1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates broadly to liquid sprayers. More particularly, this invention relates to liquid sprayers for dispensing a product by aspiration into the flow of a carrier liquid on connection of the sprayer to a pressurized source of the carrier liquid, such as to the end of a hose.
2. State of the Art
A number of hose-end sprayer assemblies have been developed for siphoning of liquid product from an attached container and discharging the siphoned liquid product in diluted form by a carrier liquid delivered by the hose. U.S. Pat. No. 6,378,785, commonly owned by assignee of the present invention, discloses an exemplary hose-end sprayer assembly that has a single valve for regulating between off, rinse and spray operational modes.
While such a sprayer represents a marked improvement over prior siphoning-type hose-end sprayers for garden, lawn and hard-surface applications, the sprayer is capable of siphoning from one liquid container at a time. Thus, for applications that require multiple products, the user must change out containers. In other applications that require mixing of two products, the two products must be mixed in a container before attachment to the hose-end sprayer. These operations are cumbersome and awkward and limit the commercial success of the sprayer in such applications.
Thus, there remains a need in the art for a siphoning-type hose-end sprayer that is readily adapted for siphoning one or more liquid products selectively and possibly mixing liquid products to fit various needs and uses.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a siphoning-type hose-end sprayer that is readily adapted for siphoning one or more liquid products selectively and possibly mixing liquid products to fit various needs and uses.
It is another object of the invention to provide such a siphoning type hose-end sprayer that ensures proper mounting and orientation of a liquid storage container connected thereto.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a dual chamber liquid sprayer that ensures proper mounting and orientation of the two liquid storage chambers connected thereto.
In accord with these objects, which will be discussed in detail below, an improved liquid sprayer assembly is provided for connection to a container which preferably includes two liquid storage compartments. The assembly includes a housing with a container mount having an underside with at least one structure that is operably interposed with corresponding structure on a neck portion of the container such that container mount is fixed in a predetermined orientation relative to the container. A cap locks the container mount to the neck portion of the container. Preferably, the at least one structure of the container mount comprises a pair of wedge-shaped wall structures together with a plurality of wall structures that extend in a direction substantially parallel to the central axis of the mount/neck. The wedge-shaped wall structures are radially disposed opposite one another about the central axis of the container mount/neck and fit within wedge-shaped voids defined by the neck portion of the container. The plurality of wall structures are operably disposed adjacent corresponding surfaces defined by the neck portion of the container.
It will be appreciated that the shape and geometry of the structural elements of the container mount and the container neck prevents a user from connecting the wrong container to the container mount while also ensuring that the container is properly oriented when connected to the container mount.
According to one embodiment of the invention, the sprayer employs a hose end connector as well as a venturi tube for aspirating liquid from the container. A diverter mechanism, which is mounted within the housing, selectively couples the liquid storage compartment(s) of the container to the inlet port of the venturi tube, and a flow control valve controls the flow of pressurized liquid supplied from the hose end into the venturi tube.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reference to the detailed description taken in conjunction with the provided figures.
Turning now to
An external member 21 is coupled to the forward end of the tubular portion 12 for free rotation in either direction (e.g., clockwise or counter-clockwise rotation) about the central axis of portion 12. The external member 21 functions as a selector grip and thus may be cup-shaped for easy manipulation by the user. An internally-threaded hose closure 22 is coupled to the opposite, rearward end of the tubular portion 12 for mounting the sprayer assembly 10 to the end of a garden hose (not shown) or the like, which provides a pressurized supply of a carrier fluid (e.g., water). The hose closure 22 preferably contains a hose washer 71 as well as an anti-siphon regulator 72, an anti-siphon valve 73 and an anti-siphon seal 74 that aids in prohibiting the siphoning of liquid product upstream from the container 20 into the main water supply provided by the attached garden hose.
A flow control valve, which is preferably realized by a ball valve 24 having a semispherical valve surface 25 with a through opening 26 (
The venturi tube 27 is mounted within the tubular portion 12 such that it is capable of free rotation about its longitudinal axis. It defines a duct 30 (
A diverter tube 34 is mounted within the tubular portion 12 in surrounding relation with respect to the venturi tube 27. In the preferred embodiment, the diverter tube 34 is keyed to the venturi tube 27 such that the two components rotate together upon manual rotation of selector grip 21. Alternatively, the diverter tube 34 can be integrally formed with the venturi tube 27. In any event, the diverter tube 34 functions as a rotary valve for the selective control over the supply of liquid products into the duct 30 via port 33. More particularly, the geometry of the diverter tube 34 is adapted such that a fluid path between the port 33 of the venturi tube 27 and either none, one or both of the liquid supply compartments 18, 19 of the container 20 is selected at different rotational positions of the selector grip 21/diverter tube 34/venturi tube 27. For example, at one rotational position, the port 33 of the venturi tube 27 is fluidly isolated from both liquid supply compartments 18, 19. In another rotation position, the port 33 of the venturi tube 27 is fluidly coupled to one of the liquid supply compartments (e.g., compartment 18 for Product A). In yet another rotation position, the port 33 of the venturi tube 27 is fluidly coupled to the other liquid supply compartment (e.g., compartment 19 for Product B). And in another rotation position, the port 33 of the venturi tube 27 is fluidly coupled to both liquid supply containers (e.g., compartment 18 for Product A as well as compartment 19 for Product B).
The housing 11 and diverter tube 34 preferably also include vent means for venting the two liquid storage compartments 18, 19 of the container 20 during use. Such vent means (e.g., vent ports 35A, 35B and vent pads 37) are described in detail in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/974,708, incorporated by reference in its entirety.
The flow control valve assembly 24 is preferably adapted to have three different operational modes as follows:
The container 20 preferably has a partition 38 separating the container into two liquid storage compartments 18, 19 for storing liquid Product A and liquid product B, respectively, as shown in
As shown in
In the exemplary embodiment as shown in
The structural features of the container neck and the underside of the container mount that ensure proper mounting have a directional component extending along the central axis of the container neck. It is not essential that these elements extend exactly parallel to the central axis of the neck. For example, such elements can be inclined relative to the central axis of the neck so that some rotation of the cap 39 on the container 20 is necessary to engage the structural elements. Such rotation may be in the same (or the opposite sense) of the rotation required to screw the cap 39 onto the container.
The annular rims 55A, 55B of the container neck define corresponding passageways 65A, 65B through the container neck into the respective compartments 18, 19 of the container 20. The underside of the container mount 13 includes cylindrical structures 66A, 66B that extend vertically downward through the annular rims 55A, 55B of the container neck into the passageways 65A, 65B as best shown in
Advantageously, the hose-end sprayer assembly of the present invention is versatile in that it can be simply adapted for the aspiration of a single liquid product, a select one of two liquid products, and the mixture of two liquid products. Moreover, the irregular structural features of the container neck and the underside of the container mount prevents a user from connecting the wrong container to the container mount while also ensuring that the container is properly oriented when connected to the container mount. Furthermore, the assembly has few parts which makes it economical to produce and assemble, and it is easy to operate.
There have been described and illustrated herein an embodiment of a hose-end sprayer assembly. While particular embodiments of the invention have been described, it is not intended that the invention be limited thereto, as it is intended that the invention be as broad in scope as the art will allow and that the specification be read likewise. Thus, while a dual chamber hose-end sprayer is described, particular features of the sprayer, such as the shape and geometry of the container neck and container mount for proper container mounting can be used in conjunction with a single chamber hose-end sprayer design or other liquid sprayer designs. Likewise, the dual flow path aspiration mechanism of the hose-end sprayer assembly (which is realized by the dual fluid inlet passageways of the container mount and the diverter tube in conjunction with the venturi tube) can be mounted on a container with one liquid storage compartment. In this configuration, user control of the dual flow path aspiration mechanism allows the user to select from two different spray ratios for the liquid held in the one liquid storage compartment. Also, while external pads are shown on the diverter tube for controlling the opening and closing of vent ports, it will be appreciated that rings with cutouts or other known external means could be used for vent control as well. Likewise, external pads defining gaps or other suitable means can replace the rings with cutouts for controlling the opening and closing of the product inlet openings. In addition, while particular types of flow control valves (e.g., ball valves) have been disclosed for controlling the flow of carrier fluid, it will be understood that other know liquid shutoff valves can be used. Moreover, while particular configurations have been disclosed in reference to the irregular shape and geometry of the container neck and mount, it will be appreciated that other configurations could be used as well. Moreover, additional features, such a nozzle with user-selectable spray patterns, can be added to the hose-end spray assembly as described herein. It will therefore be appreciated by those skilled in the art that yet other modifications could be made to the provided invention without deviating from its spirit and scope as claimed.
The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/974,708, filed on Oct. 28, 2004, entitled “Hose-End Sprayer Assembly”, herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 10974708 | Oct 2004 | US |
Child | 11116030 | Apr 2005 | US |