Dispensing – With discharge assistant – Fluid pressure
Patent
1989-10-02
1991-08-27
Huppert, Michael S.
Dispensing
With discharge assistant
Fluid pressure
222501, 239117, 13750513, B65D 8300
Patent
active
050426974
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
There is now a well-established wish for aerosol dispenser packages which use compressed rather than liquified gas propellants. A fundamental need in satisfying this wish is the provision of a regulator whereby the product to be dispensed is propelled from the package at a generally constant flow rate. In the absence of such regulation the dispensed flow rate will initially be too great and progressively reduce with the propellant pressure as the package empties. This is not compatible with the maintenance of a generally consistent spray and other discharge characteristics which are required for most products.
Various forms of regulators have been proposed whereby, as the gas pressure reduces, the product metering orifice is effectively progressively increased in size in order to maintain the flow rate. However, none of these proposals has proved practicable in large scale manufacture.
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved such form of regulator and, to this end, there is provided a pressure regulator comprising: a chamber forming a successive pair of compartments at respectively opposite ends thereof, one of said compartments partly defining a restricted elongate passageway leading to an outlet opening from said chamber, and the other of said compartments having an inlet opening into said chamber; a diaphragm closing said other compartment remotely from said one compartment; a spring operable to urge said diaphragm to move into said other compartment towards said outlet opening; and a piston connected with said diaphragm for movement therewith and located in said one compartment to define therewith said passageway, said one compartment and piston cooperating progressively to increase the effective size of said passageway as said diaphragm moves towards said outlet opening.
In use of the present regulator pressurised product enters the chamber by way of the inlet opening and other compartment in a relatively unrestricted manner and so acts on the inner face of the diaphragm and the opposed inner face of the piston without any pressure reduction of significance. Product leaves the chamber by way of the one compartment and outlet opening and so additionally acts on the outer face of the piston, but at a pressure dependent on the action of the restricted passageway through the one compartment. At the same time, the spring acts on the outer face of the diaphragm.
Generally speaking the sum of these actions is that of a balanced piston assembly because the diaphragm can be equated with a further piston of predetermined diameter. The use of a diphragm rather than a further piston is, however, beneficial in facilitating closure of the chamber without the need for O-rings or equivalent sliding seal members.
Ideally the diaphragm equates with a piston diameter which equals that effective for the inner face of the first-mentioned piston. In these circumstances the spring force will act to move the first piston until the effective size of the restricted passageway produces a pressure which acts on the outer face of the piston to balance such force. In the result the regulator operates to control the product output pressure in dependence upon the spring force and this force can be maintained substantially constant.
In practice the provision of a diaphragm which equates with a piston diameter which is sufficiently constant over a range of operating pressures, and resultant diaphragm deflections, may not be a straightforward matter. Accordingly the diaphragm suitably approximates the relevant diameter.
It will be appreciated that the spring is located outside the chamber effectively to act on the outer face of the diaphragm and also that this last-mentioned face is not to be subjected directly to product pressure. For these purposes the spring is preferably sited in a tubular member having one longitudinal end open, and the diaphragm is formed across one end of a sleeve of similar tubular form for sealed mounting over the member one end, pressure within the chamber other compartment acting on the
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Huppert Michael S.
Huson Gregory L.
National Research Development Corporation
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