Patent Publication Number: US-2009224072-A1

Title: Hose end sprayer with multi-size bottle connectors

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     None. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a hose end sprayer having multiple bottle connectors mounted on the underside of the sprayer cap for attachment to different sized bottles. 
     A typical hose end sprayer for home and garden use comprises a liquid chemical dispenser that mounts on the end of a hose for dispensing a mixture of a liquid chemical and water from the hose. Typically, a hose end sprayer is employed with a generic or all purpose liquid container that is sold as a part of the product. The hose end sprayer comprises the liquid container and a sprayer lid comprising a cap that screws on the container, with a liquid conduit extending across the cap between a hose inlet and a nozzle outlet. A siphon tube extends downwardly from the conduit for drawing liquid chemical from the container into the stream of water that flows through the conduit from the hose inlet to the nozzle outlet. 
     To use a hose end sprayer, liquid chemical from a concentrate container is usually poured into the generic liquid container and sometimes mixed with water in the container to control the water/liquid chemical mixing rates. When the spraying is done, the remaining portion of liquid in the container is often either discarded or poured back into the supply bottle for the liquid concentrate. This promotes contamination and spills. Sometimes the remaining portion of the liquid is stored in the container, creating a question regarding the identity of the mixture at a later date because the container is not labeled with the manufacturer&#39;s product. 
     An object of the present invention is to provide an improved hose end sprayer to which, in addition to the generic bottle, concentrate bottles of different sizes can be directly attached, eliminating contamination, spills, and labeling problems common with current hose end sprayers. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention comprises a hose end sprayer comprising a sprayer lid having multiple bottle connectors of different sizes for connecting the sprayer lid to liquid chemical bottles of different sizes. The sprayer lid comprises a cap having a top and two or more annular bottle connectors extending downwardly from the top. The lid also includes a liquid conduit that extends across the lid from a hose inlet on one end to a nozzle outlet at an opposite end. A siphon tube extends downwardly from the liquid conduit from a position inside the periphery of the smallest connector to a lower end that is positioned to be in fluid communication with liquid chemical in the container. The siphon tube draws liquid from the container into the stream of water that flows through the liquid conduit from the hose inlet to the nozzle outlet. The bottle connectors desirably comprise multiple, single-ended, fixed diameter, threaded sleeves of differing radii mounted on the underside of the cap of the sprayer lid. The connectors are sized to be attachable the mouths of containers of different sizes, including containers in which the liquid chemicals are sold as well as a generic container provided with a conventional hose and sprayer. 
     Because the sprayer lid cap has multiple size bottle connectors, the lid can fit on the generic bottle that is sold with the sprayer, or it can connect on different size bottles in which the liquid concentrates are purchased. Thus, a liquid concentrate such as fertilizer or weed killer can be purchased from the store and screwed right into the lid of the hose end sprayer without first having to pour the liquid concentrate into the generic container. By doing this, when the spraying is complete, the liquid concentrate bottle can be unscrewed from the sprayer lid, and the sealing cap for the concentrate bottle can be screwed on for storage. Because the supply bottle is labeled with the manufacturer&#39;s product, there is never any problem or question about the identity of the contents of the sprayer bottle when spraying is through, and there is no need to pour the liquid back into the supply bottle, where contamination and spills are promoted. An adjustable mixing ratio valve is desirably incorporated in the lid for adjusting the mixing ratio of the liquid chemical and water. The sprayer is desirably actuated by a manual trigger valve incorporated in the sprayer lid. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the hose end sprayer showing the sprayer lid and containers of different sizes. 
         FIGS. 2A-2C  are side elevational views showing the sprayer lid attached to a generic container and two liquid chemical containers having outlets of different sizes. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     A hose end sprayer with multi-size bottle connectors  10  (hereinafter “sprayer”) is shown attached to an external garden hose  11 . Other types of hoses also can be employed with the present invention. 
     Sprayer  10  comprises a lid  12  and container  14 . The lid  12  comprises a cap  16 , a transverse liquid conduit  17  having a hose inlet  18  and an outlet nozzle  20  at opposite ends, and siphon tube  22 . Multiple, single-ended, fixed diameter, threaded sleeve bottle connectors of differing radii  24   a, b , and  c  are mounted on the underside of the top  19  of cap  16  such that each bottle connector  24   a - c  is contained within the area defined by any of the bottle connectors  24   a - c  having a larger radius. The inner surface of each of the bottle connectors  24   a - c  has threads  26   a - c  to which the mouths  28   a - c  of containers  14   a - c  and other containers with threaded mouths can attach. The drawings depict a sprayer  10  having three bottle connectors  24 , but the sprayer  10  could include more or fewer bottle connectors  24 . The connectors desirably are formed as integral flanges on the underside of the top of cap  16 , with the cap being molded from a synthetic resin and being substantially rigid. However, the connectors could be formed as separate caps, each having a top and a threaded peripheral flange, with the caps being stacked and fastened together to form a composite cap with multiple connectors. 
     The lid liquid conduit  17  desirably extends across the upper side of cap  16  so as not to interfere with connector threads  26 . The hose inlet  18  connects to an external hose  11  such as a conventional garden hose using a threaded connector  36  or other hose connector that is connectable to the outlet of the hose. 
     Siphon tube  22  joins liquid conduit  17  within the area defined by the smallest bottle connector  24   c , and thus is in position to communicate with all bottles that can be connected with the lid. The siphon tube  22  extends downwardly such that it extends to a lower end that is positioned adjacent the bottom of container  14  when container  14  is attached to lid  12 . Desirably, siphon tube  22  is long enough to extend to the bottom of the tallest container used, but is flexible so that it can be used with shorter containers (see  FIGS. 2A-C ). Siphon tube  22  draws liquid chemical  38  from container  14  into water traveling through the liquid conduit from hose  11  so that a mixture of water and liquid chemical is expelled from nozzle  20 . 
     The drawings depict a sprayer  10  having three bottle connectors  24   a - c , but the sprayer  10  could include more or fewer bottle connectors  24 . The sprayer  10  may also include a dial operated conventional flow control valve  24  to control the mixing ratio of liquid chemical to water in the mixed liquid sprayed from the nozzle. The sprayer  10  also includes a manually operated trigger valve  40  for convenient starting and stopping of water flow through the sprayer  10 . 
     The foregoing is merely exemplary of the present invention, and various changes and modifications may be made in the arrangements and details of construction of the embodiments disclosed herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.