Abstract
A spray gun, in particular a paint spray gun, having a trigger lock with at least one slider element. The slider element, both in the activation position as well as in the blocking position, is at least partially located in an intermediate space between the trigger lever and the gun body. Also disclosed are a trigger lock for a spray gun, a method for attaching a trigger lock to a spray gun, a method for activating a trigger lock of a spray gun, and a method for deactivating a trigger lock of a spray gun.
Claims
1. A spray gun, in particular a paint spray gun, having at least a gun body, a trigger lever and a trigger lock for preventing activation of the trigger lever, wherein at least one part of the trigger lock is displaceable from an activation position, in which the activation of the trigger lever is possible, to a blocking position, in which the activation of the trigger lever is not possible, and is displaceable from the blocking position to the activation position, wherein the trigger lock has at least one slider element, wherein the slider element both in the activation position as well as in the blocking position is at least partially disposed in an intermediate space between the trigger lever and the gun body.
2. The spray gun of claim 1, wherein the slider element in the activation position is at least partially disposed in a first region of the intermediate space between the trigger lever and the gun body, and wherein the slider element in the blocking position is at least partially disposed in a second region of the intermediate space between the trigger lever and the gun body, and wherein at least one dimension of the slider element corresponds approximately to the spacing between the non-activated trigger lever and the gun body in the second region of the intermediate space between the trigger lever of the spray gun and the gun body of the spray gun.
3. The spray gun of claim 1, wherein the slider element of the trigger lock has at least a gliding rail and a gliding element.
4. The spray gun of claim 1, wherein the slider element of the trigger lock has a gliding element, and the gliding rail is part of the trigger lever of the spray gun.
5. The spray gun of claim 3, wherein the slider element has a fixing mechanism by means of which the position of the gliding element on the gliding rail is capable of being fixed.
6. The spray gun of claim 3, wherein the gliding element and the gliding rail are interconnected by a dovetail guide.
7. The spray gun of claim 1, wherein the slider element is disposed on the gun body of the spray gun.
8. The spray gun of claim 1, wherein the slider element is disposed on the trigger lever of the spray gun.
9. The spray gun of claim 1, wherein said spray gun furthermore has an air piston rod which is movable by activating the trigger lever, and wherein the slider element is designed in such a manner that the slider element is at least partially displaceable in an intermediate space between the trigger lever and a region of the gun body of the spray gun that surrounds the air piston rod.
10. The spray gun of claim 1, wherein the slider element for activating the blocking position of the trigger lock is at least partially displaceable from a first region of the intermediate space between the trigger lever and the gun body, having a comparatively large spacing between the trigger lever and the gun body, to a second region of the intermediate space between the trigger lever and the gun body, having a comparatively small spacing between the trigger lever and the gun body.
11. A trigger lock for a spray gun, in particular a paint spray gun, wherein said trigger lock has at least a slider element and a fastening means for disposing the trigger lock at least partially in an intermediate space between a trigger lever of the spray gun and a gun body of the spray gun.
12. The trigger lock of claim 11, wherein the trigger lock is disposed so as to be releasable on the spray gun.
13. The trigger lock of claim 11, wherein the slider element in an activation position is at least partially located in a first region of the intermediate space between the trigger lever of the spray gun and the gun body of the spray gun, and the slider element in a blocking position is at least partially located in a second region of the intermediate space between the trigger lever of the spray gun and the gun body of the spray gun, and wherein at least one dimension of the slider element corresponds approximately to the spacing between the non-activated trigger lever and the gun body in the second region of the intermediate space between the trigger lever of the spray gun and the gun body of the spray gun.
14. A method for activating a trigger lock of a spray gun, in particular a paint spray gun, wherein the activation comprises at least one sliding motion, and wherein a slider element both prior to as well as after the activation of the trigger lock is at least partially located in an intermediate space between a trigger lever of the spray gun and a gun body of the spray gun.
15. The method of 14, wherein the slider element is at least partially slid from a first region of the intermediate space between the trigger lever and the gun body, having a comparatively large spacing between the trigger lever and the gun body, to a second region of the intermediate space between the trigger lever and the gun body, having a comparatively small spacing between the trigger lever and the gun body.
16. A method for deactivating a trigger lock of a spray gun, in particular a paint spray gun, wherein the deactivation comprises at least one sliding motion, and wherein a slider element both prior to as well as after the deactivation of the trigger lock is at least partially located in an intermediate space between a trigger lever of the spray gun and a gun body of the spray gun.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein the slider element is at least partially slid from a second region of the intermediate space between the trigger lever and the gun body, having a comparatively small spacing between the trigger lever and the gun body, to a first region of the intermediate space between the trigger lever and the gun body, having a comparatively large spacing between the trigger lever and the gun body.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0074] The invention will be explained in more detail hereunder in an exemplary manner by means of five drawings in which
[0075] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a spray gun according to the invention, having an exemplary embodiment of a trigger lock according to the invention in the activation position;
[0076] FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the exemplary embodiment of a spray gun according to the invention from FIG. 1, having the exemplary embodiment of a trigger lock according to the invention from FIG. 1 in the blocking position;
[0077] FIG. 3 shows an exploded drawing of a trigger lever of a spray gun according to the invention, having the exemplary embodiment of a trigger lock according to the invention from FIG. 1;
[0078] FIG. 4 shows a sectional illustration of a trigger lever of a spray gun according to the invention, having the exemplary embodiment of a trigger lock according to the invention from FIG. 1; and
[0079] FIG. 5 shows a side view of the exemplary embodiment of a spray gun according to the invention from FIG. 1, having the exemplary embodiment of a trigger lock according to the invention from FIG. 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0080] The exemplary embodiment of a spray gun according to the invention shown in FIG. 1 is a so-called air-assisted airless gun. This type of spray gun has already been explained in detail above.
[0081] The spray gun 1 has an exemplary embodiment of a trigger lock 2 according to the invention, said trigger lock 2 presently being disposed on the trigger lever 3 of the spray gun 1, in particular on the inside of said trigger lever 3, that is to say on the rear side thereof, or that side that faces away from the gun head, respectively. In the case of the present trigger lever 3 having a U-shaped cross section with one front face and two lateral faces, the trigger lock is disposed on the inside, that is to say on that side of the front face of the trigger lever 3 that faces away from the gun head 6. The trigger lock 2 is presently composed of a slider element 21 and a fastening means (not visible in FIG. 1). The gun head 6 has inter alia an annular air nozzle 61, a nozzle guard 63, and an air cap 65. Parts such as an annular air distributor, a preliminary nozzle, and a material nozzle, that are located in the interior of the gun head 6 are not shown in FIG. 1 but may be present. An air connector 43 for connecting a compressed air hose (not illustrated in FIG. 1) is disposed on the lower end of the gun body 4 of the spray gun 1, in particular on the lower end of the grip 41. The supply of the material to be sprayed, in particular of the paint to be sprayed, in the present exemplary embodiment is performed in particular by way of a paint tube 8 which is disposed on the lower side of an upper part of the gun body 4. The paint tube 8 is connected to a paint duct (not visible in FIG. 1) in the interior of the gun body 4 such that the material to be sprayed can be squeezed from the paint tube 8 out of the paint nozzle (not visible in FIG. 1) and be atomized. The paint tube 8 has a filter holder 81 and a filter (not shown in FIG. 1) that is disposed therein, and a hose connector 83. A material hose which leads to a paint container, in particular to a canister, a tank, a pressurized container, or a bucket, from which the material to be sprayed is conveyed by way of a pump to the spray gun 1 can be connected to the hose connector 83.
[0082] The spray gun 1 shown in FIG. 1 furthermore has a round-wide jet regulating feature 9 of which only the adjustment screw can be seen in FIG. 1. The shape of the spray jet can be set by activating the round-wide jet regulating feature. Should the paint nozzle have an opening having a slot-shaped cross section, the wide jet that exits the nozzle can be deformed to a round jet by adding horn air. Should the paint nozzle have an opening having a circular cross section, the round jet that exits the nozzle can be deformed to a wide jet by adding horn air. In both cases, controlling the quantity of horn air and thus setting the jet shape is preferably performed in a stepless manner.
[0083] The spray gun 1 furthermore has a cap screw 11 which is disposed level with and behind a paint needle (not visible in FIG. 1) which in regions runs within the gun body 4, said cap screw holding the paint needle in the gun body 4. A compression spring of which the rear end bears on the inner end face of the cap screw 11 and of which the front end bears on a stopper that is fixedly connected to the paint needle is disposed in the sleeve-shaped cap screw 11. The rear part of the paint needle herein runs within the compression spring. In the case of a non-activated trigger lever, the paint needle by way of the compression spring is pushed against the interior of the paint nozzle opening and is held there, on account of which the passage of material is blocked.
[0084] The spray gun 1 furthermore has an air micrometer of which only the adjustment button can be seen in FIG. 1. The air micrometer serves for regulating the quantity of air which can flow from the air duct in the gun grip 41 into the air ducts in the upper part of the gun body 4.
[0085] A spacer 5 which is disposed on the lower end of the gun grip 41 in front of the air connector 43 and encompasses the paint tube 8 guarantees reliable fixing of the paint tube 8.
[0086] In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the exemplary embodiment of a trigger lock 2 according to the invention is shown in the activation position (FIG. 1) and in the blocking position (FIG. 2), respectively. The intermediate space 18 between the trigger lever 3 and the gun body 4 can be seen in FIG. 2. This intermediate space 18 is the intermediate space between the trigger lever 3 and the gun body 4 that is decreased in size in the activation of the trigger lever. The first region 19 and the second region 20 of the intermediate space 18 can be seen in FIG. 1. That region of the intermediate space 18 from the upper face of the plateau 410 of the grip 41 up to the lower edge of the step 17 of the gun body 4 is defined as the first region 19 in the present exemplary embodiment. That region of the intermediate space above the lower edge of the step 17 of the gun body 4 is to be seen as the second region 20 in the present exemplary embodiment. In the position of the trigger lock 2 shown in FIG. 1, the activation of the trigger lever 3 is possible, that is to say that the trigger lock is located in the activation position. The trigger lock 2, or the slider element 21, respectively, is located in the first region 19 of the intermediate space 18 between the trigger lever 3 and the gun body 4, said first region 19 in the present exemplary embodiment being located below the second region 20 of the intermediate space 18, wherein the second region 20 represents that region having the comparatively small spacing between the trigger lever 3 and the gun body 4 in the activating direction of the trigger lever 3.
[0087] By contrast, the trigger lock 2 in FIG. 2 is located in the blocking position, that is to say that the activation of the trigger lever 3 is not possible. The trigger lock 2 in the blocking position is at least partially located in the second region 20 of the intermediate space 18 between the trigger lever 3 and the gun body 4, that is to say that the trigger lock 2 has been partially displaced from the first region 19 of the intermediate space 18, having the comparatively large spacing between the trigger lever 3 and the gun body 4, to the second region 20 of the intermediate space 18, having the comparatively small spacing between the trigger lever 3 and the gun body 4. The thickness of that part of the trigger lock 2 that is located in the second region 20 is preferably only slightly smaller than the spacing between the trigger lever and the gun body in the second region 20 of the intermediate space 18 between the trigger lever 3 and the gun body 4. The thickness of that part of the trigger lock 2 that is located in the second region 20 of the intermediate space 18 is dimensioned at least in such a manner that the trigger lever cannot be moved up to that point at which the paint needle is moved out of the paint nozzle opening.
[0088] In the activation position shown in FIG. 1, all parts of the trigger lock 2 can lie outside the second region 20 of the intermediate space 18, but at least a thin part of the trigger lock 2, for example a fastening means, can also be located within the second region 20, however. This part should not restrict the desired activation travel of the trigger lever 3, however.
[0089] FIG. 3 shows an exploded view of the trigger lever 3 and of the trigger lock 2 from FIGS. 1 and 2. In the present exemplary embodiment, the trigger lever has an upper region having two arms 34a, 34b, wherein bores 36a, 36b for rotatably mounting the trigger lever 3 on the spray gun body 4, for example by means of a bolt, are incorporated in the arms 34a, 34b. The trigger lever 3 furthermore has a lower region having one front face 31 and two lateral faces wherein the lateral faces, like in the present exemplary embodiment, in turn each can be composed of one oblique face 32a and one straight face 32b that is disposed so as to be substantially perpendicular to the front face 31. The trigger lever 3 is preferably made from one piece in that the contour of the trigger lever 3 is fine-blanked or punched from a metal sheet and is bent or pressed into shape. An activation element 35 which in the present exemplary embodiment is designed as a stud and which in the activation of the trigger lever 3 pushes the paint needle, or an element, for example an entrainment element or a stopper, that in the axial direction is fixedly connected to the paint needle, respectively, rearward and thus moves the paint needle out of the paint nozzle opening and thus exposes the paint nozzle opening to the material to be sprayed is located between the arms 34a, 34b. The present trigger lever 3 at the lower end has a sculpted region 38 which guarantees a secure grip on the trigger lever for the user of the spray gun. A receptacle installation 40a, 40b in the form of bores which in each case can have one conical region and completely penetrate the front face 31 is incorporated in the front face 31 of the trigger lever 3. This receptacle installation 40a, 40b serves for receiving fastening means 221, 222 of the trigger lock 2. In the present exemplary embodiment, the fastening means 221, 222 are disposed on a gliding rail 22a. A gliding element 22b is mounted so as to glide, that is to say displaceably, on this gliding rail 22a. The gliding element 22b has internal grooves 24 in which webs 26 on the gliding rail 22a engage. The gliding element 22b simultaneously has webs 28 which engage in grooves 29 in the gliding rail 22a. A detent 29a for the webs 28 of the gliding element 22b is located on each lower end of the grooves 29. Bearing faces 30 on the lower end of the webs 28 correspond to the shape of the detents 29a. In the present exemplary embodiment, the detents 29a and the bearing faces 30 that function as mating elements are designed so as to be oblique. A latching cam that is designed as a protrusion 280 which in each case engages in one groove 260 in the web 26 of the gliding rail 22a when the gliding element 22b has reached an upper position on the gliding rails 22a is disposed in the lower region of each of the grooves 24 in the gliding element 22b. By means of this fixing mechanism that is designed as a latching mechanism and is composed of grooves and latching cams it is possible for the position of the gliding element 22b to be fixed on the gliding rail 22a, in particular for the gliding element 22b to be held in an upper position. The trigger lock 2 is preferably moved to the blocking position in that the gliding element 22b is slid to this upper position. Since the force that is created by the activation of the trigger lever 3 and acts on the trigger lock 2 arises so as to be substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement of the gliding element 22b on the gliding rail 22a, the fixing mechanism does not have to be designed so as to fix in a particularly intense manner. The fixing mechanism has to fix the gliding element 22b substantially only in relation to gravity and to minor unintentional contact in the direction of movement of the gliding element 22b on the gliding rail 22a. The gliding element 22b on that outside that faces away from the grooves 24 and webs 28 has an activation region 240 which in the present exemplary embodiment is designed as a curved face, wherein the largest region of the face is substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement of the gliding element 22b on the gliding rail 22a. A simple activation of the trigger lock 2 by the user is possible on account thereof.
[0090] FIG. 4 shows a sectional view of the trigger lever 3 having a fitted trigger lock 2 from FIG. 3, sectioned along a plane through the bores 36a, 36b in the arms 34a, 34b of the trigger lever 3 and through the grooves 24 of the gliding element 22b of the trigger lock 2, with a view toward the inside of the trigger lever 3. It can be seen that the gliding rail 22a tapers toward the bottom, or widens toward the top, respectively, while the gliding element 22b across the entire profile thereof has the same width, except for the lower end of said gliding element 22b in the region of the latching cams that are designed as protrusions 280 and in FIG. 4 lie in the grooves 260 of the gliding rail 22a. The gliding element 22b is thus fixed in an upper position on the gliding rail 22a, preferably in the blocking position. The widening of the gliding rail 22a toward the top ensures further fixing of the gliding element 22b, presently in a friction-engaging manner. As is also shown in FIG. 3, some edges of the gliding rail 22a and of the gliding element 22b have chamfers which facilitate sliding the gliding element 22b onto the gliding rail 22a.
[0091] FIG. 5 shows the exemplary embodiment of a spray gun according to the invention from FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 in a side view. It can be seen that in particular the activation region 240 of the gliding element 22b protrudes rearward from the trigger lever 3. A fixing screw 50 which is disposed about the paint needle 55 and which fixes a needle seal in the gun body 4, for example, can likewise be seen.
[0092] Finally, it is to be pointed out that the exemplary embodiment described only describes a limited selection of potential exemplary embodiments and thus does not represent any limitation of the present invention.
