US2281447A

US2281447A - Sprayer

Info

Publication number: US2281447A
Application number: US304453A
Authority: US
Inventors: Frank H Maloney
Original assignee: BRASS GOODS Manufacturing CO
Current assignee: BRASS GOODS MANUFACTURING Co
Priority date: 1939-11-15
Filing date: 1939-11-15
Publication date: 1942-04-28
Anticipated expiration: 1959-04-28

Description

F. H. MALONEY S PRAYER Filed Nov. 15, 1939 ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 28, 1942 SPRAYER Frank H. Maloney, Elmhurst, Long Island, N. Y., assignor to Brass Goods Manufacturing 00., Brooklyn, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application November 15, 1939, Serial No. 304,453

Claims.

This invention relates to a sprayer and, particularly, to a device of simplified construction adapted for spraying a liquid upon a window, an-

automobile wind-shield, clothing, or the like.

The sprayer includes means for delivering liquid to 'a spraying compartment, a resiliently yieldable diaphragm member for alternately increasing and decreasing the pressure within the said compartment, and a nozzle extending from the diaphragm member. The sprayingcompartment is continuously in communication with the atmosphere; yet the liquid to be sprayed is in troduced into the spraying compartment entirely by suction.

In spraying devices of this general type, including means for'drawing liquid by suction into the spraying compartment, it has been customary heretofore to provide a check-valve for closing the nozzle or to use other parts not required in my sprayer, in order to avoid loss of suction within the compartment while liquid is being drawn thereinto. Y

I have now discovered that, when the orifice in the nozzle is of capillary fineness, the hollow member for delivering liquid to the spraying compartment is relatively large, and the nozzle extends from the spraying compartment in manner shown, then a partial vacuum created momentarily within the spraying compartment draws an adequate amount of liquid thereinto, before the air that enters through the nozzle breaks the partial vacuum. A sprayer based upon this discovery contains relatively few parts and is inexpensive to manufacture. Furthermore, the metal parts of the sprayer may be constructed of sheet metal, in place of machined parts formerly used in sprayers of the same general class.

The invention will be illustrated by description in connection with the attached drawing, to

which reference is made.

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of the head of my improved sprayer and a part of a conventional container for a supply of the liquid to be sprayed. I

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on line 2-2, of Fig. 1.

The spray device illustrated in the drawing comprises a liquid container I having a threaded neck 2 and a unitary attachment in the form of a liquid pump. This attachment comprises a cap member 3 including a fiat part extending over the open end of the container and a. skirt portion formed with threads, so that the cap member may be screwed onto the neck of the container for the liquid.

Mounted upon the cap member 3 is a spraying head including a rigid base member in the form of an annular clamp 4, and an enclosure member resting upon the base member and having at its lower edge a flange portion 5 engaged in a channel formed on the outer edge of the clamp member 4. The said enclosure member defines a spraying compartment with the base member 4.

A diaphragm Ii constitutes the major portion of the enclosure member. A relatively stiff portion I of the enclosure member is provided with a hole. A nozzle 8 extends through the hole and is provided with a discharge orifice 9 of capillary fineness.

The clamp member 4 is formed with a central opening above the open end of the container and with an upstanding flange I0 around the opening. The cap member 3 is also formed with a central opening of the same diameter as. the central opening through the member 4.

A tubular member II, formed with an external shoulder I2 near its upper end, passes as an eyel'et through the said openings, so that the shoulder rests against and below the cap member 3. The upper end portion I3 of the tubular memher I I is spun over and around the flange I0, to hold the cap member 3 and the clamp member 4 firmly to one another, between the shoulder I2 and the end portion I3 of the tubular member The member II is joined to a tubular extension I4 which, in turn, extends below the level of liquid (not shown) in the container I. The member II and extension I4 together constitute a hollow member or line for delivering liquid to the spraying compartment.

Suitably, a gasket I5 is disposed between the top of the container I and the cap member 3.

The tubular member I! contains a check-valve including ball I6, normally resting upon the seat I! provided with a circularhole of diameter somewhat smaller than that of the ball, and a perforated stop plate I8 disposed some distance above the ball, for retaining the ball within the tubular member II under all circumstances.

The cap member 3, in a portion thereof above the opening at the top of the container I, is pro-* vided with an opening I9 considerably larger than the orifice 9. The cap member is provided also with a groove 20, communicating with the opening I9 and extending therefrom between the members '3 and 4, to provide unrestricted communication between the liquid in the container and the atmosphere.

The spraying compartment, on the other hand, is substantially air-tight except for the sole communication through the orifice 9. There is a snug fit of the nozzle 8 within the thickened portion 1 of the enclosure member ofthe spraying compartment and of flange of the same member in the channel at the periphery of the clamp member 4. Also, the eyelet II is tight against flange ID at the position of entrance of the eyelet into the spraying compartment.

The internal diameters of the liquid delivery line (H and I4) and of the orifice 9 are so proportioned that the rate of flow .of liquid through the said line is large as compared to the inward fiow of air through the orifice 9. As a result, the spraying compartment becomes filled with the liquid to a satisfactory level before the partial vacuum is broken by air entering through the orifice.

For best results, the orifice should have an area of opening of the order of 0.00008 to 0.001 square inch. Particularly good results have been obtained when the orifice has a diameter of about 0.021 inch, corresponding roughly to 0.0003 square inch. While the orifice may have various shapes,

the orifice should have a resistance to the flow of air therethrough approximately equal to that of a circular hole of the size stated.

While the orifice 9 should be of capillary fineness, the liquid line H and 14 should be large, :1

so as to permit free fiow of liquid to the spraying compartment. Thus, the liquid lines should have each.a flow area of the order of at least 0.008 square inch. A suitable liquid delivery line,

for instance, is rubber hose of three-sixteenth i inch internal diameter fitted in conventional manner to the connecting member II. There is no objection to a very large liquid delivery line,

except that when the line becomes over a quarter to half inch in internal diameter, the line may become cumbersome and inconvenient without any offsetting advantage.

The ratio between the areas of openings in the liquid delivery line and the orifice 9 will vary with the consistency of th liquid to be sprayed and the amount of liquid that it is desired to spray with each depression of the diaphragm. For some purposes the ratio of the internal diameter of the liquid supplying line and of the orifice 9 is made so large that liquid is drawn into the spraying compartment at a rate of the order of or even more rapid than the rate at which air is admitted thereto, under the sa ne diflferential between atmospheric pressure on he liquid in the container and the reduced pressure within the spraying compartment.

In general, the size of opening in the liquid delivery line may be smaller in sprayers for nonviscous liquids, such as wind-shield compositions and perfumes, than for more viscous products such as glycerin. Depending in this manner upon the viscosity of the liquid to be sprayed, the area of opening in the members II and H for best results should be many times that of the orifice, say, at least about ten times the area of cross section of the orifice.

A convenient method of operating the sprayer is as follows.

The hand is placed around the cap member 3 or upper part of the container I, with the thumb on the diaphragm 6. The diaphragm is then al-' ternately forced downward and released, so that the pressure in the spraying compartment is first phragm has been thus pressed and allowed to recover a number of times, suflicient liquid will have been drawn into the spraying compartment to reach the level of the orifice 9. Continuing It will be understood that the liquid drawn into the spraying compartment is retained in position for spraying by means such as the ball checkvalve described. Metal balls are satisfactory in the valve, particularly when constituted of material that does not; corrode in the liquid being sprayed.

The nozzle is in direct and unrestricted communication with the spraying compartment. This is a distinction from certain earlier sprays in which a check-valve was associated with the nozzle, to prevent entrance of air through the nozzle into the spraying compartment during that part of the'spraying cycle when the compartment is under a partial vacuum.

In the eyeletted connection of the

members

3 and 4, member 3 is free to rotate around the eyelet ll. Or, when the member 3 is screwed on to the container, then the spraying head may be rotated on part I l as a pivot, without loosening the engagement of thecap 3 on the container.

Theenclosure member of the spraying compartment extends on the inside a substantial distance above the level of the orifice in the nozzle. With such a construction, the return of the diaphragm to the normal position, after the release of pressure thereon, draws liquid to a level above the orifice before the pressure of air withinthe upper part of the enclosing member reaches atmospheric. Advantageously, approximately a third or more of the volume of the spraying compartment is'abovethe level of the orifice in the nozzle and the diaphragm is adapted to be depressed well below the level of the orifice, to expel not only liquid spray but also considerable .air from the compartment, before the diaphragm is released.

For the parts described, usual materials of construction may be used. Rubber has been used satisfactorily, as the chief constituent of the portion 1 of the enclosure which holds the nozzle, I have used the same material in a somewhat thicker layer or in stiffened form, so' as to minimize change of direction of the nozzle as the diaphragm 6 is manipulated. Other resiliently yieldable materials may, of course, be substituted for the rubber as, for example, polymerized chloroprene of rubbery consistency, synthetic rubber, or the like. In any case, usual compounding ingredients may be incorporated.

Cap member 3 and clamp 4 are suitably constructed of sheet metal and the nozzle 8 and eyelet H of metal tubing, say, of copper, brass, or plated steel.

The details that have been given are for the purpose of illustration of the invention, not restriction. It is intended,- therefore, that variations within the spirit of the invention are to be included within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A sprayer comprising a spraying head and means for delivering thereto liquid to be sprayed, the spraying head including a rigid base member, a peripheral channel thereon, a resilient member resting atits edge upon the base member and defining therewith the spraying compartment,

' a flange extending laterally from the said edge of the resilient member and engaged in the said channel, and a nozzle extending through the resilient member. K

2. A sprayer for mounting on the neck of a container comprising a cap member of sheet metal having depending means for engaging the container neck and an integral inwardly extending flange, a head comprising a base mem-- through registering openings in, the cap member flange and the base member, and having a liquidtight engagement with said base member, the tubular member being provided with means for preventing substantial back-flow'of liquid into the container. 7

'3. A sprayer as setforth in claim 2 in which the upper margin of the tubular member is turned outwardly and downwardly into clamping engagement with the upturned central mar- ,gin of the base member.

4. A sprayer as set forth in claim 2 in which the upper portion of the tubular member includes an integral portion deflected outwardly into engagement with said flange of the cap member,

arranged to maintain said base member and cap member in assembled position.

5. A sprayer comprising. a spraying head and means for delivering thereto liquid to be sprayed, the spraying head including a rigid base member, a peripheral channel associated therewith, a resilient member resting at its bottom portion upon the base member and defining therewith the spraying compartment, a flange extending laterally from the said bottom portion of the resilient member and engaged in the said channel, and a nozzle extending through the resilien memberQ FRANK H. MALONEY.