Push Button Anvil Recess for Consistent Aerosol Quality

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional push buttons for pressurized liquid dispensing systems, used in perfumery, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals, face challenges in ensuring consistent aerosol quality due to manufacturing and assembly precision issues, leading to geometric dispersion and deformation of parts, which affects the symmetry and distribution of the aerosol.

Innovation Solution

A push button design featuring a body with a well for mounting on a supply tube and a housing with an anvil, where the spray nozzle is mounted to form a vortex assembly with a recess on the distal wall, ensuring the maximum depth of the recess is between 25% and 300% of the supply channels' minimum depth, maintaining a concave or flat geometry to prevent convex distortions and ensure consistent aerosol quality.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If high-speed industrial assembly is used to mount the spray nozzle on the anvil, then productivity is improved, but manufacturing precision deteriorates due to positioning dispersion

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveassembly speedVSAvoidnozzle positioning precision
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The anvil is pre-formed with a recess during molding that anticipates the pressing deformation. This preliminary action ensures that after the nozzle is pressed onto the anvil at high speed, the distal wall maintains the correct concave geometry without requiring precise manual positioning or post-assembly adjustment.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The recess in the anvil acts as a compensatory feature that absorbs the variability introduced by high-speed assembly. By designing the recess depth to be between 25% and 300% of the supply channel depth, the system accommodates positioning dispersion and material creep without affecting the final vortex assembly geometry or aerosol quality.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #11Beforehand cushioning (Prior cushioning)

2Ease of manufacture

If the distal wall of the anvil is pressed flat against the proximal wall of the nozzle, then assembly simplicity is improved, but shape control deteriorates due to material creep and convex deformation

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveassembly simplicityVSAvoiddistal wall geometry
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of manufactureVSShape

Solution Approach 1:

The anvil is molded with a recess that pre-compensates for the convex deformation that occurs during pressing. This preliminary shaping ensures that even though the pressing operation is simple and forceful, the final geometry remains concave or flat as required, preventing distortion of the vortex assembly.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The recess creates a counteracting geometric feature that prevents the distal wall from becoming convex during pressing. By having the recess present before pressing, it counteracts the material creep and deformation that would otherwise occur, maintaining the necessary concave geometry for proper liquid distribution.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #9Preliminary anti-action

3Stability of the object's composition

If deep recesses are formed in the distal wall of the anvil, then aerosol homogenization is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveaerosol homogeneityVSAvoidanvil geometry complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Stability of the object's compositionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The recess formation is merged with the anvil molding process itself, rather than being a separate post-processing step. This integration maintains manufacturing simplicity while achieving the deep recess geometry needed for aerosol homogenization and counter-vortex chamber formation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The recess depth is defined as a parameter range (25% to 300% of supply channel depth) rather than a fixed value. This parameter-based approach allows optimization of aerosol quality while maintaining ease of manufacture through standard molding processes, avoiding the need for complex multi-step manufacturing.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Applied Scientific Principles

This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.

Function Achieved in This Case

This design guarantees consistent aerosol quality across various production and assembly conditions, maintaining high production rates while preventing material creep and deformation, resulting in a uniform and symmetrical aerosol distribution.

Implementation Method 1

the vortex chamber is arranged to cause the liquid to rotate very rapidly so that it escapes through the orifice with sufficient speed to break up into droplets forming the aerosol

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectVortex: Vortex Ring

Implementation Method 2

the pressing of the nozzle against the anvil sometimes causes the material of said anvil to creep into the supply channels, partially obscuring them

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectCreep: Creep

Implementation Method 3

the distal wall may present after pressing a convex shape disturbing the swirling of the liquid in the chamber

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectSwirling flow: Vortex Ring

Data Source

PatentEP2258484B1Push-button for a pressurised liquid distribution system
Publication Date: 2014.11.05 ALBEA LE TREPORT
  • EP2258484B1 patent drawingFigure 1~3

AI summary

The invention relates to a push button for a pressurized liquid distribution system, said push button comprising a body (1) having a mounting well (3) for a pressurized liquid supply tube and a housing (5) in communication with said well, said housing being provided with an anvil (7) around which a spray nozzle (9) is mounted so as to form a fluid distribution path between said housing and a vortex assembly comprising a vortex chamber (16) provided with a distribution orifice (17) and at least one feed channel (18) for said chamber, said nozzle having a proximal wall (11) in which an impression of the vortex assembly is formed and said anvil having a distal wall (19) against which the proximal wall (11) of the nozzle (9) rests to delimit said vortex assembly between them,said distal wall having a recess (20) which is formed opposite the impression of the vortex chamber (16), the maximum depth of said recess being between 25% and 300% of the minimum depth of the impression of the feed channels (18).