Patent ID: 8578931

Claim:
A method of aerosolizing a liquid, comprising the steps of: electroforming a vibratable aperture plate made of palladium or a palladium alloy, the aperture plate having a front surface and a rear surface, the palladium or palladium alloy aperture plate being electroformed to form a plurality of tapered conical-shaped apertures extending from the rear surface to the front surface, the plurality of apertures being tapered to narrow from the rear surface to the front surface, the aperture plate further being formed to have a dome shape, mounting the vibratable aperture plate upon a support member wherein substantially all of a vibratable portion of the aperture plate not directly mounted to the support member comprises the dome shape: providing a fluid at the rear surface of the aperture plate; and vibrating the aperture plate to eject the fluid through the plurality of tapered conical-shaped apertures.