Dispensing – Drip – leakage or waste catching or disposal – Return to main supply
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-08
2001-01-09
Kashnikow, Andres (Department: 3752)
Dispensing
Drip, leakage or waste catching or disposal
Return to main supply
C222S340000, C222S518000, C222S530000, C239S373000, C417S571000, C417S510000, C251S353000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06170706
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hand holdable pump spray system and a pump spray apparatus and more particularly to a hand holdable pump spray system and apparatus which is easier to use, safer and less expensive.
2. Description of the Related Art
Non-aerosol pump spraying devices have been developed primarily to eliminate the use of propellants which have a detrimental effect on the environment and to eliminate the use of pressurized containers which pose a safety hazard. Pressurized containers may explode and cause injury, and when the containers have ingredients such as insecticide, weed and grass killer and fertilizer, there may be undesirable environmental affects. Examples of non-aerosol pump spray apparatus may be seen by reference to U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,938,116; 5,918,782; 5,860,574; 5,816,447; 5,810,211 and 4,174,055.
A drawback to all of such non-aerosol pump apparatus is that the pump device is located in the container having the liquid to be pumped. There is then a flexible tube connecting the container to a hand holdable spray device or “wand”. Typically, the container is sold as a disposable unit to be discarded when no more liquid can be pumped from the container. This results in a relatively high cost because the pump mechanism, located within the container, is also discarded along with the container. Another problem of pump-in-container designs is that the hand held wand must be set down or held in an awkward position when the pump is to be operated because two hands are necessary to manipulate the pump. For example, when it comes time to operate the spraying device, the pump must be activated to pressurize at least part of the system. Usually this means there a need to pull upwardly on a handle attached to a piston located in the container. While this is done with one hand, the other hand must hold the container “down” to counteract the upward pull on the handle. Hence, it is difficult to also hold the wand at the same time.
There are also safety issues made especially more relevant because of the nature of the liquid being sprayed. There are at least two potential safety problems. First, there is a need to seal the container when it is shipped from the factory and again when stored by a consumer. Secondly, there is a need to safely transfer the liquid which has been pumped from the container into the hand holdable wand but which was not discharged during use.
Finally, there may also be a safety problem regarding unused liquid in the container at the time of disposal. It is, of course, economically more efficient to use as much of the liquid as possible before disposal, and it is better to have as little liquid remaining in the container as possible at the time of disposal. It is understood that it is difficult, if not impossible, to completely empty a container using a non-aerosol pump, and opening the spout of the container is not recommended because of the nature of the liquid within.
The numerous prior attempts to improve upon non-aerosol pump spray devices have yet to produce an optimal system.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The difficulties encountered by the previous systems have been overcome by the present invention. What is described here is a hand holdable pump spray apparatus comprising a generally tubular hand holdable housing having first and second end portions, a piston having two faces movable in the housing, a handle connected to the piston adapted to be gripped by a user to move the piston, a spring located in the housing between one face of the piston and the first end portion of the housing to bias the piston toward the second end portion of the housing, a chamber formed in the housing between the other face of the piston and the second end portion of the housing, another chamber formed in the second end portion of the housing operatively connected to a container holding a liquid to be sprayed, a valve located in the second end portion of the housing to separate the two chambers, another valve connected to the second end portion of the housing to control liquid leaving the first mentioned chamber, a nozzle connected to the second end portion of the housing and engaged to the second mentioned valve, another spring engaging the nozzle and biasing the nozzle away from the second end portion of the housing, and a trigger for moving the nozzle and the second valve toward the first end portion of the housing whereby liquid in the first chamber may be ejected through the nozzle.
The present invention also includes a hand holdable pump spray system comprising the apparatus described above, a container for the liquid to be sprayed and a supply tube connecting the apparatus and the container.
There are a number of advantages, features and objects achieved with the present invention not available in prior devices. For example, one advantage is that the present invention provides a non-aerosol hand holdable pump spray apparatus which may be operated without the need to set the spray apparatus or wand down or to hold it in an awkward position in order to operate the pump. Another advantage of the present invention is that the pump spray wand and container combination is relatively inexpensive in that the container is disposable after use but the pump mechanism in the wand may be reused. Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a system with a safety de-pressurizing mechanism for allowing unsprayed liquid in the wand and in the connected flexible tube to be transferred back into the container where it can be safely stored until the next use. Yet another feature of the present invention is to provide a simple container valve whose position is visually apparent to ensure that the container is sealed when not in use or when it is transported, thereby preventing inadvertent leakage of environmentally unfriendly liquids. A further feature of the present invention is to provide a mechanism which allows the container to be emptied more completely than can be accomplished by prior pump spray devices.
A more complete understanding of the present invention and other advantages, objects, aspects, aims and features thereof will be gained from a consideration of the following preferred embodiments read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings provided herein.
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Jones Day Reavis & Pogue
Kashnikow Andres
Nguyen Dinh Q.
OMS Investments, Inc.
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