Fractionated liquid jet

• US 3,870,039 A
• Filed: 01/18/1973
• Issued: 03/11/1975
• Est. Priority Date: 01/18/1973
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Michel Antoine Cesar Moret, Pierre Jean Jousson
• Original Assignee: Michel Antoine Cesar Moret, Pierre Jean Jousson
• Inventors: Moret, Michel Antoine Cesar, Jousson, Pierre Jean
• Primary Examiner(s): Trapp, Lawrence W.
• Application Number:
  US05/324,667
• Time in Patent Office: 782 Days
• Field of Search: 128/66,24A,62A
• US Class Current: 601/162
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 17/028 with intermittent liquid flow
• CPC Class Codes: B05B 1/08 of pulsating nature, e.g. delivering liquid in successive separate quantities ; Fluidic oscillators

Abstract

A method and apparatus for fractionating liquid jets into a plurality of unitary, discrete liquid droplets for successively impacting a selected area, for example in the oral cavity, for stimulating the gum tissues and for cleaning the teeth and interdental spaces. Such a system for the practice of body care, for example, oral hygiene, generally comprises a reservoir for the liquid to be fractionated, a nozzle member for directing the fractionated jet against the area to be stimulated and cleaned, a pump for supplying the liquid under pressure from the reservoir to the nozzle member, and a suitable conduit for transferring the liquid from the reservoir to the pump and from the pump to the nozzle member. In a first embodiment, means are provided for producing vibrations and transferring the vibrations to the nozzle member to cause the liquid jet to divide into a plurality of unitary, discrete liquid droplets after exiting from the nozzle member. The parameters for the production of such liquid droplets are disclosed and include the ejection velocity of the jet, the fluid flow velocity through the nozzle, the nozzle opening diameter, the frequency of pulsation, the diameter of the formed droplets, and the distance from the tip at which the liquid droplets are completely formed and separated. The effect of the rugosity of the nozzle, the surface tension of the fluid, and the efficiency of the system are also disclosed. In a second embodiment, the physical construction of the nozzle effectively fractionates the jet and comprises an obturating member disposed in the free end of the nozzle member which includes a plurality of passages located therethrough. The cross-sectional area of each of the passages is much smaller than the adjacent liquid conduit of the nozzle member.

Claims

1. An apparatus for body care comprising means for storing a liquid, nozzle means for projecting the liquid at an ejection velocity within a predetermined range to a selected area, said nozzle means including a nozzle having an opening having a diameter in the range of about 0.2 to about 1.1 mm, means for supplying the liquid under pressure from said storing means to said nozzle means, and means for fractionating the liquid at a frequency in the range of about 200 to about 5,000 cps into a plurality of unitary, discrete liquid droplets for successively impacting said selected area with said plurality of unitary, discrete liquid droplets, wherein said droplets are further characterized in that each of said droplets successively percusses said selected area at an impact rate substantially equal to the number of droplets produced by said fractionating means per unit of time, said droplets having a diameter when formed which is larger than the diameter of the opening in the nozzle.

2. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said nozzle means projects said liquid at an ejection velocity in the range of about 2 to about 7 m/sec.

3. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein the number of droplets produced by said nozzle means is equal to the fractionating frequency.

4. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said fractionating means comprises means for transmitting said vibraTions to said liquid within said nozzle means whereby the liquid divides into said plurality of unitary, discrete liquid droplets after exit from said nozzle means.

5. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said fractionating means for producing said unitary, discrete liquid droplets is included in a portion of said nozzle means.

6. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said nozzle defines a passage for the conduction of said liquid therethrough, one end of said passage being connected to said supplying means for receiving said liquid under pressure and further including means disposed in said other end of said passage for fractionating said liquid into a plurality of unitary, discrete liquid droplets.

7. The apparatus as defined in claim 6 wherein said fractionating means includes an obturating member for fractionating said liquid into said plurality of unitary, discrete liquid droplets, said obturating member defining at least one passage therethrough, the cross-sectional area of said passage in said obturating member being small compared to the cross-sectional area of said passage in said nozzle member.

8. The apparatus as set forth in claim 7 wherein the diameter of said passage in said obturating member is on the order of about 0.2 to about 0.5 mm and the diameter of said passage in said nozzle member is on the order of about 1.5 to about 2.0 mm.

9. The apparatus as defined in claim 8 wherein said obturating member defines a plurality of passages therethrough, the cross-sectional area of each of said passages being small compared to the cross-sectional area of said passage in said nozzle member.

10. The apparatus as set forth in claim 9 wherein the diameter of each of said passages in said obturating member is on the order of about 0.2 to about 0.5 mm and the diameter of said passage in said nozzle member is on the order of about 1.5 to about 2.0 mm.

11. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said droplets ultimately assume an approximately spherical shape after exit from said nozzle within a distance of about 3 to about 90 times the nozzle opening diameter.

12. The apparatus as set forth in claim 11 wherein each of the spherical droplets has substantially the same diameter.

13. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said nozzle means projects said liquid at an ejection velocity in the range of about 2 to about 7 m/s and having a practical minimum governed by the formula:

v 2.5f phi j where v velocity f frequency of vibration phi j diameter of liquid jet

14. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein the velocity of said liquid through said nozzle has a Reynolds number less than about 2.500.

15. In a system for the practice of oral hygiene which is capable of cleaning the teeth and interdental spaces and stimulating the gum tissues of the type which comprises means for storing a liquid to be projected into the oral cavity of the user;

nozzle means, including a nozzle having an opening having a diameter in the range of about 0.2 to about 1.1 mm, for projecting said liquid at an ejection velocity within a predetermined range into said oral cavity; and

means for providing said liquid under pressure from said storing means to said nozzle means, the improvement comrpising;

means for fractionating the projected liquid at a frequency in the range of about 200 to about 5,000 cps into a plurality of unitary, discrete liquid droplets for successively impacting a selected area within said oral cavity with said plurality of unitary, discrete liquid droplets, wherein said droplets are characterized as substantially entirely composed of said fluid and substantially free from voids within each of said droplets, and wherein said droplets in said plurality of said droplets are further characterized in that each of said droplets successively perCusses said selected area at an impact rate substantially equal to the number of droplets produced by said fractionating means per unit of time, said droplets having a diameter when formed which is larger than the diameter of the opening in the nozzle.

16. The apparatus as set forth in claim 15 wherein said nozzle means projects said liquid at an ejection velocity in the range of about 2 to about 7 m/sec.

17. The apparatus as set forth in claim 15 wherein the number of droplets produced by said nozzle means is equal to the fractionating frequency.

18. A method for the practice of body hygiene comprising the steps of:

providing a source of liquid under pressure to be projected at an ejection velocity within a predetermined range from an opening in a nozzle having a diameter in the range of about 0.2 to about 1.1 mm against a selected area of the body of the user, fractionating said liquid at a frequency in the range of about 200 to about 5,000 cps into a plurality of unitary, discrete liquid droplets having a diameter when formed, which is larger than the diameter of the opening in the nozzle, for successively impacting said selected area with said plurality of unitary, discrete liquid droplets, wherein said droplets are characterized as substantially entirely composed of said fluid and substantially free from voids within each of said droplets, and wherein said droplets in said plurality of droplets are further characterized in that each of said droplets successively percusses said selected area at an impact rate substantially equal to the number of droplets produced by the step of fractionating per unit of time, and projecting the fractionated liquid against said selected area.

19. The method as defined in claim 18 wherein said body hygiene is oral hygiene and said selected area is an area within the oral cavity of the user.

20. The method as set forth in claim 18 wherein the step of projecting is further defined as projecting the fractionated liquid at an ejection velocity in the range of about 2 to about 7 m/sec.

21. The method as set forth in claim 18 wherein the step of fractionating is further characterized in that the nuber of droplets produced by said nozzle is equal to the fractionating frequency.

22. The method as set forth in claim 18 wherein the step of fractionating includes the steps of generating vibrations in said frequency range and transmitting said vibrations to said liquid within said nozzle means whereby the liquid divides into a plurality of unitary, discrete liquid droplets after exit from said nozzle.

23. The method as defined in claim 18 wherein the step of fractionating is further defined by the step of causing said liquid to flow from a passage having a first cross-section to a passage having a second cross-section which is small compared to said first cross-section.

24. The method as set forth in claim 18 wherein the step of projecting includes the step of projecting said liquid by an ejection velocity in the range of about 2 to about 7 m/s and having a practical minimum governed by the formula:

v 2.5f phi j where v velocity f frequency phi j diameter of liquid jet