Apparatus and method for spraying liquid

Abstract

A liquid to be sprayed and pressurized aerosol are placed in a canister. One end of a hose line is installed in the canister and the other end of the hose is connected to a spray valve which is contained within an actuator assembly. The spray valve is manually actuated by an actuator formed in the actuator assembly. A spray gun has an actuator which abuts against the actuator formed in the actuator assembly and when manually triggered actuates the spray valve to spray the liquid.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a system and method for spraying liquid directly from a relatively large canister which contains both the liquid to be sprayed and pressurized aerosol spray.

2. Description of the Related Art

In prior art devices, liquid is generally sprayed directly from a relatively small container which contains the liquid to be spayed mixed with pressurized gas. Such a device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,146,587 issued on Nov. 14, 2000 to Morgan. Such devices must be hand held and therefore are limited in size. This limited size has limited capacity and in the case of a fairly extensive spraying job, numerous spray cans must be used. This has the disadvantage of higher cost and the wasting of a certain amount of liquid left in each spray can which cannot be ejected due to the lowered pressure in the can when most of the liquid has been expelled. Also, as aerosol cans contain hazardous waste, they must each be disposed of, and with numerous cans, this involves an additional task.

The use of spray guns to more effectively spray the liquid in conjunction with an aerosol can has been developed in the prior art and is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,032,830 issued Mar. 7, 2000 to Brown. Such devices, while they have the improved control of spraying afforded by the spray gun, still have the disadvantages of the use of normal aerosol cans which are attached to the gun. In the '830 patent, in connection with FIG. 6 thereof, a hose is utilized to bring the liquid to be sprayed to the gun, but the spraying is still effected by an aerosol can connected directly to the spray gun.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The system and method of the present invention overcomes the shortcomings of prior art liquid sprayers by placing the liquid to be sprayed along with a pressurized spray gas such as aerosol in a relatively high volume into a relatively large canister. The liquid and pressurized gas is fed through a hose line to an aerosol valve and actuator in the vicinity of the article to be sprayed The hose is coupled to a line connected to the aerosol valve by means of a connector device which while providing excellent air tight sealing can nevertheless readily be disconnected to enable replacement of the hose or valve. A spray gun can be used to actuate the spray valve actuator. The article to be sprayed is sprayed continually until the contents of the canister have been exhausted. The canister has a knockout punch which enables the user to completely empty the canister when the spraying terminates.

The system and method of the invention has the advantage of obviating the need for utilizing multiple small aerosol cans which must be disposed of as hazardous waste. Most important, with the present invention, the canisters employed can be re-cycled and need not be disposed of after the initial use thereof. This provides a significant economic advantage. Further, the system and method of the present invention is much more economical, especially where a relatively large spraying job is involved. In additiona, continuous spraying is provided obviating the need to switch to additional aerosol cans when the contents of each such can is exhausted. In addition, while an optimum air tight connection is provided between the hose and the spray valve by a connector assembly, this assembly is designed to permit ready disconnection of the hose from the valve when repair or replacement of parts is required.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top side perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the system of the invention;

FIG. 2 is side cross sectional view of the valve and coupler assemblies and their housing, of the preferred embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a side cross sectional view showing the valve and coupler assemblies of the preferred embodiment within their housing;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the valve assembly of the preferred embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view illustrating the operation of the valve of the preferred embodiment by direct manual actuation; and

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view illustrating the operation of the preferred embodiment by a spray gun actuator.

Referring to FIG. 1, a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated. Canister 11 which may have a 1-5 gallon capacity has a liquid to be sprayed contained therein along with a pressurized aerosol gas 16 mixed in the liquid, as shown through a cutaway view made for illustrative purposes in the canister. The canister is kept air tight to assure constant pressurization. The liquid-gas mixture is fed out of the canister through disconnnectable air tight valve and coupler assembly 47, to one end of hose 12. The opposite end of hose 12 is connected to spray actuator assembly 43 through air tight coupler assembly 40 contained within valve housing 14, as can best be seen in FIGS. 2, 3, and 4. The valve actuator may be actuated by means of conventional spray gun 15 which is supported on the top piece 43a of actuator assembly 43.

Spray gun 15 has an actuator (not shown) which is operated by means of the gun trigger 15a to drive actuator 46 against spray valve 48 to effect spraying of the liquid from the canister. The spray valve is mounted within actuator assembly 43. The spray actuator 46 may, in the alternative be directly actuated by one's finger, as shown in FIG. 5.

Referring now to FIGS. 2-4, the actuator assembly 43 for actuating the liquid spray and a connector assembly for removably joining the hose to the actuator assembly are illustrated. The connector assembly has a threaded tube 45 with a nut formed at its center, a hollow clamp fitting 41, which is tapered inwardly from its central portion, and a hollow nut 44 which engages the threads of tube 45. The actuator assembly 43 includes a circular top portion 43a, a first tubular extension 43b, and a second tubular extension 43c having a smaller diameter than the first extension. Spray actuator 46 is installed in an aperture in the top of the circular portion 43a and engages the spray valve 49 mounted within assembly 43, the valve being resiliently upwardly to its closed position.

The hose 42 is held in a force fitted connection to extension 43b in the following manner. Hose 42 is first fitted through the apertures in threaded tube 45, clamp fitting 41, and nut 44 and installed over extension 43c. Clamp fitting 41 is then installed within nut 44 and threaded tube then placed within nut 44 and tightened therein. The clamp fitting is thereby driven so that it clamps the hose tightly in engagement with extension 43c. This provides an extra air tight connection without the need for conventional clamps which generally prevent ready disconnecting of the hose.

While the invention has been described and illustrated in detail, this intended by way of example and illustration only and not by way of limitation, the spirit and scope of the invention being limited only by the terms of the following claims.

Claims

1. A system for dispensing liquid in the form of a spray comprising a canister for containing liquid; a liquid to be sprayed contained within said canister; a pressurized gas spray for driving said liquid contained within said canister; a valve for releasing said liquid in the form of a spray; a means for actuating said valve to release said liquid; a hose line, one end of said hose line being connected to within said canister to receive liquid therefrom, and means for removably connecting the other end of said hose line to said valve in an air tight manner.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein said means for actuating said valve comprises an actuator assembly surrounding said valve and including a manually actuable member for actuating the valve.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein said means for actuating said valve further includes a gun for actuating said manually actuable member.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein said means for removably connecting said valve to said hose comprises an actuator assembly connected to said valve, said actuator assembly including a top portion having a channel formed there through, a tubular extension portion fluidly coupled to said top portion and having a reduced diameter, said extension portion being fitted within the hose, a threaded tube, a nut having threads which engage the threads of said tube, a clamp fitting having an aperture formed in the central portion thereof, said clamp fitting having inwardly tapered portions at both ends thereof, one of said tapered portions abutting against one end of said threaded tube, said threaded tube being rotatably tightened in said nut against said one of said tapered portions of said clamp fitting, the other of the tapered portions of said clamp fitting being driven against the portion of the hose in which said extension portion is fitted.

5. The system of claim 1 and further including a housing for housing both the actuating means and the connecting means

6. A method for spraying liquid comprising the steps of: filling a canister with liquid to be sprayed and a pressurized gas for driving said liquid; connecting one end of a hose line to the interior of said canister; removably connecting the end of said hose line opposite to said one end of said hose line to a valve in an air tight manner to convey said liquid to said valve, placing an actuator for actuating said valve in proximity to said valve; and manually actuating said valve to spray said liquid therefrom.

7. The method of claim 6 and further including mounting said actuator and valve within the housing.