Abstract:
The invention relates to a discharge device for a cleaning fluid or treatment fluid, in particular to a lance for a high-pressure cleaner, comprising a pivotable head piece and an elongate holder which carries the head piece at its one end and is made at its other end for holding and for remotely controlled pivoting of the head piece, wherein the holder includes a carrier for the holding of the head piece and an actuation member adjustable relative to the carrier for the pivoting of the head piece relative to the carrier, and wherein the carrier and the actuation member extend up to the head piece in an at least approximately axially parallel arrangement, and in particular coaxial arrangement, with the carrier extending inside the actuation member.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of German Patent Application No. 10 2005 042 503.8, which was filed on Sep. 7, 2005, and the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to a discharge device for a cleaning fluid or a treatment fluid, in particular to a lance of a high-pressure cleaning device. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Discharge devices of this type are generally known, in particular in the form of so-called lances which the user holds at the end facing him with one hand or with both hands and which are provided at their free working end with a nozzle head. The direction in which the cleaning fluid or treatment fluid is discharged via the nozzle head either coincides with the longitudinal axis of the lance or is angled by a fixed dimension with respect to it. It is already known, for example from DE 2 304 738 A1 to couple the nozzle head to an adjustment device. In this manner, the user can adjust the discharge direction of the fluid jet relative to the longitudinal axis of the lance “by remote control” so-to-say. 
     Lances of this type with a pivotable nozzle head can be used in a variety of applications The user can thus, for example, clean eaves gutters with a downwardly pivoted nozzle head and the underbody of his vehicle with an upwardly pivoted nozzle head without having to turn the lance itself. 
     SUMMARY 
     It is the object of the invention to further develop a discharge device of this type with a variable fluid discharge direction such that a simply and reliably operable “remote control” for the varying of the discharge direction is made possible for the user with a simple design of the device not prone to defects. 
     In accordance with the invention, the carrier holding the head piece runs inside the actuation member. A space-saving and compact design can thereby be achieved. It is furthermore of advantage that exposed transfer elements or adjustment elements can be at least largely avoided by the invention without additional covers and so without any disturbing additional weight. This brings about an enormous improvement in handling for the user, and indeed above all also because there is no risk of “getting caught” at exposed parts somewhere during working. Since a filigree design prone to defects is avoided in accordance with the invention, a robust lance can be realized overall which also functions reliably under adverse conditions. 
     Preferred embodiments of the invention are also set forth in the dependent claims, in the description and in the drawing. 
     A relative movement serving for the adjustment of the pivotable head piece between the actuation member and the carrier can consist, in accordance with a variant of the invention, of a displacement of at least one part of the actuation member relative to the carrier. The actuation member can be displaceable as a whole along the carrier. 
     Alternatively, only a part of the actuation member cooperating directly or indirectly with the head piece can be made as a sliding part which is coupled to an operating section of the actuation member rotatable relative to the carrier. This is so-to-say a hybrid solution in which, to rotate the head piece, the user carries out a rotary movement, in particular around a longitudinal axis of the holder, but the movement of the actuation member responsible for the pivoting of the head piece is a sliding movement, that is a translation movement, in particular along the longitudinal axis of the holder. 
     In a further alternative aspect, the actuation member as a whole can be rotatable relative to the carrier, in particular around a longitudinal axis of the holder, with this rotary movement being converted directly or indirectly into the pivot movement of the head piece. 
     The conversion of the rotary movement into the pivot movement of the head piece can in particular take place by a transmission. In a simple aspect, the transmission can be, for example, a spiral, helical or screw-shaped control cam at an end-face margin of the actuation member. In another embodiment, the transmission can be provided in the form of a miter gear. 
     Further areas of applicability of the present disclosure will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  A is a bottom elevational view illustrating a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 1B  is a bottom elevational view illustrating the first preferred embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 1C  is a plane view of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2A  is a side view of the first preferred embodiment of the invention, but illustrating the head in a tilted position; 
         FIG. 2B  is a bottom elevational view of the first preferred embodiment of the invention and illustrating the head in a tilted position; 
         FIG. 2C  is a front elevational view of the first preferred embodiment of the invention and illustrating the head in a tilted position; 
         FIG. 2D  is a view similar to  FIG. 2C , but with parts removed for clarity; 
         FIG. 3A  is an elevational view illustrating a second preferred embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 3B  is a front elevational view illustrating the second preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a rear elevational view illustrating the second preferred embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 5A  is a side view illustrating a third preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5B  is an elevational view illustrating the third preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 6A  is a side view of a fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 6B  is a top elevational view illustrating the fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 6C  is a rear side elevational view illustrating the fourth preferred embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 7A  is a fragmentary top rear elevational view of the fourth preferred embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 7B  is a top elevational view of the fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 7C  is a rear elevational view of the fourth preferred embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The following description of the preferred embodiment is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the present disclosure, its application, or uses. 
     The discharge devices in accordance with the invention are in particular so-called lances for high-pressure cleaning devices. At their end, not shown, facing the user, these lances have an operating part, made e.g. in the form of a pistol trigger, with which the supply of the cleaning fluid to the head region of the lance can be released or interrupted. For this purpose, the lance is connected to a supply line provided e.g. as a hose in the region of this operating part. 
     The discharge device in accordance with the invention includes a jointed piece  19  which can be flowed through and which has an inlet part  21  and an outlet part  23 . Details of this jointed piece  19  are not the subject of the present invention so that they will not be looked at in more detail. 
     The inlet part  21  of the joint  19  forms the end piece of an elongate holder  13  not shown in full here which is made as a rigid supply line for the cleaning fluid and is also termed a carrier tube in the following. The section of the carrier  15  leading up to the user-side is connected to the inlet part  21  of the joint  19  by suitable means. 
     The outlet part  23  of the jointed piece  19  is a component of a pivotable head piece  11  and is provided with a nozzle member  45  for the output of the cleaning fluid. The cleaning fluid is supplied via the carrier  15  and its end piece (inlet part)  21 , flows through the jointed piece  19  and reaches the nozzle member  45  via the outlet part  23 . 
     Whereas the jointed piece  19  is manufactured from metal, in particular brass, a cover or jacket  41  of the outlet part  23  and a discharge stub  43  surrounding the nozzle member  45  preferably consist of plastic. 
     The carrier  15 , together with at least a part of its end piece forming the inlet part  21  of the joint  19 , extends inside an actuation member  17  which is provided in the form of a rigid, elongate sleeve with a square or rectangular cross-section. The arrangement of inwardly disposed carrier  15  and outer actuation member  17  forms an elongate holder for the pivotable head piece  11  whose length can generally be selected as desired. 
     The preferred embodiment of both the carrier tube  15  and the actuation sleeve  17  as a plastic part in each case results in a weight minimization so that the lance in accordance with the invention also remains easy to handle for the user with a relatively large length. 
     The actuation sleeve  17  is coupled to the outlet part  23  of the jointed piece  19  by an actuator in the form of a lever  27 . The lever  27  is connected at its one end to the end face of the actuation sleeve  17  and at its other end in the region of the end of the outlet part  23  at the nozzle side. By displacement of the actuation sleeve  17  relative to the carrier  15 , the head piece  11  is compulsorily guided via the actuation lever  27  and pivoted relative to the longitudinal axis of the holder formed by the carrier  15  and the actuation sleeve  17 . 
     In the extended state in accordance with  FIG. 1 , i.e. with a pivot angle of 0° between the inlet part  21  and the outlet part  23 , the flat actuation lever  27  contacts the outer side of the head piece  11 . 
     The axis of rotation  12  of the joint  19  is arranged somewhat off center with respect to the hinge point of the lever  27  and is therefore disposed more closely to the hinge point at the nozzle side than to the hinge point of the actuation member  17 . 
     The pivoting of the head piece  11  can take place continuously. Alternatively, a latch mechanism only permitting discrete pivot positions can be provided. For this purpose, for example, a latch ball (not shown) pre-tensioned by means of a spring can be arranged in a latch bore  49  ( FIG. 2 ) of the inlet part  21  at the end face which cooperates with a series of latch recesses in the outlet part  23 . A latch mechanism can alternatively be effective at the joints of the actuation lever  27 . 
     The embodiment example in accordance with  FIGS. 3 and 4  differs from the variant described above in particular by the manner of the actuation of the pivotable head piece  11 . 
     The actuation member  17  includes a rotary sleeve  18  which is coupled at its front end to a sliding part  16  which is connected in accordance with the embodiment of  FIGS. 1 and 2  via an actuation lever  27  to the head piece  11  or to the outlet part  23  of the jointed piece  19 . The rotary sleeve  18  is guided in a compulsory manner on the outer side of the carrier tube  15  to convert a rotary movement into a translatory movement. For this purpose, the carrier tube  15  is provided with an external thread  25  which converts a rotary movement of the rotary sleeve  18  screwed onto the carrier tube  15  in this respect into the displacement movement of the sliding part  16 . The fine adjustment of the adjustment mechanism for the pivotable head piece  11  can be directly predetermined by the pitch of the thread  25 . 
     This combined variant of user-side rotation and head-piece-side translation has the advantage that the actuation is made possible by an extremely user-friendly rotation of an operating section (rotary sleeve)  18  while maintaining the constructionally simply and functionally extremely reliable pull/push lever arrangement for the adjustment of the head piece  11 . The pivot angle of the head piece  11  can thereby be set without any large expenditure of force and additionally very precisely by means of the rotary sleeve  18 . 
     As in particular the upper representations in  FIG. 3  and in  FIG. 4  show, the rear end of the operating section  18  is provided with cut-outs  51  into which an extension piece  37  can engage with corresponding engagement sections  53  to establish a rotationally fixed connection to the operating section  18 . The lance in accordance with the invention can generally be made as long as desired by the use of a plurality of extension pieces. 
     The embodiment shown in  FIG. 5  is a purely rotary solution. The actuation member  17  forming the elongate holder  13  of the lance in accordance with the invention together with the carrier tube  15  includes an operating section  18  which is rotatable relative to the carrier  15  together with a control part  16  disposed In front of it. 
     The front end face of the tubular control part  16  is made as a screw-shaped control cam  31  which cooperates directly with the pivotable head piece  11 . The head piece  11 —i.e. the outlet part  23  of the joint  19  or its cover or jacket  41 —is acted on at a sufficient spacing from the axis of rotation  12  and is pivoted in accordance with the extent of the control cam  31  by rotation of the operating section  18  and thus of the rotary part  16  relative to the carrier  15  and thus to the inlet part  21  of the jointed piece  19 . 
     A further purely rotary solution is shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 . The actuation member  17  is made at the end face as a miter gear or pinion gear  33  which cooperates with two miter gears or crown gears  35 . The crown gears  35  are rotationally fixedly connected to the outlet part  23  of the jointed piece  19  whose inlet part  21  is rotationally fixedly connected to the carrier tube not shown here and extending through the rotatable actuation member  17 . 
     A rotation of the actuation member  17  by the user relative to the carrier and thus to the inlet part  21  thus effects a corresponding pivot movement of the head piece  11  provided with the nozzle member  45  via the miter gear formed by the toothed wheels  33 ,  35 . 
       FIG. 7  shows the lance in accordance with the invention in the upper illustration partly with a pivotable housing part  55  which is pivoted around an axis  59  on the pivoting of the head piece by means of the miter gear  33 ,  35 . 
     The two lower illustrations in  FIG. 7  show the lance in accordance with the invention in the extended state and with a head piece  11  completely covered by the pivotable housing part  55  and a fixed housing part  57 . The miter gear  33 ,  35  and the jointed piece  19  are ideally protected against external influences by this “all-round cover”. 
     In addition to the part carrying the pinion gear  33  at the end face, the actuation member  17  includes a plurality of extension pieces  37  which can be rotationally fixedly connected to one another and whose number can generally be selected as desired to obtain a lance with the desired working length. 
     The description of the present disclosure is merely exemplary in nature and, thus, variations that do not depart from the gist of the present disclosure are intended to be within the scope of the present disclosure. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. 
     REFERENCE NUMBER LIST 
     
         
           11  head piece 
           12  pivot axis 
           13  holder 
           15  carrier, tube 
           16  part of the actuation member 
           17  actuation member 
           18  operating section, sleeve 
           19  jointed piece 
           21  inlet part 
           23  outlet part 
           25  thread 
           27  actuator, lever 
           29  transmission 
           31  control cam 
           33  miter gear of the actuation member, pinion gear 
           35  miter gear of the head piece, crown gear 
           37  extension piece 
           41  jacket, cover 
           43  discharge stub 
           45  nozzle member 
           49  latch bore 
           51  cut-out 
           53  engagement section 
           55  housing part 
           57  housing part 
           59  axis