EP1675685B1

EP1675685B1 - Hose guns

Info

Publication number: EP1675685B1
Application number: EP04768171.3A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Nicolino Laciofano; Robert Dudley Boughton
Original assignee: Hozelock Ltd
Current assignee: Hozelock Ltd
Priority date: 2003-08-21
Filing date: 2004-08-23
Publication date: 2013-11-27
Anticipated expiration: 2024-08-23
Also published as: EP1675685A2; WO2005018814A2; WO2005018814A3; GB0319698D0

Description

This invention relates to hose guns.
Hose guns are often used to control the flow of water at the end of a garden hosepipe when, for example, watering plants.
When using a hose gun it is desirable to have good control over the flow of fluid which is emitted from the gun. It is an aim of at least some of the embodiments of the invention to provide such control.
In some cases hose guns include a multi function head in which different modes of operation, for example, different spray patterns can be selected by appropriately adjusting a control provided on the head. It is an aim of at least some of the embodiments of the present invention to provide a convenient means for selecting different functions in a multi function hose gun.
US-A-3709259 discloses a two-stage valve arrangement that is operable by an operator to cause fluid to flow therethrough. The valve arrangement of US-A-3709259 is not directed towards providing a finitely adjustable flow rate and is instead directed towards providing a valve assembly that "snaps" open with a minimal operating force. In addition, and in order to achieve its object of requiring a low operating force, this known valve arrangement uses the pressure of fluid supplied thereto to close the valve arrangement. If the supply pressure is low or cut off, the valve assembly may therefore not close properly and the arrangement may leak.
GB-A-2909 discloses a self-closing tap. The tap includes a two-stage valve that includes a radially inner and a radially outer part, the two parts combining to close an orifice of the tap. A user-operable button is connected to the inner part and can be pressed to open that inner part, thereby partly uncovering the orifice and allowing flow therethrough. Continued depression of the button results in the outer part being engaged and the orifice being further uncovered. Again, the pressure of the fluid supplied to the valve arrangement of GB-A-2909 is used to close the inner part when the button is released. This arrangement therefore also suffers from a tendency to drip.
EP-A-1234616 discloses a hose gun according to the preamble of claim 1. It is an object of the invention to improve the existing hose guns.
According to one aspect of this invention, there is provided a hose gun as defined in claim 1 of the appended claims. A hose gun according to this aspect minimizes the problem of dripping or leaking when the pressure of fluid supplied thereto is low or cut off. This is achieved by the combination of the claimed stem and body being arranged such that the stem can act on the body so as to close both the flow paths, and also by providing spring means that biases the body to act in this way.
In a first stage of opening, a first of the fluid flow paths may be opened for fluid flow. In a second stage of opening, a second of the fluid flow paths may be opened for fluid flow. In the second stage of opening, both the first and second fluid flow paths may be opened for fluid flow.
The fluid flow paths may be provided in parallel. Here the expression "in parallel" is used in the electrical sense of the expression in contradistinction to "in series".
In one set of embodiments the valve arrangement is arranged to open in two stages and to provide two fluid flow paths. In some of these embodiments, a first of the flow paths is open to flow in the first stage and both of the flow paths are open to flow in the second stage.
The valve arrangement may be arranged so that the flow rate allowed through the bore is variable within some or all of the stages. In particular, in at least some stages, the valve arrangement may be operable progressively between a minimum state in which no flow is allowed through a respective fluid flow path and a maximum state in which the respective fluid flow path is fully open. In some cases the minimum state in a particular stage may correspond to the valve arrangement being fully closed and no flow being allowed. In other cases however, the minimum state in a stage may correspond to the respective fluid flow path being closed but another fluid flow path being open, possibly fully open.
A valve seat may be provided in the body against which a shoulder portion of the stem abuts in the closed state. The stem and body may be considered to comprise a first valve of the arrangement.
A valve seat may be provided in the bore against which a shoulder portion of the body abuts in the closed state. The body and bore may be considered to comprise a second valve of the arrangement.
At least one of the fluid flow paths may run at least partially through the body.
The stem may be arranged for axial movement within the body. One extreme of the axial movement may correspond to the first valve being closed. At the other extreme of the axial movement an abutment portion of the stem may abut against a corresponding abutment portion of the body.
The gun may be arranged so that operation of the user control causes axial movement of the stem and/or body within the gun.
Preferably movement of the user control over one range causes the first valve to open, so that the valve is in the first state and movement of the user control over another range causes the second valve to open, so that the valve is in the second state. The valve arrangement may be such that the first valve is always open when the second valve is open.
The user control and valve may be arranged so that the user control acts on one of the stem and the body and movement of the control causes movement of the stem and body in two phases, in one of the phases the stem and body move together to open one valve and in the other of the phases the stem and body move relative to one another to open another valve.
These phases may occur in either order. The user control may act on the stem with drive transferred to the body or on the body with drive transferred to the stem.
In a currently preferred set of embodiments, the user control may be arranged to act on the stem so that movement of the user control causes movement of the stem to open the first valve. The valve arrangement and user control may be further arranged so that continued movement of the user control causes the abutment portion of the stem to abut with the abutment portion of the body and the body to be moved by virtue of this abutment so opening the second valve.
The control surface may be inclined relative to the axis of the stem and body so that movement of the actuator in at least one direction transverse to the axis of the stem and body whilst the bearing surface is in contact with the control surface causes axial movement of the stem and/or body relative to the actuator.
The user control may comprise a trigger portion. The actuator portion may be arranged to transfer movement between the trigger and the body and/or stem. In such a case and using the above arrangements, squeezing the trigger can cause the body and/or stem to move to allow fluid to flow through the gun. In a currently preferred case, squeezing the trigger will first move the stem relative to the body to open the first valve and further squeezing of the trigger will move the body and stem together relative to the bore to open the second valve. The head of the stem may comprise resilient barbs to help prevent accidental removal of the stem after capture.
The head of the stem and the aperture of the body may be dimensioned and arranged so that the head will fit through the aperture only when in predetermined relative orientations. During assembly the stem may be rotated relative to the body after capture. This can aid in retention of the head in the cage. Further the relative rotation of these two components can allow the abutment portions of the stem and body to be aligned so as to correctly abut in use.
The end of the actuator carrying the bearing surface may pass through a side wall of the cage and into a slot in the stem. This arrangement can help to prevent rotation of the stem relative to the remainder of the gun and/or relative rotation of the stem and body during normal use and can therefore help to keep the stem and body in the desired relative orientations.
A tail of the stem may comprise at least one guide projection which is retained in a channel inside the bore of the gun after assembly. The interaction of the guide projection and channel can resist rotation of the stem in normal use.
Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:-

Figure 1 is a side view of a hose gun;
Figure 2 is a plan view of the hose gun shown in Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a front view of the hose gun shown in Figures 1 and 2;
Figure 4 shows a section, on line IV - IV, through the hose gun shown in Figure 3;
Figure 5 shows a section, on line V - V, through the hose gun shown in Figure 2;
Figure 6 is a front view of a hose gun including a first alternative head;
Figure 7 is a front view of a hose gun including a second alternative head;
Figure 8 is a section through a hose gun similar to that shown in Figure 5 but including the second alternative head of Figure 7 and showing a trigger of the hose gun locked in a first position;
Figure 9 shows the same section as that in Figure 8 except for the fact the trigger is locked in a second position;
Figure 10 is a perspective view of the trigger portion of the gun shown in Figure 8 with the trigger locked in the first position;
Figure 11 is a perspective view of the trigger portion of the gun shown in Figure 9 with the trigger locked in the second position;
Figures 12A and 12B show a base plate of a directing portion of the head of the hose gun shown in Figures 1 to 5;
Figure 12C shows a cover plate of the directing portion of the head of the hose gun shown in Figures 1 to 5; and
Figure 13 shows a cover plate of a directing portion of the head of the hose gun shown in Figure 6.
Figures 1 to 5 show a hose gun comprising a main body 1 having at one end a fluid inlet 2 and at the other end an outlet head 3.

The head 3 is mounted on the gun body 1 in a conventional way and comprises a static portion 31 which in effect forms part of the body of the gun, and a rotatable portion 32. In the gun shown in Figures 1 to 5, the head 3 is a multifunction head providing 7 different outlet functions. Each of these functions is selected by rotating the head 32 relative to the body 1 to the appropriate position.
The gun comprises a trigger 4 which is operable by the user to control a fluid flow control valve arrangement 5 provided within a fluid flow bore 6 of the gun body 1.
Other forms of head may be used on the gun and two further examples are shown in Figures 6 and Figure 7. The head of the gun shown in Figure 6 is a six function head and the head shown in Figure 7 is a single function head.
Figures 8 to 11 show more detail of the gun shown in Figure 7 which is the same as that shown in Figures 1 to 5 except for the fact that the gun includes the second alternative head as mentioned above. Figures 8 to 11 show the workings of the body of the gun in more detail than Figures 1 to 5. As these aspects are the same for both of these guns, as indeed they are for the gun of Figure 6, reference will be made to Figures 8 to 11 as well as Figures 1 to 5 in describing the structure and operation of the gun body 1.
The trigger 4 is pivotally mounted to the body 1 and biassed towards an extended, "off", position in which the end of the trigger nearest the fluid inlet 2 projects as far as possible from the gun body 1.
An actuating member 7 is provided within a guide 71 in the gun body 1 and has a head portion 72 which acts on the internal surface of the trigger 4 and a tail portion 73 for actuating the valve arrangement 5 as will be described in more detail below. A spring 74 is provided around the guide 71 and serves to force the head 72 of the actuating member 7 away from the guide 71 and into contact with the internal surface of the trigger 4. This action provides the biassing force mentioned above that acts on the trigger 4 to tend to cause it to move to its extended position.
The valve arrangement 5 comprises a stem portion 51 and a body portion 52. The stem portion has a head 53 which is captured in a cage formed by the body portion 52 and further has a tail 54. The tail 54 is seated on a spring 55 and includes a guide finger 56 located in a groove 61 in the bore 6 to help prevent rotation of the stem 51 relative to the bore 6.
The head 53 of the stem comprises an inclined control surface 57 on which a bearing surface of the tail 73 of the actuating member 7 bears during operation of the trigger 4.
The control surface 57 is provided by virtue of there being a slot through the head 53 of the stem. One of the side walls of the slot is visible in Figures 5, 8 and 9 behind the tail 73 of the actuating member 7.
As the tail 73 of the actuating member 7 is provided in the slot in the stem 51, and these components fit relatively closely with one another, undesired movement between these components is substantially prevented.
Movement of the actuating member 7 against the inclined control surface 57 under action of the trigger 4 causes axial movement of the stem 51.
Axial movement of the stem 51 relative to the body 52 is allowed to some degree but the head 53 and body 52 comprise respective abutment portions 58 (see Figure 8) which abut against one another once a certain degree of axial movement of the stem 51 towards the water inlet 2 has occurred.
Whilst it is not clear from the drawings alone, it is mentioned that the head 53 of the stem 51 is dimensioned and arranged so that it may be inserted through an aperture at the base of the body portion 52 during assembly so as to achieve its captured position as shown in Figures 5, 8 and 9. In particular, the aperture in the body portion 52 and the head 53 are arranged so that in one relative orientation the head 53 will pass through the aperture whereas after rotation of the stem relative to the body, the head is captured within the cage like body portion 52 and the abutment portions 58 can act against one another as required.
Further, although not shown in the drawings a pair of barbs are provided; one on each of the side walls of the slot formed in the head 53. These barbs help to prevent accidental removal of the head 53 from the body 52.
The valve arrangement 5 provides two stage valve opening. This is achieved by providing two separate fluid flow paths through the valve arrangement 5 (see Figures 8 and 9). A first valve is provided by the extreme end of the head 53 having a shoulder 59 carrying an O-ring seal which can act against a seat 510 provided by the body 52. The second valve is provided by the extreme end of the body 52 having a shoulder 511 carrying an O-ring seal which can act against a seat 512 provided in the bore 6 of the gun body 1.
Figures 5, 8 and 9 show the trigger 4 and valve arrangement 5 in various stages of operation.
In Figure 5, the trigger 4 is shown in the extended "off" position and the valve arrangement 5 is fully closed with the seal on the shoulder 59 formed at the extremity of the head 53 firmly in abutment with the seat 510 provided by the body portion 52 and similarly, the seal on the shoulder 511 at the extremity of the body portion firmly seated against the seat 512 provided in the bore 6 of the gun body 1. It will also be seen in Figure 5 that, in this state, the abutment portions 58 of the stem 51 and body 52 are not in contact with one another.
In Figure 8, the trigger 4 is partially depressed and the valve arrangement 5 is partially open. In particular, the first valve provided between the stem 51 and body 52 is open by virtue of the seal on the respective shoulder 59 having moved away from the seat provided by the body portion 510.
In this state, compared with that shown in Figure 5, the stem 51 has moved axially towards the fluid inlet 2. This movement has been caused by the tail 73 of the actuating member bearing on the control surface 57 of the stem 51 under squeezing action of the trigger 4.
It will be noted that in this state, the second valve is still firmly closed with the seal on the shoulder 511 of the body 52 pushed against the seat 512 formed in the bore 6. This is because the abutment portions 58 of the stem 51 and body 52 have been brought just into contact and there has been insufficient movement to begin opening of the second valve.
In Figure 9 the gun is shown in a nearly fully open position. Here both of the valves are open. In moving from the position in Figure 8 to that shown in Figure 9, further depression of the trigger 4 has caused more inward movement of the actuating member 7, which in turn has driven the stem 51 further towards the fluid inlet 2. However, as the abutment portions 58 of the stem 51 and body 52 were in abutment in the previous position, further inward movement of the actuating member 7 has caused movement of the body 52 and stem 51 as one unit towards the fluid inlet 2.
Thus, in this case not only has the seal on the head shoulder 59 moved away from the body seat 510 but also the seal on the body shoulder 511 has moved away from the seat 512 provided within the bore. In this position two fluid flow paths have been made available for fluid flowing into the fluid inlet 2. One path is past the head shoulder 59 and through a passageway in the body and the other path is past the bore shoulder 511 and through a passageway between the body 52 and the internal wall of the bore 6 in the region of the seat 512. These two fluid paths are provided in parallel to one another.
It will be seen that the valve arrangement 5 in the present embodiment can open in two distinct stages. However, within each stage there are still different degrees by which the valves may be open.
At a first stage a small depression of the trigger will crack open the first valve provided between the head shoulder 59 and the body seat 510 and continued depression of the trigger 4 will increase the spacing between these two components increasing the fluid flow path. At a certain point the abutment portions 58 will abut against one another and continued movement of the trigger 4 will cause the second valve to crack open. From this point, further movement of the trigger 4 increases the fluid flow path between the body shoulder 511 and the associated seat 512.
The guns shown in Figures 1 to 11 also include an arrangement for locking the trigger in two "on" positions. Figures 8 and 10 show the gun body in one of the locked trigger positions and Figures 9 and 11 show the gun in the other of the locked trigger positions.
The locking arrangement comprises a stop member 8, in the form of a slidable button, which is biassed by a spring 81 towards an extended, release, position as shown in Figure 5. The stop member 8 includes a ridge 82 which acts as a detent and further has an abutment surface 83. The trigger 4 comprises a pair of abutment projections 41, 42, in the region of the stop member 8. These abutment projections are perhaps most clearly shown in Figures 10 and 11.
With the trigger 4 locked in the first on position as shown in Figures 8 and 10, a first of the trigger abutment projections 41 abuts with the abutment surface 83 of the stop member 8 and furthermore, is urged into contact with the stop member 8 by virtue of the biassing force provided by the spring 74 and actuating member 7 as described above. At this position the second trigger abutment projection 42 is behind (i.e. further into the gun body 1) the abutment surface 83 and thus does not affect the position of the trigger 4.
The co-operation between the biassing force and the prevention of further movement in this direction due to the abutment between the first projection 41 and stop member 8, serve to hold or lock the trigger 4 in the first position.
It can also be noted that, in use, the fluid flow through the gun tends to close the valve arrangement 5 and thus, in use, there is a further biassing force due to the water pressure which tends to return the trigger 4 to its extended position as shown in Figure 5.
When the trigger 4 is in the position shown in Figures 8 and 10, the first projection 41 of the trigger also acts on the ridge 82 and serves to prevent the stop member 8 moving back to its release position (as shown in Figure 5) under the action of spring 81.
When in the second "locked on" position, as shown in Figures 9 and 11, the second projection 42 of the trigger 4 abuts with the abutment surface 83 and acts on the ridge of the stop member 82. Thus the trigger 4 is locked in the second position and the stop member 8 is locked in its second position.
Thus it will be seen that as well as the trigger 4 having two "locked on" positions, the stop member 8 also has two locked positions each corresponding to a respective trigger 4 position.
The two "locked on" the positions correspond to a different stages of opening of the valve arrangement. Thus, with the trigger locked in the first position shown in Figures 8 and 10, the valve arrangement 5 is in its first stage of opening whereas, with the trigger 4 locked in its second position, as shown in Figures 9 and 11, the valve arrangement 5 is in its second stage of opening.
There is a further feature of the stop member 8. When the trigger 4 is in the extended, off, position and the stop member 8 is in the release position as shown in Figure 5, the portion of the stop member 8 including the ridge 82 abuts with a ledge 43 on the trigger 4 and the first projection portion 41 such that movement of the stop member 8 towards a retracted position (eg as shown in Figure 8 or 9) is prevented by interaction between the stop member 8 and the trigger 4. In other words, the stop member 8 may only be actuated once the trigger 4 itself has been actuated by a predetermined amount.
It should also be noted that with the stop member in the release position and the trigger in the extended position, the two abutment projections 41, 42 are behind the abutment surface 83 and so do not affect the position of the trigger 4.
As mentioned above, different gun heads may be provided on the gun as illustrated in Figures 3, 6 and 7.
In the case of the head shown in Figure 3 there are seven fluid outlet functions as mentioned above. These seven functions include five different spray patterns provided by five different spray outlets 91. The spray outlets 91 are dimensioned and arranged to give a respective spray shape and are angularly equispaced around the face of the head. As well as these five spray outlets 91 the head comprises a rose plate 92 which allows the fluid to leave the gun as through a conventional watering rose and further comprises a perlator 93 provided at the centre of the rose plate 92.
In this embodiment the perlator 93 is a proprietary "drop in" component. That is to say the gun head is moulded in such a way as to provide a receiving location for the perlator 93 and to provide fluid flow to the input of the perlator but the perlator itself is a self contained and off the shelf component. Such perlators are more normally used in bathroom shower heads and may easily be obtained commercially.
In the head shown in Figure 6, there are again five different spray outlets 91 and a rose plate 92 but the perlator has been omitted. As mentioned above the head shown in Figure 7 is a conventional single function, variable spray head.
In the case of the spray head shown in Figures 3 and 7 there is a need to provide the water supply to each of the appropriate components to provide the different functions available.
These heads therefore comprise a directing portion 10, more specifically the rotatable portion of the head 32 comprises the directing portion 10. Some details of the directing portion 10 of the seven function head may be seen in Figures 4 and 5 but more detail is shown in Figures 12A, 12B and 12C.
Referring to Figure 5, the static portion 31 of the head acts as a link between the rotatable portion of the head 32 and the remainder of the body of the gun 1. The static portion 31 comprises a fluid communication channel 33 which provides a fluid flow path to a supply outlet 34 from which inlets 101 of the directing portion 10 may be supplied with fluid. In the present embodiment the directing portion comprises a plurality of inlets 101 which may be selectively presented to the supply outlet 34. As can been seen from Figure 5 the supply outlet 34 is offset from the rotational axis of the rotatable portion 32 of the head 3. Therefore as the directing portion 10 is rotated as part of the rotatable portion of the head 32 the different directing portion inlets 101 are presented to the supply outlet 34.
The function of the directing portion is to direct water from the supply outlet 34 to the correct functional outlet, be that a spray outlet 91, the rose plate 92, or the perlator 93.
As best seen in Figures 12A to 12C the directing portion comprises a base plate 110 and a cover plate 120. The two sides of the base plate 110 of the directing portion 10 can be seen in Figures 12A and 12B. A first side of the plate, which is shown in Figure 12A comprises the spray outlets 91. In the assembled head these project through the rose plate 92 which otherwise covers this side of the base plate shown in Figure 12A. Besides the spray outlets 91, this first side of the base plate 110 comprises a rose outlet 111 for feeding fluid to the rose plate 92 and a perlator receiving recess 112 and associated outlet aperture 113 for feeding fluid to the perlator 93.
The second side of the base plate 110 which is shown in Figure 12B, comprises a plurality of directing channels 114.
The cover plate 120 comprises the plurality of apertures 101 which act as the inputs to the directing portion 10. Each of these apertures 101 corresponds to a different one of the fluid outlet functions of the gun.
In the assembled head the cover plate 120 covers the second side of the base plate 110 and is welded thereto. The directing channels 114 and cover plate 120 together define appropriate fluid flow paths from each inlet aperture 101 provided in the cover plate 120 to the appropriate outlet 91, 111, 113 on the other side of the base plate 110.
The channel portions 114 provide an angular offset between some of the outlets 91, 111 and the respective inlet 101, or to put this another way, they provide a path which includes a tangential or circumferential component rather than just radial and/or axial components. Not all of the channels provide such a tangential or circumferential path component. In the present embodiment it will be seen that the channel provided for supply to the perlator 93 has a path with just radial and axial components and that two of the functional spray outlets have entirely axial supply channels with no radial or tangential component.
On the other hand, three of the supply channels 114a, 114b and 114c provide a path having a substantial tangential component and a fourth 114d provides a path having a minor tangential component. The provision of these tangential components ensure that when the head is in any selected position with one of the inlet apertures 101 lined up with the supply outlet 34 there is a fluid flow path to the correct outlet 91, 111, 113. The need for these tangential components will be explained in more detail further below.
The cover plate 120 also comprises a plurality of depressions 121. In the cover plate shown in Figure 12B (corresponding to the head shown in Figures 1 to 5) the depressions 121 are equally spaced around the whole of the circumference of the cover plate 120. As can be seen in Figure 4, the static part 31 of the head comprises a spring loaded plunger 130. This plunger is biassed towards the cover plate 120 and has a nose portion which is arranged to click into the depressions 121 in the cover plate 120. The plunger 130 and depressions 121 act together to provide an indexing function for the rotation of the rotatable part 32 of the head. That is to say as the rotatable portion 32 is rotated relative to the static portion 31, the spring loaded plunger 31 clicks into and out of the depressions 21. Furthermore, each time the spring loaded plunger 130 engages with one of the depressions 121 this corresponds to a particular one of the inlet apertures 101 aligning with the supply outlet 34. In other words when the rotatable part of the head 32 clicks into position, there is a fluid communication path through the gun and out through one of the functional outlets.
As mentioned above, in the embodiment shown in Figures 1 to 5 and 12A to 12C, the depressions 121 are equally spaced around the cover plate 120 and moreover the inlet apertures 101 are also equally spaced around the cover plate. This of course corresponds to a situation where rotational movement of the rotatable part 32 through a predetermined number of degrees causes the gun to be moved from one function to the next. In the present case, as there are seven functions, an angular movement of just under 51.5° is required to move from one function to the next.
Rotating the rotatable part 32 of the head by a fixed amount between functions gives a very pleasing mode of operation for the user, and similarly, the symmetric arrangement of spray outlets 91 around the face of the head gives a pleasing appearance. However, there is a problem to be overcome in providing a fluid communication path between the supply outlet 34 and the appropriate functional outlet. This is particularly the case as some of the functions, i.e. the perlator 93 and rose plate 92 do not have corresponding spray outlets 91 which need to be symmetrically arranged around the face. The directing portion overcomes this problem by directing the fluid flows appropriately, including the provision of angular shifting, by virtue of having the structure explained above.
In the gun head shown in Figure 6, there are only six different output functions as the perlator has been omitted and a rose plate without a central receiving aperture is used. In this case a modified directing portion 10 with only six inlet apertures 101 provided in the respective cover plate 120 is required. Such a cover plate 120 is shown in Figure 13.
One way to produce such a head would be to redesign the whole head with an appropriate redesigned directing portion 10. However, in the present case to significantly save on tooling and manufacturing costs a single base plate 110 can be used for both the seven function and six function guns.
In the cover plate 120 for the six function head, six inlet apertures 101 are provided and there is a blanking portion 102 in place of the seventh aperture. The cover plate 120 is welded onto the base plate 110 such that the blanking portion lines up with the channel which is used to supply fluid to the perlator in the seven function head.
Once the cover plate 120 is welded in to position on the base plate 110, the perlator output is sealed and serves no function. At the same time however, the remainder of the direction portion 10 can function as in the seven function head.
The cover plate shown in Figure 13 for the six function head includes six indexing depressions 21 which correspond to the six apertures provided. In this way there will only be a positive click into position when the head is rotated to a functioning position. It will also be noted that there is equal angular separation between the apertures 101 and the indexing depressions 121 around the majority of the plate but there is a gap in this array corresponding to the blanked off aperture. Thus, in use moving the head by a fixed number of degrees, again just under 51.5°, will move between one function and the next apart from where there is this gap. Of course, however, the head may be moved in either direction so there is still at least one adjacent function which can be reached by the standard angular movement.
In an alternative if a separate dedicated head were produced for a six function model the directing portion 10 could be arranged so that the indexed positions, i.e. operating positions, were equispaced around the whole of the head.

Claims

A hose gun (1) comprising a flow control valve arrangement (5) for controlling flow through a fluid flow bore (6) in the gun and a user control (4) for controlling the control valve arrangement, the flow control valve arrangement being arranged to open in a plurality of stages,
the flow control valve arrangement comprising a stem (51) and a body (52) which are moveable relative to one another between a position in which a first fluid flow path through the valve arrangement is fully open and a position in which the first fluid flow path is closed,
wherein the body (52) is arranged to be received in the bore (6) of the gun for movement between a position in which a second fluid flow path through the valve arrangement (5) is fully open and a position in which the second fluid flow path is closed, and
wherein the stem (51) is moveable in the gun in one direction to act on the body (52) so as to open the second flow path, and moveable in the opposite direction to act on the body so as to close both the first and second flow paths, the gun including spring means (55) that biases the stem in the opposite direction, and
wherein the user control comprises an actuator portion (7) for transferring user applied movement to the body and/or stem, the actuator portion has a bearing surface towards one end (73) for bearing on a corresponding control surface (57) of the stem, the body is in the form of a cage in which a head (53) of the stem is captured and characterised in that the end of the actuator carrying the bearing surface passes through a side wall of the cage and into a slot in the stem.
A hose gun (1) according to claim 1 wherein a valve seat (510) is provided in the body (52) against which a shoulder portion (59) of the stem (51) abuts in the closed state, the stem and body being considered to comprise a first valve of the arrangement.
A hose gun (1) according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein in a first stage of opening, the first fluid flow path can be opened for fluid flow.
A hose gun (1) according to claim 3, wherein in a second stage of opening, the second fluid flow path can be opened for fluid flow.
A hose gun (1) according to claim 4, wherein in the second stage of opening, both the first and second fluid flow paths can be opened for fluid flow.
A hose gun (1) according to any preceding claim, wherein a valve seat (512) is provided in the bore (6) against which a shoulder portion (511) of the body (52) abuts in a closed state, the body and bore being considered to comprise a second valve of the arrangement.
A hose gun (1) according to any preceding claim, wherein the stem (51) is arranged for axial movement within the body (52), one extreme of the axial movement corresponding to the first valve being closed and at the other extreme of the axial movement an abutment portion (58) of the stem abutting against a corresponding abutment portion (58) of the body.
A hose gun (1) according to claim 6 or claim 7, wherein the user control (4) and valve (5) are arranged so that the user control acts on one of the stem (51) and the body (52) and movement of the control causes movement of the stem and body in two phases, in one of the phases the stem and body move together to open one valve and in the other of the phases the stem and body move relative to one another to open another valve.
A hose gun (1) according to claim 8, wherein the valve arrangement (5) and user control (4) are further arranged so that continued movement of the user control causes the abutment portion (58) of the stem (51) to abut with the abutment portion (58) of the body (52) and the body to be moved by virtue of this abutment so opening the second valve.
A hose gun (1) according to any preceding claim, wherein the control surface (57) is inclined relative to the axis of the stem (51) and body (52) so that movement of the actuator (7) in at least one direction transverse to the axis of the stem and body whilst the bearing surface is in contact with the control surface causes axial movement of the stem and/or body relative to the actuator.
A hose gun (1) according to any preceding claim, wherein the body (52) comprises an aperture through which the head (53) of the stem (51) may be introduced for capture, and the head of the stem and the aperture of the body are dimensioned and arranged so that the head will fit through the aperture only when in predetermined relative orientations.