Fluid sprinkling – spraying – and diffusing – Processes – Including dissolving or entraining in liquid stream
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-26
2001-03-27
Weiss, John G. (Department: 3761)
Fluid sprinkling, spraying, and diffusing
Processes
Including dissolving or entraining in liquid stream
C239S008000, C604S290000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06206297
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Eye drops are a well know method of administering a sterile liquid to the eye. And also well known is the conventional solid drop. Typically, a flexible plastic bottle having a dispensing tip in used to form and dispense a solid drop of liquid upon an eye. A common use of these eye drops is for redness relief or lubrication. It is also well known, solid drops are very uncomfortable to administer. The initial impact of the drop on the eye may be considered slightly painful. This is partially due to the fact that a particular mass of liquid is configured such that, a very small surface area of the drop initially contacts the eye. Said small surface area may be approximately 0.2 square millimeters. After the initial contact with the eye, this surface area increases slightly. However this increased surface area is relatively small.
Therefore an innovative configuration has been developed. The same commercially available liquid described above, may be capable of forming a discrete cluster of contiguous bubbles, which has been given a title “Liquid/gas drop (Lg drop)”. A gasdrop may be comprised of a similar quantity of liquid to that of a solid drop. Therefor by having a similar total mass, and distributing that mass over a greater surface area, the force per square unit of area has been greatly reduced. By significantly reducing this force, the application of the gasdrop will feel gentle as compared to the solid drop.
It is also known that upon application of a solid drop, liquid will spread to undesired portions of the face. This creates a problem for persons wearing facial make-up, and is also a substantial waste of liquid.
Therefore the gasdrop will be greatly appreciated for the improvement of retaining a substantial quantity of the liquid on the surface of the eye. The structure of the gasdrop contributes to a relatively slow application of liquid to the eye. Thereby also contributing to the feeling of a gentle application.
A liquid depleted eye drop bottle, designed to dispense a solid drop, may dispense a small cluster of bubbles. When said bottle is considered empty, a small quantity of liquid remains in the bottle. Use of this liquid depleted bottle may simultaneously inject air and liquid into the flow channel, creating a stream of bubbles. Due to the fact that the ratio of air to liquid is not controllable, a cluster dispensed by this method, will likely be comprised of greatly inconsistent size bubbles. It is obvious this method is unreliable. Therefore this non-uniform cluster is not necessarily a gasdrop as it is unpredictable, and comprised of inconsistent size bubbles. The gasdrop reliably and consistently has a predetermined overall size comprised of bubbles having a similar size.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention, is related to the field of eye drops. The gasdrop is comprised of a small cluster of contiguous bubbles. Whereas said cluster is formed of one thin continuous liquid wall. And numerous constituent bubbles have a similar size.
It is well known, there are numerous methods of forming bubbles. However these methods do not form a cluster comprised of similar size constituent bubbles. Wherein the present invention provides a reliable method to form a consistent size gasdrop. The gasdrop is formed by simultaneously injecting a selected gas and a selected liquid, into a substantially enclosed space having an outlet. This induces a stream of contiguous bubbles to flow from said space, thereof becoming inherently attached to an exterior surface. This attachment induces an accumulation to form. And subsequently, upon obtaining a particular total mass, the accumulation will fall from said exterior surface.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1900201 (1933-03-01), Sager
patent: 4722459 (1988-02-01), Goncalves
patent: 5163929 (1992-11-01), Py
patent: 5358477 (1994-10-01), Stroket
patent: 5865790 (1999-02-01), Bair
patent: 5881956 (1999-03-01), Cohen et al.
patent: 5893515 (1999-04-01), Hahn et al.
patent: 5997518 (1999-12-01), Laibovitz et al.
Cho David J.
Weiss John G.
LandOfFree
Apparatus and method for manufacturing a gasdrop does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Apparatus and method for manufacturing a gasdrop, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Apparatus and method for manufacturing a gasdrop will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2515746