Fluid sprinkling – spraying – and diffusing – With means to vibrate or jiggle discharge – By electric transducer
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-23
2001-05-01
Morris, Lesley D. (Department: 3752)
Fluid sprinkling, spraying, and diffusing
With means to vibrate or jiggle discharge
By electric transducer
C239S004000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06223996
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to a liquid injection device which, in detail, propagates ultrasonic waves in a liquid and, through that energy, injects the liquid.
BACKGROUND ART
The technology to introduce ultrasonic energy in a liquid to accelerate the liquid flow is applied to humidifiers and washers. This takes place through putting the liquid in contact with ultrasonic vibrators and propagating ultrasonic waves in the liquid.
For example, a liquid injection washer is used for cleaning of electronic components, precision machinery, etc. As shown in
FIG. 2
, the washer is equipped with nozzle
1
which is fixed to face gravitationally downwards, vibrator
2
which is installed on the block section which faces injection orifice
11
of the nozzle
1
, and supply pipe
3
which is connected to side of the nozzle
1
to supply liquid detergent. The vibrator
2
excites the liquid detergent, which is supplied through the supply pipe
3
into the nozzle
1
, so as to give the liquid an extra acceleration in addition to the acceleration provided by gravity, thus resulting in the liquid injecting itself onto a physical object. Accordingly, for washers, in order to have the ultrasonic waves operate effectively in the liquid and manifest its cleaning capacity fully, liquid contact plane
2
a
of the vibrator
2
must continually be in contact with the liquid at the time of excitation. If the vibrator is excited when the liquid contact plane
2
a
is not in contact with the liquid, not only the cleaning capacity will be inadequate but also the vibrator will vibrate excessively and reduce its life-span. If the excessive vibration continues, the vibrator will break down.
However, in actuality, air which remains in the nozzle
1
or the supply pipe
3
or an air bubble which is formed within liquid, even if the liquid is supplied adequately, is not perfectly expelled from the injection orifice
11
and remains on the liquid contact plane. Normally, because the nozzle
1
is used with the injection orifice
11
facing downwards and because the vibrator
2
is in a higher position than the injection orifice
11
and supply pipe connection orifice
10
, if an air bubble remains within the nozzle
1
, the air bubble cannot escape and is in continuous contact with the liquid contact plane.
For conventional liquid injection washers, to prevent the improper operation of the vibrator
2
, it was necessary to stop the excitation of the vibrator
2
and turn the injection orifice
11
upwards to expel the air bubble. In this case, because expelling the air bubble after it had built up into a large quantity would be too late to prevent excessive vibration, it is necessary to expel the air bubble little by little when only small volume has formed.
However, it is difficult to detect a small quantity of air bubble and, if the excitation of the vibrator is regularly and frequently stopped to expel the air bubble, its injection efficiency is poor. Furthermore, depending on the cleaning method, there are occasions when the mixing of chemicals such as hydrofluoric acid and ammonia is required but, because an air bubble forms easily at the time of mixing the chemicals, it was not possible with conventional liquid injection washers to use with chemicals.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
For that reason, an object of this invention is to provide a liquid injection device that has an excellent durability. Another object of this invention is to provide a liquid injection device where it is difficult for an air bubble to develop. Still another object of this invention is a liquid injection device where, even in the unlikely event that an air bubble develops, it is possible to expel the bubble without stopping the operation of the device.
The liquid injection device according to this invention comprises a nozzle and a vibrator. The nozzle has an injection orifice, a connection orifice opened on the side of the nozzle in order to connect with the supply pipe which supplies the liquid, and a discharge outlet for the discharge of excess liquid in the side facing the connection orifice. The vibrator is installed on the block section which faces the injection orifice, for the propagation of the ultrasonic waves in the supplied liquid.
The above objects and novel features of the invention will more fully appear from the following detailed description and the preferred embodiment when the same are read in connection with the accompanying drawing. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawing is for purpose of illustration only and is not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Through the provision of the above-mentioned special feature, of liquid supplied by the supply pipe, the bulk of the liquid necessary for the injection is injected from the injection orifice and the remaining portion is discharged from the discharge outlet. An air bubble in the nozzle is pushed out the discharge outlet by the drained liquid.
It is desirable that the aforementioned vibrator is installed in such a way that its virtual plane, including the liquid contact plane, intersect with the discharge outlet. If that is the case, because, if the device is used with the injection orifice facing downwards, the position of the discharge outlet becomes the same height as or higher than the liquid contact plane, the air bubble buoyancy will move the air bubble in the direction of the discharge outlet to make air bubble expulsion easier. It is desirable that the internal diameter of the discharge outlet is smaller than the internal diameter of the connection orifice, and it is particularly desirable that it be between ⅕ and ⅗ of the internal diameter of the connection orifice. That is because, if that is the case, the injection pressure of the liquid will be maintained at a high level.
Because, with this invention of a liquid injection device, it is difficult for an air bubble to develop and, even if the bubble does, it is possible to swiftly expel the air bubble without stopping the excitation of the vibrator, it is possible for the vibrator to have a long life-span. Furthermore, its benefits include the facts that, when used as a washer, washing efficiency is excellent, and that the use of chemicals is possible.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4326553 (1982-04-01), Hall
patent: 5927306 (1999-07-01), Izumi et al.
patent: 49636 (1982-04-01), None
patent: 77636 (1983-04-01), None
patent: 10223589 (1984-08-01), None
patent: 2521730 (1996-05-01), None
patent: 10-305248 (1998-11-01), None
patent: 157241 (1964-03-01), None
Excel Engineering Co., Ltd.
Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner L.L.P.
Morris Lesley D.
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