Abstract:
A dispensing head for a squeeze bottle sprayer includes a rotatable valve. The rotatable valve has both an air control notch and a fluid control notch. Upon rotation of the valve, the notches cooperate to vary the amount of air and or fluid discharged by the dispenser. The density of the stream may therefore be varied.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to a dispensing head for a dispenser which is pressurized by squeezing the sides of the container. More particularly, the invention is directed to a dispensing head in which air and liquid are mixed to produce a fine spray, and in which the density of the spray may be varied. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Although squeeze bottle types sprayers have been used for many years, such sprayers were largely replaced for a long period of time by pressurized can dispensing systems. One squeeze bottle dispenser which has come into use as a substitute for pressurized cans is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,183,186 and 5,318,205. These patents show a squeeze bottle dispenser in which an air passageway and a product (i.e., fluent material) passageway meet in a tapered mixing chamber. In the device of that invention, the tapering of the mixing chamber direct the air flow at an angle to the flow of liquid, resulting in turbulence in the liquid in the mixing chamber. This turbulence breaks the liquid up and intimately mixes it with the air. As a result, a fine spray is propelled out of the orifice. 
     One characteristic of current dispensers such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,183,186 and 5,318,205 is that the amount and density of the spray is fixed. In other words, current dispensers only provide for either an open position, in which a fixed density spray is made or a closed position in which there is no spray. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a spray dispensing device for use with a non-pressurized container, such as a squeeze bottle, which allows the density of the spray to be varied. 
     It is a further object of the invention to provide a valve which prevents the infiltration of air into the internal passages of the dispenser. 
     In accordance with the invention, a spray dispenser is provided having a dip tube which can extend into a container, such as a squeeze bottle, holding a quantity of liquid. The top of the dip tube is connected to a ball-check valve assembly having a ball which ordinarily rests on top of a conduit of restricted diameter. A rotatable valve has an air passage and a product passage. The air passage in the spray dispenser can connect the inside of the bottle with a mixing chamber in the dispenser. The separate product passage leads from the top of the ball-check to a mixing chamber and is directed toward a spray orifice in the mixing chamber. The air passage is an annular passageway which is concentrically disposed around a portion of the product passage leading to the mixing chamber. As the valve is rotated, the amount of communication between the air passage and product passage and the interior of the container is varied. 
     When the bottle is squeezed while the rotatable valve is open, the resulting pressure build up forces air into the mixing chamber and liquid up the dip tube. The liquid forces the ballcheck to open and the liquid is directed toward the mixing chamber. Simultaneously, air is forced through the annular air passage. The stream of air converges and impinges upon the core stream of liquid when deflected by tapered walls of the mixing chamber. This causes an atomization of the liquid and a fine spray is expelled through the orifice. 
     As the pressure in the bottle is relieved, the ball drops down back onto the conduit of restricted diameter thereby trapping product in the dip tube. Thus, the product will be retained in the dip tube at a high level, above the liquid level in the bottle, ready for the next squeeze cycle. In this way, the lag time which ordinarily occurs prior to spraying is eliminated. 
     The product passage is formed in a valve which is housed in a body of the spray dispenser. The valve may advantageously be formed as a rotatable valve which opens and closes the air and product passageways. In a closed position of the valve, both the product and air passageway are completely closed to the inside of the squeeze bottle, thereby preventing air from entering the inside of the squeeze bottle. The closing off of the passageways therefore reduces potential drying of the liquid product in the squeeze bottle. 
     The valve is formed so that as the valve is rotated from a closed position to a completely open position, the amount of communication between the interior of the container and the passages is varied. In this manner, the density of the spray can be varied. 
     Further objectives and advantages of the subject invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the detailed description of the disclosed invention. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the spray dispensing head of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a side view of the spray dispensing head of the present invention; 
     FIG. 3 is a top view of the spray dispensing head of the present invention; 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the valve of the present invention; 
     FIG. 5 is a frontal view of the valve; 
     FIG. 6 is a side view of the valve; and 
     FIG. 7 is a layout view of the notched surfaces of the inlet valve. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the spray-dispensing head of the present invention. The spray dispensing device housing  2  is adapted to be mountable atop a neck  4  of a bottle  6  in any manner known to those skilled in the art. The spray dispensing device housing includes a conduit  8  for receiving a dip tube  10 . 
     A restricted conduit  12  of a ballcheck valve  14  receives the top end of the dip tube  10 . The restricted conduit  12  communicates with the dip tube  10  so as to allow fluid to pass through. The inner diameter of the restricted conduit  12  is smaller than the diameter of the ball  16  of the ballcheck valve  14  so that the ball  16  ordinarily sits atop the restricted conduit  12 . When the ball  16  is in this position, the ballcheck valve  14  is closed so that the top end of the dip tube  10  is also closed. The inner diameter of the remainder of the ballcheck valve  14  is larger than the diameter of the ball  16 . In this way, the ball  16  is free to move upward in response to upward movement of fluid in the dip tube to open the ballcheck valve  14 . 
     The top of the ballcheck valve  14  receives a coaxially disposed feed tube  18  which allows for the passage of fluid from the restricted conduit  12  through the housing  2 . The feed tube  18  has a diameter which is substantially the same as the remainder of the ballcheck valve  14 . A bar  70  is formed across the top of the feed tube  18 , and can be oriented in any direction. The ball  16  is therefore free to move upward to open the ballcheck valve  14 . Because the diameter of the feed tube  18  is larger than the diameter of the ball, product may flow freely past the ball. 
     For simplicity of construction, the feed tube  18  is an extension of a wall  22  of the housing  2 . The feed tube  18  of the wall  22  can communicate with a product passageway  24  within a valve  26  when the valve  26  is in an open position through a product orifice  28 . The wall  22  is also provided with an air orifice  30  which communicates with an annular air passageway  32 . As illustrated in FIG. 1, the annular air passageway  32  is defined as the space between the inner surface of outer wall  60  of the valve  26  and the outer surface of the inner wall  62  of the valve  26  so that it is concentrically disposed around the portion of the product passageway  24  which leads to the air swirl passages  34  in an axial horizontal direction. The valve  26  is rotatably received in the cavity between the walls  22 ,  36  of the spray dispenser housing  2 . 
     Tapered portions  38 ,  40  of a dial  42  define a cavity therebetween which shall be referred to as a mixing chamber  44 . The tapered portions  38 ,  40  may define a cone. A portion of the product passageway  24  leads to the mixing chamber  44  in a generally horizontal direction. The annular air passageway  32  is concentrically disposed around the portion of the product passageway  24  which leads to the mixing chamber  44  in a horizontal direction. The tapered portions  38 ,  40  terminate before meeting to define a spray orifice  46  of the mixing chamber  44 . 
     The dial  42  and valve  26  are housed within the cavity between the valve walls  22 ,  36  of the housing  2 . The dial and valve are sized so that an extended portion  48  of the dial  42  fits within the valve. A locking tab  50  is formed by the outer wall  60  of the valve and cooperates with a recess  52  in the dial  42  so that when the dial is rotated, the valve is also rotated. A rim  54  on the spray housing restrains the dial  42  and valve  26  from falling out of the valve housing. The rim  54  is sized so that the dial and the valve may be assembled by pushing them past the rim. The perimeter  56  of the dial is grooved to allow easier gripping by a user. 
     The valve  26  is rotatable about its longitudinal axis between a heavy spray position and a completely closed position. An intermediate position provides a light spray. As shown in FIGS. 4-7, the valve  26  has an outer wall  60  joined to an inner wall  62  by ribs  64 . The outer wall  60  of the valve has a profiled product control notch  66 . The inner wall  62  of the valve has a profiled air control notch  68 . Upon rotation of the valve  26 , the walls  60 ,  62  of the valve  26  block more or less of the air orifice  30  and product orifice  28 . In the completely closed position, the inner and outer walls are not notched. Consequently, the product passageway  24  is completely sealed from feed tube  18 , and air passageway  32  is completely sealed from air orifice  30 . As the valve is rotated, the notches  66 ,  68  in the valve walls  60 ,  62  allow communication between the feed tube  18  and the product passageway  28  and between the air orifice  30  and air passageway  32 . Upon further rotation, the product control notch  66  in the outer wall  60  of the valve  26  reveals more of the product orifice  28 , thereby allowing more communication between the product passageway  24  and the dip tube  10 . Simultaneously, the air control notch  68  is shaped so that the inner wall  62  covers more of the air orifice  30 , restricting communication between the interior of the squeeze bottle  6  and the air passageway  32 . Accordingly, the spray will be denser in this position. When the valve  26  is rotated approximately midway between the heavy spray position and the fully closed position, the air and product orifices are at the positions indicated by the dashed lines in FIG. 7, providing a lighter spray. The notches in the valve walls may be modified to provide lighter or heavier sprays as the valve is rotated, depending on the application. The valve may be notched so that a stream of fluid is dispensed—i.e. product flow without air flow. 
     The operation of the spray dispensing device of the invention as used with a squeeze bottle will now be explained by describing the path of fluid and air. Upon squeezing the bottle  6  the pressure inside the bottle increases urging fluid  4  up dip tube  10 . Fluid is forced through the restricted conduit  12  and pushes the ball  16  upward off the top of the conduit  8  thereby opening the ballcheck valve  14 . The fluid is then free to flow into the feed tube  18  toward the product passageway  24 . From the passageway  24  the fluid stream is injected into the mixing chamber  44  in a horizontal direction toward the spray orifice  46 . It can be seen from FIG. 1 that the product passageway  24  communicates with the mixing chamber  44  at a location which is directly opposite the spray orifice  46 . 
     Upon squeezing the bottle, the increase in pressure also forces air above the fluid level in the bottle through the air orifice  30  into the annular passageway  32 . It can be seen that the distance which must be traveled by the air to reach the mixing chamber  44  is less than the distance which must be traveled by the liquid so that liquid does not reach the mixing chamber before the air. In this way, it is made certain that the fluid is mixed with air before emanating from the orifice  46 . 
     The annular air passageway  32  leads to the mixing chamber  44  in a horizontal direction and communicates with the mixing chamber  44  at a location which is directly opposite the tapered or conical section  38 ,  40  of the mixing chamber. The tapered portions  38 ,  40  direct the annular air stream from the passageway  32  at an acute to a vertical angle to the central horizontal stream of liquid from the passageway  24 . Thus, the annular stream of air converges and impinges upon the core stream of liquid at a point in proximity to the spray orifice  46 . The liquid is subjected to considerable turbulence which breaks it up and intimately mixes it with the air. The result is that a fine spray is propelled out of the orifice  46  which exhibits a circular and symmetrical spray pattern wherein the droplets exhibit a symmetrical particle size distribution. 
     When pressure is released on the container it returns to its original shape as external air is drawn into the container through the orifice  46 . The drawing of air through the orifice  46  cleans the orifice and the mixing chamber  44  after each squeeze cycle thereby inhibiting clogging of the orifice. This self-cleaning feature of the invention is particularly advantageous in the case of a viscous product where clogging is most frequently encountered. 
     The release of pressure also causes the liquid to drop down the feed tube  18  which helps the ball  16  to drop, thereby closing the top of the restricted conduit  12 . It will be appreciated that the closing of the conduit  12  by the ball  16  will trap liquid in the feed tube  18 . Thus, during the next squeeze cycle product will already be at a very high level in the dip tube so that less time will transpire before spay is emitted. In this way the present invention achieves nearly instantaneous spraying without the need for a pressurized container. 
     In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereunto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. The specification and drawings are accordingly to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.