Abstract:
The water flow control structure of a water gun includes a movable control tube, stepwise positioning unit, oblique guide and resilient component. When the control tube is moved by the control component, it is turned by the oblique guide and stepwise positioning unit. Each time the first guide of the control tube coordinates with the position of the stepwise positioning unit, it makes the space between the stopper head of the control tube and the water control outlet of the water holder close or open in different degrees to control water flow. The entire control structure is hidden inside the water gun. The repeated movements of the control component can switch the water flow mode, which is convenient and practical.

Description:
RELATED U.S. APPLICATIONS 
   Not applicable. 
   STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
   Not applicable. 
   REFERENCE TO MICROFICHE APPENDIX 
   Not applicable. 
   FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates generally to a water flow control structure of a water gun, and more particularly to a device with a rotating cylinder with an oblique guide and stepwise positioning unit to adjust the water flow and its on and off feature. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   When using the conventional water gun, the water gun usually controls the on and off status of water flow by a predetermined pressing part or trigger. However, when people use the water gun and when the distance of the target is different one from another, the need to adjust the water flow arises. The conventional water gun has only two modes, on and off; therefore, water flow control is achieved by pressing the trigger. It is a challenge to maintain a certain amount of the water flow, and the hand often becomes sore from holding the trigger for a long period of time. Thus, the water gun becomes inconvenient when used for a long time. 
   The industry has developed some structures that can control water flow. For example, a common type of structure is an assisting button added on the outside of the trigger. This assisting button usually has a gear to limit the trigger&#39;s pressing angle. To adjust the water flow, the assisting button is pressed when the user desires to restore the trigger&#39;s position. The structure that is used to adjust the water flow, such as the assisting button and gear, is placed on the external side of the water gun; therefore, the damage rate is higher during actual use. Moreover, because the water gun is often used for garden irrigation or cleaning, the water gun is soiled with mud and sand. The mud and sand easily gets inside the gear and fills the empty part of the structure, which affects the normal positioning effect of the gear. 
   Thus, to overcome the aforementioned problems of the prior art, it would be an advancement in the art to provide an improved structure that can significantly improve the efficacy. 
   To this end, the inventor has provided the present invention of practicability after deliberate design and evaluation based on years of experience in the production, development and design of related products. 
   BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The improved fact of the present invention is explained herein. 
   The water flow control structure of the present invention primarily consists of the design of the movable control tube  30 , stepwise positioning unit  50 , oblique guide  60 , and resilient component  70 . When the control tube  30  is moved by the control component  20 , it is turned by the movement of the oblique guide  60  and stepwise positioning unit  50 . The first guide  41  of the control tube  30  faces a different position  51 ,  51 B,  51 C of the stepwise positioning unit  50  to control the space between the stopper head  32  of the control tube  30  and the water control outlet  14  of the water holder  13  so as to control the water flow. The entire control structure is hidden inside the water gun, which solves the disadvantages of the conventional structures, such as avoiding damage from outside forces, reducing the damage rate, avoiding contact with mud and sand, and keeping the movement functioning normally. 
   The water flow control of the water gun of the present invention uses the repeat movement of the control component  20  to switch the water flow control, which is convenient and practical to use. 
   Although the invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  shows an assembled, perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 2  shows an exploded, perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 3  shows a partial exploded perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 4  shows an assembled sectional view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 5  shows an assembled sectional view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, which is the control tube moving downward. 
       FIG. 6  shows a schematic view of the oblique guide of the present invention guiding the second guide. 
       FIG. 7  shows a schematic view and isolated sectional view of the position of the first guide of the control tube of the present invention facing the stepwise positioning unit, which is in the off position. 
       FIG. 8  shows another a schematic view and isolated sectional view of the position of the first guide of the control tube of the present invention facing the stepwise positioning unit, which is for a small amount of the water flow. 
       FIG. 9  shows still another schematic view and isolated sectional view of the position of the first guide of the control tube of the present invention facing the stepwise positioning unit, which is for a large amount of water flow. 
       FIG. 10  shows a sectional view of another embodiment of the control component of the present invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   The features and the advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood upon a thoughtful deliberation of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawing. 
   As shown in  FIGS. 1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 , there is a water flow control structure embodied in the present invention. This embodiment is used for description only. The scope of the invention is determined by the claims and is not restricted by this description of the structure when applying for the patent. The water flow control structure is placed on the predetermined part of the water gun to control the on and off features and the amount of the water flow. 
   A water gun  10  includes a water inlet  11 , a water outlet  12 , a water holder  13  between the water inlet  11  and the water outlet  12 , and a control component  20  placed on a predetermined part of the water gun  10 . 
   The flow control structure includes a control tube  30 , which is to be placed inside the water holder  13  of the water gun  10 . The control tube  30  can be rotated and moved up and down. The control tube  30  can be moved by the control component  20  of the water gun  10  and can be moved down from the first location to the second location. A water channel  31  is placed inside the control tube  30 . The control tube  30  faces the end of water outlet  12  that has a stopper head  32  to stop a water control outlet  14  inside the water holder  13  to shut the water off. A first guide  41  and second guide  42  are placed on the outside of the control tube  30 . The first guide  41  can be made by two protruding blocks that are at an 180 degree angle. The second guide  42  can be made by several protruding blocks, and the bottom of each protruding block can have an oblique surface. 
   A stepwise positioning unit  50  is placed inside the water holder  13 , and the stepwise positioning unit  50  includes several sets of positioning slots  51  that have different heights. There is an oblique surface  52  on the positioning unit  50 . When the control tube  30  is at the first location, it makes the first guide  41  of the control tube  30  correspond to the stepwise positioning unit  50 . 
   An oblique guide  60  has several sets of rings that are placed inside the water holder  13 . When the control tube  30  is moved to the second positioning, it makes the second guide  42  of the control tube  30  be guided by the oblique guide  60 , which makes the control tube  30  turn to a predetermined angle. The oblique guide  60  of the present invention is placed on the ring base  61 , and the ring base  61  is positioned in the water holder  13 . 
   A resilient component  70  restores the control tube  30  from the second position to the first position. The resilient component  70  can be a spring, so that its top end is pushed against the limit edge  310  (as shown by  FIG. 4 ) by the water channel  31  of the control tube  30 . A spacer  71  can be placed on this end so that when the control tube is rotating, the fraction is reduced and becomes smoother. The bottom of the resilient component  70  is pushed against a top end  312  of a positioning base  311  at the bottom of the water channel  31 . 
   The control component  20  of the water gun  10  includes a press handle  21  and a linkage lever  22 . The press handle  21  has its top end placed on the top end of the front side of the water gun  10 , so that the bottom end of the press handle  21  can be pressed. The linkage lever  22  can be connected to the through hole  13  in the middle of the water gun  10 , and the linkage lever  22  includes a vertical rod  223  and two horizontal bars  225 . Thus, the middle of the water gun  10  has a through hole  16  for the horizontal bar  225  of the linkage lever  22  to insert, and a shoulder  33  is placed on the outside of the control tube  30  for the horizontal bar  225  to be placed on. When the bottom of the press handle  21  is pressed in, the vertical rod  223  of the linkage lever  22  moves its horizontal bar  225 , and further moves the control tube  30  from the first position to the second position. 
   Through the above structure and design, the operation of the present invention is explained herein. 
   As shown in  FIG. 4 , when the user has not pressed the press handle  21  of the control component  20 , the control tube  30  is supported by the resilient component  70  and moves to the first position mentioned above. At this time, the opening between the stopper head  32  at the top of the control tube  30  and the water control outlet  14  of the water holder  13  decide the correspondence of the first guide  41  and the stepwise positioning unit  50 , as shown in  FIG. 7 . When the first guide  41  of the control tube  30  is corresponding to the highest positioning slot  51  of the stepwise positioning unit  50 , the space between the stopper head  32  of the control tube  30  and the water control outlet  14  of the water holder  13  (as shown at the bottom of the  FIG. 7 ) is closed. 
   As shown in  FIG. 5 , when the user presses the press handle  21  of the control component  20 , the linkage lever  22  is turned and moved. Its horizontal bar  225  presses down and moves the control tube  30  down to the second location mentioned above, and presses resilient component  70  to restore resilience. At this time, the second guide  42  of the control tube  30  will touch the oblique guide  60  at the lower part of the water holder  13 . As shown in  FIGS. 3 and 6 , the second guide  42  will be guided obliquely by the oblique guide  60  and will control the control tube  30  to turn to a predetermined angle. This function makes the first guide  41  turn to another angle. When the control tube  30  is moved to the first location, it faces the positioning slot  51 B of the stepwise positioning unit  50  at another height, as shown in  FIGS. 7 ,  8 , and  10  for this movement. The top figure shown in  FIG. 8  is the first guide  41  of the control tube  30  facing the positioning slot  51 B of the stepwise positioning unit  50  at the second highest position. This makes the small opening between the stopper head  32  of the control tube  30  and the water control outlet  14  of the water holder  13  for the small amount of the water flow (as shown in  FIG. 8 ). The top figure of  FIG. 9  is the first guide  41  of the control tube  30  facing the positioning slot  51 C of the stepwise positioning unit  50  at the lowest position. This makes the large opening between the stopper head  32  of the control tube  30  and the water control outlet  14  of the water holder  13  for a large amount of water flow (as shown in  FIG. 9 ). The stepwise positioning unit  50  is lined up in the circular shape, so that when the user presses and releases the press handle  21 , the mode of water flow is alternating in order as shown in  FIG. 7 ,  8 ,  9  (which means: off-&gt;small amount of water flow-&gt;large amount of water flow-&gt;off,). 
   As shown in  FIG. 10 , the control component  20 B of the water gun  10  can be a press handle  23 , and the press handle  23  can be placed on the top of the water gun. The bottom  24  of the press handle  23  can be connected to the stopper head  32  of the control tube  30  after going through the water holder  13 . When it lowers the press handle  23 , it drives the control tube  30  down. As for the movement of the control tube  30 , it is moved by the stepwise positioning unit  50  and oblique guide  60  as same as embodiments mentioned above, therefore, it is not repeated.