Aerosol container with flameless delivery valve

An aerosol container for use with compositions containing liquefied flammable propellants, and having a delivery valve that delivers a spray that in either flameless or at worst has an abnormally low flame extension, whether the container is in an upright position or in a fully inverted position, comprising, in combination, a pressurizable container having at least one storage compartment for a liquefied aerosol composition and a liquefied propellant;

• a delivery valve movable manually between open and closed positions, and including a valve stem, a valve stem passage, a valve stem orifice at the beginning of the valve stem passage, and a delivery port;
• a mixing chamber having at least one liquid tap orifice and at least one vapor tap orifice in flow connection with the storage compartment for reception therefrom and mixing together in the chamber liquid aerosol composition and gaseous propellant, respectively;
• an aerosol-conveying passage in flow connection at one end with the mixing chamber and at the other end with the valve stem orifice, manipulation of the delivery valve opening and closing the passage to flow of liquid aerosol composition and gaseous propellant from the storage compartment to the mixing chamber and delivery port;
• and at least two flow constrictions disposed across the passage in the line of flow from the mixing chamber to the valve stem orifice, each constriction having an open area within the range from about 0.05 to about 0.4 mm.sup.2, and at least two expansion chambers, one following each constriction, each having a diameter of at least 25% greater than that of the preceding constriction, thereby increasing the gas:liquid volume ratio in the mixture leaving the delivery port and reducing the flammability of the delivered spray.