Patent Application
20120118915
The present invention relates to hand operated fluid dispensers utilizing a sealed flexible reservoir chamber containing a fluid, a flexible pump chamber, and a pump action cycled by application of finger pressure. This class of simple, disposable dispensers is particularly useful in packaging and distributing of cosmetics, foodstuffs, and healthcare products. As pocketable packet dispensers they are popular for conveniently dispensing small amounts of stored fluids and viscous liquids easily damaged when exposed to the atmosphere, a condition where the sealed reservoir coupled with an airless pump work together precluding product contamination, deterioration and loss.
Dispersal of relatively viscous liquids such as liquid soaps, hand sanitizing fluids, cosmetic creams, insect repellant lotions and similar fluids is often accomplished by either squeezing plastic tubes or bottles with closable caps or pumping fluid from bottles with reciprocating ball-valve pumps accessed by top mounted plungers. Conventional dispensers of these types dominate the marketplace for packaging dispensable viscous fluids and range in size from small pocketable packets to large jugs. Such containers are universally popular despite being well known for wasting irretrievable product, inconvenient handling, unfortunate leaks, content contamination problems and product loss through evaporation.
The art of packaging has long offered solution to some of these shortcomings. For example, Bensen U.S. Pat. No. 2,777,612 (1957) disclosed a tube dispenser with a collapsible inner product pouch associated with a pneumatic pump system to dispense most of the viscous liquid product while protecting it from atmospheric contamination. Three examples of external pumps using a reciprocating chamber are Nilsson U.S. Pat. No. 5,099,885 (1992), Thomsen U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,635 (1991), and Thomsen U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,355 (1993). Nilsson disclosed a dispensing pump with an elastic pump chamber, deformable under direct pressure, and the subsequent hydraulic pressure closing an inlet valve and opening an outlet valve. Thomsen discloses two forms of an exterior dispensing pump with elements arrayed linearly that relies on a sequencing mechanism that first closes the inlet passage from the reservoir, then builds subsequent pressure in pump chamber resulting in fluid dispensing from an exit valve. An internal pump design is disclosed by Abergel U.S. Pat. No. 6,789,706 (2004). Abergel describes a pump chamber enclosed by a reservoir wall that communicates pressure to the pump which builds fluid pressure that activates both outlet and inlet valves for discharging and refill. Brennan U.S. Pat. No. 5,810,203 (1998), Brown U.S. Pat. No. 5,431,634 (1995), and Py U.S. Pat. No. 7,322,491 (2008) all disclose various additional elements of pump closure art. A simple, low-cost pump design is described by Harper U.S. Pat. No. 7,828,176 (2010). Harper discloses a reservoir chamber and dispersal pump chamber providing fluidic access through a closable aperture in a common pump wall. Aside from Harper, none of these disclosures neither describes nor suggests a particularly low-cost, minimal part pump action that is easy to manufacture and convenient to operate. The need for a fluid dispenser that employs an internal pump in thin compact packaging of minimal construction remains open to new designs.
The present invention recognizes the abundance of the prior art and contributes a specific advancement over that art. Accordingly it is a particular intent of the present invention to provide a simple internal pump mechanism exemplified by placing such a pump within a pouch reservoir forming a liquid dispenser of such size and shape as to be carried in a pocket or hung about a neck and thus promoting convenient access to and timely use of the entire liquid product held within. Specifically, the pump located inside the liquid reservoir does not employ a one-way inlet valve for controlling liquid entering the pump chamber from the reservoir chamber as taught by the prior art represented by various check-ball designs. Further, the pump action of the current invention does not employ a one-way inlet mechanism controlling liquid entering the pump chamber as taught in prior art; nor does the current disclosure teach the teat pinch/squeeze technique found in other art. Instead, the flexible fluidic passage between the reservoir and pump chamber is located so a portion of the passageway channel is pressed shut by direct linear finger pressure so that, because the channel is layered with the pump chamber, continued finger pressure is transmitted to the adjoining pump chamber so as to pressurize the fluid within the pump chamber by volumetric distortion which is then forced thru a one-way exit valve for dispersal. When the channel becomes unblocked absent the external pressure holding the channel walls together and the pump chamber returns to its original undistorted volume, reservoir fluid refills the chamber with fluid moving thru the unblocked channel from the reservoir. Because the channel and pump chamber are arrayed each on the other in a layered fashion a tactile and/or visual cuing means indicating application of finger pressure on a particular location is helpful to properly perform a pump cycle action requiring the closure of the channel and pressurizing of the pump chamber.
This simple pump, essentially a combination of several film walls, an exit valve, and a channel/chamber layered array, requires a minimal number of components and materials. Yet, surprisingly, this design has proven to be very effective, durable, and highly reliable. Because the pump is easily squeezed by a variety of hand and finger configurations it has proven particularly useful for persons with limited hand mobility where a stripping action to discharge the fluid is problematic without benefit of a mechanical interface. Also, by placing the pump array within the reservoir an overall flat, thin, even stylish package is created; such packaging significantly facilitates convenient access and timely use. Finally, the simplicity of the overall design of the pump, reservoir, channel and exit valve, all of which can be constructed of various flexible polymer films of differing elastic properties, is of such a nature as to facilitate simple and reliable manufacturing at extremely low-costs while making use of minimal amounts of materials.
It is therefore the principal objective of this invention to provide a new and improved fluid dispensing pump, incorporating device and method capable of repeatedly delivering doses of liquid in a controlled and efficient manner.
A specific object of this invention is to provide a fluid dispenser which is of such few parts and simple design as to be readily adaptable to a straightforward and economical manufacturing process.
Another object of the present invention is to create a fluid dispenser that can effectively expel substantially all of the fluid held within the reservoir and pump chamber.
Further objects of the invention are to allow the design of dispensing devices so compact as to be pocketable to facilitate convenient fluid usage, so inexpensive to manufacture as to be disposable, so reliable as to provide carefree service, and so simple to operate that they are easily manipulated by small, weak, impaired, or even lamed hands.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction where appropriate with the accompanying drawings wherein are set forth, by way of illustrations and example, certain embodiments of this invention. The drawings constitute a part of this specification and include exemplary embodiments of the present invention that illustrate various objects and features thereof.
The invention will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Reference is made in the following briefly described drawings, wherein like reference numbers refer to corresponding elements:
While the invention will be described in connection with illustrations, descriptions, and examples of preferred embodiments, it will be understood these are not intended to limit the present invention only to these embodiments. On the contrary, the present invention is to cover all structural and/or functional alternatives as generally described.
The term “direct finger pressure” as used herein refers to single unidirectional, unsequenced, non-mechanical, immediate pressure applied by a finger to a single area of a layered pump configuration comprising a fluid inlet channel and fluid pump chamber both capable of being compressed and thereby achieving pressurization and subsequent dispersal of pump chamber fluid through a predetermined one-way exit. The term element “finger” as used herein refers to any combination of pressures applied to the pump assembly by the thumb, palm, finger and/or fingers of a hand. By way of contrast, this direct finger pressure applied to disperse fluid by means of a layered pump construct is not characterized as mimicking a milking or stripping motion where multiple areas involving several components arrayed in a linear fashion are sequentially manipulated by multiple discrete pressures applied by fingers or mechanical contrivances to expel fluids.
The term “fluid” as used herein refers to the broad, common dictionary meaning denoting a flowable material of all kind and applies to any particular liquid or gas, including each and every streamable thin or viscous fluidal material. Descriptive categories of various dispensed fluids include cosmetics, foodstuffs, healthcare products, adhesives, lubricants and representative products such as liquid soaps, hand sanitizing fluids, facial creams, insect lotions, liquid medications, condiments, lubricating greases, hair conditioners, and any of the myriad of materials with flowable properties.
The term “fluid dispenser” encompasses both a pump mechanism and the incorporation of that mechanism in packaging that dispenses fluid for use. All the operational elements describing the pump are incorporated in any expression of such packaging to achieve the utility made possible by the pump mechanism. All forms of such a packaging utility are envisioned by the herein disclosed invention.
Following are two exemplifying embodiments which depict the elements and interactions in representative forms and structures of the present invention.
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Completing the pump cycle begins by removing the finger 9 pressure as illustrated in
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It is to be understood that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure, function, and employment of the invention, the disclosures are illustrative only, and changes may be made in details, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of some parts together with content and materials utilized, within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms as expressed.
Further, throughout this specification various patents are referenced. The disclosures of these references in their entireties are hereby incorporated by reference in order to more fully describe the state of the art to which the invention pertains. What has been illustrated and described herein are improvement in certain types of hand squeezable articles of manufacture and a new pump design making possible these improvements. One example of the utility of such fluid dispensers with channel pump designs is to dispense hand sanitizing fluid for hand rubbing and thereby improving hand hygiene in a population with the intent of significantly reducing the frequency of pathogenic transmission and subsequently reduce sickness and infectious disease within that population. Key to any such a successful outcome is the timely availability of the dispenser as needed. By hanging dispensers described previously in Example 1 and Example 2 from the necks or clothing of healthcare workers such as nurses and doctors for their ready access, a dramatic and substantial reduction in nosocomial infections can be expected in a hospital or clinic population.
While these improvements have been illustrated and described with reference to certain preferred embodiments, the present invention is not limited thereto. In particular, the foregoing specification and embodiments are intended to be illustrative and are not to be taken as limiting. Thus, alternatives, such as structural or mechanical or functional equivalents, and other modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the foregoing description.
