Cup-shaped fluidic circuit, nozzle assembly and method
View Patent ↗A conformal, cup-shaped fluidic nozzle engineered to generate an oscillating spray is configured as a (e.g., 100, 400, 600 or 700 ). Preferably, the fluidic circuit's oscillation inducing geometry 710 is molded directly into the cup's interior wall surfaces and the one-piece fluidic cup may then fitted into an actuator (e.g., 340 ). The fluidic cup (e.g., 100, 400, 600 or 700 ) conforms to the actuator stem used in typical aerosol sprayers and trigger sprayers and so replaces the prior art “swirl cup” 70 that goes over the actuator stem (e.g., 320 ), With the fluidic cup (e.g., 100, 400, 600 or 700 ) and method of the present invention, vendors of liquid products and fluids sold in commercial aerosol sprayers 20 and trigger sprayers 800 can now provide very specifically tailored or customized sprays.
1. A nozzle assembly or spray head including a lumen or duct for dispensing or spraying a pumped or pressurized liquid product or fluid from a valve, pump or actuator assembly drawing from a transportable container to generate an exhaust flow in the form of an oscillating spray of fluid droplets, comprising;
(a) an actuator body having a distally projecting sealing post having a post peripheral wall terminating at a distal or outer face, said actuator body including a fluid passage communicating with said lumen;
(b) a cup-shaped fluidic circuit mounted in said actuator body member having a peripheral wall extending proximally into a bore in said actuator body radially outwardly of said sealing post and having a distal radial wall comprising an inner face opposing said sealing post's distal or outer face to define a fluid channel including a chamber having an interaction region between said body's sealing post and said cup-shaped fluidic circuit's peripheral wall and distal wall;
(c) said chamber being in fluid communication with said actuator body's fluid passage to define a fluidic circuit oscillator inlet so said pressurized fluid may enter said fluid channel's chamber and interaction region;
(d) said cup-shaped fluidic circuit distal wall's inner face being configured to define within said chamber a first power nozzle and second power nozzle, wherein said first power nozzle is configured to accelerate the movement of passing pressurized fluid flowing through said first nozzle to form a first jet of fluid flowing into said chamber's interaction region, and said second power nozzle is configured to accelerate the movement of passing pressurized fluid flowing through said second nozzle to form a second jet of fluid flowing into said chamber's interaction region, and wherein said first and second jets impinge upon one another at a selected inter-jet impingement angle and generate oscillating flow vortices within said fluid channel's interaction region;
(e) wherein said chamber's interaction region is in fluid communication with a discharge orifice or power nozzle defined in said fluidic circuit's distal wall, and said oscillating flow vortices exhaust from said discharge orifice as an oscillating spray of substantially uniform fluid droplets in a selected spray pattern having a selected spray width and a selected spray thickness.
2. The nozzle assembly of claim 1 , wherein said first and second power nozzles comprise venturi-shaped or tapered channels or grooves in said cup-shaped fluidic circuit distal wall's inner face.
3. The nozzle assembly of claim 2 , wherein said first and second power nozzles terminate in a rectangular or box-shaped interaction region defined in said cup-shaped fluidic circuit distal wall's inner face.
4. The nozzle assembly of claim 2 , wherein said first and second power nozzles terminate in a cylindrical interaction region defined in said cup-shaped fluidic circuit distal wall's inner face.
5. The nozzle assembly of claim 1 , wherein said selected inter-jet impingement angle is 180 degrees and said oscillating flow vortices are generated within said fluid channel's interaction region by opposing jets.
6. The nozzle assembly of claim 1 , wherein said cup-shaped fluidic circuit's power nozzles, interaction region and throat are molded directly into said cup's interior wall segments and the cup-shaped fluidic circuit is thus configured to be economically fitted onto the sealing post.
7. The nozzle assembly of claim 1 , wherein said sealing post's distal or outer face has a substantially flat and fluid impermeable outer surface in flat face sealing engagement with the cup-shaped fluidic circuit distal wall's inner face.
8. The nozzle assembly of claim 7 , wherein said distally projecting sealing post's peripheral wall and said cup-shaped fluidic circuit's peripheral wall are spaced axially to define said fluid channel and generally parallel with each other.
9. The nozzle assembly of claim 1 , wherein said nozzle assembly is configured with a hand operated pump in a trigger sprayer configuration.
10. The nozzle assembly of claim 1 , wherein said nozzle assembly is configured with propellant pressurized aerosol container with a valve actuator.