Fluid application method and apparatus
First Claim
1. A method for applying a fluid in droplet form to a substrate, said method comprising:
- feeding the fluid to a nozzle such that said fluid issues from said nozzle as a single substantially coherent jet following a single flight path directed toward a catching means by which the fluid is caught and prevented from being applied to the substrate;
applying a sufficiently large electrical charge to said single jet of fluid by means of a charge electrode so as to form a plurality of mutually repellant charge fluid droplets having flight paths which diverge from one another to form a generally conical spray of charged fluid droplets; and
causing relative movement between said catching means and said conical spray of charged droplets, thereby to prevent said charged droplets from being caught by said catching means and allowing said charged droplets to reach said substrate, when it is desired to deposit fluid on said substrate.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Fluid is applied in droplet form to a substrate by feeding the fluid to a nozzle so that the fluid issues from the nozzle as a single substantially coherent jet following a single jet flight path, causing the jet to break up into a series of substantially uniformly sized droplets, and applying a sufficiently large electrical charge to the fluid by means of a charge electrode so as to form mutually repellant droplets having flight paths which diverge from one another. The single jet path is directed into a catching device by which the fluid is caught and prevented from being applied to the substrate. The jet of fluid is broken up into a stream of substantially uniformly spaced droplets and the divergent stream of droplets is directed away from the catching device and allowed to reach the substrate so as to deposit fluid on the substrate.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. A method for applying a fluid in droplet form to a substrate, said method comprising:
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feeding the fluid to a nozzle such that said fluid issues from said nozzle as a single substantially coherent jet following a single flight path directed toward a catching means by which the fluid is caught and prevented from being applied to the substrate; applying a sufficiently large electrical charge to said single jet of fluid by means of a charge electrode so as to form a plurality of mutually repellant charge fluid droplets having flight paths which diverge from one another to form a generally conical spray of charged fluid droplets; and causing relative movement between said catching means and said conical spray of charged droplets, thereby to prevent said charged droplets from being caught by said catching means and allowing said charged droplets to reach said substrate, when it is desired to deposit fluid on said substrate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An apparatus for applying a fluid in droplet form to a substrate, said apparatus comprising:
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a source of fluid under pressure; a nozzle in fluid communication with said fluid source for discharging said fluid as a single substantially coherent stream following a single flight path; means, located along said flight path, for catching said fluid and thereby for preventing said fluid from being applied to a substrate; means for applying a sufficiently large electrical charge to said single jet of fluid so as to form a plurality of mutually repellant charged fluid droplets having flight paths which diverge from one another to form a generally conical spray of charged fluid droplets; and means for causing relative movement between said catching means and said conical spray of charged droplets, thereby to prevent said charged droplets from being caught by said catching means and allowing said charged droplets to reach the substrate, when it is desired to deposit fluid on the substrate. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification