Microstructured filter

US6846413B1 · kind B1 · utility

Assignee

• Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH · DE

Inventors

• Klaus Kadel · Wittmund, DE
• Johannes Geser · Gerlingen, DE
• Joachin Eicher · Dortmund, DE
• Bernhard Freund · Gau-Algesheim, DE
• Stephen Terence Dunne · Stowmarket, GB
• Wulf Bachtler · Mainz, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Aug 28, 1998
• Grant date: Jan 25, 2005
• Expiry date: Aug 28, 2018

Classification

• Technology area (CPC B): Performing Operations; Transporting
• CPC primary: B01D2325/04
• WIPO field: Chemical engineering
• WIPO sector: Chemistry

Abstract

A microstructured filter for a fluid, the filter having an inlet for unfiltered fluid and an outlet for filtered fluid, the filter comprising: a plurality of projections (7) which are arranged in at least two rows (3) in mutually juxtaposed relationship and which project out of a base plate (1) and which are an integral component of the base plate, a plurality of passages (8) between the projections (7), and a cover plate which is securable to the base plate to cover the projections (7) and the passages (8), wherein the passages form a plurality of through paths from the inlet to the outlet, said inlet comprises an elongate inlet slot (5) for the unfiltered fluid, which extends over approximately the entire filter width and which is approximately as high as the projection (7) projecting out of the base plate, on the outlet side of the filter. The filter according to the invention remains operational, even if a part of the filter area is obstructed. The filter is used for example in an atomizer with which an aerosol is produced from a fluid which contains a medicament.