US3897006A

US3897006A - Sprayer

Info

Publication number: US3897006A
Application number: US534891A
Authority: US
Inventors: Tetsuya Tada
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1974-09-09
Filing date: 1974-12-20
Publication date: 1975-07-29
Anticipated expiration: 1992-07-29
Also published as: HK49579A; IT1044496B; FR2283731A1; DE2538971A1; GB1501656A; JPS534921B2; CH603251A5; FR2283731B1; JPS5130613A

Abstract

A sprayer includes a container for receiving a liquid therein, a sprayer head having a piston for sucking and ejecting the liquid from a nozzle, and a neck portion coupling said head to said container, said neck portion having a vent for permitting the interior of the container to communicate with the open air. Said vent is normally closed by a flexible closing member and, when the piston is operated, is opened by an operating rod to release a negative pressure within the container.

Description

United States Patent [191 Tada [4 1 July 29, 1975 SPRAYER [76] Inventor: Tetsuya Tada,l339

Nishitakadomari, Onoda-shi, Yamaguchi-ken, Japan [22]- Filed: Dec. 20, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 534,891

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Sept. 9, 1974 Japan i. 49-103637 [52] U.S.Cl. 239/333; 239/347; 239/349; 239/375; 239/528; 222/384 [51] Int. Cl. 305B l/32; BOSB 11/02 [58] Field of Search 239/321, 347, 348, 349,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,753,518 8/1973 Kutik 222/383 3,762,647 10/1973 Tada 3,768,734 10/1973 Anderson et a1. 239/333 3,780,951 12/1973 Powers 239/347 3,797,749 3/1974 Tada 239/321 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 2,042,690 3/1972 Germany 239/375 508,734 7/1939 United Kingdom. 239/348 404,569 12/1965 Switzerland 239/333 416,483 6/1966 Switzerland 239/333 Primary Examiner-Robert S. Ward, Jr.

[57] ABSTRACT A sprayer includes a container for receiving a liquid therein, a sprayer head having a piston for sucking and ejecting the liquid from a nozzle, and a neck portion coupling said head to said container, said neck portion having a vent for permitting the interior of the container to communicate with the open air, Said vent is normally closed by a flexible closing member and, when the piston is operated, is opened by an operating rod to release a negative pressure Within the container.

7 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTED JUL 2 91975 SHEET SPRAYER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a manually operable sprayer for spraying a spray liquid.

Usually, this type of sprayer comprises a piston slidably disposed within a cylinder formed in the sprayer head and a container for receiving a spray liquid therein, whereby the spray liquid is sucked into the cylinder by the sliding movement of the piston and is ejected from a nozzle at the tip end of the piston. Further, the sprayer is provided with a vent for permitting the interior of the container to communicate with the open air so as to prevent a negative pressure from being generated within the container due to the liquid sucking operation of the piston. Said vent is always opened to the open air. Accordingly, the spray liquid is always evaporated, and where the sprayer is carelessly turned upside down, the liquid is leaked through the vent. For preventing this, a sprayer is proposed which is provided with a specific value capable of being opened by the negative pressure within the container. This valve, however, has the drawback of being complicated in construction to increase the manufacturing cost of the sprayer, and the possibility exists that said specific valve is not opened even when the pressure within the container has become negative.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the invention is to provide a simplified and inexpensive sprayer having a mechanism for preventing generation of a negative pressure.

A sprayer according to the invention comprises a g neck portion formed in integrity with the sprayer head and coupled to the container, said neck portion having a vent for permitting the interior of the container to communicate with the open air, a flexible member normally closing said vent, and an operating member for deforming said flexible member in accordance with the sliding movement of the piston to open said vent.

In the foregoing construction, the vent is normally closed by the flexible member and, only when the operating member has deformed the flexible member, is opened. For this reason, the above-mentioned possibility of a spray liquid being leaked and evaporated through the vent is eliminated, and further the vent is reliably opened by the mechanical force of the operating member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING This invention will now be described in more detail by reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view ofa sprayer according to an embodiment of the invention, illustrating the condition wherein the piston has been protruded from the cylinder up to a maximum limit;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1, illustrating the condition wherein the piston has been carried into the cylinder up to a maximum limit;

FIG. 3 is a partial view illustrating the condition wherein the engagement projection of the lever is engaged with the flange of the piston; and

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The illustrated sprayer according to the embodiment of the invention is almost wholly formed of a suitable material such as plastic, and comprises a container 10 for receiving a spray liquid therein and a sprayer head 11 for spraying the spray liquid. The container 10 has a cylindrical mouth portion 12 projecting upwardly of the container 10, and the outer periphery of said mouth portion is formed with an outer thread 13. A neck portion 14 formed in integrity with the head 11 is formed with a frust-conical recess 15 extending from the neck bottom upwardly of the illustration and formed with an outer flange 16 at the outer wall of the lower part of the neck portion. The lower end of the neck portion 14 is formed with a ring like projection 17 downwardly extending from said lower end. Into said recess 15 is liquid-tightly inserted a hollow frust-conical seal member 18 formed of a flexible material. The upper portion of said seal member 18 is so formed thinner as to become more flexible. The seal member 18 has a flange 19 at its lower end,.and the upper surface of said flange 19 is formed with a ring like groove 20 fitted over said projection 17 of the neck portion 14 while the lower surface of said flange 19 is formed with a plurality of concentric projections 21. Around the neck portion 14 is disposed a clamping ring 22, which has an inner flange 23 engaged with the upper portion of said outer flange 16. The lower part of the clamping ring surrounds the mouth portion 12 of the container 10, and the inner periphery of said lower part is formed with an inner thread 24 fitted to the outer thread 13 by screw engagement. When the clamping ring; 22 is rotated, the inner flange 23 thereof downwardly presses the outer flange 16 of the neck portion. For this reason, the upper end of the mouth portion 12 presses the projections 21 of the seal member 18 to cause them to be flexibly deformed, thereby to increase the liquid-tightness between the mouth portion and the seal member. Simultaneously, the seal member is more liquid-tightly and more deeply pushed up into the recess 15 of the neck portion.

At a position slightly lower than the upper end of the seal member there is provided a vent 25 for permitting the recess 15 to communicate with the open air. Said vent is formed into a bowl-like configuration flaring toward the exterior, and the inner opening portion of the vent is always closed by the upper portion of the seal member 18. I

Said sprayer head 11 has a cylindrical bore or cylinder 27 one end of which is opened to the exterior and the bottom of which communicates with the recess 15 through a passageway 26. To the lower end of the passageway 26 is firmly coupled a pipe 28 for introducing the liquid within the container 10 into the cylinder 27. In the cylinder bottom section is disposed at first one way valve 29, which includes a ring like fixing member 29a firmly fitted to the inner wall of the cylinder, a plurality of flexible slender supporting arms 2% radially inwardly extending from said fixing member and a frust-conical valve element 290 retained by said arms at the center of the valve. Said. valve element 29c has a diameter larger than the diameter of the opening 26a of the passageway 26 and is normally maintained, by said arms 2%, in a state spaced from the outer peripheral wall of the opening 26a of the passageway 26.

Into the cylinder 27 is slidably inserted from said opening end thereof a piston 30, which includes a cylindrical member 30a formed therethrough with a cylindrical bore 31 and a sliding member 30b firmly inserted into the inward end portion of the bore 31. Said sliding member has at the outer periphery of its inward end portion a flaring skirt portion 30c which slides along the inner wall of the cylinder in a liquid-tight condition, and has a through hole 32 for permitting the interior of the cylinder 27 to communicate with said bore 31. The other or outward end of the bore 31 communicates with the open air through a small diameter bore 33 and a nozzle hole 34. Within the bore 31 is disposed a second disc-shaped one-way valve 35, which is urged against the end portion of the sliding member 30b by the biasing force of a spring 36. From the valve 35 is integrally extended a rod 37, the outward end portion of which is formed into a swirl portion 37a whose cross section is polygonal and which is inserted into said small diameter bore 33. Said swirl portion, when a spray liquid is ejected, causes the liquid to be swirled by the known method.

A flange 38 is radially exteriorly extended in integrity with said cylindrical member 30a of the piston 30 from the outer peripheral wall thereof, while an annular groove 39 is so formed as to surround the cylinder 27 of the sprayer head 11. A compression spring 40 dis posed in said annular groove always applies a biasing force to the flange 38 thereby to urge the piston 30 forwardly or outwardly of the cylinder 27.

Rockably pivoted through a pivot 41 to the upper end portion of the sprayer head is a lever 42, which has a large through hole 43, through which the tip end, or outward end portion of the piston is protruded into the exterior. As seen from the detailed illustrations of FIGS. 3 and 4, a pair of wedge-shaped engagement projections 44a and 44b are fixed to both side portions of the lever 42 while a pair of

grooves

45a and 45b whose cross sections are triangle-shaped are formed in the flange 38 of the piston. Said pair of engagement projections 44a and 44b are respectively extended to the flange 38, and the acute tip ends of the projections 44a and 44b are respectively engaged with the bottoms of the

grooves

45a and 45b thereby to permit the central axis of the piston 30 to exactly coincide with that of the cylinder 27. When the lever 42 is moved in a direction indicated by an arrow A of FIG. 1, the paired projections 44a and 44b push the piston 27 inwardly of the cylinder against the biasing force of the compression springs 40.

To the lower end of the flange 38 is fixed an L-shaped operating rod 46, a portion 46a of which is extended in parallel with the central axis of the piston rod 30 and in concentric relationship to the vent 25 of the neck portion 14. The diameter of the rod portion 46a is sufficiently smaller than the minimum diameter of the vent 25, and arrangement is so made that when the piston 30 is protruded from the cylinder up to a maximum limit (see FIG. 1), the tip end of the rod portion 46a is located outside of the vent 25 whereas as the piston is moved inwardly of the cylinder, said tip end is carried into the vent. On the underside of the sprayer head 11 are integrally provided a pair of parallel protection plates 47a and 47b, which protect the operating rod 46 from both sides thereof.

The operation of the sprayer according to the invention will hereinafter be explained.

When it is assumed that the lever 42 is moved by operators fingers in the direction indicated by the arrow A of FIG. 1, the engagement projections 44a and 44b push the flange 38 against the biasing force of the compression springs 40 to cause the piston 30 to be slided inwardly of the cylinder 27. At this time, the resultant increasing liquid pressure in the cylinder causes the first one-way valve 29 to be closed and simultaneously the second one-way valve 35 to be opened. Thus, the liquid flows through the through hole 32, valve 35, bore 31 and small diameter bore 33 until it is sprayed from the nozzle 34. When a force acting on the lever 42 is released, the piston 30 is pushed outwardly of the cylinder 27 by the compression springs 40 to cause the lever 42 to be moved in a direction indicated by an arrow B. At this time, the valve 35 is caused to close the through hole 32 due to the biasing force of the springs 36, and the valve 29 is opened due to a negative pressure generated within the cylinder 27. For this reason, the liquid within the container is sucked into the cylinder 27 through the pipe 28, passageway 26 and opening 26a.

When the lever 42 is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow A, the operating rod 46 is moved jointly with the piston 30 and thus carried into the vent 25. Even when, at this time, the piston is vibrated to cause the central axis of the rod 46 to fail to exactly coincide with the center of the vent 25, the tip end portion of the rod 46 is reliably carried into the vent since the outward opening portion of the bowl-shaped vent is widely opened. In the latter half of the inward movement of the piston 30, the tip end of the rod 46 abuts against an upper portion of said seal member to cause this portion to be flexibly deformed and spaced from the inner wall of the recess 15. For this reason, the air is introduced into the recess 15 through the vent 25 to release the negative pressure within the container 10. When the piston 30 is returned to the original position by the biasing force of the compression springs 40, the rod 46 is moved jointly with the piston to escape from the vent 25. Thus, the seal member 18 once again abuts against the inner wall of the recess 15 to close the vent 25.

What is claimed is:

1. In a sprayer including a sprayer head having a cylindrical bore, a piston slidably inserted into said cylindrical bore and a container for receiving a spray liquid therein, whereby, when operated, the piston permits the spray liquid to be sucked from the container into the cylindrical bore through pipe means and subsequently ejected from a nozzle at the tip end of the piston, the improvement comprising a neck portion formed in integrity with said sprayer head and coupled to said container, said neck portion having a vent for permitting the interior of the container to communicate with the open air, flexible closing means for normally closing said vent, operating means for deforming said closing means in accordance with the sliding movement of the piston to open said vent.

2. A sprayer according to claim 1 wherein said operating means consists of an operating rod fixed to the piston, said rod having a portion carried into the vent when the piston has been moved into the cylindrical bore by a prescribed amount.

3. A sprayer according to claim 2 wherein said portion of said rod has a moving path substantially concentrio with the vent.

pling section for coupling the neck portion to the container, said seal member engaging the inner wall of said recess and having a portion which constitutes said clos' ing means.

7. A sprayer according to claim 6 wherein said portion of said seal member closes said vent at its upper portion, and is formed thinner than the remaining portion of said hollow seal member.

Claims

3. A sprayer according to claim 2 wherein said portion of said rod has a moving path substantially concentric with the vent.

4. A sprayer according to claim 3 wherein said vent is formed into an outwardly flaring bowl-like configuration.

5. A sprayer according to claim 2 wherein said neck portion has a recess opened into the interior of the container, said vent permitting said recess to communicate with the open air.

6. A sprayer according to claim 5 further comprising a hollow seal member for liquid-tightly keeping a coupling section for coupling the neck portion to the container, said seal member engaging the inner wall of said recess and having a portion which constitutes said closing means.