Heat-resistant broad-bandwidth liquid droplet generators
US5560543A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 19, 1994 |
| Grant date | Oct 1, 1996 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 19, 2014 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH05K2203/128
- WIPO fieldMaterials, metallurgy
- WIPO sectorChemistry
Abstract
Apparatus and methods for making uniformly-sized and predictably-spaced droplets from high-temperature liquids. Liquid droplet generators having electromechanical driving elements are coupled to a power supply to apply pulsed excitation forces through a wall of a delivery tube to a high-temperature liquid, e.g., a liquid metal, epoxy, or polymer. The excitation forces generated by the driver induce capillary vibrations in the liquid within the delivery tube. Liquid jet streams having capillary vibrations when exiting an orifice break up into groups of substantially uniformly-sized liquid droplets shortly after leaving the orifice. Droplets may be produced in a uniformly-spaced series, or individually on demand in response to a single burst of force from the driving element. A heat source is also thermally coupled to the delivery tube to maintain the liquid in a high-temperature state. Embodiments using heat-sensitive elements thermally insulate those elements from the wall of the heated delivery tube and may also actively cool the elements by one or more heat exchangers. A magnetohydrodynamic embodiment couples a magnetic field, having spaced points of maximum intensity, to a fluid…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.