Sprayer for application of textured finish to surfaces
A sprayer for providing a regulated flow of material to a gun includes apparatus for fixing a substantially-cylindrical stator to a circular port of a pump housing block. Such apparatus includes a pair of clips that are pivotally fixed to the exterior of the pump housing block. The clips are diagonally spaced with respect to the port. Apertures are arranged in the pump housing block to receive crimped portions of the clips to engage apertures within the surface of a collar fixed to an end portion of the stator. By fixing the stator to the pump housing block in a manner that is not subject to rotation, rotation of the rotor with respect to adhesive rubber material within the stator when torque is manually applied to the rotor.
The present application is a continuation-in part of patent application Ser. No. 11/450,812 of inventor Eran Zagorsky titled “Sprayer For Application of Textured Finish to Surfaces” filed Jun. 12, 2006 in the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
BACKGROUND1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to sprayers for use in the application of textured finishes to surfaces. More particularly, this invention pertains to a convenient and user-friendly sprayer unit for jobs of relatively-limited scope.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Texture spray equipment for use in small and medium size jobs that offers quick set-up, easy disassembly, compactness, portability and interchangeability of parts for quick, inexpensive repair has been developed over the years to address the inadequacies of bulky drywall material spraying systems for pumping liquids at job locations. Such bulky systems require mounting onto vehicles or trailers for ease of transportation and are characterized by, for example, large storage tanks that render their usage economical only for large jobs.
Examples of such spray equipment for smaller jobs include the sprayer taught by U.S. Pat. No. 5,967,426 of McLoed covering “Knockdown portable Liquid Drywall Material Spray System and Apparatus” and others. Such systems are typically mounted on a wheelable cart-like frame and interact with a compressor to provide a controllable spray of material for adhering onto a surface.
A hose 24 is fitted to the nozzle 18 to receive the material 14 at a predetermined flow rate. The material hose 24 feeds the flowing material to a gun 26. A second input to the gun 26 comprises an air flow generated by a compressor 28 and delivered through an air hose 30. The relative flow parameters of material 14 through the material hose 24 and air through the air hose 30 to the gun 26 determine the thickness and texture of the resultant material deposited upon a surface.
While texture deposition systems as described above may be configured for suitability for small and medium sized jobs, such equipment is often not user friendly. Although relatively portable, operation of such wheeled equipment is complicated by such limitations as spillage of material from the hopper 12 and shorting of the circuitry of the control box 22 as a result of weather. Furthermore, the sprayer 11 often requires disassembly of the pump 16 after period of extended non-use as a result of adhesion of the internal rotor to a surrounding layer of rubber within the stator.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention addresses the preceding and other shortcomings of the prior art by providing apparatus for fixing an elongated, substantially-cylindrical stator to a pump housing block of a sprayer.
Such apparatus includes a collar fixed exterior and adjacent an end of the stator. The collar has at least one indentation arranged about the circumference of the stator. At least one clip that includes a crimped portion is pivotally engaged to the exterior of the pump housing block.
At least one aperture is provided in the pump housing block. Such aperture is located with respect to a clip so that the crimped portion of the pivotally-mounted clip protrudes within the interior of the pump housing block when the clip is rotated to a closed position to engage an indentation of the collar.
The foregoing and other features of the invention will become further apparent from the detailed description below. Such description is accompanied by a set of drawing figures. Numerals of the drawing figures, corresponding to those of the written description, point to the features of the invention with like numerals referring to like features throughout.
As seen in
A guard 52 overlies the mechanism whereby the output of the motor 38 drives the pump 36. Such mechanism will be appreciated by additional reference to
A mentioned earlier, the drive shaft 56 of the motor 38 is aligned to protrude within the region formed between the inner and outer covers 60 and 62 at the v-shaped opening 58. A small gear is fixed to the end of the drive shaft 56 to engage a timing belt 68 for driving a large gear wheel 70. The large gear wheel 70 will be seen below to be fixed to an end of a drive train for driving the pump 36.
An annular hub 72 is located at the center of the large gear wheel 70 for coupling to a cartridge shaft (not shown) at the end of the drive train of the pump. A upper aperture 74 within the rear cover 60 is aligned with both the center of the annular hub 72 and with an aperture 76 within the front cover 62. As a result, the end of the cartridge shaft is aligned with the aperture 76 when fixed to the annular hub 72. Accordingly, the end of the cartridge shaft is thereby accessible, through the aperture 76 of the front cover 62, without disassembly of the guard 52.
Reference is now made to
The connecting rod 90 is joined to the cartridge shaft 92 and to the rotor 88 by means of dowel pins 98, 100. The stator 84, of conventional design, includes a filled rubber interior 101 within which the rotor 88 is aligned for rotation along the central axis of the elongated internal passageway 86 of the pump housing block 78. Accordingly, the axes of rotation of the elongated rotor 88, the connecting rod 90 and the cartridge shaft 92 are aligned within the pump housing block 78. A collar 102 of molded elastomeric material surrounds the end portion of the stator 84 that seats within the pump housing block 78. The collar 102 is rigidly fixed to the stator 84 by a combination of threading and adhesive, effectively forming a single piece, discussed below.
The free end 103 of the cartridge shaft 92 is polygonal, preferably hexagonally-shaped as seen in
The relationship between the pump housing block 78 and the stator 84 (with collar 102 fixed thereto) is illustrated in the exploded perspective view of
The stator 84 is fixed to a circular port of the pump housing block 78 by insertion of the end that includes the molded collar 102 with the clamps 108 in the open position illustrated in
Viewing the hopper 34 in conjunction with the juxtaposed frame 40, one can see that the hopper 34 is aligned with respect to the transport frame so that the rear panel 118 lies against upstanding tubular frame members 122, 124 that define the back of the frame 40. Such members 122, 124 are positioned to rotate about the axle 44 common to the paired wheels 42. The permits the user to transport the sprayer by rotating the handle 50 downwardly and pushing the device. The lid 120 that covers the rear portion of the hopper 34 prevents the overflow of material from the hopper 34 during such transport. Thus, unlike other knockdown sprayers, one may relocate the sprayer of the invention without first emptying the hopper of drywall or other material prior to manual transport. This additionally simplifies and facilitates the use of the invention.
As can be seen in
Thus it is seen that the present invention provides a user friendly sprayer of the knockdown type. By employing a sprayer in accordance with the claimed invention, the user enjoys numerous user-friendly features. Such features avoid any need to disassemble the sprayer pump after periods of prolonged non-use, permit manual transport of the sprayer while drywall or other material is present in the hopper and allow the device to be left outside during inclement weather.
While the invention has been described with reference to a presently-preferred embodiment, it is not limited thereto. Rather, the invention is limited only insofar as it is defined by the following set of patent claims and includes within its scope all equivalents thereof.
Claims
1. Apparatus for fixing an elongated, substantially-cylindrical stator to a pump housing block of a sprayer comprising, in combination:
- a) a collar, said collar being fixed exterior and adjacent an end of said stator;
- b) said collar having at least one indentation arranged about the circumference of said stator;
- c) at least one clip pivotally engaged to the exterior of said pump housing block;
- d) said at least one clip including a crimped portion;
- e) at least one aperture in said pump housing block, said aperture being located with respect a clip so that said crimped portion of said pivotally-mounted clip protrudes within the interior of said pump housing block when said clip is rotated to a closed position to engage an indentation of said collar.
2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 further comprising:
- a) a plurality of indentations;
- b) a plurality of pivotally-mounted clips; and
- c) a plurality of apertures in said pump housing block.
3. Apparatus as defined in claim 2 further including:
- a) two pivotally-mounted clips; and
- b) two apertures in said pump housing block, each of said apertures being aligned to admit said crimped portion of one of said pivotally-mounted clips.
4. Apparatus as defined in claim 3 further characterized in that:
- a) said collar is substantially annular;
- b) said pump housing block includes a circular port for receiving said collar; and
- c) said clips are spaced diagonally from one another with respect to said circular port of said pump housing block.
5. Apparatus as defined in claim 4 wherein said collar comprises molded elastomeric material.
6. Apparatus as defined in claim 5 wherein said collar includes four indentations.
Type: Application
Filed: Apr 27, 2007
Publication Date: Dec 13, 2007
Inventor: Eran Zagorsky (Northridge, CA)
Application Number: 11/796,513
International Classification: F04B 15/00 (20060101);