WO1992022364A1

WO1992022364A1 - Water gun for ejecting continuous stream of water

Info

Publication number: WO1992022364A1
Application number: PCT/US1991/004293
Authority: WO
Inventors: Alan B. Amron
Original assignee: Talk To Me Programs, Inc.
Priority date: 1991-06-17
Filing date: 1991-06-17
Publication date: 1992-12-23

Abstract

The invention relates to a water gun for ejecting a liquid stream. The problem associated with existing water guns is the pumping element usually can not eject a continuous stream of liquid. The watergun ejects liquid in a continuous stream as a result of a pump (22) driven by a battery-powered (12) motor (16). The pump (22) can be formed by two gears (46, 48) fitting within respective pump chambers (42, 44), and rotated to draw liquid into the pump housing (40) and forcibly eject liquid through an outlet (36) during activation of the battery-powered (12) motor (16).

Description

^' WATER GUN FOR EJECTING CONTINUOUS STREAM

OF WATER

The present invention relates to a battery- powered water gun which can eject water in a continuous stream when the trigger is activated.

Waterguns having a pump which is battery powered are known, such as the waterguns disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 4,022,350 and U.S. Patent No. 4,750,641. Waterguns, however, typically serve to pump water from the gun in intermittently, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a truly continuous stream of water through the use of a rotary pump instead of the normal piston pump used in water guns.

It is, therefore, the object of the present invention to provide a watergun which includes a rotary pump which can be driven by a battery- powered motor to eject water from the watergun in a truly continuous stream.

According to the present invention, a watergun has a battery-powered motor connected to a rotary pump formed by a gear-type mechanicism situated within the housing. Preferably, the gear-type mechanicisms includes two rotary gears having approximately ten teeth each which fit within respective chambers of a pump housing, and rotate with the gears interacting. In this way, it has been found that battery life can be extended with the pump providing a continuous stream of water upon actuation of the trigger. Additionally, it has be been found that the water-transfer tubes leading from a water reservoir to the pump and the outlet tube to the nozzle of the watergun should be made rigid in order to enhance battery life.

These and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become more apparent from a review of the more detailed disclosures below, made in connection with the following drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a watergun according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an exploded view illustrating the pump housing of the watergun illustrated in Fig. 1. Fig. 1 illustrates a watergun having a housing 10 which may take any form desired. The housing 10 includes a battery pack 12 connected through a switch 14 to an electric motor 16. The switch 14 is designed to be closed upon actuation of the trigger 18 to energize the motor 16 as would be well understood in the art.

The motor 16 has a rotary output shaft 18 connected to the pump 22. A water reservoir 24 is provided, and the water reservior can be removable to provide additional capacity for the watergun. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the water reservoir includes an inlet 26 which has an elastomeric member 28 connected at the lower portion thereof which can be self- closing to seal the water reservoir.

A rigid tube 30 can be inserted through the elastomeric member 28 to provide access to the water within the water reservoir 24, and the rigid tube is connected to the intake 32 of the pump 22. Additionally, the out take tube 34 is also perferably rigid and extends to a restricted nozzle 36. Fig. 2 is an exploded view of the pump 22, and includes a lower pump housing 40 which has two cavities 42 and 44 adapted to receive rotary gear elements 46 and 48. Gear elements 46 and 48 fit within the respective cavities 42 and 44, and as illustrated in the drawing, can interlock with one another.

The pump is sealed by an upper housing 50 which serves as a gear housing receiving oil ring 52 and oil ring cover 54. Gears 56 and 58 are received within the gear housing and connected through shaft 60 extending through the gear housing cover 62 to the motor 16.

Alternatively, instead of the dual-gear arrangement illustrated in the drawing, a single, toothed gear rotating within an elliptic cavity has been found to provide adequate pumping force to eject a continuous stream from the exit nozzle 36.

As understood in the art, the rotation of the gear elements 46 and 48 through energizmg the motor will draw water from the reservoir 28 through the inlet opening 32 of the pump housing and enable water to be forcibly ejected from the outlet 34 upon rotation of the gears 46 and 48.

Claims

I Claim 6

1. A water gun for continuously ejecting a stream of water, including a housing containing a motor, a battery pack for energizing the motor, a trigger mechanicism for closing an electric circuit between the battery pack and the motor, and a pump connected through an appropriate gear mechanicism to said motor, said pump including a gears fitting within respective cavities to forcible eject water from a watergun upon activation of a trigger mechanicism.

2. A water gun according to claim I, further including rigid inlet tubes to the pump housing from a water reservoir, and a rigid outlet tube from the pump to an ejection nozzle of the watergun.