Fluid sprinkling – spraying – and diffusing – Including supply holder for material – Fluid pressure discharge means
Reexamination Certificate
2000-09-08
2002-03-12
Morris, Lesley D. (Department: 3752)
Fluid sprinkling, spraying, and diffusing
Including supply holder for material
Fluid pressure discharge means
C239S414000, C239S378000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06354517
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to airbrushes, and more particularly to a high-performance airbrush, which can be conveniently adjusted to fit the left-handed user, or the right-handed user.
FIGS. from
1
through
3
show an airbrush according to the prior art. This structure of airbrush comprises a barrel
10
, the barrel comprising an integrated fluid cup
12
, a backwardly extended receiving hole
14
, a paint passage
11
extended from the backwardly extended receiving hole
14
through the fluid cup
12
to the front end thereof, a transverse through hole
13
, an air passage
130
extended from the transverse through hole
13
to the front end, and a positioning frame
132
disposed in the transversely extended through hole
13
, an air valve
16
mounted in the transverse through hole
13
at a bottom side, the air valve
16
comprising a piston rod
160
adapted to close/open the air passage
130
, and a spring
161
adapted to force the piston rod
160
to close the air passage
130
, a nozzle cap
17
fastened to the front end of the barrel
10
to hold a nozzle tip
18
, a needle holder
5
axially slidably mounted in the barrel
10
, a needle
19
fastened to the needle holder
5
and moved with the needle holder
5
to close/open the air passage
130
and the paint passage
11
to the nozzle tip
18
, a spring cap
3
coupled to the needle holder
5
, a spring
4
mounted in the spring holder
3
and adapted to force the needle holder
5
forwards, a cap nut
2
threaded onto the threaded rear end
6
of the needle holder
5
to secure the spring holder
3
in place, an end cap
1
fastened to the rear end of the barrel
10
, and a main lever
15
mounted in the transversely extended through hole
13
at a top side and coupled to the positioning frame
132
and adapted to move the needle holder
5
and the piston rod
160
in opening the paint passage
11
and the air passage
130
. The main lever
15
comprises a bottom coupling rod
152
pivoted to the positioning frame
132
, a push plate
150
stopped at the front end of the needle holder
5
, and a needle hole
151
extended through the push plate
150
for the passing of the needle
19
. When the user presses the main lever
15
and then turned the main lever
15
backwards, the piston rod
160
is lowered to open the air passage
130
, and the needle
19
is moved backwards with the needle holder
5
to open the air passage
11
, and therefore a paint is driven out of the air chamber
170
in the nozzle cap
17
and the nozzle tip
18
by compressed air passing from the air valve
16
. This structure of airbrush is still not satisfactory in function. The drawbacks of this structure of airbrush are numerous and outlined hereinafter.
1. The arrangement of the bottom coupling rod
152
of the main lever
15
and the positioning frame
132
of the barrel
10
greatly complicates the manufacturing process and cost of the airbrush, and the bottom coupling rod
152
of the main lever
15
wears quickly with use.
2. Because the push plate
150
is welded to the main lever
15
, it may not be accurately fastened to the main lever
15
to the desired angle, causing the push plate
150
unable to positively push the needle holder
5
to the set distance.
3. During the movement of the needle holder
5
, the needle
19
may vibrate or not accurately aligned, causing a bad painting result.
4. When the needle
5
is forced into the nozzle cap
17
, the pointed front tip of the needle
5
tends to be deformed.
5. Because the air passage
130
is obliquely extended from the transversely extended through hole
13
to the front end of the barrel
10
, it is difficult to clean the air passage
130
.
6. Because the fluid cup
12
is formed integral with the barrel
10
, it is in the way of the user's sight when the user operating the airbrush and watching the nozzle tip
18
, and cannot be adjusted to the desired angle to fit the left-handed user or right-handed user.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been accomplished to provide an airbrush, which eliminates the aforesaid drawbacks. It is one object of the present invention to provide an airbrush, which is easy and inexpensive to manufacture. It is another object of the present invention to provide an airbrush, which achieves high performance. It is still another object of the present invention to provide an airbrush, which is easy to maintain. It is still another object of the present invention to provide an airbrush, which is durable in use. It is still another object of the present invention to provide an airbrush, which can conveniently be adjusted to fit the left-handed user, or the right-handed user. According to one aspect of the present invention, the airbrush comprises a barrel, the barrel comprising a transversely extended through hole, an air valve mounted in the through hole of the barrel at a bottom side, the air valve comprising an air hole, a piston rod adapted to close/open the air hole of the air valve, and spring means adapted to force the piston rod to close the air hole of the air valve, a nozzle head fastened to the front end of the barrel, a nozzle cap fastened to the nozzle head to hold a nozzle tip, a needle holder mounted in the barrel and axially moved in the barrel, a needle fastened to the needle holder and moved with the needle holder to close/open the paint passage through the nozzle head and the nozzle tip, a spring cap fastened to a rear end of the needle holder, a spring mounted in the spring cap to support the needle holder in a front position where the needle closes the paint passage, and a fluid cup fastened to the barrel and adapted to provide a paint to the nozzle head for enabling the pair to be forced out of the nozzle tip by compressed air passing from the air valve, and a main lever mounted in the through hole of the barrel at a top side and adapted to move the piston rod in opening the air hole of the air valve and to simultaneously move the needle holder and the needle in opening the paint passage, wherein the main lever comprises a through hole for the passing of the needle, a push rod stopped at a front end of the needle holder, and an arched bottom recess, which receives a spherical top end of the piston rod for enabling the main lever to be turned on the spherical top end of the piston rod to push the needle barrel backwards in opening the pain passage after the main lever had been pressed to move the piston rod downwards in opening the air hole of the air valve. According to another aspect of the present invention, the push rod is formed integral with the main lever for moving the needle holder positively. According to another aspect of the present invention, the nozzle head is stopped at the front end of the barrel, comprising a rear extension mounting portion fastened to the inside of the front end of the barrel, a longitudinal center through hole extended through the rear extension mounting portion in communication between the nozzle tip and the inside of the barrel and adapted to guide movement of the needle in course, a fluid hole perpendicularly outwardly extended from the longitudinal center through hole and adapted to receive a paint from the fluid cup, an outside annular groove disposed around the periphery of a front end of the rear extension mounting portion, and a plurality of air passages extended to a front end thereof and disposed in communication with the outside annular groove and adapted to receive compressed air from the air valve. According to still another aspect of the present invention, the oblique air passages of the nozzle head are short, and the horizontal air passage of the barrel is relatively longer. Because the nozzle head and the barrel are separated members, the processing of the air passages is not complicated. According to still another aspect of the present invention, the air passages of the nozzle head are equiangularly spaced around the longitudinal center through hole in communication between the outside annular groove of the nozzle head and
LandOfFree
Airbrush does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Airbrush, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Airbrush will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2879471