Patent Publication Number: US-11376638-B2

Title: Directionally adjustable foam generating attachment for a hose

Description:
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/919,742, filed on Mar. 27, 2019. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Technical Field 
     This invention relates to portable cleaning devices that supply a water stream under pressure for enhanced cleaning generally referred to as a jet power washer that uses only available domestic water supply with limited water pressure. Such “water jet” devices may have cleaning solution inlets and cleaning reservoirs to which cleaning detergents are added and then disbursed creating a foam spray onto the surface to be cleaned. 
     2. Description of Prior Art 
     Prior art devices have been directed to a variety of foam generating attachments and stand alone devices in various forms and configurations, see for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,577,025, 3,964,689, 5,848,752, 6,685,107 and 10,427,180. 
     Also see U.S. Patent Publications 2012/0305272 and 2018/0221897. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 2,577,025 discloses a foam nozzle attachment for spray guns having a soap reservoir and a foam generating nozzle head end. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,689 is directed to a hose end device having a fluid container with a nozzle outflow to draw in and mix container contents with a fluid flow from a water hose source created foam. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,848,752 claims a foam aeriation nozzle that agitates and aerates the spray to produce a foam. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 6,685,107 shows a soap dispensing spray nozzle that injects liquid soap into a water stream to generate foam. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 10,427,180 discloses a device for discharging fluids having a compressed gas capsule with pressure regulated to draw up and discharge a liquid medium such as hot chocolate. 
     U.S. Publication 2012/0305272 shows a foam generating device for fire hoses and U.S. Publication 2018/0221897 illustrates a portable mixing device for spraying materials. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A compact foam jet attachment for water hoses that provides an inline product foam spray using premeasured dissolving pods of cleaning material within a mixing container. A multiple positionable spray nozzle outlet allows for fixed directional repositioning of the nozzle outlet direction to dispense a foam generated solution from a foam solution accelerated component within the nozzle downstream of the pod product mixing container and upstream of the directional nozzle outlet and spray deflector. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a cross-sectional view of the directional foam attachment on lines  1 - 1  of  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 2  is a top plan view of the directional foam attachment of the invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a side elevational view thereof with portions in broken lines indicating a directional repositioning. 
         FIG. 4  is a side elevational exploded view of the directional nozzle foam attachment. 
         FIG. 5  is an exploded perspective view of the directional nozzle portion of the directional foam attachment. 
         FIG. 6  is a side elevational view of the directional foam attachment product mixing container and control mount bottle tube shown in broken lines. 
         FIG. 7  is an enlarged top plan view of the directional nozzle outlet. 
         FIG. 8  is a section on lines  8 - 8  of  FIG. 7 . 
         FIG. 9  is an enlarged top plan view of the directional nozzle attachment housing. 
         FIG. 10  is a section on lines  10 - 10  of  FIG. 9 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1-3  of the drawings a direct foam jet attachment  10  for a hose, not shown, can be seen. The directional foam jet attachment  10  has a reservoir inlet portion  11 , a foam generating portion  12  and a directional nozzle outlet portion  13 . The reservoir inlet portion  11  has a fluid receiving container  14  in fluid communication with a water source, not shown, and a bottle tube  15  there within. The receiving container  14  is used for product mixing and dispensing an amount of cleaning fluid mixture through the foam generation portion  12  as will be described in greater detail hereinafter. 
     The fluid receiving container  14 , best seen in  FIGS. 1-3 and 6  of the drawings has a central annular recess opening at  14 A for receiving an O-ring wand seal  14 B and oppositely disposed open threaded end  14 C that is threadably engaged by the foam generation portion  12  and forms an outlet closure thereon, as best seen in  FIGS. 1 and 4  of the drawings. 
     The foam generation portion  12  is defined by a pitot housing nozzle socket main body member  16  having a pitot assembly receiving chamber  17  with a threaded end inlet at  16 A for receiving a water supply wand W. The pitot assembly receiving chamber  17  has an area of reduced dimension at  17 A from which a mixing port inlet at  18  extends in communication with cleaning solution mix SM within the fluid receiving container  14  as will be described in detail hereinafter. 
     A water pressure supply port  19  extends from the pitot assembly receiving chamber  17  which supplies water under pressure from the supply wand W. The nozzle socket body  16  is sealing and received within an exterior threaded aperture closure housing  20  of the foam generation portion  12  which has correspondingly aligned inlet ports  18 A and supply port  19 A respectively as seen in  FIGS. 8 and 9  of the drawings. 
     It will be seen that O-ring seals OS are provided around each of the registration inlet ports  18  and  18 A and supply ports  19  and  19 A which allows for annular rotation there between for an effective “on/off” control of the cleaning solution mix SM from within the fluid receiving container  14  into the nozzle water supply stream NSS indicated by broken line arrows and graphically indicated in  FIGS. 1 and 8  of the drawings. 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 1-4  of the drawings, a pitot assembly  21  can be seen that is registerably positioned within the pitot retaining chamber  17  as hereinbefore described. The pitot assembly  21  has an entrance tube  21 A and a tube insert  21 B, best seen in  FIG. 4  of the drawings, having a contoured body with a ported opening at  21 C that imparts to the fluid stream mixed inflow from the mix inlet  18 . 
     The pitot assembly  21  works in concert within the pitot assembly retaining chamber  17  and its so defined venturi effect to generate a foam inducing fluid stream to the nozzle outlet portion  13  for an enhanced jet-like “power washer” effect known within the industry. 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 1, 4 and 5  of the drawings, the directional nozzle outlet portion  13  has a bifurcating indexing support frame  22  with a spaced oppositely disposed aligned apertured indexing surfaces  23  thereon. A flexible nozzle hose  24  extends from a hose port  25  within and is slidably disposed within an annular displacement fitting  26  at  26 A which is registerably positioned between the indexing surfaces  23  of the indexing support frame  22 . 
     Pairs of resilient indexing buttons  27 A and  27 B provide indexing stops with selective so aligned annular spaced detents  28  about corresponding aligned apertures A in the spaced parallel armatures  29 A and  29 B extending from the displacement fitting  26 . It will thus be seen that the nozzle outlet portion  12  will thereby allow for nozzle outlet angular redirection from its longitudinal axis LA indicated in broken lines in  FIGS. 1 and 3  of the drawings. 
     It will now be seen that a fan spray nozzle diverter  30  having a tapered interior surface  31  is attached to the free end of the nozzle displacement fitting  25 . 
     In operation, the directional foam jet attachment  10  is prepared for use by the insertion of a pod  32  which is filled with a premeasured amount of cleaning solution or other water soluble components dependent on use and is shown in broken lines within the fluid container  14  once removed from the threaded engagement with the closure housing  20  of the foam generation portion  12 . 
     The cleaning dispenser pod  32  is made of dissolvable material and filled, as noted, with concentrated cleaning solution with the strength and viability dependent on the intended use determined by the user, not shown. The container  14 , as noted, is threadably secured to the foam generation portion  12 , as described and water indicated by flow arrows FA is supplied through the fluid supply wand W extending into the container  14  and threadably received therewith. 
     It will be evident from the above description that operational rotation of the nozzle body member  16  is predicated based on the “on/off” indicia thereon which thereby selectively aligns the mixing inlet and supply ports  18  and  19  respectively that fills the fluid receiving container  14  dissolving the cleaning pod  32  there within and dispensing a predetermined flow of concentrated cleaning mix into the dispensing nozzle via the inlet mix port  18  as disclosed. The nozzle&#39;s directional orientation can be changed, as needed, by the user, not shown, achieved through the angular interior deflection of a flexible nozzle outlet supply hose  24  maintaining a direct communicational outlet with the nozzle flow stream NSA as it passes through and from foam generation portion  12  to the nozzle outlet and against the nozzle diverter  30  which can be independently rotated for directional spray impingement and associated patterns. 
     It will thus be seen that a new and novel directional adjustable foam generating attachment for a hose has been illustrated and described and it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention. Therefore, I claim: