Patent Publication Number: US-2005116063-A1

Title: Sprayer device having rotary control member

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates to a sprayer device, and more particularly to a sprayer device having an easily control structure or inner rotary control member for allowing the sprayer device to be easily controlled and operated by the users.  
      2. Description of the Prior Art  
      Various kinds of typical sprayer devices have been developed and comprise a sprayer gun body, and a control nozzle rotatably attached to the front portion of the sprayer gun body, and rotatable about a pivot axle that is parallel to the longitudinal direction or axis of the sprayer gun body, in order to select the required spraying patterns.  
      For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,501,400 to Kuo, U.S. Pat. No. 5,566,886 to Wang, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,312 to Yang disclose three of the typical sprayer devices each also comprising a control nozzle rotatably attached to the front portion of the sprayer gun body, and rotatable about a pivot axle that is parallel to the longitudinal direction or axis of the sprayer gun body.  
      It is to be noted that the control nozzle is disposed or arranged perpendicular to the sprayer gun body, and it will be difficult for the users to rotate the control nozzle relative to the sprayer gun body, about the pivot axle, because the control nozzle is disposed in the front portion of the sprayer gun body.  
      In addition, in operation, the users have to contact and then to rotate the control nozzle relative to the sprayer gun body, in order to select the required spraying patterns. However, when chemical or pesticide or poisonous materials are added or included into the liquid to be sprayed through the sprayer device, the users may also be contacted with the chemical or pesticide or poisonous materials directly, and may be hurt by the chemical or pesticide or poisonous materials.  
      The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages of the conventional sprayer devices.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a sprayer device including an easily control structure or device having an inner rotary control member for allowing the sprayer device to be easily controlled and operated by the users.  
      The other objective of the present invention is to provide a sprayer device including an easily control structure or device for preventing the users from contacting with the water or the chemical or pesticide or poisonous materials flowing out of the sprayer device.  
      In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided a sprayer device comprising a housing including a chamber formed therein, and including an inlet for coupling to a water reservoir and to receive water therefrom, and including a front opening formed therein for outward flowing of the water, and a rotary member rotatably received in the housing, the rotary member including a plurality of cavities formed therein, and including an outer peripheral portion having a plurality of outlets formed therein and communicating with the cavities thereof respectively, and to be selectively aligned with the front opening of the housing, to allow the water to selectively flow out through the front opening of the housing via either of the outlets of the rotary member. The housing includes a mouth communicating with the inlet thereof, for receiving the water from the inlet thereof, the mouth is provided to selectively align with either of the cavities of the rotary member, to allow the water to selectively flow out through either of the outlets of the rotary member, and for preventing the users from contacting with the water or the chemical or pesticide or poisonous materials flowing out of the sprayer device.  
      The housing includes a water passage formed therein and communicating between the inlet and the mouth of the housing. The housing includes a partition provided in the chamber thereof, to separate the inlet and the chamber thereof from each other, the water passage of the housing includes one end communicating with the inlet of the housing.  
      The rotary member includes is rotatably secured in the housing with an axle. The axle is extended from the housing, and the rotary member includes a pin extended therefrom and engaged into the axle of the housing.  
      A device may further be provided to retain the rotary member at selected angular position relative to the housing. The housing includes a spring-biased projection received therein, to engage with the rotary member, and to position the rotary member relative to the housing at selected angular position relative to the housing.  
      The rotary member includes an aperture formed therein to selectively align with the mouth of the housing. The housing includes a water pathway formed therein and having a port formed therein, and the rotary member includes a channel formed therein and communicating with the aperture thereof and having an exit for selectively aligning with the port of the housing.  
      The housing includes a front portion having a head attached thereto, the head includes a rear plate having a passageway formed therein for selectively aligning with the channel of the rotary member, to allow the water from the aperture of the rotary member to flow out through the channel of the rotary member and the water pathway of the housing and the passageway of the rear plate of the head.  
      The head includes a front plate having a plurality of perforations formed therein. The head includes a partition formed therein and having at least one hole formed therein.  
      A knob may further be provided and attached to the rotary member, to rotate the rotary member relative to the housing with the knob. A shank may further be provided and secured between the rotary member and the knob, to allow the rotary member to be rotated relative to the housing with the knob.  
      The rotary member includes a recess formed therein to receive the shank, and includes at least one notch formed therein, the shank includes at least one extension extended therefrom and engaged into the notch of the rotary member, to solidly secure the shank to the rotary member. The shank includes a peripheral flange extended therefrom for engaging with the housing, to rotatably anchor the shank to the housing.  
      A device may further be provided to retain the knob at selected angular position relative to the housing.  
      Further objectives and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a careful reading of the detailed description provided hereinbelow, with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a partial exploded view of a sprayer device in accordance with the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the sprayer device;  
       FIG. 3  is a front perspective view of a front cover of the sprayer device;  
       FIG. 4  is an exploded view of a rotary member of the sprayer device;  
       FIG. 5  is a front schematic view of the sprayer device, having the front cover removed for showing the inner structure of the sprayer device;  
       FIG. 6  is a partial cross sectional view taken along lines  6 - 6  of  FIG. 5 ;  
       FIG. 7  is a partial cross sectional view taken along lines  7 - 7  of  FIG. 8 ; and  
       FIG. 8  is a partial cross sectional view taken along lines  8 - 8  of  FIG. 7 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
      Referring to the drawings, and initially to  FIGS. 1-6 , a sprayer device in accordance with the present invention comprises a housing  20  including such as two housing members  21 ,  22  to be secured together with fasteners (not shown), adhesive materials, or by welding processes, and including a chamber  23  formed therein.  
      The housing  20  includes an inlet  24  having an inner thread  25  formed or provided therein for coupling to water reservoirs with such as hoses (not shown), or sprayer guns  60  ( FIGS. 1, 2 ,  6 ,  7 ), and includes a partition  26  provided therein to separate the chamber  23  and the inlet  24  from each other.  
      The housing  20  includes a water passage  27  formed in a lower portion or a base  30  thereof ( FIG. 6 ), and having one end  28  communicating with the inlet  24  of the housing  20 , and/or formed through the partition  26 , for allowing water to flow into the water passage  27  of the housing  20  via the inlet  24  of the housing  20 . The water passage  27  of the housing  20  includes a mouth  29  formed or provided in the other end thereof, and opened and communicating with the chamber  23  of the housing  20 .  
      The housing  20  further includes a water pathway  34  formed in the lower portion or in the base  30  thereof, and having a port  35  formed or provided in one end thereof, and communicating with the chamber  23  of the housing  20 , and having the other end  36  opened forwardly ( FIG. 7 ). The mouth  29  and the port  35  are formed or provided on top of the base  30  of the housing  20  ( FIG. 2 ).  
      The housing  20  further includes a cavity  31  formed in the lower portion or in the base  30  thereof, for receiving a spring-biased projection  32 , and includes a hub or an axle  33  extended upwardly from the base  30  of the housing  20 , for rotatably receiving or supporting a rotary member  50  which will be described in further details hereinafter.  
      The housing  20  further includes a head  40  attached or secured to the front portion thereof with fasteners (not shown), adhesive materials, or by welding processes. The head  40  includes a chamber  43  formed between a front plate  41  and a rear plate  42 , and a passageway  44  formed in the rear plate  42  and aligned with the water pathway  34  of the housing  20  ( FIG. 7 ), to receive water from the inlet  24  of the housing  20 .  
      The head  40  includes a number of perforations  45  formed in the front plate  41  for allowing the water to flow out through the perforations  45  of the head  40 . A partition  46  may further be provided and engaged in the head  40  or disposed between the front plate  41  and the rear plate  42 , and includes one or more holes  47  formed therein for guiding the water to flow from the passageway  44  of the rear plate  42  through the perforations  45  of the front plate  41  of the head  40 . The head  40  includes a middle or center or front opening  48  formed therein.  
      The rotary member  50  is rotatably received in the housing  20  with the axle  33  of the housing  20 , and/or includes a pin  51  rotatably engaged into the axle  33  ( FIG. 6 ), to rotatably attach the rotary member  50  to the housing  20 . The rotary member  50  may also be formed or made by such as two members  52 ,  53  to be secured together with fasteners (not shown), adhesive materials, or by welding processes.  
      The rotary member  50  includes a number of cavities  54  and an aperture  56  formed in the bottom portion thereof and formed around the axle  31  or the pin  51  thereof, and includes a number of outlets  55  of different patterns formed in the outer peripheral portion thereof and communicating with the cavities  54  of the rotary member  50  respectively.  
      Either of the cavities  54  of the rotary member  50  may be selectively aligned with the mouth  29  of the housing  20  ( FIG. 6 ), to allow the water to flow out through either of the outlets  55  of the rotary member  50  in different spraying patterns respectively, due to the different patterns of the outlets  55  of the rotary member  50 .  
      The aperture  56  of the rotary member  50  is also formed around the axle  31  or the pin  51  of the rotary member  50 , and may also be selectively aligned with the mouth  29  of the housing  20 . However, the rotary member  50  has no outlets  55  communicating with the aperture  56  of the rotary member  50  ( FIGS. 4, 8 ).  
      Instead, the rotary member  50  includes a channel  57  formed therein and communicating with the aperture  56  of the rotary member  50  and having an exit  58  for selectively aligning with the port  35  of the housing  20  ( FIG. 7 ), and thus for allow the water to flow out through the water pathway  34  of the housing  20  via the inlet  24  and the water passage  27  and the mouth  29  of the housing  20  and the channel  57  of the rotary member  50 .  
      In operation, as shown in  FIGS. 5-6 , either of the outlets  55  of different patterns of the rotary member  50  may be alternatively or selectively aligned with the middle or center opening  48  of the head  40  of the housing  20 , to allow the water to alternatively or selectively flow out through the middle or center opening  48  of the head  40  of the housing  20  via either of the outlets  55  of the rotary member  50 , when the rotary member  50  is rotated relative to the housing  20  and when the respective cavities  54  of the rotary member  50  are selectively aligned with the mouth  29  of the housing  20 .  
      As shown in  FIGS. 7-8 , when the aperture  56  of the rotary member  50  is rotated to be aligned with the mouth  29  of the housing  20 , no outlets  55  are communicating with the aperture  56  of the rotary member  50  such that the middle or center opening  48  of the head  40  of the housing  20  will be blocked by the rotary member  50 , and such that the water will not flow out through the middle or center opening  48  of the head  40  of the housing  20 .  
      Instead, the water flowing through the aperture  56  of the rotary member  50  may flow through the channel  57  of the rotary member  50 , and then through the water pathway  34  of the housing  20 , and then may flow into the chamber  43  of the head  40  via the passageway  44  of the rear plate  42  of the head  40 , and then may flow out through the perforations  45  of the head  40 .  
      The water from the inlet  24  of the housing  20  may thus flow out through either of the outlets  55  of the rotary member  50  when the respective cavities  54  of the rotary member  50  are selectively aligned with the mouth  29  of the housing  20 , or selectively flow out through the perforations  45  of the head  40  when the aperture  56  of the rotary member  50  is selectively aligned with the mouth  29  of the housing  20 .  
      The rotary member  50  includes a number of depressions  49  formed in the bottom portion thereof ( FIG. 6 ) for selectively receiving the spring-biased projection  32  of the housing  20 , in order to position the rotary member  50  relative to the housing  20  and the head  40 , and to maintain the alignment of the mouth  29  of the housing  20  with either of the cavities  54  of the rotary member  50  or the aperture  56  of the rotary member  50 .  
      The rotary member  50  further includes a recess  61  and one or more notches  62  formed in the upper portion thereof ( FIGS. 1, 2  and  6 - 7 ). A shank  70  includes a lower portion engaged into the recess  61  of the rotary member  50 , and includes one or more extensions  71  extended therefrom and engaged into the notches  62  of the rotary member  50 , to solidly secure the shank  70  to the rotary member  50 , and to prevent the shank  70  from being rotated relative to the rotary member  50 .  
      The shank  70  preferably includes a peripheral flange  72  provided thereon for engaging with the housing  20  ( FIG. 6 ), to rotatably anchor the shank  70  to the housing  20 , and to prevent the shank  70  from being disengaged from the housing  20 . The upper portion of the shank  70  may be extended outward through a hole  37  of the housing  20  and secured to a knob  73  with such as one or more fasteners  74 , to allow the rotary member  50  to be rotated relative to the housing  20  by the knob  73 .  
      The upper portion of the housing  20  includes a depression  38  formed therein ( FIGS. 2, 6 ,  7 ), to receive another spring-biased projection  39 , and to selectively engage with a number of bottom cavities  75  of the knob  73 , to anchor or to position the knob  73  at the required or selected angular position relative to the housing  20 .  
      The engagement of the spring-biased projection  39  of the housing  20  with either of the bottom cavities  75  of the knob  73  may also be selectively used to retain the alignment of the mouth  29  of the housing  20  with either of the cavities  54  of the rotary member  50  or the aperture  56  of the rotary member  50 .  
      It is to be noted that the rotary member  50  is freely and rotatably received in the housing  20 , and includes a number of cavities  54  and an aperture  56  and a number of outlets  55  of different patterns formed or provided therearound, for allowing a number of spraying patterns to be selected by the users. None of the conventional sprayer devices suggest to provide a rotary member rotatably received in a housing and having a number of spraying patterns to be freely selected by the users.  
      In addition, the rotary member  50  may be rotated relative to the housing  20  with the knob  73 , and the knob  73  is provided on the upper portion of the housing  20 , such that the rotary member  50  may be rotated by the users with the knob  70  without contacting the rotary member  50 , and such that the users will not contact with the water and/or the chemical or pesticide or poisonous materials flowing out through the rotary member  50 , and such that the users will not be hurt by the chemical or pesticide or poisonous materials.  
      Accordingly, the sprayer device includes an easily control structure or device for allowing the sprayer device to be easily controlled and operated by the users, and for preventing the users from contacting with the water or the chemical or pesticide or poisonous materials flowing out of the sprayer device.  
      Although this invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is to be understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of example only and that numerous changes in the detailed construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.