UPSIDE-DOWN SPRAYER WITH AN AUXILIARY AIR CONDUCTING DEVICE FOR LIQUID PUMPING

Abstract

Disclosed is an upside-down sprayer with an auxiliary air conducting device for liquid pumping, including a container, a nozzle, and a dip tube equipped with a switching valve near its upper end, which has a valve casing, a valve ball, and an inverted liquid pumping port. An auxiliary air conducting device is disposed adjacent to the switching valve and includes a connection part, a guide seat, and a projecting tube with an opening, wherein the connection part is positioned on the dip tube, the guide seat has a groove, and the projecting tube communicates with the groove. The opening of the projecting tube is offset in the direction of the inverted liquid pumping port, and the height of the opening is not lower than the height of the inverted liquid pumping port when used inverted.

Claims

1. An upside-down sprayer with an auxiliary air conducting device for liquid pumping, wherein an auxiliary air conducting device is provided in an upside-down sprayer structure, which comprises a container, a nozzle, and a dip tube, wherein the nozzle is assembled to the container by means of a locking cap, the nozzle has an outlet passageway and a check valve disposed at a location of the outlet passageway, and the nozzle has a negative pressure suction chamber communicating with the outlet passageway by means of a flow-through orifice and also communicating with the inside of the locking cap by means of an air orifice; the dip tube has an upper end and a lower end, the upper end being connected to the outlet passageway and the lower end extending into the container, and the dip tube is equipped with a switching valve adjacent to the upper end comprising a valve casing, a valve ball, and more than one inverted liquid pumping port formed in the valve casing; wherein the upside-down sprayer can be operated in either the upright mode or inverted mode; the auxiliary air conducting device is disposed adjacent to the switching valve of the dip tube, comprising a connection part, a guide seat, and a projecting tube with an opening, wherein the connection part being used for connecting and positioning on the dip tube, a groove being provided on the upper surface of the guide seat in a spaced and corresponding relationship with the air orifice of the negative pressure suction chamber, and the projecting tube being projected on the lower surface of the guide seat and being communicated with the groove; the opening of the projecting tube is offset in the direction of the inverted liquid pumping port of the switching valve, and the height of the opening is not lower than the height of the inverted liquid pumping port when used in the inverted mode.

2. The upside-down sprayer with an auxiliary air conducting device for liquid pumping according to claim 1, wherein the connection part of the auxiliary air conducting device and the dip tube are in an assembled and detachable configuration.

3. The upside-down sprayer with an auxiliary air conducting device for liquid pumping according to claim 2, wherein the connection part comprises a socket formed on the lower surface of the guide seat to allow a projecting pipe formed at the top of the valve casing of the switching valve to be fitted into the socket for positioning.

4. The upside-down sprayer with an auxiliary air conducting device for liquid pumping according to claim 2, wherein the connection part also comprises a clamper formed on one side of the guide seat to be clamped to the dip tube adjacent to its upper end.

5. The upside-down sprayer with an auxiliary air conducting device for liquid pumping according to claim 3, wherein the connection part also comprises a clamper formed on one side of the guide seat to be clamped to the dip tube adjacent to its upper end.

6. The upside-down sprayer with an auxiliary air conducting device for liquid pumping according to claim 1, wherein an integral type of connection is provided between connection part of the auxiliary air conducting device and the dip tube.

7. The upside-down sprayer with an auxiliary air conducting device for liquid pumping according to claim 2, wherein a male/female snap-in component is further formed on one side of the guide seat in correspondence with the locking cap of the nozzle to more securely limit the state of the auxiliary air conducting device.

8. The upside-down sprayer with an auxiliary air conducting device for liquid pumping according to claim 6, wherein a male/female snap-in component is further formed on one side of the guide seat in correspondence with the locking cap of the nozzle to more securely limit the state of the auxiliary air conducting device.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] FIG. 1 is an assembled three-dimensional view of the major components of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0011] FIG. 2 is a disassembled three-dimensional view of the major components of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0012] FIG. 3 is a side view of the partial components of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0013] FIG. 4 is a 4-4 sectional view of FIG. 3.

[0014] FIG. 5 is a top view of the partial components of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0015] FIG. 6 is a 6-6 sectional view of FIG. 5.

[0016] FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention in an inverted mode of operation.

[0017] FIG. 8 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 7.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0018] Reference is made to FIGS. 1 through 6 for a preferred embodiment of an upside-down sprayer with an auxiliary air conducting device for liquid pumping of the present invention. However, the embodiment is for illustrative purposes only and is not subject to the limitation of the structure in a patent application.

[0019] An auxiliary air conducting device 50 is provided in an upside-down sprayer structure, which mainly comprises a container 10, a nozzle 20, and a dip tube 30, wherein the nozzle 20 is assembled to the container 10 by means of a locking cap 11. The nozzle 20 has an outlet passageway 21 and a check valve 22 disposed at a location of the outlet passageway 21, and the nozzle has a negative pressure suction chamber 23 communicating with the outlet passageway 21 by means of a flow-through orifice 24 and also communicating with the inside of the locking cap 11 by means of an air orifice 25. The dip tube 30 has an upper end 31 and a lower end 32, the upper end 31 being connected to the outlet passageway 21 and the lower end 32 extending into the container 10. The dip tube 30 is equipped with a switching valve 40 adjacent to the upper end 31 comprising a valve casing 41, a valve ball 42, and more than one inverted liquid pumping port 43 formed in the valve casing. The upside-down sprayer can be operated in either the upright mode (as shown in FIG. 6) or inverted mode (as shown in FIG. 7). The auxiliary air conducting device 50 is disposed adjacent to the switching valve 40 of the dip tube 30, comprising a connection part 51, a guide seat 52, and a projecting tube 53 with an opening 54, wherein the connection part 51 being used for connecting and positioning on the dip tube 30, and a groove 55 being provided on the upper surface of the guide seat 52 in a spaced and corresponding relationship with the air orifice 25 of the negative pressure suction chamber 23, and the projecting tube 53 being projected on the lower surface of the guide seat 52 and being communicated with the groove 55. The opening 54 of the projecting tube 53 shall be offset in the direction of the inverted liquid pumping port 43 of the switching valve 40, and the height H of the opening 54 (only those indicated in FIG. 8) shall be not lower than (i.e., including equal to or higher than) the height of the inverted liquid pumping port 43 when used in the inverted mode.

[0020] As shown in FIG. 2, in this embodiment, the connection part 51 of the auxiliary air conducting device 50 and the dip tube 30 are in an assembled and detachable configuration. Wherein, the connection part 51 comprises a socket 512 formed on the lower surface of the guide seat 52 to allow a projecting pipe 412 formed at the top of the valve casing 41 of the switching valve 40 to be fitted into the socket 512 for positioning. Further, the connection part 51 also comprises a clamper 514 formed on one side of the guide seat 52 to be clamped to the dip tube 30 adjacent to its upper end 31.

[0021] An integral type of connection (which is omitted from the drawings in this embodiment) is provided between the connection part of the auxiliary air conducting device and the dip tube.

[0022] As shown in FIG. 4, in this embodiment, a male/female snap-in component 60 is further formed on one side of the guide seat 52 in correspondence with the locking cap 11 of the nozzle 20 to more securely limit the state of the auxiliary air conducting device 50 (referring to a directional anti-rotation effect).

[0023] With the above structural configuration and technical features, the operation of the upside-down sprayer disclosed in the present invention is described as follows: as shown in FIG. 6, the upside-down sprayer is operated in an upright mode of operation, and the operation is generally the same as that of a general sprayer, which will not be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 7 for the inverted mode of operation of the present invention; as the present invention is equipped with the auxiliary air conducting device 50, a groove 55 is provided on the upper surface of the guide seat 52 in the spaced and corresponding relationship with the air orifice 25 of the negative pressure suction chamber 23, and the projecting tube 53 is projected on the lower surface of the guide seat 52 and communicated with the groove 55. The opening 54 of the projecting tube 53 is offset in the direction of the inverted liquid pumping port 43 of the switching valve 40, and the height H of the opening 54 (only those indicated in FIG. 8) is not lower than (i.e., including equal to or higher than) the height of the inverted liquid pumping port 43 when used in the inverted mode. Thereby, when air bubbles 70 are produced by the air orifice 25 of the negative pressure suction chamber 23 of introducing the external air into the locking cap 11, the air bubbles 70 will be conducted by the groove 55 of the guide seat 52 of the auxiliary air conducting device 50 to the projecting tube 53 (as shown by the arrow L1 in FIG. 8) and then discharged into the container 10 through the opening 54. In this way, the air bubbles 70 can be effectively avoided and diverted from the inverted liquid pumping port 43 to prevent the air bubbles 70 from being sucked into the inverted liquid pumping port 43 and mixed with the liquid therein, thereby greatly improving the quality problems such as unstable dispensing and interruptions.