Ultrasonic wave nebulizer

• US 3,901,443 A
• Filed: 01/07/1974
• Issued: 08/26/1975
• Est. Priority Date: 02/06/1973
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: TDK Corporation
• Original Assignee: Minoru Takahashi, Sadao Mitsui
• Inventors: Mitsui, Sadao, Takahashi, Minoru
• Primary Examiner(s): King, Lloyd L.
• Application Number:
  US05/431,202
• Time in Patent Office: 596 Days
• Field of Search: 239/101,102,338
• US Class Current: 239/102.2
• CPC Class Codes: B05B 17/0615 spray being produced at the free surface of the liquid or other fluent material in a container and subjected to the vibrations
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 261/48 Sonic vibrators
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 261/65 Vaporizers

Abstract

An ultrasonic wave nebulizer according to the present invention comprises a nebulizing chamber containing a liquid to be nebulized and capable of adjusting the surface level of said liquid to a predetermined value, a chamber base disposed at the bottom portion of said nebulizing chamber, a piezo-electric transducer mounted on said chamber base in such a manner that its vibration surface has an inclination of 2*-22* with respect to said surface level of said liquid, a pair of transistors for ultrasonically oscillating the transducer and directly mounted on said chamber base, a conical horn having a predetermined reflection surface and being located on the upper portion of said piezo-electric transducer which makes contact with the bottom portion of said liquid, an exhaust cylinder or duct for exhausting fog composed of minute liquid particles and formed in said nebulizing chamber, and an air supply inlet for guiding or flowing said fog to the generating direction of said fog whereby the effective nebulized amount of said liquid per unit input electric power can be increased, so that a high nebulizing efficiency can be provided.

Claims

1. An ultrasonic wave nebulizer comprising a nebulizing chamber filled with a predetermined amount of liquid, a chamber base formed at the bottom portion of said nebulizing chamber, a piezoelectric transducer inserted into and secured to said chamber base so that the vibration surface of said piezo-electric transducer has an inclination of 2* - 22* with respect to the surface of said liquid in said nebulizing chamber, an electric circuit means for electrically oscillating said transducer with a natural frequency thereof, an exhaust duct for expelling fog composed of minute liquid particles and formed above said vibration surface of said transducer to the exterior, and an air supply inlet for supplying an air flow to said fog thereby forcibly expelling said fog through said exhaust cylinder.

2. A nebulizer as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a conical horn having a predetermined reflection surface provided on the upper portion of said transducer contacting said liquid to be nebulized.

3. A nebulizer as claimed in claim 1, further comprising transistors for ultrasonically driving said transducer directly attached to said chamber base and cooled by said water used for producing said fogs via said chamber base.

4. A nebulizer as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a means for maintaining the surface level of said liquid in said nebulizing chamber at a constant value.

5. A nebulizer as claimed in claim 4, further comprising a liquid tank, and means for maintaining the liquid surface level of said liquid tank equal to the surface level of said liquid in said nebulizing chamber.

6. A nebulizer as claimed in claim 5, wherein said liquid tank is disposed in such a manner that said liquid surface level of said liquid tank is lower than said surface level of said liquid in said nebulizing chamber, said liquid is supplied from said liquid tank into said nebulizing chamber by means of a pump and any excess amount of said supplied liquid is returned back into said liquid tank via an overflow portion connected to said nebulizing chamber.

7. A nebulizer as claimed in claim 4, further comprising a pair of first and second electrodes respectively contained in said nebulizing chamber and situated with a vertical space within a range of variations of said surface level of said liquid in said chamber, said electrodes and the bottom portion of said chamber are respectively connected to an AC source and an AC voltage is applied therebetween, a pair of first and second lamps respectively operate after detecting changes in potentials caused by variations of said liquid surface level beyond said positions of said electrodes, and a pair of first and second photoelectric circuits being actuated by the lights radiated from said lamps, respectively, so that said liquid surface level in said nebulizing chamber can be detected.

8. A nebulizer as claimed in claim 1, wherein said air supply inlet points in the direction of said rising column of fog said fog assuming the shape of a water column formed on said liquid surface in said nebulizing chamber, whereby said fog is sent to the exterior along the direction of said air flow.