Patent ID: 7380918

Claim:
An apparatus for forming high-speed liquid droplets, comprising: a source of high-pressure liquid; a droplet forming chamber, coupled to said source of high-pressure liquid, said droplet forming chamber including therein a low Weber number value, wherein said low Weber number value is created by the act of shielding said high-pressure liquid jet entering said droplet forming chamber from atomizing in ambient gas contained in said droplet-forming chamber in order to reduce the liquid jet's Weber number=ρ g V rel 2 d j /σ j (where: ρ g =surrounding gas density; V rel =V j −V g ; where V j =jet liquid velocity; V g =velocity of gas surrounding the jet; d j =jet diameter; and σ j =liquid's surface tension against the gas) to less than a value which causes the jet to atomize into an ineffective fine mist; and a workpiece contacting hood, coupled to said droplet forming chamber, for directing said formed high-speed liquid droplets against a workpiece.