Aerosol dispenser assembly and method of reducing the particle size of a dispensed product

Abstract

An aerosol dispenser assembly ( ) having a container ( ) that contains a liquid product, and a propellant for propelling the liquid product from the container ( ). The propellant is a dual phase hydrocarbon propellant, is free of normal butane, and is at most 25% by weight of the contents of the container. A valve ( ) is attached to the container ( ) for selectively dispensing the liquid product from the container ( ) as a mist, the mist having an average particle size of less than 35 &mgr;m (0.0014″), over at least 75% of the life of the dispenser assembly ( ). The dispenser assembly ( ) is capable of dispensing over 98% by weight of the liquid product from the container ( ). A vapor tap ( ) is formed in the valve ( ) to facilitate thorough mixing of the propellant and the liquid product prior to dispensing, and a valve stem ( ) is disposed in the valve ( ). The valve stem ( ) defines at least one stem orifice ( ) for flow of the product during dispensing. The vapor tap ( ) has a diameter of about 0.013″ (0.330 mm) to about 0.019″ (0.483 mm). A dispenser cap ( ) is mounted on the valve stem ( ) for actuating the valve ( ) to dispense the liquid product. The dispenser cap ( ) defines an exit path ( ), through which the liquid product can be dispensed. A breakup bar ( ) is positioned in the exit path ( ) of the dispenser cap ( ) to break up the liquid product in order to reduce the size of the particles before the liquid product is dispensed.