DUAL-HEADED PAINT SPRAY WAND

Abstract

A dual-headed paint spray wand with a central feed tube split into two arms, where the arms are separated at a distance from one another to permit a paint overlap when paint is sprayed from the two arms, and where the two arms are offset from one another vertically to allow one arm to spray ahead of the other.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a dual-headed paint spray wand.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Because the cost of both labor and material are two of the most important factors in the overall cost of a painting job, paint spray devices are often employed to control these costs. The prior art for paint spray systems is, however, highly inefficient, relying as it does upon a single paint spray tip, which is often mounted on a single paint spray arm. This results in poor transfer efficiency from overspray, often resulting in as much as 60% waste, and a slow application rate. A need thus exists for a paint spray system that offers greater efficiencies than existing systems in terms of both time and material savings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a dual-headed paint spray wand comprising a central paint feed tube that attaches at one end to a standard airless paint spray gun and attaches at the other end to a three-way manifold that splits the central feed tube into two arms, each with a 90° offset bend. At the end of each arm is a standard threaded coupling permitting the attachment to the end of each arm of a standard paint spray assembly comprising a tip guard, reversible paint spray tip and an on-off knob. The two arms are spaced apart so as to create an overlap of approximately 40% to 50% between the paint spray fans. The overlap is design to provide twice the coverage of traditional paint sprayers with each pass of the gun. In addition, the two arms are vertically offset. This is done to avoid having the spray fans collide and create turbulence.

In operation, a user of the invention attaches the wand to the paint feed tubing of any standard airless paint sprayer. The invention draws paint from the paint sprayer through the central feed tube, into the three-way manifold and into the two arms, where the paint flows into paint spray tips contained in two paint spray assemblies and out onto the surface to be painted in the shape of a fan. Because of the 40% to 50% overlap in the paint spray fans created by the spacing of the two arms, the invention permits the user to cover twice as much surface area as one using a sprayer equipped with only one tip, which effectively cuts labor time in half. Because of the vertical offset between tips, making one spray in advance of the other, the wand design avoids having the spray fans collide and create turbulence.

A method for painting a surface is also provided by the present invention. The method includes the step of providing a dual paint spray wand having two spray fans that overlap by 40-50% where one spray fan sprays in advance of the other. The method further comprises a means for stopping the flow of paint spray from at least one of spray fans using a shut-off valve.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reference to following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

The invention may be better understood by referring to the following figures. The components in the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a front view of one example of an implementation of a paint spray wand of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side perspective view of the paint spray wand of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the paint spray wand of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a front view of one example of an implementation of the paint spray wand of the present invention with the paint spray assemblies removed from the arms of the wand.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the paint spray wand of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a top view of the paint spray wand of FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is a front view of one example of the three-way manifold of the paint spray wand of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a rear view of the three-way manifold of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a side view of one example of the three-way manifold of FIG. 7.

FIG. 10 is a bottom view of the three-way manifold of FIG. 7.

FIG. 11 is a top view of the paint spray wand of the present invention showing the spray fan produced by each paint spray assembly when in use.

FIG. 12 is a front view of the paint spray wand of the present invention showing the spray fan produced by each paint spray assembly when in use.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As illustrated in FIGS. 1-12, the present invention is a dual-headed paint spray wand 100. As will be explained further below, the dual-headed spray wand 100 of the present invention provides better coverage than traditional paint sprayers and cuts down on painting time.

FIG. 1 is a front view of one example of an implementation of a paint spray wand 100 of the present invention. As illustrated by FIG. 1, the wand 100 consists of a central paint feed tube 102 between 2″ and 10″ in length that attaches at one end to a standard airless paint spray gun (not shown) using a hand-tightening or wrench tightened threaded connection 104. The feed tube 102 attached at the end opposing attachment to the paint spray gun to a three-way manifold 108 via threaded connection 106.

The three-way manifold 108 splits the central feed tube 102 into two arms 110a and 110b, positioned upward and separated from one other at a predetermined distance. As shown in FIG. 1, each arm may be connected to the manifold 108 by a threaded connection 112a and 112b, or alternatively maybe welded to the manifold. At the end of each arm 110a and 11b is a standard threaded coupling 114a and 114b, which permits the attachment of a standard paint spray assembly 116a, 116b (as shown in FIGS. 1-3) to the arms. The standard paint spray assemblies 116a, 116b comprise tip guards 118a, 118b with reversible paint spray tips 120a, 120b (see FIG. 3), and knobs 122a, 122b that permit the user of the invention to shut-off the flow of paint to each assembly 116a, 116b by turning the knobs 122a, 122b.

The central feed tube 102 and two arms 110a, 110b, may be constructed of metal; however, those skilled in the art will recognize that they may be constructed of other durable materials, e.g. plastic, capable of supporting the paint spray assemblies 116a, 116b and allowing the flow of paint thereto pass without rupturing or bending.

FIG. 2 is a side perspective view of the paint spray wand 100 of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 provides a closer view of the view of the threaded connection 106 to the three-way manifold 108 and the split of the central feed tube 102 into two arms 110a and 110b by the manifold 108. In this example, the two arms 110a and 110b are connected to the manifold 108 via threaded connections 112a and 112b. Also illustrated in FIG. 2 is the standard threaded coupling 114a and 114b connecting the standard paint spray assemblies 116a, 116b with tip guards 118a, 118b, reversible paint spray tips 120a, 120b and knobs 122a, 122b to the two arms 110a and 110b.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the paint spray wand 100 of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 best shows the vertical offset of the paint spray assemblies 116a, 116b which cause the paint spray from one tip 120b to spray in advance or behind the other tip 120a when in use. FIG. 3 also illustrates the three-way manifold 108 splitting the central feed tube 102 into the two side arms 110a and 110b, connected to the manifold 108 by threaded connections 112a, 112b. Also shown are the standard threaded couplings 114a and 114b connecting the standard paint spray assemblies 116a, 116b (having tip guards 118a, 118b, reversible paint spray tips 120a, 120b and knobs/shut-off valves 122a, 122b) to the two arms 110a and 110b.

FIG. 4 is a front view of one example of an implementation of the paint spray wand 100 of the present invention with the paint spray assemblies 116a and 116b (FIGS. 1-3) removed from the arms 110a and 110b of the wand. In one example of an implementation, each arm may be of a length a, which may range between 5″ and 10″ for standard applications. The centers of the standard threaded couplings 114a, 114b or arms 110a and 110b are separated by distance b. During use, when paint is expelled from the tips 120a and 120b (FIG. 3), a paint fan is created. The distance b is designed to be a distance that permits overlap between the paint fans when the paint is sprayed from the tip. An approximate overlap of 40% to 50% between the paint spray fans is desirable, although the overlap could be greater or less depending upon the application or intended use. The overlap is design to provide more coverage with each pass of the wand 100 while spraying than traditional paint sprayers.

In general, distance b may vary based upon size of the paint tips 120a, 120b being used. For tips that produce larger fans, for example, a 14″ fan, the spray wand 100 may be designed with distance b equal to approximately 7-8″. For tips that produce a 12″ fan, distance b may be approximately 6-7″. For tips that produce a smaller fan, for example, a 6″ fan, distance b could be approximately 3-4″. Different spray wands 100 may be designed to accommodate specific tips and specific uses or applications. Depending upon the application and tip sizes, the distance b may vary from 3-8 inches. For some applications, the distance may be less than 3 inches or larger than 8 inches.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the paint spray wand of FIG. 4 and FIG. 6 is a top view of the paint spray wand of FIG. 4. FIGS. 5 and 6 best illustrates the vertical offset between the arms 110a and 100b to allow one paint spray assembly 116a and 116b (FIGS. 1-3) to spray in advance of the other. As illustrated, the two arms 110a, 110b are vertically offset by distance c. Distance c may range between ½″ and 5″. One purpose of the offset is to avoid having the spray fans collide and create turbulence.

While other paint spray assemblies 116a and 116b may be used without departing from the invention, generally, size 615 or 617 paint spraying tips 120a and 116b will be used with the paint spray assemblies 116a and 116b. The initial number “6” in the paint spraying tip number is doubled to determine the size of the paint fan produced by the tip. So, a 615 paint tip produces a fan of 12″. The numbers 15 and 17 indicate the orifice size of the paint tip, which depends on the type of paint and thickness the user is spraying. Those skilled in the art will recognize that other sizes of paint tip may be employed with the invention, e.g. tips as small as a number 3, producing a 6″ fan for finer enamel finishes, and as large as a number 7, producing a 14″ fan, for large, commercial applications. Different sized paint spray wands 100 may be designed for such uses with smaller or larger tips without departing from the scope of the invention.

FIG. 7-10 illustrate front, rear, side and bottom views, respectively, of an example manifold 108 that may be used in connection with the paint spray wand 100 of the present invention. As described above, the manifold 108 separates the flow of paint from the paint feed tube 102 into two streams of paint that flow up through the two arms 110a and 110b to the paint spray assemblies 116a, 116b. This can be done using a T-type valve as shown in FIGS. 1-6 and as shown by the internal flow paths 800 of FIGS. 8-10. The valve or manifold 108, however designed, includes an input 702 into which the paint flows into the valve and two outputs 704.

FIG. 7 shows one example of an external design for the manifold. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the external design is ornamental and can be designed with many different configurations without impacting functionality. FIG. 8 shows the flow of the paint through both the input 702 and two outputs 704. FIG. 9 shows one of the flow output orifices and FIG. 10 illustrated the input orifice 702.

FIGS. 11 and 12 illustrate the paint flow from the paint spray wand 100 when in use. FIG. 11 is a top view of the paint spray wand 100 showing the spray fan 1102a and 1102b produced by each paint spray assembly 116a, 116b when in use. FIG. 12 is a front view of the paint spray wand 100 showing the spray fan 1102a, 1102b produced by each paint spray assembly 116a, 116b when in use.

In operation, a user of the invention attaches the wand 100 of any standard airless paint sprayer, such as a Grayco 395 model, to the paint feed tube 102 using the hand-tightening or wrench tightened threaded connection 104. The wand 100 draws paint from the paint sprayer through the central feed tube 102, into the three-way manifold 108 and into the two arms 110a, 110b, where it flows into the paint spray tips 120a and 120b (FIG. 3) contained in the paint spray assemblies 116a, 116b and out onto the surface to be painted in the shape of a fan.

As illustrated in FIG. 12, because of overlap in the paint spray fans created by the spacing of the two arms 110a, 110b, the invention permits the user to cover twice as much surface area as one using a sprayer equipped with only one tip, which effectively cuts labor time in half. As illustrated in FIG. 11, because of the vertical offset between tips, one spray is in advance of the other. Thus, wand design 100 avoids having the spray fans 1102a and 1104b collide and create turbulence.

As discuss above, the space between the arms 110a and 110b to create the overlap may be between 3 to 8 inches or more. The paint fan created by the spray d can vary based upon the tip size of the paint spray assembly 116a and 116b and may generally vary from 6 to 14 inches, producing an overall spray e of generally 9 to 21 inches. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the wand 100 may be designed to vary the above distance ranges depending upon desired use, application and tip sizes used with various wand 100 sizes.

A method for painting a surface is also provided by the present invention. The method includes the step of providing a dual paint spray wand that sprays two overlapping paint fans where one paint fan sprays in advance of the other. The method may be performed in connection with the wand 100 taught above or any other wand 100 that provides for two spray arms that produce two paint sprays where the distance between the arms causes the paint spray to overlap and where the arms are vertically offset such that the spray from the arm positioned closest to the wall during operation will spray paint on the wall in advance of the spray coming from the other arm. The vertical offset places one arm in front of the other during use, such that one arm is closer in proximity to the wall than the other.

Further, knob 122a and 122b operate as shut-off valves and can, when turned, cause the paint flowing to the paint spraying tips 120a, 120b to be stopped. This can allow for the wand to be used as a single tip sprayer for tight cut-in on walls, around doors, casings and corners.

The foregoing description of implementations has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not exhaustive and does not limit the claimed invention to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above description or may be acquired from practicing the invention. The claims and their equivalents define the scope of the invention.

Other devices, apparatus, systems, methods, features and advantages of the invention will be or will become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the invention, and be protected by the accompanying claims.

Claims

1. A dual-headed paint spray wand with a central feed tube split into two arms where each arm has a spray end capable of spraying paint and producing a paint fan when in use, where the two arms are separated at a predetermined distance from one another to permit the paint fan produced by the two arms when in use to overlap, and where the two arms are vertically offset from one another to allow one arm to spray paint ahead of the other arm.

2. The wand of claim 1 where the paint overlap is a 40 to 50 percent overlap of the two paint fans produced by the two arms.

3. The wand of claim 1 where the predetermined distance between of the two arms is between 3 to 8 inches.

4. The wand of claim 1 where the vertical offset of the two arms is between ½ an inch to 5 inches.

5. The wand of claim 1 where the spray end of each arm includes a paint spray assembly that produces a paint fan ranging from 6 to 14 inches.

6. A method for painting a surface, the method including the step of providing a dual paint spray wand that produces two paint spray fans that overlap, where one paint spray fan sprays in advance of the other.

7. The method of claim 6 where the paint spray fans overlap by 40-50 percent.

8. The method of claim 6 where the two paint sprays are produced by paint spray assemblies separated from one another by a predetermined distance.

9. The method of claim 6 where the paint spray assemblies are separated from one another by 3 to 8 inches.

10. The method of claim 6 where the paint spray fans are vertically offset from one another causing one paint spray fan to spray in advance of the other when painting a surface.

11. A dual-headed paint spray wand with a central feed tube split into two arms where the two arms are separated at a predetermined distance from one another and where the two arms are vertically offset from one another.

12. The wand of claim 11 where the predetermined distance between of the two arms is between 3 to 8 inches and where the vertical offset of the two arms is between ½ an inch to 5 inches.