Claims
- 1. A drum containment system for dispensing aggressive chemicals in liquid form, the system comprising:a plastic drum for containing the aggressive liquid chemicals, the drum having a bottom and a top with a port, the port having a neck portion with threads extending upwardly therefrom and defining a port opening, the neck portion having at downwardly facing finger engagement portions, a down tube assembly formed of plastic comprising an annular support member having a plurality of resilient fingers each with an angled guide-in surface and an upwardly facing lock-in surface the annular support member sized for insertion into the port opening, the down tube assembly further comprising an upwardly extending fluid connection portion and a down tube extending downwardly from the annular support member to a position proximate the bottom of the drum, whereby the down tube assembly can be lowered into and snapped into position with the resilient fingers in locking engagement with the downwardly facing finger engagement portions.
- 2. The drum containment system of claim 1, further comprising a dispense head for removably connecting to the port, the dispense head having a fluoropolymer body, a downward extending cooperating fluid connection portion for sliding and sealing engagement and disengagement around the upwardly extending fluid connection portion of the down tube assembly, and a retainer nut, the retainer nut adapted to threadingly engage the neck and to tighten and loosen thereon and to provide an upward force on the dispense head body when loosened and to disengage the threads on the neck portion allowing removal of the dispense head from the port.
- 3. The drum containment system of claim 1 wherein the annular support member has a plurality of annular passages.
- 4. The drum containment system of claim 2 with the dispense head configured such that when the dispense head is engaged with the port with the retainer nut tightened on the threads of the neck and the downwardly extending cooperating fluid connection portion is engaged with the upwardly extending fluid connection portion of the downtube assembly, the retainer nut may be loosened to force the dispense head upwardly thereby disengaging the downwardly extending fluid connection portion with the upwardly extending fluid connection portion before the retainer nut becomes disengaged with the threads on the neck portion.
- 5. The drum containment system of claim 4 further comprising an intermediate thrust member for transmitting the upward force to the dispense head body when the retainer nut is loosened.
- 6. A drum containment system for dispensing aggressive chemicals in liquid form, the system comprising:a plastic drum for containing the aggressive liquid chemicals, the drum having a top with port, the port having a neck portion extending upwardly therefrom and defining a port opening; a down tube assembly comprising an annular support member fixed within the port opening, the down tube assembly further having an upwardly extending fluid connection portion and a down tube extending downwardly from the annular support member; a dispense head, the dispense head having a fluoropolymer body, a downward extending cooperating fluid connection portion sized and positioned to connect with the upwardly extending fluid connection portion, and a retainer nut, the retainer nut adapted to threadingly engage and disengage the neck and to tighten and loosen thereon and to provide an upward force when loosened, the dispense head body having a force receiving portion operatively coupled to the retainer nut whereby when the retainer nut is loosened on the threaded neck portion the dispense head body is raised from the neck portion and the downwardly extending fluid connection potion is urged to separate with the upwardly extending fluid connection portion before the retainer nut disengages with the neck.
- 7. A containment system comprising:a plastic drum having atop with a port, the port having an upwardly extending neck portion and a port opening; a plastic tube assembly configured to drop into the port opening and snaps to said port to fix the position of the down tube assembly in said port, the down tube assembly having an upwardly extending fluid connection portion configured as a nipple; and a dispense head configured to engage and seal with the port and having a downwardly extending fluid connection portion sized and positioned to slidingly and sealingly engage with the upwardly extending fluid connection portion.
- 8. The containment system of claim 7 wherein the dispense head seals with the port by an O-ring with substantially no axial loading.
- 9. The containment system of claim 7 further comprising a retainer nut for tightening and loosening the dispense head with the drum, and wherein the dispense head has a force receiving portion whereby when the retainer nut is loosened the retainer nut urges the force receiving portion to raise the dispense head.
- 10. A containment system comprising a dispense head and a drum with a port opening, and a down tube assembly in the port opening, the dispense head connectable and disconnectable to the drum a the port opening whereby the dispense head sealingly couples and decouples with the downtube assembly, the system further having a lifting mechanism for raising the dispense head as the dispense head is disconnected from the drum, whereby when the lifting mechanism is operated, the dispense head is raised and the dispense head decouples from the downtube assembly before the dispense head disconnects from the drum.
- 11. The containment system of claim 10 wherein the downtube assembly comprises an upwardly extending nipple and the dispense head slidingly and sealingly couples and decouples around the upwardly extending nipple.
- 12. The containment system of claim 11 wherein the downtube assembly comprises an annular support member that centrally positions the nipple in the port opening, the annular support member having an annular passage.
- 13. The containment system of claim 7 wherein downtube assembly has an annular support member with a plurality of passages and the annular support member centrally positions the nipple in the port opening.
- 14. The containment system of claim 7 wherein downtube assembly has an annular support member with a plurality of passages and the annular support member centrally positions the nipple in the port opening.
- 15. A containment system comprising a dispense head and a plastic drum with a port opening, and a down tube assembly positioned in the port opening, the dispense head comprising a nut that threadingly engages the drum and may be tightened and loosened with respect to the drum, the dispense head connectable and disconnectable to the drum at the port opening utilizing the nut, the dispense head sealingly couples and decouples with the downtube assembly, the nut providing force to a force receiving portion on the dispense head as the nut is loosened from the drum for decoupling the dispense head from the downtube before the dispense head disconnects from the drum.
Parent Case Info
This is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 09/025,821, filed Feb. 19, 1998 and issuing Jun. 27, 2000 as U.S. Pat. No. 6,079,597. Said application and patent are hereby incorporated by reference.
US Referenced Citations (17)
Foreign Referenced Citations (6)
Number |
Date |
Country |
0 194 501 |
Sep 1986 |
EP |
0 557 913 |
Sep 1993 |
EP |
2 593 147 |
Jul 1987 |
FR |
2 294 455 |
May 1996 |
GB |
WO 94 14697 |
Jul 1994 |
WO |
WO 95 09126 |
Apr 1995 |
WO |
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09/025821 |
Feb 1998 |
US |
Child |
09/603668 |
|
US |