Air Masking Nozzle
AssigneeNIKE, Inc.
InventorsDragan Jurkovic, Che-Sheng Chen, Chien-Liang Yeh
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A nozzle dispenses a material, such as an adhesive, primer, paint, or other coating, through a dispensing port on to a substrate. The spray pattern provided by the nozzle defines, at least in part, an application pattern of the material on to the substrate. An air mask port integral with the nozzle or a separate nozzle expels a mask stream of pressurized gas. The mask stream projects toward the substrate to aid in limiting an application of the material beyond an application line on the substrate. The air-mask port and the dispensing port may be moved relative to the substrate and/or the application line such that the mask stream provides a barrier to the material being applied.
Claims20
A nozzle comprising:
- a dispensing port positioned on the nozzle and effective to dispense a material by a pressurized fluid stream through the nozzle at the dispensing port;
- and
- an air-mask port, the air-mask port peripherally positioned on the nozzle relative to the dispensing port and effective to expel a pressurized fluid stream through the nozzle at the air-mask port, wherein a cross-section area of the air-mask port in a horizontal plane is less than a cross-sectional area of the dispensing port in the horizontal plane.
A material dispensing system, comprising:
- a first nozzle having a dispensing port positioned on the first nozzle and effective to dispense a material by a pressurized fluid stream through the first nozzle at the dispensing port, the first nozzle having a dispensing axis extends through the dispensing port in a direction the material is dispensed;
- and
- a second nozzle having an air-mask port, the air-mask port effective to expel a gas by a pressurized fluid stream through the second nozzle at the air-mask port, wherein a masking axis extends through the air-mask port in a direction the gas is discharged, wherein the dispensing axis and the masking axis intersect at a distance greater than 5 cm from the dispensing port.
A material dispensing system, comprising:
- one or more nozzles;
- a dispensing port positioned on the one or more nozzles and effective to dispense a material by a pressurized fluid stream through the one or more nozzles at the dispensing port;
- and
- an air-mask port peripherally positioned on the one or more nozzles relative to the dispensing port and effective to expel a pressurized fluid stream through the one or more nozzles at the air-mask port.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.