WO2007139891A1 - Oscillateur fluidique - Google Patents

Oscillateur fluidique Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2007139891A1
WO2007139891A1 PCT/US2007/012397 US2007012397W WO2007139891A1 WO 2007139891 A1 WO2007139891 A1 WO 2007139891A1 US 2007012397 W US2007012397 W US 2007012397W WO 2007139891 A1 WO2007139891 A1 WO 2007139891A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
oscillator
fluidic
channel
spray
liquid
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US2007/012397
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Shridhar Gopalan
Gregory Russell
Dan Steerman
Original Assignee
Bowles Fluidics Corporation
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 Bowles Fluidics Corporation filed Critical Bowles Fluidics Corporation
Publication of WO2007139891A1 publication Critical patent/WO2007139891A1/fr

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60S—SERVICING, CLEANING, REPAIRING, SUPPORTING, LIFTING, OR MANOEUVRING OF VEHICLES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • B60S1/00—Cleaning of vehicles
    • B60S1/02—Cleaning windscreens, windows or optical devices
    • B60S1/46—Cleaning windscreens, windows or optical devices using liquid; Windscreen washers
    • B60S1/48—Liquid supply therefor
    • B60S1/52—Arrangement of nozzles; Liquid spreading means

Definitions

  • This invention relates to fluid handling processes and apparatus. More particularly, this invention relates to new methods and apparatus for enclosing fluidic oscillators or inserts so as to improve their performance.
  • Fluidic inserts or oscillators are well known for their ability to provide a wide range of distinctive liquid sprays.
  • the distinctiveness of these sprays is due to the fact that they are characterized by being oscillatory in nature, as compared to the relatively steady state flows that are emitted from standard spray nozzles.
  • FIG. 5 of the present Assignee's U.S. Patent No. (USPN) 4,052,002 illustrates the oscillatory nature of the spray from a typical fluidic oscillator. It shows what can be considered to be the essentially temporally varying, two-dimensional, planar flow pattern of a liquid jet or spray that issues from the oscillator into a surrounding gaseous environment and breaks into droplets which are distributed transversely to the jet's general direction of flow.
  • Such spray patterns may be described by the definable characteristics of their droplets (e.g., the volume flow rate of the spray, the spray's area of coverage, the spatial distribution of droplets in planes perpendicular to the direction of flow of the spray and at various distances in front of the oscillator's outlet, the average droplet velocities, the average size of the droplets, and the frequency at which the droplets impact on an obstacle in the path of the spray).
  • the definable characteristics of their droplets e.g., the volume flow rate of the spray, the spray's area of coverage, the spatial distribution of droplets in planes perpendicular to the direction of flow of the spray and at various distances in front of the oscillator's outlet, the average droplet velocities, the average size of the droplets, and the frequency at which the droplets impact on an obstacle in the path of the spray).
  • a fluidic insert is generally thought of as a thin, rectangular member that is molded or fabricated from plastic and has an especially-designed, uniform depth, liquid flow channel fabricated into either its broader top or bottom surface, and sometimes both (assuming that this fluidic insert is of the standard type that is to be inserted into the cavity of a housing whose inner walls are configured to form a liquid-tight seal around the insert and form an outside wall for the insert's boundary surface/s which contain the especially designed flow channels). Pressurized liquid enters such an insert and is sprayed from it. See, for example the fluidic insert (18) and housing (10) in figure 1 of the present Assignee's USPN 7,014,131.
  • these inserts are thin rectangular members with flow channels in their top or bottom surfaces, it should be recognized that they can be constructed so that their liquid flow channels are placed practically anywhere (e.g., on a plane that passes though the member's center) within the member's body; in such instances the insert would have a clearly defined channel inlet and outlet.
  • USPN 5,820,034 which shows a two-part (50a, 50b), fluidic insert whose exterior surface is cylindrical so that this insert can be fitted into a similarly shaped housing (72).
  • fluidic inserts may be formed by using projections that extend from a base plate so as to form essentially the central part of a fluid circuit that does not have any sidewalls.
  • the sidewalls for the flow through such inserts are formed by the boundary walls of the enclosing housing. See figure 2C of the present Assignee's U.S. Patent Publication No. (USPPN) 2006-0226266.
  • USPPN U.S. Patent Publication No.
  • fluidic circuits may be found in many patents, including the present Assignee's USPN 3,563,462 (Bauer), 4,052,002 (Stouffer & Bray), 4,151,955 (Stouffer), 4,157,161 (Bauer), 4,231,519 (Stouffer), which was reissued as RE 33,158, 4,508,267 (Stouffer), 5,035,361 (Stouffer), 5,213,269 (Srinath), 5,971,301 (Stouffer), 6,186,409 (Srinath) and 6,253,782 (Raghu).
  • the nature of the housings or enclosures that surround fluidic oscillators have changed only slowly over the years.
  • the overall exterior shape of a fluidic oscillator's automotive windshield washer is invariably aerodynamically configured from its rear to its front face in consideration of the fact that this housing will be mounted on an automobile's hood and in front of its windshield.
  • FIG 2 of USPN 6,062,491 shows a more recent housing design that is notable for its having two cavities into which cooperating fluidic oscillators are inserted.
  • it can be noted that it is also known to place more than one fluidic circuit on the same insert, see the "double spray" insert or oscillator of the present Assignee's USPN 7,014,131.
  • Housings for fluidic inserts have also been designed for specific applications. For example, see figures 5 and 8C of the present Assignee's USPPN 2004-0227021 which show a housing whose exterior surface has been especially configured to allow this housing and its enclosed fluidic oscillator to be used as part of a "quick disconnect" nozzle assembly.
  • housing that is suitable for showerhead applications, see figure 15A of the present Assignee's USPN 7,111,800.- Shown there is a housing which also has an exterior surface that has been especially configured to allow this housing to be used as part of a specialized nozzle assembly (i.e., a showerhead). It also has a cavity that is especially configured to accept a stack of fluidic oscillators in which the centerlines of the adjoining oscillators have a specified, included angle of divergence.
  • FIG. 3 of the present Assignee's USPN 5,845,845 shows a "lid" (32) for enclosing only the boundary surface of the oscillator in which the fluidic circuit is located. Note that its knobs (45, 46) are for securing the lid and are not part of the fluidic circuit.
  • FIGS. 7A - 7D of USPPN 2006-0108442 show various views of an enclosure or housing that has both a rear surface, with an opening which allows for the rear loading of a fluidic oscillator, and a front surface which has a portion that is configured so as to provide a throat for the fluid that flows from the fluidic oscillator.
  • These types of housings are notable for, among other things, being the first of their type that have an element of the fluidic circuit (e.g., a throat) fabricated into the front face of the housing.
  • FIGS. 8A- 8C of USPPN 2006-0108442 show views of the front faces of various "showerhead" enclosures that have been fabricated with many especially oriented and configured cavities in a single housing.
  • a key advantage of such enclosures is that they provide the opportunity to use various unique arrays of fluidic oscillators to create a combined spray whose droplet flow characteristics are unique in comparison to those sprays that could be produced by any other known means.
  • FIG 10 of USPPN 2006-0108442 shows the front face of a multi-cavity "showerhead" enclosure that allows for a multiple mode of spray operation.
  • the perimeter of this housing has a ring of conventional orifices that emit a conventional, non-oscillating jet spray intended primarily for rinsing purposes.
  • Within this ring there exists an octagonal array of eight fluidic-oscillator-containing passages and at the center of this face is a triangular array of three fluidic-oscillator-containing passages.
  • the enclosures for fluidic oscillators can also be of a two-part construction (i.e., using a secondary housing which is then inserted in a specified manner into a primary housing). This proves to be especially useful in those instances in which it is desired to make the enclosures such that they allow one to adjust the direction of the spray that flow from the oscillator.
  • the figures 3A-3B and 4A-4B of the present Assignee's USPPN 2006-0226266 shows such an adjustable spray nozzle with its secondary (30) and primary (50) housings.
  • fluidic oscillators have continued to be used in more types of applications, the opportunity has arisen to re-examine and improve upon the design of their housings or enclosures as a way to improve upon the overall spraying performance of the nozzle assemblies, etc. which use fluidic oscillators.
  • fluidic spray assemblies i.e., fluidic oscillators with novel enclosures
  • the present invention is generally directed to satisfying the needs set forth above and overcoming the limitations seen in the prior art devices and methods.
  • an improved fluidic oscillator of the type that operates on a pressurized liquid flowing through it to generate an oscillating spray of liquid droplets, includes a member into which is fabricated a two-portion, flow channel, with this first portion configured so as to create the flow phenomena in the member that yields the spray's oscillating nature, and wherein its second portion is configured so as to provide a plurality of throats by which the pressurized liquid exhausts into the surrounding environment.
  • the present invention takes the form of an enclosure for a fluidic oscillator and includes a body having interior and exterior surfaces, with a portion of the body's interior surface configured to attach to the oscillator's boundary surface which contains its fluidic circuitry so as to form an enclosed pathway through which the liquid may flow, and wherein a portion of the body's interior surface is configured so as to provide a plurality of throats through which the pressurized liquid may exhaust.
  • FIG. 1 A - IB show a preferred embodiment of the present invention in the form of a housing which has an especially configured front wall or face into which are molded a three-part throat followed by separate expansion passages and exits (i.e., a single upper and two lower throats, etc.) which provide multiple spray outputs from the housing's front portion or face.
  • FIG. 2 gives an indication of the nature of the sprays from the embodiment shown in FIG. 1.
  • FIGS. 3 A - 3C show a preferred embodiment of the present invention in the form of a fluidic insert which has an especially configured front wall or face into which are molded a three-part throat followed by separate expansion passages and exits (i.e., a single upper and two lower throats, etc.) which provide multiple spray outputs from the insert's front portion or face.
  • FIG. 4 shows a preferred embodiment with a dual throat that is formed by a vertical cylinder intersecting what would otherwise be a single, wide throat.
  • a common problem encountered in developing and producing fluidic oscillators or inserts for use in automotive windshield applications is designing a fluidic circuit which can give the desired spray characteristics (e.g., at flow rates of 400 ml/minute and operating pressures of 9 psig, uniform coverage with spray droplets of a target area located approximately 25 cm in front of the sprayer and having a target area width of approximately 80 cm) and which can be fitted into a housing which is very limited on its allowable size. Because such housings often are situated in locations on an automobile's hood that are quite visible, their allowable dimensions are often dictated by aesthetic considerations (e.g., typical acceptable widths are on the order of 10 - 12 mm). The consequence of this is that the spray from the windshield washers situated in such housings must have, what is referred to as, a large horizontal fan angle, ⁇ (i.e., defined by the lateral or horizontal boundaries of the region wetted by the spray).
  • ⁇ i.e., defined by the lateral or horizontal boundaries of the region wetted
  • a preferred embodiment of the present invention 2 takes the form of a housing 10 which has a front portion 12 into which has been molded one or more elements 14 of the fiuidic circuit 32 which is inscribed or molded into the fiuidic insert 30 that is inserted into the housing from an opening 18 that exists in its rear face 16.
  • FIGS. IA - IB show an embodiment in which this fiuidic circuit element is a three-part throat followed by separate expansion passages and exits (i.e., a single upper and two lower throats, etc.) which provide multiple spray outputs from the housings front portion or face.
  • An indication of the nature of the sprays from this embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 2.
  • this embodiment has an outer surface which has a portion 20 that is spherically shaped.
  • This housing is configured as such so that it can be used as the secondary housing which is inserted into the primary housing, previously referenced in figure 3A-3B of the present Assignee's USPPN 2006-0226266, so as to yield' an adjustable nozzle.
  • the slots 22 in this housing's front face are used to receive the prong/s of a tool that is used to adjust the orientation angle and direction of the sprays that flow from the housing.
  • a second preferred embodiment of the present invention is the fiuidic insert or oscillator 4 shown in FIG. 3 and which is seen to be an improvement of the generalized "front loaded" fluidic insert that was previously referenced as being shown in figure 1 of the present Assignee's USPN 7,014,131.
  • FIG. 3 shows as a rectangular member 40 that is molded or fabricated from plastic and has an especially-designed liquid flow channel or fluidic circuit 42 fabricated into, in this instance, a first portion of its broader top surface 44 (i.e., it could have been its bottom or side or some combination of these) and into which liquid flows from an inlet 48 in the insert's floor 46.
  • This fluidic insert is of the type that is to be inserted into the cavity of a housing whose inner walls are configured to form a liquid-tight seal around the sidewalls of the insert.
  • This insert is seen to have a second portion with a novel front wall 50 into which are molded multiple throats: two lower throats 52 A, 52B with their adjoining, downstream expansion passages 54A, 54B and a single upper throat 52C and its downstream expansion passage 54C. Pressurized liquid enters this insert and oscillating liquid sprays issue from each of its three throats.
  • the upstream elements of the fluidic circuit shown in FIG. 3 are two especially configured and cooperating power nozzles 56A, 56B that direct flow into an especially configured interaction chamber 58.
  • other fluidic circuits have been found to be equally satisfactory at yielding separate oscillating sprays from multiple throats that have been placed in a front wall that forms the downstream boundary for the oscillator's interaction chamber.
  • These other fluidic circuits are, by previous references, considered to come within the scope of the disclosure of the present invention.
  • FIG. 4 A third preferred embodiment of the present invention that is similar to that shown in FIG. 3 is shown in FIG. 4. It is a generalized "front loaded" fluidic insert with fluidic circuit 42 fabricated into its broader top surface 44. Its front end has a dual throat 52 that is formed with a vertical cylinder 60 that intersects what would otherwise be a single wider throat.
  • An advantage of the present invention is that it allows for the use of a larger dimensioned insert or oscillator (e.g., such as would be used in a single spray application) to distribute fluid like the smaller oscillators used in the double insert housings that were previously referenced in USPN 6,062,491.
  • the larger dimensioned inserts of the present invention offer significantly improved spray patterns.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Water Supply & Treatment (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Nozzles (AREA)

Abstract

La présente invention concerne un oscillateur fluidique amélioré qui fonctionne à partir d'un liquide sous pression qui circule à travers l'oscillateur pour produire un jet de liquide qui circule dans l'environnement ambiant pour former une pulvérisation oscillante de gouttelettes de liquide, l'oscillateur comprenant : un élément dans lequel est réalisé un canal en deux parties dont la première partie est conçue pour créer le phénomène de circulation dans l'élément qui permet d'obtenir la nature oscillante de la pulvérisation, et dont la seconde partie est conçue pour fournir une pluralité de gorges par lesquelles le liquide sous pression sort pour atteindre l'environnement ambiant.
PCT/US2007/012397 2006-05-24 2007-05-24 Oscillateur fluidique WO2007139891A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US80817306P 2006-05-24 2006-05-24
US60/808,173 2006-05-24

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2007139891A1 true WO2007139891A1 (fr) 2007-12-06

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Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/US2007/012397 WO2007139891A1 (fr) 2006-05-24 2007-05-24 Oscillateur fluidique

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Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2009049759A1 (fr) * 2007-10-17 2009-04-23 A. Raymond Et Cie Dispositif pour mouiller une vitre
CN108431430A (zh) * 2015-11-18 2018-08-21 福迪斯流体动力有限公司 流体构件

Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO1996032200A1 (fr) * 1995-04-12 1996-10-17 Bowles Fluidics Corporation Clapet integre
US20030234303A1 (en) * 2002-06-20 2003-12-25 Bowles Fluidics Corporation Multiple spray devices for automotive and other applications
US20040251315A1 (en) * 2002-08-22 2004-12-16 Akira Maruyama Washer nozzle and washer apparatus
US6976507B1 (en) * 2005-02-08 2005-12-20 Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. Apparatus for creating pulsating fluid flow
EP1629896A1 (fr) * 2004-08-26 2006-03-01 Nippon Vinylon Co., Ltd. Dispositif d'une buse de lavage avec réglage d'angle variable, destiné à former un fluide oscillant

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO1996032200A1 (fr) * 1995-04-12 1996-10-17 Bowles Fluidics Corporation Clapet integre
US20030234303A1 (en) * 2002-06-20 2003-12-25 Bowles Fluidics Corporation Multiple spray devices for automotive and other applications
US20040251315A1 (en) * 2002-08-22 2004-12-16 Akira Maruyama Washer nozzle and washer apparatus
EP1629896A1 (fr) * 2004-08-26 2006-03-01 Nippon Vinylon Co., Ltd. Dispositif d'une buse de lavage avec réglage d'angle variable, destiné à former un fluide oscillant
US6976507B1 (en) * 2005-02-08 2005-12-20 Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. Apparatus for creating pulsating fluid flow

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2009049759A1 (fr) * 2007-10-17 2009-04-23 A. Raymond Et Cie Dispositif pour mouiller une vitre
CN108431430A (zh) * 2015-11-18 2018-08-21 福迪斯流体动力有限公司 流体构件
US11471898B2 (en) 2015-11-18 2022-10-18 Fdx Fluid Dynamix Gmbh Fluidic component
CN108431430B (zh) * 2015-11-18 2023-03-14 福迪斯流体动力有限公司 流体构件

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