Abstract:
A misting system valve assembly comprises a conduit connectable to a pressurized fluid supply. The conduit includes a through opening. A sleeve is telescopically received on the conduit. The sleeve is adapted to support a nozzle. The sleeve has a sleeve opening therethrough for selectively delivering pressurized fluid to the nozzle. The sleeve is moveable on the conduit between an open position where the conduit through opening is in communication with the sleeve opening and a closed position where the conduit through opening is not in communication with the sleeve opening.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to misting systems and in particular to a misting system nozzle holder with a manual slide shut-off valve. 
     One conventional form of misting system used in providing misting spray onto produce and the like comprises an assembly wherein misting nozzles are in continuous open communication with a liquid supply inlet. In such systems, prevention of the delivery of the misting spray requires either the delivery to the assembly be discontinued, or that the nozzles be removed and replaced with a closure plug, or the nozzles be removed, provided with a closure plug internally thereof, and reinstalled so that the installed closure plug prevents further flow therethrough. 
     Other misting systems permit facilitated shut-off of selected misting heads as desired by incorporating a valve into the misting head. One exemplary system mounts a nozzle to a swivel arm on a cylindrical rotor. Flow can be selectively provided to an individual nozzle by rotating the swivel arm about the cylindrical rotor. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In accordance with the invention there is provided a misting system valve assembly using a manual slide shut-off valve. 
     Broadly, there is disclosed herein a misting system valve assembly comprising a conduit connectable to a pressurized fluid supply, the conduit including a through opening. A sleeve is telescopically received on the conduit. The sleeve is adapted to support a nozzle. The sleeve has a sleeve opening therethrough for selectively delivering pressurized fluid to the nozzle. The sleeve is moveable on the conduit between an open position where the conduit through opening is in communication with the sleeve opening and a closed position where the conduit through opening is not in communication with the sleeve opening. 
     It is a feature of the invention that the conduit and sleeve are cylindrical. 
     It is another feature of the invention to provide an annular outwardly opening groove in the conduit and the conduit through opening opens into the groove. 
     It is still another feature of the invention to provide a pair of O-rings disposed on the conduit on either side of the through opening. 
     It is still another feature of the invention to provide stop means for limiting axial movement of the sleeve on the conduit. The stop means may comprise retaining clips mounted to the conduit on opposite sides of the through opening. 
     It is still a further feature of the invention to provide stop means for limiting rotary movement of the sleeve on the conduit. The stop means may comprise an element protruding outwardly from the conduit and receivable in an axially extending groove in the sleeve. The element may comprise a ball bearing receivable in a depression in the conduit. 
     It is still a further feature of the invention that the sleeve includes an adaptor extending radially therefrom for removably receiving a nozzle. 
     Further features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent from the specification and from the drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a misting system in accordance with the invention mounted in a display case; 
     FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a misting system valve assembly in accordance with the invention; 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the misting system valve assembly of FIG. 2 in an open position; 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the misting system valve assembly of FIG. 2 in a closed position; 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the misting system valve assembly in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the invention in a closed position; 
     FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the misting system valve assembly of FIG. 5 in the open position; 
     FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a nozzle holder in accordance with another embodiment of the invention; and 
     FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the nozzle holder of FIG. 7 with a locking clamp mounted thereon. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring initially to FIG. 1, a display case, such as a produce case  10  includes a base  12  connected to a relatively short upstanding front wall  14  and a taller upstanding rear wall  16 . A bottom shelf  18  is disposed between the front wall  14  and the rear wall  16  to define a lower produce space  20 . A shelf  22  extends forwardly from the rear wall  16  above the bottom wall  18  to define an upper storage space  24 . A top  26  extends forwardly atop the rear wall  16  above the shelf  22 . 
     The lower storage space  20  and upper storage space  24  are used to store produce or the like, such as fruits and vegetables. The invention comprehends providing for use with such a produce case  10  a misting system generally designated  28  adapted to selectively provide for a fine mist  29  downwardly into the storage spaces  20  and  24 . The invention comprehends misting system nozzle holders with manual slide shut-off valves as described more particularly below. 
     The misting system  28  may be connected to a conventional pressurized fluid supply via a conduit  30 . The supply may be a conventional municipal water supply. The conduit  30  is connected through a sediment filter  32  to an accumulator  34  and to a control box  36 . The control box  36  includes a pair of valves (not shown) for selectively providing pressurized water supply to a lower zone  38  associated with the lower storage space  20  and an upper zone  40  associated with the upper storage space  24 . 
     The lower zone  38  comprises an elongate conduit  42  connected at its opposite ends via lines  44  and  46  to the control box  36 . A plurality of nozzle holders  48  are mounted to the conduit  42 . In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, there are twelve nozzle holders  48  to provide overlapping misting to ensure complete coverage of the lower storage space  20 . 
     The upper zone  40  is generally similar to the lower zone  38 , and it is therefore not described in detail herein. 
     In accordance with the invention, each nozzle holder  48  includes a manual slide shutoff valve as will now be described. 
     Referring to FIG. 2, an exemplary nozzle holder  48  is illustrated. 
     The conduit  42  comprises a tubular or cylindrical conduit. The conduit  42  and nozzle holder  48  may be of, for example, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) construction. As will be apparent, other materials could also be used. The conduit  42  includes a tubular wall  50  enclosing a cylindrical passageway  52 . The conduit  42  includes the following structural elements associated with each of the plurality of nozzle holders  48 . A through opening  54  extends through the tubular wall  50  and opens into an outwardly opening annular groove  56 . A first O-ring  58  and a second O-ring  60  are received in annular grooves  62  and  64 , respectively, longitudinally spaced from the groove  56 . The first and the second grooves  62  and  64  are on opposite sides of the groove  56 . A third O-ring  62  is received in an annular groove  68 . Particularly, the second O-ring  66  is centrally located between the first O-ring  56  and the third O-ring  66 . 
     The nozzle holder  48  comprises a sleeve  70  telescopically received on the conduit  42  so that it is slidably moveable on the conduit  42 . The sleeve  70  includes a through opening  72  opening into an adaptor  74  extending radially from the sleeve  70 . The adaptor  74  is cylindrical and includes an inner threaded surface  76  for threadably receiving a nozzle  78 . 
     In accordance with the invention, the nozzle holder  48  operates as a slide shut-off valve by manually moving the sleeve  70  in one direction to turn water to the nozzle  78  on and in the opposite direction to turn water off. The outer sleeve  70  and conduit  42  can be of various shapes and sizes. Likewise, the nozzle adaptor  74  may have different thread sizes or utilize different nozzle holding techniques to accept different nozzle styles. In fact, the nozzle could be an integral element of the nozzle holder. 
     Pressurized water is carried through the conduit passageway  52  to each nozzle holder location. When the through opening  72  on the outer sleeve is manually moved between the first and second O-rings  58  and  60  and in longitudinal alignment with the conduit opening  54 , water is transferred to the misting nozzle  78 . When the sleeve through opening  72  is manually moved between the second O-ring  60  and the third O-ring  66  the water transfer to the misting nozzle  78  is stopped. By using the annular groove  56 , the sleeve  70  can be rotated to any position and still provide water flow. This allows the nozzle holder  48  to be swivelled to different positions to provide coverage in different areas of the storage space  20 . 
     To limit axial movement of the nozzle holder  48  on the conduit  42 , stops  80  are provided on opposite sides of the conduit opening  54 . The stops  80  comprise retaining clips  82  received in annular grooves  84  in the conduit  42 . In the illustration of FIG. 2, the rightmost stop  80  is positioned to abut the sleeve  70  when the valve is in the open position. The leftmost stop  80  is positioned to abut the sleeve  70  when the valve is in the off position with the sleeve opening  72  between the second O-ring  60  and the third O-ring  66 . 
     If desired to stop the nozzle holder  48  from swivelling on the conduit  42 , one or more ball bearings  86  may be positioned between an axially extending groove  88  on the inside wall of the sleeve  70  and an outwardly opening cup-shaped depression  90  in the conduit  42 . Particularly, the ball bearing  90  permits the sleeve  70  to move axially, but stops the sleeve  70  from rotating. As is apparent, if a swivel operation is desired for the nozzle holder  48 , then the ball bearings  86  can be removed or eliminated. 
     The misting system  28  may comprise any number of nozzle holders  48  from one on up. The number of nozzle holders used would depend on the size of the storage space and available fluid supply. Therefore, as few as a single nozzle holder  48  can be placed on the conduit  42  or plural nozzle holders  48  can be used, as illustrated in FIG. 1, on the same conduit  42 . 
     FIG. 2 illustrates the conduit  42  at a single sleeve location. The conduit  42  is similarly configured at each of the other nozzle locations so that each nozzle holder operates independently of one another. 
     Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, operation of the nozzle holder is illustrated. When the nozzle holder  48  is moved to the rightmost position, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the valve is in the on position so that mist  29  is provided from the nozzle  78 . Conversely, when the nozzle holder  48  is moved to the left, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the valve is in the closed position so that water to the valve  78  is shut off. The first O-ring  58  and the second O-ring  60 , see FIG. 2, prevent water from leaking when the valve is in the on position. Similarly, the second O-ring  60  and the third O-ring  66  prevent water from the nozzle  78  from returning back into the conduit  42  in the off position. 
     Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, a misting system  128  according to an alternative embodiment of the invention is illustrated. The misting system  128  includes a conduit  142 , a nozzle holder  148  and a nozzle  178 . Stops  180  are provided on the conduit  142 . The misting system  128  of FIGS. 5 and 6 differs from the misting system  28 , discussed above, in that O-rings  158 ,  160  and  166  are received in respective inwardly opening annular grooves  162 ,  164  and  168  in the nozzle holder  148 . FIG. 5 illustrates the nozzle holder  148  in the closed position, while FIG. 6 illustrates the nozzle holder  148  in the open position. 
     Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, a nozzle holder  248  according to a further embodiment of the invention is illustrated. The nozzle holder  248  includes a rectangular notch  290  proximate one end, as shown in FIG.  7 . The notch  290  provides an opening that exposes a conduit (not shown) that slidably receive the nozzle holder  248 , as with the embodiments above. A worm gear type clamp  292 , see FIG. 8, includes a head  294  receiving a screw  296 . An elongate strap  298 , including longitudinally spaced slots  300  extends inside the nozzle holder  248  with its ends received in the head  294 , in a conventional manner. Turning the screw  296  causes threads of the screw  296  to engage the slots  300  to selectively loosen or tighten the metal strap  298 . As a result, the nozzle holder  248  can be locked on the conduit by turning the clamp  292  closed with a screwdriver and unlocked by loosening the clamp, as is conventional. Particularly, locking is provided by the worm gear clamp locked on the conduit to prevent slidable movement or rotary movement of the nozzle holder  248 . This can be used to lock the nozzle head  248  in either the open position or closed position or in any select rotary position. In order to change the position, it is then necessary to loosen the clamp in the conventional manner. 
     Thus, in accordance with the invention, there is provided a misting system nozzle holder with a manual slide shut-off valve operation.