Fluid sprinkling, spraying, and diffusing

SECTION I - CLASS DEFINITION

A. SPRAYING AND SPRINKLING

This is the general class for claims pertaining to the spraying, sprinkling, or scattering of fluids or fluent solids either in the form of slurries or as dry material, over an extended area on a surface. The class includes processes and apparatus, not provided for in some more specialized class, for ejecting fluents and slurries by slinging, sloshing, centrifugally throwing, overflowing, and projecting such materials in the form of fog, mist, droplets, spray, sprinkle or a modified stream in a general haphazard or broadcasting manner upon the immediate vicinity of operation or environment, upon a surface to be treated. The surface may be of any shape or form and the sprinkling, spraying, or scattering may be for any purpose, for example, a street to be flushed or oiled, a field or lawn to be irrigated by a lawn sprinkler, hose, nozzle, or overhead irrigating system or to be fertilized or to be seeded, a tree or other plant to be sprayed or dusted for some plant husbandry reason or for destroying insects, etc.; however, any claim reciting a specialized relation between the sprinkling, spraying, or scattering means and the surface, work or environment being treated is excluded from this class. Some form of modified flow, either by way of discharge characteristic, (e.g., droplet size, or degree of atomization, etc.) is required.