Suction nozzle and method

Abstract

A suction nozzle for drawing a viscous material from a container, the suction nozzle comprising a housing defining substantially opposed suction inlet and suction outlet and a suction passageway extending therebetween; and a conduit extending through the housing, the conduit defining conduit first and second end portions and a conduit intermediate portion extending therebetween, the conduit intermediate portion being provided at least in part in the suction passageway and the conduit first and second end portions each extending outwardly from the housing, the conduit first end, second end and intermediate portions together defining an uninterrupted conduit passageway separated from the suction passageway.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A suction nozzle for drawing a viscous material from a container, the suction nozzle comprising:
 a housing, the housing defining
 substantially opposed suction inlet and suction outlet; and 
 a suction passageway extending in the housing between the suction inlet and outlet; and 
   a conduit extending through the housing, the conduit defining conduit first and second end portions and a conduit intermediate portion extending therebetween, the conduit intermediate portion being provided at least in part in the suction passageway and the conduit first and second end portions each extending outwardly from the housing, the conduit first end, second end and intermediate portions together defining an uninterrupted conduit passageway separated from the suction passageway;   wherein, when the viscous material has a viscosity that is lowered when the viscous material is heated, circulating a hot fluid through the conduit passageway when the suction nozzle is positioned in the container with the suction inlet submerged in the viscous material lowers the viscosity so as to facilitate drawing the viscous material from the container by exerting a suction at the suction outlet.   
     
     
         2 . The suction nozzle as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the conduit intermediate portion is entirely contained in the suction passageway. 
     
     
         3 . The suction nozzle as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the conduit intermediate portion extends along a major portion of the suction passageway. 
     
     
         4 . The suction nozzle as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the conduit intermediate portion is substantially U-shaped. 
     
     
         5 . The suction nozzle as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the conduit first and second end portions are substantially L-shaped. 
     
     
         6 . The suction nozzle as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the housing is substantially cylindrical and defines substantially axially opposed housing first and second ends, the suction inlet and outlet being provided respectively substantially adjacent the housing first and second ends. 
     
     
         7 . The suction nozzle as defined in  claim 6 , wherein the suction inlet extends substantially axially through the housing and the suction outlet extends substantially radially through the housing. 
     
     
         8 . The suction nozzle as defined in  claim 7 , wherein the conduit first and second end portions extend from the housing axially opposed to the suction inlet. 
     
     
         9 . The suction nozzle as defined in  claim 8 , wherein the housing includes a body and a cap, the body being substantially cylindrical and defining substantially axially opposed body first and second ends, the body being opened at the body second end to define the suction inlet and the body being closed by the cap at the body first end, the conduit first and second end portions extending from the cap. 
     
     
         10 . The suction nozzle as defined in  claim 9 , wherein the conduit intermediate portion extends in the suction passageway from the cap and reaches a portion of the suction passageway that is substantially adjacent to the suction inlet. 
     
     
         11 . The suction nozzle as defined in  claim 9 , wherein the conduit intermediate portion includes a substantially helical section. 
     
     
         12 . The suction nozzle as defined in  claim 11 , wherein the substantially helical section has an helix axis that is co-linear with a longitudinal axis of the body. 
     
     
         13 . The suction nozzle as defined in  claim 11 , wherein the substantially helical section has a pitch that varies therealong. 
     
     
         14 . The suction nozzle as defined in  claim 11 , wherein the substantially helical section has a pitch that is substantially constant therealong. 
     
     
         15 . The suction nozzle as defined in  claim 9 , wherein the cap includes a fluid rotary union allowing rotation of the conduit intermediate portion relative to the conduit first and second end portions while maintaining fluid communication individually between the conduit intermediate portion and each of the conduit first and second end portions, the cap also including a rotary drive member protruding outwardly therefrom and rotatable jointly with the conduit intermediate portion about a rotation axis co-linear with the longitudinal axis of the body. 
     
     
         16 . The suction nozzle as defined in  claim 6 , wherein the suction passageway is delimited by a passageway peripheral surface, the suction nozzle further comprising a vane extending in the suction passageway from the passageway peripheral surface. 
     
     
         17 . The suction nozzle as defined in  claim 16 , wherein the vane is helical with an helix axis co-linear with a longitudinal axis of the body. 
     
     
         18 . The suction nozzle as defined in  claim 1 , further comprising an attachment configured and sized for attaching the housing to the container. 
     
     
         19 . The suction nozzle as defined in  claim 18 , wherein the attachment is height adjustable to adjust a height of the suction inlet in the container by selectively allowing the housing to move relative to the attachment. 
     
     
         20 . The suction nozzle as defined in  claim 1 , further comprising a suction hose attachment extending from the suction outlet. 
     
     
         21 . The suction nozzle as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the housing defines a pair of conduit apertures extending between the housing external surface and the suction passageway, the conduit extending through the conduit apertures. 
     
     
         22 . The suction nozzle as defined in  claim 1 , further comprising a handle mounted to the housing. 
     
     
         23 . A container, comprising:
 a container body provided with a container aperture; and   a suction nozzle for drawing a viscous material from the container, the suction nozzle including
 a housing mounted to the container and extending through the container aperture, the housing defining
 substantially opposed suction inlet and suction outlet, the suction inlet being inside the container and the suction outlet being outside the container; and 
 a suction passageway extending in the housing between the suction inlet and outlet; and 
 
 a conduit extending through the housing, the conduit defining conduit first and second end portions and a conduit intermediate portion extending therebetween, the conduit intermediate portion being provided at least in part in the suction passageway and the conduit first and second end portions each extending outwardly from the housing, the conduit first end, second end and intermediate portions together defining an uninterrupted conduit passageway separated from the suction passageway; 
   wherein, when the viscous material has a viscosity that is lowered when the viscous material is heated, circulating a hot fluid through the conduit passageway when the suction nozzle is positioned in the container with the suction inlet submerged in the viscous material lowers the viscosity so as to facilitate drawing the viscous material from the container by exerting a suction at the suction outlet.   
     
     
         24 . A method for drawing a viscous material from a container using a suction nozzle having a suction inlet, a suction outlet and a suction passageway extending therebetween, the viscous material having a viscosity that is reduced when heated, the method comprising:
 inserting part of the suction nozzle in the viscous material so that the suction inlet is submerged in the viscous material and the suction outlet is provided outside of the viscous material;   circulating a hot fluid in a conduit provided in the suction passageway so that the hot fluid and the viscous material remain separated from each other in the suction passageway while heat is transferred from the hot fluid to the viscous material; and   exerting a suction at the suction outlet.   
     
     
         25 . The method as defined in  claim 24 , wherein the hot fluid includes a glycol based antifreeze liquid. 
     
     
         26 . The method as defined in  claim 24 , further comprising rotating the viscous material along a passageway longitudinal axis as the viscous material moves from the suction inlet to the suction outlet. 
     
     
         27 . The method as defined in  claim 26 , wherein rotating the viscous material includes rotating the conduit about the passageway longitudinal axis. 
     
     
         28 . The method as defined in  claim 26 , wherein rotating the viscous material includes circulating the viscous material along vanes extending helically inside the suction passageway. 
     
     
         29 . The method as defined in  claim 26 , wherein the conduit includes an helical portion and rotating the viscous material includes circulating the viscous material along the helical portion.