Patent Application
20050082389
This invention relates generally to powered sprayer devices and, more particularly, to battery powered spray guns for hand-held liquid dispensers.
Conventionally, hand-held liquid dispensers employ manual trigger actuated pump mechanisms for dispensing fluids. The pump mechanism is attached to a bottle holding the liquid to be dispensed, and with one hand a user may hold the bottle and actuate the trigger to dispense liquid from the bottle. While trigger sprayers are convenient for dispensing relatively small amounts of liquid, repetitive actuation of the pump mechanism for dispensing larger amounts of liquid can be cumbersome. For example, when applying liquid insecticides and herbicides, actuating the manual pump a sufficient number of times to treat large areas that are typically treated is undesirable.
Battery powered pump mechanisms have been employed in some hand-held spray bottles to at least partially address the problem of having to repeatedly actuate a manual pump for a desired application. Known battery powered mechanisms for dispensing liquid from a bottle, however, are attached to the bottle in a fixed or stationary relationship to the bottle and are typically integrated into the structure of the cap of the bottle. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,617,007 and 6,554,211. As the bottle increases in size to hold more fluid, such battery powered pumps are disadvantaged. For larger bottles, the bottle can become heavy enough that the average user may have difficulty attempting to both hold the bottle and activate the battery powered pump to dispense the liquid. For example, a desirable amount of insecticide or herbicide for a typical job may require one liter or more of liquid to be sprayed, which is considerably more fluid than many spray dispenser applications require for a given job.
Known battery powered pump mechanisms for hand-held sprayers can also be inconvenient when the batteries are sealed within the housing of the sprayer and generally inaccessible by a user. Rechargeable batteries may be charged for use by patching an electrical adapter into a socket in the sprayer housing and plugging the adapter into an electrical outlet. When the sprayer is used continuously for larger jobs, however, the batteries may need to be frequently charged. The user must discontinue working the sprayer for an adequate time to charge the batteries, prolonging completion of the spraying job.
Pressure sprayers are known which employ air pressure in a closed container to dispense liquid from an attached spray wand. Air is introduced into the containers by manually reciprocating a piston coupled to the top of the container, and pressure in the container forces liquid in the container to be expelled through the wand when the wand is actuated to open a flow path through the wand. While the containers are larger in pressure sprayers to dispense a substantial amount of liquid, it can be a considerable amount of work to use such a pressure sprayer when applying insecticides and herbicides. A filled container of a pressure sprayer may include several gallons of liquid and therefore the container itself can be heavy and cumbersome to carry. Additionally, the container must be frequently pressurized to achieve a uniform spray stream from the wand, and it can be tiresome to hold a handle of the container in one hand and the spray wand in the other when moving about as liquid is dispensed.
Powered spray systems are known which include large tanks for holding fluid to be dispensed, and internal combustion engines which drive a pump or pumps to expel fluid from the tank. Such powered spray systems are typically mounted on wheels and pulled by a vehicle or farm implement. As such, they are typically prohibitively expensive for the average homeowner.
According to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a hand-held sprayer system is provided. The system comprises a hand-held container comprising a body configured to accommodate a quantity of liquid to be dispensed, a hand-held spray gun assembly, and a flexible tube having a predetermined length. The spray gun assembly comprises a spray gun body, at least one battery, a pump mechanism, and an actuating element for energizing the pump mechanism with the at least one battery. The tube extends to and between the container and the spay gun assembly, and the tube is in fluid communication with the pump mechanism and in fluid communication with the liquid to be dispensed from the container. The flexible tube is configured for remote positioning of the spray gun assembly from the hand-held container, wherein the spray gun assembly may be positioned relative to the hand-held container at any desired angle and any desired distance up to the predetermined length.
According to another exemplary embodiment, a spray gun assembly for a hand-held container of liquid to be dispensed is provided. The spray gun assembly comprises a spray gun body, at least one battery located in the spray gun body, and a pump mechanism disposed within the body in electrical contact with the battery. The pump mechanism comprises an inlet for drawing liquid from the hand-held container and the pump mechanism comprises an outlet. A nozzle assembly is in fluid communication with the pump outlet, and an actuating element is selectively positionable by a user to energize and de-energize the pump mechanism to selectively produce a stream of the liquid to be dispensed at a user determined location remote from the hand-held container.
According to another exemplary embodiment, a container for a hand-held sprayer system having a remotely operable battery powered spray gun assembly is provided. The container comprises a body defining an interior chamber for holding a liquid to be dispensed, and an exterior surface configured to be gripped and held with a single hand of a user, whereby when the body is filled with liquid the body be handled by a user with one hand without aid of a supporting structure while the user's other hand operates the battery powered spray gun assembly. A projection extends outwardly from the body and is configured to detachably mount the battery powered spray gun assembly in a predetermined position relative to the exterior surface.
According to another exemplary embodiment, a hand-held sprayer assembly for a sprayer system having a hand-held container of liquid to be dispensed is provided. The sprayer assembly comprises a spray gun body, a battery powered pump disposed within the spray gun body, an actuator element attached to the spray gun body and selectively positionable to energize the battery powered pump to dispense the liquid to be dispensed, and a flexible tube in fluid communication with the battery powered pump and extending from the spray gun body. The tube is attachable to the hand-held container to pump liquid from the container with the battery powered pump when the spray gun body is held at a remote, user determined, location relative to the hand-held container.
According to another exemplary embodiment, a method of spraying a liquid to be dispensed from a hand-held container with a battery powered spray gun assembly is provided. The spray gun assembly includes a spray gun body, a battery powered pump, and an actuation element for operating the pump. The method comprises connecting the spray gun assembly to the hand-held container with a flexible tube, thereby establishing fluid communication between the battery powered pump and the hand-held container, and actuating the actuation element to operate the pump with a battery, thereby drawing liquid from the hand-held container to the pump and discharging the liquid from the pump at a user determined location relative to the container.
According to still another exemplary embodiment, a method of assembling a hand-held sprayer system is provided. The method comprises providing a hand-held container adapted for holding a liquid to be dispensed; providing a battery powered spray gun assembly having a spray gun body, a battery powered pump, and an actuation element for operating the pump; providing a flexible tube configured to establish fluid communication between the battery powered pump and the hand-held container, and establishing fluid communication between the container and the battery powered spray gun assembly with the flexible tube. The flexible tube extends to and between the container and the spray gun assembly up to a predetermined length, thereby allowing a user to dispense liquid from the container with the battery powered spray gun assembly at a remote location from the container, the spray gun assembly positionable at any angle relative to the container and at any distance relative to the container up to the predetermined length of the tube.
The container 102 in an exemplary embodiment includes a body 108 having an exterior surface 110 which is substantially rectangular and a hollow interior (not shown in
A cap 114 is coupled to a neck portion 116 of the container 102 and is sealingly engaged thereto. A dip tube (not shown) is coupled to the cap 114 and extends into the interior of the container 102 to a bottom portion 115 of the container 102. A coupler 118 is connected to the cap 114 and establishes fluid communication with the dip tube in the interior of the container 102. An opposite end of the coupler 118 extends exterior to the cap 114 and establishes fluid communication with the flexible tube 106.
In an exemplary embodiment, the container 102 is formed from heavy duty plastic according to a known molding process, and the container 102 is shaped and dimensioned to hold approximately six liters of fluid. The container 102 is particularly suited for holding a desirable volume of a liquid insecticide or herbicide for spraying or applying to a desired area with the spray gun assembly 104. In a further embodiment, the container is pre-filled with a pre-mixed solution of active ingredients and water so that a user may purchase the container in a substantially usable condition without mixing, filling, or stirring of fluids in the container.
While an exemplary container and fluid have been described, it is recognized that the container 102 may contain a greater or lesser volume of fluid to be dispensed. It is further recognized that a variety of fluids may be dispensed from the container 102, and the system 100 is not intended to be limited to any particular end use and is not limited to any particular fluid, such as an insecticide or herbicide. Rather, the description set forth herein is for illustrative purposes only. The benefits of the system 100 are believed to accrue generally to a wide variety of spraying applications.
In an exemplary embodiment, the spray gun assembly 104 includes a spray gun body 120 which houses a battery powered pump mechanism (not shown in
The trigger element is pivotally mounted to the spray gun body 120, and depressing of the trigger element 128 with a squeezing motion of a user's ring finger completes an electrical circuit between batteries (not shown in
In an exemplary embodiment, and in accordance with known nozzle assemblies, a nozzle cap 130 may be provided which is rotatable about an axis 132 to change the manner of discharge of fluid flowing through the nozzle assembly 126. Thus, for example, the nozzle cap 130 may be rotated about the axis 132 in a first or STREAM position to generate a stream of fluid exiting the nozzle assembly 126 in a substantially parallel orientation with respect to the axis 132, a second or SPRAY position generating a fanned spray wherein a portion of the fluid is oriented at a selected angle to the longitudinal axis, or to another position combining the STREAM discharge and the SPRAY discharge from the spray gun assembly 104. Additionally, in a further and/or alternative embodiment, the nozzle cap 130 may be positioned in a CLOSED position wherein no fluid will be dispensed from the nozzle assembly 126.
The flexible tube 106 extends to and between each of the container 102 and the spray gun assembly 104 for a predetermined length and provides flexible positioning of the spray gun assembly 104 relative to the container 102 for dispensing of fluid from the container 102. That is, the spray gun assembly 104 may be positioned at a remote location from the container 102, and the spray gun assembly 104 is operable at any desired angle or location relative to the container 102 as the flexible tube 106 will allow. Unlike known battery powered spray guns for hand-held containers, the spray gun assembly 104 is not fixedly mounted to the container 102, and a user may position the spray gun assembly 104 in any convenient position for use. For example, a user may hold the container 102 in one hand and operate the spray gun assembly 104 with the other hand, or the user may place the container 102 on the ground or other supporting surface while operating the spray gun assembly 104 at a user determined, remote location from the container 102. By virtue of the flexible tube 106, the sprayer system 100 may be conveniently used in a multitude of user selected positions for the convenience and comfort of a user.
It is believed that the combined convenience of a pre-filled container 102 with a carrying handle portion 111, continuous spraying capability with little effort by manipulating the trigger element 128, and remote positioning of the spray gun assembly 104 from the container 102 affords much flexibility and desirability to the sprayer system 100 to appeal to a wide variety of users, and is especially well suited for residential use for lawn and garden maintenance. The system 100 is further believed to be of lower cost than many known alternative sprayer systems for lawn and garden use. At least for these reasons, a cost effective sprayer system 100 is provided which renders spraying jobs for the average homeowner to be more pleasurable, less tiresome, and accomplished more quickly than with known sprayer systems.
Additionally, and in an exemplary embodiment, the system 100 includes a clip 134 attached to the exterior surface 110 of the container 102 on one side thereof as described further below. The clip 134 may be engaged to the spray gun body 120 to hold the spray gun assembly 104 in a fixed position relative to the container 102 for storage when the system 100 is not in use, or when carrying the container 102 to a site for spraying.
In an exemplary embodiment, the spray gun body 120 is formed from plastic and has two substantially identical halves or body portions (only one of which is shown in
Additionally, in an exemplary embodiment the flexible tube 106 is extendible from the body 120 and hence may be positioned in an extended position (as shown in
In an exemplary embodiment, the flexible tube 106 is fabricated from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) according to a known process, and the flexible tube 106 has an inner diameter of approximately 2.0 cm for delivering liquid at a desired flow rate to the spray gun assembly 104. The flexible tube 106 is sufficiently flexible to be easily flexed to a desired operation position, yet structurally capable of withstanding pressure conditions of fluid passing through the tube 106 in operation. It is contemplated that other flexible materials in lieu of those described above may be employed in further and/or alternative embodiments of the flexible tube, and it is further understood that greater or lesser diameters of tubing may be employed in alternative embodiments of the invention as desired to achieve specific flow rate objectives and applicable specifications for dispensing of particular fluids.
The coupler 118 is sealingly coupled to an end 156 of the flexible tube 106, and in one embodiment the coupler 118 includes a sealing rim 158, a shaft 160, and retention prongs 162. The shaft 160 includes a fluid passage (not shown) therein to establish fluid communication between the flexible tube 106 and a dip tube (not shown) which is coupled to the cap 114, or alternatively to the container 102 (shown in
As illustrated in
A battery powered pump mechanism 194 is secured within the pump housing portion 122, and the pump mechanism 194 includes an electric motor 196 and a pump 198 engaged to the motor 196. A motor output shaft (not shown) is engaged to the pump 198 in a driving relationship to draw liquid from a pump inlet 199 and to expel the liquid from a pump outlet 200. The pump inlet 199 is coupled to the flexible tube 106, and the flexible tube 106 extends downward from the pump inlet 199 through the finger grip portion 124 to the distal end 154, and then exterior to the body portion 190 wherein the tube 106 may be coupled to the container 102 (shown in
The finger grip portion 124 of the body portion 190 defines a longitudinally extending battery compartment 202 extending substantially parallel to the axis 152 of the finger grip portion 124. The battery compartment 202 is shaped and dimensioned to receive two “AA” size batteries (not shown in
Battery contacts (not shown) are located at each end of the battery compartment, and the respective battery contacts are electrically connected to switch contacts (not shown) associated with the trigger element 128. When the trigger element 128 is depressed, the switch contacts close a circuit through the batteries, and the batteries energize the motor 196 to operate the pump mechanism 194 to dispense fluid from the container 102. When the trigger element 128 is released, the switch contacts are separated, the circuit through the batteries is opened, and the motor 196 ceases to operate the pump mechanism 194. Thus, a user may selectively position the trigger element 128 between activated and deactivated positions to open and close the circuit through the batteries and initiate or cease dispensing of liquid from the container 102 (shown in
In an exemplary embodiment, the motor 196 is a 6.0 V D.C. electric motor having a no load speed of 15,000 rpm, a stall current of about 6 A, a stall torque of about 152 g-cm, and a no load current of about 0.26 A maximum. One such suitable motor is a model RC-260SA-3071 1A-2 motor available from Kam Tai of Shenzhen, China. It is recognized, however, that other motors may be used in alternative embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.
In an exemplary embodiment, the pump 198 is a known gear pump mechanism adapted to provide a desired flow rate, for example, for spraying an insecticide, herbicide, or other liquid when actuated by the motor 196, and to achieve an adequate pressure to generate a spray or stream at a specified distance from the nozzle assembly 126 in use That is, the pump 198 is capable of generating a stream or spray of liquid to reach an intended object to be treated when the spray gun body 120 is located at a specified distance from the object. By way of example only, in one embodiment, the pump 198 delivers a minimum of 40 grams of liquid in 17 seconds, is capable of generating sufficient pressure to produce a stream of liquid at least distance of 15 feet from the nozzle, and spray at least 1.5 gallons of liquid from the container at a sufficient rate to complete a spraying job in a reasonable amount of time. Additionally, the pump generates sufficient pressure to achieve variable degrees of spray patterns as the nozzle 126 is turned from CLOSE to SPRAY or STREAM positions.
A battery access door 214 is attached to the first and second body portions 190 and 210 for access to the battery compartments 202, 230 (shown in
Additionally, and as illustrated in
Additionally, insulative (i.e., nonconductive) isolation tabs 242 are provided on an end of each of the batteries 232 and 234 proximate the battery access door 214. The isolation tabs 242 prevent electrical contact with the battery terminals and completion of an electrical circuit through the batteries 232 and 234. The spray gun body 120 may therefore be loaded and shipped with the batteries 232 and 234 installed, and the purchasing user need only remove the isolation tabs 242 to commence spraying operation. In one embodiment, the isolation tabs 242 may be fabricated from plastic materials according to known processes and techniques.
Still further, in an exemplary embodiment, the battery access door 214 includes features to prevent the door 214 from closing if the batteries are not properly installed. For example, if the batteries 232 and 234 are oriented upside down in the battery compartments 202, 238, a rib or projection may be provided which interferes with the batteries and prevents closing of the door 214. When the batteries 232, 234 are properly oriented and installed, however, the door 214 does not interfere with the batteries and the door 214 may be closed.
A clip mounting element 254 projects outwardly from an external surface 110 of one of the side walls 150 of the container 102. The mounting element 254 includes a plate-like runner 255 extending atop a footing 256 which is recessed on the lateral sides thereof relative to the runner 255. That is, the runner 255 overhangs the footing 256. The footing 256 is fixedly mounted to the side wall 150 and extends upward from the exterior surface 110 of the side wall 150, and the runner 255 extends upward from the footing 256 such that the footing 256 is positioned between the runner 255 and the exterior surface 110.
The clip 134 includes the channel-like body portion 150 described above and connecting rails 258 extending downward from an exterior surface 260 of the body portion 258. The rails 258 include inwardly facing grooves 262 which form a channel therebetween to receive the lateral side edges 264 of the runner 255 with sliding engagement. A frictional interference fit maintains the clip rails 258 to the runner 255 in one embodiment, or alternatively, a locking protrusion or feature could be formed in one of the clip 134 and the container 102 to secure the clip 134 to the container 102 in a desired position. As illustrated in
In an exemplary embodiment, the clip body portion 150 and the rails 258 are integrally formed from a known plastic material to fabricate the clip 134. It is recognized, however, that the rails 258 could be separately provided and otherwise attached to the body portion 150 to manufacture the clip 134.
As also illustrated in
Having described one exemplary clip 134 and mounting element 254, it is understood that those in the art may employ a wide variety of alternative clip configurations and mounting features to secure a clip to the container 102. The clip 134 is therefore described for illustrative purposes only.
First, the components of the hand held sprayer system 100 (
In exemplary embodiments as described above, the components are provided 302 generally in a ready-to-use manner wherein the container 102 is pre-filled with a liquid to be dispensed (e.g., a herbicide or insecticide), the flexible tube 106 is attached to the spray-gun assembly, and the spray gun assembly 104 is pre-loaded with batteries 232 and 234 (
The flexible tube 106 may, for example, be connected 306 to the spray gun assembly 104 and to the container 102 in the manner described above (e.g., with the cap 114 and the coupler 118 shown in
Once the tube 106 has been connected 306, spraying may commence by actuating 312 the spray gun assembly to operate the battery powered pump mechanism 194. As noted above, spray gun assembly is actuated in a user determined location remote from the container 102, and thus, for example, the container 102 may be held by the user with one hand and the spray fun assembly 104 may be actuated in the other hand. In the illustrated embodiment, the trigger element 128 is actuated with the user's ring finger to close a circuit through the batteries 232, 234 and operate the pump mechanism 194. It is appreciated, however, the other actuation elements may be employed, including but not limited to a button or slide actuator which may be manipulated, for example, with the user's thumb.
After actuating 312 the spray gun assembly 104 to dispense a desired amount of liquid from the container 102, the spray gun assembly 104 may be placed 314 in the clip 134 attached to the container 102, and the clip 104 conveniently maintains the spray gun assembly 104 proximate to the container 102. When so used, the clip 134 prevents the spray gun assembly 104 from being inadvertently lost, misplaced, or damaged when not is use. Additionally, when the spray gun assembly 104 is engaged to the clip 134, the trigger element 128 may not be actuated to dispense liquid, thereby preventing an inadvertent spray of liquid.
The spray gun assembly 104 may be removed 316 from the clip 134 to resume actuation 312 of the spray gun assembly 104 for further spraying. Actuation 312 may continue until the batteries are exhausted or until the container 102 is emptied. Thus, the container may be refilled 314, and the batteries may be recharged or replaced 316, depending upon the type of batteries used.
Thus, the hand-held sprayer system 100 provides convenient spraying with minimal effort by a user. Especially for jobs like lawn and garden maintenance, the sprayer system 100 may reduce an amount of time needed to complete the job, and make the duration of the job more enjoyable. The advantages of powered sprayer systems are realized at a comparably low cost, and the hand-held system is more amenable to purchase, use, and storage by the average homeowner than many known sprayer systems.
While the invention has been described in terms of various specific embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the claims.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/509,369 filed Oct. 7, 2003, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60509369 | Oct 2003 | US |
