Patent Application
20200166227
The disclosure relates to a spray device, and more particularly to an electrically operated spray device.
A conventional spray device includes a container that stores a liquid and pressurized gas, and sprays the liquid therefrom via the pressure difference between pressure inside the container and the atmospheric pressure, releasing the liquid as in mist form. While mechanically simple, this type of spray device is undesirable for flight transport, as the pressure difference becomes even greater with increasing altitude, making it extremely hazardous.
Another conventional spray device has a core material and a vibrating module. After the core material absorbs the liquid, the vibrating module generates high-frequency vibration, oscillating the core material to vaporize the liquid into mist when released. While this type of spray device does not have pressurized gas stored therein, the vibrating module itself is relatively expensive.
Therefore, an object of the disclosure is to provide a spray device that can alleviate the drawback of the prior art.
According to the disclosure, the spray device includes a base seat unit, a liquid container, a nozzle unit, and an electric gas pump. The liquid container is mounted to the base seat unit, and has a liquid-receiving space that is adapted for storing a liquid.
The nozzle unit is mounted to the liquid container, and includes a nozzle and a drawing tube. The nozzle has an outlet, a gas inlet that is in spatial communication with the outlet, and a liquid entrance that is in spatial communication with the outlet. The drawing tube spatially interconnects the liquid-receiving space and the liquid entrance.
The electric gas pump is mounted to the base seat unit and has a gas supplying hole that is spatially communicated with the gas inlet of the nozzle. The electric gas pump is operable to provide a gas into the gas inlet of the nozzle through the gas supplying hole, such that the liquid stored in the liquid-receiving space of the liquid container is drawn into the liquid entrance through the drawing tube and thereafter exits the outlet of the nozzle unit together with the gas.
Other features and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent in the following detailed description of the embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:
Before the disclosure is described in greater detail, it should be noted that where considered appropriate, reference numerals or terminal portions of reference numerals have been repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements, which may optionally have similar characteristics.
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The liquid container 2 is mounted to the base seat unit 1, is received in the second receiving space 13, and has a liquid-receiving space 21 that is adapted for storing a liquid, and a container opening 22 that is fluidly communicated with the liquid-receiving space 21. In the first embodiment, the liquid is a type of air refreshers, but it may be a cleaning solution in other embodiment.
The nozzle unit 3 is mounted to the liquid container 2, and includes a coupling seat 31, a nozzle 32, and a drawing tube 33. The coupling seat 31 is coupled to the container opening 22 of the liquid container 2, and is formed with a tube hole 311 that is fluidly communicated with the liquid-receiving space 21 and a gas flow pathway 312 that has a gas entrance 312a and a gas exit 312b. The nozzle 32 is mounted on top of the coupling seat 31, and is formed with an inner flow pathway 321. The inner flow pathway 321 has an outlet 321a, a gas inlet 321b that is in spatial communication with the outlet 321a, and a liquid entrance 321c that is in spatial communication with the outlet 321a. Correspondingly, the gas inlet 321b is fluidly communicated with the gas exit 312b of the coupling seat 31. The drawing tube 33 spatially interconnects the liquid-receiving space 21 and the liquid entrance 321c of the nozzle 32, and is adapted for guiding the liquid thereto. Specifically, the drawing tube 33 extends into the liquid-receiving space 21 through the tube hole 311 of the coupling seat 31. In addition, in the first embodiment, the front cover 12 further has an exposing hole 121 that exposes the outlet 321a of the nozzle 32.
The nozzle unit 3 further includes an annular limiting member 34 that surrounds the outlet 321a of the nozzle 32. The nozzle 32 is further formed with a guiding block 322 that is adjacent to the outlet 321a. Both the limiting member 34 and the guiding block 322 serve to restrict the direction in which gas and mist exit the outlet 321a. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the nozzle unit 3 further has an annular washer 35 that is clamped between the coupling seat 31 and the liquid container 2, and that prevents leakage of the liquid through a gap between the coupling seat 31 and the container opening 22.
The electric gas pump 4 is mounted to the base seat unit 1, is disposed in the first receiving space 113, and is adapted for providing gas to the nozzle 32. The electric gas pump 4 has a gas supplying hole 41 that is spatially communicated with the gas inlet 321b of the nozzle 32. The electric gas pump 4 is operable to provide the gas into the gas inlet 321b of the nozzle 32 through the gas supplying hole 41, such that the liquid stored in the liquid-receiving space 21 of the liquid container 2 is drawn into the liquid entrance 321c through the drawing tube 33 and thereafter exits the outlet 321a of the nozzle unit 3 together with the gas. To be more specific, when the gas pump 4 provides the gas to the nozzle 32, the gas exits the nozzle 32 through the outlet 321a thereof. When the gas is flowing through the inner flow pathway 321 swiftly, pressure of the inner flow pathway 321 of the nozzle 32 becomes smaller than atmospheric pressure, such that the liquid in the liquid-receiving space 21 becomes easily drawn into the liquid entrance 321c through the drawing tube 33 and thereafter exits the outlet 321a of the nozzle 32 as mists. With that in mind, the spray device 100 does not need to store pressurized gas therein for driving movement of the liquid out of the liquid-receiving space 21.
In this embodiment, the spray device 100 further includes a connecting member 5, which has one end connected to the coupling seat 31 and an opposite end connected to a connecting tube (not shown). As such, the gas supplying hole 41 of the gas pump 4 is fluidly communicated to the gas inlet 321b of the nozzle 32 through the connecting tube, the connecting member 5 and the gas flow pathway 312 of the coupling seat 31, but may be different in other embodiments.
The control unit 6 is mounted to the first receiving space 113 of the base seat unit 1, is electrically coupled to the electric gas pump 4, and is operable to control the electric gas pump 4. The control unit 6 includes a main circuit board 61, and a controlling interface assembly 62 that is electrically coupled to the main circuit board 61. In the first embodiment, the controlling interface assembly 62 includes a display monitor 621 and a plurality of control buttons 622. The seat body 111 of the base seat 11 has a plurality of revealing holes 111a that extend therethrough for exposing the display monitor 621 and the control buttons 622, such that a user may operate the control unit 6 from the outside for controlling gas pumping frequency, amount, etc. In addition, in this embodiment, the control unit 6 further includes a radio-frequency identification (RFID) circuit board 63 that is mounted in the first receiving space 113 and that is electrically connected to the main circuit board 61. The RFID circuit board 63 is used to control the amount of mist released at a given time. The specific technology behind RFID is a known art, and will not be discussed further in this specification.
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Overall, by utilizing the electric gap pump 4 to provide the gas to the nozzle unit 3, the spray device 100 does not need to store pressurized gas, such that it can be carried by flight without safety concerns. The spray device 100 is also economical for not having to utilize vibrating module.
In the description above, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details have been set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiment. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that one or more other embodiments may be practiced without some of these specific details. It should also be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” an embodiment with an indication of an ordinal number and so forth means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic may be included in the practice of the disclosure. It should be further appreciated that in the description, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of various inventive aspects, and that one or more features or specific details from one embodiment may be practiced together with one or more features or specific details from another embodiment, where appropriate, in the practice of the disclosure.
While the disclosure has been described in connection with what is considered the exemplary embodiment, it is understood that this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.
