JP2003092934A - Horticultural equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an aqua gun capable of improving inconveniences of the conventional gun which is caused by leaving the gun at low temperatures. SOLUTION: In the gun 11, water supplied via an inner space 15 of the holder 13 is guided to the inside of a horizontal part 12. A rod 51 is placed in a nozzle part 22 of the horizontal part 12, and a communication opening 53 of the nozzle part 22 is opened and closed by a valve 54 of the frontal end of the rod 51. A water stopping mechanism 59 is constructed as follows: the rod 51 is energized so that the valve 54 closes the linked opening 53; and flowing of water from a water passing opening 21 is controlled. The rear end of the rod 51 protruding from a cup 56 is engaged with a lever 61, and the communication opening 53 can be opened and closed by the operation of the lever 61. A foamed material 71 is placed inside the holder 13 of the gun 11. The foamed material 71 has isolated cells, and the volume is decreased according to the increasing of the inner pressure of the gun 11.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to horticultural articles such as aqua guns, water sprinkling parts, rain dew, hose reels, various connectors, and sprayers through which fluids flow.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an aqua gun as a gardening article has been used when watering plants or washing a car.

The gun body of this aqua gun is provided with a water conduit for guiding the water from the hose.
A spout having a plurality of small holes is provided. As a result, the same effect as watering with rainy dew is obtained.

There are also those having a medium-diameter hole for ejecting water vigorously and a large-diameter hole for declining the momentum of water, and a plurality of water sprinkling forms can be obtained by selectively switching one of these. The known aqua gun is also known.

The gun body is provided with a water stopping mechanism such as a lever and a cock so that the water can be stopped when not in use.

[0006]

However, in such an aquagun, due to the structure that water is stored inside when not in use, the stored water may freeze during the winter when the temperature is below freezing. Then, there is a possibility that a malfunction may occur such that the gun body is deformed due to the expansion of the volume.

The present invention has been made in view of such conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a gardening article which can eliminate the problems that may occur when left at a low temperature.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the gardening article according to claim 1 of the present invention is a gardening article in which a fluid is supplied into the main body and flows through the main body. An elastic body is provided whose volume decreases as the internal pressure increases.

That is, when the fluid stored in the main body is solidified at low temperature, the volume expands and the internal pressure increases. Then, the volume of the elastic body provided in the main body decreases as the internal pressure rises. This suppresses an increase in pressure inside the main body.

Further, in the gardening article of claim 2, the elastic body is made of a foam material having closed cells.

That is, the elastic body is made of a foam material having closed cells, and a structure in which the volume is reduced in accordance with an increase in internal pressure is easily formed. And this foam material
The presence of closed cells prevents the absorption of fluid and enhances the responsiveness to the decrease in volume with respect to the increase in internal pressure.

Further, in the gardening article of claim 3, the elastic body is provided along the inner wall surface of the main body.

As a result, the influence on the inner wall surface of the main body due to the change in the internal pressure due to the expansion of the volume is directly prevented.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a view showing an aqua gun 1 as a gardening article according to the present embodiment, which is used when watering plants or flowers or washing a car.

The aqua gun 1 is made of synthetic resin and has a gun body 11. As shown in FIG. 2, the gun body 11 is formed in a V-shape by a horizontal portion 12 extending in the horizontal direction and a grip portion 13 extending obliquely downward from the horizontal portion 12. . The grip portion 13
Is formed in a tubular shape, and a screw 14 for a hose connecting portion (not shown) for connecting a hose from the tap is formed at the lower end thereof. Internal space 1 of this grip portion 13
5 is formed so as to become narrower as it goes upward, and its tip communicates with the inside of the horizontal portion 12. As a result, the internal space 15 forms a water conduit for guiding the water supplied from the hose into the horizontal portion 12.

At the tip of the horizontal portion 12, a water passage 21,
A nozzle portion 22 having 21 is formed, and water supplied from the water conduit of the grip portion 13 is supplied to the water inlet 21,
It is configured so that it can be discharged via 21. As shown in FIG. 3, a male screw portion 32 to which the head 31 is screwed is formed on the base end peripheral surface of the nozzle portion 22.

The head 31 is formed with a female screw portion 41 that is screwed into the male screw portion 32.
It is configured so that it can be moved back and forth by rotating 1. The front surface 42 of the head 31 has a plurality of small-diameter shower holes 43, ...
4 is formed, and by rotating the head 31 and moving back and forth with respect to the nozzle portion 22, jet fountain from the jet hole 44, the shower hole 43,
It is constructed so that it can selectively spray water from.

A rod 51 is housed in the nozzle portion 22 so as to be movable back and forth, and the tip of the rod 51 comes into contact with and separates from a step portion 52 in the nozzle portion 22 to form a nozzle portion. 22 is provided with a valve portion 54 that opens and closes the communication port 53 to the front end side. The rear end of the rod 51 has a cap 56 for closing the rear end opening 55 of the horizontal portion 12.
The coil portion 58 is supported by the coil spring 58 and is fitted between the cap 56 and the stopper 57 formed on the rod 51. It is configured to close. As a result, a water stop mechanism 59 that controls the flow of water from the water passage ports 21 and 21 is configured.

The rear end of the rod 51 projecting from the cap 56 is a lever 61 provided on the gun body 11.
It is locked at the end. The lever 61 is tiltably supported by a support portion 62 projecting from the grip portion 13 of the gun body 11. When the lever 61 is gripped and tilted together with the grip portion 13, the rod 51 is tilted. Is configured to be able to move backward. Thereby, the communication port 53 closed by the valve part 54 is opened, and the water stored in the nozzle part 22 can be supplied to the head 31 side from the water flow ports 21 and 21. .

On the other hand, in the grip portion 13 of the gun body 11, as shown in FIG. 2, a foam material 71 as an elastic body is accommodated. The foam material 71 is made of a member having closed cells, and specifically, is formed of expanded polystyrene. The styrofoam foam material 71 is a material that is rich in elasticity and decreases in volume as the internal pressure inside the gun body 11 increases.

As shown in FIG. 4, the foam material 71 is formed in a shape that tapers from the base end toward the tip, and is formed in a shape that matches the internal space 15 of the grip portion 13. . That is, the peripheral surface 72 is configured to be in close contact with the inner wall surface 73 of the grip portion 13 in a state of being housed in the inner space 15 (see FIG. 2).

Further, a U-shaped recess 81 is formed on one side surface of the foam material 71 over the entire length thereof to form a flow path 82 for the supplied water. The foamed material 71 is housed in the internal space 15 having an inner diameter size that decreases toward the downstream side (upper side in FIG. 2), and the foamed material 71 is downstream (upper side in FIG. 2) due to the water flowing through the flow passage 82.
Even if a force to move to the side is received, the movement is automatically blocked.

In the present embodiment having the above-described structure, water is stored inside the gun body 11 in a water-stopped state in which the lever 61 is released and the communication port 53 is closed by the valve portion 54 of the rod 51. In this state, when it is left at a low temperature, the stored water inside is frozen, so that the internal volume expands and the internal pressure increases. Then, the volume of the foam material 71 provided in the gun body 11 decreases as the internal pressure rises. As a result, the gun body 1
1 It is possible to suppress an increase in internal pressure.

This pressure increase suppressing function does not function only when the stored water in the grip portion 13 of the gun body 11 freezes. That is, when the stored water in the horizontal portion 12 is frozen, the pressure in the horizontal portion 12 is increased, and the expansion thereof is directed toward the internal space 15 of the grip portion 13. At this time, even if the stored water in the grip portion 13 is frozen, the internal pressure is reduced due to the decrease in the volume of the foam material 71, and the stored water in the horizontal portion 12 expands. The force due to escapes to the internal space 15 of the grip portion 13. This can suppress an increase in pressure inside the gun body 11.

Therefore, it is possible to surely prevent the problem that the outward force is generated by the increase of the pressure and the gun body 11 is deformed. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate the inconvenience that may occur when left at a low temperature.

Further, by using the foam material 71 having the closed cells, it is possible to easily realize the structure in which the volume is reduced according to the increase of the internal pressure. Further, since it is made of the foam material 71, the weight of the aqua gun 1 can be reduced as compared with the case of being made of a non-foam material such as rubber.

Since the foam material 71 has closed cells, it is possible to prevent water absorption. As a result, it is possible to enhance the responsiveness to the decrease in volume with respect to the increase in the internal pressure, as compared with the case where the structure is made of a member such as a sponge that allows water absorption.

Further, the foam material 71 is arranged along the inner wall surface 73 of the grip portion 13. Therefore, the influence on the inner wall surface 73 due to the change in the inner pressure due to the expansion of the volume can be directly and reliably prevented.

In the present embodiment, the case where the foam material 71 which is an elastic body and has closed cells is used has been described as an example, but the invention is not limited to this and other The same effect can be obtained by using an elastic body such as rubber.

Further, in the present embodiment, the aqua gun has been described as an example of the gardening article, but the present invention is not limited to this. Sprinkling parts, raindrops, hose reels, various connectors, sprayers, etc. It may be applied to other gardening products through which fluid flows.

[0031]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention.
In the gardening article, the volume of the elastic body provided in the main body is fixed even when the fluid stored in the main body is solidified when the water is stopped and the volume expands to increase the internal pressure. As the internal pressure decreases as the internal pressure increases, the increase in the internal pressure of the main body can be suppressed.

Therefore, it is possible to surely prevent a problem that an outward force is generated due to the increase in pressure and the main body is deformed. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate the inconvenience that may occur when left at a low temperature.

Further, in the horticultural article of the second aspect, by constructing the elastic body with a foam material having closed cells, it is possible to easily realize a structure in which the volume is reduced in accordance with the increase in the internal pressure. At this time, since the elastic body is made of a foam material, the weight can be reduced as compared with the case of being made of a non-foam material such as rubber.

Since this foam material has closed cells, it is possible to prevent the absorption of fluid. As a result, the responsiveness of volume reduction to an increase in internal pressure can be enhanced as compared with the case of using a member such as a sponge that allows the absorption of fluid.

Further, in the horticultural article of claim 3, since the elastic body is provided along the inner wall surface of the main body, the influence on the inner wall surface of the main body due to the change in the internal pressure due to the volume expansion is directly exerted. In addition, it can be surely prevented.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded view showing a side surface of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a gun body of the same embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a main part of the same embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a foam material according to the same embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 aqua gun (gardening supplies) 11 gun body 59 Water stop mechanism 71 Foam material 73 Inner wall surface

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A gardening article in which a fluid is supplied to and flow through a main body, wherein an elastic body whose volume decreases in accordance with an increase in internal pressure is provided in the main body. 2. The gardening article according to claim 1, wherein the elastic body is formed of a foam material having closed cells. 3. The gardening article according to claim 1, wherein the elastic body is provided along an inner wall surface of the main body.