GB2388062A - Generating a controlled amount of mist - Google Patents

Generating a controlled amount of mist Download PDF

Info

Publication number
GB2388062A
GB2388062A GB0207821A GB0207821A GB2388062A GB 2388062 A GB2388062 A GB 2388062A GB 0207821 A GB0207821 A GB 0207821A GB 0207821 A GB0207821 A GB 0207821A GB 2388062 A GB2388062 A GB 2388062A
Authority
GB
United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
droplet
fluid
vibrating member
particles
aerosol mist
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
GB0207821A
Other versions
GB0207821D0 (en
Inventor
Stewart Pepper
David Sharp
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
No Climb Products Ltd
Original Assignee
No Climb Products Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by No Climb Products Ltd filed Critical No Climb Products Ltd
Priority to GB0207821A priority Critical patent/GB2388062A/en
Publication of GB0207821D0 publication Critical patent/GB0207821D0/en
Publication of GB2388062A publication Critical patent/GB2388062A/en
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B05—SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL; APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05B—SPRAYING APPARATUS; ATOMISING APPARATUS; NOZZLES
    • B05B17/00—Apparatus for spraying or atomising liquids or other fluent materials, not covered by the preceding groups
    • B05B17/04—Apparatus for spraying or atomising liquids or other fluent materials, not covered by the preceding groups operating with special methods
    • B05B17/06—Apparatus for spraying or atomising liquids or other fluent materials, not covered by the preceding groups operating with special methods using ultrasonic or other kinds of vibrations
    • B05B17/0607—Apparatus for spraying or atomising liquids or other fluent materials, not covered by the preceding groups operating with special methods using ultrasonic or other kinds of vibrations generated by electrical means, e.g. piezoelectric transducers
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B05—SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL; APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05B—SPRAYING APPARATUS; ATOMISING APPARATUS; NOZZLES
    • B05B17/00—Apparatus for spraying or atomising liquids or other fluent materials, not covered by the preceding groups
    • B05B17/04—Apparatus for spraying or atomising liquids or other fluent materials, not covered by the preceding groups operating with special methods
    • B05B17/06—Apparatus for spraying or atomising liquids or other fluent materials, not covered by the preceding groups operating with special methods using ultrasonic or other kinds of vibrations
    • B05B17/0607—Apparatus for spraying or atomising liquids or other fluent materials, not covered by the preceding groups operating with special methods using ultrasonic or other kinds of vibrations generated by electrical means, e.g. piezoelectric transducers
    • B05B17/0653—Details
    • B05B17/0676—Feeding means

Landscapes

  • Fire-Detection Mechanisms (AREA)
  • Special Spraying Apparatus (AREA)
  • Investigating Or Analyzing Materials By The Use Of Ultrasonic Waves (AREA)

Abstract

In a method for generating a controllable amount of an aerosol mist of fluid, particularly for testing fixed detectors such as fire detectors a predetermined volume of fluid is received in the form of a droplet by a vibrating member 5 which is preferably a transducer. The fluid is adapted to break up the droplet into particles by oscillating the member 5 at a predetermined ultrasonic frequency. A circulating means such as a fan 6 arranged to cause a flow of gas over the vibratory member 5 and to carry away said particles in the form of an aerosol mist. The predetermined amount is supplied from a reservoir 1 via a pump 3 which meters the quantity of fluid supplied to the nozzle 4.

Description

A METHOD FOR THE GENERATION OF AN AEROSOL MIST OF FINE
PARTICLES OF A LIQUID
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for generating a 5 controllable amount of an aerosol mist of a fluid. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for generating an aerosol mist for testing fixed detectors such as fire detectors.
There are many methods in current use for the production of a mist or aerosol of fine particles including spray cans using a pressurized propellant and 10 pump type atomisers. Another method is to use an ultrasonic transducer immersed in a liquid to cause particles to break away from the surface of the liquid in the form of a fine mist.
However, all these methods rely, to some extent, on gravity to keep the liquid in position in its container and therefore cannot operate in all orientations, 15 particularly when honed upside down. Another disadvantage of the curt methods is that they are not well controlled wid1 regard to the amount of aerosol mist produced.
The object of the present invention is to mitigate the limitations presented in the current methods for generation of an aerosol mist and provide a method for 20 generating a controllable amount of aerosol mist which can be produced in all orientations. From one aspect, the present invention provides an apparatus for generating a controllable amount of aerosol mist, said apparatus comprising: means for dispersing a predetermined volume of fluid in the forth of a 25 droplet,
an ultrasonic vibrating member arranged to receive said droplet of fluid and being adapted to brealc up said droplet into particles by oscillating at a frequency controlled by control means; and circulating means arranged to cause a flow of gas over said ultrasonic 5 vibrating member and to carry away said particles in the form of an aerosol mist.
From another aspect, the present invention provides a method of generating an aerosol mist, said method comprising the steps of: forming a predetermined size of droplet of said a fluid, supplying the droplet to an ultrasonic vibrating member; 10 oscillating said vibrating member at a predetermined frequency to cause said droplet of fluid to break up into particles, and creating a flow of gas over the vibrating member and to carry away said particles in the form of an aerosol mist.
One advantage of the present invention is the amount of material in the 15 aerosol mist can be accurately controlled since the droplet size delivered onto the ultrasonic vibrating member is accurately determined by a pump and nozzle.
In order that the present invention be more readily understood, an embodiment thereof will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 20 Figure 1 shows a schematic view of an embodiment of the present invention. The preferred embodiment provides a method of generating a controllable amount of aerosol mist by placing a predetermined volume of fluid in the form of a droplet onto an ultrasonic vibrating member and oscillating the vibrating 25 member at an ultrasonic frequency so as to break up the droplet of fluid into an aerosol mist. A passage of gas, usually air, is then created over the ultrasonic vibrating member by an gas circulating means such as a fan so the aerosol mist is
( directed away from the ultrasonic vibrating member making the member ready to receive another droplet of fluid.
A specific embodiment of the present invention will now be described by refemug to Fig 1. It will be appreciated that this embodiment is for example 5 purposes only and does not limit the invention to the described example.
This specific embodiment is for the production of synthetic smoke for the testing of fire detectors which may be mounted on horizontal, vertical or sloping surfaces. A storage means 1 is designed in such a way as to exclude air, so that fluid can be drawn out through a connecting means which is preferably in the form 10 of a tube 2. The storage means 1 may be in the form of a collapsible bag or may be in the form of a replaceable cartridge A pump 3 is driven by signals in the form of pulses from control electronics 8 so that for each pulse a predetermined size of droplet of fluid is expelled from a nozzle 4 onto an ultrasonic vibrating means which is preferably a transducer S. The droplet size is small enough to ensure that 15 the droplet will stay in position on the ultrasonic producer 5 due to surface tension whatever the orientation of the apparatus. Transducer 5 is driven by control electronics 8 so that it vibrates at an ultrasonic frequency, which causes the droplet of fluid to be broken up into very small particles which break away from the transducer 5. An air circulating means which may be a fan 6 is also driven by 20 the control electronics 8 and creates an air flow over the transducer 5, carrying away the fluid particles in the form of an aerosol mist 7. The size of the particles is determined by the frequency of the ultrasonic vibration, a higher frequency producing a smaller particle size. The ultrasonic transducer 5 will be operated for a sufficient length of time to ensure that all the droplet of fluid has been converted 25 to aerosol mist before a further droplet is expelled by pump 3, allowing the process to continue. Since the droplet size can be accurately determined by the
|l design of the pump 3, the amount of material in Me mist 7 can be accurately controlled. A power source 9 provides electrical power to the control electronics 8 and hence to pump 3, transducer 5 and fan 6.

Claims (4)

At; CLAIMS:
1. An apparatus for generating a controllable amount of aerosol mist, said apparatus comprising: 5 dispersion means for dispersing a predetermined volume of fluid in the form of a droplet; a vibrating member arranged to receive said droplet of fluid and being adapted to break up said droplet into particles on oscillation at a ultrasonic frequency controlled by control means; and 10 circulating means arranged to cause a flow of gas over said ultrasonic vibrating member and to carry away said particles in the form of an aerosol mist.
2. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the vibrating member is a transducer.
3. The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 wherein the predetermined volume of fluid is small enough to ensure that the droplet will stay in position on the vibrating member due to surface tension.
20
4. A method of generating an aerosol mist, said method comprising the steps of: forrrung a predetermined size of droplet of fluid, supplying the droplet to a vibrating member; oscillating said vibrating at a predetermined ultrasonic frequency to cause 25 said droplet of fluid to break up into particles; and creating a flow of gas over the vibrating member and to carry away said particles in the forte of an aerosol mist.
lll ., À. ::,., I . 1 ..
S. The method according to claim 4, wherein the vibrating member is a transducer. 5 6. The method according to claim 4 or 5 wherein the predetermined size of droplet of fluid is small enough to ensure that the droplet will stay in position o the vibrating member due to surface tension.
.. .... ...CLME:
GB0207821A 2002-04-04 2002-04-04 Generating a controlled amount of mist Withdrawn GB2388062A (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB0207821A GB2388062A (en) 2002-04-04 2002-04-04 Generating a controlled amount of mist

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB0207821A GB2388062A (en) 2002-04-04 2002-04-04 Generating a controlled amount of mist

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
GB0207821D0 GB0207821D0 (en) 2002-05-15
GB2388062A true GB2388062A (en) 2003-11-05

Family

ID=9934269

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
GB0207821A Withdrawn GB2388062A (en) 2002-04-04 2002-04-04 Generating a controlled amount of mist

Country Status (1)

Country Link
GB (1) GB2388062A (en)

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US7967690B2 (en) 2006-03-13 2011-06-28 Basic Holdings Electric fires
WO2017060716A1 (en) * 2015-10-06 2017-04-13 Thorn Security Limited Smoke detector tester
FR3043576A1 (en) * 2015-11-18 2017-05-19 Areco Finances Et Tech - Arfitec MINIATURIZED SPRAY DEVICE WITH PIEZOELECTRIC TRANSDUCER
ES2836906A1 (en) * 2019-12-27 2021-06-28 Zobele Espana Sa Volatile substance diffusion device (Machine-translation by Google Translate, not legally binding)
DE102010031139B4 (en) 2010-07-09 2023-05-04 Robert Bosch Gmbh fire alarm device

Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2658738A1 (en) * 1990-02-28 1991-08-30 Dervoet Andre System for spraying liquid with a controlled flow rate
JPH04118066A (en) * 1990-09-10 1992-04-20 Izumi Kenkyusho:Kk Producing equipment for air mixed with superfine mist
GB2284364A (en) * 1993-12-04 1995-06-07 Atomic Energy Authority Uk Aerosol generator
GB2356362A (en) * 1999-10-12 2001-05-23 Lifecare Designs Ltd Ultrasonic nebuliser
EP1224948A1 (en) * 2001-01-22 2002-07-24 Bub AG Process for gas humidification/sterilization

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2658738A1 (en) * 1990-02-28 1991-08-30 Dervoet Andre System for spraying liquid with a controlled flow rate
JPH04118066A (en) * 1990-09-10 1992-04-20 Izumi Kenkyusho:Kk Producing equipment for air mixed with superfine mist
GB2284364A (en) * 1993-12-04 1995-06-07 Atomic Energy Authority Uk Aerosol generator
GB2356362A (en) * 1999-10-12 2001-05-23 Lifecare Designs Ltd Ultrasonic nebuliser
EP1224948A1 (en) * 2001-01-22 2002-07-24 Bub AG Process for gas humidification/sterilization

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
WPI Abstract Accession No 1992-180455 & JP 04118066 A *

Cited By (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US7967690B2 (en) 2006-03-13 2011-06-28 Basic Holdings Electric fires
GB2436212B (en) * 2006-03-13 2011-06-29 Basic Holdings A simulated fire effect apparatus
US8574086B2 (en) 2006-03-13 2013-11-05 Basic Holdings Electric fires
DE102010031139B4 (en) 2010-07-09 2023-05-04 Robert Bosch Gmbh fire alarm device
WO2017060716A1 (en) * 2015-10-06 2017-04-13 Thorn Security Limited Smoke detector tester
US10783771B2 (en) 2015-10-06 2020-09-22 Thorn Security Limited Smoke detector tester
AU2016335360B2 (en) * 2015-10-06 2021-12-09 Thorn Security Limited Smoke detector tester
FR3043576A1 (en) * 2015-11-18 2017-05-19 Areco Finances Et Tech - Arfitec MINIATURIZED SPRAY DEVICE WITH PIEZOELECTRIC TRANSDUCER
ES2836906A1 (en) * 2019-12-27 2021-06-28 Zobele Espana Sa Volatile substance diffusion device (Machine-translation by Google Translate, not legally binding)

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB0207821D0 (en) 2002-05-15

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
US2855244A (en) Sonic liquid-spraying and atomizing apparatus
JP3659593B2 (en) Liquid spray apparatus and method
EP1436090B1 (en) Method and device for production, extraction and delivery of mist with ultrafine droplets
US4704873A (en) Method and apparatus for producing microfine frozen particles
US9101949B2 (en) Ultrasonic atomization and/or seperation system
US5409163A (en) Ultrasonic spray coating system with enhanced spray control
US5145113A (en) Ultrasonic generation of a submicron aerosol mist
US5173274A (en) Flash liquid aerosol production method and appartus
US6135357A (en) Apparatus for atomizing high-viscosity fluids
GB2388062A (en) Generating a controlled amount of mist
US2881092A (en) Spray device actuated by supersonic means
JPH0836184A (en) Dispersing device for fine particle
US3067948A (en) Sonic atomizer for liquids
JP2008173624A (en) Atomizer
US20080128527A1 (en) Liquid dispensing apparatus based on piezoelectrically driven hollow horn
Wang et al. A new method for producing uniform droplets by continuous-ink-jet technology
JP2007024421A (en) Mist generating method, and its device
CN211678470U (en) A second grade atomizer for aerosol direct-write printing
JP2005040681A (en) Small quantity powder supply apparatus for powder coating
JPH09215918A (en) Gas-liquid reactor
JPH05212263A (en) Formation of uniform droplet
Brenn et al. Control of spray formation by vibrational excitation of flat-fan and conical liquid sheets
JP5068563B2 (en) Atomizer
CN112055644B (en) Acoustichoretic force modulation in acoustophoretic printing
JPH0618581Y2 (en) Droplet manufacturing equipment

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
WAP Application withdrawn, taken to be withdrawn or refused ** after publication under section 16(1)