The object of the present invention is a sprayer for liquids, in particular a pump sprayer actuated manually by means of a trigger lever, provided with a system of precompression suitable for expelling the liquid with a greater speed or acceleration.
A sprayer generally comprises a main body provided with a base with a threaded ring nut or with bayonet coupling to be attached to the mouth of a container of liquid, a delivery nozzle wherefrom the liquid is sprayed, a trigger lever which can be actuated by hand by the user and a pump which can be actuated by the trigger lever to aspirate the liquid from the container by means of a clipper tube and spray it via the delivery nozzle.
The pump provides a piston acting in a chamber formed in the body of the sprayer. The body of the sprayer comprises moreover an inlet duct which places in communication the interior of the container of the fluid with the chamber of the pump and an outlet duct which places in communication the chamber of the pump with the nozzle of the sprayer. A valve for fluid suction and delivery is provided inside or immediately upstream of the chamber of the pump, suitable for allowing in a selective and one-way manner the suction of the fluid from the container to the chamber of the pump and the delivery of fluid from the chamber of the pump towards the delivery nozzle.
In order to accelerate the exiting of the liquid from the sprayer, or to guarantee a regular jet of the liquid, normally nebulized, aside from the speed of actuation of the trigger lever, systems of precompression have been proposed, which co-operate with the piston actuated by the lever in order to increase the pressure of delivery of the liquid.
These known systems of precompression normally require numerous additional components in order to obtain the desired effect, with consequent increase in the cost of production. They are also somewhat complex and not easy to produce.
One example is represented by the lever sprayer device described in WO 96/18572 which, when the pump is actuated, releases the air from a chamber of the sprayer inside a container whereto the sprayer is connected. This device comprises a piston assembly defined by a pump-piston sliding inside a pump-chamber and by a release piston integrated in the pump-piston and slidingly positioned inside a release chamber, a pressure regulator sliding inside a channel and suitable for allowing the passage under pressure of the liquid directed towards the sprayer nozzle, with said pressure regulator comprising a valve sliding on a pin provided with peripheral grooves and formed in said channel for the passage of the liquid and a contrast spring positioned around said pin.
When the pump-piston is actuated manually by acting on the manual lever, it takes the liquid to be sprayed from the receptacle and pushes it against the valve thus causing a force of pressure on the same which slides in relation to the pin and, overcoming the action of contrast of the spring, allows the passage of the fluid via the grooves of the pin in the direction of the spray nozzle. The liquid impacts against the side wall of the valve and causes the raising thereof, acting against a membrane projecting perimetrically from the same.
This known solution, however, has some important disadvantages linked to the fact that it is presented as a complex and costly device as regards manufacture and, moreover, requires the prior evacuation of the air contained in the pumping chamber not sufficient for allowing the raising of the valve and, only when said chamber is filled with the liquid aspirated from the container, the raising of the valve takes place and therefore the system of precompression starts to function.
The object of the invention is that of providing a sprayer for liquids with system of precompression which is simple and economical to manufacture and highly reliable.
Another object of the invention is that of providing such a system of precompression which can easily be adapted, with few actions, to existing sprayers.
In particular the system of precompression that forms the object of the invention constitutes an improvement of the sprayer for liquids that is the object of the European patent EP 1585602, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The sprayer for liquids with a system of precompression has the features of the independent claims.
Advantageous embodiments of the invention are further recited in the dependent claims.
Substantially, in the outlet duct of the chamber of the pump, a second piston is provided, normally held in occlusion of this duct by a precompression spring, the elastic force whereof is overcome by the pressure of the fluid following actuation of the pump, with consequent displacement of the second piston and exiting of the fluid.
In this phase the precompression spring acting on the second piston exerts an additional pressure on the fluid, which is delivered at a greater speed.
Advantageously the aforesaid second piston and the precompression spring are placed in a widening of a vertical section of said duct of outlet from the chamber of the pump, which then continues with a horizontal section as far as the nozzle.
The second piston blocks, in non-operational condition, the passage of the fluid from said vertical section to said horizontal section of the outlet duct.
Further features of the invention will be made clearer by the following detailed description, referred to one of its exemplary embodiments purely by way of a non-limiting example illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:
In the accompanying drawings a structure of sprayer is shown as described in the aforementioned European patent EP 1585602, whereto reference can be made for further details on the functioning of the sprayer, which will only be described in brief here.
The sprayer according to the invention, denoted as a whole by reference numeral 10, comprises a body 11 closed by a closure cap 12.
At the base of the body 11 of the sprayer an attachment ring nut 15 is rotatably mounted which has internal threading suitable for engaging with the external threading of the mouth of a container (not shown), suitable for containing a liquid, such as for example liquids for cleaning the home. Naturally the attachment of the sprayer on the container may also take place in a different way, for example by means of a bayonet coupling.
The body 11 of the sprayer has a substantially L shape and ends in a delivery nozzle 16 with an opening from which the liquid is delivered.
The delivery nozzle 16 is made up of a hole formed in a spray ring nut 16′ which can be rotated in a manner in itself known between a position of blocking and a position of activation of the spraying.
For the actuation of the sprayer a trigger lever 17 is provided, hinged at one of its ends 18 to the body 11 and in one of its intermediate positions 19 to the stem 20 of a first piston or plunger 21, sliding in a chamber 22 of a pump body 23. In the rear wall of the chamber 22 a hole of inlet of the liquid 24 is formed, in communication with the interior of the container via a dipper tube 25, and an outlet hole 26 in communication with the spray nozzle 16, via a substantially L-shaped outlet duct 29, comprising a vertical section 27 and a horizontal section 28.
The aforesaid inlet and outlet holes for the liquid 24 and 26 are occluded respectively by a dome piece 31 and by a truncated cone body 32 of a one-way suction and delivery valve 30.
In the internal side wall of the chamber 22, on the side turned in the direction of the container wherefrom the dipper tube 25 takes the liquid, a hole or opening 43 is formed, suitable for allowing the reintegration of the air inside the container whereto the sprayer is connected, at each actuation of the pump.
The functioning of the one-way valve 30, described in greater detail in the aforementioned patent EP 1585602, is fairly intuitive.
By pressing the trigger lever 17, the liquid in the chamber 22 of the pump exerts a pressure against the valve 30, deforming the truncated cone shank 32 and then exiting through the outlet hole 26 to go towards the nozzle 16.
When the trigger lever 17 is released and returns into the rest position through the action of elastic means not described, the plunger 21 creates a vacuum in the chamber 22 freeing the inlet hole 24, as shown in
What has been described hitherto is considered prior art from the aforementioned patent EP 1585602.
According to the invention, the sprayer that is the object of the aforementioned European patent, as described hitherto, is equipped with a system of precompression of the liquid placed in the abovementioned outlet duct 29.
More particularly a widening and an extension upwards of the vertical section 27 of this duct are provided, such as to determine an advantageously cylindrical seat 40 open above, where it is closed by said closure cap 12 (
Said advantageously cylindrical seat has a vertical passage 44, positioned externally to the piston 41 and such as to place in communication the horizontal section 28 and the vertical section 27, with said channel closed by means of the piston 41 (see the detail of
Against the piston 41 acts an elastic element, in particular a spring 42, which abuts against the aforementioned closure cap 12, in order to push constantly downwards the piston 41, in occlusion of the vertical section 27 of the outlet duct 29.
The piston 41 and the spring 42 can be made as separate parts but advantageously are formed in a single part through injection molding of elastomeric or plastic materials, configuring the part 42 in such a way that it has the necessary elastic properties.
When the pressure of the fluid which acts on the base of the piston 41 via the vertical section 27 of the outlet duct 29 overcomes the elastic force of the spring 42, the piston 41 rises slightly, allowing the passage of the fluid in the horizontal section 28 via the vertical passage 44 as far as the delivery nozzle 16 which will be in the open position, as schematized in
According to an alternative embodiment, illustrated in
According to a further alternative embodiment, illustrated in
The functioning of the sprayer with precompression system will now be described, taking account of what has already been said previously about the functioning of the sprayer in itself.
On the first actuation of the trigger lever 17, with the nozzle 16 in open position, the plunger 21 pumps the air contained in the chamber 22 towards the vertical section 27 of the outlet duct 29. After some actuations the pressure in the duct 27, by acting on the base of the piston 41, causes the rising thereof in its seat 40 in contrast to the action of the precompression spring 42, thus opening the vertical passage 44 and placing in communication the duct 27 with the horizontal section 28 of the outlet duct 29 via which the air flows in order to exit from the nozzle 16. By continuing to actuate the trigger lever 17, liquid is primed from the container through the dipper tube 25 and pumped towards the outlet duct 29. The liquid which cannot be compressed will cause the raising of the piston 41, as mentioned previously, and at the same time the spring 42 will exert constantly a force in the opposite direction, creating an additional pressure on the liquid in the horizontal channel 28, which will have a greater speed or acceleration in output from the nozzle 16.
It should be noted that the constant force exerted by the precompression spring 42 on the piston 41 also allows a rapid closure of the channel 28 supplied by the piston 41 which continues to push the liquid outwards.
The practical effect obtained with the system of precompression according to the invention is that in any way the trigger lever 17 is actuated, as a hypothesis also slowly and/or partially, in any case a nebulization of the liquid is obtained at the outlet of the nozzle 16, as schematically shown in
In
In the embodiment illustrated, the outlet channel 29 has an L configuration, with the two sections 27 and 28 orthogonal one in relation to the other and the horizontal section 28 parallel to the chamber of the pump 22.
It is however clear that the two sections 27, 28 of the outlet duct 29 can be differently angled one in relation to the other, just as the chamber of the pump 22 could be tilted with respect to said sections 27, 28.
Naturally the invention is not limited to the particular embodiment previously described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, but instead numerous detail changes can be made thereto, within the reach of the person skilled in the art, without thereby departing from the scope of the same invention as defined in the annexed claims Embodiments of the invention relate to aerosol delivery devices and more particularly to aerosol delivery devices having improved ergonomics, spray angles, actuation systems, spray patterns, and disbursement coverage options.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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MI2011A002168 | Nov 2011 | IT | national |
This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/360,669, filed May 27, 2014, which is a Sectional 371 National Stage filing of PCT/EP2012/073517, filed Nov. 23, 2012.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 14360669 | May 2014 | US |
Child | 16435472 | US |