Pivotable syphon tube
AssigneeWagner Spray Tech Corporation
InventorsJoseph W. Kieffer, Scott R. Carpenter
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A spray gun assembly having a paint cup, a removable lid, a pivotable syphon tube unit rotatably secured to the lid and having an intake end located inside the paint cup, and a handle attached to the pivotable syphon tube unit exterior of the paint cup above the lid. The pivotable syphon tube unit is rotatable in the lid to permit manually positioning the intake end to the lower most region of the paint cup so that the intake end stays immersed in liquid when the spray gun assembly is tilted to a particular position.
Claims19
A hand-held spray gun assembly having a spray gun and a pivotable syphon tube unit operable over a sprayable tilt range, the spray gun assembly comprising:
- a paint cup having:
- a closed bottom end;
- a side portion connected to and extending up from the bottom end to an open top end and together with the bottom end adapted to retain liquid tending to flow by gravity towards the bottom end, wherein the paint cup is operable to retain the liquid when the paint cup is tilted within a sprayable tilt range;
- and
- a lowermost region located inside the paint cup proximate the bottom end and a lowest part of the side portion such that when the paint cup is tilted within the sprayable tilt range, liquid collects by gravity in the lowermost region;
- a lid removably secured to the top end of the paint cup and having a bore therethrough;
- a pivotable syphon tube unit passing through the bore of the lid and rotatably secured therein, the syphon tube unit including:
- an upper portion rotatably connected to the lid and having a rigid hollow upper syphon tube for carrying liquid to a paint gun;
- and
- a lower portion located inside the paint cup and having a rigid hollow lower syphon tube with an intake end located proximate the bottom end and the side portion of the paint cup for drawing liquid from the paint cup;
- sealing means positioned between the paint gun and the pivotable syphon tube for sealing an interface therebetween;
- and
- an actuating mechanism rigidly connected to the pivotable syphon tube unit for manually pivoting the intake end relative to the spray gun to draw liquid from the lowermost region of the paint cup when the spray gun assembly is tilted within the sprayable tilt range;
- and wherein
- the lid has a central axis and the bore in the lid is centered about the central axis and the pivotable syphon tube unit is rotatable thereabout and the lower syphon tube further has a radially outward bend with respect to the central axis so that the intake end is located proximate the bottom end and the side portion of the paint cup;
- and further wherein
- the actuating mechanism includes a handle rigidly connected to the upper portion of the pivotable syphon tube unit exterior of the paint cup above the lid, and further wherein the handle is pivotable about the central axis to rotate the pivotable syphon tube unit to position the intake end in the lowermost region of the paint cup.
A method of repositioning an intake end of a syphon tube in a paint cup of a spray gun assembly relative to a spray gun of the spray gun assembly for operation within a sprayable tilt range comprising the steps of:
- providing a spray gun assembly having sealing means positioned between the spray gun and the syphon tube for sealing an interface therebetween;
- tilting the spray gun assembly to a desired angle to facilitate painting a desired surface;
- and
- manually moving an actuating mechanism external of the paint cup and connected to a syphon tube to a particular angular position with respect to the paint cup to orient an intake end of the syphon tube to a predetermined desired region of the paint cup such that the intake end is positioned at a lowermost region of the paint cup.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.