Pressure multiplying aerosol pump

Abstract

A hand-held dispensing device operable to dispense a fluid as an atomized spray by hydraulic pressure. The device includes a cartridge containing a fluid to be dispensed and a pressure-multiplying piston pump operable by liquefied gas pressure and manually controlled by a valve. The pump is configured to receive pressure from a compartment containing liquefied gas and transmit higher pressure to the fluid to be dispensed. The pressure multiplying pump produces high pressure, typically between 6-30 bar, which is suitable for generation of fine spray by hydraulic atomization. The device uses about 1/10th the amount of liquefied gas compared to a propellant-based aerosol therefore it has a significant ecological and health benefits.

1 . A hand held hydraulic atomization device for dispensing fluid droplets of liquid through a discharge orifice, the device comprising:
 a fluid container for storing the liquid to be dispensed through the discharge orifice;   a gas container for storing liquefied gas having a predetermined vapor pressure, in an amount predetermined to be sufficient to dispense the liquid stored in the container;   a pressure-multiplying piston pump having a piston member and a cylinder, the piston member including two skirt-like lip seals, the first lip seal oriented to expand against the cylinder wall under gas pressure and the second lip seal oriented to expand against the cylinder wall under fluid pressure, the piston pump configured to receive gas from a gas container, multiplying the pressure of the gas and transmitting the multiplied gas pressure to a portion of liquid in the fluid container to be dispensed;   a swirl chamber receiving the pressurized liquid to be dispensed and inducing a spinning motion to the pressurized liquid prior to dispensing through the discharge orifice; and   a control valve operable to control the flow of gas from the gas container to the pressure multiplying piston pump.   
     
     
         2 . The hydraulic atomization device of  claim 1  further comprising a nozzle insert wherein the swirl chamber is incorporated in the nozzle insert which also includes the discharge orifice. 
     
     
         3 . The hydraulic atomization device of  claim 1  wherein the fluid container is made of plastic material including high-density-polyethylene (HDPE), post-consumer resin (PCR), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), polypropylene (PP), K-Resin Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), PETG or PET. 
     
     
         4 . The hydraulic atomization device of  claim 1  or  claim 3  wherein the fluid container contains air freshener composition. 
     
     
         5 . The hydraulic atomizing device of  claim 4  wherein the Sauter D[4,3] mean droplets size of the air freshener composition in  claim 4  ranges from 20 μm to 60 μm. 
     
     
         6 . The hydraulic atomizing device of  claim 1  wherein the fluid container contains a cosmetic composition, comprising one of hair spray, body spray, deodorant, antiperspirant, or perfume. 
     
     
         7 . The hydraulic atomizing device of  claim 6  wherein the Sauter D[4,3] mean droplet size of the cosmetic composition ranges from 7 μm to 60 μm.