minimise the energy transmitted by the actuator to elements other than the membrane (e.g. mount). It would ideally avoid transmitting energy to the liquid to be delivered.
Aspects of the Invention
Magnetic connection between the actuator and membrane has the ability to meet all of these preferred requirements. A range of aspects of the invention are now disclosed with reference to the following figures:
A third type of device (3) to which this invention is applicable is shown in
For all three bonds (16, 26 and 36) described above, the forces that must be supported are bi-directional, it is possible to enable the bond or bonds between the actuator and membrane to only support a unidirectional force but this requires the application of an external support or the use of multiple bonding (or contact) surfaces. This is illustrated in
Another means of enabling the actuator to membrane bonds to only need to support unidirectional forces is through the use of more than one bond surface as illustrated in
It should be noted that the discussion relating to the above examples is broadly applicable to other actuator designs. Further, whilst the examples generally illustrate vibration at the actuators first resonant frequency of the applicable mode (i.e. lowest frequency bending mode), the discussion and this invention is equally applicable to higher order mode actuation.
Bidirectional forces and torques between the actuator and membrane can be created directly through the use of magnetism. This is advantageous over other temporary bonding mechanisms (such as using a biasing spring to push them together) as it negates the need for a 2nd force application mechanism (such as a biasing spring or 2nd mechanical interface) as discussed above.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the magnetic force is created through the use of a permanent magnet forming part of the actuator. For actuators with deforming passive components, then in a preferred embodiment the magnet forms part of this deforming passive component.
In this embodiment with a 100 μl droplet of liquid placed on the membrane, flow rales of over 9 μl/s have been observed through a membrane with 3289 nozzles in which the mass mean aerodynamic diameter was ˜4.5 μm, i.e. ideal for drug nebulisation. Such results are purely included by way of an example and should not be construed as a limit to the capabilities of the invention. Such a device with a single nozzle could be used in a drop on-demand manner for accurate dispensing of fluid or printing for example.
Discussing the actuator, powerful permanent magnets are preferred and therefore Neodymium Iron Boron (NeFeB) rare-earth magnets are ideal. These can be readily manufactured into disks although, unless a poor yield and higher cost can be accepted, at present thickness of less than 0.4 mm are hard to make. This is thicker than the deforming passive component of some current bending mode actuators (for example that found in the eFlow made by Pari GmbH) and hence basing the design on actuators with a thicker passive component is desirable. In the example above, the deforming passive component is 0.5 mm thick. Whilst this can be increased further it stiffens the structure reducing resonant vibration amplitude for a given active component. Therefore a passive component thickness between 0.4 mm and 1.0 mm is considered ideal for such a device although the invention is still applicable to a wider range of thicknesses.
Discussing the membrane, being generally constructed of a thin material of 150 μm thickness or less, preferably 100 μm or less, connection force is limited by magnetic saturation of the material (rather than by permissivity for example). As such relatively high saturation ferromagnetic components (ideally those with a saturation induction of greater than 1.6 tesla) are preferred. Examples of such preferred materials that are also suitable for laser drilling include Martensitic and Ferritic Stainless Steel and Permendur. Ferromagnetic materials with tower saturation levels such as Mumetal and Nickel in general deliver reduced performance. However, Nickel has the advantages of being electroformable (a common means of manufacturing a perforate membrane) and hence may be a preferred membrane material in some embodiments.
Referring to
If additional connection force is required (for example to enable the device to be driven with more power so that a more viscous formulation can be dispensed) or if a non ferromagnetic membrane has to be used for other reasons then a permanent magnet or ferromagnetic support structure either bonded to the membrane or clamping the membrane to the actuator can be used in addition to or instead of using a ferromagnetic membrane material. In one preferred embodiment the permanent magnet of ferromagnetic support structure, in use, damps the perforate membrane to the actuator. This arrangement enables the support structure to be reused if required rather than requiring one support structure for each perforate membrane. In another preferred embodiment, the permanent magnet or ferromagnetic support structure is permanently bonded to the perforate membrane. This arrangement enables, but does not necessitate, the support structure bong between the actuator and the perforate membrane which may be beneficial in some cases.
It should be noted that here the term ‘support’ primarily refers to the fact that the structure supports the connection of the energy transmission from actuator to membrane. Such structures can also be used to provide mechanical support to the membrane when not in use or when not attached to the actuator. Whilst this necessarily increases the mass of the device, this increase can be minimal.
Whilst with one nard and one soft magnetic material only an attractive force can be created, with two hard magnetic materials then torque can also be directly created. This can be used to aid the connection of the components and can also be used to help self-centre the membrane to the actuator. To further aid the transmission of forces beyond those normal to the contact surface (and also applicable to cases when one soft and one hard magnetic material is used), surface features of the actuator or membrane contact area can be used in which the surface features leads to an increase in the static coefficient of friction and/or aids alignment of the membrane to the actuator. Example features include ridges, troughs, upstands and holes. Such features can also aid in the alignment of the actuator to the perforate membrane. Therefore, in a preferred embodiment, the perforate membrane surface that contacts the actuator has mechanical features extending in a direction normal to the contact surface that interface with features of the actuator. Texturing, roughening, and the addition of a non-slip coatings may also be of benefit.
This preferred embodiment benefits from excellent repeatability and performance with easy location of the capsule relative to the actuator The apparatus operates with the perforate region of the membrane alt in phase which minimises the impact of any manufacturing variation as vibration wavelengths are maximised. Using saline solution delivery rates m excess of 20 μl/s were demonstrated with droplet size (D(4,3)) of approximately 4.5 μm and delivery rates in excess of 140 μl/s were demonstrated with droplet size (D(4.3)) of approximately 9 μm
One preferred feature of this embodiment that is thought to be beneficial is the placement of the support ring at, or close to, a nodal position of the apparatus. By this we mean that the support ring is located such that, in use, a nodal point of the actuator is located between, or within 0.5 mm of, the support ring internal and outer diameters. This is illustrated by
In many instances, and as described in the embodiments above, it is expected that it will be preferable for the actuator and membrane to be in direct physical contact. In these cases the magnetic force will preferably be attractive. This invention can also though be embodied in forms in which the membrane and actuator are not in direct physical contact. This may be by separating the two parts with a thin passive layer for hygienic or aesthetic purposes for example. In addition, by avoiding physical contact it is possible to amplify the displacement such that the whole of the perforate membrane is displaced to a greater extent than any part of the actuator. This is beneficial as it can increase efficiency and require less actuator motion for a given amount of membrane motion. Therefore in one preferred embodiment of the invention the actuator and membrane are not in direct physical contact during operation and are configured such that the amplitude of the perforate membrane motion adjacent to the actuator is greater than that of the actuator itself. Means of achieving this amplification including attaching the membrane to a structure that is designed to mechanically resonate at the frequency of actuator oscillation. This structure could consist of an annular drum-skin or skirt for example (which may be an extension of the membrane itself). Alternatively the resonant structure could be a spring again designee to vibrate at or close to the actuator frequency.
In
In
Whilst the perforate membrane may be brought into contact with the actuator independently from the introduction of the liquid to be dispensed, in many applications it is beneficial for the membrane and liquid to be stored and brought to the actuator together. Therefore in a preferred embodiment, the perforate membrane is permanently attached to the liquid containing reservoir.
Other features, generally applicable to a broad range of perforate membrane droplet generation apparatus, can be added to this capsule to aid sterility and reduce liquid toss through evaporation for example. Such features include a peelable cover over the perforate membrane and an internal valve that only introduces liquid to the membrane shortly before use. Example embodiments of such an internal valve are shown in
In
The action that results in liquid being brought into contact with one side of the perforate membrane preferably also results in the liquid being at a pressure slightly below atmosphere pressure once in contact as this is known to enhance droplet generation. Several means of achieving this are possible. The capsule can be designed to increase in volume. One or more surfaces of the capsule can be mechanically biased or sprung such that they exert a force on the liquid. Some of the liquid, or a gas stored with the liquid, can be extracted once the liquid is in contact with them membrane. A gas stored with the liquid could be cooled. Further the capsule structure could have two stable states, one with the liquid in a fluid tight compartment and one, with increased capsule volume, with a fluid path created between the compartment and the perforate membrane. Examples of a capsule whose volume increases as part of the action that brings the liquid into contact with the perforate membrane are shown in
Other features, generally applicable to a broad range of perforate membrane droplet generation apparatus, can be added to this capsule to increase orientation independence. For example, as shown in
Whilst the features and embodiments discussed above have been primarily related to axisymmetric bending mode devices to which they are exceptionally beneficial, they also have wide applicability in relation to other actuator types including those of radial and longitudinal type. They are also applicable to linear style and other non-axisymmetric designs.
For linear actuators, an alternative means of utilising a magnetic connection force is disclosed in
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1108102.3 | May 2011 | GB | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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| PCT/GB2012/051081 | 5/16/2012 | WO | 00 | 11/15/2013 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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| WO2012/156724 | 11/22/2012 | WO | A |
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