Nozzle mountings

A nozzle mounting has a body with air and water passageways including a nozzle member for discharging a mixture of air and water. The nozzle member has outer walls of spherical form surrounding a passageway through the nozzle so that the nozzle may be manually rocked by a user to direct the flow of mixed air and water in a desired direction. Air inlets are provided in the walls of the nozzle so that air from the air passageway in the body is entrained in water passing through the passageway in the nozzle so that the nozzle passageway is not altered in its selected disposition by the discharge of the mixture of air and water through the passageway.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to nozzle mountings and has been devised 
particularly though not solely for use with the nozzles in spa pools, spa 
baths and similar installations. 
It is an object of the present invention to provide a nozzle mounting which 
will at least provide the public with a useful choice. 
Accordingly the invention consists in a nozzle mounting comprising a body, 
a main air passageway and a main water passageway in said body, a nozzle 
member having outer walls of spherical form and a nozzle passageway 
passing therethrough, a receptacle in said body to receive said nozzle 
member, retaining means to retain said nozzle member in said body sealing 
the contact with parts of said outer walls, while permitting manipulative 
rocking movement of said nozzle member over a range of movement, the 
nozzle member having at least one water entry for water, at least one air 
entry for air, and at least one exit for combined water and air, said air 
entry being open to said main air passageway and said water entry being 
open to said main water passageway, and fixing means for fixing said body 
to an opening in a vessel, the construction and arrangement being such 
that on water entering said nozzle passageway through said water entry air 
from said main air passageway is entrained in the water from said main 
water passageway and the combined air and water mixture discharged from 
said nozzle passageway in a manner such that the disposition of said 
nozzle passageway is not altered by the discharge of said mixture but said 
nozzle member may be manually rocked to direct the flow of mixed air and 
water in a desired direction within said range of movement, while said 
parts of said outer walls are maintained in contact with said retaining 
means. 
To those skilled in the art to which the invention relates, many changes in 
construction and widely differing embodiments and applications of the 
invention will suggest themselves without departing from the scope of the 
invention as defined in the appended claims. The disclosures and the 
descriptions herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be in 
any sense limiting.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring to the drawings, a main body 1 is provided having a main air 
passageway 2 for air and a water passageway 3 for water under pressure. 
Mounted in the main body is a spherical nozzle member 8 having an exit for 
combined water and air 4, a water entry 5 and air entries 6, the air 
entries 6 comprising spaced radial slots in the nozzle member (eyeball) 8 
which communicate with the water passageway 7. A plurality of water and 
air entries and exits for combined water and air may also be provided. To 
hold the main body 1 onto a wall 10, comprising part of a vessel such as a 
spa pool or spa bath, fixing means comprising a threaded fitting 11 is 
provided, one part 38 of which is adapted to engage with the wall 10, 
while another part 39, having a male thread, screws into a corresponding 
female thread 12 in the main body. Thus the body 1 is secured about the 
hole in wall 10 by means of fitting 11 which contacts the other side of 
the hole in wall 10, the co-acting threads ensuring a tight attachment. A 
sealing collar 15 is spring loaded by a spring 16 positioned between a 
part of sealing collar 15 and a part of body 1 to press a sealing surface 
17 of the collar 15 against a spherical part 18 of the nozzle member 8, 
making a substantially watertight seal between passages 25 and 26. The 
sealing collar 15 and the threaded fitting 11 are mounted in a receptacle 
20 for the nozzle member 8. The spherical part 18 is of a reduced diameter 
compared with the spherical part 19 of the nozzle member 8 which creates 
an annular ledge or shoulder 40 between the two hemispheres. 
The reason for this is to prevent rotation past a set limit, defined by 
contact of ledge 40 with the face 37 of the collar 15 (or collar 30 as in 
FIG. 2). 
The use of the construction will be clear. Water under pressure originating 
from a pump (not shown) enters through the passageway 3 and the further 
water passageway 25 to pass into the water entry 5, through the passageway 
7 and from the nozzle exit 4. In so doing the water entrains air from 
passageway 2 through further air passageway 26 into the air entries 
comprising slots 6, for the air to be entrained in the water, before the 
air and water mixture exit passageway 7 from the nozzle orifice 4. The 
nozzle member can be manually positioned to give a desired direction of 
flow of air and water by inserting a finger or the like into the nozzle 
orifice and exerting the appropriate force. Positioning of the nozzle 
member is best achieved by the user rocking the member within the 
receptacle through the angles of horizontal and vertical rotational 
movement necessary to achieve the desired spatial position of the member 
which will direct the jet of combined air and water in the direction the 
user desires. 
It will be seen that because the air and the water pass only directly out 
of the nozzle orifice 4 there is no realignment force acting on the nozzle 
member 8. Thus when the nozzle member 8 is manually set to any particular 
position it will maintain that position, there being no forces tending to 
alter its position. In present constructions, the air and water are 
directed or the water only is directed by a further nozzle which directs a 
stream of water against a wall similar to the wall 28 and this causes the 
equivalent nozzle member 8 to shift its position. 
Thus the present invention provides advantages over the construction 
previously provided. 
Referring now to FIG. 2, in place of the sealing collar 15 which is mounted 
externally of the passageway 25, a modified sealing collar 30 in the form 
of a cylindrical sleeve is provided having a portion 31 which extends to 
the passageway 3. 
Referring to FIG. 3, the opening in collar 30 defined by end portion 31 and 
edge surface 32 extends over a substantially semi circular area of collar 
30 and is positioned adjacent an opening 41 in water entry 3 leading to 
water passageway 25. The resulting orifice which allows water to flow 
through collar 30 is referenced 36. From FIG. 4 it will be seen that a gap 
42 exists between end portion 31 of collar 30 and the body 1 of the nozzle 
mounting. 
To alter the flow of water through passageways 3 and 25 the collar 30 need 
only be rotated about its longitudinal axis. Referring to FIG. 4, when the 
semi circular area 36 is fully open to the opening 41 in water entry 3, 
the maximum flow rate of water through the passageways exists. As the 
collar 30 is rotated about its longitudinal axis a decreasing effective 
area through which water may pass will be open to the opening 41. Thus 
collar 30 acts as a sleeve valve. Eventually when the collar 30 has been 
rotated with respect to the position shown in FIG. 4 the collar will be 
orientated as shown in FIG. 5. Referring to FIG. 5 it can be seen that 
area 36 is no longer directly open to opening 34. Instead water from 
passageway 3 flows through gap 42, and then through area 36 into 
passageway 25. Water flow is generally indicated by arrows 43. In order to 
clarify the construction FIG. 4 shows collar 30 rotated 180.degree. about 
its longitudinal axis compared to FIG. 5. In the physical embodiment this 
is not necessary since the body of the nozzle mounting substantially 
surrounds the collar 30 such that rotation of collar 30 about its 
longitudinal axis through an angle sufficient to remove orifice 36 from 
exposure to water opening 41 will result in minimum water flow. 
Alternatively end portion 31 of collar 30 may have a hole 45 in the centre 
thereof as shown in FIG. 6. Referring to FIG. 6 it will be seen that the 
edges of end portion 31 are in contact with the body 1 of the nozzle 
mounting such that when minimum water flows desired, water from water 
entry 41 must flow through hole 45 in end portion 31 in order to enter 
collar 30. Semi circular area 36 is still provided as described above as 
that when collar 30 is rotated with respect to the position shown in FIG. 
6, such that the semi circular area 36 is exposed to water entry 41, 
maximum flow of water in collar 30 will exist. 
To provide flow adjustment means rotatable member 35 carries teeth 34 which 
extend parallel to the axis of rotation of member 35, which thus acts as a 
crown gear. Teeth 34 engage radial fingers 33 on the end of collar 30 
nearest nozzle member 8. The rotatable member 35 may be rotated by a user 
to rotate collar 30 and thus vary the effective area of orifice 36 exposed 
to opening 34 in passageway 3, thus varying the flow of water through 
nozzle member 8 and varying the flow of air and water through orifice 4. 
There are gaps between teeth 34 and fingers 33 which allow air from main 
air passageway 2 to enter nozzle air passageway 6. 
Referring to FIG. 7 another alternative embodiment is provided, having air 
flow adjustment means as well as water flow adjustment means. The water 
flow adjustment means comprise orifice 36 and hole 45 and member 30 as 
described above. The air flow adjustment means comprise a flap 48 having a 
securing portion 47 which is used to fasten flap 48 to one or more of the 
teeth 34 of rotatable member 35. Flap 48 is substantially circular in 
shape and is in contact with edges 46 of further air passageway 26. In 
FIG. 7 flap 48 is shown in the closed state, substantially preventing air 
flow through further air passageway air 26 and air entries 6 and 
preventing back flow of water through further air passageway 26. Air is 
still required in air entries 6 of nozzle member 8 to provide a combined 
flow of water and air at exit 4 even under minimum water flow conditions, 
therefore flap 48 is of a shape such that air is allowed to flow through 
further air passageway 26 during minimum water flow conditions. The shape 
of flap 48 will be determined by the volume of air flow required to 
provide the desired flow of air and water at exit 4 and will therefore 
also depend on the shape of orifice 36 in collar 30. If the minimum water 
flow is desired to be nil, then flap 48 will be configured such that no 
air flow is present through further air passageway 26 under minimum water 
flow conditions. 
In use an operator will manipulate rotatable member 35 as described above 
with reference to adjustment of water flow through collar 30 and manual 
manipulation of rotatable member 35 will also adjust the position of flap 
48 with respect to edges 46 of further air passageway 26 via fastening 
means 47 and teeth 34, thus adjusting the air flow through further air 
passageway 26. When rotatable member 35 is rotated such that minimum water 
flow exists, flap 48 will be adjusted with respect to edges 46 of further 
air passageway 26 such that a suitable minimum air flow also exists to 
produce a minimum combined flow of air and water. When rotatable member 35 
is adjusted such that maximum water flow exists, flap 48 will be in a 
rotational position such that air flow through further air passageway 26 
is not impeded and therefore a maximum combined water and air flow is 
present at exit 4 of nozzle member 8. 
The invention also allows a user to select a desired flow of air from an 
air entry to the nozzle mounting and therefor a desired flow of combined 
air and water may be selected. 
From the above it can be seen that a nozzle mounting is provided which 
maintains a mixed flow of air and water in a direction selected by a user. 
The selected direction of the mixed flow remains unchanged due to the 
nozzle member incorporating both the air and the water inlets, 6 & 7 
respectively thus illuminating the realignment forces which exist in 
present constructions. The construction of the nozzle member from two 
hemispheres of different radii with a shoulder between by contact with the 
stop 37 or 40 limits the directions in which the mixed air and water flow 
may be set, eliminating the possibility of the cessation of air/water flow 
through the nozzle which exists in present constructions. 
It can also be seen that a nozzle mounting is provided which allows a user 
to select a desired flow of water from a water entry to the nozzle 
mounting. Therefore a desired rate of flow of air/water mixture may be 
selected.