Sprayer Nozzle Orientation Control via Segmented Assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Converging sprays in water delivery devices, such as showerheads and faucets, are difficult to control and require high accuracy to achieve the desired directional aim and appearance, with existing manufacturing methods being costly and complex, especially when dealing with closely spaced nozzles and severe undercuts.
Innovation Solution
A sprayer design featuring a spray head, a spray face with channels and apertures, a control ring, and a flexible nozzle assembly that allows for precise orientation of nozzles within nozzle cavities, enabling higher accuracy converging streams using lower cost and complexity manufacturing processes, and accommodating compound angles beyond conventional molding limits without machining.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional manufacturing methods are used to create converging sprays, then manufacturing cost and complexity are high, but manufacturing precision and directional control are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The sprayer is divided into separate functional components: a spray head, a spray face with channels and apertures, a control ring with channels, and a nozzle assembly with individually orientable nozzles. This segmentation allows each component to be manufactured separately using simpler processes, then assembled to achieve the complex converging spray pattern with high directional precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The nozzle assembly includes nozzles that can be individually oriented and positioned within their respective nozzle cavities. This dynamic adjustability during assembly enables precise directional control of each fluid jet to achieve the desired converging spray pattern, while the nozzles themselves can be made with compound angles beyond conventional molding limits.
2Manufacturing precision
If high accuracy converging streams are achieved, then spray pattern precision is improved, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
By dividing the sprayer into separate components (spray head, spray face, control ring, nozzle assembly), each can be manufactured using lower-cost, simpler processes. The precision is achieved through the assembly of these segments rather than through complex single-step manufacturing, reducing overall cost while maintaining high accuracy converging streams.
Solution Approach 2:
The control ring acts as an intermediary component that bridges the spray face and nozzle assembly. It provides channels that align with the spray face channels and apertures to define nozzle cavities, enabling precise positioning and orientation of nozzles to achieve accurate converging streams without requiring expensive direct manufacturing methods.
3Adaptability or versatility
If compound angles beyond molding limits are used, then spray orientation flexibility is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The nozzle assembly is designed to allow nozzles to be individually oriented at compound angles beyond conventional molding limits. The nozzles can be positioned and secured in their cavities at various orientations, providing flexibility in spray direction without requiring complex molded features. This dynamic orientability achieves high adaptability while keeping the manufacturing process relatively simple.
Solution Approach 2:
By separating the nozzle assembly from the main body and allowing individual nozzle orientation, the design achieves compound angles beyond molding limits. Each nozzle can be independently positioned and secured in its cavity, providing versatile spray orientation capability without increasing overall manufacturing complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A sprayer having a spray head configured to receive water; a spray face coupled to the spray head and defining an internal fluid chamber, which is located between the spray face and the spray head and is fluidly connected with the spray head, wherein the spray face includes a plurality of channels and a plurality of apertures; a control ring having a plurality of channels, wherein the control ring is coupled to the spray face so that each channel of the control ring cooperates with one associated channel and one associated aperture of the spray face to define a nozzle cavity; and a nozzle assembly having a mat and a plurality of nozzles coupled to the mat, wherein each nozzle of the plurality of nozzles is disposed in one associated nozzle cavity to control an orientation of the nozzle.