Patent Publication Number: US-2015069145-A1

Title: Ultrasonic spray system

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This is a continuation-in-part of co-pending application Ser. No. 14/024,615, filed on Sep. 11, 2013. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an ultrasonic spray system and more particularly to an ultrasonic spray system that holds a large volume of liquid to be atomized such that the system can operate for a long period of time without refilling. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     U.S. Pat. No. 7,669,782 discloses a conventional atomizing device  9  which, as reproduced in  FIG. 10 , includes a body  90  and an atomizer  91  received in a recess  901  defined in a side of the body  90 . The atomizer  91  includes a vibrating element  911 , a lid  912  and a spray plate  913  secured in between the vibrating element  911  and the lid  912 . In use, liquid is first introduced into a cavity  902  of the body  90  via an inlet  904  defined in a top of the body  90 . The liquid then flows through a hole  903  in the body  90  and a central bore  914  in the vibrating element  911  and finally to the spray plate  913 . The spray plate  913  vibrates with the vibrational energy generated by the vibrating element  911  and therefore transforms the liquid into a cloud of fine droplets that exits the atomizer through tiny apertures  915  of the spray plate  913 . 
     However, the body  90  of the atomizing device  9  only has small liquid capacity and should be refilled at short intervals to avoid drying out. If the cavity  902  in the body  90  is empty, noise will be produced and the lifespan of the atomizer  91  may therefore be shorten. To solve this problem, one may try to increase the volume of the cavity  902  of the body  90 ; however, this may increase the water pressure on the spray plate  913 , causing the liquid to escape fast through the apertures  915  of the spray plate  913  before being atomized. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an ultrasonic spray system that can hold a large volume of liquid to be atomized such that the system can operate for a long period of time without refilling. 
     To achieve the foregoing objective, the ultrasonic spray system includes an atomizer, a main reservoir and an auxiliary reservoir. The atomizer includes a seat body, an ultrasonic vibration plate and a baffle plate. The seat body defines a chamber and an opening in communication with the chamber. The ultrasonic vibration plate is mounted in the seat body between the chamber and the opening of the seat body and is configured to transform liquid stored in the chamber into fine droplets that exit the atomizer through the opening in the form of a fog. The baffle plate is mounted in the seat body between the ultrasonic vibration plate and the chamber of the seat body. Moreover, the baffle plate has a central hole smaller in diameter than the opening of the seat body for mitigating water pressure on the ultrasonic vibration plate, and a slot radially extending from the central hole for air to escape from the chamber of the seat body. 
     The main reservoir is arranged in fluid communication with the chamber of the seat body of the atomizer for supplying liquid to the atomizer The auxiliary reservoir is arranged in fluid communication with the main reservoir. In particular, the main reservoir is formed with a near-vacuum above liquid therein such that while some of the liquid flows from the main reservoir to the chamber of the atomizer, make-up liquid is automatically added to the main reservoir from the auxiliary reservoir. 
     Preferably, the ultrasonic vibration plate defines a plurality of apertures therein and is placed upright in the seat body of the atomizer such that the resulting fine droplets are able to be discharged through the apertures of the ultrasonic vibration plate horizontally. 
     Further benefits and advantages of the present invention will become apparent after a careful reading of the detailed description with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an ultrasonic spray system in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view of the ultrasonic spray system shown in  FIG. 1 , taken along line II-II; 
         FIG. 3  is an enlarged perspective view of an atomizer of the ultrasonic spray system shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is another perspective view of the atomizer shown in  FIG. 3 , partially broken to show the interior thereof; 
         FIG. 5  is yet another perspective view of the atomizer shown in  FIG. 3 , partially broken to show the interior thereof; 
         FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view of the atomizer shown in  FIG. 3 , taken along line VI-VI; 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective view of a modified atomizer; 
         FIG. 8  is an exploded perspective view of the modified atomizer shown in  FIG. 7 ; 
         FIG. 9  is a cross-sectional view of the atomizer shown in  FIG. 7 , taken along line IX-IX; and 
         FIG. 10  is a prior art. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to  FIG. 1  or  2 , there is shown the preferred embodiment of an ultrasonic spray system  100  of the present invention. The ultrasonic spray system  100  generally includes an atomizer  1 , a main reservoir  2  for supplying liquid to the atomizer  1 , and an auxiliary reservoir  3  for supplying liquid to the main reservoir  2  to make up the lost of the main reservoir  2 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , the atomizer  1  includes a seat body  4  and an ultrasonic vibration plate  5  mounted in the seat body  4 . As shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the seat body  4  defines a chamber  40  and an opening  41 , an inlet  42  and a gas outlet  43  each in communication with the chamber  40 . The ultrasonic vibration plate  5  is disposed in between the chamber  40  and the opening  41  of the seat body  4  and is configured to transform the liquid stored in the chamber  40  into fine droplets that will exit the atomizer  1  through the opening  41  in the form of a fog. In particular, the main reservoir  2  is formed with a near-vacuum above liquid therein such that while some of the liquid flows from the main reservoir  2  to the chamber  40  of the atomizer  1 , make-up liquid is automatically added to the main reservoir  2  from the auxiliary reservoir  3  to maintain the balanced pressure. 
     Specifically, as shown in  FIG. 2 , the ultrasonic spray system  100  includes a conduit  6  for connection between the main reservoir  2  and the atomizer  1 , a suction tube  7  for connection between the main reservoir  2  and the auxiliary reservoir  3 , and a gas pipe  8 , as will be discussed in detail later. The main reservoir  2  defines in a side wall an outlet  21  and a gas inlet  23 , and in a bottom wall a connection hole  22 . The outlet  21  of the main reservoir  2  is connected to the inlet  42  of the seat body  4  via the conduit  6 . That is, the main reservoir  2  is in fluid communication with the chamber  40  of the seat body  4  of the atomizer  1 , and therefore the main reservoir  2  can supply the liquid to the atomizer  1  for atomization via the conduit  6 . 
     The auxiliary reservoir  3  defines a connection hole  31  that is connected to the connection hole  22  of the main reservoir  2  via the suction tube  7 . The suction tube  7  extends, with its top end, into the main reservoir  2 , and with its bottom end, into the auxiliary reservoir  3  to have the auxiliary reservoir  3  in fluid communication with the main reservoir  2 . In this manner, when the liquid flows constantly from the main reservoir  2  to the chamber  40  of the seat body  4  for atomization, the liquid stored in the auxiliary reservoir  3  will automatically flow to the main reservoir  2  for compensation via the suction tube  7 . 
     Referring back to  FIG. 2 , the main reservoir  2  defines in its top a filling orifice  24  for introducing liquid from outside of the system  100  into the main reservoir  2  and further into the auxiliary reservoir  3  via the suction tube  7 . At the end, no liquid will be higher than the top end of the suction tube  7  since those above the top end of the suction tube  7  will fall into the suction tube  7  by gravity and finally to be stored in the auxiliary reservoir  3 . 
     In order to form a near-vacuum above the liquid in the main reservoir  2 , the suction tube  7  may be firstly blocked to allow all of the space in the main reservoir  2  to be filled with liquid. Once the main reservoir  2  is completely full of the liquid, the suction tube  7  is then unblocked to permit liquid above the top end of the suction tube  7  to move downward to the auxiliary reservoir  3 . Upon the auxiliary reservoir  3  is stored with enough liquid, the refilling orifice  24  in the main reservoir  2  is then closed to form the near-vacuum inside the main reservoir  2 . Note that a gas hole  32  may be defined in a top of the auxiliary reservoir  3  to prevent air in the auxiliary reservoir  3  from being pushed through the suction tube  7  and into the main reservoir  2 . Rather, while the liquid is introduced into the auxiliary reservoir  3 , redundant gas in the auxiliary reservoir  3  may exit the auxiliary reservoir  3  through the gas hole  32 . 
     In addition, during the addition of liquid into the main reservoir  2  via the refilling orifice  24 , a small amount of air may get into the main reservoir  2  unexpectedly and further into the chamber  40  of the seat body  4  of the atomizer  1  via the conduit  6 . This may cause the atomizer  1  not to work properly. To solve this problem, as shown in  FIGS. 4 and 6 , the gas outlet  43  is defined in a top of the seat body  4  and above the chamber  40  to allow the air to rise and move out through the gas outlet  43  to avoid being trapped in the chamber  40 . This ensures that the liquid can constantly flow from the main reservoir  2  to the atomizer  1 , and the ultrasonic vibration plate  5  can function well without the interruption of air. In the illustrated embodiment, the gas outlet  43  is connected to the gas inlet  23  of the main reservoir  2  via the gas pipe  8  so that the small amount of the air discharged from the gas outlet  43  of the seat body  4  may be recycled back to the main reservoir  2 . 
     In the embodiment, the ultrasonic vibration plate  5  defines a plurality of tiny apertures (not numbered, but shown as dotted area in  FIG. 3  or  6 ) therein. As shown in  FIG. 1  or  6 , the ultrasonic vibration plate  5  is placed upright in the seat body  4  of the atomizer  1  such that the resulting fine droplets are able to be discharged through the apertures of the ultrasonic vibration plate  5  in a horizontal manner. This makes the atomizer  1  along with other parts suitable for use in an electronic cooling fan where a horizontal mist spray system is desired. Moreover, as shown in  FIG. 5 , a silicone ring  44  may be included in the seat body  4  and bear against one side of the ultrasonic vibration plate  5  in order to ensure that the ultrasonic vibration plate  5  is in contact with the liquid in the chamber  40  of the seat body  4  with the other side. 
     It should be noted that the apertures of the ultrasonic vibration plate  5  should be configured and sized according to the volume of the main reservoir  2  because the ultrasonic vibration plate  5  is subjected to the water pressure in the chamber  40  of the seat body  4 , which is mainly affected by the liquid level inside the main reservoir  2 , as best seen in  FIG. 2 . If the liquid level inside the main reservoir  2  is higher, the water pressure in the chamber  40  of the seat body  4  will also become higher and the diameter of the apertures in the ultrasonic vibration plate  5  should be made smaller to sustain the higher water pressure. Otherwise, the liquid inside the chamber  40  of the seat body  4  may directly escape from the seat body  4  via the apertures of the ultrasonic vibration plate  5 , without being atomized. On the contrary, if the liquid level is smaller, the water pressure in the chamber  40  will also be smaller and the diameter of the apertures in ultrasonic vibration plate  5  could be bigger to provide enough flow for atomization. In this embodiment, each of the apertures of the ultrasonic vibration plate  5  has a diameter of about 60 micro meters. 
     In the modification shown in  FIGS. 7-9 , the atomizer  1   a  further comprises a baffle plate  45  interposed in between the chamber  40  and the ultrasonic vibration plate  5   a.  In other respects, the inter-connection illustrated by  FIGS. 7-9  corresponds to that of  FIGS. 3-6 . 
     More specifically, as shown in  FIG. 8 , the modified atomizer  1   a  includes a seat body  4   a,  an ultrasonic vibration plate  5   a  and a baffle plate  45 . As depicted in  FIG. 9 , the seat body  4   a  defines a chamber  40  and an opening  41  in communication with the chamber  40 . The ultrasonic vibration plate  5   a  is disposed in between the chamber  40  and the opening  41  of the seat body  4   a  for transforming liquid stored in the chamber  40  into fine droplets that exit the atomizer  1   a  through the opening  41  in the form of a fog. The baffle plate  45  is mounted in the seat body  4   a  between the ultrasonic vibration plate  5   a  and the chamber  40  of the seat body  4   a.  In particular, the baffle plate  45  has a central hole  451  smaller in diameter than the opening  41  of the seat body  4   a  for mitigating water pressure on the ultrasonic vibration plate  5   a.  The baffle plate  45  further defines a slot  452  radially extending from the central hole  451  for air to escape from the chamber  40  of the seat body  4   a  if any. This is relatively important in a case where there is no gas outlet existed in the seat body. 
     For the reasons above, the main reservoir  2  is formed with a small volume for storing a small amount of liquid, and the auxiliary reservoir  3 , which is disposed lower than the main reservoir  2 , has a large volume for storing a large amount of liquid. This ensures that the main reservoir  2  will not generate high water pressure so that the ultrasonic vibration plate  5  can sustain the water pressure in the chamber  40  of the seat body  4  or  4   a . Moreover, the ultrasonic spray system  100  can still operate for a long period of time because the large amount of liquid are stored in the auxiliary reservoir  3  to be used for atomization.