Patent ID: 7850120

Claim:
Spray-regulating system for an aircraft anti-icer comprising: a tank with anti-icing fluid, a fluid pump which is driven by a drive motor and which is fluidly connected to the fluid in the tank so that the fluid is pumped from the tank by said fluid pump, a hose or pipeline between the fluid pump and a spray nozzle so that the fluid is pumped from the tank to the spray nozzle by the fluid pump, a pressure-signal-generating pressure sensor which is mounted in close proximity to the spray nozzle and which generates a pressure signal, a control unit which produces a control signal calculated on the pressure signal received from the pressure sensor and the pressure required upstream of the nozzle, and a regulating device for the drive motor which receives the control signal produced by the control unit, which adjusts the momentum of the drive motor in accordance with the control signal, which thereby adjusts at least one of the flow rate or the pressure rate in the hose or pipeline, and which thereby maintains a constant pressure of the fluid in close proximity to the nozzle and a substantially constant pressure drop of the fluid over the spray nozzle irrespective of differences in height of the nozzle relative to the pump.