Metering and dispensing system

Abstract: A method and apparatus for dispersing an active ingredient, such as a £umigant, fertilizer or room freshener. The active ingredient is placed in a container (13) and a pressurised solvent/propellent is subsequently introduced from a source (11). The solvent/propellent expands to adopt a liquid phase and a gaseous phase. The liquid phase serves to absorb the active ingredient and the gaseous phase serves to propel the borne active ingredient out of the apparatus through a dispensing outlet (14) where further expansion takes place and the active ingredient is dispersed in a fog or mist. Check valves (15, 16) create a pressure differential between the sample cylinder outlet (23) and a by-pass portion (22) to enable total absorption of the active ingredient. The system is particulary suitable for the spraying of insecticides where a metered amount of active ingredient is to be dispersed or for exhausting a total supply of active ingredient.

Description: The invention relates to the dispensing of a gaseous charge of an active ingredient. The invention is generally applicable to the dispersing of atomized sprays and finds particular use in the spraying of insecticides. However, the invention is equally applicable to the dispensing of room freshners, fertilizers and any other active ingredients which are capable of being borne in an atomised mist. The invention finds particular applicability where a specific volume of atomised spray is to be dispensed. For example, if a warehouse is to be sprayed with a view to exterminating a particular insect, then the concentration and amount of insecticide must be carefully calculated. The dispensing system of the present invention is capable of dispensing that calculated amount into a specifically confined volume of air. This represents an advance over previous spray systems where either an entire volume was dispensed until the dispensing medium was exhausted or control valves were selectively closed on a hit or miss basis when it was felt that sufficient volume had been dispensed. The invention is also applicable to charge portable cylinders of pressurised fumigant, etc. for manual dispersal. Document US-A-4 688 946 is concerned with the automatic mixing of a quantity of liquid compound and liquid propellent. The Latif system is complex in nature including a multiplicity of valves and cylinders. The complexity of the Latif system makes automation with long term reliability difficult and, moreover, is not susceptible to closely controlled dispersal of an accurately determined amount of active ingredient. In its broadest concept the system of the present invention utilizes a solvent/carrier in liquid form. That solvent/carrier would most conveniently be contained in a large volume supply cylinder. A sample or dosing cylinder containing active ingredient is located downstream of the supply cylinder and is coupled thereto by a conduit. The most convenient solvent/carrier is liquid carbon dioxide and the active ingredient is most usually in liquid form. Valve means are arranged selectively to place the supply cylinder in direct connection with the sample or dosing cylinder while closing any exit from the dosing cylinder to atmosphere or to isolate the supply cylinder and connect the dosing cylinder to atmosphere. In this manner, liquid carbon dioxide will flow in liquid form, from the supply cylinder to the sample cylinder. Upon introduction into the sample cylinder, the liquid carbon dioxide will expand until a steady state of equilibrium is reached in which the sample cylinder contains both liquid carbon dioxide and gaseous carbon dioxide. Once this steady state is reached, the system is in equilibrium and it is not, at this stage, necessary to isolate the supply cylinder since, under constant temperature and pressure conditions, the sample cylinder cannot be overfilled. The liquid carbon dioxide within the sample cylinder acts as a solvent and absorbs all of the active ingredient which had been placed in the sample cylinder. The gaseous carbon dioxide does not act as a solvent but, instead, acts as a propelling medium to propel the absorbed active ingredient from the system when the sample cylinder is connected to atmosphere. From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that the maximum amount of active ingredient that can be dispensed is the amount of active ingredient which had been placed in the sample cylinder prior to the introduction of solvent/carrier (liquid carbon dioxide) from the supply cylinder. According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of mixing and dispensing an active ingredient, including the steps of placing a charge of active ingredient in a sample cylinder, connecting said sample cylinder to a pressurised source of liquid solvent/ propellent, dividing the flow of said liquid solvent/propellent upstream of said sample cylinder to cause a first portion of said liquid solvent/propellent to flow into said sample cylinder to both absorb and force out said active ingredient and a second portion of said liquid solvent/propellent to by-pass said sample cylinder, coupling an outlet from said sample cylinder to said by-pass portion, creating a pressure differential between said sample cylinder outlet and said by-pass portion upstream of said coupling to enable total absorption of the active ingredient whereupon said active ingredient passes through the outlet and said by-passed portion of solvent/ propellent absorbs and propels said absorbed active ingredient to a discharge station at which all liquid solvent/propellent vaporises to discharge a mist of active ingredient particles. This dispensing of a predetermined amount of vaporised active ingredient to atmosphere may be achieved by an apparatus including a source of solvent/propellent, a sample cylinder for containing a charge of active ingredient, a first conduit extending between said source and an inlet of said sample cylinder, a junction located in said first conduit intermediate said source and said sample cylinder, a second conduit extending from said junction to by-pass said sample cylinder, a third conduit extending from an outlet of said sample cylinder to join said second conduit, a first flow restrictor interposed in said third conduit intermediate the sample cylinder outlet and the join with said second conduit and a second flow restrictor interposed in said second conduit downstream of said junction and upstream of the join with said third conduit, said second flow restrictor being of higher pressure rating than said first flow restrictor. According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided a method of mixing and dispensing a predetermined amount of vaporised active ingredient to atmosphere including the steps of passing liquid solvent/propellent from a pressurised source into a dosing cylinder of fixed volume to fill said dosing cylinder, isolating said source from said dosing cylinder, coupling said dosing cylinder, via a junction, with a sample cylinder containing a charge of active ingredient, utilizing said junction to divide flow of liquid solvent/propellent from the dosing cylinder upstream of said sample cylinder to cause a first portion of liquid solvent/propellent to flow into said sample cylinder and both absorb and force out said active ingredient and a second portion of said liquid solvent/propellent to by-pass said sample cylinder, coupling an outlet from said sample cylinder to said by-pass portion, creating a pressure differential between said sample cylinder outlet and said by-pass portion upstream of said coupling to enable total absorption of the active ingredient whereupon said active ingredient passes through the outlet and said by-passed portion of solvent/propellent absorbs and propels said absorbed active ingredient to a discharge station at which all liquid solvent/propellent vaporises to discharge a mist of active ingredient particles. This method may be carried out by apparatus including a source of solvent/propellent, a dosing cylinder coupled to said source, a three-way valve interposed between said dosing cylinder and said source, a sample cylinder for containing a charge of active ingredient, a first conduit extending between said three-way valve and an inlet of said sample cylinder, a junction located in said first conduit intermediate said three-way valve and said sample cylinder, a second conduit extending from said junction to by-pass said sample cylinder, a third conduit extending from an outlet of said sample cylinder to join said second conduit, a first flow restrictor interposed in said third conduit intermediate the sample cylinder outlet and the join with said second conduit and a second flow restrictor interposed in said second conduit downstream of said junction and upstream of the join with said third conduit, said second flow restrictor being of higher pressure rating than said first flow restrictor. The second flow restrictor may be, for example, a check valve, interposed in said second conduit some way downstream of the junction or it may be a Venturi valve, the third conduit joining the second conduit at the Venturi restriction. In a preferred embodiment the second flow restriction is a Venturi valve. This method may be carried out in an alternative manner having three conduits as before, but only one flow restriction, this being in the second conduit. In a preferred embodiment all three conduits are arranged in a single unit which is attached to the sample cylinder forming an inlet and outlet thereto, hereinafter referred to as "a mixing head". As already, explained, liquid carbon dioxide is the preferred solvent/ propellent. The active ingredient will depend upon the function to be performed and, consequently, a number of compounds may be used, including but not limited to repellents, antibacterials, fungicides, germicides, deodorants, antivirals, virals, biologicals, ripening agents, growth regulators such as methoprene, hydroprene, dimilin and fenoxycarb and antisprouting compounds, the preferred active ingredient chemicals of this invention are natural pyrethrum and synthetic pyrethroids. Pyrethrum is a pyrethrin, a botanical insecticide the active constituents of which are pyrethrins I and II and jasmolin I and II collectively known as "pyrethrins". The synthetic pyrethroids include allethrin, bifenthrin, bioresmethrin, cyfluthrin, cypermethrin, fenothrin, deltamethrin, esbiothrin, enothrin, fenvalerate, fluvalinate, lamda cyhalothrin, permethrin, resmethrin, tetramethrin, tralomethrin. It is envisioned that multiple concentrations of active ingredient chemicals to solvent/propellent on a weight to weight basis are possible. The limiting factor being the solubility of the active ingredient chemical in the solvent/propellent. A 0.5% natural pyrethrum formula, that is 0.5% pyrethrins, 4.0% piperonyl butoxide, 7.9% petroleum distillate and 87.6% liquid carbon dioxide, may be used. This formula is recommended at the following dose (use) rates : 1. Flying Insects 8g per 1,000 cubic feet (28.32m³) 2. Crawling Insects 16g per 1,000 cubic feet (28.32m³) 3. Saw Toothed Grain and Cigarette Beetles 24g per 1,000 cubic feet (28.32m³) at 2 hours of exposure 4. Tribolium Aid to control This can be expressed as a level of pyrethrum or, stated another way, the amount of 100% active ingredient pyrethrum in the above formula. The level of active ingredient (AI) is the controlling aspect. It does not matter if that level comes from a 3%, 1% or 0.5% formula. In other words, 2 X 0.5% formula is equivalent to 1 X 1% formula. 1. Flying Insects 0.04g AI/1,000 cubic feet (28.32m³) 2. Crawling Insects 0.08g AI/1,000 cubic feet (28.32m³) 3. Saw Toothed Grain and Cigarette Beetle 0.12g AI/1,000 cubic feet (28.32m³) 4. Tribolium Aid to control In order that the invention may be more clearly understood, preferred embodiments thereof will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which : Figure 2 is a schematic representation of the invention; Figure 3 is a schematic representation of a further embodiment of the invention; Figure 4 is a schematic representation of part of a further preferred system of the invention; and Figure 5 (A-D) is a schematic representation of the operation of a mixing head for a sample cylinder according to the invention. The conduits are preferably flexible hoses with quick disconnect attachments at their ends not only to permit convenient and rapid assembly and dismantling of the system but also to facilitate replacement of spent cylinders. An embodiment of the invention is shown in Figure 2 of the drawings. That embodiment includes a source of solvent/propellent in the form of a cylinder 11 of liquid carbon dioxide and a cylinder 13 for containing active ingredient. Conduits not only interconnect the cylinders 11 and 13 but also lead to a dispensing outlet 14. The embodiment shown in Figure 2 is capable either of dispersing a metered amount of active ingredient or of exhausting a total supply of active ingredient. Whichever of these alternative dispersals is desired, the system and operation is the same. In the event that a metered amount of active ingredient is to be dispersed, then, as in the case of the embodiment described with reference to Figure 1, a calculated amount of active ingredient is placed in the cylinder 13. In the event that total dispersing is desired, then the cylinder 13 is filled with active ingredient. A conduit 20 leads from the cylinder 11 to a junction where it branches into two separate conduits 21 and 22. The conduit 21 leads directly to an inlet to the cylinder 13 whereas the conduit 22 leads to a first check valve 15. A further conduit 23 extends from the exit of the cylinder 13 to a second check valve 16 and then to a junction where the conduit 23 joins with the conduit 22 downstream of said first and second check valves and from there to a conduit 24 to said dispensing nozzle 14. A further valve 17 is interposed in the conduit 23 downstream from the cylinder 13 and upstream from the second check valve 16. This further valve 17 is effectively an on/off valve or "tap". Before solvent/propellent is permitted to flow from the cylinder 11 out through the conduit 20, the second check valve 16 will prevent the active ingredient from running out of the sample of dosing cylinder 13 due to gravity. This prevention will be effective even where, as in the preferred example, the active ingredient is in liquid form. For reasons which will be apparent from the following description of the embodiment shown in figure 2, the first check valve 15 is gaged or calibrated to provide a substantially greater resistance to flow than the check valve 16. Conventional spring check valves can be used for this purpose and, in this preferred embodiment, the ratio is approximately 10:1. In a case where it is not critical to dispense a metered amount of active ingredient, the sample cylinder 13 is filled with active ingredient and the cylinder 11 is charged with solvent/propellent. As in the case of the embodiment described with reference to Figure 1, the preferred solvent/propellent is liquid carbon dioxide. That liquid carbon dioxide will flow from the cylinder 11 through the conduit 20 and will encounter substantial resistance imposed by the first check valve 15. Consequently, the liquid carbon dioxide will preferentially flow from the junction through the conduit 21 and into the cylinder 13 of active ingredient. Upon entering the cylinder 13 the pressurised liquid carbon dioxide acts in two ways. Firstly, the liquid carbon dioxide will expand to create a liquid portion and a gaseous portion, with the liquid portion acting as a solvent to absorb the active ingredient and the gaseous portion remaining inactive. Secondly, the pressure of the liquid carbon dioxide will force unabsorbed active ingredient out of the cylinder 13 through conduit 23. Thus, if the on/off tap 17 is open, the gaseous portion of the carbon dioxide will act as a propellent to expel both the absorbed and unabsorbed active ingredient through the conduit 23 and through the second check valve 16. As the check valve 16 imposes substantially less resistance to passage than the check valve 15, the absorbed and unabsorbed active ingredient will pass therethrough into the conduit 24. As the line or conduit leading to and through the sample or dosing cylinder 13 is at a higher pressure than liquid carbon dioxide at the junction where the conduit 23 joins the conduit downstream of the check valve 15, the unabsorbed active ingredient forced through the conduit 23 will be injected into liquid carbon dioxide flowing through the conduit 22 downstream of the check valve 15 and will be fully absorbed at that point before passing through the conduit 24 to the dispensing nozzle 14. Upon exiting from the dispensing nozzle 14, the liquid carbon dioxide bearing the absorbed active ingredient will rapidly expand causing a fogging or misting. This state will continue until all of the active ingredient which had previously been placed in the cylinder 13 is dispersed whereupon no fogging or misting will occur at the dispensing nozzle 14 and, instead, there will merely be the noise of expanding and vaporising liquid carbon dioxide. At this point the system can be closed down by isolating the solvent/propellent source cylinder 11 by valve means (not shown) and the sample or dosing cylinder recharged with active ingredient. If, on the other hand, it is again desired to meter a controlled amount of active ingredient into the controlled environment, then only a calculated amount of active ingredient is placed in the cylinder 13 prior to start up and the valve or tap 17 is closed to prevent egress of any absorbed active ingredient. Upon opening the valve or tap 17, any unabsorbed active ingredient will be absorbed upon injection into the stream of solvent/propellent passing through the check valves 15 and, thereafter, all absorbed active ingredient will be discharged as described and, again, the system can be temporarily closed down when no misting or fogging is observed to occur at the discharge nozzle 14. The embodiment shown in Figure 3 represents a modification of the embodiment shown in Figure 2 and described in the preceding paragraphs. The embodiment shown in Figure 3, like that shown in Figure 2, serves totally to dispense all of an amount of active ingredient placed in a sample cylinder 33. The system in Figure 3 is similar to that in Figure 2 and, to this end, includes a cylinder 31 containing a source of solvent/propellent, a conduit 40 leading from the cylinder 31 to a junction from which conduits 41 and 42 lead respectively to an inlet of the sample cylinder 33 and to a first check valve 35. A further conduit 43 leads from the outlet of the sample cylinder 33 to a coupling, downstream of the first check valve 35, with the conduit 42 and a conduit 44 leads from that coupling to a dispensing nozzle 34. A second check valve 36 is interposed in the conduit 43 and creates a lesser restriction to flow than the first check valve 35. In the foregoing respects, the embodiment of Figure 3 is similar to that shown in Figure 2. However, the embodiment of Figure 3 includes a three-way valve 45 interposed in the conduit 40 and a dosing cylinder 46 which may selectively be coupled with the conduit 40 via said three-way valve 45. In this manner, a controlled volume of solvent/propellent can be isolated from the source provided by the cylinder 31 and thereafter the source cylinder 31 can be isolated and the total controlled volume expelled, with absorbed active ingredient, through the dispensing nozzle 34. The system illustrated in Figure 3 is prepared by adjusting the three-way valve 45 to isolate the supply of solvent/propellent in the cylinder 31. The cylinder 33 is filled with active ingredient. The three-way valve 45 is then manipulated to provide a flow connection between the cylinder 31 and the cylinder 46 while isolating the conduit 40 downstream of said valve 45. Solvent/propellent, again most conveniently liquid carbon dioxide, will flow from the cylinder 31 to the cylinder 46 until a state of equilibrium is reached. In order to disperse the active ingredient, the three-way valve 45 is then manipulated again to isolate the cylinder 31 while placing the cylinder 46 in communication with the conduit 40. Thereafter, the cylinder 46 is totally discharged entraining the active ingredient in the manner described in the embodiment of Figure 2 and dispersing the active ingredient through the dispensing nozzle 34. The embodiment shown in Figure 4 represents a modification of the arrangement of the conduits 41, 42 and 43 and valves 35 and 36 of the embodiment shown in Figure 3. The modification comprises replacing the first check valve 35 by a venturi valve 47, the third conduit 43 feeding into the restriction 48 in the valve 47. In the preceding embodiments, the conduits and flow restrictors which create a pressure differential between the sample cylinder outlet and the by-pass portion are shown located external to the sample cylinder. An alternative arrangement is shown schematically in Figure 5 A-D in which the respective conduits and flow restrictors are located in a 'mixing' head 49 for the sample cylinder 50. Figure 5A shows the sample cylinder prior to liquid carbon dioxide pressurisation. The operation of the system is as follows: Liquid carbon dioxide enters the mixing head 49 via a conduit 51 connected to the carbon dioxide source. As shown in Figure 5B the liquid carbon dioxide encounters resistance imposed by a flow restriction orifice 52 making the liquid carbon dioxide flow preferentially through a conduit 53 and into the cylinder 50 of active ingredient, the remainder by-passing the sample cylinder via conduit 54. Upon entering the cylinder 50 the pressurised liquid carbon dioxide acts as previously described to absorb some of the active ingredient. The pressure of the carbon dioxide forces both absorbed and unabsorbed active ingredient out of the cylinder 50 through conduit 55. The unabsorbed active ingredient forced through the conduit 55 is then injected into liquid carbon dioxide flowing through from the conduit 51 downstream of the flow restriction orifice 52 and is fully absorbed before passing through the conduit to the dispensing nozzle. The remaining liquid carbon dioxide flushes the sample cylinder as shown in Figure 5C. The end of fogging is shown in Figure 5D where the sample cylinder is void of active ingredient and carbon dioxide. In the preceding embodiments, the absorbed active ingredient has been described as being discharged from a nozzle 14 or 34. It will be appreciated that in a warehouse or factory to be fumigated, the discharge nozzle is most likely to take the form of an overhead sprinkler system from which the active ingredient can be uniformly dispersed throughout the contained volume. The preceding preferred embodiments of the invention have been described with specific reference to the configurations shown in Figures 2 and 3 of the drawings. These configurations can, of course, be modified as appropriate. For example, in the embodiments shown in Figures 2 and 3, instead of rated or calibrated first and second check valves, flow restriction orifices can be provided respectively in the conduits 22, 42 and 23, 43. In this case, the size of the orifice in the conduits 22, 42 will be substantially smaller than the size of the orifice in the conduit 23, 43 and, again, a ratio of 10:1 may be adopted.

Claims: Apparatus for mixing and dispensing a metered amount of an active ingredient, which consists of a pressurised source of a liquid solvent/propellant (11), two flow restrictors (15 and 16), a sample cylinder (13), a first conduit (20) which leads from the source (11) to a junction where it branches into two separate conduits (21 and 22) and a conduit (24) which leads to a dispensing nozzle (14), characterised in that: a) the conduit (21) leads directly to an inlet of the cylinder (13), b) the conduit (22) leads to a first flow restrictor (15), c) the conduit (23) extends from the exit of the cylinder (13) to a second flow restrictor (16) and then to a junction where the conduit (23) joins with the conduit (22) downstream from flow restrictors (15 and 16) and from there to a conduit (24) to said dispensing nozzle (14). Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein a valve (17) is interposed in the conduit (23) downstream from the cylinder (13) and upstream from the flow restrictor (16). Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein the valve (17) is an on/off valve. Apparatus according to claim 2 or 3 wherein the pressurised source is the cylinder (31), the sample cylinder is the cylinder (33), the first conduit is the conduit (40) which leads from cylinder (31) to a junction where it branches into two separate conduits (41 and 42), and the conduit (24) is the conduit (44) which leads to a dispensing nozzle (34), characterised in that : a) the conduit (41) leads directly to an inlet of the cylinder (33), b) a three way valve (45) is interposed in the first conduit (40), downstream from the cylinder (31) and upstream from the junction of conduits (40), (41) and (42), c) a dosing cylinder (46) is coupled with the conduit (40) via the valve (45), d) the conduit (42) leads to a first flow restrictor (35), e) the conduit (43) extends from the exit of the cylinder (33) to a second flow restrictor (36) and then to a junction where the conduit (43) joins with the conduit (42) downstream from restrictors (35) and (36) and from there, to a conduit (44) to said dispensing nozzle (34). Apparatus according to anyone of the claims 1 to 4 wherein the flow restrictors are spring check valves. Apparatus according to claim 5 wherein the first spring check valve (35) is calibrated to provide a resistance approximately 10 times greater than the resistance of the second spring check valve (36). Apparatus according to anyone of the claims 1 to 4 wherein the first flow restrictor (35) is replaced by a venturi valve (47) and the conduit (43) is feeding into the Venturi restriction (48) in the valve (47). Apparatus according to claim 7 which consists in a mixing head (49) for the sample cylinder (50), wherein the conduit (40) is the conduit (51), the conduit (41) is the conduit (53), the conduit (43) is the conduit (55), the conduit (44) is the conduit (54) and the venturi valve system (47 and 48) consists in the flow restriction orifice (52). Apparatus according to anyone of the claims 1 to 8 wherein the conduits interconnecting the component parts are flexible hoses with quick disconnect attachments. Use of the apparatus as defined in anyone of the claims 1 to 9 for mixing and dispensing a metered amount of an active ingredient, characterised in that the active ingredient is placed in the sample cylinder and a pressurised solvent/propellant is subsequently introduced from a source, and flow restrictors being calibrated in order to create a pressure differential between the sample cylinder outlet and the by-pass portion, to enable total absorption of the active ingredient. Use according to claim 10 of an apparatus as defined in anyone of the claims 1 to 9 wherein the liquid solvent/propellant is liquid carbon dioxide. Use according to claim 10 or 11 of an apparatus as defined in anyone of the claims 1 to 9 wherein the active ingredient is one or more natural pyrethrins or synthetic pyrthroïds.

Inventors: EITNER JOSEPH GEORGE JR, TICE ROBERT JOSEPH JR, EITNER, JOSEPH GEORGE, JR., TICE, ROBERT JOSEPH, JR.
Applicants: ROUSSEL UCLAF, ROUSSEL-UCLAF
Application year: 1990
Main classification: B05B7
IPC codes: B05B7, A01M1, A01M13