Spray nozzle

A pump-action nozzle device configured to enable fluid to be dispensed from a container in the form of a spray, said nozzle having a body which defines an internal chamber having an inlet through which fluid may be drawn into said chamber and an outlet separate from the inlet through which fluid present in the chamber may be expelled from the nozzle, said inlet comprising an inlet valve adapted to only permit fluid to flow into the chamber through the inlet when the pressure within the chamber falls below the pressure within the container by at least a minimum threshold amount and said outlet comprising an outlet valve configured to only permit fluid to flow out of the chamber and be expelled from the nozzle when the pressure therein exceeds the external pressure at the outlet by at least a predetermined threshold amount, and wherein at least a portion of the body which defines said chamber is configured to:

• (a) resiliently deform from an initial resiliently biased configuration to a distended or deformed configuration in response to the application of a pressure, whereby the volume of said chamber defined by said portion of the body is reduced as said portion of the body is deformed from said initial configuration to said distended or deformed configuration, said reduction in volume causing the pressure within the chamber to increase and fluid to be ejected through the outlet valve;
• and
• (b) subsequently return to its initial resiliently biased configuration when the applied pressure is removed, thereby causing the volume of the chamber to increase and the pressure therein to fall such that fluid is drawn into the chamber through the inlet valve;
• characterized in that the outlet of the device comprises an outlet orifice and an outlet passageway that connects the outlet valve and the outlet orifice and is adapted to generate a spray of the fluid ejected through the outlet orifice during use, and in that the body of the device is formed entirely from a rigid material or entirely from a flexible material or is at least partly formed as a bi-injection molding, and in that the device is arranged such that, in use, a user can apply pressure directly to a portion of the body defining the chamber in order to deform said deformable portion of the body from its initial configuration to its deformed configuration.