Pulsed aerosol generation
First Claim
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1. An air freshener for generation of aerosolized liquid fragrance material comprising:
- a capillary passage having an inlet and an outlet;
a liquid supply operable to supply liquid fragrance material to the inlet of the capillary passage only via capillary action; and
a power supply adapted to apply voltage across a heater arranged along the capillary passage to heat liquid fragrance material in the capillary passage to a temperature sufficient to at least partially volatilize liquid fragrance material in the capillary passage such that the liquid fragrance material is driven out of the outlet of the capillary passage and forms aerosolized liquid fragrance material.
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Abstract
An aerosol generator periodically forms aerosolized fragrance material by repeatedly supplying a liquid fragrance material to a capillary passage via only capillary action and heating the capillary passage, such that the liquid fragrance material at least partially volatilizes and is driven out of an outlet of the capillary passage. A wick feeds the liquid fragrance material to an inlet of the capillary passage by capillary action. An apparatus and method for generating such an aerosolized fragrance material, as well as the methods of heating, are disclosed.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. An air freshener for generation of aerosolized liquid fragrance material comprising:
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a capillary passage having an inlet and an outlet; a liquid supply operable to supply liquid fragrance material to the inlet of the capillary passage only via capillary action; and a power supply adapted to apply voltage across a heater arranged along the capillary passage to heat liquid fragrance material in the capillary passage to a temperature sufficient to at least partially volatilize liquid fragrance material in the capillary passage such that the liquid fragrance material is driven out of the outlet of the capillary passage and forms aerosolized liquid fragrance material. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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12. A method for pulsed generation of aerosolized fragrance material comprising:
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drawing liquid fragrance material into a capillary passage having an inlet and an outlet only via capillary action; and periodically applying voltage across a heater arranged along the capillary passage to heat liquid fragrance material in the capillary passage to a temperature sufficient to at least partially volatilize the liquid fragrance material such that the fragrance material is driven out of the outlet of the capillary passage and forms aerosolized fragrance material. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
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21. A method of producing an aerosol of liquid, comprising:
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disposing a liquid along a zone of a capillary passage by drawing a liquid via capillary action from a liquid supply into said zone; repetitively applying heat according to a power cycle along at least a portion of said zone, the heat of each power cycle being sufficient to volatilize substantially all said disposed liquid along said zone so that during said power cycle, said drawing of liquid via capillary action is interrupted and that at conclusion of each power cycle, said disposed liquid along said zone is evacuated from said heated zone; and spacing said power cycles sufficiently apart in time for said drawing liquid via capillary action to resume and refill said zone between power cycles. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. An aerosol generator to generate an aerosolized liquid material comprising:
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a capillary passage having an inlet, an outlet and a zone along the capillary passage between the inlet and outlet, the zone operable to be heated; a liquid supply to supply a liquid material to the inlet of the capillary passage to be drawn into the zone of the capillary passage via capillary action; and a power supply operable to repetitively apply heat according to a power cycle along at least a portion of the zone of the capillary passage to volatilize the liquid material disposed in the heated zone so that during the power cycle, the drawing of liquid via capillary action is interrupted and that at conclusion of each power cycle, the disposed liquid along the zone is evacuated from the heated zone, the power cycles sufficiently spaced apart in time for drawing liquid via capillary action to resume and refill the zone between power cycles.
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Specification