GB2227690A

GB2227690A - "Atomiser"

Info

Publication number: GB2227690A
Application number: GB8827498A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Sylviane Therese Azulay; Sentaure Limited; Dimitri Aime Azulay
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1988-11-24
Filing date: 1988-11-24
Publication date: 1990-08-08
Also published as: GB8827498D0

Abstract

An atomiser comprises a first chamber communicating with a second chamber 19; a nozzle 11 for directing a flow of carrier gas into the second chamber 19; a hollow needle 14 for supplying liquid from a reservoir 15 such that liquid particles are entrained in the gas flow passing into the second chamber 19; and an outlet 21 from the first chamber; wherein the second chamber 19 is arranged to cause reversal of the direction of flow of gas and entrained particles so that large liquid particles are returned to the reservoir 15. The second chamber 19 may be a blind chamber, as illustrated, or a U- or V-shaped passage. <IMAGE>

Description

ATOMISER The invention relates to an atomiser and is of particular relevance to an atomiser for use in atomising liquids such as essential oils, mixtures containing essential oils, or the like. The term "atomiser" as used herein is intended to mean apparatus for producing a flow of carrier gas in which particles of a liquid are entrained, such particles consisting of liquid droplets and/or the liquid in vapour form.

It is known in the field of aromatherapy to generate aromas by vaporising essential oils and in general it is not acceptable to achieve vaporisation either by heating the oils or by passing air through the oils since in both cases the most volatile oils will be evaporated first. It has therefore been proposed to pass a jet of air at high speed across the end of a tube supplied from a reservoir of essential oil such that all the liquid is atomised simultaneously. The jet of air is passed upwardly from an air feed nozzle across the liquid supply tube into an upwardly directed passage having protrusions on its inner wall intended to slow down the mixture of air and oil so that larqer droplets of oil are captured and then drain back to the reservoir.Thus the eauipment is intended to reproduce a very fine mist or spray but in practice the slowing effect of the protrusions may not be entirely effective in eliminating all the larger droplets from the spray. Furthermore the equipment is made of qlass and includes delicate glass tubes, such as the liquid supply tube, which break relatively easily and are not practical for mass production.

Viewed from one aspect the present invention provides an atomiser comprising means for directing a flow of carrier gas into a chamber, means for supplying liquid such that particles thereof are entrained in the gas flow, the chamber being arranged to cause reversal of the direction of the flow of gas and entrained particles, and an outlet for the flow downstream of the chamber.

With such an arrangement, the reversal of the flow direction of the gas and entrained particles means that large liquid particles are substantially prevented from being discharged via the outlet of the atomiser, because during reversal the flow speed is insufficient for the gas to carry the larger particles which are thus left behind in the chamber.

The atomiser will normally be used to atomise essential oils and the like and the carrier gas is preferably pressurised air. Furthermore, the atomiser will normally be portable and may be provided in an enclosure which may include ornamentation to disguise its appearance, being for example in the form of a bird, fish, stone block etc.

Although the chamber may be in the form of a U- or V- shaped passage it is preferably formed with a single opening into which the flow of gas and particles is directed and from which the flow escapes, and for example the flow may be directed into the open end of an otherwise closed chamber.

Such a chamber may thus be cup-shaped, the cup being for example of square or rectangular cross section, but preferably being of substantially circular cross section. The flow of gas will preferably be directed centrally into the open end of such a chamber, so that the flow of gas and entrained particles leaving the chamber passes through an annular space around the inwardly directed flow.

Preferably the atomiser is constructed and arranged such that the flow direction is reversed two or more times before the flow of carrier gas and particles is discharged. Thus, for example the carrier gas may be upwardly directed into the chamber and must then flow downwardly to leave the chamber before flowing upwardly again to be discharged via an upwardly directed outlet. In addition to being particularly effective in removing large particles of liauid from the flow, this arrangement also has the advantage that liquid captured on the chamber walls can simply be allowed to drain from the chamber, preferably to fall into a reservoir for the liquid located beneath the chamber.

The atomiser is preferably provided with an opening for introducing liquid to be atomised to the liquid reservoir, and in a preferred arrangement such an opening is closed by a removable closure member which also mounts the chamber for causing reversal of the flow of gas and entrained particles.

The closure member and associated opening may be advantageously constructed such that each time closure is effected the chamber is automatically located in the correct position relative to the means for directing the flow of gas into it. One way of achieving this is to provide the closure member with locating means, such as a lug or slot, engagable in corresponding locating means provided adjacent the opening. In another embodiment a circular closure member has the flow reversing chamber located centrally thereof, and the flow directing means is provided centrally of a corresponding circular opening of the atomiser,so that the flow directing means and the chamber will always be correctly positioned relative to each other when closure is effected.Thus with this embodiment a user does not have to take special care when replacing the closure to ensure that the chamber is aligned with the flow directing means.

The outlet for the flow of gas and entrained particles may also be provided in the closure, and may for example take the form of an upwardly directed conduit adjacent to the flow reversing chamber. By providing both the chamber and the outlet in the closure member, the construction of the vessel providing the liquid reservoir may be relatively simple e.g. cup or beaker shaped and this can facilitate cleaning operations. Furthermore the opening of the vessel in which the closure member is inserted may be of substantially the same transverse dimension as the vessel to aid access to the inside of the vessel. A seal will preferably be provided between the closure and the vessel, and this may take the form of an 0ring.

The vessel which provides the liquid reservoir may be removably mounted on a support. Again, this is advantageous when it is desired to clean out the vessel and change the liquid to be atomised, particularly as the atomiser may take the form of an ornament since it is easier to handle the removed vessel rather than the ornament as a whole.

Furthermore, an electrically driven air pump will preferably also be mounted on the support and it is then advantageous that the vessel can be isolated from the pump during cleaning and so forth. The engagement of the vessel on the support preferably includes a seal such as an O-ring to avoid leakage of pressurised air.

A variety of pumps may be used to supply carrier gas, but it has been found that a reciprocating piston pump of the type normally used to aerate fish tanks is particularly suitable due to its compact size and relatively silent operation.

The pump is preferably powered by rechargeable batteries which may be charged by a transformer which plugs into a wall socket of a domestic A.C.

electricity supply. This avoids mains voltage in the vicinity of the vessel containing liauid to be atomised and is therefore desirable for reasons of safety. Furthermore the overall size of the components which may be housed in an ornament may be kept to a minimum.

The atomiser may include a carrier gas conduit, a nozzle arranged at one end of the conduit for directing the flow of gas into the chamber, and a liquid supply passage extending from the liquid reservoir to a location adjacent the nozzle. The nozzle is preferably removably mounted on the conduit and supports the liquid supply passage, which may be in the form of a tube or needle, so that the nozzle and liquid supply passage can be assembled together and then installed on the conduit.

The various components of the atomiser may be made from glass or ceramics or other material but preferably they are moulded using plastics materials, such as acrylic, acetyl copolymers, ionomer resin, fluorinated polyethylene, or melamine formaldehyde. The latter material may be particularly desirable since granules of different colours can be used in the moulding process to create visual effects.

Viewed from a second aspect the present invention provides an atomiser comprising a first chamber; a second chamber having a closed end and an at least partially open end communicating with the first chamber; means for directing a flow of carrier gas into the second chamber in a direction away from the open end; means for supplying liquid such that particles thereof are entrained in the gas flow passing into the second chamber; and an outlet from the first chamber; wherein the second chamber is arranged to collect at least some of the liquid particles and to return such collected liquid to the liquid supplying means.

Some preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig 1 shows a cross sectional view of an atomiser in accordance with the invention; Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of part of Fig.

1; and Fig 3 is a cross sectional view of a second embodiment of the atomiser.

Referrinq to Figs. 1 and 2, a removable vessel 1 mounted on a base 2 is closed by a closure member 3 and is arranged to be supplied with pressurised air from a pump 4 powered from an electrical source 5 which may be a battery pack.

The base 2 includes an air supply passage 6 for feeding air to the centre of a support 7 for the vessel 1, the support having an upright circular rim 8 into which the vessel fits. In commercial Production, for example when producing the atomiser as a moulding, parts 2,7 and 8 can be formed as a single item. An O-ring 9 provided on the vessel 1 forms a seal with the inner surface of the rim so that air supplied by the passage 6 is fed into the vessel without leakage. The vessel has a central vertical conduit 10 for receiving such air and a nozzle 11 is removably mounted on the upper end of the conduit and has an orifice 12 for discharging a concentrated jet of air, the orifice typically having a diameter of 0.5mm.

The nozzle 11 has a laterally projecting lug 13 which supports a hollow needle 14 having its lower end immersed in liquid contained in a reservoir 15 of the vessel 1 and its upper end located adjacent the nozzle orifice 12.

The vessel l has at its upper end an opening 16 which is closed by the closure member 3 which is removable. A seal is effected between the closure member and the vessel by an O-ring 18. A chamber 19 is defined centrally of the closure member by a downwardly projecting annular wall 20, so that the chamber is substantially in the form of an inverted cup. The upper portions of the nozzle 11 and the needle 14 are located just inside the mouth of the chamber which is slightly flared, being of widest dimension of its lower end. The closure member 3 is also formed with a vertical outlet passsage 21 disposed radially outwardly of the chamber 19.

In use, pressurised air supplied along the passage 6 is fed to the nozzle 11 and discharged upwardly through the nozzle orifice 12. The low pressure created by the jet of air in the region of the upper end of the needle 14 causes liquid to be drawn up from the reservoir 15 and particles of the liquid, namely liquid dropiets and/or vaporised liquid, are entrained in the flow of air. The flow is effectively directed into a dead end provided by the upper wall of the chamber so that the flow direction is caused to reverse and the gas and particles then leave the chamber via the annular region defined between the nozzle 11 and the chamber wall 20. The slowing down effect of the flow reversal causes large liquid droplets to be left behind in the chamber and these then fall back into the liquid reservoir 15.The flow continues under the chamber wall 20 and then upwardly again out of the vertical outlet passage 21. Liquid contained initially in the reservoir 15 is thus atomised and discharged into the surroundings.

The second embodiment shown in Fig. 3 has similar parts to that of the first embodiment and these are indicated by corresponding reference numerals. This embodiment differs however in that the vertical air conduit 10 and its nozzle 11 are located to one side of the vessel rather than centrally thereof, and the chamber 19 is likewise located at one side and is separated from the outlet passage 21 by a baffle wall 30. In this arrangement it is important to ensure that when the removable closure member 3 is replaced on the vessel the chamber 19 is positioned in alignment with the conduit 10 and nozzle 11, rather than directly beneath the outlet passage 21. For this reason the upper rim of the vessel 1 is formed with a locating slot 31 which receives a lug 32 of the closure member 3.

A further feature of the atomiser shown in Fig. 3 is that the closure member 3 fits round the outside of the upper rim of the vessel and sealing is effected by an O-ring 33. The atomiser module is installed in a stone block 35 or decorative sculpture and is retained in position in a cavity of the block our sculpture by an O-ring 34.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. An atomiser comprising a first chamber; a second chamber having a closed end and an at least partially open end communicating with the first chamber; means for directing a flow of carrier gas into the second chamber in a direction away from the open end; means for supplying liquid such that particles thereof are entrained in the gas flow passing into the second chamber; and an outlet from the first chamber; wherein the second chamber is arranged to collect at least some of the liquid particles and to return such collected liquid to the liquid supplying means.

2. An atomiser as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second chamber is cup-shaped and the flow directing means is arranged to direct the flow of carrier gas centrally into the open end of the second chamber, so that the flow of gas and entrained particles leaving the second chamber passes through an annular space around the inwardly directed flow.

3. An atomiser as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the flow directing means is arranged to direct the flow of carrier gas upwardly into the second chamber, and the outlet from the first chamber is directed upwardly, whereby in use the carrier gas flows upwardly into the second chamber and then flows downwardly to leave the chamber before flowing upwardly again to be discharged via the upwardly directed outlet.

4. An atomiser as claimed in claim 1,2 or 3, wherein an opening for introducing liquid to be atomised to a liquid reservoir is closed by a removable closure member which also mounts the second chamber.

5. An atomiser as claimed in claim 4, wherein the closure member and associated opening are constructed such that each time closure is effected the second chamber is automatically located in the correct position relative to the means for directing the flow of gas into it.

6. An atomiser as claimed in claim 4 or 5, wherein the outlet from the first chamber is provided in the closure.

7. An atomiser as claimed in claim 4,5 or 6, wherein the liquid reservoir is provided in a vessel formed with the opening for introducing liquid to be atomised, and wherein the opening is of substantially the same transverse dimension as the vessel.

8. An atomiser as claimed in claim 7, wherein the vessel is removably mounted on a support which also mounts an electrically driven pump for supplying the flow of carrier gas.

9. An atomiser as claimed in any of claims 4 to 8, further comprising a carrier gas conduit, a nozzle arranged at one end of the conduit for directing the flow of gas into the chamber, and a liquid supply passage extending from the liquid reservoir to a location adjacent the nozzle, the nozzle being removably mounted on the conduit and supporting the liquid supply passage, so that the nozzle and liquid supply passage can be assembled together and then installed on the conduit.

10. An atomiser comprising means for directing a flow of carrier gas into a chamber, means for supplying liquid such that particles thereof are entrained in the gas flow, the chamber being arranged to cause reversal of the direction of the flow of gas and entrained particles, and an outlet for the flow downstream of the chamber.