U.S. patent application number 11/082403 was filed with the patent office on 2006-09-21 for compact battery operated spray head fittable onto existing pump spray containers and providing improved balance.
Invention is credited to Steve L. Sweeton.
Application Number | 20060208005 11/082403 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37009243 |
Filed Date | 2006-09-21 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060208005 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Sweeton; Steve L. |
September 21, 2006 |
Compact battery operated spray head fittable onto existing pump
spray containers and providing improved balance
Abstract
A battery operated spray pump includes a piston pump wherein the
axis of the pump is arranged at an angle relative to the axis of
the spray discharge and the fluid inlet. In addition the batteries
lie substantially on top of the pump rather than behind it. This
allows the spray head to assume an overall size which is almost
completely within the foot print of the bottle to which it is
attached and also provides the spay head with better balance.
Inventors: |
Sweeton; Steve L.; (Lake
Winnebago, MO) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Gordon & Jacobson, P.C.
Suite 407
60 Long Ridge Road
Stamford
CT
06902
US
|
Family ID: |
37009243 |
Appl. No.: |
11/082403 |
Filed: |
March 17, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
222/333 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B05B 11/3057 20130101;
B05B 9/0861 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
222/333 |
International
Class: |
B65D 88/54 20060101
B65D088/54 |
Claims
1. A liquid sprayer for use with a fluid container, said sprayer
comprising: a housing; a nozzle coupled to said housing, said
nozzle having a nozzle inlet, a nozzle outlet, and a fixed nozzle
axis substantially coaxial with said nozzle outlet; a battery
powered pump contained within said housing, said pump having a pump
inlet, a pump outlet and a pump axis substantially coaxial with
said pump outlet, wherein said pump axis and said nozzle axis are
neither collinear nor parallel nor perpendicular.
2. The sprayer according to claim 1, further comprising: a threaded
coupling adapted to couple to a standard bottle, said threaded
coupling having a coupling axis, wherein said pump inlet has an
inlet axis which is not collinear with said coupling axis.
3. The sprayer according to claim 1, further comprising: a flexible
tube coupling said pump outlet to said nozzle inlet.
4. The sprayer according to claim 2, wherein: said inlet axis is
not perpendicular to said pump axis.
5. The sprayer according to claim 1, wherein: said pump includes a
motor and a transmission, said motor being coupled to said
transmission and said transmission being coupled to said pump.
6. The sprayer according to claim 5, wherein: said pump is a piston
pump.
7. The sprayer according to claim 1, wherein: said pump axis and
said nozzle axis assume an angle of between 30 degrees and 60
degrees.
8. The sprayer according to claim 1, further comprising: a battery
compartment located on top of said housing and having a removable
cover.
9. The sprayer according to claim 8, further comprising: at least
one battery located in said battery compartment.
10. The sprayer according to claim 9, wherein: said battery is
substantially parallel to said pump axis.
11. The sprayer according to claim 1, further comprising: a bottle
coupled to said housing, said bottle being in fluid communication
with said pump inlet.
12. The sprayer according to claim 11, wherein: said bottle has a
footprint and substantially all of said housing lies within said
footprint.
13. The sprayer according to claim 9, further comprising: a bottle
coupled to said housing, said bottle being in fluid communication
with said pump inlet.
14. The sprayer according to claim 13, wherein: said bottle has a
footprint and substantially all of said housing lies within said
footprint.
15. The sprayer according to claim 1, further comprising: a
trigger; a battery located in said housing; and an electrical
switch means electrically coupled to said battery powered pump and
said battery for permitting said battery to power said battery
powered pump, said electrical switch means being activatable by
said trigger.
16. A liquid sprayer for use with a fluid container, said sprayer
comprising: a housing; a nozzle coupled to said housing, said
nozzle having a nozzle inlet and a nozzle outlet, said nozzle
outlet defining a fixed spray vector pointing in the direction of
spray, said spray vector having a horizontal component and a
vertical component; a pump contained within said housing, said pump
having a pump inlet and a pump outlet, said pump outlet defining an
outlet vector pointing in the direction of fluid flow from said
pump outlet, said outlet vector having a horizontal component and a
vertical component, wherein said spray vector and said outlet
vector are neither collinear nor parallel nor perpendicular, the
horizontal component of said outlet vector and the horizontal
component of said spray vector pointing in the same direction.
17. The sprayer according to claim 16, wherein: said pump inlet
defines an inlet vector which is neither parallel to nor collinear
with nor orthogonal to said outlet vector.
18. The sprayer according to claim 16, further comprising: a
flexible tube coupling said pump outlet to said nozzle inlet.
19. The sprayer according to claim 16, wherein: said pump is an
electrically powered pump.
20. The sprayer according to claim 19, wherein: said electrically
powered pump includes a motor and a transmission, said motor being
coupled to said transmission and said transmission being coupled to
said pump.
21. The sprayer according to claim 20, wherein: said pump is a
piston pump.
22. The sprayer according to claim 16, wherein: said spray vector
and said outlet vector form an angle of between 30 degrees and 60
degrees.
Description
[0001] This application is related to co-owned co-pending
applications Ser. No. 11/034,600 filed Jan. 13, 2005 and Ser. No.
60/624,647 filed Nov. 3, 2004, the complete disclosures of which
are hereby incorporated by reference herein.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] This invention relates broadly to battery operated fluid
pumps. More particularly, this invention relates to a compact
battery operated fluid pump contained in a spray head which fits
onto existing pump spray containers and which exhibits improved
balance.
[0004] 2. State of the Art
[0005] Many household and industrial products are sold in
containers that include a sprayer. These products include
cleansers, insecticides, polishes, waxes, etc. There are several
kinds of sprayers used with these products. Perhaps the most common
is the manual push button or trigger operated pump which is seen
most frequently on liquid cleansers. It has the advantage of being
environmentally friendly (i.e. it does not require a propellant)
but the disadvantage of requiring the user to repeatedly pump the
button or trigger in order to effect spraying. Another well known
sprayer is the aerosol can which is sealed and charged with a gas
propellant. This sprayer has the advantage that it dispenses fluid
in a continuous spray so long as the user holds the button down,
but has several disadvantages. One disadvantage is that the can
cannot be refilled. Another disadvantage is that depending on the
gas used to charge the container, the propellant can be
environmentally unfriendly. While environmentally friendly
propellants do exist, generally, they do not charge as well as the
unfriendly gases. Still another popular sprayer is the air pump
sprayer seen most frequently with insecticides and liquid garden
products. The air pump sprayer includes a hand operated air pump
which is used to charge the container with compressed air. After it
is charged, it operates much like an aerosol can. The pump sprayer
is environmentally friendly but requires considerable effort to
keep charged because air is not as efficient a propellant as
environmentally unfriendly gases such as FREON or hydrocarbon
gasses.
[0006] In recent years there has been some experimentation with
battery powered pump sprayers. Most of these devices include a
spray mechanism which is similar to the ubiquitous push button (or
trigger) pump sprayer but which is coupled to a battery powered
electric motor by some type of linkage which converts the rotary
action of the motor into an oscillatory motion to drive the pump
piston. Many of these battery operated pump sprayers are designed
to work only with a specially constructed bottle, i.e. they are not
retrofittable to existing pump spray bottles. Many also have weight
distribution problems, i.e. they are too heavy on one side and
cause the bottle to which they are attached to tip over. This is
partially do to the fact that the electrically driven piston pump
is relatively long, extending beyond the footprint of the bottle to
which it is attached. It is also partially due to the location of
the batteries. Some battery operated pump sprayers use small
ineffective diaphragm pumps or arrange a piston pump so that it
extends down into the spray bottle. While these designs may provide
better balance, they give rise to new disadvantages. The diaphragm
pumps do not work as well as piston pumps. Arranging the pump
inside the bottle displaces liquid in the bottle and subjects pump
elements to submersion which requires additional design
considerations.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a
battery operated spray pump.
[0008] It is another object of the invention to provide a battery
operated spray pump that is retrofittable to an existing spray
bottle.
[0009] It is an additional object of the invention to provide a
battery operated spray pump which is compact and does not extend
much beyond the foot print of the spray bottle.
[0010] It is another object of the invention to provide a battery
operated spray pump which is well balanced and less likely to cause
the bottle to tip over.
[0011] In accord with these objects, which will be discussed in
detail below, a battery operated spray pump according to the
invention includes a pump having an inlet and an outlet, the outlet
defining a pump axis coaxial with the outlet. The pump is mounted
inside a spray head having a nozzle, the nozzle defining a
discharge axis which is coaxial with the nozzle. According to one
aspect of the invention, the pump axis and the discharge axis are
neither collinear nor parallel nor perpendicular but are arranged
at an angle of 30-60 degrees relative to each other. More
particularly, the pump axis is angled up relative to the discharge
axis with the pump outlet angled up from and lying above the
discharge axis. The pump outlet is therefore coupled to the nozzle
by a flexible tube or an elbow. According to another aspect of the
invention, the batteries are located on top of the pump. These
aspects of the invention allow the spray head to assume an overall
size which is almost completely within the foot print of a typical
bottle to which it will be attached and also provides the spay head
with better balance.
[0012] The pump may be substantially the same as either of those
disclosed in the previously incorporated applications but modified
to allow the pump axis to be arranged at an angle relative to the
discharge axis.
[0013] Additional objects and advantages of the invention will
become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reference to the
detailed description taken in conjunction with the provided
figures.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a spray head according
to the invention coupled to a conventional bottle;
[0015] FIG. 2 is a broken perspective view showing a front side of
the spray head;
[0016] FIG. 3 is a broken perspective view showing a rear side of
the spray head;
[0017] FIG. 4 is a broken, partially transparent and partially
cut-away view showing a first side of the spray head;
[0018] FIG. 5 is a broken, partially transparent and partially
cut-away view showing a second side of the spray head; and
[0019] FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the components of
the spray head.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0020] Turning now to FIGS. 1-3, a battery operated spray head 10
according to the invention includes an ergonomic housing 12 coupled
to a threaded bottle coupling 14 and including an adjustable nozzle
16 and a trigger 18. The rear upper portion of the housing 12
includes a battery compartment door 21. The coupling 14 is designed
to fit on a standard bottle 1 having a 28 mm threaded opening 2.
These are the bottles most typically used with conventional spray
heads for household products such as cleaners, fabric sprays,
etc.
[0021] Referring now to FIGS. 4-6, inside the housing 12, there are
several subsystems, including the power source (batteries) 22, an
electric motor 24, a transmission 26, and a piston pump 28.
Although the illustrated embodiment shows the piston pump which is
described in detail in previously incorporated Ser. No. 11/034,600,
the pump described in previously incorporated 60/624,647 could be
used. Moreover, any electric pump of suitable size could be used.
The trigger 18 is arranged so that when it is squeezed, it operates
a valve 30 and an electrical switch 32. The illustrated switch is a
standard microswitch, but other types of switches could be used.
Unlike the double valve arrangement of the previously incorporated
application, in this arrangement, the inlet of the pump 28 is
always fluidly coupled to the interior of the bottle 1 via a tube
34 which is coupled to another longer tube (not shown) which
extends deep into the bottle. The valve 30 opens an air path from
the atmosphere to the interior of the bottle 1. It will be
appreciated, however, that the double valve arrangement could be
used in this spray head.
[0022] As seen best in FIG. 6, the housing 12 has an upper part 12a
and a lower part 12b. A battery compartment 20 is located inside
the door 21. The door is removable so that the batteries 22 may be
replaced as needed. The illustrated batteries are two AA alkaline
batteries and the design is optimized for batteries having the mass
of two AA batteries. Other batteries of the same or similar mass
could be used or the design could be modified if needed to
accommodate a battery or batteries of different mass. The battery
compartment 20 also includes contacts 23 which couple opposite
poles of two batteries 22 in series with each other and contacts 25
which couple opposite poles of batteries 22 to the motor (24 in
FIG. 5) via the switch 32 using wires (not shown). The nozzle 16
includes spin mechanics 16a and nozzle adapter 16b. Those skilled
in the art will appreciate that rotation of the nozzle 16 causes
interaction of the spin mechanics 16a and the nozzle adapter such
that the discharge from the nozzle is either a spray, a stream, a
foam, or off. The valve 30 includes a piston 30a and a spring
30b.
[0023] Referring once again to FIGS. 4-6, it will be appreciated
that the axis of the pump 28 is not collinear with or parallel to
the axis of the nozzle assembly 16, 16a, 16b which assumes a
substantially horizontal orientation (.+-.10 degrees). More
particularly, the outlet of the pump is raised up from the normal
position of facing directly at the nozzle. This can be described as
having an outlet vector with a horizontal component facing in the
same direction as the horizontal component of the nozzle outlet
vector. The angle between the pump axis and the nozzle assembly
axis is preferably between 30 degrees and 60 degrees. The pump
inlet 28a (which contains the ball valve described in the
previously incorporated application) is arranged to be vertical and
therefore assumes an angle relative to the pump axis and is not
collinear with the center of the coupling 14. Thus, flexible tubes
34 and 35 are used to couple the inlet 28a to the bottle coupling
14 and the outlet 28b to the nozzle 16. In lieu of flexible tubes
34, 35 elbows could be used. The batteries 22 are arranged on top
of the pump assembly and substantially parallel (.+-.10 degrees) to
the pump axis. By arranging the pump, motor, transmission assembly
and batteries at an angle relative to the nozzle assembly, the
front to back dimension of the spray head is substantially
shortened and the center of gravity of the spray head is moved
closer to the vertical axis of the bottle. This allows the
substantially the entire spray head (i.e., at least 90% of the
spray head) to lie within the footprint of the bottle (i.e., within
the projection of the bottle to a horizontal surface on which the
bottle stands) and provides better balance. It will be appreciated
from FIGS. 4 and 5 that the lower rear portion of the housing 12 is
larger than it needs to be to enclose the internal components. This
is to provide an ergonomic form factor wherein the lower rear
portion of the housing can rest comfortably on the user's hand when
the trigger is squeezed.
[0024] There have been described and illustrated herein a battery
operated spray head retrofittable to existing pump spray
containers. While particular embodiments of the invention have been
described, it is not intended that the invention be limited
thereto, as it is intended that the invention be as broad in scope
as the art will allow and that the specification be read likewise.
Thus, while two battery powered pumps have been disclosed by
incorporation, it will be appreciated that other types of battery
powered pumps can be used. It will therefore be appreciated by
those skilled in the art that yet other modifications could be made
to the provided invention without deviating from its spirit and
scope as claimed.
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