WO2011015849A1

WO2011015849A1 - Domestic liquid spraying device

Info

Publication number: WO2011015849A1
Application number: PCT/GB2010/051246
Authority: WO
Inventors: Martin Butler; John Guy; Patrick Heskins; Paul O'reilly
Original assignee: Reckitt & Colman (Overseas) Limited
Priority date: 2009-08-07
Filing date: 2010-07-29
Publication date: 2011-02-10
Also published as: GB0913812D0

Abstract

A domestic liquid spraying device (1) is described, the device comprises a fluid reservoir portion (2), a body portion (4) and an actuator portion (15), there being a fluid pathway from the reservoir portion, through the body portion to the actuator portion; the fluid reservoir portion comprises a substantially rigid liquid container (3) for containing a volume of liquid therein and an aperture; the body portion closes the aperture of the liquid container and houses a liquid pump therein, at least a part of the body portion is rotatable relative to the liquid container, the rotatable part (6) of the body portion is operably connected to the liquid pump, the liquid pump comprises a dose chamber (7) having a one-way valve (11) at an opening thereof, and a liquid conduit that extends from the one-way valve into the liquid container, the liquid pump further comprises a movable piston (9) that is operable, in use, to be movable in a substantially upward direction in response to rotation of the rotatable part of the body portion, the liquid pump further comprises a spring (16) biased to oppose any upward movement of the piston.

Description

Domestic Liquid Spraying Device

Field of the Invention

This invention relates to liquid spraying device and more particularly to a liquid spraying device that does not use chemical propellants and yet which produces a spray performance that is identical or similar to the spray performance of an aerosol spray canister using a standard chemical propellant such as a VOC or compressed gas.

Background

Conventional aerosol spray canisters are well known and are efficient at spraying a quantity of liquid into its surrounding environment. Their performance is well suited to spraying domestic liquids due to the distance they are able to throw the particles and because chemical propellants can be incorporated therein which instantaneously evaporate to assist in the mechanical break-up of the sprayed liquid. However, there is increasing environmental will to cease the use of such chemical propellants.

Liquid spraying devices that do not use chemical propellants are well known, various liquid spraying devices have been devised which are hand operated and which can spray in mist form many commonly used liquids. For instance trigger sprayers are hand operated and are commonly used to spray single doses of domestic liquids. Whereas there are other types of hand operated sprayers capable of spraying personal care liquids in a semi-continuous manner (i.e. for a duration of greater than one second). The person care liquids suitable for use with such existing sprayers include liquids such as hair sprays, perfumes, toilet waters, deodorants and the like.

One such personal care liquid sprayer is operable to pump a small quantity of liquid to be sprayed from a container to a chamber wherein the liquid is pressurised by the force of a spring to spray the liquid from the device. Specifically this liquid sprayer comprises a spray head that is rotatably mounted on the liquid container and functions to set the device into a loaded or pre-pressurised state through the manual rotation of the spray head relative to the liquid container, this in turn causes a piston to move within the chamber against the direction of bias of a spring to draw liquid into the chamber. As the piston moves against the bias of the spring the spring is progressively compressed so that, once in the loaded position, the spring acts to urge the piston in the opposite direction of the spring bias to pressurise the liquid drawn into the dose chamber. The device is operated by a user actuating of a push button discharge valve. Upon actuation, the piston starts its movement under the action of the compressed spring, producing a localised mist of 'wet' particles. Here "localised" means throwing particles less than 40cm from the device and "wet" means that more than an insignificant proportion of the particles thrown from the device have a size greater than 100μm.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved hand operated domestic liquid spraying device that is suitable for use with domestic liquids.

Summary of Invention

According to a first aspect there is provided a domestic liquid spraying device comprising:

a fluid reservoir portion, a body portion and an actuator portion, there being a fluid pathway from the reservoir portion, through the body portion to the actuator portion;

the fluid reservoir portion comprises a substantially rigid liquid container for containing a volume of liquid therein and an aperture;

the body portion closes the aperture of the liquid container and houses a liquid pump therein, at least a part of the body portion is rotatable relative to the liquid container,

the rotatable part of the body portion is operably connected to the liquid pump,

the liquid pump comprises a dose chamber having a one-way valve at an opening thereof, and a liquid conduit that extends from the one-way valve into the liquid container, the liquid pump further comprises a movable piston that is operable, in use, to be movable in a substantially upward direction in response to rotation of the rotatable part of the body portion, the liquid pump further comprises a spring biased to oppose any upward movement of the piston, the liquid pump further comprises a cut-off mechanism configured to cooperate with a liquid return means wherein said mechanism and said means are operable, in use, to release pressure out of the dose chamber immediately before a quantity of liquid contained in said dose chamber is exhausted;

the actuator portion comprises an actuator having an actuator valve and an outlet nozzle;

characterised in that

the spring is configured to impart a force of greater than substantially 0.11b/mm² toward the piston, the torque required to rotate the rotatable part of the body portion is configured to be within the range of substantially 0.75 - 2.4Nm, the dose chamber is sized to contain up to substantially 5ml of liquid, the spray rate is configured such that it is between substantially 0.3 -

1.2g/s, and the device is configured, in use, to throw liquid particles at least 40cm from the outlet nozzle.

In the context of the present invention the term "domestic liquid spraying device" is understood to relate to liquids for use in domestic applications such as: air freshening formulations; pesticides; insecticides; bactericides; hard surface cleaners; detergents; disinfectants; odour neutralizers; and the like. The commonality between these domestic applications being that they are for application remote from the user of the device such as for into the atmosphere of a room or on a remotely located surface rather than for applications in close proximity to the user such as for personal care/personal fragrancing liquids and the like. The domestic liquids for use with the device of the present invention do not contain chemical propellants, thus any break up of the liquid into particles is entirely by mechanical means derived from the operation of the device.

Preferably the spring is configured to impart a force of between substantially 0.10 - 0.25lb/mm² toward the piston, and more preferably configured to impart a force of between substantially 0.15 - 0.20lb/mm² toward the piston, and most preferably is configured to impart a force of between substantially 0.16 - 0.18lb/mm² toward the piston.

Preferably the device is configured such that the torque required to rotate the rotatable part of the body portion is within the range of substantially 0.80 - 2.0Nm, and more preferably the torque required to rotate the rotatable part of the body portion is within the range of substantially 0.90 - 1.8Nm, and most preferably the torque required to rotate the rotatable part of the body portion is within the range of substantially 1.00 - 1.7Nm.

Preferably the dose chamber is sized to contain between substantially 1.4 - 5.0ml of liquid, more preferably the dose chamber is sized to contain between substantially 2.0 - 4.0ml of liquid, and most preferably the dose chamber is sized to contain between substantially 3.0 - 3.5ml of liquid.

Preferably the spray rate is configured such that it is between substantially 0.4 - 1.1 g/s, more preferably the spray rate is configured such that it is between substantially 0.5 - 1.0g/s, and most preferably the spray rate is configured such that it is between substantially 0.7 - 0.9g/s.

Preferably the device is configured, in use, to throw liquid particles at least 60cm from the outlet nozzle, more preferably the device is configured, in use, to throw liquid particles at least 80cm from the outlet nozzle, and most preferably the device is configured, in use, to throw liquid particles at least 100cm from the outlet nozzle.

Preferably the particle size of substantially all of the liquid sprayed from the device, in use, is less than substantially 100μm, more preferably the particle size of substantially all of liquid sprayed from the device, in use, less than substantially 80μm, most preferably the particle size of substantially all of liquid sprayed from the device, in use, is less than substantially 75μm.

The liquid container may be made from any suitable substantially rigid material but a plastics material is preferred. The body portion is preferably provided with a slide member operably engaged between the rotatable part of the body portion and the movable piston, and the body portion preferably houses a guide means between the slide member and said body portion. In a preferred arrangement rotation of the rotatable part of the body portion is operable to cause the guide means to bear against the slide member to rotate and urge said slide member upwards which in turn may urge the piston upwards. The guide means may be provided by a ball bearing or the like.

The device is preferably provided with venting means to permit the ingress of air from the exterior of the device to the interior of the liquid container to substantially replace the volume of sprayed liquid, this arrangement may, in use, ensure the device does not suffer from a build up of negative pressure which may prevent the spraying performance of the device and may also prevent the liquid container from panelling; panelling being a phenomenon whereby the liquid container partially collapses in on itself in response to the negative pressure imparted on its interior. In a preferred arrangement, the liquid return means may also function as the venting means.

The cut-off mechanism is provided to release pressure out of the dose chamber immediately before a quantity of liquid contained in said dose chamber is exhausted, this ensures that substantially all of the liquid sprayed from the device is sprayed with the required throw performance and preferable particle size performance. Without the assistance of chemical propellants to assist in breaking up the liquid into particles, the absence of the cut-off mechanism could result in the final quantity of liquid exiting the nozzle with substandard properties of throw and/or particle size, this in turn may tend to cause the liquid to dribble on to a user's hand or to pool on a nearby surface or to potentially clog the nozzle, all clearly being undesirable.

The cut-off mechanism may be provided by the fluid pathway between the actuator portion and the body portion being facilitated by a hollow stem that has a length configured to terminate at a position immediately above the top of the piston. In this preferred arrangement when the piston is at its lowest position the hollow stem is not in contact therewith, however, as soon as the piston is raised in response to rotation of the rotatable body portion, the hollow stem enters in or engages with the top part of the piston. Conversely it will be appreciated that with this arrangement, in use, when the actuator valve is opened, liquid will be forced through the hollow stem toward the nozzle via the force of the spring against the piston urging the piston toward its starting position. Further, before all of the liquid in the dose chamber is forced into the hollow stem, the stem will be disengaged with the piston and the remaining liquid will not be transmitted to the nozzle but may be transferred back to the liquid container or dose chamber via the liquid return means. The cut-off mechanism may be provided by the dose chamber being sized to possess a greater diameter at its lower extremity than the diameter of the piston, the remainder of the chamber having a diameter substantially the same as the diameter of the piston for water-tight cooperation therewith. In this arrangement when the actuator valve is open and liquid is being sprayed, the piston is urged by the spring toward its lower position and before reaching its lowest position the base of the piston enters the enlarged diameter area which permits liquid to pass around the side of the piston causing a substantially immediate loss of pressure within the device and a substantially immediate cut-off of the sprayed liquid. The liquid return means in this arrangement may be located toward the top of the chamber in which the piston moves and may simply comprise an opening to permit the non-sprayed liquid to return to the reservoir.

The outlet nozzle is preferably provided with an insert configured to provide a tortuous route and/or a restricted route and/or assist in causing the liquid passing thereby to swirl, thus improving the mechanical break-up of the liquid into particles.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the following drawings in which:

Fig. 1 illustrates a cross-section of a device according to the present invention.

Description of an Embodiment

The domestic liquid spraying device 1 comprises liquid container 2 for holding a reservoir 3 of liquid to be sprayed, the container 2 has an aperture in the top part thereof which is filled with a body portion 4. The body portion 4 has a rotatable part 6 which a user may rotate, in use, relative to the container 2. An actuator portion 5 is located on the top part of the body portion 4 and has a nozzle 15 with a mechanical break-up insert engaged therein to facilitate the break-up of the liquid into particles when being sprayed.

The container 2 may be provided with internal threads or the like which are configured to mate with corresponding threads on the body portion 4. The body portion 4 could be connected to the container 2 via a snap-fit connection. The body portion 4 is provided with a slide member 8 operably engaged between the rotatable part 6 of the body portion 4 and a movable piston 9. The body portion 4 houses a guide means 10 between the slide member 8 and said body portion. (Although not shown) the slide member is provided with grooves in the exterior surface thereof, said grooves being shaped to receive the guide means 10 therein. As will be discussed in more detail later, rotation of the rotatable part 6 of the body portion 4 is operable to cause the guide 10 means to bear against the slide member 8 to rotate and urge said slide member 8 upwards which in turn may urge the piston 9 upwards.

The piston is suitably sealed with a one-way valve 11 at an opening thereof. The piston 9 is slidably mounted within the dose chamber 7 and is provided with a central aperture 12 which is suitably sealed until penetrated with a hollow stem 13 which forms a liquid-tight engagement therewith when the piston 9 is raised above its starting position. The hollow stem 13 is fixed with respect to an actuator valve 14 and is formed of a substantially rigid material that is sufficiently rigid not to cause the stem to bend when subjected to a considerable force acting axially thereon. The hollow stem 13 is capable of serving as an additionally directional guide for the piston 9 when engaged therewith but also completes a liquid pathway between the reservoir 3 and the nozzle 15.

The grooves in the slide member 8 are preferably a pair of diametrically opposed axial grooves each of which is adapted to receive the guide means 10, said guide means being provided via a ball bearing or the like. The grooves and guide means 10 cooperate whereby the rotational motion of the rotatable part 6 is converted into the vertical upward movement of the slide member 8 against the bias of the compression spring 16, the upward movement of the slide member 8 in turn causes vertical upward movement of the piston 9.

The actuator portion 5 comprises an actuator valve 14 in liquid communication with the nozzle 15. An actuator button 17 is connected to the valve 14 and is capable upon being depressed of opening the valve 14.

Although not shown the body portion 4 may be provided with venting means to permit the ingress of air from the exterior of the device to the interior of the liquid container to substantially replace the volume of sprayed liquid, this arrangement may, in use, ensure the device 1 does not suffer from a build up of negative pressure which may prevent the spraying performance of the device and may also prevent the liquid container 2 from panelling; panelling being a phenomenon whereby the liquid container 2 partially collapses in on itself in response to the negative pressure imparted on its interior.

To operate the device 1 , the container 2 may be held in one hand and the user's other hand rotates the rotatable part 6 of the body portion relative to the container in a clockwise direction. The torque required to rotate the rotatable part of the body portion is configured to be within the range of substantially 0.75 - 2.4Nm. This rotation will cause the guide means 10 to bear against the grooves of the slide member 8 causing an upward movement of the slide member within the body portion 4. The slide member 8 will in turn cause and upward movement of the piston 9. This upward movement of the piston 9 progressively compresses the spring 16 which bears thereagainst. Further upward movement of the piston 9 permits the hollow stem 13 to be received within the piston aperture 12. Simultaneously with the upward movement of the piston 9, the volume of the dose chamber 7 is increased creating a negative pressure therein which acts to open the one-way valve 11 and permit liquid from the reservoir 3 to enter the chamber.

When the slide member 8 is moved to its uppermost position, the slide member will be rotated such that the guide means 10 is brought into registry with a substantially vertical section of grooves which permits the force of the fully compressed spring 16 to acts downwardly on the slide member 58, thereby tending to move the same downwardly to the extent the groove permits thus pressurising the liquid which in the dose chamber 7 between the one-way valve 11 and the actuator valve 14 - this is the 'charged' position in which the dose chamber can contain up to substantially 5ml of liquid.

When in the charged position, once the button 17 is depressed, the actuator valve14 is opened to release pressurised liquid from the dose chamber 7 through the hollow stem 13 into the liquid pathway to the nozzle 15. The pressure exerted on the liquid in the dose chamber 7 by the spring 16 is greater than substantially 0.1lb/mm² and in combination therewith the fluid pathway, particularly the nozzle 15 and any insert therein are tuned to permit a spray rate of between substantially 0.3 - 1.2g/s. The resulting liquid particles are thrown at least 40cm from the outlet nozzle, but preferably much further.

Whilst the liquid is being sprayed the slide member 8 is progressively moved downwardly by the action of the spring 16 toward its starting position. The hollow stem 13 is sized to terminate at a position immediately above the piston aperture 12 when the piston 9 is at its lowermost position. Thus, the hollow stem 13 disengages from the piston aperture 12 immediately before the piston reaches its lowermost position. The piston 9 is provided with one or more valve mechanisms (not shown) that communicates with the interior of the container to permit remaining liquid to re-enter the container 2.

The valve mechanisms of the cut-off mechanism remain closed whilst the hollow stem 13 is engaged with the piston aperture 12 so that the pressure in the chamber is transmitted toward the actuator valve 14. However, once the hollow stem 13 and piston aperture 12 are disengaged the valve mechanisms are opened and the pressure in the chamber 7 decreases rapidly to atmospheric pressure thus causing the spray device to immediately cease spraying pressurised liquid from the nozzle 15 and returning the unsprayed liquid to the container 2.

All of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), and/or all of the steps of any method or process so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where at least some of such features and/or steps are mutually exclusive.

Each feature disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings) may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.

The invention is not restricted to the details of the foregoing embodiment(s). The invention extends to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), or to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the steps of any method or process so disclosed.

Claims

1. A domestic liquid spraying device comprising:

characterised in that

the spring is configured to impart a force of greater than substantially 0.1lb/mm² toward the piston, the torque required to rotate the rotatable part of the body portion is configured to be within the range of substantially 0.75 - 2.4Nm, the dose chamber is sized to contain up to substantially 5ml of liquid, the spray rate is configured such that it is between substantially 0.3 -

2. The spraying device according to claim 1 , wherein the spring is configured to impart a force of between substantially 0.10 - 0.25lb/mm² toward the piston, and more preferably configured to impart a force of between substantially 0.15 - 0.20lb/mm² toward the piston, and most preferably is configured to impart a force of between substantially 0.16 - 0.18lb/mm² toward the piston.

3. The spraying device according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the device is configured such that the torque required to rotate the rotatable part of the body portion is within the range of substantially 0.80 - 2.0Nm, and more preferably the torque required to rotate the rotatable part of the body portion is within the range of substantially 0.90 - 1.8Nm, and most preferably the torque required to rotate the rotatable part of the body portion is within the range of substantially 1.00 - 1.7Nm.

4. The spraying device according to any preceding claim, wherein the dose chamber is sized to contain between substantially 1.4 - 5.0ml of liquid, more preferably the dose chamber is sized to contain between substantially 2.0 - 4.0ml of liquid, and most preferably the dose chamber is sized to contain between substantially 3.0 - 3.5ml of liquid.

5. The spraying device according to any preceding claim, wherein the spray rate is configured such that it is between substantially 0.4 - 1.1 g/s, more preferably the spray rate is configured such that it is between substantially 0.5 - 1.0g/s, and most preferably the spray rate is configured such that it is between substantially 0.7 - 0.9g/s.

6. The spraying device according to any preceding claim, wherein the device is configured, in use, to throw liquid particles at least 60cm from the outlet nozzle, more preferably the device is configured, in use, to throw liquid particles at least 80cm from the outlet nozzle, and most preferably the device is configured, in use, to throw liquid particles at least 100cm from the outlet nozzle.

7. The spraying device according to any preceding claim, wherein the particle size of substantially all of the liquid sprayed from the device, in use, is less than substantially 100μm, more preferably the particle size of substantially all of liquid sprayed from the device, in use, less than substantially 80μm, most preferably the particle size of substantially all of liquid sprayed from the device, in use, is less than substantially 75μm.

8. The spraying device according to any preceding claim, wherein the body portion is provided with a slide member operably engaged between the rotatable part of the body portion and the movable piston, and the body portion houses a guide means between the slide member and said body portion.

9. The spraying device according to claim 8, wherein rotation of the rotatable part of the body portion is operable to cause the guide means to bear against the slide member to rotate and urge said slide member upwards which in turn urges the piston upwards.

10. The spraying device according to any preceding claim, wherein the device is provided with venting means to permit the ingress of air from the exterior of the device to the interior of the liquid container to substantially replace the volume of sprayed liquid.

11. The spraying device according to any preceding claim, wherein the outlet nozzle is provided with an insert configured to provide a tortuous route and/or a restricted route and/or assist in causing the liquid passing thereby to swirl.