Patent ID: 7872848
Filing Date: 2011-01-18
Classification: B05B,F03H

Abstract:
1. A method of ionizing a liquid, said method comprising the steps of: (a) providing an ultrasonic atomizer, a reservoir system, an electrically conductive extractor, an atomization surface which includes a vibratile membrane and an electrical power source; (b) establishing a difference in voltage potentials between the extractor and the atomization surface to establish an electrical field; (c) dispensing an electrically conductive liquid onto said electrically conductive vibratile membrane so as to form and maintain a liquid film on the surface of said membrane, said dispensing being accomplished with said reservoir system comprising a tank and a conduit-and-valve system; (d) applying an electrical charge to said liquid film on said membrane; (e) generating ultrasonic waves to vibrate said membrane so as to induce capillary waves at the surface of said liquid film; and (f) electrostatically attracting the electrically charged particles from the tips of the crests in said capillary waves and extracting said electrically charged particles by said extractor through holes defined therethrough from said capillary waves, said atomization surface and said extractor being arranged so that they cooperatively define a gap, and accelerating said particles after passing through said holes in said extractor for emission and for becoming a part of a high velocity gas stream.