Patent Application
20070181606
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to a trigger sprayer of the type that is manually held and operated to pump liquid from an attached bottle and dispense the liquid in a selected discharge pattern from the trigger sprayer. In particular, the present invention pertains to a trigger sprayer having an aesthetically appearing shroud and a pad on the shroud that comfortably engages with the user's hand in the area between the thumb and forefinger.
2. Description of the Related Art
Handheld and hand pumped liquid dispensers known as trigger sprayers are used to dispense liquid products used in the home and in industry. Trigger sprayers have been used in the home to dispense household cleaning or cooking liquids. Additionally, trigger sprayers have been used in industry to dispense cleaning liquids. The trigger sprayer is typically connected to a bottle containing the liquid dispensed by the trigger sprayer.
The typical construction of a trigger sprayer includes a sprayer housing that is connected to the neck a bottle by either a threaded connection or a bayonet-type connection. The sprayer housing is formed with a pump chamber and a vent chamber, a liquid supply passage that communicates the pump chamber with a liquid inlet opening of the sprayer housing, and a liquid discharge passage that communicates the pump chamber with a liquid outlet opening of the sprayer housing. A dip tube is connected to the sprayer housing at the liquid inlet opening and communicates the pump chamber with the liquid contents of the bottle connected to the trigger sprayer.
A nozzle assembly is connected to the sprayer housing at the liquid outlet opening. Some nozzle assemblies include features that enable the adjustment of the liquid discharged from the trigger sprayer. The nozzle assembly can be adjusted between an “off” position where discharge from the trigger sprayer is prevented, and one or more “on” positions where liquid discharge from the trigger sprayer is permitted, and the discharge can be in a spray, stream, or foam pattern of discharge.
A trigger is mounted on the sprayer housing for movement of the trigger relative to the sprayer housing. Typically the trigger pivots relative to the sprayer housing, however other types of movements are possible. The trigger is operatively connected to a pump of the sprayer housing to cause operation of the pump in response to the movement of the trigger on the sprayer housing. A spring is often operatively connected to the trigger to resist the movement of the trigger when pumping liquid from the pump. A user's hand squeezes the trigger toward the trigger sprayer to operate the pump and discharge liquid from the trigger sprayer. Releasing the trigger causes the spring to push the trigger away from the sprayer housing, thus causing the pump to draw liquid from the bottle into the pump chamber. Trigger sprayers of the prior art have employed various different types of pumps, i.e. piston/cylinder pumps, bulb pumps, etc.
Inlet and outlet check valves are assembled into the respective liquid supply passage and liquid discharge passage of the sprayer housing. The check valves control the flow of liquid from the bottle through the liquid supply passage and into the pump chamber, and then from the pump chamber and through the liquid discharge passage to the nozzle assembly of the trigger sprayer.
Because trigger sprayers are often visible at their point of purchase, it is important that trigger sprayers have a desirable appearance to attract consumers. Trigger sprayers have been provided with aesthetically designed shrouds that attach to the sprayer housing. The shrouds cover over much of the sprayer housing, concealing the functional appearance of the liquid discharge passage, the pump chamber, and vent chamber of the sprayer housing. Thus, the typical shroud provides an aesthetically pleasing appearance to the trigger sprayer.
In addition to the aesthetically pleasing appearance of a trigger sprayer, it is desirable that the trigger sprayer be comfortable to use. Various different trigger configurations and shroud configurations have been designed to comfortably fit in the hand of a user of the trigger sprayer.
The present invention pertains to a novel construction of a trigger sprayer that has enhanced the comfort of holding the trigger sprayer in the hand. The trigger sprayer of the invention is provided with a shroud having a novel configuration that comfortably fits between the thumb and forefinger of a user's hand, and a pad provided on the shroud that provides a comfortable feel to the user's hand gripping the trigger sprayer.
Much of the construction of the trigger sprayer, apart from the novel shroud construction, is conventional. The novel shroud construction of the invention is intended for use with the various known types of manually operated trigger sprayers, and the particular construction of the trigger sprayer on which the shroud is mounted is illustrative only and is not intended to be limiting. Because the novel shroud of the invention may be employed on various different types of trigger sprayers, the component parts of the trigger sprayer are described only generally herein.
The trigger sprayer includes a sprayer housing that contains the pump chamber of the manually operated pump of the trigger sprayer. A liquid inlet opening is provided on the sprayer housing and a liquid supply passage communicates the liquid inlet opening with the pump. A liquid outlet opening is also provided on the sprayer housing and a liquid discharge passage communicates the pump with the liquid outlet opening. On operation of the pump, liquid is drawn through the liquid inlet opening and the liquid supply passage to the pump, and then is discharged from the pump through the liquid discharge passage and the liquid outlet opening, as is conventional.
The sprayer housing contains a vent chamber adjacent the pump chamber. The vent chamber is operable to vent the interior of the bottle connected to the trigger sprayer to the exterior environment on operation of the pump.
A connector cap is provided on the sprayer housing for attaching the trigger sprayer to a bottle containing the liquid to be dispensed by the trigger sprayer. The connector cap can have a threaded fitment or a bayonet-type fitment. The cap could also be integrally formed with the sprayer housing, or could be mounted on the sprayer housing for rotation relative to the sprayer housing.
A dip tube is assembled to the sprayer housing at the liquid inlet opening. When the sprayer housing is attached to a bottle, the dip tube is inserted through the opening of the bottle and into the liquid of the bottle, thereby communicating the liquid with the pump of the trigger sprayer.
An input valve is assembled in the liquid supply passage and an output valve is assembled in the liquid discharge passage. The input valve controls the flow of liquid from the sprayer housing inlet opening to the pump, and the output valve controls the flow of liquid from the pump and through the liquid discharge passage to the liquid outlet opening.
A nozzle assembly is assembled to the trigger sprayer at the liquid outlet opening. The nozzle assembly is rotatable relative to the trigger sprayer to adjust the liquid discharge of the trigger sprayer between “off,” “spray,” and “stream” liquid discharge patterns. Alternatively, the nozzle assembly could also provide a foam discharge of the liquid from the trigger sprayer.
A piston assembly is mounted in the pump chamber of the sprayer housing for reciprocating movements between charge and discharge positions of the piston assembly relative to the sprayer housing. The piston assembly includes a pump piston and a vent piston. The vent piston is received inside the vent chamber of the sprayer housing. As the pump piston is moved to its charge position in the pump, the interior volume of the pump is increased and a vacuum is created. The vacuum draws liquid into the pump through the dip tube, the liquid inlet opening, and the liquid supply passage. As the pump piston is moved to its charge position, the vent piston is moved in the vent chamber to a closed position where a vent air flow path through the vent chamber to the interior of the bottle connected to the trigger sprayer is closed. When the pump piston is moved to its discharge position in the pump, the interior volume of the pump is reduced. This causes the liquid in the pump to be pumped out of the pump and through the liquid discharge passage and the liquid outlet opening of the sprayer housing. As the pump piston is moved to its discharge position, the vent piston is moved to an open position in the vent chamber. This opens the vent air flow path through the vent chamber and into the interior volume of the bottle attached to the trigger sprayer.
A manually operated trigger is mounted on the sprayer housing for pivoting movement. The trigger pivots in a forward direction away from the sprayer housing and a rearward direction toward the sprayer housing. The pump piston and vent piston are operatively connected to the trigger for movement in response to movement of the trigger. The movement of the trigger in the rearward direction causes the pump piston to move to its discharge position in the pump chamber and causes the vent piston to move to its open position in the vent chamber. Releasing the trigger causes a spring in the pump chamber to move the pump piston and the trigger in the forward direction away from the sprayer housing.
The novel shroud of the invention is attached to the sprayer housing. The configuration of the shroud includes a top wall, a rear wall, and a pair of opposite side walls that surround the sprayer housing. The shroud covers over the liquid supply passage, the liquid discharge passage, the pump chamber, and the vent chamber of the sprayer housing, thereby providing an aesthetically pleasing appearance to the trigger sprayer.
The configuration of the shroud also provides functional comfort features to the trigger sprayer. In one embodiment, as the shroud rear wall and side walls extend downwardly from the shroud top wall, they gradually extend rearwardly away from the sprayer housing. The shroud rear wall and side walls then curve sharply inwardly toward each other, forming a bottom surface on the underside of the shroud that projects rearwardly from the sprayer housing. The shroud bottom surface is positioned to rest on the user's hand when the user is holding and operating the trigger sprayer. The bottom surface is positioned at the rear of the shroud to rest on a portion of the user's hand between the thumb and forefinger of the hand. This comfortably suspends the trigger sprayer and the bottle attached to the trigger sprayer on the user's hand.
In an additional embodiment, as the shroud rear wall and side walls extend downwardly from the shroud top wall, they all curve outwardly away from the sprayer housing. The shroud rear wall and side walls continue to extend downwardly and outwardly from the sprayer housing, and then curve sharply inwardly toward the sprayer housing. This produces an outwardly projecting ledge on the sprayer housing that has an underside positioned at the opposite sides of the sprayer housing and at the rear of the sprayer housing. The shroud underside has a general U-shape and is positioned to rest on the user's hand when the user is holding and operating the trigger sprayer. Specifically, the U-shaped ledge underside rests on a portion of the user's thumb, the user's forefinger, and the portion of the user's hand that extends between the thumb and forefinger. This also comfortably suspends the trigger sprayer and the bottle attached to the trigger sprayer on the user's hand.
In additional embodiments, a pad is provided on the shroud rear wall and the shroud side walls. The pad extends from a bottom edge of the shroud upwardly across the shroud rear wall and side walls. The pad is positioned beneath the shroud bottom surface and beneath the ledge underside of the two previously described embodiments of the shroud. In the variant embodiments of the invention, the pad is constructed of a material that is more resilient than the material of the shroud, thereby functioning as a cushion that engages with the user's hand in an area of the hand between the thumb and forefinger. In other embodiments, the pad has a tactile surface or a textured surface that is different from the surface of the shroud to provide a comfortable feel to the user's hand holding the trigger sprayer. Still further, in the above-described variant embodiments, the pad is constructed of a different color material from the color material of the shroud, enhancing the aesthetically pleasing appearance of the shroud.
Further features of the invention are set forth in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention and in the drawing figures wherein:
As stated earlier, the present invention pertains to a novel construction of a trigger sprayer that enhances the comfort to the hand of a user holding the trigger sprayer. The novel features of the trigger sprayer are provided in a shroud of the trigger sprayer that has a novel configuration that comfortably fits between the thumb and forefinger of a user's hand, and a pad connected to the shroud that provides a comfortable feel to the user's hand gripping the trigger sprayer. Much of the construction of the trigger sprayer, apart from the novel construction of the shroud, is conventional. The novel shroud construction is intended for use with the various known types of manually operated trigger sprayers, and the particular construction of the trigger sprayer on which the shroud is mounted is illustrative only, and is not intended to be limiting. Because the novel construction of the shroud may be employed on various different types of trigger sprayers, the component parts of the trigger sprayer are described only generally herein.
The orientation of the sprayer housing 12 shown in
The pump chamber 14 has an opening 36 that communicates the pump chamber with the liquid supply passage 24, and communicates the pump chamber with the liquid discharge passage 28.
The two piece sprayer housing has a dip tube connector 42 that extends upwardly from the liquid inlet opening 22. The dip tube connector 42 has a lower portion that connects a dip tube 44 with the sprayer housing 12. The dip tube connector 42 also has an upper portion that functions as an input valve seat.
A ball valve 46 sits on top of the upper portion of the dip tube connector 42 that functions as the input valve seat. The ball valve 46 controls the flow of liquid through the dip tube 44 and the sprayer housing inlet opening 22 to the pump chamber 14. A flexible disk valve or cone shaped valve 48 is positioned in the liquid discharge passage 28. The disk valve 48 controls the flow of liquid from the pump chamber 14 through the liquid discharge passage 28 to the liquid outlet opening 26.
A pump piston 52 is mounted in the pump chamber 14 for reciprocating forward and rearward movements between charge and discharge positions of the pump piston in the pump chamber. When moved forwardly to the charge position, the pump piston 52 draws liquid into the pump chamber 14. When moved rearwardly to the discharge position, the pump piston 52 pumps the liquid from the pump chamber 14.
A vent piston 54 is connected to the pump piston 52 for reciprocating movements with the pump piston. The vent piston 54 is mounted in the vent chamber 16 for reciprocating movements between vent open and vent closed positions. In the vent open position, the interior of the bottle connected to the trigger sprayer is vented through the vent chamber 16 to the exterior environment of the sprayer housing 12. When the pump piston 52 is moved rearwardly or in the rearward direction in the pump chamber 14 toward the discharge position, the vent piston 54 is also moved in the rearward direction in the vent chamber 16 toward the open vent position. When the pump piston 52 is moved forwardly or in the forward direction in the pump chamber 14 toward the charge position, the vent piston 52 is also moved forwardly in the vent chamber to the vent closed position.
A coil spring 56 is positioned in the pump chamber 14 and engages against the pump piston 52. The spring biases the pump piston in the forward direction toward the charge position of the piston relative to the pump chamber 14. Thus, the spring also biases the vent piston 54 in the forward direction toward the vent closed position.
A trigger 58 is mounted on the sprayer housing 12 for pivoting movement of the trigger relative to the sprayer housing. The trigger 58 is operatively connected to the pump piston 52 and the vent piston 54. Movement of the trigger 58 on the sprayer housing 12 by a user's hand holding the trigger sprayer results in the reciprocating movements of the pump piston 52 and the vent piston 54 in the respective pump chamber 14 and vent chamber 16.
An indexing nozzle 60 is mounted on the sprayer housing 12 at the liquid outlet opening 26. The nozzle 60 can be turned on the sprayer housing 12 to selectively prevent and permit liquid discharge from the sprayer housing. In addition, the indexing nozzle 60 can be rotated to various positions of the nozzle relative to the sprayer housing 12 where the spray pattern of liquid discharged from the sprayer housing is changed between a spray, stream, and foam discharge pattern.
The construction of the trigger sprayer set forth above is typical, and is only one example of the construction of the various known types of trigger sprayers. As stated earlier, the particular construction of the trigger sprayer described herein is intended to be illustrative only, and is not intended to limit the use of the novel shroud of the invention to any one particular type of trigger sprayer construction.
Several embodiments of the shroud of the present invention are shown assembled to the exterior of the trigger sprayer housing 12 in the drawing figures. The shroud embodiments provide an aesthetically pleasing appearance to the exterior of the sprayer housing 12, and also provide a comfortable hand hold of the trigger sprayer.
In the embodiment of the shroud 62 shown in
The configuration of the shroud 62 also provides functional comfort features to the trigger sprayer. As shown in
In addition, a pad 82 is provided on the shroud exterior on portions of the shroud rear wall 66 and side walls 68. The pad 82 is sensory distinguishable from the remainder of the shroud 62, meaning that the pad 82 is visually different than the remainder of the exterior of the shroud 62 and/or the pad 82 is different to the touch than the remainder of the exterior of the shroud 62. The pad 82 is positioned on the shroud rear wall 66 adjacent the shroud bottom edge 84 and extends upwardly across the shroud rear wall and across the underside or bottom surface 74 of the shroud to a top edge 86 of the pad. In addition, the width of the pad 82 extends around the convex surface 76 at the bottom of the shroud 62 and across portions of the shroud side walls 68 to a forward edge 88 of the pad. This positioning of the pad 82 allows the pad to engage the hand of a user of the trigger sprayer between the thumb and forefinger of the hand, and to engage on top of the portion of the user's hand between the thumb and forefinger. In variant embodiments, the pad 82 is constructed of a different material from that of the shroud 62. For example, the pad 82 may be constructed of a material that is more resilient or is softer to the touch than the material of the shroud 62. This embodiment of the pad functions as a cushion that engages the user's hand in the area of the hand between the thumb and forefinger. In other embodiments, the pad 82 has a tactile or textured exterior surface that is different to the touch from the exterior surface of the shroud 62 to provide a comfortable feel to the user's hand holding the trigger sprayer. Still further, in the above-described variant embodiments, the pad 82 is constructed of a different color material from the color material of the shroud 62, enhancing the aesthetically pleasing appearance of the shroud.
The pad 82 can be a separate piece that is secured to the exterior surface of the shroud 62 by adhesives or other equivalent means. Preferably, the pad 82 and shroud 62 are manufactured using a two-material injection molding process, or a multi-shot molding process where the majority of the shroud 62 is injection molded, and then transferred to a different mold cavity where the pad 82 is injection molded using a different material.
The shroud configuration also provides functional comfort features to the trigger sprayer. As shown in
In addition, different embodiments of a pad 112, 114 are provided on the shroud of
Although the trigger sprayer of the invention has been described above by reference to a particular embodiments of the trigger sprayer, and to particular embodiments of the shroud, it should be understood that variations and modifications could be made to the invention without departing from the intended scope of the following claims.
