Patent Application
20050284960
The invention relates generally to mixing and dispensing sprayers and more particularly to a sprayer for use in mixing a concentrated tablet product with water to create a desired water-product concentration, and spraying the thus diluted product onto a surface to be treated. The concentrated tablet product may be a hydrolyzer such as a surfactant, including soap for floor, bathroom and/or exterior siding cleaning, or it may be a wax or water softener treatment to be used for cleaning a vehicle/improving a vehicle's appearance. The sprayer may also be used to apply a water-only rinse to remove the diluted product from the surface.
Sprayers for mixing and dispensing liquids into a carrier fluid such as water are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,201,049; 3,381,899; 5,039,016; 5,100,059; 5,213,265; 5,383,603; 5,595,345; and 5,850,973. Such sprayer arrangements typically include an inlet for a hose such as a garden hose and an inlet for a siphon tube, wherein the inlet for the siphon tube is for moving a liquid soap from a container attached to a sprayer through use of a Venturi vacuum.
The sprayer arrangements vary in complexity and typically spray a water/liquid product mixture or water-only through a common outlet of the sprayer. Further, in some known arrangements, the liquid product to be mixed with water is mixed in a chamber exposed to the atmosphere, resulting in fluctuations of the water-product ratio. Additional problems of such prior art sprayers are that they may not be capable of delivering a water/liquid product mixture or a water-only rinse over a suitable distance. Further, such sprayers require the attachment of a heavy liquid soap container in order to provide enough soap for a particular usage (e.g., washing a car), thus leading to user fatigue. There is a need in the art for a sprayer apparatus which can selectively apply a diluted product mixture and/or a water-only rinse that does not necessarily add to user fatigue.
The invention provides a portable multi-barreled sprayer for applying a diluted product to a surface to be treated. The sprayer may include a housing having a water supply inlet and a concentrated tablet insertion point/mixing chamber, first and second outlets, and a valve member. The water supply inlet is attached to a water supply such as a hose which supplies water to the sprayer. The concentrated tablet insertion point may be attached to a mixing chamber which supplies a concentrated tablet product which has been diluted in water to provide a diluted product. The mixing chamber is in fluid communication with the water supply inlet such that water is mixed with the concentrated tablet product to produce a diluted product by feeding water through the water supply inlet to the mixing chamber. The first outlet sprays the diluted product from the sprayer onto the surface to be treated. The second outlet sprays rinsing water from the sprayer to allow removal of diluted product from the surface to be treated. The valve member selectively feeds the diluted product to the first outlet or feeds a water rinse to the second outlet. The valve member may also completely isolate the water supply from both the first and second outlets.
The sprayer can include a variety of optional features. For instance the sprayer can include dual dip tubes extending into a container wherein the concentrated tablet product dilutes in water. The diluted product can be removed from the container by feeding water through the mixing chamber via the first dip tube and siphoning the diluted table product from the container using a Venturi vacuum via the second dip tube, for instance.
In other embodiments, water flows from the water supply inlet and is diverted directly into the mixing chamber thereby causing the concentrated tablet product to dilute, whereby the diluted product is then removed from the mixing chamber to the second outlet without assistance from a Venturi vacuum.
In another embodiment, the sprayer has a tube that is parallel to the flow of water as an inlet to the mixing chamber. This provides water to the concentrated tablet product, and the diluted product is then sprayed from the second outlet through use of both a Venturi vacuum and pressurized water.
The sprayer includes a valve member which can be a rotatable valve having a cylindrical body with first and second passages therethrough. The first passage is in fluid communication with the water supply inlet and the first outlet when the rotatable valve is in a first position, and when the rotatable valve is rotated from the first position to a second position the second passage is in fluid communication with the water supply inlet and the second outlet (at which position the first passage is not in fluid communication with the water supply inlet). The valve member can include a seal member, which sealingly engages the first and second passages when the valve member is in an off position.
The first passage may be for delivery of the diluted product, and the second passage may provide a water-only rinse. The first passage includes an upstream portion and a downstream portion, wherein the mixing chamber is in fluid communication with the downstream portion. The downstream portion has a larger cross-section than the upstream portion so that, in certain embodiments, the diluted product is siphoned into the downstream portion via a Venturi effect from water flowing from the upstream portion to the downstream portion. The water may be supplied to the sprayer by a water hose and diluted product may be supplied to the sprayer from a container wherein the concentrated tablet product has been diluted.
To attach the container, the housing can include a tubular projection such as a bayonet stub and a rotatable fitting mounted on a tubular projection such that the rotatable fitting is engageable with the container. In other embodiments, the container has female threads which mate with male threads on the sprayer. To attach a hose, a typical garden hose may be employed, such as one with male threads which mate with female threads on the sprayer.
The sprayer may also include a flow meter for delivering a precise amount of water for mixing with the concentrated tablet product, thereby providing a substantially precise tablet/water mixture. The sprayer may also include a window in a side of the sprayer thereby enabling a user to view the concentrated tablet product within the sprayer.
a shows an embodiment of the invention in a partially exploded and cross-sectional view illustrating the function of the water control knob selector switch wherein water is allowed to flow from the water supply inlet to the first passage and water is blocked from flowing to the second passage;
b shows an embodiment of the invention in a partially exploded and cross-sectional view illustrating the function of the water control knob selector switch wherein water is allowed to flow from the water supply inlet to the second passage and water is blocked from flowing to the first passage;
a is a side-view illustration of an embodiment of the invention including a hinged biased closure allowing insertion of a concentrated tablet product;
b is an illustration of an embodiment of the invention showing a bottom view of a hinged biased closure for insertion of a concentrated tablet product;
According to the invention, an improved multi-barreled sprayer is provided having improved consistency and water product mixing ratios, range of delivery, and/or different spray patterns for a diluted concentrated tablet product mixture or a water-only rinse. The multi-barreled sprayer can incorporate a closed Venturi system, an orifice plate delivery mechanism, a dual chamber exit for delivery of water only from one exit hole and diluted product from another exit hole. The sprayer may include a three position valve for supplying a diluted product mixture in a first position, rinse water in a second position, and for preventing outflow of both diluted product and water in a third position.
Water diverter valve 20 functions to operate in at least one of three positions. A first position allows water to flow into the first chamber 30 from water supply inlet 80 to thereby mix with the concentrated tablet product. A second position of water diverter valve 20 opens the water supply inlet 80 to the second chamber 40, as a water-only rinse out of sprayer body 10. A third position of water diverter valve 20 shuts off water to both the first chamber 30 and the second chamber 40. Water supply inlet 80 may be connected to an ordinary garden hose, by way of example. In other embodiments, water supply 80 may be a water container such as a bucket or water pump. In addition, the functions of the first and second chambers/passages 30 and 40 may be reversed. Further, the first and second chambers/passages may be either of lower and upper chambers, or may be side-to-side, or may be slanted obliquely (cross-wise) in relation to each other. That is, the first and second chambers 30 and 40 need only be physically separate within the cross-section of the sprayer body 10.
As noted above, second passage 40, when diverter valve 20 is in a proper position, allows for a water-only rinse to exit the sprayer body 10. First passage 30, when diverter valve 20 is in the proper position, allows water to flow to container 50. Container 50 may include dip tubes 60 and 70. In one embodiment, dip tube 60 is a first dip tube which is lower in comparison to dip tube 70, thereby allowing clean water to reach the bottom of container 50. Second dip tube 70 is an outlet dip tube used to supply diluted product to the outlet of the lower passage 30.
In certain embodiments, lower passage 30 may include a narrow upstream portion 30a and a larger downstream portion 30b. Because the upstream portion 30a has a narrower cross-section than the downstream portion 30b, a Venturi effect is created above dip tube 70 allowing for siphoning of diluted concentrated tablet product to occur. When diverter valve 20 is in the proper position for water to flow through the first chamber 30, water dilutes the concentrated tablet product 51 in the container 50. Diluted product, such as a soap solution, is then sprayed out of the first passage 30 to be used for washing a car or the side of a house, for instance.
When a user has completed the washing portion of their task at hand, the user simply changes the water diverter valve 20 to a position that allows for a rinse of the surface that was treated by the soap solution provided by the first passage 30. In between washing and rinsing, the user has the option of completely turning off sprayer body 10 by simply moving diverter valve 20 to a proper position.
While downstream portion 30b is larger in cross-section than upstream portion 30a in certain embodiments, in other embodiments the two portions 30a and 30b may have comparable cross-sections. In addition, the cross-section of first and second passages 30, 40 need not be the same size, and either may be larger than the other.
a illustrates an embodiment of the invention showing the water diverter valve 20 and its specific operation wherein through-hole 22 is in fluid communication with both water inlet 80 and first passage 30. Water diverter valve 20 either obstructs or allows passage through and to both second passage 40 and first passage 30 by virtue of the user rotating selector knob 20. Alignment holes 21 and 22 for passages 40 and 30, respectively, are either aligned or not aligned for the flow of water to occur from water supply inlet 80 through water diverter knob 20 to either of passages 40 and 30. Additionally, water diverter valve 20 may be moved to a position whereby holes 21 and 22 are both offset such that no water is allowed to pass diverter valve 20 into passages 40 or 30. That is, the diverter valve 20 may cut off first and second passages 30 or 40 through rotation of holes 22 and 21, such that the holes are out-of-alignment with both first and second passages 30 and 40, respectively.
b illustrates an embodiment of the invention showing the water diverter valve 20 and its specific operation wherein through-hole 21 is in fluid communication with both water inlet 80 and second passage 40. The rotational arrow shown in
Additionally illustrated in
As described above in relation to
a is an illustration of a partially exploded and cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the invention including biased-hinged flapper valve 140 which works in conjunction with first and second screens, 131 and 132, wherebetween a concentrated tablet product is inserted through the biased-hinged flapper valve 140. Biased-hinged flapper valve 140 includes a hinged portion 143 (hinged portion 143 is depicted in
b is an illustration of valve 140 from a bottom view that includes hinged portion 143 and flexible membrane portion 141. Flexible membrane portion 141 may be any form of plastic or rubber that provides a divot-like space or a particular position for concentrated tablet product 51 to rest once it has been inserted into passage 30. The valve 140 operates as described in relation to
Visible flow meter 150 includes flow meter ball 151 and sight gradation increment viewing symbols 152. To use visible flow meter 150, a user would simply hold the sprayer body 10 vertically while adjusting the water diverter valve 20 to derive the preferred flow to provide a substantially precise concentration of concentrated tablet product 51 as it dissolves at a particular rate in a particular flow of water. Tablet viewing window 160, in another embodiment of the invention, may be translucent to enable a viewer to view how much of concentrated tablet product 51 remains within the insertion point for the concentrated tablet product.
As described above, alternative embodiments of the concentrated table insertion point 130 include the cap 136 and the valve 140. Additional embodiments include a hinged drawer with appropriate sealing/gasket material, a slot with a deformable membrane and/or a snap/compression closure.
Additional embodiments of the invention include an orifice plate delivering mechanism on the output side of the sprayer body 10 thereby allowing for various sizes, mists, and pulses of water as they leave passages 30 and 40 of sprayer body 10.
The foregoing describes the principles, embodiments, and modes of operation of the present invention. However, the invention should not be construed as being limited to the particular embodiments discussed. Thus, the above-described embodiments should be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive. It should be appreciated that variations may be made in those embodiments by workers skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims. Additional embodiments may include various features taken from any of the various embodiments described herein in various combinations. Further additional embodiments may omit certain features as the ordinarily skilled artisan would understand how to combine various aspects of the present invention without, perhaps, including all aspects of the above-described embodiments.
