Method of manufacturing nebuliser aperture plates

Abstract

A method of producing an aperture plate for a nebuliser is described. A substrate (2) is patterned with a resist (5, 6) and a metal (10) is applied by electroless deposition so that the resist forms a desired aperture pattern. The substrate (2) has an array of domes (2(b)) to provide aperture plates (16) with domes (101) and flanges (102) without need for application of mechanical force pressing after deposition. The substrate is shaped for simultaneous manufacture of a plurality of aperture plates in which the resist pattern provides a deposition region for each aperture plate. By using electroless plating the aperture plate accuracy is excellent, especially for defining apertures having a diameter in the rang of only less than 10 μm, and having improved corrosion and fracture resistance for high frequency nebulizer operation.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.