Dispensing – With discharge assistant – Fluid pressure
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-10
2001-12-11
Derakshani, Philippe (Department: 3754)
Dispensing
With discharge assistant
Fluid pressure
C239S393000, C239S394000, C239S438000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06328185
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to the art of spray texturing, and more particularly to an apparatus and method by which spray texturing can be accomplished to provide spray patterns of varying texture (i.e. with either finer or more coarse particle size).
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
When drywall panels are installed in a building, and the seams taped, prior to painting the wall surface, there is often applied a spray texture, which is followed by painting. The spray texture will provide a desirable background pattern, and also obscure some of the seams that might appear in the drywall surface.
There are in the prior art various spray texturing tools or devices which utilize pressurized air to spray the texture material onto the wall surface. Some of these use compressed air as the gaseous medium to spray the textured material, with the pressurized air being derived from a remote source that feeds the air through a hose to the tool. There are also tools which are totally handheld, with the pressurized air being produced by manually reciprocating the piston of an air pump that is built into the tool.
When an existing drywall surface is being repaired, quite often a small section of drywall will be removed and another piece of drywall put in its place. The seams of this piece of drywall must then be taped, and (if the surrounding surface is textured) then have a texture surface treatment that would make it match with the surrounding drywall surface. It is, of course, desirable to have the spray pattern on the patch match that of the surrounding surface.
Also, when a rather small “patch” of drywall is to be spray textured, there is the matter of convenience. One approach has been simply to provide the spray texture material in an aerosol can, and the textured material is dispensed directly from the can to be sprayed onto the drywall surface. However, one of the considerations is how this can be accomplished in a manner to provide proper matching of the texture with that which is on the surrounding drywall.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,037,011 (Woods) discloses such an aerosol texture spraying device where the spray texture material is dispensed directly from the nozzle of the aerosol can. In a commercial embodiment of a device such as this, when there is higher pressure in the container, there is a relatively fine spray pattern. For a more coarse pattern (i.e. with larger particle sizes), the can is inverted and the nozzle depressed to dispense a certain amount of the propellant gas for a few seconds. Then the can is turned upright and the spray texture material dispensed at a lower pressure to provide the spray pattern with larger particle sizes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,310,095 issued to the present Applicant discloses an apparatus for discharging a spray texture material through a nozzle means having a nozzle discharge opening to dispense this material. There is further provided a first delivery tube means having a first discharge passageway of a first predetermined cross-sectional area. The material discharge apparatus is operated to cause the textured material to be discharged through the tube means. Then a second discharge tube means is positioned to receive material from the discharge nozzle means, and this second tube means has a second discharge passageway with a second predetermined cross-sectional area different from the first cross-sectional area. Thus, the '095 patent disclosed obtaining a finer spray pattern by utilizing a tube means with a passageway having a lesser cross-sectional area and a coarse pattern by discharging said material through the tube means having a greater cross-sectional area.
A primary problem with the method disclosed in the '095 patent is that three straws must be sold in connection with the aerosol can. While this method is quite inexpensive from a manufacturing point of view, the shipping and sale of the product are somewhat complicated by the need to attach the three straws to the aerosol can. Further, the end user must install the straws into the actuating member of the aerosol can; this can difficult to accomplish without depressing the actuating member and accidentally discharging some of the texture material. Also, after the product disclosed in the '095 patent is used, the user must store the straws such that they are easily available when needed.
Accordingly, the need exists for a spray texturing device that is easy to use, allows the user to obtain at least a plurality of texture patterns, is inexpensive to manufacture, does not require user assembly, and does not require the shipment and storage of a plurality of parts.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
From the foregoing, it should be apparent that one object of the present invention is to provide an improved apparatus for applying spray texture material to a patch in a wall or the like.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a spray texturing apparatus having a favorable balance of the following characteristics:
a. inexpensively manufactured;
b. does not require manufacture, shipment, sale, and storage of an excessive number of separate components; and
c. obviates the need for the end user to assemble several parts together.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention comprises an aerosol apparatus for allowing an operator to apply a texture to a surface. This type of apparatus is generally known to include: (a) a container for containing pressurized texture material; (b) an actuator member defining a dispensing passageway; (c) a valve assembly for allowing the operator to create a path by which texture material may flow from the container into the dispensing passageway; and (d) an outlet member that defines an outlet passageway.
In a first embodiment of the present invention, the outlet member is made of a resilient, deformable tube. The invention further comprises an adjustment assembly that deforms the outlet member and thus allows a cross-sectional area of at least a portion of the outlet passageway to be changed.
More specifically, the outlet passageway is arranged adjacent to the dispensing passageway such that the outlet passageway defines an outlet opening through which texture material flows. The adjustment assembly deforms the outlet member to allow the user to alter and thus select the cross-sectional area of the outlet opening. The texture pattern formed by the texture material on the surface corresponds to the shape and/or cross-sectional area of the outlet opening selected by the operator.
The outlet passageway is formed in an actuator member that forms at least a part of the valve assembly. The outlet member is preferably a resilient, hollow cylindrical member having one end that is attached directly to the actuator member. The adjustment assembly deforms the outlet member such that the outlet member is in either an undeformed configuration or in a deformed configuration. In the undeformed configuration, the cross-sectional area of the discharge opening is at its largest. In the deformed configuration, the cross-sectional area of the discharge passageway is reduced.
The adjustment assembly can take any one of a number of configurations. For example, the adjustment assembly may comprise a cam member and a sleeve member that surrounds a portion of the outlet member. The sleeve member is divided by slits into a number of separate sleeve portions or fingers that can move relative to each other. The cam member is then displaced relative to the sleeve member to act on the sleeve portions to apply an even force around the circumference of the outlet member. The cam member may be threadingly engaged with the sleeve member such that rotation of the cam member displaces the cam member relative to the sleeve member. Other mechanisms for squeezing, stretching, or otherwise deforming the outlet member are possible.
The outlet member and adjustment assembly obviate the need to provide a plurality of separate parts to change the cross-sectional area of the opening through which the spray texture material is discharged. The end user thus need not assemble parts to
Stern Donald J.
Tryon James A.
Derakshani Philippe
Homax Products Inc.
Schacht Michael R.
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