drywall mud pump invention supplier

Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan Republic, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde Islands, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Côte d"Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon Republic, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Croatia, Republic of the Congo, Romania, Rwanda, Saint Helena, Saint Kitts-Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Turks and Caicos Islands, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vatican City State, Vietnam, Wallis and Futuna, Western Samoa, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Introducing the industry’s first cordless powered loading pump for drywall mud. Designed to fill all automatic taping and finishing tools. PowerFill totally eliminates the need to manually pump. Now you can quickly fill with just the push of a button.

Never Hand Pump Again. Single-button pumping eliminates fatigue and injury associated with manual pumping. Pumps up to 3.5 gpm for lightning-fast filling and up to 55 gallons on a single battery charge for all-day filling. Programmable to refill tools automatically with Precision Fill.

Founded in 1979 by a drywall contractor, Columbia Taping Tools is now the strongest privately-held drywall tool manufacturer in North America — and still 100% family owned and operated. Our commercial grade drywall taping tools are designed, fabricated, engineered and assembled in Canada from quality American steel, rubber, plastic and aluminum. Learn more about us, and what Columbia taping tools can do for your business.

Automatic Taping Tools are more powerful and efficient than traditional hand tools. Whether you"re a drywall professional, remodeler, or DIY, automatic taping tools achieve better results in half the time. Drywall Loading Pumps (mud pumps) are compound pumps that use Gooseneck and Box Fillers Adaptors to fill drywall taping and finishing tools. All-Wall offers the largest selection of Loading Pumps from top brands such as TapeTech, Columbia, Asgard, Graco, and Drywall Master.

Columbia Taping Tools commercial grade drywall taping tools are designed, fabricated, engineered and assembled in Canada from quality American steel, rubber, plastic and aluminum. After being run on our CNC machines, each Columbia product is hand-assembled in North America then thoroughly checked for quality control before being shipped. Built to work as hard as you do. MP33A Filler Gasket for Columbia Mud Pump

Have you ever wondered about the origins of your automatic drywall taping tool in all your years as a contractor? Did it ever cross your mind to discover the history of this tool and its evolution?

With all your experience, it makes sense to know all you can know about this tool to help make your job easier. Read up on the history of the automatic drywall taping tool and learn about this device that allows you to produce precise results.

In 1939, brothers Bob and Stan Ames invented the taping tool in Georgia. They were painters and plasterers who came up with the first drywall taping tool known as the Corner Stone. The Corner Stone applied joint compound to seams using air pressure and a long hose.

The brothers started a production line of taping tools from this first invention that revolutionized the drywall industry. In 1945, the brothers invented the precursor of today’s Bazooka (automatic taper). By 1951, Bob Ames had created the first drywall boxes, nail spotters, and the automatic taper.

The standard way contractors applied their drywall was with a hawk and trowel (pan) and knife method. To tape the seams, you would use a tube full of joint compound with paper tape attached to apply both products in one motion. Naturally, this method demanded more from the contractor physically.

The next generation of drywall finishing tools that was introduced focused on being pneumatic (air) driven. These tools used compressed air to push the joint compound to the drywall. Ultimately, this method decreased the physical strain on the user’s body.

The continuous flow system was the drywall finishing tool invention that came onto the scene next. With its airless system, the finisher takes the joint compound from the bucket to the wall without going back to the pump to fill it up. This method allows the contractor to complete the application with less effort and increases efficiency.

The evolution of finishing tools over the years has undoubtedly made the job of a drywall contractor easier. At Timothy’s Toolbox, we have a selection of TapeTech taping tools, including finishing boxes, knives, and automatic tapers.

All these products make the job of the finisher more efficient. The benefits of the automatic drywall taping tool go beyond reducing the physical strain on the user’s body.

This brief history lesson about automatic drywall taping tools should increase your affection for your instrument. It has gone through some exciting development stages to make your job easier. For more information on our tools and supplies, visit our website.

This invention relates generally to the field of building construction. It relates more particularly to drywall, drywall installation equipment, and an apparatus for cleaning tools and other objects, including the tools used for drywall installation.

The term “drywall” herein includes panels made of a paper liner wrapped around an inner core of gypsum plaster, or the like. Such panels are also referred to as gypsum board, plasterboard, and sheetrock. Installation involves the use of various tools (i.e., “drywall tools”) to prepare and apply drywall joint compound (i.e., a fluid slurry often referred to as “mud”) in the process of taping joints between drywall panels and otherwise installing the drywall. The mud may, for example, include such constituents as water, limestone, expanded pearlite, ethylene-vinyl acetate polymer, and attapulgite that are blended in a delicate mixture having a creamy texture that facilitates application.

After applying the mud, a drywall installer (i.e., a “drywaller”) cleans the drywall tools in order to remove accumulated mud. Existing tool-cleaning techniques often proceed by simply spraying the tools with water from a hose. The water rinses the mud from the tools, thereby producing dirty water (i.e., turbid water that is cloudy due to the presence of fine particles of mud constituents suspended in the water). To comply with various laws and regulations that forbid the introduction of contaminants into the water drainage system, the drywaller often cleans drywall tools by spraying them with a hose over a barrel. The barrel catches the dirty water so that the drywaller can disposed of the dirty water in an allowable manner at a later time.

Just exactly how a drywall installer should dispose of the dirty water remains a problem, however. One way, is to use the portable apparatus called a “Drywall Tool Cleaning and Recycling Apparatus” that is available under the trademark MUDMASTER WASHMASTER from Mudmaster, Inc. of Escondido, Calif. One model of such an apparatus (i.e., a “Washmaster”) is shown in U.S. Pat. No. D665,955. In order to clean drywall tools, the drywaller sprays the drywall tools over a container portion of the Washmaster and then treats the dirty water with a water-clarifying agent and, preferably, an anti-foaming agent in order to quickly produce settled-out mud (i.e., mud constituents and/or other constituents previously in suspension) and clarified water. The drywaller wheels the Washmaster right to the drywall work area where it facilitates tool cleaning, dirty water collection, water clarification with the water-clarifying agent and anti-foaming agent, removal of the resulting clarified water, and recycling of the settled-out mud and/or other settled-out constituents.

Although a tool-cleaning apparatus such as the Washmaster is effective in many respects, the drywaller"s use of “hot mud” instead of the more traditional premixed drywall mud complicates the tool-cleaning process. The term “hot mud” refers to quick-setting drywall mud that comes in a powdered form (usually in a plastic-lined paper bag to keep moisture out). It sets by an exothermic (heat-releasing) chemical reaction. Once water comes in contact with the powder, the combination of powder and water forms hot mud and begins a chemical reaction that causes the hot mud to harden. Manufacturers typically mix different amounts of hardening agents into the quick-setting drywall powder to cause it to set up (i.e., harden) in a desired time (e.g., 5-minutes, 20-minutes, 45-minutes, 90-minutes, or greater, as the drywaller may desire). Once the hot mud is hard, it will not shrink up or spread as it continues to dry, and so the drywaller acts quickly once the hot mud is mixed in order to apply it and then clean the drywall tools.

Thus, hot mud hardens in water. As a result, existing tool-cleaning techniques with existing tool-rinsing equipment that work for the more traditional premixed drywall mud are ineffective. The hot mud can become lodged in containers, pumps, and plumbing and cause severe damage.

In view of the foregoing, it is a primary objective of the present invention to alleviate the concerns outlined above. The present invention achieves this objective predicated on the inventor"s recognition of those concerns, followed by the conception of a portable workbench-size apparatus for rinsing hot mud from drywall tools without incurring hot-mud damage to equipment. The apparatus includes a large, upwardly opening, lower tank (i.e., a rinse water storage tank) for holding a supply of “rinse water” (e.g., 50 gallons of water that includes a water-clarifying agent). Tool-rinsing proceeds by spraying tools over a large, upwardly opening, upper tank (i.e., a used rinse water collection tank), using rinse water delivered under pressure from the lower tank.

As tool-rinsing proceeds, the upper tank collects the “used rinse water” (i.e., rinse water in which is suspended the hot mud it has rinsed from the tools). After the hot mud has settled from the used rinse water to the upwardly facing bottom surface of the upper tank under action of the water-clarifying agent, thereby leaving a body of “clarified rinse water” disposed above the “settled mud,” the user drains the clarified rinse water from the upper tank to the lower tank for reuse or removal. To do so, the user lowers an inlet on an upper water-draining assembly so that it is within the body of clarified rinse water, but above the settled mud. As a result of that upper water-draining technique, only the clarified rinse water is drained from the upper tank to the lower tank, without the settled mud being drained. The user then removes the settled mud from the upwardly facing bottom surface of the upper tank.

Thus, the apparatus of the present invention includes a support structure, a lower tank, an upper tank, a water-pumping assembly, and an upper water-draining assembly that work together in rinsing tools while avoiding hot-mud damage to equipment. The following detailed description and accompanying illustrative drawings make the foregoing and other objectives, features, and advantages of the invention more apparent.

FIG. 1 of the drawings is a perspective view showing the top, the front, and the left side of an apparatus constructed according to the present invention, shown with a drywaller (i.e., a user) who is using the apparatus to clean his tools and with an XYZ Cartesian coordinate system for reference in describing various spatial relationships;

Turning first to FIG. 1 of the drawings, it shows a workbench size tool-cleaning apparatus 10 constructed according to the present invention. As such, the apparatus 10 includes a first or lower tank 11 (i.e., a rinse-water-holding tank) and a second or upper tank 12 (i.e., a used-rinse-water-collecting tank) that are supported, one tank above the other, by a support structure 13. Supported that way, with the support structure 13 resting as illustrated in an operative position upon a horizontal support surface 14 (i.e., a surface parallel to the XZ-plane of the illustrated XYZ Cartesian coordinate system), the apparatus 10 provides a convenient tool-cleaning work station at which a drywaller 15 can conveniently stand as he cleans (i.e., rinses) his drywall tools (something like rinsing dishes with a nozzle while standing at the kitchen sink).

Working in a standing position next to the apparatus 10, the drywaller 15 sprays his tools with rinse water delivered under pressure from the lower tank 11 via a first hose-and-nozzle combination 16A. A supply of rinse water has been omitted from the lower tank 11 in FIG. 1 for illustrative purposes, although use of the apparatus 10 would normally begin with about 50 gallons of rinse water in the lower tank 11, with the rinse water including a water-clarifying agent described later on in this specification. As the drywaller rinses his tools over the upper tank 12, the upper tank 12 collects the used rinse water for clarification and eventual drainage of clarified rinse water back to the lower tank 11.

Further details of the apparatus 10 are shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Preferably, the apparatus 10 includes a second hose-and-nozzle combination 16B (FIG. 2) that enables contemporaneous use of the apparatus 10 by two drywallers standing side by side (not shown). Rinse water (not shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 for illustrative purposes) is delivered under pressure through both of the hose-and-nozzle combinations 16A and 16B by a water-pumping assembly 17 that is identified in FIG. 3. An upstanding spray-confining component 18 of the apparatus 10 (FIGS. 2 and 3) extends above the upper tank 12 to help confine rinse water sprayed toward the tools that might not otherwise be collected by the upper tank 12. The spray-confining component 18 (also called a splash guard component) preferably includes a back panel 18A, a left side panel 18B, and a right side panel 18C that cooperatively enhance spray confinement. The apparatus 10 also includes a shelf 19 that extends between the left and right side panels 18B and 18C for use in holding tools before and after they have been rinsed. A plate 20 disposed over the upper tank 12 (FIG. 2) provides an additional tool-holding work surface for use in holding drywall tools before and after rinsing. After rinsing, rinse water can flow off the tools through apertures in the shelf 19 and the plate 20 for collection in the upper tank 12.

FIG. 4 also provides another view of the water-pumping assembly 17, along with a power cord 31 that couples electric power to the water-pumping assembly 17 from a suitable source (e.g., a 120-volt electrical outlet). In operation, water flows under pressure through an outlet hose 32 to a manifold 33 that serves to split and couple the flow of rinse water to the two hose-and-nozzle combinations 16A and 16B.

As a further idea of size, the apparatus 10 is about 60 inches long as measured along the upper edge 36 of the spray-confining component 18. Other parts of the apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 5 are drawn to the same drawing scale so that their sizes can be ascertained from the dimensions recited herein. Dimensions may vary (e.g., by as much as twenty percent or so) from the values recited without departing from the dimension-related aspects of the present invention. Notice that FIG. 5 shows the apparatus 10 with just the one hose-and-nozzle combination 16A connected to the water-pumping assembly 17; that option is available for one-person use. Preferably, the water-pumping assembly 17 is mounted removably on the support structure 13 (e.g., hung by a telescoping, concentric-tubes mounting arrangement visible in FIG. 4) in order to thereby enable convenient removal of the water-pumping assembly 17 by the user when the apparatus 10 is unattended (e.g., to avoid theft or vandalism thereof).

The upwardly facing bottom surface 12A is about 58 inches long measured along the longitudinally extending sides 12D and 12E, and about 25.5 inches wide measured along the laterally extend end 12B. The four upstanding sides extend upwardly from the bottom surface 12A about 9.5 inches high. Thus, the upper tank 12 can easily hold 50 gallons of used rinse water. Of course, the foregoing dimensions of the upper tank 12 may vary without departing from the broader inventive aspects of the present invention. Whatever dimensions are used for the upper tank 12, the support structure 13 is configured accordingly to accommodate the size of the upper tank 12. The lower tank 11 is similar to the upper tank 12 in size, layout, and details of construction. So, the lower tank 11 is not described in full detail here, other than to note that it is provided with a lower water-draining assembly similar to the water-draining assembly 40 of the upper tank 12.

The diagrammatic views of FIGS. 8, 9, 10, and 11 help summarize use of the apparatus 10 according to the methodology of the present invention. First, remember that the lower tank 11 is similar in construction to the upper tank 12. As such, it includes a pivotable water-draining assembly 11A connected to a drain component 11B on a bottom 11C of the lower tank 11. The water-draining assembly 11A is similar to the water-draining assembly 40 of the upper tank 12; by adjusting the position of the water-drawing assembly 11A, the user 15 can selectively drain rinse water from the lower tank 11.

The lower tank 11 is illustrated in FIG. 8 holding a body 60 of rinse water that has fallen during tool rinsing to a rinse water level 61, with the water-draining assembly 11A in a non-draining position. As illustrated in FIG. 8, rinse water from that body 60 of rinse water has been pumped from the lower tank 11 though an inlet hose 17A (e.g., a ¾-inch diameter flexible hose) by operation of the water-pumping assembly 17, with a screen filter 17B preferably provided on the inlet hose 17A for rinse-water filtering purposes (i.e., a type of filter that uses a rigid or flexible screen to separate particles out of water in any of various applications; typical screen materials include stainless steel mesh, polypropylene, nylon, and polyester) Rinse water is delivered that way under pressure for tool-rinsing purposes by the water-pumping assembly 17, through the first hose-and-nozzle combination 16A, so that the user 15 can rinse tools above the upper tank 12. Bold arrowheads along the hoses in FIG. 8 identify the rinse water flow path.

As tool-rinsing proceeds, the upper tank 12 collects the used rinse water, with mud settling out of the used rinse water under action of the water-clarifying agent in the used rinse water. As illustrated in FIG. 8, the mud has settled to the upwardly facing bottom surface 12A of the upper tank 12 as a body 65 of settled mud, leaving a body 66 of clarified rinse water above it; the clarified rinse water is illustrated in FIG. 8 at a level 67 to which it has risen during tool rinsing. A larger body 66A, higher level 67A, larger body 65A, and smaller body 60A in FIG. 9 simply depict changes in size and height of those items as tool rinsing proceeds.

After the user 15 stops tool rinsing and waits for the mud to settle, the user 15 proceeds to drain the clarified rinse water from the upper tank 12. The user 15 does so by pivoting the tube 41 of the water-draining assembly 40 to a water-draining position as shown in FIG. 9, so that the input 41B of the tube 41 is sufficiently submersed in the body 66A of clarified rinse water to enable drainage through the drain component 43 and the drain hose 55 back to the lower tank 11. Bold arrowheads in FIG. 9 at the input 41B and along the drain hose 55 identify the clarified rinse water flow path.

Having drained the body 66A of clarified rinse water from the upper tank 12 down to the level of the settled mud, the user 15 proceeds to scrape the body 65A of settled mud from upwardly facing bottom surface 12A of the upper tank. Before doing so, the user 15 may add a water-adsorbing agent to the upper tank 12 in order to facilitate mud removal. A quantity of kitty litter may be used for that purpose. Thereafter, the user 15 uses a trowel or other suitable tool 70 to scrape the body 65A of settled mud from the bottom surface 12A for removal, as depicted in FIG. 10. The user 15 may then, or at the end of the work day, drain any rinse water remaining in the lower tank 11 (e.g., the body 65B of rinse water shown in FIGS. 10 and 11) by operating the water-draining assembly 11A. The user 15 pivots the water-draining assembly 11A from a non-draining position shown in FIG. 10 to a water-draining position shown in FIG. 11, as was done for the water-draining assembly 40 on the upper tank 12). Bold arrowheads below the drain component 11B in FIG. 11 identify such rinse water drainage.

To summarize the methodology of the present invention, a method for cleaning (i.e., rinsing) drywall tools includes the step of providing an apparatus as discussed above. The apparatus includes: (i) a lower tank for holding a supply of rinse water that includes a water-clarifying agent,

(ii) an upper tank for collecting used rinse water as a user rinses hot mud from the drywall tools over the upper tank, said used rinse water including hot mud suspended in rinse water,

(iv) a water-pumping assembly for pumping the rinse water from the lower tank for delivery under pressure above the upper tank for tool-rinsing purposes, and

(v) an upper water-draining assembly for draining clarified rinse water from the first tank back to the second tank after hot mud has settled from the used rinse water under action of the water-clarifying agent, said upper water-draining assembly including an inlet with an adjustable height above an upwardly facing bottom surface of the upper tank.

The method proceeds by rinsing hot mud from the drywall tools over the upper tank with the rinse water, while the inlet of the upper water-draining assembly is above a level of the used rinse water collected in the upper tank so that the used rinse water does not drain back to the lower tank. Then, after rinsing the drywall tools and after the hot mud has settle to an upwardly facing bottom surface of the upper tank to result in a body of clarified rinse water disposed above settled hot mud, the user lowers the inlet of the upper water-draining assembly, so that at least a portion of the clarified rinse water in the upper tank drains back into the lower tank. Thereafter, the user cleans settled mud from the upwardly facing bottom surface of the first tank. The foregoing avoids draining hot mud from the upper tank to the lower tank and the potential of associated hot-mud damage to equipment.

The apparatus 10 with its effective mud-avoiding water-draining assembly 40 can also be used to clean other tools within the inventive concepts disclosed. To use the apparatus 10 for rinsing concrete, cement, plaster, and the like (i.e., “cement-like material”) from tools, for example, the user first sprays the interior surfaces of the upper tank 12 with a coat of masking material that prevents that type of cement-like material from adhering to the inside of the upper tank 12. A known type of non-adhering, barrier spray may be used for that purpose, for example. As the user rinses the cement-like material from tools, the used rinse water is collected in the upper tank 12, whereupon the cement-like material settles out of the used rinse water, leaving a body of “cement-free water” above it. The user then drains the cement-free water using the water-draining assembly 40 of the apparatus 10. After that, the settled cement-like material is scrapped or peel away from the tank 12 and removed.

Reviewing some of the nomenclature used in this description, the term “tank” herein includes an upwardly opening container for holding at least 50 gallons of rinse water (e.g., the lower tank 11) or a similar tank for collecting the used rinse water during tool rinsing (e.g., the upper tank 12), although that size may vary as much as about twenty percent or so within the size-related aspects of the present invention. Preferably, the upper tank 12 is elongated and rectangularly shaped as illustrated and described, with a generally planar upwardly facing bottom surface 12A that facilitates the task of scraping settled mud from that bottom surface. The illustrated upper tank 12 has a rectangular shape with inside dimensions of approximately 58 inches long, about 25 inches to about 26 inches wide, and about 9 inches to about 10 inches deep. A 50-gallon, flat-bottom upper tank results in a thin layer of hardened hot mud on the upwardly facing bottom surface of the upper tank that is easier to scrape for removal from the tank.

The term “water-clarifying agent” as used herein, includes known types of chemical compounds used to gather (e.g., coagulate or agglomerate) and/or to precipitate suspended particles (e.g., constituents of mud) so they may be removed from the water in which they are suspended. Those terms include the substances called coagulants and flocculents. They also include inorganic salts or aluminum (alum) and other metals or water-soluble organic polyelectrolytes. A suitable clarifying agent (i.e., mud-settling additive) is commercially available under the trademark WASHMASTER from Mudmaster, Inc. of Escondido, Calif. It is available in a twelve-ounce bottle, that amount being sufficient to treat fifteen gallons of water. Preferably, the “rinse water” referred to herein includes such a clarifying agent, and, preferably, an anti-foaming agent also (e.g., a known type of anti-foaming agent). The term “used rinse water” herein means rinse water collected in the upper tank 12 after it has been used to rinse tools (i.e., rinse water with mud suspended in it), while “clarified rinse water” means used rinse water in the upper tank 12 after the mud has settled.

The term “kitty litter” is used herein to denote any type of cat litter. It was a brand name that has become genericized. Kitty litter is a loose, granular material that absorbs moisture and odors. Most clumping kitty litter is made from granulated bentonite clay which clumps together when wet and forms a solid mass separate from the other litter in the box. Those attributes can facilitate mud removal from the upper tank of an apparatus constructed according to the present invention.

Thus, the invention provides a two-person, portable, workbench size, apparatus for use in cleaning hot mud from drywall tools while avoiding hot-mud damage to equipment. Although an exemplary embodiment has been shown and described, a person having ordinary skill in the art may make many changes, modifications, and substitutions without necessarily departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. As for the specific terminology used to describe the exemplary embodiment, it is not intended to limit the invention; each specific term is intended to include all technical equivalents that operate in a similar manner to accomplish a similar purpose or function.

Be it known that I, HENRY AUGUST JOHN"- soN, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Chicago, county of Cook, State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pumps, ot which the following is a specification." 4 f This invention relates to force. pumps, and especially to pumps adapted for injecting boiler compoundinto steam boilers. The main objects. of the invention are to provide a pump for this"purpose of simpliied form having few and inexpensive parts and capable of operation for a long period without overhauling or repairs.

To provide a successful pump for handling chemically active substances such as boiler compound, it is necessary to design the piston foruse Without a lubricant or any of the usual non-metallic packings. It is also preferable to provide a piston and cylinder of quite small diameter in order to produce a pump which is inexpensive and not bulky. For this reason a special design of piston is necessary for receiving the split piston rings. These, if of substantial cross section cannot be expanded over the piston into grooves therein without injury to the rings. To avoid the necessity of such expansion of metallic piston rings, the piston shown has an end portion which is reduced in diameterwi"th respect to the normal diameter of the piston in order to receive the piston rings without necessitating their expansion. This reduced portion ot the piston may be threaded at its end to receive a holding nut for the piston rings, and alternate rings are made solid in order l to prevent leakage past the adjacent ends of the split rings.

In the construction shown in the drawings, the pump includes a frame consisting of a casting l, having a cylindrical bore or piston chamber 2 Which is provided with an inlet port 3 and an outlet port 4. The

piston 5 is arranged for actuation by connections 6 operatively related to almoving part of some device actuated"by the" engine or the like (not shown), receiving power from the boiler. The outlet port 4 is provided with a valve adapted to prevent back flow toward the pump cylinder, which valve is preferably in the form of a ball 7. When the piston is moved forward towards the outlet port, the close-fitting body of the piston serves as a check-valve to close the inlet port 3. When the piston is withdrawn, the outlet valve 7 is closed against its axially apertured seat 8, and the suction of the piston 5 produces more or less of a vacuum in the cylinder until the piston proceeds far enough to open the inlet port, whereupon a charge of fluid to be pumped or injected rushes forward and is received into the chamber 2 ready for forcing through the discharge port 4 upon the return of the piston.

The discharge port 4 communicates with a valve chamber 11, the outer end of which is provided with a perforated removable closure disk 12 resting on the shoulder 13. Said disk is secured in place lby the fitting 14 to which the discharge pipe 15 is threaded. Said tting 14 is secured to the hollow stem 16 by means of the threaded clamp 17. The ball valve 7 fits loosely in said chamber 11 and readily permits the material pumped to pass outward between it and the wall 16.

The piston 5 to which this invention is mainly directed comprises a body portion fitting the bore 2 of the cylinder 1, and at its lower end terminates in a portion 24 of less diameter than the body part so as to receive the metallic piston rings 22 and 23 without injury to these rings by attempting to kexpand them over the full diameter of a piston into grooves with which a piston is usually provided. The split rings 22 alternate with solid rings 23 which are of the same diameter as the body part of the piston. The split rings by expansion serve as usual to compensate for wear on the cylin- .der Wall .and .leakage past the opening between the .ends of .each split `ring is pre- Ventediby the intervening solid rings. The piston rings may be retained in place by means of a nut threaded to the end of the reduced part 24 of the piston.

v .Although but one specilioy embodiment of this invention.l has beenlierein shown and described, it.. Will be understood that nu- `rnerousl detailsof the construction shown vinay be alteredor omitted .Without departingfrqm the. `spirit of `thisiny ntionas defined. by the followingclaim.

In a force pulnpwadapted for feeding duced axiall etens"ion of said rod in combination with Va. `seriesyofL alternately .arranged ,seldtand"fsplt rings and means 0n the outen end of. ysaidextension to secure vsaid rings deinountably,the )said split rings .being .naturally soniewliatv kexpansive but g sui ciently ,cqmpressbleradially toperinit `,foreing .them into. .thee boreC of the ...pump .when

{"links":[{"url":"https://www.graco.com/us/en/contractor/solutions/articles/how-to-mix-drywall-mud-for-texture-spraying.html", "anchor_text":"How to Mix Drywall Mud for Texture Spraying"},{"url":"https://www.graco.com/us/en/contractor/products/drywall-finishing-interior-texture/interior-texture-sprayers.html", "anchor_text":"Interior Texture Sprayers"},{"url":"https://www.graco.com/us/en/contractor/products/drywall-finishing-interior-texture/drywall-finishing-tools-accessories.html", "anchor_text":"Drywall Finishing Tools & Accessories"}]}