The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 21, 2015
Filed:
Jul. 26, 2012
Doron Schlumm, Kfar Harif, IL;
Ami Shiff, Tel Aviv, IL;
Doron Schlumm, Kfar Harif, IL;
Ami Shiff, Tel Aviv, IL;
Hewlett-Packard Indigo B.V., Maastricht, NL;
Abstract
Apparatus for draining liquid droplets from a surface is described. The apparatus comprises an array of oleophilic channels substantially interspersed with oleophobic material, wherein a width of an oleophilic channel is arranged to move liquid associated with said droplets along the oleophilic channel by capillary action and wherein a distance between two successive oleophilic channels is less than a critical droplet diameter, the critical droplet diameter corresponding to a droplet that will separate from the surface. The oleophilic channels act to preferentially attract condensed oil and the oleophobic material acts to repel condensed oil such that formation of droplets is restricted by the oleophilic channel. By selecting an appropriate channel width, the size of droplets is prevented from exceeding a critical size, at which the droplets can no longer be held by surface tension to the condensing surface and drip away from the condensing surface.