US2115959A - Combined dropper and atomizer - Google Patents

Description

May '3, 1938.

E. G. LEWIS COMBINED DROPPER AND ATOMIZER Filed Feb. 3, 1936 9: l INVENTOR.

ATTORN EYS Patented May 3, 1938 UNITED STATES "PATENT OFFICE 2,115,959 d i CODIBINED DROPPER AND ATOMIZER Edward G. Lewis, Los Angeies, Caliifi, assignor to Beverly Products Corporatio CaliL, a corporation oi! Califo In, Los Angeles,

Application February a, 1936, SerialNo. 62,050

'5 Claims (or 299-90) Fig. ,4 is a vertical section through the upper This invention nelates to a dispensing container, and is a continuation in'part of my prior application entitled Dispensing container, Serial No. 11,270, filed March 15, 1935.

While features of theinvention may be appliedin dispensing devices of difierent constructions, in the present application the invention is described as applied to aj device fordispensing "small quantities of medicants; andone of. the

1 objects of the invention is to produce a device for. this purpose, having a construction which will enable it to be used as an ordinary dropper in one position of the device, and as a sprayer or atomizer when the same isheld in another position. This double .i'unction is very desirable in a device of this kind when used for applying medicants in the nostrils, because the patient in some 1 cases, may prefer toapply drops in the nostrils, and in other cases to apply a spray or atomized 2o jet of the liquid. In fact, in some cases it may be desirable to apply drops and also employ the device asanatomizer, because of the fact that the atomizing spray will carry up into the higher nasal chambers that cannot be reached at all by means of drops merely inserted in the nostrils.

A further object of. the invention is to produce a device of this kind capable of functioning as an atomizer anda dropper, and which is capable of being constructed at very low cost.

30 Further objects of the invention will appear hereinaften a The invention consists in the novel parts and combination of parts to be described hereinafter, all oi which contribute to produce an eflicient 85 combined dropper andatomizer. t

A preferred embodiment of the invention is described in the 'following specification, while the broad scope of the invention is pointed out in the appended claims. a 1 In the drawing: l

Fig. 1 is a vertical section through the device embodying my invention illustrating a simple form of the device in which the body has a tapered nozzleat its upper end- Fig. 2 is a vertical section illustrating another embodiment of the device and showing the same in side elevation, inserted in a small vial.

1 Fig. 3 is a vertical section similar to Fig.1, and

showing the device illustrated in Fig. 2, but in an upright position adapting it to be used as an atomizer. This embodiment of the invention involves amodiiication in the construction of, the compressible bulb of the device, which adapts it to operate as a stopperin the vial, as illustrated in Fig; 2. p

end of the tubular body of the combined atomizer and dropper embodying my invention, and illustrating a modification in the construction of the body adjacent its upper end or tip.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 2, but illustrating another construction for the device, which adapts it to be carried in a screw cap applied to d the neck of a small viaL,

Referring more particularly to the parts, and especially to, Fig. 1, I indicates a tubular body for the device, which is preferably made 01! glass or similar material, and provided atits upper end with a tapered nozzle 2 at the end of which a minute delivery orifice 3 is formed. In the interior ofthe tapered nozzle 2 I rigidly secure a liquid tube i, the upper end of which communicates with the minute delivery orifice 3, by means of an inlet extending transversely to the length of the tube. The lower end of the tube is disposed near the bottom wall 5 of the compressible bulb 6 that is attached to the lower end of the tube I. These bulbs are commonin droppers as now constructed, and the attachment to the tube is usually effected by providing a rounded bead 1' at the end of the tube, over which the neck 8 of the bulb is stretched so as to make an air-tight and liquid-tight connection. a

The use of the tube 4 in a dropper of this construction is a feature of my invention. In order to enable the device to operate as an atomizer, or as. a'dropper, I provide the wall of the liquid tube 4 withan inlet 9 which, in the upright position otthe device illustrated in Fig. 1, communicates with the air space i0, above the liquid level, II.

, In the operation of the device illustratedin Fig. 1, when the bulb 6 is squeezed the air in the air chamber 10 is more or less compressed, and liquid will, be forced up the tube. At the same time, as this liquidpasses the inlet 9, slightly compressed air from the air chamber ill will enter the liquid stream in a lateral direction,

mix with it, andthe result is that an atomizing spray will issue from the minute orifice 3.as indicated by the dotted lines, said spray consisting I of minutely divided particles of the liquid mixed with the air. The strength and extent of this atomizing spray is somewhat surprising in practice, in view of the fact that the pressure in the cavities within the nose. It also is advantageous in case the device is employed for spraying insecticides.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Fig. 3, the construction is modified so that instead of having an integral tapered nozzle as in Fig. 1, I provide the upper end of the body I 2 with a rounded tip it which is formed with a reduced neck I, which is secured in the tubular body, saidrounded tip having a minute orifice IS with a small bore l6 into which the upper end of the liquid feed tube I may be inserted. This tip l3 may be formed of a composition capable of being molded, and the tube llmay be inserted before the molded tipsare cooled, whereupon th y will shrink on the tube and secure themselves rigidly to it. v

The device illustrated in Fig. 3 is also modified as to the construction of the bulb It, .the bulb being provided with a neck iii to be stretched over the bead 20 of the body II, the said neck l9 constituting a stopper and having a substantially conical outer face 2|, which enables it to be used as a stopper in the neck of a small vial 22, as illustrated in Fig. 2. The liquid tube I l is, of course, provided with an inlet opening 23 above the level of the liquid.

Fig. 4 illustrates a modification of the upper end of the tubular body, which modification consists in forming the body with an enlargement or expanded head 24, which is located just below the tip 25 and in the-vicinity of the inlet 26. The purpose of this expanded head is to give an increased volume for the tube at this level, thereby assisting in keeping the level of the liquid down below the level of the inlet 26.

In Figure 5 I illustrate how the device constructed with the tip l3 illustrated in Fig. 3, may be adapted for mounting it in a, screw cap 21 for a small vial 28, in accordance with the method which is now in use for securing droppers in vials. Y

It will be evident that the device can be used as an ordinary dropper if held in an inverted position, for the reason that the delivery orifice in the tip is a minute orifice so small that air cannot pass up through it and through liquid standing in the tube. When the device is being used as a dropper, of course, the end of the liquid tube that is in the interior of the bulb will be above the liquid level, but at this time the inlet 9 or 23 through the wall of the liquid tube will be below the level of the liquid and will feed the liquid down so that it can be expelled drop by drop by slightly compressing the rubber bulb 6 or I 8;

It is understood that the embodiment of the invention described herein is only one of the many embodiments this invention may take, and I.do not wish to be limited in the practice of the invention, nor in the claims, to the particular embodiment set forth.

What I claim is:

1. A combined atomizer and dropper device comprising the combination of a rigid tubular body havinga minute orifice at its upper end,

and having a bulb of compressible material at its lower end, a liquid feed tube rigidly secured at the upper end of the body so as to communi cate with the orifice andextending at its lower end into the interior of the compressible bulb,

. said tube having a transverse inlet through its wall adjacent its upper end located so as to be above the level of liquid held in the device, and opening communication between the interior of the tube and the'-air space within the tubular body above the liquid level, said parts cooperating when the compressible bulb is held downwardly and compressed, so that a mixture of air and liquid will be forced through the orifice; said inlet also operating to admit liquid to the tube when the device is held with the minute orifice downward, so as to enable the device to operate as a dropper.

2. A combined atomizer and dropper device comprising the combination of a rigid tubular body, a tip secured in the upper end of the body and having a minute orifice therethrough, a bulb of compressible material at the lower end of the body, a liquid feed tube rigidly secured in said tip so as to communicate with the orifice and extending at its lower end into the interior of the compressible bulb, said tube having a transverse inlet through its wall adjacent its upper end located so as to be above the level of liquid held in the device, and opening communication between the interior of the tube and the air space within the tubular body above the liquid level, said parts cooperating when the compressible bulb is held downwardly and compressed, so that a, mixture of air and liquid will be forced through the orifice; said inlet also operating to admit liquid to the tube when the device is held with the minute orifice downward, so as to enable the device to operate as a dropper.

3. A combined atomizer and dropper device comprising the combination of a rigid tubular body, a tip secured in the upper. end of the body and having a minute orifice therethrough, a'bulb oi compressible material at the lower end of the body, a liquid feed tube rigidly secured in said tip so as to communicate with the orifice and extending at its lower end into the interior of the compressible bulb, said tube having a transverse inlet through its wall adjacent its upper end located so as to be above the level of liquid held in the device, and opening communication between the interior of the tube and the air space within the tubular body above the liquid level, said parts cooperating when the compressible bulb is held downwardly and compressed, so that a mixture of air and liquid will be forced through .the orifice; said, inlet also operating to admit liquid to the tube when the device is held with the minute orifice downward, so as to en able the device to operate as a dropper, said body having an enlarged head adjacent said tip and surrounding the liquid tube at said inlet.

-4. A combinedatomizer and dropper device comprising the combination of a rigid tubular body having a minute orifice at its upper end, and having a bulb of compressible material at its lower end, a liquid feed tube rigidly secured at the upper end of the body so as to communicate with the orifice and extending at its lower end into the interior of the compressible bulb, said tube having a transverse inlet through its wall adjacent its upper end located so as to be above the level of liquid held in the device, and opening communication between the interior of the tube and the air space within the tubular body above the liquid level, said parts cooperating when the compressible bulb is held downwardly and compressed, so that a mixture of air and liquid will be forced through the orifice; said inlet also operating to admit liquid to the tube when the device is held with the minute orifice downward, so as to enable the device to operate as a dropper, said bulb having means associated therewith for enabling thedevice to be on the neckoi a vial.

i 5. A combined atomiaerand dropper device comprising the combination of a rigid tubular body having a minute orifice at its upper end and having a bulb of compressible material at its lower end. a liquid feed tube rigidly secured at the upper end of the body so as to communicate with the orifice and extending at its lowerend to a pointadiacent the compressible bulb, saidtube havin: an inlet-extending through its wall for admitting air ina transverse direction into the liquid feed tube, said inlet locatedad mim tem the upper. end of the tube so as to be above the level of liquid held in the device, ancl' opening communication between the interior of the tube and the air space within the tubular body above the liquid level, said parts cooperat ins when the compressible bulb is held downwardly and compressed, so that a mixture of air and liquid will be forced through the orifice;

said inlet also operating to admit liquid to the tube when the device is held with the minute orifice downward, so as to enable the device to operate as a dropper.

EDWARD G. e;

lil

Images