Abstract:
A nozzle having an actuating lever connected to the nozzle and a bale pivotally connected to the nozzle, wherein the bale is removably engageable with the actuating lever and contains angled portions. When the actuating lever comes into contact with the angled portions, the bale automatically disengages from the actuating lever.

Description:
FIELD OF INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to nozzles. More specifically, this invention relates to lever actuated hose nozzles having bales. 
     BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
     In order to direct a water stream coming from a garden hose in a pattern such as a jet stream or a conical-shaped stream, screw on nozzles have been devised and are well known in the art. Such screw on nozzles come in numerous configurations, such as barrel and pistol-grip configurations. 
     A typical pistol-grip nozzle includes a tubular body having a handle portion connectable at one end to the garden hose. The body of the nozzle has a fixed barrel portion extending from the opposite end of the hose connector at an angle similar to the angle between the handle and barrel of a gun. The water stream issues from the nozzle at the forward end of the barrel. The pattern and flow rate of the water stream is determined by a valve stem extending through the barrel portion and outwardly through the rear end thereof. Alternatively, the pattern and flow rate of the water stream can be controlled by a valve located intermediate the barrel and the handle portions. The movement of the valve in either case is controlled by a pivoted actuating lever which includes a portion generally parallel with the handle of the nozzle body enabling the user to grip the handle portion and actuating lever and to adjust the water stream issuing from the nozzle by a simple squeezing action between a user&#39;s fingers and palm. Such actuating lever can be located on either a front portion or a rear portion of the nozzle handle. 
     A barrel configuration, on the other hand, is usually in the form of a generally cylindrical body, which may be straight or arcuate in shape. One end of the body is adapted to be connected to the garden hose and the opposite end defines the nozzle from which the water stream issues. As with the pistol-grip nozzle, the barrel nozzle may have an actuating lever to control the flow of water through the nozzle 
     Usually, a pivoting bale is provided on the nozzle handle for holding the actuating lever in a desired position, which is usually the position of the actuating lever in a fully opened position, with the maximum amount of water volume passing through the nozzle. The bale therefore minimizes user fatigue when operating the nozzle because the user will not have to keep pressure applied to the actuating lever in order to keep the fluid flowing through the nozzle. 
     Prior bale arrangements required a user to first engage the actuating lever to a desired operating position with one hand and then separately pivot the bale into position. Subsequently, to disengage the bale and release the actuating lever, the user would again have to engage the actuating lever with one hand so that there would be space between the bale and the lever, and then with the other hand move the bale so that the actuating lever could be released, hence stopping the flow of water. The two handed releasing procedure in particular has proven to be cumbersome. Thus, there is a need for a hose nozzle having a simple bale arrangement that can be easily released when a user desires to stop the flow of water through the nozzle or to modify the spray settings of the nozzle. 
     Other needs will become apparent upon a further reading of the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In one form, the present invention is embodied in a nozzle having an actuating lever connected to the nozzle and a bale pivotally connected to the nozzle, wherein the bale is removably engageable with the actuating lever and contains angled portions. When the actuating lever comes into contact with the angled portions, the bale automatically disengages from the actuating lever. 
     It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are not limiting but are intended to provide further explanation of the invention claimed. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute part of this specification, are included to illustrate and provide a further understanding of the method and system of the invention. Together with the description, the drawings serve to explain the principles of the invention. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of a hose nozzle with an actuating lever in an engaged position with a bale according to the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line  2 — 2  of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 3 is a full cross-sectional view of a hose nozzle with an actuating lever in an engaged position with a bale according to the present invention. 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a bale according to the present invention. 
     FIG. 5 is a side view of the hose nozzle of FIG.  1 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     While the present invention is capable of embodiment in various forms, there is shown in the drawings and will be hereinafter described a presently preferred embodiment with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the invention, and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiment illustrated. 
     Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to FIGS. 1-3, there is shown a hose nozzle and portions thereof generally indicated as reference numeral  10 . The hose nozzle includes a cylindrical body  12  having a lower end  14 , which lower end contains internal female threads and is adapted for connection with a garden hose (not shown). In a fully assembled state, the hose nozzle  10  may include molded portions  16  and  18  (FIG.  3 ), which surround the cylindrical body  12  and provide an ergonomic grip for a user. However, one skilled in the art will realized that the nozzle of the present invention need not have such molded portions to operate. 
     The hose nozzle also includes an actuating lever  20 , which pivots about an axis  22 , and engages valve stem  24  to control the flow of fluid through the nozzle  10 . The valve stem  24  is operatively connected to valve spring  25 , which effectively biases the actuating lever  20  away from the valve spring  25  and the valve stem  24 . The actuating lever  20  includes a rear portions  21 . As is known in the art, pistol-grip nozzles can have either rear actuating levers (also called rear triggers) or front actuating levers (also called front triggers). The actuating lever in the embodiment illustrated in the drawings is in a front trigger configuration. However, although not shown in the drawings, one with skill in the art will recognize that the actuating lever can be located on the opposite side of the nozzle, and thus be in a rear trigger configuration. Moreover, the actuating lever could be used on a barrel-type nozzle, where the actuating lever could be located on the top, bottom, or sides of the barrel nozzle. 
     The hose nozzle  10  also includes a bale  26 , which is preferably pivotally mounted to lower end  14  via bale mounting  27 . As can be appreciated by viewing the drawings, bale  26  is used for locking the actuating lever  20  in a desired location. In the embodiment shown, the bale  26  is of a configuration such that the actuating lever  20  is kept in substantially a fully engaged position, thus allowing maximum fluid flow through the nozzle. However, it will be understood that a variety of bale sizes can be used to keep the actuating lever at various positions. For instance, the bale  26  could be larger in size so that the actuating lever will be kept at an intermediate position between an off position and a fully engaged position. Further, one skilled in the art will recognize that the bale  26  can be of a fixed size, or the bale  26  can be adjustable so as to accommodate various user preferences as to the preferred fluid flow rate through the nozzle  10 , as controlled by the actuating lever  20 . 
     As shown in FIG. 4, the bale  26  is in a generally hoop shape, and includes an arcuate portion  28 , which is integral with and terminates in connector portions  30 , which in turn are integral and terminate in angled portions  32 . It will be appreciated that although the arcuate portion  28 , connector portions  30  and angled portions  32  are shown as an integral bent structure, the bale  26  could be constructed utilizing a variety of construction techniques, including welding various constituent parts together. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the angled portions  32  are at an approximately 20° angle below perpendicular to the connector portions  30 . However, as one skilled in the art will appreciate, the angled portions  32  can comprise a multitude of angles or even curvilinear shapes, to accomplish the desired results of the present invention set forth herein. As will be described in more detail below, the angled portions  32  allow the bale  26  to be released from the actuating lever  20  without a user having to use two hands. 
     As those skilled in the art will readily understand, operation of the present invention is accomplished by a user first grabbing the pistol-grip hose nozzle  10  and squeezing the actuating lever  20  between his or her palm and fingers, against the bias of spring  25 . When the actuating lever  20  is in a substantially fully engaged position, the user then rotates the bale  26  upwards so that it is substantially perpendicular with the actuating lever  20 . Next, the user releases pressure on the actuating lever  20 , thereby allowing the actuating lever to come into contact with the bale  26 . At this point, the bale  26  will impeded the forward movement of the actuating lever  20 , and the bale  26  will remain in its position due the friction between the actuating lever  20  and the bale  26 . 
     When the user wishes to disengage the bale  26  from the actuating lever  20 , the user needs only to squeeze the actuating lever toward the pistol nozzle, as shown by the arrows in FIG.  5 . When this is done, the rear portions  21  of the actuating lever come into contact with the bale  26 , and more particularly, the angled portions  32  of the bale  26 . Because the angled portions  32  gradually converge toward each other, the bale  26  when contacted by rear portions  21  will resist remaining in a position substantially perpendicular to the actuating lever  20 . In essence, the actuating lever  20  acts as a cam and the angle portions  32  act as a cam follower. Accordingly, due to the shape of the angled portions  32  and due to the downward arching motion of the actuating lever  20 , the bale  20  automatically rotates into a lowered position, as depicted in FIG. 5 in broken lines. Further, in order to prevent the bale  26  from moving upwards when contacted by actuating lever  20 , the actuating lever  20  contains a ledge portion  34  that prevents upwards movement of the bale  26 , thus ensuring that the bale  26  will move downwards when contacted by the actuating lever  20  and that the bale  26  will release the actuating lever  20 . As one skilled in the art will understand, the bale arrangement of the present invention described herein can be used for a variety of nozzle configurations, including front trigger pistol-grip nozzles, rear trigger pistol-grip nozzles, and barrel nozzles. 
     The foregoing description of a preferred embodiment of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. The description was selected to best explain the principles of the invention and their practical application to enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention in various embodiments and various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention not be limited by the specification, but be defined by the claims set forth below.