Bowles Fluidics Corporation

Dlhbowles, Inc.

Dharapuram N Srinath

Ronald D Stouffer

Surya Raghu

Sean T Burns

Shridhar Gopalan

Eric Koehler

Christopher F South

Gregory Adam Russell

An oscillating or pulsing fluid stream, or flow, is produced from a flow of pressurized air by fluidic apparatusin a deviceconfigured for use in surface cleaning, sweeping, lawn care applications, and the like. Converging inlet chamber walls, define a tapered internal lumen having a smooth narrowing profile is configured to generate at a power nozzlea high velocity stream with minimal pressure drop. Downstream of the power nozzle, first and second control ports CP, CPare in fluid communication with the high velocity streamand with each other via an inertance loophaving a lumen of selected cross sectional area and length. The varying air flow is directed through an outlet chambershaped to produce an oscillating flowor a pulsating flow

Method and fluidic apparatus for generating pulsed and oscillating air flow for surface cleaning and sweeping

An oscillating or pulsing fluid stream, or flow, is produced from a flow of pressurized air by fluidic apparatus in a device configured for use in surface cleaning, sweeping, lawn care applications, and the like. A converging nozzle assembly defining a tapered internal lumen having a smooth narrowing profile is configured to generate at a power nozzle a high velocity stream with minimal pressure drop. Downstream of the power nozzle, first and second control ports are in fluid communication with the high velocity stream and with each other via an inertance loop having a lumen of selected cross sectional area and length. The varying air flow is directed through an outlet chamber shaped to produce an oscillating or a pulsating flow.

In many applications where it is desired to distribute a liquid onto a surface at a very small angle of incidence, it will be necessary to reduce the momentum of the droplets to prevent ricochet off the surface. Obvious methods such as using a restrictor, reducing the operating pressure, etc. are not satisfactory due to the inadequate flow, susceptibility to clogging, etc.

Method and apparatus for generation of low impact sprays

A therapeutic spa tub having a waterline and one or more fluidic nozzles for issuing therapeutic jets of water into the tub. The one or more water nozzles each comprises a housing having an inlet for receiving a flow of water under pressure, a fluidic oscillator having an oscillation chamber and at least one power nozzle coupled to the inlet and the oscillation chamber for projecting at least one jet of water into the oscillation chamber in one or more outlets from said oscillation chamber for issuing one or more pulsating jets of water into the spa tub below the waterline. An air passage in the outlet entrains ambient air in water passing through the outlet. The fluidic oscillator is a low frequency reversing chamber oscillator wherein the oscillation chamber has a reversing wall. The power nozzle is centrally located for issuing a jet of water toward the reversing wall, and a pair of liquid passages leads from the reversing chamber on each side of the power nozzle, respectively, for alternating carrying periodic pulses of water and wherein the outlet passages are smoothly extended to intersect at a common outlet to ambient and water from the passages merge to form a low-frequency swept jet of water, and the passages are dimensioned and angulated relative to each other to control a fan angle of liquid jet which is periodically swept into said common outlet to ambient water in said tub.

Spa tub fluidic nozzles

Spa nozzles having dual fluidic nozzles capable of submerged operation and of selectively providing straight, concentrated, non-oscillating jets with air entrainment or an oscillating jet or slugs of water in water to provide a soothing massaging effect with no moving parts.

Fluidic SPA Nozzles with dual operating modes and methods

A fluid mixer and distribution device which comprises an oscillation/mixing chamber having an upstream end, a downstream end, top and bottom walls, sidewalls which diverge from the upstream end and then converge towards the downstream end. A power nozzle, adapted to be coupled to a source of liquid under pressure, issues a main jet of carrier fluid (a liquid, for example) into the upstream end of the oscillation/mixing chamber. The oscillation/mixing chamber has a pair of control ports symmetrically contiguous to the side of the main jet of liquid, and an exit aperture at the downstream end of the oscillation/mixing chamber for the egress of the mixed fluids from the oscillation/mixing chamber to ambient or a point of utilization. One or more sources of fluent materials connected to the control ports, whereby any vacuum caused by the main jet of liquid at the control ports entrains the fluent material for mixing with the carrier jet of liquid in the oscillation/mixing chamber to form a mixture for spraying to ambient through the exit aperture or to a utilization device.

Fluid mixer

A fluidic nozzle having multiple operating modes comprising a fluidic oscillator circuit having an oscillation chamber having an upstream end and a downstream end and a power nozzle at the upstream end for introducing a jet of a liquid (water) into the oscillation chamber. An outlet throat at the downstream end has a width, which does not allow the oscillation circuit to fill up and start to oscillate without entrained liquid. A pair of control ports are at the upstream end of the oscillation chamber and a pair of feedback passages connect said control ports to downstream ends of said oscillation chamber adjacent said outlet throat. A pair of controllable entrainment holes are provided in the oscillation chamber at the upstream end and a valve opens and closes the entrainment holes, such that when the entrainment holes are open to air, air is entrained and the oscillator does not oscillate. Closing the air entrainment holes initiates oscillation and the issuance of a sweeping liquid jet through the outlet throat.

Fluidic nozzle with multiple operating modes

A molded fluid device having a power nozzle with a width W and a coupling passage coupling a source of fluid to the power nozzle. The coupling passage is formed on one chip or insert surface and has a planar enlargement and a plurality of posts spaced across the enlargement, the spacing S between each post being less than the width of the power nozzle with the sum of spacing S being greater than the width W. A liquid spray nozzle is formed on an opposing chip surface and connected to the coupling passage downstream of the posts.

Two-level nozzles with integrated or built-in filters and method

Fluidic spa nozzle

Fluidic oscillators with yawed liquid spray.

Method and apparatus for yawing the sprays issued from fluidic oscillators

A molded fluidic device having a power nozzle with a width W and a coupling passage coupling a source of fluid to said power nozzle. The coupling passage has a planar enlargement and a plurality of posts spaced across the enlargement, the spacing S between each post being less than the width of the power nozzle with the sum of spacing S being greater than the width W.

Nozzles with integrated or built-in filters and method

A vehicle fluidic oscillator for causing a jet of liquid to repeatedly sweep through a selected fan angle has a power nozzle coupled to a source of liquid under pressure, an oscillation chamber having an upstream end and a downstream end with the power nozzle at the upstream end, and an outlet to ambient at the downstream end. A pair of opposed control ports are provided at the upstream end, and sidewalls which diverge from the upstream end and then converge towards the outlet. A pair of control passages connect the downstream end of the oscillation chamber with the control ports, respectively, and a pair of bypass passages, one for each control passage, respectively, connect each control passage with the source of liquid under pressure. A method of adapting a fluidic windshield washer nozzle oscillator to iterations in vehicle designs is carried out by adjusting the widths of the bypass passages in accordance with iterations in such vehicle design to: a) reduce the product design cycle time and b) reduce total system cost.

Method and apparatus for improving improved fluidic oscillator and

A fluidic oscillator which is free of feedback passages has an oscillation chamber having a length greater than its width, a pair of mutually facing and complementarily-shaped sidewalls and planar top and bottom walls, and first and second end walls. An input power nozzle is formed in said first end wall having a width W and a depth D, for issuing a stream of fluid into the oscillation chamber, and form alternately pulsating, cavitation-free vortices in said oscillation chamber on each side of the stream. An outlet opening formed in the downstream end wall and axially aligned with the power nozzle and has a width and depth such that internal pressure in the oscillation chamber is greater than ambient. The outlet wall is hingedly connected to a chamber wall and the chamber is such that it can be molded with the outlet wall hingedly connected thereto in one molding.

Low cost, low pressure fluidic oscillator which is free of feedback

A fluidic oscillator which is free of feedback passages has an oscillation chamber having a length greater than its width, a pair of mutually facing and complementary-shaped sidewalls, planar top and bottom walls, and first and second end walls. An input power nozzle is formed in said first end wall having a width W and a depth D, for issuing a stream of fluid into the oscillation chamber, and form alternately pulsating, cavitation-free vortices in said oscillation chamber on each side of the stream. An interconnect passage or channel proximate the downstream end wall enlarges the sweep angle and improves periodicity of the oscillations. The outlet wall is hingedly connected to a chamber wall and the chamber is such that it can be molded with the outlet wall hingedly connected thereto in one molding and forms one side of the interconnect passage or channel.

Low cost, low pressure, feedback passage-free fluidic oscillator with

A fluidic oscillator which is free of feedback passages has an oscillation chamber having a length greater than its width, a pair of mutually facing and complimentary-shaped sidewalls and planar top and bottom walls, and first and second end walls. Stabilization ribs are formed on at least one of the top and bottom walls. An input power nozzle is formed in said first end wall having a width W and a depth D, for issuing a stream of fluid into the oscillation chamber, and form alternately pulsating, cavitation-free vortices in said oscillation chamber on each side of the stream. An outlet opening formed in the downstream end wall and axially aligned with the power nozzle and has a width and depth such that internal pressure in the oscillation chamber is greater than ambient. The outlet wall is hingedly connected to a chamber wall and the chamber is such that it can be molded with the outlet wall hingedly connected thereto in one molding.

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Ellicott City, MD, United States of America

Dharapuram N Srinath