Patent Application
20240299967
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The disclosure relates to hose nozzles and more particularly pertains to a new hose nozzle for positioning the hose nozzle on a support structure or support surface to direct fluid in a selected direction.
The prior art includes several examples of hose nozzles which are operable to adjust the shape of fluid flow of fluid urged through and out of the hose nozzle. However, the prior art does not include a hose nozzle with support arms which are bendable into a selected shape and which retain the selected shape unless a sufficient force is applied to alter the shape.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a body that is hollow and is open at a supply inlet thereof. The body has a spray outlet extends into the body and is in fluid communication with the supply inlet. The supply inlet is fluidly attachable to an outlet end of a fluid supply hose. A plurality of support arms is coupled to and extends away from the body. Each support arm is elongated and is bendable into a selected shape in which each support arm retains the selected shape. A nozzle is fluidly coupled to the spray outlet of the body.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
A plurality of support arms 26 is coupled to and extends away from the body 12. Each support arm 26 is elongated and is bendable into a selected shape wherein each support arm 26 retains the selected shape. Each support arm 26 comprises a plurality of links 28 which are serially interconnected by ball-and-socket joints 30 such that each link 28 is pivotal with respect to at least one adjacent link 28 of the plurality of links 28. Each link 28 is positionally fixed with respect to the at least one adjacent link 28 by frictional engagement, which is overcome with a sufficient force to bend the support arm 26 associated with the plurality of links 28 into the selected shape. Each support arm 26 of the plurality of support arms 26 is also buoyant in water 32. The plurality of support arms 26 is radially arranged around the body 12 and comprises three support arms 26 such that the body 12 and the plurality of support arms 26 define a tripod 34.
A nozzle 36 is fluidly coupled to the spray outlet 16 of the body 12. In a first embodiment 38, the nozzle 36 is removable from the body 12. The spray outlet 16 in this first embodiment 38 has exterior threads 40 which are complementary in shape to interior threads 42 of the nozzle 36. In a second embodiment 44, the nozzle 36 forms a unitary structure 46 with the body 12.
In the second embodiment 44, the nozzle 36 includes a spray pattern selector 48 having a plurality of spray ports 50. Each spray port 50 of the plurality of spray ports 50 is selectively positionable over the spray outlet 16 and is shaped to direct a flow path of a fluid 52 as the fluid 52 moves therethrough. The spray pattern selector 48 includes a disc 54 that is rotatably coupled to a housing 60 of the nozzle 36. The plurality of spray ports 50 is radially arranged on the disc 54. The spray pattern selector 48 has a grip 56 on a peripheral edge 58 of the disc 54.
The second embodiment 44 also includes a valve 62 and a lever 64. The valve 62 is in fluid communication with the body 12 and is movable between a closed position and an open position, where the valve 62 permits the fluid 52 to move through the body 12 when the valve 62 is open and inhibits the fluid 52 from moving through the body 12 when the valve 62 is closed. The lever 64 is operatively coupled to the valve 62 and extends away from the valve 62 through an outer wall 66 of the housing 60 of the nozzle 36. The lever 64 is pivotable with respect to the nozzle 36 to move the valve 62 between the closed position and the open position.
In use, the support arms 26 are bent into the selected position to mount the nozzle 36 to a support structure 68 or position the nozzle 36 on a support surface 70. For example, the support arms 26 may be bent around a beam 74 of a fence 72 to direct the nozzle 36 to spray the fluid 52 in a selected direction, such as to water a plant or a chosen area of a lawn. The support arms 26 may also be positioned to engage a ground surface 76 to position the nozzle 36 above the ground surface 76 and orient the nozzle 36 to spray the fluid in another selected direction. The nozzle 36 may also be placed in a pool 78 such that the support arms 26 float on water 32 held by the pool 78 and orient the nozzle 36 to spray the fluid 52 above the pool 78. The nozzle 36 may be placed in these and other arrangements for recreational use in which children, pets, or others interact with the fluid 52 sprayed by the nozzle 36.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
