Patent Publication Number: US-6666386-B1

Title: Atomizing nozzle structure

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     (a) Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to a spray nozzle structure, particularly an atomizing nozzle structure that produces atomizing effects. 
     (b) Description of the Prior Art 
     An atomizing nozzle is used to spray atomized water from small holes to control the temperature and humidity inside a greenhouse growing flowers and/or vegetables. 
     As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional atomizing nozzle comprises a main unit  11 , a rotor  15  and a sealing cap  19 . Wherein, inside the main unit  11  are a through hole  12 , an accommodating chamber  10  that are communicative with each other, and a taper opening  13  at the intersection of through hole  12  and chamber  10 . At the top of main unit  11  is an embedding groove  14 . The embedding groove  14  communicates with the accommodating chamber  10 . One end of the rotor  15  is a tapered part  16 , while the other end has a matching cut groove  17 . Thereby, the rotor  15  is positioned in the accommodating chamber  10 , the tapered part  16  is matching the taper opening  13 , and the rotor  15  is positioned at a specified distance from a wall face of the accommodating chamber  10  to form a clearance  18 . On the top side of the sealing cap  19  is a spray nozzle  191 , the sealing cap is installed inside the embedding groove  14  of the main unit  11 . The top of the embedding groove  14  is punched and pressed to its center to form a flange  111  resting against the peripheral of the top of the sealing cap  19 , keeping the sealing cap  19  and the rotor  15  from escaping. 
     However, since the clearance  18  of the above atomizing nozzle is small, extraneous matter and dust are often trapped in the clearance  18 . So after a period of atomizing operation, water could not be sprayed smoothly, resulting in poor atomizing performance and the formation of a water column. Frequent impact of the water column on the plant will result in plant diseases, as well as poor performance of temperature and humidity control. 
     Therefore, the best solution to remedy the poor atomizing performance of conventional atomizing nozzle is to remove the extraneous matter and dust in water from the atomizing nozzle. However, it can be understood in the above atomizing nozzle structure that, one end of the main unit  11  with the sealing cap  19  is limited by the flange  111  and could not be disassembled; the other end of the main unit  11  inside with the taper opening  13  where between the through hole  12  and the accommodating chamber  10  retains the rotor  15 , thus the rotor  15  could not be removed. So, the conventional atomizing nozzle simply could not be disassembled for cleaning purpose. An attempt to clean the inside by projecting water jets will be time and labor consuming with poor effects. Therefore, for effective removal of accumulated dust from the atomizing nozzle, it becomes quite important that the atomizing nozzle is accessible for cleaning. 
     A spray nozzle was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,000,636, comprising a rotor installed inside a main unit, and a cap block sealed on one end of the main unit. Wherein, the main unit has formed a flange to retain the cap block from escaping, which simultaneously limit the rotor from escaping. Though with that structure the flange can be destroyed before the rotor is taken out for cleaning purpose, but then the entire nozzle is also destroyed and can no longer be used again. 
     Another spray nozzle was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,921,468, comprising a rotor installed inside a main unit, at an end of the main unit being a flange to limit the rotor from escaping. Though with that structure the flange can be destroyed before the rotor is taken out for cleaning purpose, but then the entire nozzle is also destroyed and can no longer be used again. Another type of spray nozzle was also disclosed in the same article, involving a plunger that is plugged to a lower part of a main unit, thereby preventing a rotor accommodated inside the main unit from escaping. Though with that structure the plunger can be removed to clean the rotor, at that stage requiring the cleaning of the rotor, the extraneous matter and dust in water have already accumulated to a sufficient amount to keep the rotor from being removed. 
     Yet another type of spray nozzle was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,927,611, comprising a rotor installed in a main unit. However, at that stage when the rotor requires cleaning, the extraneous matter and dust in water have already accumulated to a sufficient amount to keep the rotor from being removed. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The primary objective of the invention is to provide an atomizing spray nozzle structure that can be disassembled for more cleaning conveniently. 
     The following are some preferred embodiments of the invention. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a prior art of atomizing spray nozzle. 
     FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a first embodiment of the invention. 
     FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the first embodiment of the invention. 
     FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a second embodiment of the invention. 
     FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a third embodiment of the invention. 
     FIG. 6 is an exploded view of a fourth embodiment of the invention. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF NUMERALS 
       10  accommodating chamber 
       11  main unit 
       12  through hole 
       13  closing opening 
       14  embedding groove 
       15  rotor 
       16  cone part 
       17  cut groove 
       18  clearance 
       19  sealing cap 
       111  flange 
       191  sprayhole 
       21  main unit 
       22  accommodating space 
       23  tapering end 
       24  main unit thread 
       25  joint 
       26  joint thread 
       31  rotor 
       32  cutgroove 
       33  tapered end 
       34  flat end 
       35  neck 
       41  spray nozzle. 
       42  ring face 
       43  spray joint 
       44  spray thread 
       45  through channel 
       46  accommodating groove 
       47  sealing cap block 
       48  spray hole 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the present invention comprises a main unit  21 , a rotor  31  and a spray nozzle  41 , wherein, the main unit  21  has an accommodating space  22  at an upper part at an inside axis. One end of the accommodating space  22  has a tapering end  23 , the other end has a main unit thread  24  on the inside wall. The main unit  21  has a projected joint  25  on one end thereof. On the surface of the joint  25  is a joint thread  26 . The spray nozzle  41  has a ring face  42  and a spray joint  43  at the intersection of ring face  42 . On the surface of the spray nozzle joint  43  is a spray nozzle thread  44 , with a through channel  45  penetrating the ring face  42  and the spray nozzle joint  43 . The spray nozzle  41  has its spray nozzle joint  43  tightened within the accommodating space  22  of the main unit  21 . The rotor  31  is installed in-between the through channel  45  of the spray nozzle  41  and the accommodating space  22  of the main unit  21 . The rotor  31  has two cut grooves  32  on one end and a tapered end  33  with protruded neck  35  on the other end as shown in the FIG. 5 embodiment. Thereby, the main unit  21 , the rotor  31  and the spray nozzle  41  are combined as one unit. 
     It is important that, length of the rotor  31  is longer than the length of the through channel  45  of the spray nozzle  41  under all circumstances. Thereby, whether the atomizing spray is in use or not, two ends of the rotor  31  are respectively inside the accommodating space  22  and the through channel  45 , as well the end with protruded neck  35  of the rotor  31  will be located in the accommodating space  22  of the main unit  21 . 
     Since the spray nozzle  41  and the main unit  21  of the invention are joined to each other by tightening screw, a user can easily separate the main unit  21  and the spray nozzle  41 . Since the length of the rotor  31  is longer than the length of the through channel  45  of the spray nozzle  41  under all circumstances, therefore the end with protruded neck  35  of the rotor  31  is exposed outside the through channel  45 , in other word, the end with protruded neck  35  exposed in the accommodating space  22  of the main unit  21 , when disassemble the main unit  21  and the spray nozzle  41 , one end with protruded neck  35  of the rotor  31  being exposed outside the through channel  45 , the user can use his fingers to grasp one end of the rotor  31  exposed outside the through channel  45  and take out the rotor  31  that is jammed in the through channel  45  by extraneous matter and dust deposits in water. Thereby the main unit  21 , the rotor  31  and the spray nozzle  41  are completely disassembled for the purpose of thorough cleaning. 
     As shown in FIG. 4, the difference between the structures of the embodiment shown and FIG. 3 is that one end of the rotor  31  is a flat end  34 . When the illustrated rotor  31  is installed in the main unit  21  and the spray nozzle  41 , two ends of the rotor  31  are respectively positioned in the accommodating space  22  and the through channel  45 . 
     As shown in FIG. 5, the difference between the structures of the embodiment shown and FIG. 3 is a neck  35  protruding from the tapered end  33  of the rotor  31 . When the illustrated rotor  31  is installed in the main unit  212  and the spray nozzle  41 , two ends of the rotor  31  are respectively positioned in the accommodating space  22  and the through channel  45 . 
     As shown in FIG. 6, the difference between the structures of the embodiment shown and FIG. 2 is an accommodating groove  46  on the ring face  42  of the spray nozzle  41  corresponding to the through channel  45 , and a sealing cap block  47  installed in the accommodating groove  46 . At the center of the sealing cap block  47  is a through atomizing hole  48 . The illustrated rotor  31  has two cut grooves  32  at one end thereof, while another end is a tapered end  33 . 
     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.