Patent Publication Number: US-6340102-B1

Title: Sealing valve structure for liquid sprayers

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     (a) Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an improved sealing valve structure for liquid sprayers or atomizers, more particularly an improvement directed to the structure of a compression chamber formed in an interior of a valve of a manually operable sprayer, in which a tightening valve disposed below a compression chamber and capable of interaction with a movable valve is integrally formed with a cylinder so as to enhance the concentricity, stability, and durability of the tightening valve and the cylinder and to prevent loosening and failure of the tightening valve due to prolonged subjection to the reciprocating friction action of the movable valve. Furthermore, the movable valve has a stepped pressure bearing surface and a lower sleeve portion for receiving a spring to achieve a stable tension effect. 
     (b) Description of the Prior Art 
     For conventional sprayers or atomizers, especially those for spraying perfume, in addition to the quality of the aromatic material used for the perfume, whether the sprayers or atomizers are light and compact to use, whether the sprayers&#39; response to the user&#39;s manipulation is sensitive, and whether the spraying effect is satisfactory, all of them are important factors that determine whether they can attract users. Hence, sprayers or atomizers of excellent quality and good spraying effects receive more and more attention today. 
     Generally speaking, in use, when the sprayer is being pressed, the sprayed amount should be controllable within a determined range, not excessive or not inadequate, so that the user can spray a desired amount of perfume onto a certain part of his/her body. In other words, the sprayer should enable the user to determine whether to press the sprayer once, twice, or thrice to obtain the desired amount. It is, therefore, very important to control the amount of perfume sprayed at each pressing of the sprayer, which involves the stable output of perfume at each operation. A sprayer or atomizer that can spray perfume in stages in response to a light pressure thereon is an excellent sprayer or atomizer. 
     FIG. 1 shows a liquid sprayer disclosed in U.S. Ser. No. 4,735,347. The liquid sprayer in said patent comprises a movable valve A, an upper end piston element B, a lower end cylinder portion C, a tightening valve D, an elastic element E, and an outer fitting element F. The movable valve A includes an upper solid rod portion A 1  and a lower hollow sleeve portion A 2 . The rod portion A 1  is divided into three sections according to the thickness thereof, namely, a first rod portion A 11 , a second rod portion A 12 , and a third rod portion A 13 . The upper end piston element B and the lower end cylinder portion C cooperatively form a cylinder K. The tightening valve D is mounted in the lower end cylinder C portion and is elastically tightened on an outer wall of the movable valve A to achieve a water-stopping effect. The movable valve A is disposed inside the cylinder K at the upper section. The elastic element E at the lower section generates an elastic tension with respect to the movable valve A. And inside the cylinder K, the space confined by the tightening valve D and the upper end piston element B is a compression chamber Z adapted to suck in a liquid, compress it, and eject it. 
     When the sprayer is being pressed downwardly, the movable valve A and the upper end piston element B are brought to displace synchronously downward. When an outer periphery B 2  of the upper end piston element B displaces downwardly along an inner wall of the lower end cylinder portion C, and when an outer periphery at the lowermost section of the sleeve portion A 2  of the movable valve A is in contact with the tightening valve D that has a diameter slightly smaller than the periphery of the sleeve portion A 2 , an enclosed space is formed. Besides, the capacity of the compression chamber Z is gradually decreasing. If the pressing action continues, the lower end cylinder C will displace further downwardly so that the pressure borne by the liquid inside the compression chamber Z increases. As a result, the liquid stored in the compression chamber  7  flows speedily upwardly along the gap between the rod portion A 1  and the wall of the upper end piston element B and exerts a pressure on the second rod portion A 12  and the third rod portion A 13  of the movable valve A, so that the movable valve displaces downwardly and causes the liquid to thrust instantly to a nozzle B 1  to be sprayed out in a mist form. 
     The question of concern herein is that in order that the tightening vale D provided in the lower end cylinder portion C can tightly couple with the movable valve A, shoulders formed at where the two rod portions meet are configured to be pressure concentration points to allow the liquid to press the movable valve A downwardly when the sprayer is being pressed. The object of a configuration as such is to cause the movable valve A to resist the resetting tension of the elastic element E in a more sensitive manner and displace instantly downward, so that a top end of the first rod portions A 11  disengages from a valve port B 101  that is originally in tightly contact therewith, thereby allowing the high-pressure liquid to eject from the nozzle B 1  of the piston element B. 
     A primary condition to allow ejection of liquid when the sprayer is subjected to pressure is that a compression chamber has to be provided, which should be able to eject the liquid when subjected to pressure. Besides, when the compression chamber is emptied of the liquid, an equal amount of liquid has to be drawn into the compression chamber. In addition, the compression chamber has to be sealed tight. When the liquid is sprayed out in mist form, an opening should be formed at an upper end of the compression chamber to allow ejection of the liquid. During the process of drawing in the liquid, the lower end thereof should also form an opening to allow suction of liquid therein. Regarding the control of the drawing in of the liquid, it is the action of the tightening valve D in the lower end cylinder portion C that cooperates with the movable valve A to achieve closure or opening, in particular, the tightening action of an inner peripheral flange D 1  on the periphery of the tightening valve D and the movable valve A. The inner peripheral flange D 1  extends upwardly at an inclined angle. When the liquid in the compression chamber  2  is pressed and is filled with pressure, the inner peripheral flange D 1  will become more closed with respect to the movable valve A. If the liquid inside the compression chamber Z is discharged and is in a virtually vacuum state, the liquid is sucked into the compression chamber Z from a lower portion of the sprayer container as in a pumping action. 
     It can therefore be seen that whether a determined amount of liquid can be successfully pressed out of or drawn into the compression chamber in a stable manner is hinged upon whether the tightening valve D can provide a sealing effect. According to the above-described structure, the tightening valve D is an independent element disposed on the bottom portion of the compression chamber Z. If the installation or coupling thereof is defective and it becomes loosened, the compression chamber Z cannot be positively sealed, and the spraying and suction actions are affected. 
     Furthermore, the sensitivity of the movable valve A determines the magnitude of force required to press the sprayer. In the structure as described above, the second and third rod portions A 12 , A 13  of the movable valve A form a stepped surface, which makes the pressure bearing surface area narrow and slanting and affects the sensitivity of the movable valve A. Hence, the pressing operation is not smooth. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Therefore, a primary object of the present invention is to provide an improved sealing valve structure for liquid sprayers, in which a tightening valve is integrally formed with a cylinder so that the precision of their concentricity is enhanced to prevent loosening of the tightening valve. The parts are standardized so that manufacturing and assembly costs are reduced. Furthermore, the tightening valve is provided with a projecting annular tightening end at an edge of an inner periphery thereof so that it has enhanced tightness, smoothness, and stability. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved sealing valve structure for liquid sprayers, in which a movable valve has an upper end provided with a stepped pressure bearing portion so that a liquid inside a compression chamber can react quickly when subjected to pressure to cause the movable valve to retract, thereby allowing ejection of the liquid. And besides, the pressing action is very smooth compared to the prior art. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The foregoing and other features and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings, in which, 
     FIG. 1 is an assembled sectional view of the device taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,735,347; 
     FIG. 2 is an assembled sectional view of the present invention; 
     FIG. 3 is a schematic view illustrating the operation of the present invention; and 
     FIG. 4 is another schematic view illustrating the operation of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Reference is made to FIG. 2, which is an assembled sectional view of the present invention (without a nozzle  7  at a top end), a preferred embodiment of an improved sealing valve structure for liquid sprayers or atomizers according to the present invention comprises a cylinder  1 , a press element  2 , a movable valve  3 , a spring  4 , and a securing element  5 . 
     The cylinder  1  is a tubular structure of two sections of different diameters. The cylinder includes an upper end portion  10  of a larger diameter and a lower end portion of a smaller diameter. The upper end portion  10  is communicated with the lower end portion  11 . A tightening valve  13  extends integrally from where the upper end portion  10  joins the lower end portion  11 . The tightening valve  13  extends obliquely along a periphery of an inner hole of the lower end portion  11  towards the upper end portion  10  in a tapering form. An edge portion of the taper is configured to be a projecting annular tightening end  131  adapted to tighten and seal the movable valve  3 . A stop portion  12  is provided at a lower portion of the lower end portion  11  to receive the spring  4  and to generate an upward tension with respect to the movable valve  3  and the press element  2 . The lower portion of the lower end portion  11  is further provided with a connecting hole adapted to connect to a straw  8  that can extend to a bottom portion of a container  6 . 
     The press element  2  is also a two-section tubular element that connects the nozzle  7  above and abuts against the movable valve  3  below. The press element  2  includes an upper section forming a channel  20  adapted for ejection of liquid, and a lower section forming a flared, cup-shaped hood orifice  21 . An edge of the hood orifice  21  projects outwardly to form a projecting ring  22 . The press element  2  is disposed at the upper end portion  10  of the cylinder  1 . The projecting ring  22  in the present invention resembles an O-ring with respect to the upper end portion  10  of the cylinder  1 , and is adapted to enclose the upper end portion  10  of the cylinder  1  to form a compression chamber  100 . 
     The movable valve  3  is a stepped rod of concentric rod portions. The movable valve  3  includes an upper end forming a conical end  31 , a lower end forming a sleeve portion  32 , and a two-step planar pressure bearing portion  33  provided between the conical end  31  and the sleeve portion  32 . The conical end urges upwardly against the channel  20  of the press element  2 , whereas the sleeve portion has one end of the spring  4  fitted therein. The tension of the spring  4  forces the movable valve  3  above to urge against the press element  2 . A plurality of axially extending suction holes is provided on an outer side of a bottom end of the sleeve portion  32 . When the movable valve  3  is located in an uppermost position, the position of the suction holes  34  allows the liquid to pass through the tightening valve  13  into the compression chamber  100 . 
     After assembly of the cylinder  1 , the press element  2 , the movable valve  3 , and the spring  4 , the securing element  5  is used to couple the assembly with the container  6 . The securing element  5  is a stepped housing of a small thickness, and includes a plastic container stopper  50  and a valve plug  51 . The plastic container stopper  50  is capable of achieving water-tightness and is disposed between the securing element  5  and the mouth of the container  6 . The valve plug  51  is disposed between the securing element  5  and the press element  2 . By means of the securing element  5 , the components of the sprayer can be coupled firmly and leakage of liquid prevented. 
     Referring to FIG. 3, when the press element  2  is subjected to a downward pressure, the hood orifice  21  and the projecting ring  22  of the press element  2  compress gradually the space of the compression chamber  100  in the upper end portion  10  of the cylinder  1 . At the same time, the movable valve  3  also displaces downwardly therewith, so that the position of the suction holes  34  is away from the tightening valve  13 , allowing the tightening valve  13  and the movable valve  3  to become tightly sealed, whereby the compression chamber  100  is tightly enclosed. Due to the compression caused by the hood cover  21 , the only way out for the liquid in the compression chamber  100  is the joint between the conical end  31  of the movable valve  3  and the channel  20 . Therefore, when the pressure of the liquid is larger than the tension of the spring  4 , the joint between the conical end  31  and the channel  20  becomes separated to form an outlet, and the liquid, of a high pressure, can travel at a high speed to the nozzle  7  to be ejected in a mist form. 
     During the process of pressing and ejection, due to the enhanced tightness and the quick response of the pressure bearing portion  33  of the movable valve  3 , the movable valve  3  can displace quickly downward to open the channel, a light and fine mist can be achieved. 
     Referring to FIG. 4, when the nozzle  7  is released after one pressing operation, due to the resetting action of the spring  4 , the movable valve  3  and the press element  2  are sprung upwardly, causing the pressure inside the compression chamber  100  to be lower than that of the outside. When the movable valve  3  elevates, and the suction holes  34  pass through the tightening valve  13 , the liquid will naturally be drawn into the compression chamber  100  to get ready for the next pressing operation. 
     In summary, the present invention has the following advantages: 
     1. The tightening valve  13  and the cylinder  1  are integrally formed so that they are concentric and have enhanced durability. This prevents loosening and failure of the tightening valve resulted from long subjection to the friction caused by the reciprocating action of the movable valve  3 . 
     2. The projecting annular tightening end  131  at the edge of the inner periphery of the tightening valve  13  allows for good tightness and smoothness during the interaction of the tightening valve  13  and the movable valve  3 . This enhances their tightness, stability, and smoothness. 
     3. The area of the pressure bearing surface of the upper end face of the movable valve  3  is larger than that of the lower end face by about 125%. Hence, the movable valve  3  can react quickly when subjected to the pressure of the liquid and displace downwardly to allow opening of the nozzle to allow ejection of the liquid. 
     Although the present invention has been illustrated and described with reference to the preferred embodiment thereof, it should be understood that it is in no way limited to the details of such embodiment but is capable of numerous modifications within the scope of the appended claims.