The invention concerns a dispenser head with a delivery channel for delivering products, such as foams, for example, shaving cream or gel, self-foaming products, and other products that can be applied with a pressurized system, from a conventional pressurized dispensing container, wherein the dispenser head is mounted on the delivery valve of the dispensing container and opens the delivery valve of the dispensing container when external mechanical pressure applied to the dispenser head causes its upper part to tilt about a center of rotation, so that the product flows under pressure out of the delivery valve and into the delivery channel and is discharged from the dispenser head through the delivery hole of the delivery channel.
A disadvantage of previously known dispensers or dispenser heads of this type is that after use and after the tilted upper part has returned to its initial position, the still pressurized product remaining in the delivery channel continues to emerge in small amounts from the delivery hole of the dispenser head, despite the fact that the delivery valve is already closed. This undesired and uncontrolled continued release of the product then gets the dispenser head and, if present, the protective cap dirty.
The objective of the invention is to design a dispenser head for pressurized dispensing containers in such a way that the above-described continued release of the product after it use is prevented.
For a dispenser head of the type specified above, this objective is achieved by the characterizing features of Claim 1 in such a way that the dispenser head is designed with an additional closure device that automatically opens the delivery hole of the delivery channel and automatically closes it after the dispensing process is completed.
Release of the product after use is reliably prevented by the design of the dispenser head with a special closure for the delivery hole in accordance with the invention. The closure device of the dispenser head, which can be fitted on any conventional aerosol valve, consists, specifically, of a valve housing, which forms part of the delivery channel located in the upper part of the dispenser head, a pin-like valve body with a valve head for closing the delivery hole, and a restoring element.
In a first embodiment of the invention, the restoring element consists of an elastic dome, whose semicircular rear wall contains an inner sleeve, into which the opposite end of the valve body from the valve head is inserted. In the initial position, the internal stress of the elastic body pulls the valve head of the valve body against the delivery hole of the delivery channel from the front and closes it.
The position of the elastic dome with respect to the usual center of rotation for the tilting movement of the upper part of the dispenser head is selected in such a way that, during the tilting movement, its elastic rear wall is moved in a circular path towards a stationary web of the lower part of the dispenser head, so that the elastic rear wall is deformed and displaced a certain distance in the direction of the delivery hole.
The elasticity and the internal stress of the elastic dome that exists before the deformation are set sufficiently great by suitable selection of a material that after the upper part has been returned to its initial position, the rear wall of the dome returns to its initial position and thus pulls the valve head of the valve body back onto the delivery hole of the delivery channel from the front. This process is assisted by the pressurized process remaining in the valve housing, which presses against both the valve head and the rear wall of the dome. Since, however, in accordance with the invention, the effective surface of the rear wall is greater than the effective surface of the valve head, the resultant force exerted by the pressurized product acts to restore the rear wall and thus to close the delivery hole.
In a second embodiment of the invention, the valve body, whose valve head closes the delivery hole from the front, is locked in place in a valve body sleeve. The rear part of the valve body sleeve consists of an elastic jacketed wall that acts as a restoring element and is permanently connected with the upper part and/or the lower part of the dispenser head. This elastic rear part of the jacketed wall has the same function as the elastic dome of the first embodiment. During the tilting movement of the dispenser head, the elastic rear part of the jacketed wall moves in a circular path towards a stationary web of the lower part, which causes it to be deformed and displaced, together with the valve body, towards the delivery hole. This causes the valve head, which until now has kept the delivery hole closed, to move towards the outside and open the delivery hole. After the tilted upper part has returned to its initial position, thereby causing the rear part of the valve body sleeve to come clear of the stationary web again, the restoring force of the elastic part of the valve body sleeve acts to pull the valve body back into its initial position to close the delivery hole again.
In a third embodiment of the invention, the rear part of the valve body, which closes the delivery hole from the inside, is designed as a jacketed wall and can be filled with the product that is to be delivered. The outer wall of the valve body is made of an elastic material and acts as a restoring element. To this end, the front part of the elastic valve body wall is permanently connected with the upper part and/or the lower part of the dispenser head. This permanent connection is designed in such a way that the elastic valve body wall is placed under tensile stress in the initial position, so that the conical or round tip of the valve head is pulled from the inside against the correspondingly shaped nozzle orifice of the delivery hole and seals it tightly. During the dispensing operation, the product that is to be delivered flows under pressure into the jacketed wall of the valve body. The pressure thus exerted on the inner rear wall of the jacketed wall is greater than the tensile stress in the elastic region of the valve body wall, so that the valve body is pulled inward and opens the delivery hole towards the inside. The tensile stress already present in the initial position is thus increased, accompanied by expansion of the elastic region of the valve body wall. Upon completion of the dispensing process, the stress present in the elastic valve body wall is sufficient for automatic restoration of the valve body and renewed closure of the delivery hole.
The elastic part of the valve body sleeve (second embodiment) or of the valve body wall (third embodiment) is joined with the other, nonelastic part of the valve body sleeve or valve body wall in one-piece fabrication by injecting it on by a special injection molding process (two-component injection molding). In this regard, the internal stress of these elastic restoring elements is selected sufficiently high by the use of a suitable elastic material, for example, TPE (thermoplastic elastomers), that it is able, after completion of the dispensing operation and after the return of the tilted upper part of the dispenser head to its initial position, to pull the valve body back into its initial position and to close the delivery hole tightly again with the valve head.
In a fourth embodiment, which is similar to the third embodiment, the valve body is designed with a jacketed wall, which can be filled with the product that is to be delivered. To lock the valve body in place, the double-walled rear part of the valve body is pressed against a projecting rib of a stationary web in the initial position of the dispenser head, and the valve head fits against the delivery hole and tightly seals it from the inside. In this initial position, the rear elastic region of the jacketed wall is compressed. The web and its rib are arranged in such a way that the valve body is rotated out of its locked position by the circular tilting movement of the upper part of the dispenser head during the dispensing process. After the valve body has been released from its locked position, the excess pressure of the product that prevails in the jacketed wall, which initially acts only on the rear wall of the jacketed wall, pulls the valve body inward, assisted by the restoring force of the compressed elastic region of the jacketed wall, thereby causing the valve head to open the delivery hole. When the upper part of the dispenser head rotates back into its initial position, the valve body is manually rotated back towards the delivery hole by the projecting rib. This causes the delivery hole to be closed and the elastic region of the jacketed wall of the valve body to be compressed again.
Further advantages, features and details of the invention are explained in greater detail below with reference to specific embodiments illustrated in the schematic drawings.
a,b show two alternative designs of the delivery hole closure of the second dispenser head.
a-c show three alternative designs of the delivery hole closure of the third dispenser head.
a,b show a vertical section through a fourth dispenser head in its initial position and dispensing position, respectively.
The front part of the valve housing 4 ends some distance from the front edge 16 of the upper delivery channel 2 with the delivery hole 3, and the rear part of the valve housing 4 (on the right side in the drawing) is formed by the elastic dome 6 that is slipped over it. The semicircular rear wall 12 of the dome 6 has a sleeve 8, into which the tapered end 18 of the pin-like valve body 5 at the opposite end of the valve body 5 from the valve head 7 is inserted. The length of the pin-like valve body 5 is dimensioned in such a way that, in the initial position of the dispenser head 1, the valve head 7 is pulled from the front against the delivery hole 3 by the internal stress of the elastic dome 6 and closes the delivery hole 3.
The lower part 11 of the dispenser head 1, which is not tiltable and is connected with the dispensing container (the dispensing container is not shown) by being mounted on it, has a lateral web 9, which is tangent to the semicircular rear wall 12 of the dome 6.
When the dispensing process has been completed and the external mechanical pressure on the button 17 has been discontinued, the closure device 1′ is rotated back with the upper part 10 of the dispenser head 1 to its initial position by the tension present in the center of rotation of the dispenser head 1 and by the force of the still open delivery valve of the dispensing container, so that the delivery valve of the dispensing container closes again. The restoration of the upper part 10 causes the rear wall 12 of the elastic dome 6 to clear the web 9 again, and its deformation is eliminated by its internal stress and the excess pressure of the product still present in the valve housing 4. The valve body 5 attached to the rear wall 12 is thus pulled in the same direction back into its original position, and the valve head 7 is pulled tightly against the delivery hole 3 from the front, so that the delivery hole 3 is closed.
Another advantage of the closure device 1′ of the invention is that the pressing of the valve head 7 against the delivery hole 3 is effected not only by the internal stress of the elastic dome 6 abut also by the difference in size of the effective surfaces 13, 14 of the rear wall 12 and valve head 7 that are acted upon by the excess pressure of the product. Since the effective surface 14 of the rear wall 12 of the dome 6 is significantly greater than the effective surface 13 of the valve head 7, a resultant force is created, which acts only on the rear wall 12, with the result that the greater the overpressure is, the greater also is the force with which the valve head 7 is pulled against the delivery hole 3 and the greater also is the tightness of the system. The stated objective of the invention of preventing continued release of the product after the dispensing process has been completed is thus achieved.
In
A seal is created between the dispenser head 20 and the closure device 21 by two elastic annular beads 32′ and 32″. Between these two annular beads 32′ and 32″, an annular space is formed, through which the product can flow, so that positioning of the lower opening 33 of the closure device relative to the product channel 19 of the dispenser head 20 becomes unnecessary. The result of this measure is easier assembly.
The function of the elastic dome 6 as a restoring element in the first embodiment of the invention, which is illustrated in
During the tilting movement of the closure device 21 by manual pressure on the button 37 to initiate the dispensing process, the valve body sleeve 28 with its restoring element or rear end 26 is moved in a circular path towards the stationary web 29 of the lower part 31 and pushed towards the front along with the valve body 25, so that the valve head 27 opens the delivery hole 23 towards the front, and the product emerges from the valve head 27 in the direction 39 indicated by the arrow. At the same time, the contact with the web 29 deforms (compresses) the elastic rear end 26. Upon completion of the dispensing process, the rear end 26 of the valve body sleeve 28 comes clear of the web 29 again, and the restoring force of the compressed rear end 26 and the pressure exerted on its rear wall 26′ by the still pressurized product present in the jacketed wall 32 pull the valve body sleeve 28 together with the valve body 25 back into the initial position. The nozzle head 36 of the delivery hole 23 is designed with a corner that springs back and in this initial position is sealed with point contact by the valve head 27 with its conically formed front part.
a and 11b show alternative designs of the delivery hole closure with nozzle head 36 and valve head 27. In
A third variant of the dispenser head of the invention is shown in its initial position in
In the initial position, the elastic valve body wall 46 is under tensile stress as a restoring element and pulls the valve body 45 with its valve head 47 against the delivery hole 43 of the nozzle head 56 to seal it. This tensile stress in the elastic valve body wall 46 is produced by virtue of the fact that the nozzle head 56 is installed by inserting it from the front into the valve housing 44, thereby displacing the valve body 45 to the rear.
The elastic valve body wall 46 acts as an automatic restoring element during the dispensing process in the following way: During the dispensing process, operation of the button 57 causes the product that is to be delivered to flow from below through the lower opening 53 into the cavity formed by the jacketed wall 52. The pressurized product, whose pressure is greater than the preset tensile force, presses against the rear wall 52′ of the jacketed wall and, since the delivery hole 43 is still closed at first, causes expansion of the elastic outer valve body wall 46 and an increase in the tensile stress that was initially present, thereby displacing the valve body 45 in the direction of the rear wall 52′. This displacement causes the valve head 47 of the valve body 45 to open the delivery hole 43 towards the inside, and the product can then emerge from the dispenser head 40 in the direction 59 indicated by the arrow. Upon completion of the dispensing process, the restoring force of the elastic outer valve body wall 46 automatically pulls the valve body 45 back into its initial position, and the valve head 47 closes the delivery hole 43. The conically pointed valve head 47, which is adapted to the conical shape of the delivery hole 43 of the nozzle head 56, ensures the closing of the delivery hole 43.
Further possible designs of the front closure are shown in
Another (fourth) design variant of the dispenser head is shown in
In the initial position of the dispenser head 60, the valve body 65 is manually supported with its rear end 72′ against a projecting rib 69′ of a stationary web 69 of the lower part 71 and locked in place, and the valve head 67 is pressed from inside against the delivery hole 63, and at the same time, the elastically designed region 66 is compressed. The web 69 with its projecting rib 69′ is arranged in such a way that, when the button 77 is manually operated during the dispensing operation, the valve body 65 is rotated out of this locked position by the circular tilting movement of the upper part 70. The valve body 65, which comes free at the rear, is pulled in the direction of the web 69, (towards the right in the drawing) by the pressure exerted by the product on the rear wall of the jacketed wall 72 and by the elastic resilience of the compressed region 66, and this allows the product to emerge from the dispenser head 60 in the direction 79 indicated by the arrow.
Upon completion of the dispensing process, the delivery opening 63 is closed again by the valve head 67 when the upper part 70 rotates back. This rotation causes the rear end 72′ of the valve body 65 to be pushed upward over the oblique shoulder 74 of the rib 69′ and at the same time forward (towards the left in the drawing), so that the valve head 67 is pressed against the delivery hole 63 from the inside. At the same time, the elastic region 66 of the jacketed wall 72 is compressed again. The restoring force of the upper part to reestablish the initial position is sufficiently great to be able to pull the end 72′ of the valve body 65 over the oblique shoulder 74 of the rib 69′. In the same way as in
The invention is not limited to the specific embodiments that are described above and are illustrated in the drawings, but rather an equivalent or functionally equivalent closure device in accordance with the invention can also be used in other commercial dispenser heads for pressurized dispensing containers after a possibly necessary design adaptation.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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202 09 6165 U | Jun 2002 | DE | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/EP03/06373 | 6/17/2003 | WO | 00 | 10/1/2004 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO04/000066 | 12/31/2003 | WO | A |
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4437592 | Bon | Mar 1984 | A |
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5624055 | Clanet et al. | Apr 1997 | A |
5732855 | Van der Heijden | Mar 1998 | A |
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3705467 | Aug 1987 | DE |
4231940 | Mar 1994 | DE |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20050103811 A1 | May 2005 | US |