Variable Jet Nozzle Field of the Invention

The present invention is directed to providing a nozzle for terminating a hose pipe and providing a variable jet of water therethrough. Background

Domestic hose pipes are widely used for watering garden plants, filling paddling pools, washing cars and similar uses. Such hose pipes are typically connected to a garden faucet and supply mains water pressure that is often at a pressure of about 4 atmospheres. It is well understood that the smaller the outlet aperture of the hose pipe, the higher the water pressure therethrough.

For washing the car and removing stubborn stains, a high pressure focused jet is appropriate, whereas for watering seedlings, a low pressure sprinkling is more appropriate. Although there are a number of sophisticated water pistols that can provide a range of effects such as fine mists, light showers, heavy showers and the like, all that is really needed for many applications is a simple means of varying the degree to which the water pouring out of the hose is focused, between an off position, a narrow focused jet and a wide angle conical spray. One type of hose pipe termination that provides such a range is essentially a nozzle that includes a stopper that can be extended or retracted from the mouth of the nozzle. Moving the stopper forwards to clear the mouth of the nozzle, results in a focused jet of water. Moving the stopper backwards causes the water exiting the mouth of the nozzle to spread out into a wide conical spray and if the stopper fully blocks the mouth of the nozzle, no water flow through, switching the hose off.

Moving such a stopper backwards into the mouth of the nozzle is not easy however, since the water pressure may be several atmospheres. Domestic terminations such as those suitable for garden hose pipes should require little strength to operate, and should be comfortable for use by women, children and the infirm. In prior art hose pipe terminations with variable flow, various solutions are implemented to overcome these forces. Generally such devices are designed so that a small force is applied over a larger distance. One prior art variable flow solution is to provide a termination with one component mounted on a screw thread, requiring rotation of one

part with respect to another to retract or extend the stopper and control the cone angle. Screw threads are reliable but require two handed operation to control the jet. This is inconvenient in some scenarios and creates insurmountable problems in others. Another solution requires a long lever and lockable positions for the stopper. Consequently such stoppers are often incorporated into fairly sophisticated spray guns where the trigger moves the stopper from one position to another. Such terminations are expensive to manufacture and susceptible to failure.

There is a need for simple hose pipe termination that provides a stream of water that may be varied between an off position, provision of a focused water stream and a water stream dispersed over a wide arc. Such a termination should be conveniently varied between the various configurations by the hand holding the termination, without requiring use of the other hand and without requiring the application of a lot of force. Ideally, such a termination should provide a continuous range of flows so that the operator can set the angle of dispersion to his requirements. Preferably the device should provide a stable jet of water without a tendency for the stopper to drift outwards, causing the water jet to become more focused. The present invention addresses this need and provides such a termination.

Summary of the Invention

It is an aim of the invention to provide a nozzle for terminating a hose pipe that is capable of providing a stream of water that can be focused into a narrow jet or set to spray out into a wide angled conical spray. It is a further aim of the invention that the nozzle can be set to provide streams of water over a continuous range of desired angles.

It is another aim of the invention that the nozzle can be set to produce a cone with a desired dispersion angle by one hand.

It is a yet further aim of the invention, that once the nozzle is set to provide a stream of water splaying out into a cone over a desired angle, that the stream does not tend to drift to provide a more focused or less focused stream over time.

It is a still further aim of the invention that setting the desired conical angle requires minimal force.

It is yet a further aim of preferred embodiments of the invention that the stream of water can be switched off at the nozzle.

According to a first embodiment of the invention, a nozzle for terminating a hose pipe for providing a stream of water over a variable cone angle under control of a user is provided, said nozzle comprising: a casing through which runs a conduit, the nozzle having an inlet for coupling to the hose pipe and a mouth through which a stream of water is sprayed; a stopper situated in proximity of said mouth of said nozzle; the stopper being coupled to a thumb lever by a stem passing through a slot in the casing; such that sideways pressure on the thumb lever in a clockwise direction causes the stem to move along the slot and extend the stopper relative to the casing causing the water stream to splay outwards into a wide angle cone, whereas sideways pressure on the thumb lever in a counter-clockwise direction causes the stem to move along the slot in a counter clockwise direction retracting the stopper relative to the casing, and focusing the stream of water exiting the mouth of the nozzle into a focused jet; the stem being coupled tangentially to a conduit carriage comprising: An upstream piston that reciprocates in an upstream cylinder extending from the inlet and a downstream piston that reciprocates in a downstream cylinder extending to the outlet; the stopper coupled by a hollow neck protruding from the downstream piston;

a first watertight seal being provided between the upstream piston and the upstream cylinder and a second watertight seal being provided between the downstream piston and the downstream cylinder; at least a first aperture situated in the hollow neck, between the second watertight seal and the stopper to let water flow out of the conduit carriage upstream of the stopper; wherein ratio between diameter of the first cylinder and diameter of the second cylinder is set to compensate the hydraulic pressure of the stream of water exiting the mouth of the nozzle so that the thumb lever can be moved with minimal force.

Preferably, the user can vary the stream of water by a one-handed operation of a thumb lever, using the thumb of the hand holding the nozzle.

Optionally, the slit is angled to axis of nozzle by an angle varying between 0° and 90°.

Typically, moving the thumb lever fully to one side causes the stopper to block the mouth completely, switching off flow of water through the nozzle.

Most preferably the slit is diagonal to axis of the nozzle and slopes from lower left to upper right, such that moving thumb lever to left causes stream of water exiting the mouth of nozzle to assume a focused jet, and moving lever rightwards causes the stream of water exiting the mouth of nozzle to assume a cone shape that widens as thumb lever is moved to the right, and moving thumb lever to far right causes the stopper to block the mouth, switching off water flow therethrough.

Preferably, the nozzle further comprises an annular element provided within the casing to cover the inside of the slot around the lever.

Preferably, the casing is at least partly covered with an easy to grip, non-slip surface.

Optionally, the easy to grip, non-slip surface comprising raised bumps.

Typically, each of said watertight seals comprises an O ring.

The first cylinder is optionally coupled to a male component of a quick fit connector.

In one embodiment, the rod comprises a tube that is coupled to the conduit and a stem coupled to the thumb lever so that the thumb lever can be fitted to the conduit through the casing.

In another embodiment, the rod comprises a stem that is coupled to the conduit and a tube coupled to the thumb lever so that the thumb lever can be fitted to the conduit through the casing.

Brief Description of the Figures

For a better understanding of the invention and to show how it may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, purely by way of example, to the accompanying drawings. With specific reference now to the drawings in detail, it is stressed that the particulars shown are by way of example and for purposes of illustrative discussion of the preferred embodiments of the present invention only, and are presented in the cause of providing what is believed to be the most useful and readily understood description of the principles and conceptual aspects of the invention. In this regard, no attempt is made to show structural details of the invention in more detail than is necessary for a fundamental understanding of the invention; the description taken with the drawings making apparent to those skilled in the art how the several forms of the invention may be embodied in practice. In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side view of a nozzle in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention, showing thumb lever in an intermediate position;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the nozzle of Figure 1, showing the thumb lever in its extreme clockwise displacement and stopper being pushed forwards;

Fig. 3 is a side view of the nozzle of Figure 1, showing the thumb lever in its extreme counterclockwise displacement and the stopper being pulled backwards; Fig. 4 is an isometric projection of the elements from which the nozzle is constructed.

Fig. 5 is a cross section through the assembled nozzle of Fig. 1.

Description of the Preferred Embodiments

With reference to Figures 1 to 3, a nozzle 10 for terminating a hose pipe is shown. Nozzle 10 is provided with the male component 12 of a quick fit connection for easy coupling to a hose pipe via a corresponding female termination (not shown). A thumb lever 14 is provided in a diagonal slot 16 through casing 18 of nozzle. Possibly, the nozzle 10 is partially or fully covered with an easy to grip surface. As shown, this may include a ring 22 of raised bumps 22, for example.

Diagonal slot is typically at an angle of between 30° and 60° to the axis of the nozzle 10, but could be any angle varying between 0° and 90° with a more sophisticated mechanism being provided.

Nozzle 10 provide a stream of water over a variable cone angle under control of a user, wherein the user can vary the stream of water by a one-handed operation of the thumb lever 14, using the thumb of the hand holding the nozzle 10.

As shown in Fig. 4, the nozzle 10 of a preferred embodiment of the invention is constructed from five elements that are typically injection molded from a polymeric material: a casing 18, a slot cover 24, a thumb lever 14 having a stem 26, a conduit carriage element 28 and an inlet element 30 inluding the male component 12. Four

'O' rings 32, 34, 36, 38 that are typically fabricated from natural or artificial rubber.

A connecting rod 40 (Fig. 5) couples the thumb lever 14 to the conduit carriage element 28. Connecting rod 40 may be constructed in two parts, such as a tube 42 that extends from the conduit carriage element 28 and a stem 26 that extends from the thumb lever 14 so that the thumb lever 14 can be fitted to the conduit carriage element 28 through the casing 18, passing through a hole 42 in the slot cover

24. Alternatively and equivalently, the stem may be coupled to the conduit carriage element 28 and the tube to the thumb lever 14, or some other type of dividable connecting rod 40 can be substituted.

The conduit carriage element 28 includes an inlet 42 for coupling via the male component 12 of the inlet element 30 to a hose pipe, and an outlet aperture 44 through which a stream of water exits the sprays conduit carriage element 28 and then exits the mouth 46 of the nozzle 10 when the nozzle 10 is connected to a hose pipe and the water supply is actuated.

The annular element 24 is really optional. It is preferably provided within the casing 18 to cover the inside of the slot 16 around the thumb lever 14, preventing dirt and debris clogging up the slot 16, and providing a solid feel to the nozzle 10.

The operation of the nozzle 10 is best understood from Fig. 5. Thus with reference to Fig. 4 sideways pressure on the thumb lever 14 in a clockwise direction causes the stem 26 extending into the nozzle 10 from the thumb lever 14 to move along the diagonal slot 16 towards the position shown in Fig. 2, and to extend a stopper 48 that is situated in the outlet 28 of the conduit 24.

Sideways pressure on the thumb lever 14 in a counterclockwise direction causes the stem 20 to move along the diagonal slot 16 in a counterclockwise direction to assume the position shown in Fig. 3, retracting the stopper 48 and focusing the stream of water exiting the mouth 46 of the nozzle 10 into a narrower cone.

The conduit through the nozzle 10 consists of a carriage element 28 that reciprocates within nozzle casing 18 as thumb lever 14 is moved clockwise (to the right from perspective of operator) and counterclockwise (to the left from perspective of operator) to widen and narrow the cone of water that streams out of the mouth 46

(Fig. 5) of the nozzle 10. In general, the thumb tip lever 14 will be situated somewhere between extremes (Fig. 1) and the stopper 48 interferes with but does not block the stream of water leaving the mouth 46 of the nozzle 10. As thumb lever 14 is moved to the right, the stopper is moved forwards and a wider cone of water results.

As thumb lever 14 is moved to the left, the stopper is moved backwards and a narrower cone of water results. Moving thumb lever 14 fully to the right to (See Fig.

2) results in the stopper sealing the mouth 46 (Fig. 5) of the nozzle 10. Moving the thumb lever 14 fully to the left (Fig. 3) results in the stopper being fully retracted so that it does not cause the water stream to splay out and a focused jet of water results.

The conduit carriage element 28 has an upstream piston part 50 that reciprocates in an upstream cylinder 52 that is an internal part of the casing 18 and extends backwards from the mouth 46. A first watertight seal is provided between the upstream piston 50 and the upstream cylinder 52. The watertight seal is provided by an O ring 36, for example.

A downstream piston part 54 reciprocates in a downstream cylinder 56 that extends into the nozzle 10 from the inlet element 30. A second watertight seal is provided between the downstream piston 54 and the downstream cylinder 56.

The stopper 48 terminates a neck 58 that protrudes from the downstream piston 34. One or more apertures 44 are situated in the neck 58 between the downstream 'O' ring 36 and the stopper 48 to let water flow out of the conduit carriage element 28 upstream of the stopper 48. It is a particular feature of the present invention that the ratio between the diameter Dl of the upstream cylinder 56 and the diameter D2 of the downstream cylinder 52 may be different, and in general are set to compensate for the hydraulic pressure of the stream of water exiting the mouth 48, so that the thumb lever 14 can be moved with minimal force. It will be appreciated that the actual diameters Dl, D2 of upstream and downstream cylinders 56, 52 will depend on the water pressure and size of apertures 44 and mouth 46.

Thus the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims and includes both combinations and sub combinations of the various features described hereinabove as well as variations and modifications thereof, which would occur to persons skilled in the art upon reading the foregoing description.

In the claims, the word "comprise", and variations thereof such as "comprises", "comprising" and the like indicate that the components listed are included, but not generally to the exclusion of other components.