EP0144992A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Apparatus for dispensing volatile substances
Assignee: Takasago USA Inc
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Filing: 1984-12-07
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2004-12-07
Abstract
Abstract An apparatus is provided for dispensing volatile substances which includes a housing, and at least one piezoelectric blower (14). Each blower (14) includes a piezoelectric element (18) having a first end (19) mounted to the housing and a second end (22) free, and a generally planar impeller blade (8) connected to the free end (22) of the piezoelectric element (18) and having its distal end (8a) unconstrained by the housing. A frame is attached to, or provided as an integral part of, the housing and is located in proximity to the distal end (8a) of the blade (8). The frame is adapted to detachably mount a replaceable substrate cartridge containing a volatile substance In use, a voltage is applied to the piezoelectric element (18) for oscillating its free end (22) perpendicular to its plane at or close to resonance and propagating a traveling wave along each blade (8) to generate and shed vortices at the distal end (8a) of the blade (8) which contact the substrate cartridge, thereby dispensing the volatile substance to the surrounding atmosphere.
Inventors
- 👤 Theodore A. Harden
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-08 06:19
CPC Classifications
A; A61; A61L; A61L9/00; A61L9/015; A61L9/04; A61L9/12; A61L9/122; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S261/00; Y10S261/17; Y10S261/65
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 15
Claim 1
Independent Claim
147 words
An apparatus for dispensing volatile substances, characterized by a housing (2), a piezoelectric element (18) having one end (19) mounted to the housing (2) and one end (20) free, a generally planar impeller blade (8) connected to the free end (22) of the piezoelectric element (18) and having its distal end (8a) unconstrained by the housing (2), means (9) for detachably mounting a replaceable substrate cartridge (60) containing a volatile substance in proximity to the distal end (8a) of the impeller blade (8), and means (30) for applying a voltage to the piezoelectric element (18) for oscillating its free end (22) perpendicular to its plane at or close to resonance and propagating a traveling wave along the blade (8) to generate and shed vortices at the distal end (8a) of the blade (8), such that the vortices contact the substrate cartridge (60), thereby dispensing the volatile substance.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
147 words
An apparatus for dispensing volatile substances, characterized by a housing (2), a piezoelectric element (18) having one end (19) mounted to the housing (2) and one end (20) free, a generally planar impeller blade (8) connected to the free end (22) of the piezoelectric element (18) and having its distal end (8a) unconstrained by the housing (2), means (9) for detachably mounting a replaceable substrate cartridge (60) containing a volatile substance in proximity to the distal end (8a) of the impeller blade (8), and means (30) for applying a voltage to the piezoelectric element (18) for oscillating its free end (22) perpendicular to its plane at or close to resonance and propagating a traveling wave along the blade (8) to generate and shed vortices at the distal end (8a) of the blade (8), such that the vortices contact the substrate cartridge (60), thereby dispensing the volatile substance.
Claim 3
Independent Claim
171 words
An apparatus for dispensing volatile substances, characterized by a housing (2), first and second spaced piezoelectric elements (17, 18) each having one end (19) mounted to the housing (2) and one end (21, 22) free, first and second generally planar impeller blades (7, 8) connected, respectively, to the free ends (21, 22) of the first and second piezoelectric elements (17, 18) and each having its distal end (7a, 8a) unconstrained by the housing (2), means (9) for detachably mounting a replaceable substrate cartridge (60) containing a volatile substance in proximity to the distal ends (7a, 8a) of the impeller blades (7, 8), and means (30) for applying a voltage to each piezoelectric 'element (17, 18) for oscillating its free end (21, 22) perpendicular to its plane at or close to resonance and propagating a traveling wave along each blade (7, 8) to generate and shed vortices at the distal end (7a, 8a) of each blade (7, 8), such that the vortices contact the substrate cartridge (60), thereby dispensing the volatile substance.
Claim 4
Independent Claim
171 words
An apparatus for dispensing volatile substances, characterized by a housing (2), first and second spaced piezoelectric elements (17, 18) each having one end (19) mounted to the housing (2) and one end (21, 22) free, first and second generally planar impeller blades (7, 8) connected, respectively, to the free ends (21, 22) of the first and second piezoelectric elements (17, 18) and each having its distal end (7a, 8a) unconstrained by the housing (2), means (9) for detachably mounting a replaceable substrate cartridge (60) containing a volatile substance in proximity to the distal ends (7a, 8a) of the impeller blades (7, 8), and means (30) for applying a voltage to each piezoelectric 'element (17, 18) for oscillating its free end (21, 22) perpendicular to its plane at or close to resonance and propagating a traveling wave along each blade (7, 8) to generate and shed vortices at the distal end (7a, 8a) of each blade (7, 8), such that the vortices contact the substrate cartridge (60), thereby dispensing the volatile substance.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
39 words
The apparatus of claim 2 characterized in that the first and second blades have a high Q-factor, a high stiffness-to-weight ratio and a mass per unit area substantially less than that of the first and second piezoelectric elements, respectively.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
50 words
The apparatus of claim 2 or 3 characterized in that the first and second blades are mounted within the housing in spaced relationship such that the planes of the blades are generally parallel and such that the distal end of each blade protrudes from and is unconstrained by the housing.
Claim 7
Independent Claim
173 words
An apparatus for dispensing volatile substances, characterized by a housing (2), a piezoelectric element (18) having one end (19) mounted to the housing (2) and one end (22) free, a generally planar impeller blade (8) connected to the free end (22) of the piezoelectric element (18) and having its distal end (8a) unconstrained by the housing (2), the blade (8) having a high Q-factor, a high stiffness-to-weight ratio and a mass per unit area substantially less than that of the piezoelectric element (18); means (9) for detachably mounting a replaceable substrate cartridge (60) containing a volatile substance in proximity to the distal end (8a) of the impeller blade (8), and means (30) for applying a voltage to the piezoelectric element (18) for oscillating its free end (22) perpendicular to its plane at or close to resonance and propagating a traveling wave along the blade (8) to generate and shed vortices at the distal end (8a) of the blade (8), such that the vortices contact the substrate cartridge (60), thereby dispensing the volatile substance.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
173 words
An apparatus for dispensing volatile substances, characterized by a housing (2), a piezoelectric element (18) having one end (19) mounted to the housing (2) and one end (22) free, a generally planar impeller blade (8) connected to the free end (22) of the piezoelectric element (18) and having its distal end (8a) unconstrained by the housing (2), the blade (8) having a high Q-factor, a high stiffness-to-weight ratio and a mass per unit area substantially less than that of the piezoelectric element (18); means (9) for detachably mounting a replaceable substrate cartridge (60) containing a volatile substance in proximity to the distal end (8a) of the impeller blade (8), and means (30) for applying a voltage to the piezoelectric element (18) for oscillating its free end (22) perpendicular to its plane at or close to resonance and propagating a traveling wave along the blade (8) to generate and shed vortices at the distal end (8a) of the blade (8), such that the vortices contact the substrate cartridge (60), thereby dispensing the volatile substance.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
14 words
The apparatus of claim 5 characterized in that the Q-factor is at least eight.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
24 words
The apparatus of claim 5 or 6 characterized in that the stiffness-to-density ratio of the blade is more than one million newton-meters per kilogram.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
47 words
The apparatus of any of claims 5 to 7 characterized in that the blade and the piezoelectric element are of uniform width and thickness and the mass per unit area of the blade is less than 60% of the mass per unit area of the piezoelectric element.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
21 words
The -apparatus of any of claims 1-to-8 characterized in that the traveling wave propagated along the blade is a quadrature wave.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
51 words
The apparatus of any of claims 1 to 9 characterized in that the means for detachably mounting the substrate cartridge comprises a frame attached to the housing in proximity to the distal end or ends, respectively, of the blade or blades, respectively, and adapted to detachably mount the replaceable substrate cartridge.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
24 words
The apparatus of claim 10 characterized in that the frame defines an opening in a plane substantially perpendicular to the blade or blades, respectively.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
19 words
The apparatus of claim 18 or 19 characterized in that the frame is an integral part of the housing.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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