Dr. DeVillbiss perfected and patented the Atomizer for throat treatment. In 1888, DeVilbiss was serving patients in communities around Toledo and the most common treatment for throat infections in those days was to swab the throat. Dr. Devilbiss developed a better method by assembling a hollow rubber ball, a metal jar and a small tube in his workshop. Filling the jar with medicine, a spray would pump out when the ball was squeezed. His spray tip was so unique he received a patent for the idea. Later, his son Thomas found other uses for the device, including perfume atomizers.

By 1907, Thomas and his team had adopted the application to industrial use and invented the first practical compressed air driven paint spray gun. Today, DeVilbiss spray guns are used around the world.