US20140103135A1 - Water gun - Google Patents
Water gun Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US20140103135A1 US20140103135A1 US14/052,615 US201314052615A US2014103135A1 US 20140103135 A1 US20140103135 A1 US 20140103135A1 US 201314052615 A US201314052615 A US 201314052615A US 2014103135 A1 US2014103135 A1 US 2014103135A1
- Authority
- US
- United States
- Prior art keywords
- water
- piston
- chamber
- air
- water gun
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Abandoned
Links
Images
Classifications
-
- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F04—POSITIVE - DISPLACEMENT MACHINES FOR LIQUIDS; PUMPS FOR LIQUIDS OR ELASTIC FLUIDS
- F04B—POSITIVE-DISPLACEMENT MACHINES FOR LIQUIDS; PUMPS
- F04B23/00—Pumping installations or systems
- F04B23/02—Pumping installations or systems having reservoirs
- F04B23/025—Pumping installations or systems having reservoirs the pump being located directly adjacent the reservoir
- F04B23/026—Pumping installations or systems having reservoirs the pump being located directly adjacent the reservoir a pump-side forming a wall of the reservoir
-
- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F41—WEAPONS
- F41B—WEAPONS FOR PROJECTING MISSILES WITHOUT USE OF EXPLOSIVE OR COMBUSTIBLE PROPELLANT CHARGE; WEAPONS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- F41B9/00—Liquid ejecting guns, e.g. water pistols, devices ejecting electrically charged liquid jets, devices ejecting liquid jets by explosive pressure
- F41B9/0003—Liquid ejecting guns, e.g. water pistols, devices ejecting electrically charged liquid jets, devices ejecting liquid jets by explosive pressure characterised by the pressurisation of the liquid
- F41B9/0031—Liquid ejecting guns, e.g. water pistols, devices ejecting electrically charged liquid jets, devices ejecting liquid jets by explosive pressure characterised by the pressurisation of the liquid the liquid being pressurised at the moment of ejection
- F41B9/0037—Pressurisation by a piston
-
- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F41—WEAPONS
- F41B—WEAPONS FOR PROJECTING MISSILES WITHOUT USE OF EXPLOSIVE OR COMBUSTIBLE PROPELLANT CHARGE; WEAPONS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- F41B9/00—Liquid ejecting guns, e.g. water pistols, devices ejecting electrically charged liquid jets, devices ejecting liquid jets by explosive pressure
- F41B9/0087—Liquid ejecting guns, e.g. water pistols, devices ejecting electrically charged liquid jets, devices ejecting liquid jets by explosive pressure characterised by the intended use, e.g. for self-defence, law-enforcement, industrial use, military purposes
-
- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
- Y02A—TECHNOLOGIES FOR ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE
- Y02A90/00—Technologies having an indirect contribution to adaptation to climate change
- Y02A90/40—Monitoring or fighting invasive species
Definitions
- the present invention is related to a repeatable water gun that is pressurized at pressures up to 10,000 psi gas spring pressure and capable of being fired for enhanced cleaning of unwanted materials within water and oil wells, water pipes and other conduits.
- the water gun projects jets of water at high velocity into a well, pipe or conduit for an improved method in the removal of invasive species such as zebra mussels or unwanted flora from within structures and pipes where current systems have limited capability against these infestations.
- the high pressure jets may also be projected into ambient surrounding water for the purpose of causing cavitations in the water which due to ambient water pressure produces a loud sharp report when the cavities collapse upon themselves. The sharp reports may prove effective in combating the spread of invasive species such as Asian carp that has devastating effects on a number of ecological environments.
- Asian carp refers to a number of different species of carp that are highly detrimental to the environment in parts of the United States.
- the U.S. Department of the Interior declared that all silver carp and largescale silver carp to be invasive species and in July 2012 the “Stop Invasive Species Act” requires the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to speed up implementation of strategies to prevent the Asian carp from entering the Great Lake.
- Strategies include electric barriers placed at rivers that flow into the Great Lakes or using toxins that are deadly for fish, but not harmful to humans. These strategies have not been all together successful where as an example a fish kill in Illinois that cost $3 million resulted in 90 tons of dead fish, but only one carp was found among these fish.
- Zebra mussels are another invasive species that are very disruptive and damaging to harbors, waterways, ships, water treatment facilities and power plants. Particularly, water intakes bring the microscopic free-swimming larvae directly into water treatment facilities where the zebra mussels grow and cling onto water pipes and clog them. Removal of these mussels and other infestations from water conduits and wells has proved challenging especially where toxic chemicals that would contaminate the water supply and environment cannot be used. What is needed for the removal of these invasive species is a targeted, effective approach that minimizes detrimental effects on the environment.
- the water gun of the present invention is capable of repeated firing of water jets at pressures up to 10,000 psi gas spring pressure for enhanced cleaning of unwanted materials within oil wells, pipes and other conduits and for the removal of zebra mussels or other sea life infestation from the pipes.
- the high pressure jets may also be projected into ambient surrounding water for the purpose of causing cavitations in the water which due to ambient water pressure produces a loud sharp report when the cavities collapse upon themselves.
- the sharp reports may be used for scaring fish such as Asian carp away from traveling to previously non-invaded areas.
- the water gun should be suspended and submerged with the ejector ports in at least 30 cm (12 in) of water depth with hydraulic and air lines from an external hydraulic pump and compressed air supply extending from the shore or deck of a boat in the area for cleaning, removal and/or to be used as a deterrent for invasive species.
- the air or gas spring chamber may in a first embodiment be pressurized to within a range of 200 psi to 3000 psi and for instance to 1000 psi and the air supply port is then closed.
- the water gun should never be pressurized when it is out of the water. Persons should also not be above or near the pressurized water gun or be in the water within a safe distance of the water gun.
- hydraulic fluid is directed to an extension and retraction hydraulic cylinder to move a reset piston into position to prepare a free piston or ejector piston for firing.
- the hydraulic fluid is preferably a vegetable based hydraulic to prevent pollution in the case of accidental spillage of hydraulic fluid. It is advised that for all hydraulic connections hydraulic non-drip quick disconnects should be used to further prevent spillage of fluid into the body of water.
- the hydraulic pump, fluid lines, and other equipment must all be rated for the pressures the water gun system shall operate at.
- the housing and components of the water gun may accommodate higher pressures within the range of 3000 psi to 10000 dependent upon the requirements for cleaning or invasive species removal.
- the water gun may further be operated using a water pump in place of the hydraulic pump.
- a hydraulic control valve delivers fluid to move a reset piston downwardly.
- the reset piston reaches the bottom of its travel there will be a spike in hydraulic pressure which indicates that the reset piston has latched into the top of the ejector piston.
- the control valve should be reversed which will cause the reset piston to draw up the ejector piston.
- the water gun will trigger and fire.
- the reset piston retains the ejector piston using a latching seal assembly.
- the latching seal assembly includes a sealing ring that seals against the inner edges of a cup formed in the top of the ejector piston.
- the latching seal assembly also includes an outlet passage and check valve seated within a piston flange at the base of the reset piston. The piston flange plugs into the upper cup shaped surface of the top of the ejector piston within the cup forcing air out through the outlet passage opening the check valve and creating a vacuum seal between the reset and ejector pistons.
- the vacuum is broken at the top of travel of the pistons when an outer edge of the ejector piston cup is stopped by a shoulder formed in the chamber housing allowing for the reset piston to pull out of the cup and the air pressure within the chamber to rapidly accelerate the ejector piston forcing water out through the ejector ports.
- the water jets from these ports cause cavitations in the water which due to ambient water pressure produces a loud sharp report when the cavities collapse upon themselves which may be effective to deter invasive species such as Asian carp from entering an area.
- the water gun may be of any dimension and volume to accommodate the requirements necessary for cleaning and removal of a species from an underwater location.
- the water gun may also operate at acceptable pressures with ranges in low pressure designs ranging from 200 psi to 3000 psi or in high pressure designs in a range of 3000 psi to 10000 psi being supplied to the air spring chamber to create higher velocities of water ejecting from the water gun.
- the water gun of the present invention comprises a hydraulic cylinder supplied by a hydraulic pump; a reset piston movable using the hydraulic cylinder; an ejector piston within an air chamber adjacent the hydraulic cylinder, the ejector piston having an air bypass flange; a water ejection chamber having at least one ejection port; and wherein the water gun is submerged and the ejector piston is accelerated by air pressure through the air chamber and water ejection chamber forcing water through the at least one ejection port and into ambient surrounding water for the purpose of causing cavitations in the water which due to ambient water pressure produces a loud sharp report when the cavities collapse upon themselves.
- the water gun further operates with air pressure in the air chamber in a range of pressures from 200 psi to 3,000 psi or at air pressure in the air chamber in a range of pressures from 3,000 psi to 10,000 psi.
- the ejector piston of the water gun is a hollow cylinder having a cup shaped top welded or brazed to close the hollow cylinder.
- the air bypass flange of the ejector piston further comprises a ring bearing installed around the outer diameter of the flange.
- the ejector piston may have a plastic sleeve of ultra high molecular weight polyethylene.
- the ejector piston body is further of a consistent finish and diameter to ride within a bearing and seal that is retained at the lower end of the air chamber and the upper end of the water ejection chamber through which the ejector piston reciprocates.
- the water ejection chamber of the water gun may have more than four ports and a sleeve bearing liner.
- the water ejection chamber may also be removable to provide various nozzle configurations.
- the reset piston of the water further comprises a latching seal assembly to reset the ejector piston for firing.
- the latching seal assembly comprises a latching seal surrounding a flange, the flange having an inlet passage and check valve to evacuate air from a cup formed in the upper portion of the ejector piston and latch the reset piston and ejector piston.
- the water gun may further have the hydraulic cylinder supplied by a water pump.
- the water ejection chamber of the water gun further comprises a dashpot.
- the water gun of claim 1 wherein the water ejection chamber further comprising vents to release any trapped air.
- the present invention is related to an apparatus for the removal of invasive species comprising a hydraulic cylinder supplied by a hydraulic pump; a reset piston movable using the hydraulic cylinder; an ejector piston having an air bypass flange within an air chamber adjacent to the hydraulic cylinder; a water ejection chamber in communication with the free piston; and wherein the water gun is submerged and the free piston is accelerated by air pressure through the air chamber and water ejection chamber forcing water out and into ambient surrounding water producing a loud report to kill invasive species within or deter invasive species from entering an area.
- the present invention is also related to a method of operating a water gun, comprising the steps of supplying a water gun with pressurized high pressure fluid through a first high pressure hose line to move a reset piston in a first direction to capture an ejector piston while returning fluid through a second high pressure hose line; reversing the fluid flow direction so that the second hose will move said reset piston in a second direction while returning fluid through said first hose; and storing energy within said water gun and firing water gun in the same motion.
- the present invention is further related to a method of removal of invasive species from an area, comprising the steps of forming a cylindrical housing having a piston chamber, a pressurized chamber and a water ejection chamber; submerging the cylindrical housing to fill the water ejection chamber; moving a reset piston within the piston chamber to draw an ejector piston having an air bypass flange within the pressurized chamber to a ready to fire position; accelerating the ejector piston through the air chamber and water ejection chamber to generate a loud report.
- This method of removal of invasive species from an area further comprises the step of affixing a latching seal assembly to the reset piston; extending a latching seal assembly out of the piston chamber and into the pressurized chamber; plugging the latching seal assembly into a cup formed in an upper portion of the ejector piston; evacuating air from the cup to form a vacuum and draw the ejector piston to a ready to fire position; halting travel of the ejector piston and pulling the latching seal assembly from the cup thereby breaking the vacuum; providing airflow through the air bypass flange to accelerate the ejector piston through the pressurized chamber and water ejection chamber to generate a loud report.
- the method may further comprise the steps of forming a dashpot in the water ejection chamber and forming the ejector piston with a protective sleeve.
- the method of removal of invasive species may further comprise the step of pressurizing the pressurized chamber to a range of pressures from 200 psi to 3000 psi or to a range of pressures from 3,000 psi to 10,000 psi.
- the method of removal of invasive species from an area of claim 20 further comprising the step of forming a dashpot in the water ejection chamber.
- the method of removal of invasive species from an area may further comprise the step of replacing the water ejection chamber with another water ejection chamber having a different nozzle configuration.
- the method further comprising the step of moving the reset piston using a water pump.
- FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a first embodiment of the water gun of the present invention
- FIG. 2A is a top view of the first embodiment of the water gun of the present invention showing a hydraulic cylinder cap;
- FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view of the hydraulic cylinder cap of the first embodiment of the water gun of the present invention.
- FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view the base of the hydraulic cylinder chamber in the first embodiment of the water gun of the present invention
- FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view of the base of the hydraulic cylinder chamber showing the reset piston flange and latching seal assembly in the first embodiment of the water gun of the present invention
- FIG. 4A is a top view of an ejector piston in the first embodiment of the water gun of the present invention.
- FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view of the upper portion of the ejector piston the first embodiment of the water gun of the present invention
- FIG. 5A is a cross-sectional view of the reset piston latching seal assembly of the first embodiment of the water gun of the present invention
- FIG. 5B is a an exploded cross-sectional view of the attachment of the latching seal to the reset piston latching seal assembly of the first embodiment of the water gun of the present invention
- FIG. 5C is a cross-sectional view of a check valve of the reset piston latching seal assembly of the first embodiment of the water gun of the present invention.
- FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the high pressure gas seal assembly at the base of the air spring chamber of the first embodiment of the water gun of the present invention
- FIG. 7A is a cross-sectional view of the lower portion of the water ejection chamber of the first embodiment of the water gun of the present invention.
- FIG. 7B is a cross-sectional view of the lower portion of the water ejection chamber of the first embodiment of the water gun of the present invention.
- FIGS. 8A-8I are cross-sectional views of a firing and reset sequence of the first embodiment of the water gun of the present invention.
- FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the ejector piston showing metal erosion due to implosion in a first embodiment of the water gun of the present invention.
- FIG. 10 is a further embodiment of the ejector piston having a composite implosion shield
- FIG. 11A is a first embodiment of the ejector piston in a first embodiment of the water gun of the present invention.
- FIG. 11B is a further embodiment of the ejector piston having a composite implosion shield in a further embodiment of the water gun of the present invention.
- FIG. 12 is a further embodiment of the water gun of the present invention capable of high pressures.
- FIG. 1 a cross sectional view of a first embodiment of the compressed air actuated hydraulically cocked water gun 10 of the present invention is shown.
- the water gun 10 is constructed by attaching a hydraulic cylinder section 15 to a first end of an air or gas spring chamber 30 and the second end of the air spring chamber section 30 to a water ejection chamber section 45 .
- the hydraulic cylinder 15 houses a reset piston assembly 13 that has a piston 48 that divides the cylinder 15 into two chambers, an upper extension chamber 18 and a lower retraction chamber 20 .
- An hydraulic cylinder head 12 encloses the extension chamber 18 using a series of bolt circle 11 circumferential spaced from a center point of the hydraulic cylinder 15 , as shown in FIG. 2A .
- a circular O-ring 19 prevents leakage between the hydraulic cylinder head 12 and hydraulic cylinder housing 33 .
- the hydraulic cylinder head 12 provides external ports for the connection of hydraulic and air supply lines.
- the lines are attached vertically in alignment at the top or first end of the hydraulic cylinder 15 to prevent entanglement of the lines as the water gun 10 is fired.
- the vertical attachment also provides for the insertion of the water gun into the opening of a water pipe or well for cleaning and the removal of invasive species.
- the extension chamber 18 is fed through a high pressure non-drip hydraulic quick disconnect line that is attached to the top threaded port 14 that is positioned in the center of the hydraulic cylinder head 12 .
- a second high pressure non-drip hydraulic quick disconnect line is attached to the top threaded port 16 to feed the retraction chamber 20 and is positioned at a distance from the bolt circle of high strength cap screws 11 that secure the outer diameter of the hydraulic cylinder head 12 .
- a perpendicularly drilled passage 17 provides for hydraulic fluid to be fed from port 16 to an opening 23 vertically drilled in the base 25 of the outer cylindrical flange 27 of the hydraulic cylinder head 12 .
- a brazed in plug 29 seals the perpendicularly drilled passage 17 .
- a high-pressure hose feeds the top threaded port 21 for the air supply is similarly positioned at a distance from the bolt circle of high strength cap screws 11 with a perpendicular passage 26 extending to an opening 28 extending vertically from the base 25 of the outer flange 27 .
- Threaded holes 31 in the top surface 33 of the hydraulic cylinder head 12 provide for the attachment of eyebolts to drag or suspend the water gun 10 from the deck of a vessel or from a fixture along the shore, or fixture within a body of water. While references are made to upper, lower, vertical and horizontal, these terms are used merely to describe the relationship of components and not to limit the operation of the present invention to any one orientation.
- the outer circular flange 27 of the hydraulic cylinder head 12 has a larger diameter OD 1 than the diameter OD 2 of the hydraulic cylinder housing 33 as shown in FIG. 2B .
- This difference in diameter provides space for tubing 37 and 38 to extend between flanges F 1 and F 2 along the outside of the hydraulic cylinder 15 and provides access to the vertical openings 23 and 28 , and a flat surface for the heads of bolt circle.
- An O-ring face seal 35 is placed in a recessed formed at opening 23 and the hydraulic fluid passage tubing 37 for the retraction chamber 20 and is welded or brazed to the outer circular flange 27 .
- an O-ring face seal 35 is placed in a recessed formed at opening 28 and the air or gas passage tubing 38 is also welded or brazed to the outer circular flange 27 .
- the tubing is stainless steel or of another non-rusting material of a dimension and specification acceptable at the water gun 10 operational pressures and environment of use.
- the threaded end 42 of the reset piston rod 44 may extend into a cut out area 43 in the hydraulic cylinder head 12 at the upper end of the extension chamber 18 .
- a retaining nut 46 secures the reset piston 48 to the reset piston rod 44 .
- a bearing sleeve 52 provides for the reset piston assembly piston 48 to easily slide along the surface of the inner walls 53 of the hydraulic chamber housing 33 a sliding seal 49 is employed on the outside diameter of the piston 48 to prevent pressurized hydraulic fluid from leaking past the OD of the piston 48 .
- the hydraulic tubing 37 and air tubing 38 extend along the hydraulic cylinder 15 to a flange 55 extending around the outer diameter of the bulkhead 54 that forms base of the hydraulic cylinder housing 33 .
- the outer diameter OD 3 of the bulkhead flange 55 is the same dimension as the outer diameter OD 1 of the hydraulic cylinder head 12 and includes a bolt circle of high-strength cap screws 11 as shown in cross-section A-A of FIG. 3A for the attachment of the hydraulic cylinder 15 to the air spring chamber 30 .
- the hydraulic tubing 37 and air passage tubing 38 are welded or brazed to the upper surface 51 of the flange 55 .
- a perpendicular passage 56 and vertical opening 58 extend to the hydraulic cylinder retraction chamber 20 .
- a perpendicular passage 57 extends to a vertical passage 59 that opens at the lower exterior of the hydraulic cylinder bulkhead 54 to have high pressure air or gas flow into the air spring chamber 30 attached to the hydraulic cylinder chamber 15 as shown in FIG. 3B .
- the piston rod 44 extends through an opening in the hydraulic cylinder bulkhead 54 and the reset piston latching seal assembly 60 is affixed to a flange 50 extending out from the end of the piston rod 44 .
- a seal gland and bearing assembly 62 is installed at the opening of the hydraulic cylinder bulkhead 54 using retaining screws 64 .
- the seal gland and bearing assembly 62 includes a cylindrical bearing 66 , a shaft seal 67 and a backup ring 68 positioned to prevent the shaft seal 67 from extrusion.
- a cylindrical shoulder 72 extends from the lower surface 74 of the bulkhead 54 at a distance from the outer diameter OD 3 to a point that is of a minimally smaller dimension than the outer diameter of the air spring chamber OD 4 minus the wall thickness t of the air spring chamber housing 80 .
- the top surface 82 of the air spring chamber housing 80 has a series of threaded bolt holes and mates with the lower surface 79 of the bulkhead flange 55 to attach the hydraulic cylinder 15 to the air spring chamber 30 .
- the outer surface 76 of the shoulder 72 has a ring seal 78 that mates with the inner surface 84 of the air chamber housing 80 to seal the upper portion of the air spring chamber 30 .
- the shoulder 72 extends inward to a dimension that is minimally larger than the diameter of the latching seal assembly flange 50 creating a recess for the flange 50 .
- the reset piston 48 instead bottoms out against the hydraulic cylinder head 12 at the top of the retraction stroke.
- the ejector piston 90 is installed within the air spring chamber 30 .
- the ejector piston 90 is formed as an enclosed cylindrical housing 91 with an opening on one end and having a bypass air flange 92 that has a series of air bypass holes 94 circumferentially spaced around the outer diameter of the flange 92 as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B .
- the multiple bypass holes 94 extend entirely around the bypass flange 92 providing for the water gun 10 to be compact and efficient. When the water gun 10 is triggered most of the air within the chamber 30 is below the ejector piston bypass flange 92 .
- the bypass air flange 92 of the ejector piston 90 provides for high pressure air to travel from the bottom of the air spring chamber 30 through the bypass holes 94 to the top, accelerating the ejector piston 90 down and forcing water out of the water ejection chamber 45 .
- the ejector piston flange 92 has an outer diameter OD 5 that is minimally smaller than the inner diameter ID 4 of the air spring chamber housing 80 .
- a recess 96 is formed within the outer cylindrical surface of the flange 92 to provide for the installation of a rider ring bearing 98 to tightly fit the ejector piston 90 within the air spring chamber 80 housing and provide for the piston 90 to slide freely along the inner cylindrical wall 84 of the housing 80 .
- the ejector piston 90 has a hollow interior 93 to reduce weight and the upper end cap 102 formed with a rim 104 is inserted into the upper air bypass flange 92 and is seated on a first inner ledge 106 and welded or brazed into place.
- An opening 91 is drilled at the base of the piston during manufacturing to relieve pressure during brazing and is then plugged.
- the substantially flat surface 108 of the end cap 102 is below the upper most surface 112 of the flange 92 forming a cup 110 that has an inner diameter ID 5 that is slightly larger than the outer diameter OD 6 of the latching seal assembly flange 50 of the reset piston assembly 13 .
- the upper most surface 112 may have a radius along the inner rim 114 of the cup 110 to provide for seating the latching seal assembly flange 50 within the cup 110 to form a vacuum to reset the water gun 10 for firing and to fire the water gun 10 by releasing the vacuum.
- the latching seal assembly 60 has a latching seal 120 held in place within a hook shaped retainer recess 121 formed in the outer diameter of the reset piston assembly flange 50 .
- a seal retainer ring 122 is installed within a recessed diameter 125 along either the bottom surface 126 or the top surface 128 of the flange 50 .
- the outer edge 123 of the seal retainer ring 122 is similarly formed in a hook shaped to clamp and squeeze the latching seal 120 forcing the outer surface 127 to extend slightly out from the outer diameter OD 6 of the latching seal assembly flange 50 .
- a check valve 132 is installed within a threaded bore hole 131 drilled from the lower surface 126 of the flange 50 and up into the piston rod 44 .
- the outer surface of the check valve 132 has threads 139 and is installed using a spanner tool that is inserted into spanner holes 138 to twist and secure the check valve 132 in the bore hole 131 .
- a central opening 130 provides for air or gas flow through an inlet passage 133 to the check valve 132 .
- a compression spring 135 maintains the poppet 136 of the check valve 132 in a normally closed position as shown in FIG. 5C .
- An O-ring 137 surrounds the poppet 136 to seal the check valve 132 .
- An outlet passage 134 is drilled through the piston rod 44 to provide for air flow out of the check valve 132 when the latching seal 120 has plugged into the cup 110 of the ejector piston 90 to purge the air from between the lower surface 126 of the flange 50 and the interior surface 108 of the cup 110 .
- the vacuum seal allows the reset piston assembly 13 to draw the ejector piston 90 up and into a ready to fire position.
- the reset piston assembly 13 draws the ejector piston 90 to the uppermost position within the air spring chamber 30 .
- the base 81 of the air spring chamber 30 is formed with an opening that the ejector piston 90 accelerates through when fired into the water ejection chamber 45 to propel water out through a series of ejection ports 150 as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B .
- the bottom surface 83 of the air spring chamber housing 80 has circumferentially spaced threaded bolt holes 85 to attach the water ejection chamber cylinder cap 142 to the air spring chamber 30 using high strength cap screws 11 .
- a shoulder 87 may be formed in the base 81 of the air spring chamber housing 80 and rim 144 in the cylinder cap 142 to align and mate the air spring chamber 30 and ejection chamber 45 .
- a combination bearing and gas seal assembly 146 including a seal 147 , a seal gland and bearing 148 around the ejector piston 90 seals the air spring chamber 30 and allows the bottom 95 of the ejector piston 90 to slide freely through the opening in the base 81 of the air spring chamber 30 .
- a stationary seal 149 on the outside diameter of the bearing 148 prevents the high pressure air or gas from leaking out around the outside diameter of the bearing.
- the ejector piston sleeve bearing 152 is installed along the inner wall surface 154 and vent holes 158 are formed through the base of the 95 of the ejector piston 90 and the sides of the water ejection chamber housing 156 .
- a radius 99 is also formed in the base 95 of the ejector piston 90 to provide for water in the bottom dashpot area of the water ejection chamber 45 to act as a cushion and prevent the ejector piston 90 from striking bare metal of the water ejection chamber housing 156 as it comes to the end of its ejection stroke.
- any number of ejection ports 150 to direct the flow of water out perpendicularly from the water gun 10 may be used based on the requirements for cleaning or invasive species removal.
- the water ejection chamber 45 may further be interchangeable so that different configurations of ejector ports 150 may be used in various applications, multiple ports for pipe or well cleaning or two to four single nozzles 151 for example to target areas of invasive species such as fish or zebra mussels. Any number of nozzles 151 may be employed to narrow and more specifically direct the flow of water from the water gun 10 .
- the water ejection chamber 45 may have an opening at the bottom to propel water directly from base of the water gun 10 .
- the seal gland and bearing assembly 62 are first installed in a recess at the opening in the hydraulic cylinder bulkhead 54 .
- the latching seal 120 , retainer ring 122 and check valve 132 are installed on the flange 50 and the reset piston rod 44 is inserted from the lower exterior 74 of the bulkhead 54 through the opening.
- the piston rod 44 extends to a point where the latching seal assembly flange 50 bottoms out within the recess formed by the bulkhead shoulder 72 .
- the bearing sleeve 52 and sliding seal 49 is installed around the outer cylindrical diameter of the reset piston assembly piston 48 and a recessed seal 63 is installed within a center opening in the reset piston assembly piston 48 forming a seal to separate the extension chamber 18 and retraction chamber 20 .
- the reset piston assembly piston 48 is aligned on the piston rod 44 within the bore 53 of the hydraulic cylinder section 15 and is retained to the rod 44 using the retaining nut 46 .
- the hydraulic cylinder head 12 is then held in place and secured to the hydraulic cylinder housing 33 using high-strength cap screws 11 .
- the high pressure gas seal assembly 146 is installed in the base 81 of the air spring chamber 30 .
- the rider ring bearing 98 is installed around the upper flange 92 of the ejector piston 90 and the ejector piston 90 is inserted through the opening in the top of the air spring chamber and then through the inside diameter of the bearing and seal gland assembly 146 within base 81 .
- the seal 78 is installed in a recess formed in the outer surface 76 of shoulder 72 formed in the hydraulic cylinder bulkhead 54 and the hydraulic cylinder section 15 is inserted into and attached to the air spring chamber housing 80 and secured with bolt circle 11 .
- the water ejection chamber 45 with the desired ejection port 150 and/or nozzle configuration is attached to the base 81 of the air spring chamber 30 with the ejector piston 90 extending through the opening in the chamber 30 .
- the water gun is submerged in ambient water where water flows through the ejection ports 150 filling the water ejection chamber.
- High pressure air within the range of 200 psi to 3000 psi and for instance 1000 psi is supplied to an air spring chamber 30 from a high pressure compressed air supply 8 through the air pressure regulator 7 and a regulated air supply hose and an air supply port 21 .
- a pressure relief valve 9 may be installed on the air supply hose.
- the air supply port 21 may be closed at the source of air pressure to retain pressure the air spring chamber 30 .
- the system controller 2 may be either under manual control or electronically programmed and has hydraulic flow controls to control valves that direct hydraulic fluid to the extension or retraction chambers 18 and 20 to move the reset piston assembly 13 down to extend the latching seal assembly 60 to the ejector piston 90 or up to retract the ejector piston 90 into a ready to fire position.
- an electric motor 4 or other power supply is used to run a hydraulic pump 6 and direct high pressure hydraulic fluid to the hydraulic cylinder 15 of the water gun 10 .
- the water gun may be operated using a water pump (not shown) to replace the hydraulic pump and pump water from the body of water instead of hydraulic fluid. Operation of the water gun 10 would be the same with either pumping system.
- a first hydraulic line 3 directly feeds the upper extension chamber 18 through the delivery port 14 of the hydraulic actuator cylinder 15 .
- a second hydraulic line 5 returns hydraulic fluid from the lower retraction chamber 20 as fluid flows into the extension chamber 18 .
- the reset piston latching seal assembly 60 is separated from the ejector piston 90 where the high pressure air or gas is by-passing the latching seal 120 at the moment of triggering.
- the ejector piston 90 is accelerating downwardly under the force of the gas pressure in the air chamber 30 after release from the reset piston latching seal assembly 60 , while ejecting water from the ports 150 .
- the ejector piston 90 is at about its fastest speed as it ejects water from the ports 150 .
- the ejector piston 90 bottoms out at the end of its stroke, but the water slugs are still moving out of and away from the ports 150 forming the cavities which will collapse after the ambient water stops the momentum.
- the pressure at the points of zero volume may reach hundreds of thousands of pounds of pressure and the implosion of the surrounding water to zero volume out of the ports and back into the ports 150 generates the high energy pulse.
- the bottom surface 157 of the ejector piston has come to a stop or has very slow movement at the bottom of its stroke after it has ejected water from beneath it out through the ejector ports, shown in FIG. 7A .
- a trapped volume (dashpot) of water 163 cushions the ejector piston to a soft stop before the bottom of the piston 90 strikes the bottom 159 of the water ejection chamber 45 to prevent the damaging high speed impact of metal upon metal.
- the reset piston latching seal assembly 60 plugs into the cup 110 at the top of the ejector piston 90 near the end of its downward stroke during which, gas is being pushed out of the space between the bottom face 126 of the latching seal assembly flange 50 and the interior surface 108 of the cup 110 of the ejector piston 90 , through the check valve 132 and out through the small horizontal hole 134 in the reset piston rod 44 communicating with the top portion of the air spring chamber 30 .
- FIG. 8G shows that the reset piston latching seal assembly 60 plugs into the cup 110 at the top of the ejector piston 90 near the end of its downward stroke during which, gas is being pushed out of the space between the bottom face 126 of the latching seal assembly flange 50 and the interior surface 108 of the cup 110 of the ejector piston 90 , through the check valve 132 and out through the small horizontal hole 134 in the reset piston rod 44 communicating with the top portion of the air spring chamber 30 .
- the reset piston latching seal assembly 60 is all the way down and latched into the cup 110 of the ejector piston 90 with the bottom face 126 of the latching seal assembly flange 50 touching the interior surface 108 of the cup 110 of the ejector piston 90 .
- the reset piston assembly 13 draws the ejector piston 90 upwardly while drawing water in through the ports 150 and at the same time compressing the gas within the air spring chamber 30 as the ejector piston 90 progressively takes up volume within the air spring chamber 30 .
- the reset piston assembly 13 reaches the top of its upward stroke it will be in the configuration as shown in FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B at the moment of triggering in the ready to fire position.
- the latching seal 120 traps a volume of the high pressure air within the space as defined by the separation of the flat bottom surface 126 of the reset piston flange 50 and the flat interior surface 108 in the bottom of the cup 110 of the ejector piston 90 .
- This vacuum has significant clamping force where as an example if the sealing diameter at the inside diameter ID 5 of the cup of the ejector piston is 8.9 cm (3.5 inches) and the outer diameter OD 7 of the portion of the ejector piston 90 beneath the cup is 7.6 cm (3.0 inches) then the difference in effective cross sectional area is 6.5 cm 2 (2.56 square inches).
- the ejector piston 90 may have a plastic sleeve 180 of a ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) or other plastic that is resistant to the effects of cavitation that effects metals may be installed using high strength cap screws 182 to surround the piston 90 and protect it from this cavitation damage.
- UHMWPE ultra high molecular weight polyethylene
- either the ejector piston sleeve bearing 152 may be installed along the inner wall surface 154 of the water ejection chamber 45 or alternatively, the UHMWPE plastic sleeve may be installed around the cylindrical body 97 of the ejector piston 90 .
- FIG. 12 A still further embodiment of the water gun 200 with a series of ejector ports 350 for using the water gun for well and pipe cleaning is shown in FIG. 12 .
- the high pressure assembly has an increased wall thickness T HP enclosing the air spring chamber 230 .
- the air spring chamber 230 is secured using a series of high strength cap screws 211 .
- An important feature of this embodiment is that the air intake port 221 and hydraulic ports 214 and 216 , are situated on the top of the hydraulic cylinder 212 and within a smaller diameter than the total diameter of the water gun 200 to provide for the device to be slid up and down within a well without interfering with the sides of the well.
- the high pressure gas seal assembly 346 includes high pressure gas seals 347 , a lower seal gland bearing 348 and a seal gland seal 349 that are capable of the sealing the air spring chamber 230 at pressures up to 10,000 psi are installed to the opening at the base of the air spring chamber housing 280 to support the attachment of a sleeve bearing 352 to the water ejection chamber housing 356 .
- the seal gland 349 is designed with zero to minimum clearance between the ejector piston 290 and the inner diameter of seal gland 349 to prevent extrusion of the high pressure gas seal 347 .
- the sleeve bearing 352 surrounds the delivery end of the ejector piston 290 and assists in directing water flow out and through the ejector ports 350 .
- the base 362 of the water ejection chamber 245 may include for example from 2 to 16 ejector ports 350 to accommodate conduits of different dimensions and different application requirements.
- the water ejection chamber 45 may be removable to provide for different types of ejector port designs to be easily installed to use the high pressure water gun 200 device in different environments and in varied applications. For example, a 4 to 8 port nozzle configuration may be used to scare marine life from an entrance to a water conduit and then be removed and replaced with a 16 port nozzle configuration to scour the inside of a water pipe to remove zebra mussels or other marine infestation.
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Technology Law (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- Nozzles (AREA)
Abstract
A repeatable water gun device for projecting jets of water into ambient surrounding water for the purpose of causing cavitations in the water which when the produced cavities collapse due to ambient water pressure a loud sharp report is caused when the cavities collapse upon themselves. The sharp reports may be used for scaring fish away from the intakes of water pipe lines, for cleaning water wells, and for the removal of zebra mussels or other sea life infestation from water pipes.
Description
- This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/713,945 filed Oct. 15, 2012 entitled Method and Apparatus for Producing Sound Pulses Within Bore Holes, U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/730,430 filed Nov. 27, 2012 entitled Water Gun, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/756,907 filed Jan. 25, 2013 entitled High Pressure Water Gun which are all incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
- The present invention is related to a repeatable water gun that is pressurized at pressures up to 10,000 psi gas spring pressure and capable of being fired for enhanced cleaning of unwanted materials within water and oil wells, water pipes and other conduits. The water gun projects jets of water at high velocity into a well, pipe or conduit for an improved method in the removal of invasive species such as zebra mussels or unwanted flora from within structures and pipes where current systems have limited capability against these infestations. The high pressure jets may also be projected into ambient surrounding water for the purpose of causing cavitations in the water which due to ambient water pressure produces a loud sharp report when the cavities collapse upon themselves. The sharp reports may prove effective in combating the spread of invasive species such as Asian carp that has devastating effects on a number of ecological environments.
- Asian carp refers to a number of different species of carp that are highly detrimental to the environment in parts of the United States. In July 2007, the U.S. Department of the Interior declared that all silver carp and largescale silver carp to be invasive species and in July 2012 the “Stop Invasive Species Act” requires the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to speed up implementation of strategies to prevent the Asian carp from entering the Great Lake. Strategies include electric barriers placed at rivers that flow into the Great Lakes or using toxins that are deadly for fish, but not harmful to humans. These strategies have not been all together successful where as an example a fish kill in Illinois that cost $3 million resulted in 90 tons of dead fish, but only one carp was found among these fish.
- Zebra mussels are another invasive species that are very disruptive and damaging to harbors, waterways, ships, water treatment facilities and power plants. Particularly, water intakes bring the microscopic free-swimming larvae directly into water treatment facilities where the zebra mussels grow and cling onto water pipes and clog them. Removal of these mussels and other infestations from water conduits and wells has proved challenging especially where toxic chemicals that would contaminate the water supply and environment cannot be used. What is needed for the removal of these invasive species is a targeted, effective approach that minimizes detrimental effects on the environment.
- The water gun of the present invention is capable of repeated firing of water jets at pressures up to 10,000 psi gas spring pressure for enhanced cleaning of unwanted materials within oil wells, pipes and other conduits and for the removal of zebra mussels or other sea life infestation from the pipes. The high pressure jets may also be projected into ambient surrounding water for the purpose of causing cavitations in the water which due to ambient water pressure produces a loud sharp report when the cavities collapse upon themselves. The sharp reports may be used for scaring fish such as Asian carp away from traveling to previously non-invaded areas.
- The water gun should be suspended and submerged with the ejector ports in at least 30 cm (12 in) of water depth with hydraulic and air lines from an external hydraulic pump and compressed air supply extending from the shore or deck of a boat in the area for cleaning, removal and/or to be used as a deterrent for invasive species. The air or gas spring chamber may in a first embodiment be pressurized to within a range of 200 psi to 3000 psi and for instance to 1000 psi and the air supply port is then closed. For the safety of personnel and the equipment, the water gun should never be pressurized when it is out of the water. Persons should also not be above or near the pressurized water gun or be in the water within a safe distance of the water gun. After pressurization of the air spring chamber, hydraulic fluid is directed to an extension and retraction hydraulic cylinder to move a reset piston into position to prepare a free piston or ejector piston for firing. The hydraulic fluid is preferably a vegetable based hydraulic to prevent pollution in the case of accidental spillage of hydraulic fluid. It is advised that for all hydraulic connections hydraulic non-drip quick disconnects should be used to further prevent spillage of fluid into the body of water. The hydraulic pump, fluid lines, and other equipment must all be rated for the pressures the water gun system shall operate at. In further embodiments, the housing and components of the water gun may accommodate higher pressures within the range of 3000 psi to 10000 dependent upon the requirements for cleaning or invasive species removal. The water gun may further be operated using a water pump in place of the hydraulic pump.
- To fire the water gun a hydraulic control valve delivers fluid to move a reset piston downwardly. When the reset piston reaches the bottom of its travel there will be a spike in hydraulic pressure which indicates that the reset piston has latched into the top of the ejector piston. At this point the control valve should be reversed which will cause the reset piston to draw up the ejector piston. When the reset piston and ejector piston reach the top of travel the water gun will trigger and fire. By repeating this control sequence the water gun can be fired repeatably as rapidly as every 3 to 4 seconds or faster depending on the size of the water gun and as well as the operating pressures and control system.
- The reset piston retains the ejector piston using a latching seal assembly. The latching seal assembly includes a sealing ring that seals against the inner edges of a cup formed in the top of the ejector piston. The latching seal assembly also includes an outlet passage and check valve seated within a piston flange at the base of the reset piston. The piston flange plugs into the upper cup shaped surface of the top of the ejector piston within the cup forcing air out through the outlet passage opening the check valve and creating a vacuum seal between the reset and ejector pistons. The vacuum is broken at the top of travel of the pistons when an outer edge of the ejector piston cup is stopped by a shoulder formed in the chamber housing allowing for the reset piston to pull out of the cup and the air pressure within the chamber to rapidly accelerate the ejector piston forcing water out through the ejector ports. The water jets from these ports cause cavitations in the water which due to ambient water pressure produces a loud sharp report when the cavities collapse upon themselves which may be effective to deter invasive species such as Asian carp from entering an area.
- The water gun may be of any dimension and volume to accommodate the requirements necessary for cleaning and removal of a species from an underwater location. The water gun may also operate at acceptable pressures with ranges in low pressure designs ranging from 200 psi to 3000 psi or in high pressure designs in a range of 3000 psi to 10000 psi being supplied to the air spring chamber to create higher velocities of water ejecting from the water gun.
- The water gun of the present invention comprises a hydraulic cylinder supplied by a hydraulic pump; a reset piston movable using the hydraulic cylinder; an ejector piston within an air chamber adjacent the hydraulic cylinder, the ejector piston having an air bypass flange; a water ejection chamber having at least one ejection port; and wherein the water gun is submerged and the ejector piston is accelerated by air pressure through the air chamber and water ejection chamber forcing water through the at least one ejection port and into ambient surrounding water for the purpose of causing cavitations in the water which due to ambient water pressure produces a loud sharp report when the cavities collapse upon themselves.
- The water gun further operates with air pressure in the air chamber in a range of pressures from 200 psi to 3,000 psi or at air pressure in the air chamber in a range of pressures from 3,000 psi to 10,000 psi. The ejector piston of the water gun is a hollow cylinder having a cup shaped top welded or brazed to close the hollow cylinder. The air bypass flange of the ejector piston further comprises a ring bearing installed around the outer diameter of the flange. The ejector piston may have a plastic sleeve of ultra high molecular weight polyethylene. The ejector piston body is further of a consistent finish and diameter to ride within a bearing and seal that is retained at the lower end of the air chamber and the upper end of the water ejection chamber through which the ejector piston reciprocates. The water ejection chamber of the water gun may have more than four ports and a sleeve bearing liner. The water ejection chamber may also be removable to provide various nozzle configurations.
- The reset piston of the water further comprises a latching seal assembly to reset the ejector piston for firing. The latching seal assembly comprises a latching seal surrounding a flange, the flange having an inlet passage and check valve to evacuate air from a cup formed in the upper portion of the ejector piston and latch the reset piston and ejector piston. The water gun may further have the hydraulic cylinder supplied by a water pump. The water ejection chamber of the water gun further comprises a dashpot. The water gun of claim 1 wherein the water ejection chamber further comprising vents to release any trapped air.
- The present invention is related to an apparatus for the removal of invasive species comprising a hydraulic cylinder supplied by a hydraulic pump; a reset piston movable using the hydraulic cylinder; an ejector piston having an air bypass flange within an air chamber adjacent to the hydraulic cylinder; a water ejection chamber in communication with the free piston; and wherein the water gun is submerged and the free piston is accelerated by air pressure through the air chamber and water ejection chamber forcing water out and into ambient surrounding water producing a loud report to kill invasive species within or deter invasive species from entering an area.
- The present invention is also related to a method of operating a water gun, comprising the steps of supplying a water gun with pressurized high pressure fluid through a first high pressure hose line to move a reset piston in a first direction to capture an ejector piston while returning fluid through a second high pressure hose line; reversing the fluid flow direction so that the second hose will move said reset piston in a second direction while returning fluid through said first hose; and storing energy within said water gun and firing water gun in the same motion. The present invention is further related to a method of removal of invasive species from an area, comprising the steps of forming a cylindrical housing having a piston chamber, a pressurized chamber and a water ejection chamber; submerging the cylindrical housing to fill the water ejection chamber; moving a reset piston within the piston chamber to draw an ejector piston having an air bypass flange within the pressurized chamber to a ready to fire position; accelerating the ejector piston through the air chamber and water ejection chamber to generate a loud report.
- This method of removal of invasive species from an area further comprises the step of affixing a latching seal assembly to the reset piston; extending a latching seal assembly out of the piston chamber and into the pressurized chamber; plugging the latching seal assembly into a cup formed in an upper portion of the ejector piston; evacuating air from the cup to form a vacuum and draw the ejector piston to a ready to fire position; halting travel of the ejector piston and pulling the latching seal assembly from the cup thereby breaking the vacuum; providing airflow through the air bypass flange to accelerate the ejector piston through the pressurized chamber and water ejection chamber to generate a loud report. The method may further comprise the steps of forming a dashpot in the water ejection chamber and forming the ejector piston with a protective sleeve. The method of removal of invasive species may further comprise the step of pressurizing the pressurized chamber to a range of pressures from 200 psi to 3000 psi or to a range of pressures from 3,000 psi to 10,000 psi. The method of removal of invasive species from an area of
claim 20 further comprising the step of forming a dashpot in the water ejection chamber. The method of removal of invasive species from an area may further comprise the step of replacing the water ejection chamber with another water ejection chamber having a different nozzle configuration. The method further comprising the step of moving the reset piston using a water pump. - These and other features, advantages and improvements according to this invention will be better understood by reference to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings.
- Several embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
-
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a first embodiment of the water gun of the present invention; -
FIG. 2A is a top view of the first embodiment of the water gun of the present invention showing a hydraulic cylinder cap; -
FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view of the hydraulic cylinder cap of the first embodiment of the water gun of the present invention; -
FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view the base of the hydraulic cylinder chamber in the first embodiment of the water gun of the present invention; -
FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view of the base of the hydraulic cylinder chamber showing the reset piston flange and latching seal assembly in the first embodiment of the water gun of the present invention; -
FIG. 4A is a top view of an ejector piston in the first embodiment of the water gun of the present invention; -
FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view of the upper portion of the ejector piston the first embodiment of the water gun of the present invention; -
FIG. 5A is a cross-sectional view of the reset piston latching seal assembly of the first embodiment of the water gun of the present invention; -
FIG. 5B is a an exploded cross-sectional view of the attachment of the latching seal to the reset piston latching seal assembly of the first embodiment of the water gun of the present invention; -
FIG. 5C is a cross-sectional view of a check valve of the reset piston latching seal assembly of the first embodiment of the water gun of the present invention; -
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the high pressure gas seal assembly at the base of the air spring chamber of the first embodiment of the water gun of the present invention; -
FIG. 7A is a cross-sectional view of the lower portion of the water ejection chamber of the first embodiment of the water gun of the present invention; -
FIG. 7B is a cross-sectional view of the lower portion of the water ejection chamber of the first embodiment of the water gun of the present invention; -
FIGS. 8A-8I are cross-sectional views of a firing and reset sequence of the first embodiment of the water gun of the present invention; -
FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the ejector piston showing metal erosion due to implosion in a first embodiment of the water gun of the present invention; -
FIG. 10 is a further embodiment of the ejector piston having a composite implosion shield; -
FIG. 11A is a first embodiment of the ejector piston in a first embodiment of the water gun of the present invention; -
FIG. 11B is a further embodiment of the ejector piston having a composite implosion shield in a further embodiment of the water gun of the present invention; -
FIG. 12 is a further embodiment of the water gun of the present invention capable of high pressures. - In
FIG. 1 , a cross sectional view of a first embodiment of the compressed air actuated hydraulically cockedwater gun 10 of the present invention is shown. Thewater gun 10 is constructed by attaching ahydraulic cylinder section 15 to a first end of an air orgas spring chamber 30 and the second end of the airspring chamber section 30 to a waterejection chamber section 45. Thehydraulic cylinder 15 houses areset piston assembly 13 that has apiston 48 that divides thecylinder 15 into two chambers, anupper extension chamber 18 and alower retraction chamber 20. Anhydraulic cylinder head 12 encloses theextension chamber 18 using a series ofbolt circle 11 circumferential spaced from a center point of thehydraulic cylinder 15, as shown inFIG. 2A . A circular O-ring 19 prevents leakage between thehydraulic cylinder head 12 andhydraulic cylinder housing 33. Thehydraulic cylinder head 12 provides external ports for the connection of hydraulic and air supply lines. The lines are attached vertically in alignment at the top or first end of thehydraulic cylinder 15 to prevent entanglement of the lines as thewater gun 10 is fired. The vertical attachment also provides for the insertion of the water gun into the opening of a water pipe or well for cleaning and the removal of invasive species. - The
extension chamber 18 is fed through a high pressure non-drip hydraulic quick disconnect line that is attached to the top threadedport 14 that is positioned in the center of thehydraulic cylinder head 12. A second high pressure non-drip hydraulic quick disconnect line is attached to the top threadedport 16 to feed theretraction chamber 20 and is positioned at a distance from the bolt circle of highstrength cap screws 11 that secure the outer diameter of thehydraulic cylinder head 12. A perpendicularly drilledpassage 17 provides for hydraulic fluid to be fed fromport 16 to anopening 23 vertically drilled in thebase 25 of the outercylindrical flange 27 of thehydraulic cylinder head 12. A brazed inplug 29 seals the perpendicularly drilledpassage 17. A high-pressure hose feeds the top threadedport 21 for the air supply is similarly positioned at a distance from the bolt circle of highstrength cap screws 11 with aperpendicular passage 26 extending to anopening 28 extending vertically from thebase 25 of theouter flange 27. Threadedholes 31 in thetop surface 33 of thehydraulic cylinder head 12 provide for the attachment of eyebolts to drag or suspend thewater gun 10 from the deck of a vessel or from a fixture along the shore, or fixture within a body of water. While references are made to upper, lower, vertical and horizontal, these terms are used merely to describe the relationship of components and not to limit the operation of the present invention to any one orientation. - The outer
circular flange 27 of thehydraulic cylinder head 12 has a larger diameter OD1 than the diameter OD2 of thehydraulic cylinder housing 33 as shown inFIG. 2B . This difference in diameter provides space fortubing hydraulic cylinder 15 and provides access to thevertical openings ring face seal 35 is placed in a recessed formed at opening 23 and the hydraulicfluid passage tubing 37 for theretraction chamber 20 and is welded or brazed to the outercircular flange 27. Similarly, an O-ring face seal 35 is placed in a recessed formed at opening 28 and the air orgas passage tubing 38 is also welded or brazed to the outercircular flange 27. The tubing is stainless steel or of another non-rusting material of a dimension and specification acceptable at thewater gun 10 operational pressures and environment of use. - The threaded
end 42 of thereset piston rod 44 may extend into a cut outarea 43 in thehydraulic cylinder head 12 at the upper end of theextension chamber 18. A retainingnut 46 secures thereset piston 48 to thereset piston rod 44. Along the outer cylindrical diameter of the resetpiston assembly piston 48, a bearingsleeve 52 provides for the resetpiston assembly piston 48 to easily slide along the surface of theinner walls 53 of the hydraulic chamber housing 33 a slidingseal 49 is employed on the outside diameter of thepiston 48 to prevent pressurized hydraulic fluid from leaking past the OD of thepiston 48. Thehydraulic tubing 37 andair tubing 38 extend along thehydraulic cylinder 15 to aflange 55 extending around the outer diameter of thebulkhead 54 that forms base of thehydraulic cylinder housing 33. The outer diameter OD3 of thebulkhead flange 55 is the same dimension as the outer diameter OD1 of thehydraulic cylinder head 12 and includes a bolt circle of high-strength cap screws 11 as shown in cross-section A-A ofFIG. 3A for the attachment of thehydraulic cylinder 15 to theair spring chamber 30. - The
hydraulic tubing 37 andair passage tubing 38 are welded or brazed to theupper surface 51 of theflange 55. At the end of the hydraulic tubing 37 aperpendicular passage 56 andvertical opening 58 extend to the hydrauliccylinder retraction chamber 20. For theair passage tubing 38, aperpendicular passage 57 extends to avertical passage 59 that opens at the lower exterior of thehydraulic cylinder bulkhead 54 to have high pressure air or gas flow into theair spring chamber 30 attached to thehydraulic cylinder chamber 15 as shown inFIG. 3B . Thepiston rod 44 extends through an opening in thehydraulic cylinder bulkhead 54 and the reset piston latchingseal assembly 60 is affixed to aflange 50 extending out from the end of thepiston rod 44. A seal gland and bearingassembly 62 is installed at the opening of thehydraulic cylinder bulkhead 54 using retaining screws 64. The seal gland and bearingassembly 62 includes acylindrical bearing 66, ashaft seal 67 and abackup ring 68 positioned to prevent theshaft seal 67 from extrusion. - A
cylindrical shoulder 72 extends from thelower surface 74 of thebulkhead 54 at a distance from the outer diameter OD3 to a point that is of a minimally smaller dimension than the outer diameter of the air spring chamber OD4 minus the wall thickness t of the airspring chamber housing 80. Thetop surface 82 of the airspring chamber housing 80 has a series of threaded bolt holes and mates with thelower surface 79 of thebulkhead flange 55 to attach thehydraulic cylinder 15 to theair spring chamber 30. Theouter surface 76 of theshoulder 72 has aring seal 78 that mates with theinner surface 84 of theair chamber housing 80 to seal the upper portion of theair spring chamber 30. Theshoulder 72 extends inward to a dimension that is minimally larger than the diameter of the latchingseal assembly flange 50 creating a recess for theflange 50. To prevent theflange 50 from bottoming out against thebulkhead 54 which may damage the latchingseal assembly 60, thereset piston 48 instead bottoms out against thehydraulic cylinder head 12 at the top of the retraction stroke. - Within the
air spring chamber 30, theejector piston 90 is installed. Theejector piston 90 is formed as an enclosedcylindrical housing 91 with an opening on one end and having abypass air flange 92 that has a series of air bypass holes 94 circumferentially spaced around the outer diameter of theflange 92 as shown inFIGS. 4A and 4B . The multiple bypass holes 94 extend entirely around thebypass flange 92 providing for thewater gun 10 to be compact and efficient. When thewater gun 10 is triggered most of the air within thechamber 30 is below the ejectorpiston bypass flange 92. Thebypass air flange 92 of theejector piston 90 provides for high pressure air to travel from the bottom of theair spring chamber 30 through the bypass holes 94 to the top, accelerating theejector piston 90 down and forcing water out of thewater ejection chamber 45. Theejector piston flange 92 has an outer diameter OD5 that is minimally smaller than the inner diameter ID4 of the airspring chamber housing 80. Arecess 96 is formed within the outer cylindrical surface of theflange 92 to provide for the installation of a rider ring bearing 98 to tightly fit theejector piston 90 within theair spring chamber 80 housing and provide for thepiston 90 to slide freely along the innercylindrical wall 84 of thehousing 80. Theejector piston 90 has ahollow interior 93 to reduce weight and theupper end cap 102 formed with arim 104 is inserted into the upperair bypass flange 92 and is seated on a firstinner ledge 106 and welded or brazed into place. Anopening 91 is drilled at the base of the piston during manufacturing to relieve pressure during brazing and is then plugged. The substantiallyflat surface 108 of theend cap 102 is below the uppermost surface 112 of theflange 92 forming acup 110 that has an inner diameter ID5 that is slightly larger than the outer diameter OD6 of the latchingseal assembly flange 50 of thereset piston assembly 13. The uppermost surface 112 may have a radius along theinner rim 114 of thecup 110 to provide for seating the latchingseal assembly flange 50 within thecup 110 to form a vacuum to reset thewater gun 10 for firing and to fire thewater gun 10 by releasing the vacuum. - As shown in
FIG. 5A , the latchingseal assembly 60 has a latchingseal 120 held in place within a hook shaped retainer recess 121 formed in the outer diameter of the resetpiston assembly flange 50. Using a circle of flat head screws 124, aseal retainer ring 122 is installed within a recesseddiameter 125 along either thebottom surface 126 or thetop surface 128 of theflange 50. Theouter edge 123 of theseal retainer ring 122 is similarly formed in a hook shaped to clamp and squeeze the latchingseal 120 forcing theouter surface 127 to extend slightly out from the outer diameter OD6 of the latchingseal assembly flange 50. Within the central area of the flange 50 acheck valve 132 is installed within a threadedbore hole 131 drilled from thelower surface 126 of theflange 50 and up into thepiston rod 44. The outer surface of thecheck valve 132 hasthreads 139 and is installed using a spanner tool that is inserted intospanner holes 138 to twist and secure thecheck valve 132 in thebore hole 131. Acentral opening 130 provides for air or gas flow through aninlet passage 133 to thecheck valve 132. Acompression spring 135 maintains the poppet 136 of thecheck valve 132 in a normally closed position as shown inFIG. 5C . An O-ring 137 surrounds the poppet 136 to seal thecheck valve 132. - An
outlet passage 134 is drilled through thepiston rod 44 to provide for air flow out of thecheck valve 132 when the latchingseal 120 has plugged into thecup 110 of theejector piston 90 to purge the air from between thelower surface 126 of theflange 50 and theinterior surface 108 of thecup 110. The vacuum seal allows thereset piston assembly 13 to draw theejector piston 90 up and into a ready to fire position. Thereset piston assembly 13 draws theejector piston 90 to the uppermost position within theair spring chamber 30. At this point, theshoulder 72 that extends out from thesurface 74 of thehydraulic cylinder bulkhead 54 contacts theupper surface 112 of theejector piston flange 92 to stop movement of theejector piston 90 while movement of thereset piston assembly 13 continues and pulls thereset piston assembly 13 out of the cup shaped top of theejector piston 90 to the point where the latchingseal 120 reaches the radius formed in therim 114 of thecup 110 letting air flow past the latchingseal 120 and firing theejector piston 90. - As shown in
FIG. 6 , thebase 81 of theair spring chamber 30 is formed with an opening that theejector piston 90 accelerates through when fired into thewater ejection chamber 45 to propel water out through a series ofejection ports 150 as shown inFIGS. 7A and 7B . Thebottom surface 83 of the airspring chamber housing 80 has circumferentially spaced threaded bolt holes 85 to attach the water ejectionchamber cylinder cap 142 to theair spring chamber 30 using high strength cap screws 11. Ashoulder 87 may be formed in thebase 81 of the airspring chamber housing 80 andrim 144 in thecylinder cap 142 to align and mate theair spring chamber 30 andejection chamber 45. A combination bearing andgas seal assembly 146 including aseal 147, a seal gland and bearing 148 around theejector piston 90 seals theair spring chamber 30 and allows the bottom 95 of theejector piston 90 to slide freely through the opening in thebase 81 of theair spring chamber 30. Astationary seal 149 on the outside diameter of thebearing 148 prevents the high pressure air or gas from leaking out around the outside diameter of the bearing. The ejectorpiston sleeve bearing 152 is installed along theinner wall surface 154 and ventholes 158 are formed through the base of the 95 of theejector piston 90 and the sides of the waterejection chamber housing 156. Aradius 99 is also formed in thebase 95 of theejector piston 90 to provide for water in the bottom dashpot area of thewater ejection chamber 45 to act as a cushion and prevent theejector piston 90 from striking bare metal of the waterejection chamber housing 156 as it comes to the end of its ejection stroke. As shown inFIG. 7A and in the cross-sectional view of section B-B inFIG. 7B , any number ofejection ports 150 to direct the flow of water out perpendicularly from thewater gun 10 may be used based on the requirements for cleaning or invasive species removal. Thewater ejection chamber 45 may further be interchangeable so that different configurations ofejector ports 150 may be used in various applications, multiple ports for pipe or well cleaning or two to foursingle nozzles 151 for example to target areas of invasive species such as fish or zebra mussels. Any number ofnozzles 151 may be employed to narrow and more specifically direct the flow of water from thewater gun 10. Alternatively, thewater ejection chamber 45 may have an opening at the bottom to propel water directly from base of thewater gun 10. - To assemble the
water gun 10, the seal gland and bearingassembly 62 are first installed in a recess at the opening in thehydraulic cylinder bulkhead 54. The latchingseal 120,retainer ring 122 andcheck valve 132 are installed on theflange 50 and thereset piston rod 44 is inserted from thelower exterior 74 of thebulkhead 54 through the opening. Thepiston rod 44 extends to a point where the latchingseal assembly flange 50 bottoms out within the recess formed by thebulkhead shoulder 72. The bearingsleeve 52 and slidingseal 49 is installed around the outer cylindrical diameter of the resetpiston assembly piston 48 and a recessedseal 63 is installed within a center opening in the resetpiston assembly piston 48 forming a seal to separate theextension chamber 18 andretraction chamber 20. The resetpiston assembly piston 48 is aligned on thepiston rod 44 within thebore 53 of thehydraulic cylinder section 15 and is retained to therod 44 using the retainingnut 46. Thehydraulic cylinder head 12 is then held in place and secured to thehydraulic cylinder housing 33 using high-strength cap screws 11. The high pressuregas seal assembly 146 is installed in thebase 81 of theair spring chamber 30. The rider ring bearing 98 is installed around theupper flange 92 of theejector piston 90 and theejector piston 90 is inserted through the opening in the top of the air spring chamber and then through the inside diameter of the bearing and sealgland assembly 146 withinbase 81. Theseal 78 is installed in a recess formed in theouter surface 76 ofshoulder 72 formed in thehydraulic cylinder bulkhead 54 and thehydraulic cylinder section 15 is inserted into and attached to the airspring chamber housing 80 and secured withbolt circle 11. Thewater ejection chamber 45 with the desiredejection port 150 and/or nozzle configuration is attached to thebase 81 of theair spring chamber 30 with theejector piston 90 extending through the opening in thechamber 30. - In operation, as shown in
FIGS. 8A-8I , the water gun is submerged in ambient water where water flows through theejection ports 150 filling the water ejection chamber. High pressure air within the range of 200 psi to 3000 psi and for instance 1000 psi is supplied to anair spring chamber 30 from a high pressurecompressed air supply 8 through theair pressure regulator 7 and a regulated air supply hose and anair supply port 21. Apressure relief valve 9 may be installed on the air supply hose. Theair supply port 21 may be closed at the source of air pressure to retain pressure theair spring chamber 30. Thesystem controller 2 may be either under manual control or electronically programmed and has hydraulic flow controls to control valves that direct hydraulic fluid to the extension orretraction chambers reset piston assembly 13 down to extend the latchingseal assembly 60 to theejector piston 90 or up to retract theejector piston 90 into a ready to fire position. Using these manual control valves or anelectronic system controller 2, anelectric motor 4 or other power supply is used to run ahydraulic pump 6 and direct high pressure hydraulic fluid to thehydraulic cylinder 15 of thewater gun 10. In further embodiments, the water gun may be operated using a water pump (not shown) to replace the hydraulic pump and pump water from the body of water instead of hydraulic fluid. Operation of thewater gun 10 would be the same with either pumping system. A firsthydraulic line 3 directly feeds theupper extension chamber 18 through thedelivery port 14 of thehydraulic actuator cylinder 15. A secondhydraulic line 5 returns hydraulic fluid from thelower retraction chamber 20 as fluid flows into theextension chamber 18. As shown inFIG. 8A , theejector piston 90 at the upward end of the system stroke where the reset piston latchingseal assembly 60 is about to separate from the top of theejector piston 90 as theupper surface 112 of theejector piston flange 92 strikes theshoulder 74 of thebulkhead 54. As shown inFIG. 8B , the reset piston latchingseal assembly 60 is separated from theejector piston 90 where the high pressure air or gas is by-passing the latchingseal 120 at the moment of triggering. As shown inFIG. 8C , theejector piston 90 is accelerating downwardly under the force of the gas pressure in theair chamber 30 after release from the reset piston latchingseal assembly 60, while ejecting water from theports 150. As shown inFIG. 8D theejector piston 90 is at about its fastest speed as it ejects water from theports 150. As shown inFIG. 8E , theejector piston 90 bottoms out at the end of its stroke, but the water slugs are still moving out of and away from theports 150 forming the cavities which will collapse after the ambient water stops the momentum. At the exact moment when the cavities collapse (implode) to zero volume the pressure at the points of zero volume may reach hundreds of thousands of pounds of pressure and the implosion of the surrounding water to zero volume out of the ports and back into theports 150 generates the high energy pulse. Also shown inFIG. 8E , thebottom surface 157 of the ejector piston has come to a stop or has very slow movement at the bottom of its stroke after it has ejected water from beneath it out through the ejector ports, shown inFIG. 7A . A trapped volume (dashpot) ofwater 163 cushions the ejector piston to a soft stop before the bottom of thepiston 90 strikes thebottom 159 of thewater ejection chamber 45 to prevent the damaging high speed impact of metal upon metal. - As shown in
FIG. 8F , after firing thereset piston assembly 13 moves downwardly in its stroke to mate with theejector piston 90. As shown inFIG. 8G , the reset piston latchingseal assembly 60 plugs into thecup 110 at the top of theejector piston 90 near the end of its downward stroke during which, gas is being pushed out of the space between thebottom face 126 of the latchingseal assembly flange 50 and theinterior surface 108 of thecup 110 of theejector piston 90, through thecheck valve 132 and out through the smallhorizontal hole 134 in thereset piston rod 44 communicating with the top portion of theair spring chamber 30. As shown inFIG. 8H , the reset piston latchingseal assembly 60 is all the way down and latched into thecup 110 of theejector piston 90 with thebottom face 126 of the latchingseal assembly flange 50 touching theinterior surface 108 of thecup 110 of theejector piston 90. As shown inFIG. 8I thereset piston assembly 13 draws theejector piston 90 upwardly while drawing water in through theports 150 and at the same time compressing the gas within theair spring chamber 30 as theejector piston 90 progressively takes up volume within theair spring chamber 30. When thereset piston assembly 13 reaches the top of its upward stroke it will be in the configuration as shown inFIG. 8A andFIG. 8B at the moment of triggering in the ready to fire position. - When the
flat bottom surface 126 of theflange 50 of the reset piston latchingseal assembly 60 plugs into thecup 110 formed in the top of theejector piston 90, the latchingseal 120 traps a volume of the high pressure air within the space as defined by the separation of theflat bottom surface 126 of thereset piston flange 50 and the flatinterior surface 108 in the bottom of thecup 110 of theejector piston 90. As thebottom surface 126 of thereset piston assembly 13 plugs into thecup 110 of theejector piston 90 the trapped air within that space is purged out through apassage 130 opening acheck valve 132 to release the air through anoutlet 134 into theair spring chamber 30 forming the vacuum when thereset piston assembly 13 starts to move upwardly that provides for thereset piston assembly 13 to move theejector piston 90 into the ready to fire position. - This vacuum has significant clamping force where as an example if the sealing diameter at the inside diameter ID5 of the cup of the ejector piston is 8.9 cm (3.5 inches) and the outer diameter OD7 of the portion of the
ejector piston 90 beneath the cup is 7.6 cm (3.0 inches) then the difference in effective cross sectional area is 6.5 cm2 (2.56 square inches). Therefore, if the assumption is that there was little air left between the flat surfaces and the pressure within the air spring chamber is 6.86 MPa (1000 psi) then as the reset piston assembly flange moves upward compressing the air within the air spring chamber, the 6.5 cm2 (2.56 square inch) difference in area produces a clamping force approaching 11.3 kN (2560 pounds of force) between the flat surfaces of the latching seal flange and interior surface of the cup. - As shown in
FIG. 9 , repeated firing of awater gun 10 and the collapse of the water cavities at the completion of implosion causes metal to be removed creating pits and abrasions in theouter surface 170 of theejector piston 90. To reduce or prevent this issue theejector piston 90 as shown inFIG. 10 may have aplastic sleeve 180 of a ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) or other plastic that is resistant to the effects of cavitation that effects metals may be installed using highstrength cap screws 182 to surround thepiston 90 and protect it from this cavitation damage. As shown inFIGS. 11A and 11B either the ejectorpiston sleeve bearing 152 may be installed along theinner wall surface 154 of thewater ejection chamber 45 or alternatively, the UHMWPE plastic sleeve may be installed around thecylindrical body 97 of theejector piston 90. - A still further embodiment of the
water gun 200 with a series ofejector ports 350 for using the water gun for well and pipe cleaning is shown inFIG. 12 . The high pressure assembly has an increased wall thickness THP enclosing theair spring chamber 230. Theair spring chamber 230 is secured using a series of high strength cap screws 211. An important feature of this embodiment is that theair intake port 221 andhydraulic ports hydraulic cylinder 212 and within a smaller diameter than the total diameter of thewater gun 200 to provide for the device to be slid up and down within a well without interfering with the sides of the well. The high pressuregas seal assembly 346 includes high pressure gas seals 347, a lowerseal gland bearing 348 and aseal gland seal 349 that are capable of the sealing theair spring chamber 230 at pressures up to 10,000 psi are installed to the opening at the base of the airspring chamber housing 280 to support the attachment of asleeve bearing 352 to the waterejection chamber housing 356. Theseal gland 349 is designed with zero to minimum clearance between theejector piston 290 and the inner diameter ofseal gland 349 to prevent extrusion of the highpressure gas seal 347. Thesleeve bearing 352 surrounds the delivery end of theejector piston 290 and assists in directing water flow out and through theejector ports 350. - The
base 362 of thewater ejection chamber 245 may include for example from 2 to 16ejector ports 350 to accommodate conduits of different dimensions and different application requirements. Thewater ejection chamber 45 may be removable to provide for different types of ejector port designs to be easily installed to use the highpressure water gun 200 device in different environments and in varied applications. For example, a 4 to 8 port nozzle configuration may be used to scare marine life from an entrance to a water conduit and then be removed and replaced with a 16 port nozzle configuration to scour the inside of a water pipe to remove zebra mussels or other marine infestation. - The invention has been described in detail with particular reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, but it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention.
Claims (26)
1. A water gun, comprising:
a hydraulic cylinder supplied by a hydraulic pump;
a reset piston movable using the hydraulic cylinder;
an ejector piston within an air chamber adjacent the hydraulic cylinder, the ejector piston having an air bypass flange;
a water ejection chamber having at least one ejection port; and
wherein the water gun is submerged and the ejector piston is accelerated by air pressure through the air chamber and water ejection chamber forcing water through the at least one ejection port and into ambient surrounding water for the purpose of causing cavitations in the water which due to ambient water pressure produces a loud sharp report when the cavities collapse upon themselves.
2. The water gun of claim 1 wherein the air pressure in the air chamber is in a range of pressures from 200 psi to 3,000 psi.
3. The water gun of claim 1 wherein the air pressure in the air chamber is in a range of pressures from 3,000 psi to 10,000 psi.
4. The water gun of claim 1 wherein the ejector piston is a hollow cylinder having a cup shaped top welded or brazed to close the hollow cylinder.
5. The water gun of claim 1 wherein the air bypass flange of the ejector piston further comprising a ring bearing installed around the outer diameter of the flange.
6. The water gun of claim 1 wherein the ejector piston body being of consistent finish and diameter to ride within a bearing and seal.
7. The water gun of claim 6 wherein said bearing and seal being retained at the lower end of the air chamber and the upper end of the water ejection chamber through which the ejector piston reciprocates.
8. The water gun of claim 1 wherein the water ejection chamber having more than four ports.
9. The water gun of claim 1 wherein the water ejection chamber has a sleeve bearing liner.
10. The water gun of claim 1 wherein the ejector piston has a plastic sleeve of ultra high molecular weight polyethylene.
11. The water gun of claim 1 wherein the water ejection chamber is removable to provide various nozzle configurations.
12. The water gun of claim 1 wherein the reset piston further comprising a latching seal assembly to reset the ejector piston for firing.
13. The water gun of claim 12 wherein the latching seal assembly comprising a latching seal surrounding a flange, the flange having an inlet passage and check valve to evacuate air from a cup formed in the upper portion of the ejector piston and latch the reset piston and ejector piston.
14. The water gun of claim 1 wherein the hydraulic cylinder is supplied by a water pump.
15. The water gun of claim 1 wherein the water ejection chamber further comprising a dashpot.
16. The water gun of claim 1 wherein the water ejection chamber further comprising vents to release any trapped air.
17. An apparatus for the removal of invasive species comprising:
a hydraulic cylinder supplied by a hydraulic pump;
a reset piston movable using the hydraulic cylinder;
an ejector piston having an air bypass flange within an air chamber adjacent to the hydraulic cylinder;
a water ejection chamber in communication with the free piston; and
wherein the water gun is submerged and the free piston is accelerated by air pressure through the air chamber and water ejection chamber forcing water out and into ambient surrounding water producing a loud report to kill invasive species within or deter invasive species from entering an area.
18. A method of operating a water gun, comprising the steps of:
supplying a water gun with pressurized high pressure fluid through a first high pressure hose line to move a reset piston in a first direction to capture an ejector piston while returning fluid through a second high pressure hose line;
reversing the fluid flow direction so that the second hose will move said reset piston in a second direction while returning fluid through said first hose; and
storing energy within said water gun and firing water gun in the same motion.
19. A method of removal of invasive species from an area, comprising the steps of:
forming a cylindrical housing having a piston chamber, a pressurized chamber and a water ejection chamber;
submerging the cylindrical housing to fill the water ejection chamber;
moving a reset piston within the piston chamber to draw an ejector piston having an air bypass flange within the pressurized chamber to a ready to fire position;
accelerating the ejector piston through the air chamber and water ejection chamber to generate a loud report.
20. The method of removal of invasive species from an area of claim 19 further comprising the step of affixing a latching seal assembly to the reset piston;
extending a latching seal assembly out of the piston chamber and into the pressurized chamber;
plugging the latching seal assembly into a cup formed in an upper portion of the ejector piston;
evacuating air from the cup to form a vacuum and draw the ejector piston to a ready to fire position;
halting travel of the ejector piston and pulling the latching seal assembly from the cup thereby breaking the vacuum;
providing airflow through the air bypass flange to accelerate the ejector piston through the pressurized chamber and water ejection chamber to generate a loud report.
21. The method of removal of invasive species from an area of claim 19 further comprising the step of pressurizing the pressurized chamber to a range of pressures from 200 psi to 3000 psi.
22. The method of removal of invasive species from an area of claim 19 further comprising the step of pressurizing the pressurized chamber to a range of pressures from 3,000 psi to 10,000 psi.
23. The method of removal of invasive species from an area of claim 19 further comprising the step of forming the ejector piston with a protective sleeve.
24. The method of removal of invasive species from an area of claim 19 further comprising the step of forming a dashpot in the water ejection chamber.
25. The method of removal of invasive species from an area of claim 19 further comprising the step of replacing the water ejection chamber with another water ejection chamber having a different nozzle configuration.
26. The method of removal of invasive species from an area claim 19 further comprising the step of moving the reset piston using a water pump.
Priority Applications (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US14/052,615 US20140103135A1 (en) | 2012-10-15 | 2013-10-11 | Water gun |
Applications Claiming Priority (4)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US201261713945P | 2012-10-15 | 2012-10-15 | |
US201261730430P | 2012-11-27 | 2012-11-27 | |
US201361756907P | 2013-01-25 | 2013-01-25 | |
US14/052,615 US20140103135A1 (en) | 2012-10-15 | 2013-10-11 | Water gun |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
US20140103135A1 true US20140103135A1 (en) | 2014-04-17 |
Family
ID=50474516
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US14/052,615 Abandoned US20140103135A1 (en) | 2012-10-15 | 2013-10-11 | Water gun |
Country Status (2)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (1) | US20140103135A1 (en) |
WO (1) | WO2014062523A1 (en) |
Cited By (6)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
CN106733311A (en) * | 2016-12-29 | 2017-05-31 | 北京东方诚国际钢结构工程有限公司 | A kind of glue spreader system and glue spreading method |
US10031245B2 (en) * | 2013-02-24 | 2018-07-24 | Stephen Chelminski | Device for marine seismic explorations for deposits |
CN109023256A (en) * | 2018-08-24 | 2018-12-18 | 江苏炫智新材料科技有限公司 | A kind of single side substrate under vacuum filming equipment |
JPWO2021251506A1 (en) * | 2020-06-12 | 2021-12-16 | ||
CN114285492A (en) * | 2021-12-21 | 2022-04-05 | 杭州字节光信科技有限公司 | Underwater visible light communication assembly and communication flow thereof |
US20240075696A1 (en) * | 2022-05-25 | 2024-03-07 | Enerage Inc. | Composite material manufacturing equipments |
Families Citing this family (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
CN105334530A (en) * | 2015-11-25 | 2016-02-17 | 西安微谱数字能源科技开发有限公司 | Three-dimensional VSP (Vertical Seismic Profile) measuring cylinder type moving seismic source device |
CN111068268A (en) * | 2019-11-28 | 2020-04-28 | 江苏医药职业学院 | Badminton ball taking device |
Citations (7)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US3379273A (en) * | 1963-11-12 | 1968-04-23 | Bolt Associates Inc | Powerful sound impulse generation methods and apparatus |
US4608675A (en) * | 1979-07-11 | 1986-08-26 | Bolt Technology Corporation | Land seismic source method and apparatus |
US4712202A (en) * | 1984-02-13 | 1987-12-08 | Bolt Technolgy Corporation | Method and apparatus for converting an air gun into a hydro gun for marine seismic impulse generation |
US4798261A (en) * | 1986-07-03 | 1989-01-17 | Bolt Technology Corporation | Small powerful hydro gun |
US4835746A (en) * | 1984-01-24 | 1989-05-30 | Institut Francais Du Petrole | Device for producing soundwaves in water |
US6240943B1 (en) * | 1999-05-18 | 2001-06-05 | Loren C. Smith | Method and apparatus for maintaining a constant ratio of gases in a mixture subject to steady state and intermittent flow conditions |
CN201916185U (en) * | 2010-12-27 | 2011-08-03 | 山东金鹏石化设备有限公司 | Hollow plunger piston |
Family Cites Families (5)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US4185714A (en) * | 1975-04-18 | 1980-01-29 | Davies Chadwick O | Implosive acoustic generator |
FR2436403A1 (en) * | 1978-09-18 | 1980-04-11 | Inst Francais Du Petrole | DEVICE FOR TRANSMITTING ACOUSTIC WAVES INTO A LIQUID, BY IMPLOSION |
US4234052A (en) * | 1978-11-13 | 1980-11-18 | Bolt Associates, Inc. | Method and apparatus for generating seismic impulses using high pressure water pump as the energizing source |
US4603409A (en) * | 1984-05-29 | 1986-07-29 | Jaworski Bill L | Marine seismic acoustic source |
US4779245A (en) * | 1985-08-06 | 1988-10-18 | Bolt Technology Corporation | Long-life, low-maintenance air gun/hydro gun |
-
2013
- 2013-10-11 US US14/052,615 patent/US20140103135A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 2013-10-11 WO PCT/US2013/064710 patent/WO2014062523A1/en active Application Filing
Patent Citations (7)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US3379273A (en) * | 1963-11-12 | 1968-04-23 | Bolt Associates Inc | Powerful sound impulse generation methods and apparatus |
US4608675A (en) * | 1979-07-11 | 1986-08-26 | Bolt Technology Corporation | Land seismic source method and apparatus |
US4835746A (en) * | 1984-01-24 | 1989-05-30 | Institut Francais Du Petrole | Device for producing soundwaves in water |
US4712202A (en) * | 1984-02-13 | 1987-12-08 | Bolt Technolgy Corporation | Method and apparatus for converting an air gun into a hydro gun for marine seismic impulse generation |
US4798261A (en) * | 1986-07-03 | 1989-01-17 | Bolt Technology Corporation | Small powerful hydro gun |
US6240943B1 (en) * | 1999-05-18 | 2001-06-05 | Loren C. Smith | Method and apparatus for maintaining a constant ratio of gases in a mixture subject to steady state and intermittent flow conditions |
CN201916185U (en) * | 2010-12-27 | 2011-08-03 | 山东金鹏石化设备有限公司 | Hollow plunger piston |
Cited By (7)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US10031245B2 (en) * | 2013-02-24 | 2018-07-24 | Stephen Chelminski | Device for marine seismic explorations for deposits |
CN106733311A (en) * | 2016-12-29 | 2017-05-31 | 北京东方诚国际钢结构工程有限公司 | A kind of glue spreader system and glue spreading method |
CN109023256A (en) * | 2018-08-24 | 2018-12-18 | 江苏炫智新材料科技有限公司 | A kind of single side substrate under vacuum filming equipment |
JPWO2021251506A1 (en) * | 2020-06-12 | 2021-12-16 | ||
JP7473644B2 (en) | 2020-06-12 | 2024-04-23 | 株式会社アーステクニカ | Crushed state determination device and crushed state determination method |
CN114285492A (en) * | 2021-12-21 | 2022-04-05 | 杭州字节光信科技有限公司 | Underwater visible light communication assembly and communication flow thereof |
US20240075696A1 (en) * | 2022-05-25 | 2024-03-07 | Enerage Inc. | Composite material manufacturing equipments |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
WO2014062523A1 (en) | 2014-04-24 |
Similar Documents
Publication | Publication Date | Title |
---|---|---|
US20140103135A1 (en) | Water gun | |
EP2959326B1 (en) | Device for marine seismic explorations for deposits | |
US9188122B1 (en) | Valve and seat assembly for high pressure pumps and method of use | |
US8505583B2 (en) | Method and apparatus for generating high-speed pulsed fluid jets | |
US10082137B2 (en) | Over pressure relief system for fluid ends | |
US5927329A (en) | Apparatus for generating a high-speed pulsed fluid jet | |
USRE48356E1 (en) | Air cannon and associated launch canister for a line-fouling system | |
US10996040B2 (en) | Method and apparatus for rendering safe unexploded ordnance found underwater | |
US4863101A (en) | Accelerating slugs of liquid | |
US4712202A (en) | Method and apparatus for converting an air gun into a hydro gun for marine seismic impulse generation | |
US3817335A (en) | Airgun repeater powered pile driver | |
JP3131211B2 (en) | Sound source | |
WO2006027562A1 (en) | Wellbore-external underwater pump | |
US4753316A (en) | Seismic source | |
US4762277A (en) | Apparatus for accelerating slugs of liquid | |
US10031245B2 (en) | Device for marine seismic explorations for deposits | |
EP2487103A1 (en) | Actuator apparatus | |
DK202070832A1 (en) | Submersible water lifting assembly and automatic fire fighting system for unmanned platforms having said system | |
WO2015003179A4 (en) | Blowout preventer, flow regulator and recovery device | |
US3888033A (en) | Underwater weapon | |
KR102341113B1 (en) | Underwater air tacker | |
RU2739221C1 (en) | Hydraulic drive protection system | |
RU2409946C1 (en) | Underwater repellent sound generator | |
US20170219147A1 (en) | Method and Apparatus for Disconnection of Hoses and Other Conduits | |
US5128907A (en) | Marine acoustic source |
Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
---|---|---|---|
STCB | Information on status: application discontinuation |
Free format text: ABANDONED -- FAILURE TO PAY ISSUE FEE |