EP0126175B1

EP0126175B1 - Manually-operated sprayer

Info

Publication number: EP0126175B1
Application number: EP83105039A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Tadao Saito; Takao Kishi; Yoshiyuki Kakuta
Original assignee: Yoshino Kogyosho Co Ltd
Current assignee: Yoshino Kogyosho Co Ltd
Priority date: 1983-05-20
Filing date: 1983-05-20
Publication date: 1987-11-04
Also published as: DE3374278D1; EP0126175A1

Description

The present invention relates to a manually-operated sprayer having an air cylinder for sucking external air from a nozzle hole.
In accordance with the pre-characterizing part of claim 1, FR-A-2434943 shows a manually-operated sprayer comprising a cylinder inserted into a container for liquid, and an operating member the lower part of which is engaged slidably and vertically within the cylinder and is biased upwardly by a spring. The liquid sucked into the cylinder is sprayed from a nozzle hole through a discharge valve when the operating member is moved upwardly, the cylinder chamber is negatively pressurized to suck the liquid in the container into the cylinder through a suction valve. In order to avoid clogging of the nozzle hole which might occur if there remains liquid in the discharge path between the discharge valve and the nozzle hole, at the end of the downstroke of the operating member a certain amount of air is expelled through the exhaust path from the nozzle hole. To this end, an air chamber is formed within the depressing head, and a lip portion of a cylinder member, which surrounds the discharge valve, comes into contact with the inner wall of the air chamber. Thereby, the air contained in the air chamber is pressurized during the downstroke of the depressing head. When the depressing head reaches its lowest position a small channel connecting the air chamber with the discharge valve is opened so that the pressurized air may flow through said small channel, the discharge valve and the exhaust path to be expelled through the nozzle hole.
During the upstroke of the depressing head and the operating member the discharge valve is closed and so is the channel which connects the air chamber with the discharge hole. Therefore, during the upstroke of the depressing head and the operating member neither liquid nor air is flown through the exhaust path.
It is the problem underlying the present invention to provide for a manually-operated sprayer in which the means for eliminating the liquid adhering to the inside wall of the nozzle hole are further improved.
In accordance with the characterizing portion of claim 1, there are provided means for sucking external air through the nozzle hole and the exhaust path to the air cylinder chamber during the upstroke of the operating member and the depressing head. Therefore, in a sprayer according to the present invention, air is flown through the nozzle hole and the exhaust path during a time interval in which the operating member and the depressing head go up. Since the external air sucked into the nozzle hole and the exhaust path connected to the nozzle hole flows in a direction opposite to the direction in which the liquid is expelled from the nozzle, efficient cleaning of the nozzle hole and the exhaust path is achieved.

Brief description of the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical cross section of a manually-operated sprayer of the first embodiment according to the present invention. Fig. 2 to Fig. 4 are half cross sections of manually-operated sprayers of the second third and fourth embodiments.
The first embodiment will be explained by referring now to the first preferred embodiment shown in Fig. 1. In this figure, 1 is a container; 2 is the neck part of said container wherein the cylinder 5 is provided in such a manner that the outward flange 3 deposited to the upper end thereof is placed on top of said container through the packing 4. Provided at the bottom part of said cylinder is the suction valve 6 which is connected to the suction pipe 7 for sucking the liquid within the container and extended vertically from the lower end of cylinder. The through holes 8, 9 are bored at the upper part of cylinder and the lower part properly separated therefrom.
Said cylinder is secured by the mounting member 10. The mounting member is provided with the inward flange 12 at the upper end of circumferential wall 11 threaded to the neck part of container and said packing 4 and outward flange 3 of the cylinder are held by said inward flange and the top surface of container from both sides. From the internal circumferential edge of inward flange, the inner engaging cylinder 14 having the engaging passage 13 at the internal surface of upper part is erected, while from the intermediate part of inward flange the outer engaging cylinder 15 is erected.
The lower part of the operation member 17 is engaged movably in vertical to the inside of said cylinder. In the embodiment shown in the figure, the operating member 17 is composed of the connecting pipe member 18 and the depressing head 32.
The connecting pipe member 18 is formed with the main cylinder 19 and the engaging cylinder 20 engaged with outer surface of upper part of said main cylinder and the lower part of main cylinder is formed as the double cylinders consisting of the inner cylinder and outer cylinder, with the inner cylinder 21 is shorter than the outer cylinder 22. The upper part of main cylinder is formed as the tapered discharge valve body 23, the upper end of engaging cylinder is located lower than the discharge valve body and the external circumference of said upper end is provided with the large-diameter piston 24. The lower ends of outer cylinder and engaging cylinder are respectively formed as the cylindrical pistons 25, 26 and they are closely placed in contact with the inner wall of cylinder. The upper end of outer cylinder 22 is bored with the through holes 27, 27, the outer surface of upper part of main cylinder is provided with the vertical grooves 28, 28 in connection with said through holes, and the upper ends of said vertical grooves are opened to the internal edge of upper end of the engaging cylinder 20. The main cylinder 19 is provided with the air cylinder chamber 29 of which both ends are opening, on the axial line thereof. The aperture of upper end of main cylinder is formed at the exhaust hole 16 connected to the exhaust path 34 and the aperture at the lower end of main cylinder is engaged with the upper part of the plunger 41 for air cylinder explained later. The connecting pipe member 18 is urged upward by the spring 30 provided within the cylinder 5.
32 is the depressing head and the discharge valve hole 33 is opened at the center of lower surface and it is connected to the nozzle hole 35 opening at the side of upper part from said discharge valve hole through the exhaust path 34. In addition, from the lower surface of depressing head surrounding the discharge valve hole 33, the large-diameter cylinder 36 larger than said cylinder is provided vertically, said large-diameter piston 24 is engaged with inside of said cylinder, and the top end of discharge valve body 23 is engaged with the inside of discharge valve hole, thereby the discharge valve 37 is formed. The large-diameter cylinder 36 is engaged with inside of said inner engaging cylinder and the projected passage 38 provided at the outer circumference of lower end of large-diameter cylinder is engaged with the engaging passage 13 of inner engaging cylinder. From the outer circumference of lower end of depressing head, the guide cylinder 39 is provided vertically and therefore it can move vertically between the inner side of said mounting member and outer engaging cylinder.
As explained above, the present invention is particularly characterized by the plunger 41 for air cylinder and the air cylinder chamber 29.
The plunger for air cylinder is erected within the cylinder by disposing a plurality of foot pieces 42 provided at the lower end on the upward step formed in the inner surface of lower part of cylinder and its upper half part is formed as the small-diameter part and is engaged movably in vertical with inside of the air cylinder chamber 29. The outer circumference of upper end of plunger for air cylinder is provided with the engaging projected passage 43, and internal circumference of lower end of said inner cylinder is provided with the projected passage 21a which is water-tightly in contact with the outer surface of said plunger. Engagement of them prevents release of plunger for air cylinder. 44 is the cap.
In above structure, when the operating member 17 is depressed, for the first time, through the depressing head 32, since both pressure chamber A which is formed by the internal spaces of cylinder located lower than the piston 25 of which lower part is formed cylindrically and the outer cylinder 22 is connected to the pressure chamber B which is formed by the space of large-diameter cylinder located higher than the large-diameter piston 24through the through hole 27 and vertical groove 28 because both suction valve and discharge valve are closed, the pump chamber consisting of these pressure chambers is pressurized. When the pump chamber is further pressurized, the connecting pipe member 18 moves downward farther for the depressing head 32 owing to difference of diameters of both cylinders, and thereby the discharge valve 37 opens and the liquid in the pump chamber is sprayed from the nozzle hole.
In the first experience of use of sprayer, the air existing in the pump chamber is sprayed. Since the operating member 17 moves downward during spraying operation with the discharge valve 37 being opened, the air cylinder chamber 29 also moves downward and thereby the plunger 41 for air cylinder is inserted into the air cylinder chamber 29, causing the air in said chamber to be sprayed through the discharge valve hole 33. When downward movement of the operating member 17 stops, the discharge valve 37 closes owing to a depressing force of the spring 30, and when the depressing head is released, the operating member 17 moves upward. Since the pump chamber is pressurized negatively, the suction valve 6 opens, sucking the liquid in the container, and in addition, since the air cylinder chamber is also pressurized negatively, external air is sucked through the nozzle hole, exhaust path and discharge valve hole. Since the liquid is already sucked in the pump chamber, it is sprayed by the next depressing of operating member, and the liquid adhered to the inside wall of nozzle hole by the spraying operation is removed by the suction of external air effectuated when the operating member moves upward.
The embodiments shown in Fig. 2 to Fig. 4 indicate the structure wherein both plunger 41 for air cylinder and air cylinder chamber 29 are provided to the sprayers in different structures, respectively.
In the preferred embodiment shown in Fig. 2, the lower part of cylinder 5 is formed as the small-diameter cylinder 31, while the upper part is formed as the large-diameter cylinder 36. Inside of the small-diameter cylinder 31 engages with the small-diameter piston 18a provided at the lower end of connecting pipe member 18. From the depressing head 32, the discharge pipe 51 of which lower part is formed as the large-diameter part is extended vertically, and inside of large-diameter part engages with the cylinder material 53 with large-diameter cylindrical piston 52, this large-diameter cylindrical piston engages with inside of large-diameter cylinder 36, and moreover inside of large-diameter cylinder 36 engages with the large-diameter piston 24 provided to the connecting pipe member 18. To the large-diameter piston 24, pressure of pressure chamber B works downward, while to the small-diameter piston 18a, pressure of pressure chamber A works upward.
The projected passage 54 formed at the inside of upper end of circumferential wall of cylinder material 53 is provided with the discharge valve hole which is connected to the discharge pipe hole 51 a, and the discharge valve 37 is composed of said valve hole and discharge valve body 23 at the upper end of the connecting pipe member 18. The pressure chamber B is formed with said large-diameter cylindrical piston 52, large-diameter piston 24 provided at the intermediate part of connecting pipe member, inside wall of large-diameter cylinder provided between them and the external wall of connecting pipe member 18.
The air cylinder chamber 29 is formed within the connecting pipe member 18 and the plunger 41 for air cylinder passes through said connecting pipe member 18. At the upper end of connecting pipe member 18, the exhaust hole 16 is bored so that when the plunger 41 for air cylinder moves upward within the connecting pipe member 18, air is sent to the nozzle hole 35. At the internal circumferential surface of upper part of the connecting pipe member 18, the annular projected passage 18b is formed and it is water-tightly in contact with inside of plunger 41 for air cylinder.
In this embodiment, when the operating member 17 is depressed through the depressing head 32, the pump chamber consisting of the pressure chamber A and pressure chamber B connected through the hole 55 is pressurized as in the case of the first embodiment, and thereby the connecting pipe member 18 moves downward owing to difference of diameters of both cylinders 5, 36, causing the discharge valve 37 to open. Accordingly, the liquid and air are sprayed from the nozzle hole 35. Downward movement of operating member causes the plunger 41 for air cylinder to enter the discharge pipe hole which is also used in common by the air cylinder chamber 29. When downward movement of operating member stops, the discharge valve 37 closes. Meanwhile, when the operating member moves upward, the suction valve 6 opens and the liquid enters the pump chamber. Simultaneously, the vertical part of discharge path, namely the air cylinder chamber is negatively pressurized and thereby external air is sucked through the nozzle hole.
In the embodiment shown in Fig. 3, the upper half of cylinder is formed as the large-diameter cylinder 36. The external surface of lower end of the discharge pipe 51 extended vertically from the depressing head 32 is provided with the large-diameter piston 24 and the external surface of lower part of the connecting pipe member 18 is provided with the cylindrical piston 25 which is in contact with the internal wall of cylinder. The upper part of connection pipe member 18 is inserted into the lower part of discharge pipe 51, and the discharge valve 37 is formed by the discharge valve body 23 formed at the upper end of connecting pipe member 18 and the discharge valve hole 33 formed by the downward step portion formed at the intermediate part of discharge pipe hole 51a. The suction valve 6 is formed by the valve hole 6a provided at the intermediate part of connecting pipe member 18 and the elastic cylinder 6b engaging with the external surface of connecting pipe member 18 in such a manner as choking said valve hole.
In said third embodiment, when the operating member 17 is depressed, the liquid in the large-diameter cylinder 36 enters, due to downward movement of the large diameter piston 24, narrow clearance formed by the cylinder 5, external surface of connecting pipe member 18 and the cylindrical piston 25, causing the connecting pipe member 18 to be depressed, and thereby the discharge valve 37 opens. When downward movement of operating member 17 stops, the discharge valve closes, and when the depressing head is released, the operating member moves upward. Thereby, the pump chamber is mainly formed by the internal space of large-diameter cylinder and is negatively pressurized. Accordingly, the liquid in the container flows into the pump chamber through the suction valve 6. The air cylinder chamber 29 is formed by the.internal space of upper part of the connecting pipe member 18 and the internal space of discharge pipe hole 51a located higher than the discharge valve hole 33, and external air is sucked into the air cylinder through the nozzle hole and inside air is exhausted in accordance with relative ascent and descent of plunger 41 for air cylinder into/ from the air cylinder chamber 29 during vertical movement of the operating member.
In the embodiment shown in Fig. 4, a large-diameter cylinder is not used. From the depressing head 32, the discharge pipe 51 of which lower half is formed as the large-diameter part 56 is extended vertically and the lower end of said large-diameter part is provided with the cylindrical piston 25. The inside of large-diameter part is working as the air cylinder chamber 29. The plunger 41 for air cylinder is formed cylindrically with both ends opened as the apertures, forming the discharge valve 37 consisting of the discharge valve hole and ball valve within the upper end thereof, and the upper end of said plunger 41 is water-tightly inserted into the lower part of air cylinder chamber.
Downward movement of operating member 17 makes the plunger 41 for air cylinder relatively move upward within the air cylinder chamber 29 and simultaneously the cylindrical piston 25 move downward within the cylinder 5. Therefore, the liquid stored in the clearance formed between the external surface of air cylinder plunger and the cylinder wall enters the hole of said plunger passing the through hole 57 at the lower end of air cylinder plunger 41. Thereby, the discharge valve 37 opens and the liquid is sprayed from the nozzle hole 35 through the exhaust path 34. When downward movement of operating member 17 stops, the discharge valve closes and when said operating member 17 moves upward, the suction valve opens and the liquid in the container is sucked. Simultaneously, the air cylinder plunger 41 moves backward in the air cylinder chamber 29 keeping the water-tight sealing. Thereby, the chamber 29 becomes broad, negatively pressurizing therein. Thus, external air is sucked through the nozzle hole 35.
With the above mentioned structure, the present invention provides a sprayer wherein the liquid is sucked into the pump chamber from the container in accordance with the upward movement of the operating member, and is sprayed from the nozzle hole of the depressing head in accordance with the downward movement of the operating member, characterized in that external air is sucked through the nozzle hole when the operating member moves upward, and air is exhausted from the nozzle hole when the operating member moves downward, so that the liquid adhering to the inside wall of the nozzle hole in each spraying operation can be removed, thereby preventing a substance dissolved in the liquid from solidifying on the inside wall of the nozzle hole until it is choked.

Claims

1. A manually operated sprayer having a cylinder (5) fitted to a container (1 which cylinder is provided with a suction valve (6), an operating member (17) comprising a pipe-like portion (18, 19, 51, 56) inserted into said cylinder and a depressing head (32) fitted to the upper end of said pipe-like portion, said pipe-like portion being biased upwardly by a spring (30) and said operating member being vertically movable with respect to a mounting member (10) engaged to a neck of the container, said depressing head being provided with a nozzle hole (35), an air cylinder chamber (29) and an air cylinder plunger (41) vertically movable therein to thereby on the down-stroke of the operation member (17) expel air from the air cylinder chamber (29) via an exhaust path (34), which communicates the discharge valve (37) with the nozzle hole (35), wherein the vertical movement of said operation member (17) relative to said cylinder causes a liquid contained in said container to be sucked into the cylinder through said sucking valve (6) and the liquid in the cylinder is sprayed through said nozzle hole (35) characterized in that the air cylinder plunger (41) is provided so as to erect from the interior of said cylinder (5), that the air cylinder chamber (29) is formed in said pipe-like portion (18, 19, 51, 56), and that the air cylinder chamber (29) is permanently communicating with the exhaust path (34), whereby, when the operating member (17) is moved upward, external air is sucked into the air cylinder chamber (29) through the nozzle hole (35).

2. A manually operated sprayer according to claim 1, characterized in that a pump chamber is formed by the first cylinder (5) fitted into the container (1) and a second cylinder (36) extending downwardly from the depressing head (32) and having a larger diameter than the first cylinder (5), the pipe-like portion of the operating member (17) is a connecting pipe member (18, 19) at the lower end of which a first piston (25) inserted into the first cylinder (5) is formed and at the upper end of which a second piston (24) is formed and inserted into the second cylinder (36), and the discharge valve (37) is formed by a discharge valve hole (33) bored on the lower surface of the depressing head (32) and by a discharge valve body (23) which is formed at the upper end of the connecting pipe member (18, 19) and pressed against said discharge valve hole (33).

3. A manually-operated sprayer according to claim 1, characterized in that the lower part of the cylinder (5) is formed into a small diameter cylinder portion (31) and the upper part of the cylinder (5) is formed into a large diameter cylinder portion (36), that the pipe-like portion of the operating member (17) consists of a discharge pipe (51) and a connecting pipe member (18), said discharge pipe (51) extends downwardly from the lower surface of the depressing head (32), a large diameter cylindrical piston (52) is provided at the lower end of the discharge pipe (51) and fitted into said large diameter cylinder portion (36), the connecting pipe member (18) has an upper part fitted into the lower part of the discharge pipe (51) and has a lower part provided with a small diameter piston (18a) fitted into said small diameter cylinder portion (31), and a through hole (55) is bored at the wall of the connecting pipe member (18), said through hole communicates the interior of the large diameter cylinder portion (36) with the interior of the small diameter cylinder portion (31) through the connecting pipe member (18), the discharge valve (37) is formed by a discharge valve body (23) which is provided at the upper end of the connecting pipe member (18) and by the discharge valve hole formed by the lower inner part of the discharge pipe (51), said discharge valve body (23) is pressed against the discharge valve hole. (Fig. 2).

4. A manually-operated sprayer according to claim 1, characterized in that the lower part of the cylinder (5) is formed into a small diameter portion and the upper part of the cylinder (5) is formed into a large diameter cylinder portion (36), the pipe-like portion of the operating member consists of a discharge pipe (51) and a connecting pipe member (18), said discharge pipe (51) extends downwardly from the lower surface of the depressing head (32) and a large diameter piston (24) is provided at the lower end of the discharge pipe (51) and fitted into the large diameter cylinder portion (36), said connecting pipe member (18) has an upper end fitted into the lower part of the discharge pipe (51) and has a small diameter piston (25) which is formed at its lower end and fitted into the small diameter cylinder portion, the discharge valve (37) is formed by a discharge valve hole (33) and a discharge valve body (23), said discharge valve hole (33) is formed by the lower inner part of the discharge pipe (51) and said discharge valve body (23) is formed at the upper end of the connecting pipe member (18) and pressed against the discharge hole (33) and the suction valve (6) consists of a valve hole (6a) bored through the connecting pipe member (18) and an elastic cylinder (6b) fitted onto the external surface of the connecting pipe member (18) so as to block up the valve hole elastically (Fig. 3).

5. A manually-operated sprayer according to claim 1, characterized in that the pipe-like portion of the operating member (17) is a discharge pipe (51, 56), extending from the lower surface of the depressing head (32), a cylindrical piston (25) provided at the lower end (56) of the discharge pipe is fitted into the cylinder (5), the discharge pipe comprises the air cylinder chamber (29), the air cylinder plunger (41) is cylindrically shaped and formed so as to move vertically within the air cylinder chamber (29) and the air cylinder plunger (41) is provided with the discharge valve (37) at the upper end thereof and with a through hole (57) bored at the lower part thereof for flowing of the fluid contained in the cylinder (Fig. 4).