US3495780A - Spotting gun - Google Patents

Description

United States Patent 3,495,780 SPOTTING GUN Peter D. Rasmussen, Milwaukee, and Norman A. Buckley,

Wauwatosa, Wis., assignors to McGraw-Edison Company, Elgin, 11]., a corporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 15, 1968, Ser. No. 705,849 Int. 'Cl. Bb 9/08 US. Cl. 239-530 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to a portable hand held gun for discharging steam and/or air from a flexible conduit, as commonly practiced in the dry cleaning field, and particularly relates to an improved connection of the conduit to the gun and its disposition relative to a heat insulated handle for the gun.

-In the commercial dry cleaning of garments, it is common to condition the garment with steam and/or air discharged from a portable hand held gun connected in turn to a flexible supply conduit. The gun, being hand held and portable, is particularly suitable for locally conditioning the garment such as over spots thereon, However, since steam is discharged from the gun, the metal components of the gun become heated and capable of rather severely burning the user of the gun should the user accidentally touch any exposed metal component. Even though the handle for the gun and the flexible conduit are insulated, certain metal components such as the conduit connections, are exposed.

Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide a portable hand held steam and/or air dispensing gun having an insulated handle that completely covers and shields the conduit connection to the gun.

A more detailed object of this invention is to provide a portable hand held dispensing gun having a metallic body and a heat insulated tubular sleeve connected to the metallic body and extending over and completely covering the connection between the conduit and the gun.

Another object of this invention is to provide in a steam dispensing gun according to the preceding object a sufliciently large insulated tubular sleeve so that it freely and loosely receives the end of the conduit to permit the conduit to be angled rather extensively away from the handle for oifering high mobility to the gun With minimum flexure of the conduit.

Another object of this invention is to provide a portable hand held gun having several major components which can be readily assembled and disassembled relative to one another for easy replacement and cleaning of the components.

These and other objects will be more fully understood and appreciated after reviewing the following specification, the accompanying drawing forming a part thereof, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a preferred embodiment of the subject portable dispensing gun;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view as seen generally from the longitudinal center of the gun shown in FIG, 1; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the subject gun, showing it in a partially disassembled manner.

3,495,780 Patented Feb. 17, 1970 In the drawing, a fluid dispensing or spotting gun 10 is shown and includes a metallic body 12 having an appropriate discharge nozzle 14 and a handle 16 of a heat insulating material connected to the body. A flexible conduit or hose 18 is connected in fluid communicating relationship to body 12 for discharge from the nozzle, the hose extending through the handle 16.

The body 12 includes a stem 20 (FIG. 2) having a throughbore 21, and a head 22 secured. to the stem and having an opened end cavity 25 which communicates with the throughbore 21. The stem and head are secured together in any appropriate manner as by means of weld 27. The nozzle 14 is of one piece construction and includes a threaded section 30 which is adapted to cooperate with threaded tap 31 on the head 22. The nozzle 14 has a through opening 34 which permits discharge from the cavities 21 and 25, An O-ring' 36 is confined between shoulder 37 on the nozzle and the head 22 to provide both a fluid tight seal between these components as well as to maintain the nozzle in any rotatably adjusted position. In this regard, the discharge end of nozzle opening 34, as seen at 40, is generally rectangular to discharge a pattern of fluid therefrom, so that it is possible by rotating the nozzle to orient this rectangular opening relative to the head 22.

The handle 16 includes a form 46 which has a central bore 47 to be received over a smooth. bore section of the stem 20 and be held against an intermediate shoulder 48 on the stem by nut 49 threaded onto threaded end 50 of the stem. A tubular sleeve 52 having an internally threaded section 54 is secured to threaded section 56 of the form 46, and gasket 58 is confined between the sleeve and shoulder 60 of form 46. The sleeve 52 has an inner bore 62 which is significantly larger than the hose 18 and thus freely accommodates the hose therewithin.

The threaded end 50 of the stem extends beyond the nut 49 and is thus capable of receiving a threaded fitting 66 on the hose 18. The fitting includes spaced annular walls 71 and 72 that confine mechanically and in fluid sealed relation the end of the hose, a base 73 connected to the walls, and a nut 74 rotatably mounted on the base and having flange 73a confined by the base. The nut is adapted to be threaded onto the stem and establish a fluid seal at seat 70 between the fitting and the stem. Hose 18 includes an inner tubular body 76 Which communicates with the throughbore 22 and an insulating covering 78..A spiral wire spring 80 is received over the fitting 66 and over approximately 2 to 4 inches of the end of the hose and helps to prevent excessive bending of the hose beyond some minimum radius of curvature. The hose combination shown is typical and forms no part of the subject invention.

The handle sleeve 52 extends in length beyond the end of the wire spring 80 and thus completely covers the fitting 66 and any metal component of the hose that is normally at a high temperature. An insert 84 is snugly received in bore 62 of the sleeve and has a contoured inner edge 86 that is shaped convexly away from the inner bore of the sleeve. This smooth surface readily accommodates flexure of the hose over it and minimizes hose failure. Moreover, since the connection of the hose to the gun at the fitting 66 is some distance from the contacting edge 86 of the handle and since the handle bore 62 loosely receives the hose, the hose can angle quite a bit from the longitudinal axis of the handle even as it engages the convex edge to improve the mobility of the gun even more.

It thus is apparent that the subject gun has great mobility in use in that the hose can be quite extensively angled away from the longitudinal axis of the handle while yet not subjecting the hose to critical bending. Moreover, the hose connection and surrounding handle construction provide for a rather short and small, and thus a rather lightweight gun. Since all metal components on the hose and its connection to the gun are covered and insulated, the user is protected against accidental burning.

While only a single embodiment has been disclosed, it will be obvious that many variations can be provided which do not depart from the inventive concept, so that it is requested that the scope of the subject invention be limited only by the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A portable hand held gun for directing steam and/ or air from a flexible conduit toward a garment for conditioning the garment, the combination comprising a body element having a throughbore; a threaded outlet tap on the body element surrounding one end of the throughbore; a nozzle threaded onto the tap of the body element over one end of the throughbore; an O-ring confined between the nozzle and the body element for sealing said nozzle to said throughbore; a threaded stem on the body element surrounding the opposite end of the throughbore; said conduit being threaded onto the stem over the other end of the throughbore and sealed to said throughbore; and handle means for the body element including an upstanding projection on the body element, an annular form received over the body element against the projection, a nut threaded onto the stern for holding the form against the projection, and a tubular element received over and being threaded onto and secured to a threaded section of the form, the tubular element having an interior bore substantially larger than the conduit and freely receiving the conduit therein, the tubular element at its end opposite the form having a convexly flared interior edge for engaging the conduit during normal movements of the gun, and the form and tubular element each being of a heat insulating material.

2. A gun according to claim 1, wherein a metallic coil spring fits over the end of the conduit adjacent the body element and is confined entirely within the tubular element.

3. A gun according to claim 1, wherein the nozzle has an outlet opening of elongated cross section to effect an elongated spray pattern, and wherein the nozzle can be rotated relative to the body element and held in any rotative position by the O-ring.

4. A gun according to claim 1, wherein an annular plug is secured to the tubular element at the end thereof opposite the annular form, and wherein the plug is contoured to define the previously mentioned convexly flared interior edge.

5. A gun according to claim 1, wherein the longitudinal axis of the stem is coincidental with the longitudinal axis of the tubular element, and wherein the nozzle extends with its outlet opening disposed at a sharp angle relative to this coincidental longitudinal axis.

6. A portable hand held gun for directing hot fluid from a flexible conduit, the combination comprising a body element having a throughbore; a nozzle on the body element over one end of the throughbore; means on the body element surrounding the opposite end of the throughbore adapted to provide a mechanically fast and fluid sealed connection to said conduit; and handle means for the body element including a first stop on the body element, an annular form received over the body element against the first stop, a second stop removably cooperating with the body element between the first stop and the conduit connection means for holding the form against the first stop, and a tubular element received over and removably secured to a circumferential section of the form spaced radially from the body element, the tubular element having an interior bore substantially larger than the conduit and freely receiving the conduit therein and extending over the second stop, the conduit connection means, and part of the conduit, the tubular element at its end opposite the form having a convexly flared interior edge for engaging the conduit during normal movement of the gun, and the form and tubular element each being of a heat insulating material.

7. A gun according to claim 6, wherein the nozzle is a separate element rotatably secured to the body element, wherein said nozzle has an elongated opening to create an elongated spray pattern, and wherein means including an O-ring confined between the nozzle and the body element provide a fluid seal between these components and also resiliently hold the components against rotation.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 995,017 6/1911 Keevil 239530 X 1,955,846 4/ 1934 Campbell 239-288 X 2,054,307 9/1936 Taylor 239-530 X 2,231,199 2/1941 Smith 239-530 X 2,564,818 8/1951 Schwartz 68222 X SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Primary Examiner

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