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US 6,309,043 B1Granted
Device using the action of a gas for controlling the movement of a fluid
AssigneeEastman Kodak Company
InventorsYannick J. Lerat, Didier J. Martin, Olivier J. Poncelet, Thierry Vachette
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The invention relates to a device for moving fluids. The invention device includes an enclosure, a solid electrolyte which can produce oxygen in the enclosure so as to distort a membrane that acts to move a fluid in an enclosure. This device is useful to produce a head for ink jet printing.
Claims10
A device for controlling fluid movement;
- said device comprising
- a fluid conduit through which fluid can flow;
- a solid electrolyte which is adapted to extract oxygen from air in an enclosure when subjected to an electrical current and heat by dissociating oxygen of air, forming and conducting O2− ions that recombine as oxygen on arriving in the enclosure, said electrolyte being disposed relative to the fluid conduit so that oxygen arrived in the enclosure is acting to control fluid flow through the conduit;
- and
- an electrode adapted to selectively apply an electrical field to the electrolyte.
2 more elements
A process to control fluid movement comprising:
- (i) heating and energizing of a solid electrolyte that is a conductor of O2-ions, to create an electric field in the solid electrolyte which extracts oxygen from air in an enclosure, and the oxygen acting to control the fluid movement;
- (ii) reversing polarity of the solid electrolyte to effect suppression of oxygen pressure in the enclosure;
- and
- (iii) the repetition of the cycle of operations (i) and (ii).
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.